Page 101 of Blades of Obsession

“Hey babe, what’s up?” she answers, her voice cheerful. The absolute opposite of what I feel right now. Why can’t my life be easygoing and happy like hers always is?

“Hey. Um, I was just wondering if you had your dad’s number?”

“As a matter of fact, I do. And I would love to give it to you.” She laughs, and for a second, it actually lightens the weight on my chest. After a moment, she recites the number, and I pull up my notes app to jot it down.

“Thanks, Frankie.”

I take a deep breath before calling John. Sometimes he can be an asshole and that’s the last thing I want to deal with right now.

“Hello? Who is this? This is my personal line. How did you get this number? I will track—”

“It-It’s Amelia.”

“Oh, Amelia. What do you need?”

“I just wanted to know by any chance if my dad was in any kind of danger?”

“No.”

“No?” I perk up.

“Wait, hold on. Give me a second to confirm.” He leaves the line for a few moments before returning. “Why do you ask? He may or may not be.”

“I got some kind of letter. With a bigSand a snake wrapped around it as a signature. Saying that he was. I figured theSstood for…”

“Hm.” There’s another long pause. “Oh, yeah. He’s definitely in trouble. Actually, once you’ve gotten that letter you probably may have...” He blows out a breath. “Whew, like maybe forty eight hours left.”

Forty eight hours?!

The beat of my heart picks up, pounding against my chest. It’s so fast I can hear it in my ears. “Oh my God, can you help? Try to call them off or-or something?”

John chuckles. “Nowthatwould be no.”

“No?”

“I mean, I would if I cared.”

This is the asshole bit I was talking about that I don’t have time for. “Can you stop being a douche for just one day? And act like a normal human who cares about something other than yourself?!” I practically yell, not able to hold it in. Everything is spiraling and I don’t know how to fix it.

“That’s the thing, I don’t care. Why don’t you call Blade, I’m sure he’d care. And let me let you in on a little warning.” His voice drops to a menacing tone. “The group comes beforeanyandeverything. That’s why we’ve been able to stay strong so long. If you mess up the future of the group, it’s not going to be pretty. Over three hundred people are gonna be looking for someone to blame, and they’ll blame you.”

“Me?”

“Yes,you,” he sneers. “When I retire, Blade is the only one fucked up enough to be the next president and lead how I’ve been leading. And how all the presidents before me have been leading. It requires resilience, and doing things that would make the average man faint. These other kids that pass through? I watch them every year—weak. And they’re only getting weaker. Even my own son. They can’t even stand the sight of blood. Or endure torture for more than twenty minutes without screaming for their mama. Pathetic. None of them are leaders. And theolder members who are leaders will be too old by the time I retire. Now for some reason, Blade picked you to become obsessed with, and therefore lead by his side as First Lady. I don’t know why because you’re not all that special.”

I scoff, and he continues.

“So, as you can see, there’s a lot of weight on your shoulders. Don’t fuck it up.”

“But… we’re not together anymore. So the blame can’t be on me, and someone else will have to take that position as First Lady.”

He laughs. “You are about as dumb as a rock, aren’t you? Not together anymore. Do you really think he would let that happen? I can’t even sit here and talk to someone this oblivious.” The call ends with a sharp click.

I stare at the phone, in absolute disbelief. Someone needs to choke him to death or drown him in the nearest lake.

Despite this, I guess John’s right. Blade would be the only person that I could call for help in this situation. That would make me look pathetic, though. It hasn’t even been a full two days yet, and what? I already can’t survive on my own without his help? I chew on my lower lip, weighing my options.

I’m just gonna send a quick text. I don’t need to be hearing his deep voice right now.

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