Page 2 of Beautiful Revenge

“Do you have a name?” the soft one asks, and I roll my eyes.

“Do you?” I put my hand on my hips, staring him down.

He laughs, and it’s light and beautiful. I definitely like the sound of it. It’s peaceful. “I’m Dylan, and this is my brother, Devon.” He waves his hand to the mean one.

“Why do you look the same?” I question, finding it highly odd.

The soft one, Dylan, tilts his head to assess me. “We’re twins. How old are you?” he asks, and I sigh.

“Eight.”

“We’re ten,” the mean one, Devon says. “But it’s getting dark. Won’t your parents be worried if you’re not at home? I know Dad will kick our butts if we aren’t home before dark.”

I feel my body freeze. Do their parents hurt them too? The way Daddy hurts me? “He’ll hurt you?” I croak, and their eyes widen again.

“No. It’s just a saying. We’ll get grounded or something. Does someone hurt you?” Dylan asks, and I sniffle.

“I don’t… I’m not allowed to tell anybody,” I whisper. “Please, you can’t tell anybody. Daddy will be so angry with me,” I plead, and the mean one narrows his eyes.

“Dev,” the soft one starts. “I don’t want her to go home,” he says, sounding sad and scared.

I don’t want him to be scared. I really like him, that much I’ve decided. I’m not too sure of the other one yet.

“We can’t exactly keep her, Dyl,” Devon whines. “But maybe, maybe we can walk you home? Be your friend?” he asks, and I frown.

“I don’t have any friends. But… I also don’t know how to get home.” I wrap my arms around myself, just knowing I’m in for it when I get home, but I’ve already told them too much.

“We’ll get you home. Where do you live?” Devon asks, and I blink.

“Umm, Sherbourne Lane?” I say, wondering if they know where it is, but the nice one smiles.

“We do too! How come we’ve never seen you?” he asks, and his brother smacks him. “Sorry,” he says.

“I just don’t leave the house much,” I whisper back, digging my toe into the ground. “I’m Briar, by the way.”

“Well, we’ll change that.” Devon nods like his word is fact, and it makes me smile a little. I like how he seems to think he’s just in control of everything. I think his control even comforts me a little.

“Maybe we will,” I say, smiling, and for the first time since I met them, he smiles back at me.

“Come on, Briar. Let’s go home before we all get in trouble.” Dylan holds out his hand, and after a moment, I take it, but it doesn’t feel like enough.

I look over to Devon, holding my other hand out to him, and he blinks at it, staring at my hand like it belongs to an alien or something equally weird. I start to feel a little self-conscious.

He roughly swallows a few times, then takes my hand in his. I want to tell him not to hold my hand if he’s grossed out by it, but his grip tightens so much it feels like he’ll never let go. He weaves his fingers through mine as we begin walking back home.

I don’t know why these two make me feel calm, even when I know the fire I’m walking back to, but I do know I’m going to seek them out more often. I like feeling happy, and I just know that’s what this weird feeling inside of me is.

---