“Something like that.” He says with a hard smirk on his face, now sucking on his fingers, the very ones that were just in me.
“Hmm, tastes like a cheater.” He says and with that, he turns to leave, going straight for his car—which I’m only noticing now, is the only car in the lot.
“Why are you doing this?” I shout after him but he doesn’t even turn around to look at me, his back turned to me. Again.
Devastation looks like that.
Like the back of the love of your life turned to you, walking away from you like they want nothing to do with you anymore and you are not a part of their life.
That night, I break.
Once again, she takes over all my senses, shatters my self-control and all I could fucking do was give in and surrender to her.
Going after her wasn’t the plan. Finger fucking her against a fucking wall as my cock was pressed against her succulent ass, was definitely not part of it but I did it anyway.
She made me lose myself, it didn’t matter the distance between us or where we were in our hell. She pulled my strings like I’m her fucking puppet and with each pull, I do exactly as she wants.
If being a weak man means I fucking fall to my knees when that gaze connects with mine, then I don’t want to be a strong man. But the thing I hate about her and the fucking calamity that hangs over her like an aura is that she looks at me like she just doesn’t give a fuck about me.
She has this ability to look past me, outrightly dismissing me and move on from me. I fucking hate that. I hate that she has so much power over. I hate that I’m a pathetic mess when it comes to her.
I can’t stand her having that much power over me, when all she does is dismiss me. She doesn’t fucking deserve it. One moment she’s baring her soul and telling me that she loves me and the next, she’s kissing Emmett?
What kind of love is that?
She’s fake! Everything about her sincerity, her passion, her fucking love, it’s all fake.
And I’m the fucker who can’t control my dick when she so much as breaths in my direction.
I punch the steering wheel as I speed down the road in the direction opposite that fucking school where I left her. I can still smell her delicious scent, now on me and all over my clothes. No matter what I do, I can’t escape her. She’s fucking everywhere.
My phone rings and without glancing at the caller i.d, I accept the call but don’t say a word, allowing whoever it is to just fucking speak.
“You could at least greet your mother.” Denise’s voice filters in the car. Damn, I can feel a headache coming on.
“I’m not in the habit of wasting my breath.” I grit out, unable to get the image of Star handling Brittney the way she did, out of my head. I can still hear the sound of Brittney’s shriek that I don’t a give shit about, but the look in Star’s eyes as she slapped her ex-best friend across the face, that dead look, that will haunt me forever.
“I’m still your mother, don’t forget that.” She sighs, exasperated by me no doubt.
“Trust me, I’m fully aware of the fact.” I mutter, my pulse thrumming hard against my skin, with a demand there that I can’t answer right now. I can’t go to the Pit any time soon, what with fucking Denise and Philip King preparing to do something that I feel is going to change everything.
“Anyway, the reason that I’m calling is to tell you that your backstabbing friend won’t make it out of that surgery alive.” Her chirper voice announces.
Slamming down hard on the breaks, the car screeches as I halt to a stop in the middle of the road. My heart starts pounding against my chest, as if to escape the vicious dread that has been simmering in there since the night Star told me that she loved me. And as my mother’s cheerful voice finally sinks in, I realize that calamity strikes in one place more than once.
“What do you mean by that?” I demand, not at all bothered by the harsh tone or the urgency in my voice.
The hairs at the back of my neck stand up on end as I wait for her to fucking explain.
“Oh, don’t feel guilty now. You did your part well.” She taunts, as if speaking to a three-year-old boy that just shit his pants. She even starts laughing, enjoying this moment as she delivers the final blow of her call.
“Emmett Easton is going to have a little complication with his surgery that’s about to start in a few minutes—oh no—it already started. And let’s just say, he won’t survive that complication.” She says.
Silence stretches between us as her words soak into me, making me ball my fists and harden my gaze. I need to think fast. I grab my phone and quickly send a text, breathing a sigh of relief when the person responds.
“Aren’t you going to say anything?” Denise questions, curiosity in her voice.
“I’m trying to express my fucking joy.” I bite out, typing another text, letting my person know what the fuck is going down at the hospital.
“I’m sure. Kings don’t need any weak minded and clearly unhealthy individuals in their inner-circle. It’s good that we’re putting him out of his misery.” She drags on.
Well, the fucker deserves whatever happens to him anyway, I don’t give a damn. I hope he suffers some more wherever his fucking soul ends up.
“I guess we have a funeral to plan then.” My voice is hard, cold and detached as I stare at the deserted open road ahead of me, my car parked in the middle of the road.
“Oh yes, I wonder if his mother will come for that.” Denise says. “Anyway, your father will be at the hospital to make sure everything goes according to plan. Brace yourself, son. The dominoes are falling. One by one.” She says as a farewell.
Yes mother, the dominoes are falling and this time, they won’t be resurrected like God did his son Jesus.
I hope Emmett made his peace, because it was time for him to meet his maker.
And as for Astraea, she’s like a fucking beautiful shooting star that’s speeding towards its crash, falling from grace.
It’s a fucking tragedy to wish on a shooting star, the damn thing is dying but I do it anyway.
I make a wish of my own, as I shift gears and start driving towards the hospital. I wish that she has faith in me.
I wish that she just stands with me and ignores all the devastation that we are about to face.
But I have to remember, even stars can fall from grace,
I just need to remember that I can’t wish on them. Or I run the deep risk of being disappointed.
Have you ever felt so at odds with yourself, that for a moment, you don’t know what to think or what to feel, or even what to do?
That’s exactly what’s happening to me right now as I fight not to cry, seated on the ground, my back against a wall, literally and figuratively.
I can feel the stinging of tears in my eyes but I refuse to cry, holding in my scream and my turmoil, staring at the gate which Ace just used, leaving me in his rearview mirror.
Only this time I’m sure he never glanced at it because to him, I was nothing.
I don’t even have the strength to get up or go to class. The bell rang like fifteen minutes ago or so but I’m still out here. I have no idea what happened to Kim—Brittney's sister.
I bang my head against the wall behind me as a tear escapes and starts falling down my left cheek.
How did I not see it? How did I not see it?
How did I not question everything about Kim?
Just the thought of my foolishness when it comes to everyone in my life makes my palms fist against my thighs, rage and sadness moving through me like one huge ache that I can’t shake.
I can’t even get the look of complete despair on Noah’s face out of my mind, his hurt clear and easy to see as everything and I do mean everything, literally screeched to a halt. As if that wasn’t enough, it was all upended on its axis. The disbelief on Noah’s face. The calm calculating on Ace’s gorgeous, heartbreaking one. The void and absence of Emmett who I just found out has heart defects. . .it’s all becoming too much!<
br />
“Ahhh!” I let out a scream but its hoarse, broken and lacks any power in it. I’m empty inside. I have nothing left.
The truth was, Kim did look a bit like Brittney, funny enough. Were they the same age, yes, but it was clear to see that they weren’t twins or anything closer. In fact, the only genuine thing that I think is real is the hate between the two girls.
Kim hated Brittney’s guts and vice versa. Come to think of it, right from the first day of school, Kim and Brittney looked at each other like. . .evil step sisters. But in fact, they are half-sisters. Which I think is much worse. This all means that they shared a parent—definitely their father.
If at all there is any truth to the sad sob story Kim gave all those weeks ago.
And to fucking think that I trusted her!
God, I’m so angry and stupid. I fall for anything and then have the guts to be hurt and shocked when I fall hard to the ground and there’s no one to catch me.
Now, I truly feel loneliness.
It seeps into my bones but this time, I know it’s here to stay. This time, there’s no going back anymore.
My phone starts ringing but I ignore it. It’s been ringing for a few minutes now but everyone that I would like to talk to, have them understand my fucking side of the story is either too mad at me, can’t talk to me right now or would rather plaster me to a fucking cold wall and finger fuck me to an orgasm that is so powerful I swear, I can still feel it.
Damn these fucking easy access skirts and my weak resolve when it comes to that bastard who jumps to all the fucking conclusions like some girl on her periods during Christmas.
Damn it. And damn him to hell where he thrives.
My phones rings again but as I look away from it, wondering if I can call an Uber now to go home, will Amanda be there, a car speeds through the private gates that the Blue Boys use.
For a moment, my heart stops thinking that it’s Ace and he’s back to torture me some more, or offer my head on a spike to his fucking queen. He looks like the type.
The type to not only build on vengeance but to enjoy it.
But it’s not Ace.
I watch as Noah parks haphazardly, without a care in the world as he screeches to a stop in the middle of the damn road. He opens his door and with a distraught look on his face, he starts dialing someone on his phone, a harsh and loud curse that I can hear from here, leaving his mouth.
“Fucking hell, answer the phone, Astraea!” He angrily shouts, pressing his phone to his ear. Noah is always so well put together, his dressing expensive, designer and well, play boyish bit right now, he looks like he was in a fight with a pitbull. And it looks like the pitbull won.
His hair stands up messily, every which way, his school tie is gone, sleeves rolled up in obvious frustration, shirt untucked. He looks every bit that fucking bad boy all the girls want and I bet he would win Arrogant Asshole of the Year, four years running, without even trying.
He hasn’t seen me yet so I watch as he rushes for the door and that’s when I answer my ringing phone, watching him.
“What” I seethe.
God, I can’t believe Noah ignored me too all this time, especially after the fucking hospital incident. What was his deal huh? I didn’t fucking break his heart too. Talk about a shitty best friend.
“For fuck’s sake Astraea, why the hell don’t you ever answer your fucking phone?” He shouts and I watch him walk over to the building, in a rather rushed manner.
“And why the fuck don’t you answer all my when I try talking to you?” I demand, angry despite myself but I’m not done. “Why the hell did you neglect me these past couple of days?” I cry, watching his face as he stops dead in his tracks.
“Baby Blue, you fucking know that King would have killed me if I attempted to talk to you and besides, I was trying to calm him down. If I so much as looked at you, he’d go ballistic! Why do you think these shitheads at this school don’t say a word when he’s there? He’s always behind you, watching you, around you.”
“While I’m being fucking bullied?” I shriek, unable to believe this bullshit. “Make that fucking make sense, Noah.”
He blows out a harsh breath now looking up at the darkening sky. Winter is here after all and with it, bitter, cold truths.
“I’m not so sure what’s happening but any rumors going on about you or all the bullying, I fucking know that’s not his thing. He’s meaner than that.” Noah rushes to explain, but with those last words, he bites them out with so much venom, I can’t help but be taken aback.
What has Ace done now?
“Is that why you stayed away from me?” A cry escapes me and I bite my lip to hold in the rest. “Does he now dictate our friendship?” I question a bitter laugh leaving me, bubbling from my heavy chest. “Good to know”
I’m about to hang up the phone when he shouts.
“Don’t hang up!” And I watch as the sun’s rays catch in his eyes and I swear, I see the glistening of tears in his eyes. “I need you Baby Blue. They’re saying Emmett isn’t going to make it.”
“What?” I breathe out but I must have shouted that one word because immediately, Noah’s gaze falls on me as he spots me seated on the ground, my back against the wall, watching him.
He hangs up the phone and jogs the rest of the way to me and I quickly stand up, picking up my bag to meet him half way.
“Astraea. . .”
“What the hell is going on?” I demand. My heart is pounding in my chest. Dread is now permanently lodged in my bones, waiting to strike any moment. Honestly by now I shouldn’t be surprised by anything.
But I’m wrong.
“Emmett. I just got a call from someone who is concerned that this surgery, isn’t in Em’s best interest.” Noah says, his voice catching with a every word but those eyes, they shine with something more than just unshed tears.
There is disbelief and pain there sure, but also, there is something that I know all too well.
Fear.
“What does that mean?” I breathe out as the hate and fear in his eyes grows and morphs as he spits out the words that make all the heartbeats in the world suddenly irrelevant and meaningless without that light in his eyes.
“It means that they are going to murder Emmett in that surgery.”
My bag, my phone and maybe even my soul, all drops to the ground, shattering before me but I can barely feel it as I stare at him.
“What? Who?”
He laughs then, a bitter, almost manic laugh, dropping to the ground, he picks up my stuff, then he tugs my hand, quickly rushes us to the car.
“Can you honestly not think of anyone. King makes good on all his promises, doesn’t he?”
I’ll kill you.
The words Ace growled in Emmett’s face that night in the hospital ring clear through my ears but I can hardly believe it.
“No, he couldn’t possibly.”
“Really? He just single handedly destroyed your life in there, by allowing Brittney free reign. You think he’ll go easy on Emmett when he thinks he took you away?” Noah questions.
That boy is involved with some very illegal business dealings that could have him sent away for a very long time. And we have proof!
Amanda’s words from that night echo in my soul and I shudder.
Oh Ace, what have you done?
I close my eyes and I can see him. Ace. His dark eyes no longer blue. It’s as if the Ace that I know is gone, like completely gone and in his place, he’s been replaced by someone else.
Someone with no remorse. No compassion. No regard to himan decency.
Having Emmett murdered though?
Oh God.
But even with all the doubt, the anger and the hate directed at Ace, I can’t shake this feeling that tells me I’m missing something.
Because that night when Denise blew my life to hell, Ace told me to trust him.
And I promised I would.
Can I trust even now?
When someone that I love �
��s life is on the line?
Can unrequited love conquer that?
I don’t think so. . .
We arrive at the hospital in record time, with Noah’s foot pressed down on the gas the whole way there. We don’t say a word to each other the entire way because this. . .there are no words for this.
He hardly parks the car properly, but neither of us cares as we run across the lot and straight towards the bustling emergency room that immediately clogs my throat with trepidation and nerves.
I don’t have a very good history with hospitals. Hell, when I was born at some fucking hospital somewhere in America, Amanda made sure to declare that I was dead, along with my brother and my sister.
A sister who I have no idea if she’s a live or dead.
I hate this place,
Noah doesn’t wait, he goes straight to the nurses’ station and he starts demanding that they tell him where Emmett Easton is.
I wonder if Syrus knows about this. I wonder if he’s here or maybe Emmett has done these surgeries alone for a long time that Syrus doesn’t even bother.
Our being here is simply due to the suspicious call Noah received from someone concerned that there was foul play about to happen with Emmett’s surgery. But now as I whirl around the large room, everything going blurry for a second, urgency and pain rushing through me, I can’t help but feel that we’re probably too late.
“Astraea, come on. This way!” Noah shouts, making people turn to glare at him but he doesn’t fucking care and neither do I. They should mind their fucking business.
I run towards him and we both rush to the elevator bank. Noah practically stabs all the ‘up’ arrow buttons but nothing happens, none of the damn things are coming down any time soon.
“Screw this shit.” I seethe, feeling this deep rooted dread and urgency in me that taps into my adrenaline and the next thing I know, I’m headed for the stairwell door, with Noah right behind me.
We go up the stairs, taking them two at a time until we reach the fourth floor.
Bursting through the doors, what meets me will probably be engraved behind my eyelids, starring in my nightmares until forever.
Vicious Hate (Westbrook Blues Book 2) Page 38