“We’ve got one more bend up ahead,” I remind my brothers.
“Yup,” Saint answers. “Then we’ll be able to see who the hell this fucker is doing the singing.”
O come O come Emmanuel gets louder in volume, the pitch increasing as it builds and whoever the fuck it is starts singing “Rejoice” at the top of their lungs.
“You know, whoever it is ain’t bad.”
We all turn to stare at Omen before we come to the bend in the hall. I press my back up against the wall, knowing that whoever it is won’t see me here until they turn the corner. My brothers do the same, all lined up waiting for whoever it is to appear.
“Rejoice, rejoice, Emmaaaaaaanuel- what are you doing?”
“For fucks sake, Damian!”
I stand there staring at Damian, a bruise coming up on his cheek and a heavy looking fucker slung over his shoulder.
“Who the fuck is that?” Chef asks, jabbing a finger in Damian’s direction.
“Oh, him? Found him at Jason’s, beatin’ the hell outta him. Blink once and he’s gone down a hole, got me chasin’ him like an idiot. Slippery fucker.” Damian spins to let us get a look at the guy’s battered face before spinning back. “Got em though,” he says with a grin.
“Well, shit.”
Loyal
“You gonna help or just stare out the window?” Joe teases.
“Sorry, just, ugh.”
“I get it,” Joe says, shuffling my way and giving me as much of a hug as her injured ribs will allow. “It’s hard to be strong and pretend it’s alright when your stomach fell clean out of your drawers not long ago.”
I snort and shake my head at her, then glance past her to check on the girls. The twins and Greer are busy helping Izzy make lasagne, although helping is a loose term.
“I just, there are so many feelings and I need them gone so I can concentrate on the girls and Vex.”
“Nope. What you need is to sit and feel those feelings. Trust me. You bury them for too long and they’ll explode out of your eyeballs at the worst moment. They need to be out, in the universe, fading into nothingness.”
I tilt my head to look at my friend. “How’d you get so smart?”
She smirks and pats her hair looking smug. “In the words of Lady Gaga, I was born this way.” She snaps her fingers and shuffles back to the countertop, ready to assemble dinner.
I decide to take Joe’s advice and make my way to the bathroom. Once there I lock the door then stare at myself in the mirror. I take in my too pale skin, my copper colored hair that sits in a high ponytail. So unlike how I was allowed to wear it my whole life. Before I was freed from Eden’s Keep it was worn in one long, plain braid that I would wear over my shoulder. Now I can wear it however I like, and I currently like a high pony with the length worn perky and messy. My gaze drifts lower to where my collarbones are visible in my top because it has a scoop neck. The rest of my body remains hidden from the mirror but I look down, admiring my body in my soft jeans and the cute sandals on my feet. I wriggle my painted toenails and smile as the purple polish glints in the light. This is what angered Goodson when he saw me. This is why he had to punish me, spit vitriol in my face. He was displeased with my appearance and lack of outward fear. A snort escapes me before it turns into a giggle. I slap my hand over my mouth so no one can hear me laughing like a mad woman but there’s no stopping it. All my little rebellions, the steps I’ve made to make choices on how I look, how I behave, what I’m going to do with my life, it all culminates into the most delicious revenge I could ever imagine. I laugh so hard tears start to settle in my lower lash line before falling down my cheeks making tracks down my face. My laughter turns to sobs, big, breathless, gut wrenching sobs but I welcome them. With every gasp, every fresh batch of tears, I feel cleansed of the fear and pain and anger I had been carrying with me all this time. I thought I was cleansed the night all our scars were revealed in church. I thought I was new with Vex that night, but this, this feels like a proper rebirth because the woman I will be after thisis fully free of the shackles of Eden’s Keep. I don’t want to hide from its evil anymore. I want to hunt Goodson and whoever he is working with and I want them to pay. I want what’s owed to me, an eye for an eye.
Splashing water on my face I pat it dry, blowing my nose and trying to clean up any evidence that I just had a breakdown in the bathroom. Don’t get me wrong, if Eden’s Keep did anything right it was having very nice bathrooms, but still. Taking a deep breath and one last look in the mirror, I unlock the door and head back to my girls in the kitchen.
“What the fuck happened?” Dex’s voice growls out and my stomach drops hoping that nothing bad has happened. I mean, come on! I just pulled myself together!
Rushing into the common room I stop dead in my tracks when I see TumTum and Flack bringing in a beaten Jason. My eyes catalog his injuries before I jump into action.
“Lie him flat on the table and I’ll take a look,” I bark, giving myself a fright at how confident I sound.
Running into the kitchen I quickly soap up my hands, rinse them and then grab the kitchen first aid kit before bursting through the kitchen swing doors into the main room.
“Jason, can you hear me? Are you having any trouble breathing?” He shakes his head no, so I take that as my sign to feel around his ribs and abdomen. “Good, you’re doing good,” I soothe. My eyes dart to the kitchen hatch where Joe looks over her shoulder at Izzy then back at me, giving me a nod. My shoulders relax a little knowing that Joe will keep Izzy occupied. I don’t want her to see her dad like this. With his torso feeling nice and soft I move to his neck and head. His lip is split, eye swelling shut, and I notice a huge goose egg at the back of his head when I run my fingers through his hair. “Jason, can you tell me how you hit your head?”
He swallows down a groan. “The guy who did this, he came up through the floor. Gave me a hell of a fright. Before I could do anything he hit me in the face a few times. I got a couple of hits in but hell, I grew up in a good Christian family. I ain’t never hit a man before,” he huffs. “Anyway, I’m not sure what happened after that because I’m pretty sure I passed out.”
I look at Flack who shakes his head. “You were hit with a lamp, man. Found pieces of it all over the ground and your ass out cold.”
“That explains it then,” Jason grumbles before trying to sit up. “Where’s Izzy? And who the hell was that guy?”
