Page 19 of Soulless Angel

Clover pasted a dramatic pout onto her pretty face. “You suck, Blaze.”

I put some fresh coffee grounds into the coffee maker. “Humor me. Otherwise, I’m going to think you getting drunk at school is something I should be worried about.”

With an exasperated sigh, she sat on a stool at the island, tapping her fingers on the counter. When I slid a cup of fresh coffee in front of her, she shot me a pointed look while taking a drink.

“Having a few drinks at lunch doesn’t mean I have a problem,” she said, her voice edged in annoyance.

Leaning on the counter across from her, I propped my chin in my hand. “You said you had a drink, then a couple. Now it’s a few. You’re not helping your case here.”

Clover grabbed the mug and slid off her stool. “I’m going to take a shower. Someone else can cook supper tonight. I’m not in the mood.”

I watched her leave the room, listening to her soft footsteps on the stairs. She’d been through so much. Too much. It made sense that eventually it would all become too much for her. The thought of watching Clover sink into a bad place left a sour taste in my mouth. I wouldn’t let that happen.

Cash and Daire came home half an hour later. Clover had yet to come back downstairs. They found me sitting on the couch smoking a joint, staring out the window into the backyard.

“What’s your deal?” Daire asked, punching me in the shoulder. “You look like you’re having a music video moment.”

“I’m worried about Clover,” I said, hoping she didn’t overhear me talking about her. “She was drinking today. At school. That’s not like her. I don’t want her breaking down. Maybe this shit with Paradise is too much for her after everything that happened with Brady.”

Daire sat down next to me, plucking the joint from my fingers. “You’re telling me you’ve never gone to class high or something? I’m sure it’s nothing. Clover is fierce. There’s so much more to her than she lets on. She can handle this.”

I hoped he was right. Clover had proven herself to be a badass who could face a hard situation and see it through. That didn’t mean those situations didn’t leave their mark on her.

“We’ll keep an eye on her,” Cash said. He sat down at the small table, opening his laptop. “We won’t let her spiral. This problem with Paradise will be over soon. Then we won’t owe the Sinners jack shit.”

Running both hands through my hair, I slumped back on the couch. We’d been involved in doling out our own brand of justice for a while now. We’d learned to roll with the punches. That was before Clover had come along. Now she was part of this too. That changed everything.

We had to protect her. From the world. From those we went after. Even from herself. I just hoped it didn’t come to that.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CLOVER

Snuggled up next to Cash in his bed, I should have been entirely at ease. Content. Instead, my mind raced.

Cash had fallen asleep a while ago. We’d been watching a movie to settle down after supper. I had school work to do but didn’t feel up to it. After the alcohol wore off, I felt tired. Expecting to sleep, I’d crawled into bed with Cash and let him choose the movie. Some action flick with some action hero actor guy.

By the time the credits rolled, Cash was asleep. I was still wide awake, frustrated at my inability to shut off my brain. Blaze had known right away that something was wrong. So had Raina. Maybe I needed to admit it to them, or at the very least, admit it to myself.

I missed the days of blissful ignorance. When my sole focus was school and my social life. The horrors of the world hadn’t been on my radar then. Not really. It had been easier to tune it all out, because there was nothing I could do about it anyway.

Now I was part of a team working to take down those who worked in the shadows. It was on me to figure out how to stop the dark web content being made at Paradise.

I laid there listening to the sounds of the night. The occasional car rolling down the street outside. A dog barkingseveral houses over. Cash’s even breathing next to me. Closing my eyes, I willed sleep to come. I should be tired. Why wasn’t I tired?

After what felt like hours, I gave up. Getting out of bed, I grabbed my laptop from my bag. Not wanting to disturb Cash with the light from the screen, I sat on the floor. I fired up the laptop, not knowing where to start. The Sinners would probably say using my personal device for this was stupid, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t doing anything wrong. It was research.

My first few searches for snuff film and dark web content didn’t get me very far. Basic results talking about the existence of such content. I kept going, trying various types of phrasing and keywords. Finally, I started to get somewhere.

I came across a message board where users discussed such things. They shared links and photos. At first the photos weren’t all that bad. Images of people tied up and some sexual imagery that pushed my personal boundaries. Once I began clicking the links, I fell deep down a rabbit hole.

It soon became clear that there certainly was a market for the content being made at Paradise. Sick and twisted people who were willing to pay top dollar for photos and videos of such activity. A photo of a woman being savagely abused popped up, making me gasp.

I glanced back at the bed. Cash still slept peacefully. Must be nice.

Turning back to the screen, I kept scrolling and clicking. I couldn’t look away. This was much worse than what I’d witnessed at Paradise myself. So much sicker. I saw things I would never unsee. There was no amount of brain bleach that would cleanse these visuals from my mind.

I kept telling myself that one more click, one more page, and I would be done. The further I went, the sicker thingsbecame. Eventually, it was much more than my psyche could take. My stomach rolled. Oh shit.

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