Page 71 of Caged in Flames

All three of my former bullies look over at me then, but quickly turn their attention back to their current prey. They are no longer content to let me handle this myself and honestly, I’m already exhausted that I don’t mind being rescued a little.

"I told you to stay away from Phoenix. I warned you.” Charlie snarls the words at her. “Want to be the next person to see just how evil I can be? I'd hate to have to let your daddy know about your many attempts to climb into my bed.” He shivers with disgust to make his point.

Molly seems to realize that her moment in the spotlight is over. She begins looking around for an exit, but the crowd has closed off in a circle around us.

“Not to mention begging me to fuck you at your family's annual holiday party. Fuck, I'm sure he'd be interested to know that you've been fucking one of the teachers of this fine establishment just to make sure your parents don't find out exactly how stupid you are."

Molly turns bright red and stomps her foot. She sneers at me one last time and the hatred in her eyes tells me this isn't done. She begins forcing her way out of the room.

Clearly everyone is siding with their devil king, not making it easy for her to escape.

"Alright, get your fucking food and get the fuck out." Sawyer orders the crowd and they all rush to obey another of their leaders.

Jude walks over and leans his forehead to mine. He knows that deep down I'm not nearly okay with all of this as I have led on. "You okay, Blue?"

I inhale and exhale three times, then nod.

"I am okay. Or I will be. It's hard to remember that none of us are who we were then. I still have so much negativity mixed in with my emotions for each of you. I know that I want to forgive you, but there's this dark place in my head warring with that idea. A darkness that believes this is all another play to break me down and wants to fight back."

Jude swallows and nods at me. I know it hurts him to hear that. We have worked through so much since coming back to Blisshaven, and I don't want to backtrack on that.

"It's just so fucking frustrating because I know that was all Molly. The problem is that you guys gave her that power. You guys gave her the ammunition. She might have done all of this today, but that's because of everything you did to me in sophomore year. It sucks. I can't get my head around it all." My breathing starts to quicken and I can feel the spiraling of my own mind. Gunner comes over and wraps me up, and Jane reaches out to squeeze my hand.

What I don't expect is for Charlie to say, "Nix, I know that it's our fault. I know that we hurt you, and I can't speak to how you feel right now or in the past. I could try and explain it though. Maybe you and I could talk alone for a bit? I'd like a chance to explain a few things to you. Completely up to you of course."

"What do you think, Nixy? I think it's past due for a conversation, but if you aren't ready then that's okay too." Fuck, Gunner is the best friend slash make-me-come buddy around.

Looking to Jude, he nods. “Go, Blue. I’ll take care of this.” He cringes while waving to the walls.

"Alright, Charlie. Let's talk." At the very least, I need to hear what he has to say. I just hope I don't hate them all even more by the end of it.

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