She shakes her head, her matted black hair swishing with the movement. Her emerald-green eyes spill tears down her dirt encrusted face leaving twin rivulets slicing through the grime. She scrambles up to me grabbing my injured arm. I wince at the contact.
“Shit. Lukas, you need to get to the hospital.” She rips a piece of her shirt off, wrapping it around my arm to quell the blood flow, tying it tight and sending pins and needles down my nerve endings. I sway unsteadily on my feet, unsure of how much blood I’ve lost. I find myself leaning against Salem as we stumble up the path together- my feet moving on their own accord.
First, I lost my mom and now Pierce. As we trudge together, a memory of how I found my mom flashes in my mind.
I had just come off the bus, report card in hand as I bounded up the winding steps in our house. Pierce had gone off to the kitchen to make a snack, while I searched for our mother. She’d taken to her bed the last few weeks, claiming her head hurt and that she needed rest. I was too excited to notice the silence. Maybe if I hadn’t been so caught up in my own head, I would have noticed her clothes strewn around, and the metallic tang of blood in the air, but I didn’t. I noticed nothing but the patter of my own shoes against the tile floor. I shoved her heavy door open and went to her bedside only to find it empty. Pill bottles littered the top as usual. I searched around and noticed the door to her bathroom was open.
“Mom?” I called out, dropping my backpack to the floor as I gingerly walked over, completely unaware of what I was about to find.
My feet skid on the tile. My eyes took in my mother’s naked, still, and slumped form. The bathtub water was red. It covered her nose and mouth as her brunette strands clung to the porcelain tub.
“Mom?” My voice squeaked out. I took in the two deep wounds in her arms. I felt myself let go of my report card, letting it fall almost as if it was in slow motion to the ground. “MOM!” I yelled going over to her side, shaking her shoulder only to have her slip further into the red water. I pulled my hand away, red water dripping from the tips.
“LukASS!” Pierce called from outside the room. I rushed to the door to block him from seeing what I did.
I knew then, like I did now, that my life would never be the same. The loss of Pierce presses down around my heart, threatening to completely derail me. I could feel myself shutting down, grief consuming me, as Salem’s tears soak my shirt.
I don’t know how long we’ve been out here, but the sky was turning a threatening shade of gray that promised a storm. I glare angrily at the sky, blinking up through the trees at whatever god had taken my brother from me, vowing to seek my vengeance in whatever way I could. I feel the darkness wedging itself deep within my already tainted heart as we climb the trail back to Hell House. We’re broken and barely holding on and returning without Pierce.
ChapterFive
SKYE
SONG: 911 BY ELLISE
The phone beeps in my hand as it attempts to connect to a signal. The house is far too quiet, making the sound of my heart seem louder than it is as it pounds against my chest. The adrenaline is still coursing through my body after breaking out of my restraints. My hands flood with perspiration making it difficult to hold onto my phone as I stab at the screen once again, willing it to connect, hands shaking with anxiety.
“Please, please, please.” I beg the phone, only to receive another failed to connect notification.
“God dammit!” I screech, tossing the phone onto the counter. It clatters against the granite, but thankfully the screen remains intact.
Graham walks in scratching his stomach, his pajama pants slung low on hips. His casual countenance seems so wholly out of place with what transpired here this morning.God, how long has it even been since they left?
“Amore?” His sleep-laced voice calls out. I don’t even think as I rush over to him, flinging my arms around his neck, burying my face into his hard chest. He embraces me immediately, pushing his fingers through my hair and tilting my head back to look up at him. He traces a thumb across my wet cheek while cupping my chin.
“What’s happened?” He asks as I press into him.
The memories assault my thoughts, each terrifying moment clawing at my consciousness as my eyes begin welling as I sniffle. I shake my head back and forth and go to push off his chest, but he grabs me by my forearm, frowning down at the red indents.
“Who did this to you? Was it Lukas?” He demands, cradling my arm. His demeanor straddles the line of barely contained rage while also being incredibly gentle with me. If I wasn’t so freaked out, I’d be having to fight off butterflies from how sweet and sexy this man is.
“No, no. Not Lukas. The…the headmaster. He kidnapped Salem. And Emmet helped him do it.”
Graham’s entire body goes stock still.
“Sloan was taken to the infirmary by Walker and Garrison, he ate a piece of pie that was poisoned or… or he had some sort of reaction to.” I continue, the words flowing out of my mouth faster than I can articulate them. “I don’t know what’s going on, one minute I was waking up happy and the next a gun was being pointed at me as I was tied up by Emmet.” Graham’s eyes trail over my reddened wrists with blatant fury. I feel his large arms envelope me as a vibration pulses beneath my skin. I am physically shaking and my thoughts are a storm of worries.
Worries about Salem. About Lukas. Sloan. Pierce.
Fucking Emmet.
“You said Emmet tied you up?” Graham asks, his long fingers rubbing small, firm circles on my back and down my arms. His breath hits my neck sending my already shivering body into overdrive.
“I tried calling emergency services, but I can’t get a signal. Pierce and Lukas ran after Salem. Emmet and the headmaster took her.”
Graham let go of me, patting his sweatpants pockets. “What are you doing?” I ask, absentmindedly gripping my aching wrists.
“Looking for my phone. Cazzo. Fuck! I left it in my room.” He bounds out of the kitchen.
