Page 86 of Into The Darkness

I nodded.

“Motherfucker!” Walsh shouted, and some heavy footsteps pounded down the hallway. When I turned in the direction, my father was standing in the living room.

“Dad?” I asked. This was a surprise. I bounced back to Walsh.

“He came here to surprise you with dinner,” he retorted with his hands folded over his chest.

“What is the matter?” my dad asked.

Walsh turned me around, and before I could object, my dad saw what Walsh was pointing at.

“When did this happen?” I didn’t recognize my dad’s voice. He usually was sweet and calm. They were both acting like different men.

“It was one of my first nights here. I woke up and had no recollection of what happened. I asked Ash, but he told me that it was all handled.”

There was a pregnant pause before Walsh laughed hysterically. Not the laughing where a joke was funny, no, this was evil and vindictive.

“That is a fucking joke, Ember.”

My dad peered closer at the tattoo. “This is different though. Normally there is a ‘D’ for Den but the ‘O’?” They were silent for a moment.

“He fucking branded her. I am going to murder him even more than I wanted to now.”

I shot my head in direction. “What?!” I screamed. “You are not murdering Ash.”

My brother turned around, and my dad spun me so I was in front of him. “Ember, you were branded by Ash. ‘O’ is for the Ortiz Cartel. His last name.”

“That’s a lie,” I said.

“No, sweet girl. It’s common that people here who have been at the Den get branded with a D tattooed somewhere on their body. It’s to show everyone else that the Den owns them, their body, and ultimately their life” What. The. Actual. Fuck.

“No,” I whispered, my voice cracking.

“I am so sorry, Ember,” my dad said, and it felt like the world was collapsing on me. Ash wouldn’t have done this. I always assumed it was some drunk asshole.

Something didn’t make sense though . . .

“Who usually gives the go-ahead to do the tattoo?” I asked, but I already knew the answer. I needed to hear it aloud, I think.

“The leader,” Walsh whispered, and the dam inside me broke. Tears spilled from my eyes, and my body couldn’t stop shaking. He did this to me? Even though he knew how much it upset me? How much shame it brought to me? He would agree to tattooing the initial to his last name on me after drugging me?

“Why was it not a D, though? Why is it an O?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” he whispered.

“I-I can’t breathe,” I said, feeling a rush of emotion bubbling in my chest. One of them guided me over to the couch. “He branded me. Ash . . . branded me.”

“Ember,” my dad continued while Walsh and he kneeled in front of me. “There is something else you need to know.”

I paused.

“Dad, do you think now is really a good time?” Walsh asked.

“Yes” was his response. “Ember deserves to know the truth now.”

“Wh-what truth?” My hands were shaking as Walsh pressed his hands into mine, taking a seat next to me. I looked down at my dad when he spoke.

“Mr. Ortiz, Ash’s father, was the one who killed your mother, Ember.”

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