Page 15 of Bloody Seven

A bright, smiling face stands out, pulling me to the photo like there’s an invisible string connecting us. With a shaky hand, I reach down to grasp it. What stares back at me is a group of men with their arms around each other's shoulders and my very dead fiancé smiling like it's the best day of his life.

What the actual fuck?

My chest heaves as sorrow consumes me once again, but now it’s mixed with anger. I'm not quiet and controlled with it this time. How is there a picture of Drew here? It looks like it was taken right around the time he and I met because he has the same haircut with the lines in it.

I glance at each of the faces in the picture and notice another that looks familiar. Is that Drew's douche friend from the club? I’m not positive because I didn’t get that good of a look at him that night. He looks like someone else too, but I can't place it right now. I'm too angry. A total of six guys stand there, three of them familiar to me, and it makes me lose the last morsel of sanity I have left.

"WHAT IS THIS?!" I scream as I march back to the bedroom.

Corbin jolts awake just as I make it to the bed. His face is full of confusion as his wide eyes study me, trying to figure out what set me off. He looks at the photo that I shove toward his face, and he grimaces.

"Why do you have that? What's wrong with you?" he tosses out groggily.

"What the hell is this?" I ask again, demanding some sort of explanation that makes even the smallest bit of sense.

"Cupid, I'm going to need you to calm down," he says while running a hand up his face and back his hair.

"Stop calling me that!" I yell. "Why do you have a picture of my dead fiancé in your apartment?"

"Listen, it's the middle of the night, and I have no idea what you're going on about. That photo is of me and some of my brothers from college."

A fraternity? That doesn't make any sense. Drew never told me he was in a fraternity. "Drew wasn't in a fraternity," I state plainly, tossing the photo onto the bed and marching out of the room.

I stomp into the kitchen, pulling open drawers until I find what I'm looking for. My hand wraps around the base of the knife before I go back to where a very confused Corbin lies in bed.

"Poppy, you need to calm down," he tries, but I only see red.

Did he know who I was the entire time? Did he know Drew was my fiancé, and is that why he wanted to sleep with me? The dots finally connect. I think Corbin's friend from last night is the same douche that Drew tried to introduce me to the night he died. That's why he looked familiar.

Rage fills me, and I place the knife to Corbin's throat. "Tell me how you knew Drew for real, or I'll kill you."

He tries to push himself up, but I dig in deeper, holding my stance and not allowing him any space to sit up further without cutting himself.

"I mean it. You wouldn't be the first lying piece of shit I've held a knife to." I let it slip out. FUCK! I didn't mean to say that. My mind is in too many places right now.

"Poppy," Corbin states calmly. "Drew was one of my brothers in college. The six men in that picture were all inducted intoThe Collection at the same time. That's me, Drew, Trent, Devlin, Raiden, and Ghost. Well, his real name is Casper, but he goes by Ghost."

"No, Drew wasn't part of a fraternity. Why do you keep saying that? He would have told me."

"He didn't tell you because it's not the kind of brotherhood that people know about."

"You better talk faster because it's becoming more and more tempting to just slit your throat and just be done with it."

"Can you move that? I'll tell you what you want to know, but I'm not going to do it like this."

"You'll do it however I tell you to!" I assert and dig the knife into his skin, making blood drip down his neck.

It's not a deep cut, but it was enough to draw blood and make a point. I won't let him talk me down so he can get the upper hand and then call the cops on me or something. I'm sure I look like a crazy bitch, but that's how I feel, so whatever. I need to know how Drew is connected to this supposedly random man that just happened to be the first man I've had sex with in six years.

"Cupid, if you’re thinking I knew you were Drew’s girl, I swear to you I didn't. I knew he met someone, but I had no idea it was you."

"I said stop calling me that!" I sneer while digging the knife into his skin again. "Talk before I take away your ability to do it permanently."

"I already told you it's a brotherhood. Well, more of a society. They'll kill both of us if they find out you know anything, but I swear I'll explain."

His eyes are full of remorse. I can tell he is being sincere, so I pull back slightly to give him the chance to say whatever the fuck he’s talking about. Maybe this means I can kill him after all.

“Then do it,” I say, narrowing my eyes.

---