Page 34 of The Erion Triad

“But she doesn’t trust you because she doesn’t trust any men. Shall I show you why? In fact, I’ll let her show you. Then you’ll know she’ll never let you in. Not fully. You’ll never mate-sync and I will always be here in her mind. Show them, Lucie. Show them why you can never be their mate,” Grant said.

“No!” Juliran yelled, but there was truth in Grant’s words. She needed to show them, otherwise they would never believe she wasn’t their mate. They would never leave and they would never find the real mate.

She wanted them like she wanted her next breath. They were caring, sexy, and considerate and thought that they loved her, but she didn’t believe it was true. How could it, when they didn’t know her? The best way was to show them in every, technicolor, gory detail. Faced with the truth, they would finally understand.

“Take them on a journey, Lucie. Let them see. Show them how unworthy you are. Show them how unlovable you are. Show them why they would never want you,” Grant said.

Yes, that’s exactly what she needed to do. When they saw the facts, they would thank her for saving them.

“We feel you, Lucie. We already know what’s inside of you,” Kyel said.

“How could you? I’ve never told you. You don’t know. I’m going to show you and then you will know the truth,” Lucie said.

She closed her eyes and gave in. The fog gushed over her. She was caught in complete whitewash and when it cleared, she stood, facing them three of them. Grant was nowhere to be seen, but between them was a scarred kitchen table and a dirty, cluttered kitchen.

A small girl sat at a chair that was too big. Her forehead came up to the rim of the table, but there was no booster seat for her to sit on. She tucked her legs under her and perched on her knees.

A man sat on the opposite chair, reading a paper. His clothing was dirty and crumpled, as was the dress of the woman cooking at the stove. Something sizzled in a pan, spitting drops of fat all over the floor. A skinny dog snuffled under her feet, licking up the drops of fat.

“My first foster parents. Or the first ones I can remember, anyway,” she said.

The woman rolled a couple of sausages on the man’s plate and then rolled one onto the plate of the little girl. She went to touch it, but was it too hot and the knife and fork too large for her. Then dog leapt up and grabbed it off her plate. Tears formed in the little girl’s eyes.

“That fuckin’ dog,” the woman growled, and then turned to the little girl. “Don’t think you’re getting another one. That’s all I have. Maybe next time you won’t let the dog take it so easily.”

“Or you’ll learn to live off scraps,” the man said.

“Scraps of food for scraps of girls,” the woman said, chuckling to herself. “I should be a poet!”

“Stick your poetry up your ass and shut up, would ya? I’m trying to eat,” the man said as he chomped through half of the sausage.

Kyel rammed his fist through the man’s face, but it slipped through as though the man was a ghost. Juliran took a step towards the child Lucie, but he hit a barrier and couldn’t get to her. Zaen’s fists clenched and unclenched and his chest heaved as he looked about the sad little kitchen.

“He was right. But I didn’t go hungry. Look,” she said.

The little girl walked past the dog and went to its food bowl. She picked up a handful of pellets and shoved them in her mouth.

“Think you’re a dog, do ya?” The man laughed.

“Woof, little puppy. Woof!” The woman shrieked with laughter and the little girl took another handful of kibble and walked out of the kitchen.

“Lucie, let us take care of you now,” Zaen said.

They still wanted her, despite witnessing that. Sadness filled her heart. They could do so much better. Didn’t they see?

“I’ll show you more,” she said.

White light obliterated the room, and then they found themselves beneath the bleachers of a high school football match. Kids above them yelled and screamed as they watched the game, but the girl and boy beneath the stand weren’t interested in what was happening in the field. The boy was on top of the girl, who was half naked. The pants of the boy were around his knees as he pumped into her. His naked backside pumped up and down in the air as he slammed himself into the girl one last time before he slumped over her, panting.

It was moments before he lifted his head to look at her. “Why’re you crying?”

The girl’s soft sobbing couldn’t be heard below the screams of the crowd above them. She wiped her hands on her cheeks, and then tried to push his much larger body off her.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t want it, you little slut,” he said.

“I… only thought you wanted to… to kiss me,” the girl managed to say between sobs.

“What? A girl like you? Only interested in kissing. You’re nothing but a slut. Everyone knows it and now I’m gonna tell all my friends how you lured me down here and waited for me with no clothes on and your legs apart.”

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