I smiled as I cozied up to him. “You sure?” I asked.
“I’ve been sure since the day you challenged my love.”
Who would have thought a game would bring me and the love of my life together?
FIONA
The snow gently landed on my fur coat as I walked through Lake Hill State Park. It had been years since I’ve stepped foot in this place, and seeing the snow lie like a white sheet was breathtaking. When I reached the bench that Braylen asked me to be at, I patiently waited. I was surprised that he called and asked me to meet him.
Since losing my place in the Prestige, I wasn’t sure if I’d ever hear from him again. So, the moment he found a way to contact me, I came running. I hoped he would give me a second chance. I knew I needed to swallow my pride and allow myself to take in Braylen and whatever his ask was.
The way the brisk cold and snow that dissolved into water landing on part of my bruised face felt like God himself was touching me. Something in me shifted, making me feel like this place was where I needed to be. It made me feel that I was pouring my demons into the lake before it froze to keep them locked there and anew. I moved closer to the lake’s edge andinhaled deeply. “You remember this place, Fiona?” his deep voice nearly scared me.
My body jumped as I had gone to turn around, but he stopped me. “Don’t!” he barked.
I released a nervous laugh. “Braylen, how can we talk like this? I want to see your face,” I said as I turned to look at him.
When I saw him, it scared me because this wasn’t the Braylen I had seen so many times; it was someone else. His eyes were angry, dark, and sinister. His locs swung wildly with the wind, and his lip curled into a growl-like form. I clenched my fur as I moved closer toward him, but his peering eyes stopped me. “I asked you a question, Fiona. That’s what you asked me to call you, right?”
“Ah, Braylen, don’t be a baby, you know you can call me mother. I’m your mother.”
He moved closer as I moved back, “I know the truth. You’re not my mother. I’ve known for years, and for years I hoped that you would have loved me like your own, even after I vowed you and Dad were dead to me,” he grumbled. “But instead, you used your place in my father’s life as power. Now answer my fucking question, Fiona, do you fucking remember?!” He barked so loud that the squirrels rushed up the trees.
I closed my eyes tightly. “I fucking remember!” I shouted back.
That was the first time I tried to kill Braylen, or at least, let him die. He had fallen into the lake. I stood there and watched as his little body tried to stay afloat, but the weight of his clothes was pulling him under. Just as his head fell beneath the water, someone ran up shouting to help him, and so did I. He was rescued, and it was a moment I pushed to the back of my head.A moment that I knew would come back to haunt me someday, and today was it. “I-I’m sorry.”
“Fiona, you don’t know what that is. You beat me, you lied on me, you tried to leave me for dead. Hell, you tried to hit me with your fucking car, but fucked my nigga up instead. Fiona, you are not just a monster, you’re the fucking Devil.”
Closer.
I wasn’t the Devil. I was a bitch with a plan who accepted a man with a child. I hated Bobbie for cheating on me. I hated Bobbie for loving me so much, so I couldn’t walk away. I hated Bobbie because he was the reason I challenged my parents. I hated Braylen for being in the middle of what should have been my perfect life.
“I’m sorry, everyone deserves a second chance,” I cried.
Closer.
I looked back and was so near the edge that another step would put me in the water. Braylen pointed at me. “You created this in me. Braylen was scared. He was hiding because of you. You wanted me to be this. All I wanted was a mother to show me what love was. To help me through my bad days. Instead, I got a loveless ass bitch named Fiona. All those years, you wondered if that was you in the drawing on the wall. That monster-like figure in front of the cave. It wasn’t you, it was me, the beast,” he said as he snatched me by the fur, pulling me close and hugging me so tightly that I could hardly breathe.
I tried to fight him off, but the strength in him was unexplainable. “Bra-,” I sucked in a breath.
“I find it funny that you can live with yourself after all you done, and my father couldn’t. You know he killed himself. He killed himself because not only couldn’t he bear the weight of his actions, but yours,” he said in my ear.
My eyes grew, not just from hearing about how Bobbie died, but the barrel of a gun pressed to my belly. My panting became heavy as I began to panic. “Braylen, please,” I cried.
He pressed the gun further into my stomach, “My game, my rules, do you understand?” he whispered in my ear.
Bloaw!
I sucked in a deep breath as he let go of me. My hands shook as I looked down and saw my white fur seeping red with blood. My mouth opened, “Bra-bra,” I stuttered as I sucked in another sip of air.
I reached out for him, but he just stood there. It had been years, yet for the first time, I saw a tear slide down his face. I realized there was nothing more, no destination, and no hope left for me. My body felt as cold as the snow landing on my face. I stumbled back, crashing into the icy water. I struggled against the tiny waves as the lake’s spirits seemed to begin consuming me.
I inhaled water as my fur coat grew heavy. I watched Braylen lean over and watch me just as I did him all those years ago. His beast-like face slowly shifted back into the boy who yearned for my love. The more I stared up at him, the deeper I sank, and things became a blur. I had shifted from fighting to surrendering, just as Bobbie and Braylen had once done to me. This was the one wish Braylen had prayed for many years ago when I asked what he wanted for his birthday. I remember clear as day. He said nothing, all the while he secretly wanted me dead.
CHEVY
PRESS PLAY
