Page 18 of Chaos
Ryker and Axel come over and give my arm a small squeeze each, making the pain skyrocket before they all exit the house together.
Serena
I stay paralyzed in my spot on the couch. Not feeling comfortable enough to move even an inch, but the pain in my arm is skyrocketing, and I need some sort of relief. I open my mouth, about to ask mom to get the pain meds, but stop when I see her still staring at the door.
I don’t know what they talked about in the kitchen, and even though there is a part of me that wants to know, I refuse to ask. From the look on my mom’s face, she isn’t happy about it. I can see the anger and hurt brewing in her eyes. The need for retribution for whatever they said is burning brightly.
I have never seen that look in her eyes before. She has always been so calm, cool, and collected. Nothing has ever been able to push her buttons, it’s one of the many things that make her a great lawyer. But those three were in our house for such a brief time, and my mom looks like she is about to wreak havoc.
Mom mumbles something under her breath, far too quietly for me to hear, before she turns on her heels and storms back into the kitchen. The clang of pots and pans is deafening in the quiet house, and she is about to start rage cooking.
At least dinner will be tasty tonight.
I don’t know when the rage cooking started, but it is something I have always been able to remember. Though she may not show her anger on the outside, I have always been able to see it brewing on the inside. Instead of releasing it in a toxic way, my mom has always thrown that anger into a Michelin star gourmet meal.
At least it’s a better way of dealing with anger than exploding.
Fallout by Sleep Theory starts loudly playing from the kitchen, meaning Mom doesn’t want to be disturbed anytime soon. Rage music to go with the rage cooking. Never a good sign. Whatever those three said is getting to her.
Standing from the couch, I walk back to Mom’s room to grab the bottle of medication. Opening the bottle is a struggle with only one good arm, but it opens eventually. Shaking the bottle until one of the pills fell into my hand. I pop the pill in my mouth and swallow it dry. As the medication works its way into my body, the pain is more manageable, and I retreat into the safety of my oversized blanket on the couch.
The door bangs up, bouncing off the wall with a loud boom. A startled scream ripped from my lips as I pulled the blanket over my head.Geez, no wonder I got attacked. I have the worst survival instincts.
“Serena, whatever your middle name is, Gold! What the hell is going on?” Evie's scream pierces through the mild panic my body is experiencing.
I poked my head above the blanket, seeing my best friend still in the doorway. Her face is pure thunder that could easily bring anyone to their knees. Her curly light brown hair looked like a lion’s mane today. Pale blue eyes scanned around, finally spotting me in a ball on the couch. She rushes over to me and engulfs me in a bear hug. I wince at the pain, but the hug feels too good to care right now.
The tension in Evie’s body slowly dissipates the longer she holds on to me. A splash of something wet hits my shoulder while we continue to embrace each other. Soaking in the comfort from each other that we both desperately need.
“What the hell happened to you? When I left, everything was fine. Then I get to school today and you aren’t there. You aren’t answering your phone. The Kings wouldn’t tell me anything, but I could see they were upset about something. And seeing that those three never show any emotion, I knew it had to be about you. What the fuck happened girl?”
I want to tell Evie the truth. Get everything out in the open, but I’m not ready for her to know. As selfish as it may be, I don’t want to scare my friend away from me. She is the first true one I have ever had, and I can’t let go of that just yet.
I know I should tell her. Let her know that being around me isn’t safe. She could have easily gotten hurt that night if she hadn’t had to leave when she did. Evie would never judge me for what is going on. It’s not like it is something I can control, but to keep the small amount of control I have, I need to keep the narrative my version. It’s one of the miniscule things I can do to keep myself from going crazy.
Instead, I take the coward's route and stick to my lie.
“After you left on Saturday, someone broke in. I don’t think they were expecting anyone to be home. I tried to run, but I didn’t make it far. He shot me in the arm right as the guys walked into my house and he ran.”
Evie’s eyes go wide, and her jaw is practically on the floor. Lost for words, which is a first for her, as she takes in the small amount of information I gave her.
“I am so sorry this happened to you. Maybe if I hadn’t left, none of this would have happened. I would have been able to call the police… or something. You wouldn’t have gotten shot and hurt if I were still here that night.” Evie’s voice is choppy as she tries to hold back the tears that threaten to fall.
Hearing her words makes me feel exceptionally happy that I was able to find a friend like her. Cleo never would have said those things to me. She would have spent the entire time talking about how grateful that it happened to me instead of her. That is just the kind of person she is.
“You are so lucky the guys showed up when they did.” Evie remarks.
Yeah, I was, but I still wonder how they knew to come to my house when they did. Was it just a coincidence, or is there something I don’t know about? I refuse to believe they had anything to do with what happened to me, but there is still this small niggling in me that it was just too coincidental that they happened to walk in the exact moment that guy pulled a gun on me.
There is something they are keeping from me. I don’t have any idea what it could be, but I can feel it. The feeling mainly comes from Midas, but I know the three of them well enough to know that if one is keeping a secret, all three of them are.
Originally, I was going to ask them for their help finding this guy. It’s obvious they already want to, but maybe I shouldn’t ask. Not until we have a chance to sit down and discuss everything that is going on. Give them a chance to come clean with whatever. To finally put the bet and the past behind us so we can move forward.
If I don’t get their help, I could always ask Dante, but he is as much of an unknown as the Kings. He is also keeping something from me, but I haven’t spent as much time with him as I have with the Kings.
I know I won’t be able to find this person by myself, having no idea how to do that. I went from being the most sheltered girl to one considering four men who are as deadly as they are beautiful.
It is unfair how spectacularly handsome they all are.
