Page 61 of Twisted in Obsession

My mom rests on the couch with a fresh needle hanging from her veins as Sunny's cries get louder and louder, filling the space with her unmistakable pain. Her heart can't handle that amount of stress without triggering something that could possibly put her in the damn hospital. She's too young to deal with this shit I’ve tried to protect her from.

As I pass through the open kitchen, peeking behind me and making sure my mom hasn't woken up from her stupor. I grab a large knife from the block. If anyone is hurting my baby sister, well, I'll hurt them too. Damn the consequences. When I peek around the corner, my heart drops into my ass, and the knife nearly slips from my fingers.

"Sunny," I choke out, tears falling down my face when she's face down on the bed and a man is on top of her, trying to rip her clothes off, but she’s struggling against him.

“Journey!” she shrieks, drawing the man’s eyes to mine.

“Another one?” he rumbles with pleasure as his devilish blue eyes blow wide, watching me with interest. He’s high as shit, too. Fuck. “Why don’t you come here and join us?” His grin widens. “I won’t even have to pay your mama twice.” The devil rests in his eyes when he undoes his belt and stands, finally removing himself from my sister’s tiny body. She curls in on herself, crying hysterically into the mattress.

“What did you do?” I hiss, clinging to the sharp knife behind my back.

He adjusts his white button-down shirt, popping the first few buttons, and shrugs.

“Nothing yet, Dollface. Her clothes are still on, aren’t they? But something more interesting walked in,” he says, sinking his teeth into his bottom lip. “How about you and I have some fun?” he reaches out, brushing my hair from my face and looking me over.

“I know you,” I mutter, staring into his eyes. “You’re…”

The moment his hands begin to wander down my body, I dissociate and float away, refusing to live through the moment. He can’t hurt me. He can’t hurt her. This is for Sunshine. Everything is for Sunshine. Making sure she’s safe. Making sure she has food in her belly and a smile on her face. Making sure her medicine runs through her veins.

All for Sunny.

It isn’t until my mom’s screams echo through the room that I come out of my fog, drifting back into awareness.

“What did you do, Journey? What did you do?” she shouts, shaking me as she stares down at the blood pooling around me.

And him.

And her.

I blink several times, staring down at his unmoving body. His face and torso are littered with stab wounds. The knife is still protruding from his stomach.

“What did you do!” She sobs now, pulling me away and frantically shoving me onto the couch. “You killed him! Oh my God, you killed him! I can’t believe you killed him!” she shrieks more.

My eyes float to the door when another man enters with a stern look.

“She did it! She’s the one I called you about!” my mother shouts. “She fucking murdered him!” Tears stream down her face when the man moves past me and checks the other’s pulse.

“Don’t worry. We’ll take care of it, okay? I’ll call the boss. You can work it out with him.” Him? Who is him? No. I can’t. But I did it to save Sunshine. He was going to rip through our innocence without a second thought. I protected her.

“I did what I had to do,” I tell my screaming mother, sobbing uncontrollably in the corner of the room. “I had to. For Sunshine.” The second man carries the bad one out with a grunt, shoving him into a vehicle, probably in hopes of getting him help.

But he doesn’t. He dies en route, at least that’s what I’m told. Rightfully so, too. No man should put his hands on a vulnerable child.

At the age of sixteen, I murdered a man to protect my sister from his devilish ways and wandering hands. Giving way to the real devil—my monster—who took me that night as payment for my crimes—killing his best man—and left me in the darkness for three whole days before he decided what to use me for. Some days I wished he had just killed me for what I did. Then, I wouldn’t be a prisoner in my own damn skin. Others, I’m glad he built me into a stronger woman because someday soon, I’ll use that strength against him.

I sit rigidly on the ground of the warehouse, so lost in my memories I don’t notice the sound of something slamming in the distance. Whatever it was knocks me out of the darkness that’s plagued me for three years. I try hard not to think about that night and what I did to land me in this position.

I’m a murderer.

I took someone’s life.

But it was necessary. I’d do anything for my sister. I’d protect her to the ends of the earth.

Whatever my monster did to me in the pits of his basement, I deserved it. For leaving my sister when she needed me the most and coming back in time to slaughter her assailant.

Fuck.

I need to peel myself off the ground and stop dwelling in the past. I need to move forward and do my mission.

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