Page 41 of Unholy

“Just to make sure everything was going okay.”

“Okay. Enough of this shit. I can’t sit here and be a party to this. It’s fucking draining me,” Tristan declares as he stands to his feet. He walks across the porch, rips me off the swing, and crashes his lips to mine. He kisses me so hard I can feel his teeth when they nip mine, drawing blood. I almost moan into his mouth, but I hold it back.

“What is this?” Ben roars as I pull back now. “You’re with him?”

“Yeah, choir boy, she is. Now run along and say a prayer for all to be well tonight,” Tristan tells him, rolling his eyes.

“This is insane, Ash! What are you thinking? What are you doing with someone like him? I knew I shouldn’t have left you to this. To him! I should have stayed and protected you. It’s not too late, Ash. We can fix this,” he rambles as Tristan laughs. I slap at him, but he only laughs harder.

“She doesn’t want you, pretty boy. Just go home. I mean, honestly, you’re making yourself look like a fool right now. It’s almost pathetic,” Tristan adds.

“Does your father know? No. He would have punished you for this. You need to be punished for this,” Ben sneers when Tristan moves. He wraps his hand around Ben’s neck and slams him against the house.

“If I find out that either of you laid a hand on her, you’ll be in an unmarked grave. You got me?”

“You think he’s going to let you be with her? He won’t. You’re not one of us,” Ben tells him.

“Unmarked, Ben. Your poor mommy won’t know where to look for you, but I will, and I’ll show up every fucking day just to pisson your grave. Hell, I might even fuck her over it,” he tells him, my heart kicking up a notch.

“You won’t get away with this,” Ben warns before Tristan leans in and presses a kiss to his forehead.

“Get the fuck out of here before I make you my little bitch,” he tells him. He releases Ben, and he turns, taking off down the steps.

“This isn’t over,” he calls out.

“Come back anytime, princess,” Tristan tells him.

“What was that?”

“What was what?”

“You couldn’t have waited for me to tell him?”

“Ash, it was becoming boring and you know I can’t stand boring.”

“You didn’t even give me a chance,” I tell him.

“Yeah, I did. You didn’t take it. In fact, you took too long.” I hear the car as it pulls into the driveway and I hurriedly glance down at my clothes before swallowing hard. I wasn’t planning on staying in these clothes when they came home, but there’s nothing I can do now.

Tristan steps closer to me, and I step back. His eyes move from mine to theirs and back again.

“Don’t you dare,” he growls low in his throat.

“I’ll be punished.”

“Like fuck you will be.”

“Just let it happen, Tristan.” I ignore his angry stare when my dad and Amy come up onto the porch. His smile fades first when he sees what I’m wearing.

“Get inside and get that off.” No, hi, how are you? Are you okay? I knew this was coming, and I rushed inside, ready to take my punishment. I can vaguely hear Tristan and his mom talking on the porch when the screen door slams shut. I’m on my knees on the broomstick, praying to God he goes easy on me. A tear slides down my cheek when I hear the door close behind us.

The unmistakable sound of the whip flies through the air before snapping against my back.

“You’ve sinned. You’ve sinned against God!” My dad roars this time. Another snap, and the door flies open.

“Ash, stand the fuck up. Now.” It’s a demand from Tristan, but I don’t know if I should do it. “Now!” He screams. I jolt and stand up, turning to face him as tears spill down my cheeks. Tristan stands there with a gun in his hand, scratching his head with the barrel as he looks between the two of us.

“You know, all I wanted for most of my life was for my mom to be happy.” He glances at her where she stands in the doorway, her arms crossed over her chest. Then he turns back to my dad. “And out of all the son of a bitches in the world, she came across you.”

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