Raven
“Go back to where this all started, Sweetness.”
“If you want to find your little boyfriend, go back to where this all started, Sweetness.”
Sweetness.
The basement.
Jolting awake, I’m gasping for breath, trying to remember what nightmare woke me up feeling like this. My brain is fuzzy, I can’t focus. I close my eyes when I hear some“Set Fire”remix playing in my head. Blinking a few times, I look down and see Reyes sleeping. His head resting on the bed and my hand in his. It’s then that I feel the earbud in my ear, and I have a feeling this isn’t the first time he’s put music on for me while I’ve been asleep. When I’m sleeping, and the nightmares aren’t haunting me, I always somehow hear the lyrics of different songs playing and it brings me back. It’s crazy how it feels like just yesterday I walked into that damn shop and this man inserted himself into my life, and then the rest followed suit. We’ve been datingfor months, but yet, we know more about each other than most people. Obviously not Naomi, she knows everything and then some.
They should all know that I’m about tired of being laid up in this damn bed though. Yes, my road rash and wrist are healing, but I’m not one to just lie around. I got shit to do, andfuck,I haven’t even thought about my bike.How long before I can even ride after this shit?Not to mention the cuts on my leg itch, like the kind of itch that drives you up a wall. I cannot sit here any longer, it feels like I have been here for weeks at this point. Poor Luis, I hope he knows we're coming. I’ll pay that doctor to let me walk out of here. I don’t give a shit how I get out, but I need to. I’m the reason everyone is in this mess. My past always comes back to haunt me. I have been working on taking that whole trade down for years and look where it’s gotten me.
I’ve saved plenty of people to make it worth it, but what will it cost me? My life? Theirs? I can feel it now, the urge to self destruct. Bleed it out and move on, but I can’t. I told them I’d fight, even if that means myself. Letting people down is my specialty, but not them. I love them enough to fight. For me, for them, hell for all of us. We built those safe houses for a reason, and I want all of them to feel safe again, especially my little blonde bestie. Laying back down, I close my eyes, hoping I can remember whatever nightmares keep haunting me.
Waking up, I feel like I’m damn near having a heart attack, and Reyes sits up in a panic.
“What's wrong? What happened?” he rushes out on a shaky breath.
“I remember. I fucking remember everything, and I’m going to kill that asshole,” I say, my voice laced with venom.
“Well, don’t just let me sit here in suspense, tell me,” he replies, looking at me with concern written on his face.
“I know where Luis is. It was him, Bret, that walked up to me after the wreck. He said if I wanted to find him, then I needed to go back to where it all started. Don’t you get it? The place where it all began. It’s that stupid fucking basement in the house I grew up in! Fuck!” I spit out the words, rubbing my temples, trying to ease the oncoming headache. How did I not see it?
“What the hell? I never would have guessed that. Does your mom still live there too? He probably picked the last place we would look,” he replies, and stands, pacing back and forth, his mind putting the pieces together.
“I’m not sure. She’s dead to me. We need to let the others know though. I’m not sitting here any longer,” I say, ripping all the damn cords off of my body. I am tired of hearing the beeping.
He looks over at me, a sinister grin pulling at his lips.
“What is it? That’s your ‘I’m up to no good’ grin,” I ask, and raise a brow at him.
“Just know I have a plan, Babygirl, and that we are definitely going to pull it off, and everyone will be where they are supposed to be,” he replies, leaning down and kissing my forehead.
“Good. It’s about time we got our revenge and bring my Sunshine home,” I say as a grin spreads across my face.
“I’m also scared to see the shape he’s in, if I’m being honest. He’s strong, but how fucking strong?” his voice comes out low and concern is written across his face.
“Look at me. He is strong. I know he’s stronger than I was in that house, and he won’t be broken. You understand me?” I reply back, hoping my words ring true. I know what was done to me in that house, and I swear if he was touched, I’ll burn it all down. With Bret in there too, but after we have tortured him to the point of him begging for his goddamn death. I’ll leave him barely breathing, light that bitch on fire, and watch it all burn to the ground.
“There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you, but there hasn’t been a good time with all the chaos going on,” he says, and that gets my attention. Looking at him, I tilt my head trying to figure it out.
“What is it? Just say it,” I say, my voice taking a higher octave than I meant it to.
“Remember the coffee shop, and there was that guy bringing me the folder, saying it was from Eddie?” he asks, and I nod my head in response. “Well, when I got taken in the night of your wreck, the cop grabbed that folder. We never looked at it, but when Eddie and Zeke came and got me, I got the folder back. I showed them already, but it was instructions on how to disassemble the brakes on the year and model of your bike. So, I’m positive your wreck wasn’t an accident. How he got to it though is the question. Especially since you didn’t leave the house that day until you went to the shop to find Luis. Then, I think he tried to pin it on me. Apparently, there was a witness that saw a truck fitting the description of mine fleeing the scene,” he breathes out, the aggravation obvious in his tone.
Sitting there, all the scenarios running through my head, and I remember trying to brake, but I couldn’t, they went slack.When would he have been able to do that? At the gym? While I was on a run?Fuck, none of it makes sense.
“I just don’t understand when he would have gotten the chance? But also… you went to jail? What the fuck?” I spit out, because now I’m pissed.
“I’m not sure either, that’s why I’m telling you. Just another piece of this fucked up puzzle we got to work on. This isn’t on you, none of it. When we came into your life and played that damn secret exchange game, we knew what we were signing up for. You still wanted us after our pasts, and we damn sure still want you. We will figure it out together, baby. Your demons are ours now, and we will fight them with you,” he says, and I’m not sure how to feel.
Before I can say anything else, Damien strides through the door carrying food in one hand, and juggling a drink carrier in the other. He looks between us and must notice something is up. Walking over, he sets the drinks down on the counter and hands us our bag of food before he passes us our drinks.
“Okay, what’s going on? You both look like you’ve seen a ghost,” he questions, looking between us with a raised brow.
“I remembered,” is all I say as he sits on the end of the bed, and I begin to tell him everything I just told Reyes.
