"What?" I demanded earnestly with fear growing in my retinas. Did you really have to get yourself involved with a potential murderer? I scowled inwardly.

"That's what I heard." Sterling said raising his hands up in defense. "But, don't start jumping to conclusions without solid evidence. I could've heard incorrectly." He tried to explain. My breathing started to increase in acceleration.

"Eat your Skittles. They make everything better." He beamed, laughing lightly. I obeyed, taking bites of the sugary candy. "Let's just drop the topic for now."
"So....do you like Griffin? He questioned. 

"I...don't...know." I muttered under my breath as my eyes looked to the dark blue comforters underneath my form.
"Yeah, well..." Sterling started but then stopped.

"Say it." I commanded looking him straight in the eyes.

"Griffin has issues." He ended with. I gave him a clear roll of my eyes.

"Tell me something I don't know." I retorted with a leer.

"What has happened between you two in the last three days to make you feel this way?" He questioned in a way similar to a psychiatrist. "My mom is a therapist by the way." Well, that explains it.

I did need to get stuff off of my chest.  Not all of it, Nevertheless at least some. For that reason, I told him about the party, then the visit, Crimson, the constant lust and the previous night until now. I made sure to leave out the abuse. It wasn't my place to tell.

"Interesting..."He began slowly. "And, when I say interesting I mean very unstable. I think you shouldn't see ...him for a while." He elucidated lightly.

"I agree." I concurred immediately. "Griffin sort of  reminds me of this guy I dated during my senior year. His name was Dane, he was a complete and utter pussy." I growled remembering his sick personality. He snickered.

"Pussy." Sterling repeated snickering a bit. He was such a kid. His once carefree facade morphed into to severity. "I know this is going to sound like something a pussy would say but why are you attracted to him?" He demanded. " Other than his looks." He added.

"He's really nice when he isn't being a dick and then there's this side of him that is fractured...."

"Sounds like your pussy talking." He interjected. I sent him an angered look.

"Overall, I don't want the ...drama. I mean we're in college for goodness sake. No more immaturity, you know?"

"Nope." He answered in a split second. " I went to an all boys catholic school with four hundred students. So, there was absolutely no drama." He explained. Something then hit me. I didn't truly know anything about Sterling except for the fact that he worshiped Skittles.

"What's your major?" I questioned out of the blue.

"Aerospace engineering and my minor is film and television."

"Same for the minor." I grinned. " Why haven't I seen you before?"

"Beats me, doll face." He shrugged then leaned in toward me."Because I would've loved for you to taste the rainbow in my mouth a long time ago." He winked.

"You had to." I groaned expressing slight bits of contentment. Sterling knew how to make me feel better even though I didn't truly know him. "Green, yellow, red." I told him and he nodded almost instantly knowing that I was talking about the candy.

"All except grape." Was his reply.
It was nice to have normalcy when you had a Griffin Marshall in your life.

"I feel...alive with him." It felt good to say something that had been surfacing inside of me for the past seventy two hours. 

"You know that every girl who has ever said that has ended up dead." He clarified grimly. 

"What?" I exclaimed.

"Well, probably." He joshed ducking when I tried to hit him.

"Why aren't we talking about how Griffin could be a potential killer?" I demanded snapping out of the comfortable moment. Sterling looked at me like I had two heads.

"Uh...because we don't have solid evidence.  By the way I'm directing the winter production." He said timidly.

"Really? That's great!" Finally remembering that I was a theater major. "What's it called?"

"Dark Delirium. Apparently, Ms. Larson sees Oscar worthy potential in me." He beamed. Red painted his cream cheeks. It was evident that he was very proud by the way he couldn't help but smile with his peachy pink lips.

"Sounds dark." I said bringing forth the topic.

"It is." He grinned similar to a Cheshire Cat.

"The setting is the late 1800's in Victorian London. The tale is of two sisters. You could say that one was of darkness and one of light. A young gentleman was brought into their lives asking for the hand of the sister of light, Evelyn, which angered the sister of darkness, Josephine. She had always been envious of her sister until a point of utter hatred of not being able to have what she had. Alas, the man entering their life enraged her and engulfed her entire dark aura in flames. Nevertheless, Josephine fancied the man as well. Furthermore, Charles, the man, knew this and manipulated Josephine into killing Evelyn. She afterwards snapped killing Charles revealing that she was a split personality that had taken over the original Josephine over a decade before. The twisted version had the intense desire to kill all that was light because she was darkness and only she could prevail. She stabbed them eighteen times each for every year of her life that someone tried to bring light to her darkness.  The tale ends with Josephine slaughtering the man and her sister while wearing her sisters infamous white dress." He ended with in a grim conclusion.

Goosebumps took over my skin. The whole concept of a altered person taking over someone else's body was utterly terrifying.

"It's pretty dark. I'm going to definitely audition for the role of Josephine." I beamed.

"Really?" He asked. "Seems dark for a Californian such as yourself." I widened my eyes. I was offended.

"An excellent actress can play any role. Dark or light." I explicated sternly. "When are the auditions?" I said earnestly with a head held high.

"In two weeks." He said with a smile. It seemed that he was proud of how I handled the previous topic. 

"And it was during the winter." He added happily. He was enjoying this a little too much. "What? I love horror movies." He included catching my bewildered gaze.

_|_

I don't know for how long I stayed in Sterling's room with the lingering fear of Griffin walking in. Nonetheless, he had lightened my mood significantly.  As well as the Skittles. It was 10:45, I had to call it a night.  I had work that I had to catch up on. I soon was giving him a huge hug.

"Thank you." I beamed.

"No problem. Come visit me anytime Griffin's not around." He leered with his minty green eyes gleaming. He walked me to the door."Have a good and safe night." He beamed opening the door. "You'll be okay, right?" He probed kindly. "Do you want me to drive you?" I lent him an incredulous look.

"No mom. But thanks." 
I gave him one last smile then headed down the quiet hall. I dug in my pockets for my phone planning to call Skylar when I realized the worse. I had forgotten it in the room with...Griffin. My luck borderline sucks.

I had to go back to get my phone and be mature. But...in all honesty I could just leave and call Sterling using Skylar's phone and ask him to get it.

No, I was going to be mature. I decided. Besides nothing was more mature than asking for something from someone that you particularly didn't like. I stopped in my footsteps, turned around and walked back to the room.

Every bone was shaking inside of me. I felt fright course through my veins. I was scared. I felt insane at the moment, feeling this way.
Hopefully, he wasn't there. Hopefully....
I came face to face with the door, standing motionless. 

Should I knock? I asked myself.  Nope, he didn't deserve it. My hand encased around the door and I pushed it open. I ambled in slowly watching my steps.  If he was asleep the universe would finally be in my favor. I walked carefully finding the bed...empty.

My eyes rapidly scanned the room coming to the conclusion that I was alone. I searched swiftly for my phone. My pulse played as a thunderous orchestra in my chest. I checked the side tables. My phone wasn't there. I pulled the drawers open finding nothing. I checked beneath the comforters and sheets of both beds. They were bare. I then checked the pillows in more frantic movements.

The punch in the gut feeling of Griffin appearing stung in my core. I couldn't find it. I fought the urge to scream. The asshole had it. I spun around quickly noticing something that I hadn't before. The light resonances of rushing water sounded through the room. It was coming from the bathroom. My eyes shot to the right, finding the shut door. The water was coming from the shower.

He had to be inside of it at this moment. I concluded. I waited for a few minutes counting each second. Thence forth,  I walked to the egress.

I just need to grab my phone, that were probably in his pants, which were probably on the floor. I can do this.

My hands enclosed around the door handle. I felt intense fear for the third time in three days.
I cannot believe I'm doing this. I inhaled as I opened the door. My breathing hitched in my throat as my eyes scanned the foggy chamber.

The moist air clung to my skin, dampening my clothes as I walked deeper into the mist. My eyes caught sight of a pile of clothing on the floor. A Indigo sweatshirt, socks, every clothing item was there except for his sweatpants and shirt. 

My eyes moved to the shower that was only a few feet from my location. It was made out of obscure glass and tile flooring by the looks of it.

Through the mist I could hardly see anything except for the silhouette of a figure. Griffin.

In a split second, I was on my knees. Where the hell is my phone?  I snarled searching through his clothing. I found nothing. I used the sink counter to pry myself up and that's when my hand pressed against a thin rectangular device.

I grabbed it bringing it to my face. It was my phone. I resisted the urge to gasp in relief.  I shoved it in my back pocket then started to crawl in reverse.

Abruptly, the most painful thing that I had ever heard fractured  through the resonance of hissing water. It was the fracture of a fist slamming into tile. The sound that followed afterward was that of cracking tile. It was trailed after by a harsh intake of breath that masked itself inside of the water.

Again, another painful blow was given. A sharp crack was close behind. It sliced at my ears with vicious malice. He was hurting the hell out of himself.

The sharp intakes grew louder.  I heard him shift from his previous position and almost jumped out of my skin when a bloody palm struck the showers glass rampart.  A low shriek of pain trailed behind.  The sound of someone trying not to break.  The sound of someone who felt that the entire world was against them and that there was nothing out there for them.

I stood slowly through the steam. I couldn't leave him. I never could because he was broken and I was slightly fractured. I had a history of mistakes that were never to be mentioned and he clearly did as well.

Nonetheless, I would NEVER leave anyone in need. I pulled off my shorts and bit by bit stepped into the shower.