Page 95 of Unorthodox
I hear something,before the sun has risen.
The floorboards creaking down the hall. The subtle shift as my new guard moves from his position by the door.
My new guard, because Dante has been dead for four days.
Four days.
I didn’t know him. Never even learned his last name. But it doesn’t stop the ache in my chest when I think about Max holding that gun to his head.
He didn’t want to kill him. But he did it, because Max is terrified of betrayal.
I don’t know what him and Mamie were arguing about when I walked in on his breakdown, but I saw Mamie’s face when I confessed to her what happened to Dante.
She had come in my room, with clean clothes.
Had asked where he was.
I’d told her about his last words.
She’d left the room in tears.
There was a moment afterward, when she went to confront Max, that I was scared for her life.
Max is dangerous. Volatile. And deep down, somewhere he doesn’t want to admit, he’s terrified of having nothing, and no one.
I sit up slowly, blinking that thought away, instead watching in the dark as my door opens. I tense, holding my breath, heart hammering hard in my chest.
Is today the day?
Has Danik come for me?
Or is my time over?
Will I fight?
Max stands in the doorway, dressed in all black, hands in his pockets. But even in only the dim light from the hall to see by, I can make out the light blue-grey of his eyes.
I don’t say anything.
I just wait.
We haven’t spoken since Dante. I haven’t seen him since his held a gun to his own head. I’ve been dragged to breakfast, lunch, and dinner. All eaten alone, save for my new guard’s silent presence. The guard I don’t bother to learn the name of, because what’s the point anymore?
I’m allowed to go to the gym, but not outside. I’m allowed to roam the house if Mamie or my guard is with me, but I have a strict curfew, and I’m locked inside once I’m in my room.
I wish I had a book to read. Something to do besides wonder when my life will really end. I wish I hadn’t smashed my television.
I wish I had fought back when Max fucked me.
I wish I hadn’t liked it.
“Do you want to go outside?” Max finally speaks, and his voice is hoarse. Aside from his eyes, I can’t make out much about his face, but I’d be willing to bet he hasn’t slept any better since Dante than he did before his death.
I don’t answer him, my heart racing in my chest. The last time I went outside, Dante died. I tried to run, right after I watched Max put a bullet through the brain of his personal guard.
I’m not so keen on the idea of going outside right now.
“It’s…early.” I don’t tell him no, because I remember too well what happened the last time he was in my room. My mirror was replaced one morning while I was eating breakfast, so I know the bruises have nearly faded around my throat. The soreness in my body has faded too.
