Page 20 of Be My Sinner

The minute I look out the planes of glass, I’m greeted with a fiery sight. My fucking precious Mustang is on fire at the side of the house where I left it parked when I came home, frustrated and angry from dealing with my father’s constant bullshit, about our religion and upholding values that neither one of us genuinely believe in.

I watch as all the car windows shatter, throwing glass in every direction, and the red paint looks like a fiery inferno that belongs on a depiction from hell.Jesus, fuck. How did that happen? Just as I’m about to turn away from the window, the reflection of my chest, still covered in my white shirt, catches my eye. There’s a red dot right in the middle of my chest in the image reflected back at me.

I throw myself to the ground, almost landing on top of one of the bitches. The window glass shatters, and glass sprays everywhere. Fuck, someone just tried to take me out! Right here in the safety of my home. Not only did the fucker try to shoot me, they destroyed my favorite possession aside from Zeke’s cock; my precious Mustang. They don’t make them anymore in this godforsaken world. This asshole has really pissed me off now.

I rise from the ground to my knees and slowly peek cautiously over the windowsill just as Zeke comes storming into the room, guns drawn and like a bat out of hell. “WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?” He shouts at me.

“Get the fuck down; someone is using a sniper rifle and shooting through the fucking windows!”

The two maids crawl on their hands and knees naked, crying as they try to maneuver through the glass and escape the room. Fuck, I should have grabbed one of them and used them as a shield. Too fucking late now; they’re running out the door as if they are being chased by all the demons of hell.

“What do you mean someone is shooting through the windows?” Zeke falls to his knees and makes his way over to me.

I stare out the window at the tree line directly in the window’s sightlines. That doesn’t mean that is where the shot actually originated from, but I’m not seeing anything else with a high enough elevation.

“Someone just blew up the ‘Stang. Fucking coward bombed my car and tried to fucking take me out through a window,” I utter with complete aggravation as my eyes again trail the tree line, this time more thoroughly.

Wait, what is that? A dark shadow moves stealthily down the tree trunk to the left. The moonlight is almost gone, and daybreak will be here soon, dissipating some of the deep shadows. I swear there was a hint of pale skin for a brief moment.Fuck, this asshole might actually be a damn ghost after all.

“There in the tree line, I think I see someone. It’s him, the fucking ghost.” I point with my finger toward the left. Zeke doesn’t even hesitate; the reckless ass stands up and runs for the door. Fuck, here we go! I get up a little more cautiously than he does and run out the door, chasing him.

There’s chaos in the halls leading out to the front door. The two maids are still naked, clinging to each other and crying in a corner, while the cook tries to understand a word they are saying through their hysteria. The two guards assigned to the house are checking their weapons. Dammit, I need to stop them asap from calling this in. The last thing we need are more armed Order guards, and our two fathers here.

I force a fake laugh out of my mouth, and my body releases its fight-or-flight tension, and I grab onto the back of Zeke’s shirt, yanking him backward and almost off his feet. The sound of material ripping is loud in the air, accompanying the sound of crying. “You fucker, you had to blow up the ‘Stang? That’s not a very funny bet, Zeke!”

Zeke looks at me over his shoulder for a moment with confusion, but catches on quickly, and I release the breath that is strangling my throat; the sound of blood rushing in my ears is almost deafening. “Should have paid up, motherfucker. I always collect my debts, one way or another.” He forces a tight smile across his face while his green eyes flash with malice.

“Are you two kidding me right now? You blew up a priceless car as a bet? A fucking bet?” Myles, my father’s spy and chief pain in my ass, snarls with anger and disbelief.

I shake my head and force another cackle from my lips. “Zeke takes his bets very seriously.”

Zeke pulls from my grasp and moves towards Myles, all cockiness and swagger with aggression vibrating across his frame. He’s looking for a fight, for someone he can make bleed, and this motherfucker is about to become his target. I need to pull him back from the edge; beating the hell out of my father’s minion will not keep eyes off of us; if anything, it will invite more.

One look at Myles tells me he knows he just fucked up, and that Zeke is mere moments away from sending him to meet our divine God and Savior. If his body language didn’t blare the message, the damn gun he still has in a chokehold does.

“Come on, Zeke, let’s go see the mess you made, you’re gonna owe me a new fucking car.” I shoulder-check Zeke as I head to the door, ignoring everyone else in sight.

As I step out the door and onto the driveway, the smell of burning rubber, soot, and destruction greets me. I walk quickly toward my burning baby, stepping over shattered glass and mangled pieces of metal. A part of me wants to cry at her loss. Heavy footsteps next to me confirm that Zeke has made his way out of the house. I run my hand through my thick hair, yanking on the strands in complete devastation.

My eyes trail the tree line before us, but I no longer see any moving shadows. In fact, the pink and orange hues of the night sky, waking up to meet another fucked up day in this hell we live in, are breaking across the sky.Gone.He caused this massive destruction, tried to shoot me, take my life, and got away. FUCK!

Zeke moves away and starts walking quickly toward the thick bushes. My eyes catch the moment he pulls the gun upwards, his fingers tightening around the grip, his finger already on the trigger. I turn my body and follow him, feeling useless without a weapon in my hand. I bend down, grab a short, thick branch from the ground, and carry it like a bat behind Zeke.

He stops at the edge of the clearing, and I finally notice what he’s spotted. Tied around the base of the tree where I thought I had seen the ‘Ghost’ is a red ribbon, and hanging from it is an envelope. Zeke reaches forward and yanks on it, while I watch all the thick foliage surrounding us that could be hiding a killer.

I hear the rustling of paper and watch, as he stashes his gun in the back pocket of his jeans. He pulls out a sheet of paper, and I move closer, wanting desperately to see what is written. The sight that greets me causes chills to race down my back.

A large bellowed laugh leaves Zeke’s lips as his grip on the paper gets tighter. The warning was unmistakable, etched once again in blood. This motherfucker certainly has a flair for the dramatic, it seems. “He’s quoting my namesake now. Threatening us! This fucker has a death wish that I am aching to grant.”

He hands me the scrunched-up paper and walks further into the foliage, his arms rising and stretching out wide. “I’m not fucking afraid of you, asshole. You don’t get to pass judgment on us. Stop fucking hiding, and come out and face me like a man!” He shouts into the deep treed area but gets no response. Not even the sound of a bird can be heard at his proclamation.

Every line and muscle in Zeke’s body is tight with fury and tension. He really hopes that this maniac appears before him, so that he can fight him one-on-one or put a bullet through his head. I know there is no way that the ‘Ghost’ will appear. No, he’s been too careful thus far. Whatever his ultimate plan is, it’s not fighting us directly.

“We have to get this mess cleaned up before our good old dads make it out here, and make no fucking mistake, Zeke, that cunt Myles has already called them. We need to devise a viable excuse right now, and not just that it was a simple bet. You know that shit is not going to fly with my old man. He will get on us about ‘spare the rod, spoil the child’ and how we abuse the privilege that the Brotherhood provides us.”

Zeke rips the branch that’s forgotten in my grip from my tense hands, and slams it over and over with aggression on the base of the tree in front of him until it snaps in two, and then he throws both pieces into the woods.

“I’m going to murder this assholepainfullywhen I find him, and I will find him, Abe.”

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