Page 25 of Sick Bargain

Remiel’s eyes dart to the door at the sound of the voice. He bends to pick up his boxers, but I stop his hand and push him behind me just as the door bangs open. I’ve been waiting for this.

Remiel gasps, truly shocked, but I pull a gun from my pants and hold it against Soren’s forehead.

“Don’t do this, Ghost.”

“My fucking brother!” he seethes. “I warned you not to, Krypt.” Yeah, he told me to drop the bargain, but he’s fuck if he thinks I’m gonna listen.

Soren has been my best friend since we were thirteen, but he became my brother when we were seventeen. When we pledged to Vile House together. When we got our new names—he became Ghost and I became Krypt—we made a vow to always protect each other. Remiel was never supposed to know, but now he’s staring at a new version of his brother, afraid that he’ll learn the terms of our bargain. Ghost demanded that I end this bargain, and I didn’t listen, so here we are.

Wedged between the two of them, I realize how different they are despite their physical similarities. They definitely look related, both having the same blue eyes and tanned skin tone, but Remiel’s hair is more golden-hued compared to Ghost’s dirty blond. It’s their energy that differs vastly; Remiel is all vulnerabilities and hidden darkness, but his brother lets his darkness take centre stage. Ghost does nothing to hinder his sinister personality, but Remiel hasn’t learned to be comfortable in his yet.

“Soren!” Remiel gasps.

“Ghost,” we both say, even though my gun is still between his eyes.

“One beating wasn’t enough,” Ghost says, his evil eyes not wavering from mine. “Fuck you for doing this, Krypt. Fuck you for all of it.” He wraps his hand around the barrel of the gun and presses it harder against his forehead. “We had a deal.”

“And now I have a new one,” I tell him. He knows what it means. For as long as I’ve known him, he’s tried to keep his brother alive. He pushed him away four years ago after their dad died, but it was a way to protect him. To give Remiel space while Ghost tried to figure out how to end their family curse.

“Fuck,” Ghost seethes, shoving away. The gun drops to my side, and Ghost peers around me. “Fuck you for making this bargain, Remi. You were never supposed to come here!”

But Remiel isn’t answering because he not only just found out that I’m a Vile Boy, but that his brother is, too. Remiel thought Soren was in The Misfits gang, but that’s just a cover. I warned him that everything he knew was about to change…

Ghost reaches around me to grab his brother, but I grab his wrist and warn him away. “Remi, look at me,” Soren demands. Remiel whimpers, but he must look at his brother, using my body as a shield to hide his nakedness. Funny how he swapped me from villain to protector so quickly. “He won’t tell me what you bargained, but I swear to fuck if you do anything to get yourself killed, I’ll end this fucking world. Got it?”

Remiel is quietly crying behind me. Up until this moment, Remiel figured Soren hated him and would use him to avoid the curse. I can feel his body shaking against my back, so I look at Ghost and warn him with a look. “Get out.”

“Fuck my brother and I’ll kill you, Krypt.” He backs out, grabbing the edge of the door. “Can’t fucking believe you.” Heslams it shut and I lock it now that the confrontation is over and out of the way.

When I turn around to find Remiel staring at the floor, trying not to cry, I grab a fistful of his hair and force him to his knees. He cries harder, but his eyes meet mine when I jerk his head back. Such brilliant blue mixed in with all those tears.

“Truth hurt, hero?”

“Yes!” he yells at me. “Fuck you! Fuck all of you!”

“Feel left out?” I ask, my voice taunting. “Hurts finding out your whole life is a lie, doesn’t it? When those you love keep secrets from you and always push you to the outside.”

Remiel’s eyes shift down my body, but he’s not seeing me. He’s mourning the truth he just lost. He’s reworking the puzzle pieces of his life to fit this new reality. He’s wondering if anything is as it seems and who else has been lying to him. While he breaks, I crouch in front of him, ready to grab all the jagged bits of him and rework them to my liking until he’s put together in a way that benefits me as much as it does him.

“What’re you gonna do now, hero? Break all the rules of our bargain and tell the town who we are?”

He wants to spit out the word ‘yes’ just to hurt me, but he purses his lips together, knowing that won’t benefit him. Remiel is smart, but he succumbs to stupidity and irrational behaviour just like the rest of us. Anger creates chaos, and when it’s all churned up with hurt and pain, the destructive path always looks most appealing. I understand that. Have taken that path more than I care to admit.

“How long?” he asks. “How long have you two been in Vile House? How long has my brother been lying to me? Who else in my life is a fucking traitor?” His questions grow louder the more brazen he gets. “Why’d you kill that girl? Why’d you rape me over her body? Why the fuck did you take my bargain, Krypt?”He shoves at me, and I love it so much that I force him to stand and push him onto my bed. “Why?!” He kicks at me.

He has a lot of information to process, but now isn’t the time.

“Where’s Cain?!” he screams, voice cracking.

I flip him onto his stomach, push his legs together, and sit on them. He fights it, but the struggle just makes my dick harder. His tight ass rests between my legs, and fucking hell, I’ve never wanted to fuck something harder. The way he bucks beneath me only heats my blood and draws the attention of my monsters. I don’t know where they come from or what they are, but I know they’re what people see and call me sick for. There’s something inside me that isn’t right, and I used to think it was a festering illness I needed to heal and purge, but I’ve become attached to it. I’m comfortable with what lives inside my head and taints my heart. We’ve learned to coexist.

But I still crave understanding. I still want a diagnosis.

“Please,” Remiel begs. “Just tell me where Cain is.”

Probably at Menace’s mercy, but I don’t say that. “I told you he was alive. I also told you not to ask about other men while you’re naked.”

“Then let me get dressed!” he shouts, but I push on the back of his head to drown his words in the blankets.

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