Page 10 of Merging Factions

Mera

This scrapof material they shoved over my head isn’t modest, it’s threadbare and see through. Every piece of it. You can see every contour and curve of my body. The color difference of my areolas in contrast to my complexion. My natural olive tone is now a sickly, pasty color. I don’t believe it’s from lack of sunlight, I think it’s due to the deficiency of iron handed to me through my meals.

However, in comparison to Luca, I’ve been served some five-star dishes.

Again, I find myself being dragged down the hallway by the scruff of my neck. My toes are hardly touching the ground as we march toward two large doors that expand from the left side of the door jamb to the right side, and it stretches in height from the carpet on the floor to the tile of the ceiling—they’re intimidating, spooky, and remind me of the gloomy cathedral at the convent.

When the man standing station outside of them opens them up, I’m tossed inside, landing on my palms and knees, scraping them, but I don’t cry out from the agony of my skin being shredded. Lifting my head, I evaluate my situation, and what I conclude is, I’m in trouble.

“Tammera, please, come in and have a seat,” one of the Crumley brothers says, pushing the chair out with the sole of his foot. “Join us. We’d like to have a little chat.” I don’t know them personally to know which one is speaking to me, but out of the four of them, he looks to be the eldest so I’m assuming this is Garrick.

Yeah. Sure they do. Just talk, as if I’d believe that sham of a line, while we’re at it, let's pretend I can buy some oceanside property in Arizona too. Lies… it’s all lies.

What they mean is that they’d like to interrogate me. Break me down. Decimate my soul. What they don’t know is that they can berate me, torture me, murder me, but they’ll never get their sister’s whereabouts from me.

They can kick rocks! I’ll never help them get their evil hands on my friend, my sister, she’s too good for them to corrupt. She’ll never bend to their will, she’ll never bow down, she’ll never submit, and neither will I.

With shaky limbs, I push myself up, and after a few tries, I get my feet planted on the floor and begin walking their way. Luckily, my fear and anxiety is veiled by my trembling limbs from the crash and fall earlier.

“Thank you, for coming and speaking with us, Tammera,” one of the other brothers remarks, portraying the part of a good guy, and acting as if I had any other choice in the matter. Newsflash… I didn’t, because if I did, neither Luca nor I would be in their company or in their presence—ever. Just being in the same proximity as them makes my tummy curdle. The vileness in the air sours their showmanship of being welcoming.

Still in a mood, I spit out, “I’d like nothing more than to say it is a pleasure, but we all know that’s unfair, because it’d be a pretext.”

“I’m sorry you feel that way,” the third Crumley brother adds, his lips turned down in a frown, disruptively snarling at me. His face and body language are contrary to his words. “We’ve treated you better than we do most of our guests. Your relationship with our sister gave you that protection, but don’t mistake our kindness to you thus far, because that can end here and now. Sit.” His booming bark has me doing as he says, this guy by far wears his maliciousness on his shirt sleeve, he doesn’t hide it behind a mask like the other two did.

“Graham,” brother one snaps. “Cool it.”

The two of them have an intrusive stare off, until the one I now know as being Graham,theHammer, concedes, and nods his head. “Fine.”

“Let me start off by properly introducing ourselves, I’m Garrick,” brother one rattles. Then he points to brother two, and says, “this is Gideon, the one who just snapped at you is Graham, and to his right is Gavriel.”

Not willing to push my luck by being rude, well, not any further unfriendly than I already have been, I bite my tongue, mimic Graham, and nod my head in acceptance, but don’t open my mouth to utter even a single sound.

“We need your help, Tammera,” Garrick continues. “And you’re in a position to do that.”

“And why would I? Help you that is?” I ask, grimacing because my posture may be amicable, but my tone isn’t. My words are downright inconsiderate, bitchy, and full of disrespect. I can’t seem to help myself, even though I'm pretty sure it won’t earn me any brownie points in my favor.

All four of them narrow their eyes at me, and I see the struggle they’re having maintaining their hospitable disposition. Since I’m already in hot water, and on a roll with my discourteous manners, I decide that keeping my trap shut now won’t matter when push comes to shove.

“Watch your tone,” Graham snaps, his brutal command makes me shiver. But I’m successful in hiding the way they affect me—barely.

As men, they should be ashamed of themselves. But I know they lack sentiment, and even though they give it their best shot, no matter how hard they try and mimic them, they don’t understand emotions, they’re psychotic, narcissistic sociopaths, so that’s one thing they’ll never grasp…authentic feelings.

Clearing my throat, I hold my shoulders back and my head high. I have a point to make. “Your accommodations so far have been lacking in their warmth, the invitation that I had no other choice but to accept hasn’t made me want to give in to your pleas and do your bidding. I’ve been taunted, bullied, manhandled, and my body has been invaded by leering eyes and wandering hands. I’m not feeling cooperative.” I end my tirade by folding my arms across my chest and harrumphing.

If they expect me to bend over backward for them, they’ve got a lot of groveling and making up to do. Not that I’ll truly give them what they want, but I can act the part and make them believe I’m aiming to please them. But in order for me to begin mastering this asinine game of theirs, I have a few concessions. And if I’m their last resort, it’ll be them bending over backward for me.

“Sorry if the pea underneath your mattress is lumpy and isn’t to your liking,princess,” Graham sneers, his entire body coiled and ready to pounce. His sarcastic tone has me shivering inside, but outwardly, I’m as cool as the proverbial cucumber. That’s one thing I’d prefer to be ten feet away from—his wrath. He’s a scary man, and from what I’ve been told by Shayne, hitting a woman isn’t beneath him. “But we have fed and watered you like the bitch you are.”

“Yeah, still not feeling encouraged to help you out, big guy.” What the holy bejesus has gotten into me? I know better than to provoke the beast. My mouth seems to be running away from me, and my only hope is that the other three won’t let him enact the beating that’s burning behind his retinas upon me. The sisters always warned us that there’s a time and a place for everything, and right now, my smart elleck mouth isn’t necessary. Needed? Absolutely, because if they think I’ll just roll over and give them what they want, they’ve got another thing coming. I’llnevergive up Shayne and after being under their so-called care all this time, I can see why she was so afraid of them. They’re scary as heck.

He wants to make me bleed.

Any idiot can see that, so why is it that I’m egging him on?

Why can’t I control my tongue where he’s concerned?

I’ve never been this belligerent in my life. But there’s something about him that entices me to act this way. He brings a darkness out of me that I wasn’t aware was there. Instead of putting that flame out, I need to stroke it, brighten it, evoke it.

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