Page 72 of Monsters

“You didn’t see shit, and you know why?” When I didn’t respond, he took my silence as a cue to continue, “Because if you breathe a word of any of your sorry tales to anyone, and I mean even a hint of it, I will find you, and I promise I will slit your throat.” This time he dragged the length of his finger under my chin to demonstrate.

I flinched at his touch, and he smirked.

“And then do you know what else I’ll do? I’ll sit there and watch as you slowly bleed out and tell you all about the night I broke into your room and did all sorts of nasty things to that little body of yours while you slept. And if you’re an extra bad girl, I’ll tell you all about how you enjoyed it.”

My blood ran cold, my spine stiffening.

He was bluffing.

Or was he?

It couldn’t be true… it just couldn’t.

“You’re lying to me.” I swallowed hard. “You’re lying so I’ll stay quiet.”

“Talk, and you’ll find out just how true it is.” His smile widened with victory. “Breathe, Gemma, or you’ll pass out.”

I hadn’t realized I’d been holding my breath.

“Now… what did you see last night?” he asked, testing me.

My bottom lip trembled, and I couldn’t form the one word he wanted to hear.

He cocked his eyebrow and pressed his body harder, wedging me between him and car. “Tell me, Gem. What did you see?” His fingertips grazed over my chest, pushing aside my gown to reveal his carving. A move to remind me of the control he’d always had over me. The control he’d always have.

“N-Nothing.”

“Good girl.” He took a step back. “Now run back to Mommy and let her know how great her tits look in that dress.” With a wink, he turned on his heel and headed back toward the house, a sadistic laugh left in his wake.

On shaky legs, I rounded the car and staggered back over the driveways to where Mom stood waiting.

“Well?” she asked, oblivious to the interaction.

“I don’t know,” was all I could manage.

“What do you mean you don’t know? You were speaking with Mason for quite some time. Gem? Gemma, are you feeling all right? You look awfully white…” my mother continued, but I couldn’t hear a word. The only sound playing over in my mind was Mason’s voice and his sick promise. Whatever had gone down last night was terrible enough it warranted the Carters to leave town.

Car doors began to slam.

One. Two. Three.

An engine started, and sadness took hold. Mason was in the driver’s seat, his mother next to him, his brother in the back. With the car loaded and house locked, the car began to roll out of the driveway.

Lucas’s sad eyes met mine, and my legs moved without effort toward him. It was like a gravitational pull drawing me to the one person I loved. The one person I was being forced to let go without so much as a goodbye. The car picked up pace, and so did I. Lucas turned in his seat watching me, his palm against the window, a solemn farewell.

“Wait,” I mouthed, running after him. My heart was tearing into a thousand pieces, tears blurring my vision. I was too slow. I watched helplessly as the car pulled out onto the road and turned right down the street at speed. Defeated, I fell to my knees on the concrete drive and sobbed until my chest hurt.

“Darling,” Mom spoke gently behind me, her hand caressing my hair in an attempt to soothe the situation. “Darling, I don’t know what’s going on, but this won’t be the last time you see Lucas. You’ll always find each other.” She knelt beside me and pulled me into her arms and kissed the top of my head.

“I promise he’ll find you.”

What she didn’t know was that the wrong brother would not only find me, he’d hunt me down.

---