Page 21 of Hostile Saint

Dagger rubbed his eyebrow not covered by the patch. “I must admit, my mind is spinning, too. Kid, when did they become friends? When did all this begin?”

“I was too young to know when it all began… I just remember pain. Confusion. And my parents always believed it was accidents I had caused myself due to being lefthanded and all my injuries on my right side. See?” I tapped my temple. “They’re smart.” I begged myself to keep sharing details. “I was so young I barely knew how to talk. Therefore, unable to tell, explain. Then there was the punishment for trying.”

“For trying to tell your parents?” asked Vice.

“Yep. Just pointing to my brothers when my dad would ask what happened to me had the pain getting worse when he wasn’t looking.”

After a moment, Lynx asked, “How does Lacey fit into the picture?”

Thinking of her and all her glory, a faint smile crossed my lips. “The only friend I ever had when I was very young was a little girl named Lucey.” My smile grew, knowing I found her again. “At least, that is how I pronounced her name at three or four. One day, at her house, with her own brothers involved, mine helped zip her up inside a duffle bag. Since we were at the top of the stairs, I cried, knowing something bad was going to happen, but none of our brothers cared. In fact, now that I’m older, I realize they fed on our fear.” I wiped a hand down my face. “Down the stairs she went.”

“Jesus H. Christ,” grumbled Lynx, utterly disgusted.

Through my nostrils, I tried to pull in enough air to not vomit and keep talking. “My brothers were so pissed because I didn’t stop crying. During her plummet, Lucey had hit her head and was dazed and injured. When she was finally set free from the bag, I was inconsolable. So, Damien and Crow took me home. Never to return. As time passed, they eventually convinced me Lucey was a made-up friend and didn’t really exist.” Bile rose in my throat. “I fucking believed them.” I swallowed down the regret. “From that night on, she was on her own. From that night on, when they weren’t torturing me, she faced the four of them alone.” My nostrils were no longer big enough to help me breathe. My mouth popped open to help feed my desperate lungs. “My poor Pretty Girl.”

“How many years,” asked Dagger, “before you found her again?”

My tongue felt swollen and misplaced in my mouth as I croaked out, “Eleven.” I quickly stood, unable to handle all the erupting emotions. Having the need to run again, I tried to stay put by grabbing onto the back of my chair, but it didn’t work. I ended up dragging my chair away from the table as I walked backward, wanting away from my horrendous truths. “Once the last brother joined the rest in college, Lace and I were in high school.” Leaning on the back of the chair, my head fell forward. “I saw her from across the campus… The sun was shining down on her golden hair like a beam of light I was to follow.” My head rolled to hang back. I looked to the dark sky, remembering the sight of her. “She was like a living goddess.” My hand gripped the chair tighter with anguish. “A goddess that ended up being Lucey.” Seconds from completely unraveling, I growled, “They had already been raping her by then.”

Her mom should never have believed their lies…

On that porch, all my restraint vanished. My mind snapped.

With a roar I couldn’t control, I flung my chair into the air, over the railing, and watched it fall to the ground.

Then I fell, too, onto my hands and knees… as my wounds began to bleed.

CHAPTER FIVE

Giving Knowledge

My eyes opened to see Lynx sleeping in a chair next to my bed. Through one of the bedroom windows, morning sunbeams floated. I wondered if Lacey was seeing the same beams. That made me think of her beauty. On my back, I lifted my hand, hoping to be able to reach the warmth… but I couldn’t. So, I slid my foot out from under yet another blanket I had been covered with. When my bare toes got to touch the sunlight, my throat tightened.

Lace, I miss you.

I prayed that the doctor who was caring for her was a good person and would keep her safe. I also thought of my brothers. I wondered where they were and if they knew Lace and I had lived.

My stitches stretching, and causing discomfort, had me relaxing my straining foot.

I laid there in the quiet for a while, just trying to adjust to all that had transpired over the last seventy-two hours. It was amazing how much could happen over such a short amount of time.

As the beams of light shifted and drifted, I realized sunbeams had to keep moving because that is a part of life. Knowing that the next morning I would wake to, I would have a chance to feel them again, I thanked whoever or whatever was conducting the signs that led Lynx… to me.

“You alright?” his groggy voice asked me.

A tad embarrassed, I didn’t look at him. “I’m sorry about last night.”

He leaned forward, grabbing my arm and giving it a friendly jostle. “Pup, you’re doing it again. Stop being so hard on yourself.”

Staring at my hands laying on my stomach, I nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“Ready for some chow?”

Is Lacey being fed so well?

“I think so.”

“Good.” He rose from his chair with a stretch. “There’s some fresh clothes on your dresser. More will be dropped off today. Sorry you can’t get all your bandages wet in a shower. Maybe in a couple days.” He left my room.