Page 15 of Bloody Valentine

“Are you prepared for the hunting trip, Hayes?” I said, arriving back at my apartment just shy of the campus. I was actually the one late from my time with Vivian, but I certainly wasn’t going to inform Hayes about that. He blew off anything regarding The Society.

It was a hassle just to get him to attend the rituals and meetings. When it came to business, I kept my mouth shut. He would learn on his own that he can’t escape our bloodline. If the scars on my body didn’t tell him enough already, he would learn the hard way.

“You are the one who’s late. What’s got your panties all riled up?”

Again, I ignored him, grabbing my rifle, knife, and hunting bag from my bedroom.

“Meet me at the bridge at the university. And for the love of god, keep your damn hood on, and don’t forget your mask. We don’t need your groupies fucking up our hunt.”

My brother laughed without humor. “Is there a reason you constantly make me kill people I fuck, Mads?”

Now, I snorted. “Well, Hayes, perhaps if you hadn’t fucked more than half of the women on campus, then you wouldn’t be shaken up about practicing for the rituals with their deaths.”

My body count for sex wasn’t much lower than my kills, but at least I was discreet about it. I couldn’t keep track of the number of times when I was warned that some female was plotting the demise of my brother. I was the one to have to clean up after his stupid messes. It had been that way since our sister died…

That night was still the one that haunted me the most.

Tonight was the night that I had to switch from killing deer to ending a human life. I felt sick at the thought as I grabbed my rifle, knife, and hunting bag. The skeletal mask felt the heaviest in my hands. Humans were so much larger than deer.

Any game I had caught, struggled, and I enjoyed that fight, but a human…they spoke. How was I going to feel when the cries of pain were spoken in English?

Liberty walked to the door and blocked my exit. “Maddox. This is wrong. You know it. Why do you always listen to your father? Why can’t you just make a decision for yourself? If you do this, you will never be the same person again.”

I sighed and patted my sister’s shoulder. “Libby, I don’t have a choice. We both know this.”

Libby frowned, tears falling down her rosy cheeks as she stretched her arms wider to block me.

“You always have a choice, Mads. This is wrong. You are not dad. You aren’t St. Valentine. You are Maddox. But if you do this, you are no better than any of them.”

I gritted my teeth together, trying to think of what I could show Liberty. I had no choice any more than all those before me. The mask felt heavier in my grip as my hands shook.

The Divine had owned me since the second I was born.

My bloodline was a brand of my fate, and if I didn’t kill, I would be killed. Simple as that. Survival was too important. Running would only keep me safe for so long.

“Maddox…please…” I pulled my little sister into a hug.

She and Hayes were all I ever wanted in this fucked up life of ours. If I had it my way, I would run away with them, hold them close, and never let the Divine touch them.

My father walked out of the bedroom, a black cloak in his hand. I swallowed. I was twenty years old. Just a few more days and I would be in that damn cloak before all of the Divine while they carved their name into my skin.

Run…

The thought was so constant it made me sick, but like all of?those who ran from me…it was useless.

My father placed a picture in my hand. It was a small square image of a beautiful woman. She looked so much like my little sister, which was unsettling.

“This is your target, Maddox. Aim strong and aim true. You have one chance to prove you are ready to accept your birthright to the council, or you are no good to any of us. That weak heart of yours will be the death of you. Tonight, your hands are with the Divine. You present the sacrifice. Wear our symbol as you make the kill, and do not fail me, or I will gut you myself.”

I knew this woman. Her name was Abigail. I didn’t know much else, but her entire life was written on the back of the photograph.

My sister didn’t move when our father turned to her. “Move, you ignorant child.”

Liberty was seventeen. She wasn’t a child, but our father never treated her anything more than a maid left in mother’s stead. She looked over at me, her deep brown eyes pleading.

“I said move!” The strike of father’s hand landed on her cheek, and her body went flying to the side. I went to reach her, but his arm blocked me, yanking the mask out of my hand and jabbing it into my chest.

“Maddox. Go. You have a job to do. Leave your sister where she lies. She knew what would come of defying me.”

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