The long hallway that leads to the room I've never been allowed in, comes into my purview. My feet feel like they are sinking in quicksand, but still I move. An electric pulse moves through the air, and sizzles across the top of my skin.
This is a pivotal moment in our relationship. Nothing that they've ever done or will do can take my love away from them. Our love isn’t based on being perfect, it’s the unconditional kind.
Subconsciously, I've always known what they are. It may take me time to fully process, but there have been signs since I met them. I know that they'll never hurt me, that part remains.
Staring at the door through raised lashes, I brace myself for what we'll find when they open the door. Declan knocks, and I wait patiently for the answers to all of my questions.
Kai walks out first. His Jason mask is firmly in place, and his coveralls are stained with old and fresh blood. This place reeks of death and decay, and the smell clings to him.
Pushing open the door further, he doesn't try to hide anything from me. Gunner's back is to me, he's standing over a body, and I'm not sure if the person is alive or dead.
Slowly, I walk toward him. His eyes meet mine through his mask. His breathing hitches, but he doesn't stop what he's doing.
The man on the table's finger goes flying through the air, blood splatters everywhere, and I don't bat so much as an eyelash. The victim's low scream is delayed, his body is bruised, and battered, and some other parts have already been severed.
Taking off Gunner's mask, I rub his cheek. He needs affirmation that I won't leave him. That I'll never leave him. My love will remain for them unto death and beyond.
I believe in them, if they did this then they had a reason. My gaze roams over what remains of the stranger's face. He seems familiar, then it clicks.
This is Drew, the guy who almost killed me by making me overdose, the guy that was going to rape me. They told me that he'd run away because he was scared of getting caught.
They don’t know that I scoured the internet for information on him. I wasn't his first victim, he'd drugged and raped four girls prior to coming to Pixie Hollow.
His father paid off the powers that be, and his only punishment was being stripped of his baseball scholarship. Then his family exiled him to PHU where he became our problem.
Guilt roars to life inside of me because I didn't face the same tragedy as the others, and I've been so caught up in the Donovan Brothers that I haven't thought much about them lately.
I found each of them in old news stories, I remember their faces, I remember their names. Each one is woven into the tapestry of my life now. We may not have shared the exact same fate, but our lives will forever be intertwined.
Spitting on him, I recite every single name:
"Mica Davison, Savannah Daniels, Kendra Wight, and Allison Richards."
Kai kisses my tears away as they fall down my cheeks. My sweet guy, who's only sweet to me, and I love him for it.
Gunner hands me a blinged out Jason mask, I run my fingers over the rhinestones. Finally, I have a mask of my own. Maybe that’s why I hated theirs so much, because I wanted to be one of them. It must have taken someone hours to make. I kiss his lips, to show him how much I’ll cherish it.
Taking his knife, I place my new mask on my face. Now, I understand what the Brotherhood is all about. It's time they open their doors to more than just boys, because my name is Feminine Rage, and we will no longer sit on the sidelines to be raped, drugged, or thrown away.
My resolve is made, he will draw his last breath today. I hold up the knife and place it through his heart in one vicious thrust. Then I strike him four more times. One cut for us all. Even if they’ll never know it, they helped me execute him today.
Finally, we have our revenge. He shouldn't get to live a carefree life. He forfeited that the moment he touched me. My lovers caught and tortured him all for me.
Unhinged as it might seem, that's their love language. They will protect me for the rest of my life, and I'll do the same.
While the adrenaline is still running through my veins, I have no regrets about what I just did, because a world without Drew, is a far better one.
THIRTY-ONE
Parent’s Weekend
I’m not ready for this weekend. That is all.
-Presley
After killingDrew it was like a dam broke inside of me, and all the places that didn't fit before, finally found their way to each other.
The stars aligned and now my world is set to complete. I don't know all of the logistics, but I'm more like my guys than I ever dreamed.
