AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I watched for Tommy to pop up out of the water, wailing like a baby. But all I saw was the rain pelting the surface. I waited and waited until a sick feeling crashed down on me.
“Why hasn’t he come up yet?”
Toby peered over the edge. “Don’t know.”
I kicked off my shoes and jumped into the lake, frantically searching for Tommy…
“Thank you. Thank you so much. You’re a spectacular crowd.” Madeline’s voice pulled me back to the present. “I have one more for you. I want to see all of you on your feet and dancing. Do you like Gretchen Wilson?” Madeline smiled while clapping ensued. “Yeah? Excellent because I’m ‘Here for the Party!’”
Emilee and Steph dashed toward the stage, and Lynx followed.
“I’m out. I’ll catch you later.” Hero left toward the clubhouse.
I couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. Madeline shook her hips with attitude, belting out the lyrics.
My throat constricted, and my hands trembled. I grabbed the whiskey and guzzled it straight from the bottle.Shit. Fuck, no.
“Storm? What’s wrong?”
I heard Sugar’s voice, but I was too far gone as I stared numbly at the angel on stage.
Madeline can’t be the same person. Fuck, she can’t be the same person.
“You okay there, Storm?” Justin asked next. “You look a little shell-shocked, son.”
Sugar patted my shoulder. “Talk to me. What’s happening?” The worry in her voice did me in.
“I… Ah…” I drank more whiskey, unable to speak as I heard the faint sound of thunder rumbling.
The song ended, and clapping broke out once again. I looked around at all the smiling faces but stopped on one perplexed man in the crowd.
Toby.
I glanced at Madeline. She was smiling and bowing. The moment she noticed Toby, the ground disappeared, and I was free-falling.
Life, as I knew it with my Angel, crumbled right before my eyes. I couldn’t do a goddamn thing to stop it.
Excruciating pain rolled through my body, flooding my veins. It felt like my heart stopped beating as my world imploded.
And I couldn’t fuckin’ stop it.
“Storm, honey.” Sugar shook my arm. “Justin, do something.”
Madeline didn’t blink, clearly in shock, staring at her brother. Her. Brother.
Her eyes swooped my way, then back to Toby, then back to me as if piecing the puzzle together. The mike in her hand hit the ground. A loud clanging bled through the speakers and the crowd froze.
She looked at me as she stepped down the stairs and ran into her brother’s arms.
Every part of my body shut down. I felt numb and couldn’t speak even though I heard Sugar and Justin calling my name.
I swayed as I stood from the bench, my legs weak, almost boneless.
Sugar grabbed my arm, but I ripped it away as my stomach spasmed. I took off, bursting through the gate and emptied my guts into a bush as little Maddy Hamilton’s face flashed behind my eyes. Stomach acid burned my esophagus as a second wave hit, bending me over to spew into the shrub.
“Storm, please talk to me. What’s going on?”
Sugar’s words fell on deaf ears. I was in so much fuckin’ pain as my world crashed and shattered, much like the day my life changed forever. When I’d savagely thrown a naked boy into the lake because of my own selfish desires.
Once I stopped puking out my guts, I bolted for my bike, needing to get far away. The shame and disgust I felt was too much. I might be Storm to everyone who knew me but to me, I wasSavage Storm. A selfish, motherless, fatherless, worthless piece of no good shit… A savage bastard who had destroyed a loving family and the little firecracker who had made my life brighter.
Jesus Christ. My Angel was Maddy Hamilton, the little sister of the boy I killed…
TO BE CONTINUED IN…
