by Jenica Saren
I jumped up and started searching for my night shirt. Gatlin cleared his throat and twirled a bit of fabric in one hand. I narrowed my eyes at him and leapt at him to grab my shirt before he could even consider playing keep-away. "I was just going to say that should, ahem, remember some pants?" He suggested as he waggled his brows teasingly.
His joking attitude had me feeling all kinds of giddy and happy as I slipped into some shorts, which I'm sure did absolutely nothing like my dark angel had intended. I grabbed a bra and tank top too, instead of lounging around in just my pajamas all day. I practically skipped down the stairs and into the kitchen, where an array of fresh fruit and breakfast foods were laid out on the breakfast bar.
"Oh yum!" I exclaimed, a little too loudly. Everyone turned to look at me, but I didn't feel even an ounce of remorse. They made all that ruckus when I had only just woken up, the least they deserved was to hear me fawn over food. I quickly dished up a plate of scrambled eggs, bacon, avocado, and an assortment of chopped fruits before sitting at my chair - yes, the chair - and tucking in. Beck made his way over to me and deposited a steaming cup of coffe before me, making my mouth water.
"You may just be my favourite person in the whole world right now." I told him seriously.
Gatlin made a strangled noise from the opposite end of the table and I glanced at him before ammending my statement. "You may be my second favourite person in the whole world right now."
Beck's brow furrowed. "Why only second?" He questioned.
I chuckled to myself and tried like hell to keep my expression neutral. "Gatlin beat me at rock paper scissors." I deadpanned.
The Sin of Gluttony's mouth dropped open with an audible pop, and I lost the will to contain myself as everyone else broke out in a chorus of laughter around me.
"I'm your second favourite because he beat you at a game?" He asked, confounded.
Not able to confirm nor deny through my rib-cracking laughter, I turned to the guys for help. To my surprise, Kellan was the one who stood and came to link my arm through his – a feat that was extremely awkward as his arm was so much higher than my own. "Want to go with me to see Drea?" He asked me as though his brother wasn't still gaping wildly at me, unable to decipher the truth from my tone.
I nodded to Kellan. “Why, yes, Tallosaurus Rex, I would love to.” I laughed as he rolled his eyes and downed the entirety of my coffee before making my way toward the newly re-attached front door. I stopped briefly to pull on a pair of my boots, the only shoes of mine that were downstairs. As we made our way to my car Beck followed us to the front porch and and called after me.
"Hey, wanna play a game of rock, paper, scissors? Ria? C'mon, man!" He shouted. I could hear the eruption of laughter all the way outside, and I made a mental note to bring something special home for the first Sin I had ever met.
27
Ria
We arrived at the coffee shop just before noon. Apparently, it was much later in the morning when I had woke up than I had originally thought. Still not quite as soothing a thought as others might have believed, since the sun was still high in the sky. Even Kellan had taken a pair of my sunglasses hostage as he scowled at the sky like it had wronged him in some deep and personal way.
I peeked over at him as we got out of the car. He had ditched the sunglasses, presumably to preserve his macho status, and he was shading his eyes with his hand, still looking grumpy.
I get it, dude. I thought.
We made our way inside and headed for a table at the back of the building after sending Drea an enthusiastic wave in greeting. She made a beeline for us and grinned, but something about it seemed almost forced.
I eyed her up and down for a second. She looked tired, like she hadn't been sleeping well, but otherwise seemed okay. Still, something felt a little off.
She wrapped her arms around Kellan and gave him a little peck on the cheek, then came and did the same to me. "Hey guys. Coffee?" She guessed, giving me a little side eye that said she knew I had a problem. A big problem.
I shrugged, guilty as charged. "Company would be nice too. But coffee first, please. I added with a sweet-as-sugar smile. She only rolled her eyes at me and took back off toward the counter, where the hiss and whir of all my favourite machines were getting to work.
There weren't many people in the shop at all, maybe two tables aside from ours were occupied, and they all seemed to be deep in their own conversations. "Does Drea seem a little weird to you today?" I asked Kellan in a low voice, careful not to be overheard.
Kellan gave me a sad smile and looked back over at Drea where she was busy making coffee for a woman who seemed to order the entire thing with nothing but air. "She has it pretty tough at home since her mom went missing. Her stepfather isn't known to be the best kind of company and he really doesn't give a flying fuck about whether his twin stepdaughters are happy or healthy, so long as they're alive."
"Missing? She told me her mom works at the inn - it was actually one of the very first things she told me." Had something happened just since I had been around? I knew I was still pretty much a stranger, but I thought that we had connected almost instantly.
Kel nodded. "Officially yes, since it's her inn, but she's been missing for about four years now." He explained, keeping his voice just above a whisper. "It was said by the police that she ran off with one of the inn's guests, but no one really believes it. It's just a story to help keep everyone living their ignorant little lives."
I looked over at my friend who was finishing up our coffees and I felt my heart break. I may not have had a very positive relationship with my parents, but that didn't mean that others had the same reservations.
"Who's her stepfather?" I queried, realizing that was something else that I didn't know.
As he opened his mouth to answer me, door jingled as it opened. I turned in my seat to look, because I seriously never stopped being nosy. A tall man with dark, slicked back hair and a navy suit stepped into the shop, removing his sunglasses and stowing them away in one of the inside pockets of his suit jacket. He looked familiar somehow, though I was positive that I had never met this man.
I turned to look at Drea just in time to watch all of the colour drain from her face, making her already fair pallor look sickly. The man said something to her and she gave a single nod, getting to work on whatever the creepy guy had ordered.
And fuck. He was heading straight toward where Kel and I sat.
"Kellan Severin, it's good to see you again." The man smiled the tightest, most insincere smile that I had ever seen pasted on someone's face. It transformed his face, and not in a positive way. When he turned me, I felt a terrifying chill creep up my spine. "Hello, I don't believe I've had the pleasure." He held his hand out toward me and I grudgingly placed my hand in his, feeling like my delicious breakfast was about to end up all over his immaculately polished shoes when he pressed his lips to the back of my hand.
When he released me it was like I could finally breathe again, if only a little bit. "It's nice to meet you mister...?" I let the question hang in the air as I raised an eyebrow. Disgusting human being or not, it was polite to introduce yourself.
He chuckled as he clasped his hands behind his back. "My apologies," he said, sounding anything but sorry. "Jonas Holden, mayor."
Every single hair was standing on end and my nerves were on high alert. After everything that I had heard so far from the guys, I wasn't really really this guy's biggest fan, but at least I knew why he seemed so familiar to me - he was at the club the night that Father Belvieu tried to kidnap me.
Pieces started falling into place, and I suddenly realized that there was a lot of reason to believe this man was suspected to be the one behind the weird illness/coma thing that was going down, other than just being near the victims before it all happened.
I didn't say anything for a long time and neither did Kel. I could feel the Envy Sins's seething hatred from where I sat across from him, and I felt like there was so much more to the s
tory that I just didn't understand.
I looked to see Drea, still white as a sheet, walking toward us on unsteady legs. She put our mugs in front of us and handed one to Holden, refusing to meet his eyes.
"Ah, here's my darling daughter now." The mayor chuckled. He reached over as if to muss Drea's hair until Kellan released a threatening growl - not that I blamed him in the least. I was in shock at the new information laid out before me, but that didn't mean I wasn't equally as pissed. Holden withdrew his hand and the fake smile was back in place after a brief moment of shock. "I'll take my leave now. I have a dear friend to go see in the hospital."
He immediately turned on his heel without a backwards glance at any of us, but he stopped as he placed his hand on the door. "Oh, and Andrea, dear." He said, as if he was just expressing some off-hand comment. "Ana's fallen ill as well, but I'd appreciate it if you stayed quiet. Understand?" The complete and totally lack of empathy in his voice, coupled with the fact that he sounded almost pleased made me queasy all over again.
As he pushed out the door, I heard the shattering of glass and turned just in time to watch my best friend fall to her knees, silent tears streaming down her cheeks. "No." She whispered. "No, no, no." She cradled her head in her hands and Kel was there in a split second, lifting her up and into his arms.
"We need to get her home." He told me. His jaw was set and he appeared to be only moments away from completely breaking.
I knew no one else was working, since Drea worked most days alone. I stood up on my chair and cupped my hands in front of my mouth. "Everybody out! We're closed!" I shouted. The few people inside the shop looked confused, but slowly got up and made their way out the door, most of them stopping only to leave their tips on the counter as they passed.
Once everyone was out, I ran and jumped over the counter, grabbing Drea's keys from her tie-dyed canvas bag as I slung it over my shoulder, and quickly locked the front door as we rushed from the building. My car started as we neared, making me thankful for my expensive taste in cars, and I opened the back door for Kel to slide in with Drea cradled to his chest.
* * *
Drea was sound asleep by the time we pulled up the gravel driveway and in front of the house that I had quickly come to call home. I gestured to Kel to wait while I opened the door, so as not to wake our friend. The hysterical howling and screaming started almost the second we hit the road, and it had lasted almost the entire twenty-five minutes that it took to get to our stretch of twisting, forest-lined road. I was relieved that she was asleep, but it made my heart ache to realize how much crying she had done to expend herself that much.
Once the car door was open, I ran for the front door, pushing it open and immediately locating the other guys. They all turned as one from their spots around the living room and I silently shushed them just as the giant came through the doorway and headed straight up the stairs, presumably to deposit her in the guest room. Honestly, it was probably wiser just to call it Drea's room, since she was the only person I knew that ever used it.
"What the hell happened?" Gray asked, his eyes full of concern.
I took a seat on the floor where I was standing, folding my legs underneath me. "Ana's gotten hit with the sickness thing." I told them shortly. From what I understood about it, it basically made the affected person a glorified zombie and affected them for several days before their brains started shutting down. Which made little sense to me, since I would assume that Drea had seen her sister only very recently, seeing as they lived together.
The guys all started talking at once, making my head pound a little. My inner self was covering her ears, also affected by the onslaught of noise that my poor ears were experiencing.
The whole room went silent as Kellan made his way back into the foyer, facing the living room with his arms crossed over his chest. His imposing posture only made his already intimidating presence even more unnervingly threatening. I could feel the pure, unadulterated fury rolling off of him in waves.
"It's Holden." Was all he said, and it was evidently all that needed to be said. All at once, everyone sprang into action, running to various parts of the house and making so much noise that I was worried they would wake Drea.
I turned to Kellan, the only one who hadn't moved an inch. "What are you doing?" I asked him quietly, maybe a little afraid that he could snap at any second and also snap my neck.
He looked sideways at me and smirked, but the expression was devoid of any actual mirth. "We are going to make sure that he never does anything like this to anyone ever again." His tone was chilling. I wasn't actually scared of him, but I felt that maybe he wasn't as in control of himself as he perhaps thought he was.
I looked at the ginormous man like he had grown an extra set of arms. "What's this 'we' business? I love Drea, but I'm not going down for murder. That's not happening." I refused adamantly. I realized how crappy it all sounded, even to my own ears, so I made to correct myself. Because I would totally go to jail for her. "I mean, I can watch her or something. My lips are sealed, I won't say a damn peep." I mimed locking my lips and throwing a key over my shoulder.
Before Kellan could respond, the guys were all back downstairs. They didn't look any different at first glance, which made me wonder what they were even doing in the first place, but on closer inspection, I could see the barely noticeable shapes of small weapons strapped to their bodies beneath their clothes.
Eliam stepped forward and locked eyes with Kellan. Let's go.
I heard his voice in my head and jumped, remembering the last time I had thought that very thing had happened. At least I wasn't imagining it.
We all filed out the front door and into the glaring light of the annoying sun. Not for the first time, I wondered what the hell I had gotten myself into.
28
Ria
If I said that the hospital was crowded, then I would have been the world's biggest liar. I was extremely shocked by the number of people that were crowded around the hospital entrance, spilling out over the sidewalks and into the parking lot. The building itself was small in comparison to a lot the ones I had been to, but it was relatively large for a town as small as this one.
After parking a few blocks down, we made our way inside, pushing through groups of weeping families and friends just to get to the map of the building on the other side of the lobby. The inside was bleak, as was expected from most hospitals, but this one seemed to literally drain the life right out of me. Pictures depicting gruesome biblical events were framed on the walls while little standing signs boasted multiple verses that I wasn't even sure correlated correctly with health or medicine.
It all made me shiver a little bit and I tried to fight back the urge I felt to run from the building screaming. I ran away from the bible thumping and all that, and I still couldn't seem to get away, no matter how far my feet took me. It didn't help that I hated hospitals to begin with - the sterile, plain environment gave me goosebumps.
The guys all clustered around the map for about point two seconds and then were off, weaving their way through the maze of hallways like they had been doing this their entire life. I wasn't even sure if or how they knew where they were going, but I was dragged along for the ride and I trusted them for absolutely no rational reason.
As we rounded one corner, the guys froze. I glanced around for whatever had made them stop in their tracks, but I didn't even get a chance to look past one doctor before I was being yanked into a nearby room.
"Hey!" I objected. "Enough with the manhandling, Goliath!" I pinned Kellan with a glare that I wish could have set him aflame.
He didn't even attempt to look sheepish, as he shrugged in response. Infuriating fucking men.
I opened my mouth to give him another earful when I caught a glimpse of the person in the bed behind us. The sight made my heart contract so painfully that I almost collapsed to my knees, and I might have if a strong arm hadn't caught me around my waist. My hand flew to my mouth to hold back a sob as I stared at
my best friend lying, unconscious, in the industrial hospital bed, a tube to her mouth and wires surrounding her entire body.
Consciously, I knew that wasn't Drea, it was Ana, but still... No one said being friends with a twin would always be easy. I slowly approached the bed and ran a hand over her forehead, brushing away the hair that was in her face. It was so hard to convince myself that it wasn't really her when I felt so close to crying, and it wasn't really any easier to remind myself that it was her sister. It was so strange to think that I had never even spoken to her, but I felt like I knew her just because I knew someone who looked just like her.
I heard the guys talking in hushed voices behind me and I turned to stare at them over my shoulder. Rafe caught me looking first. "He's here, but it doesn't look like he's visiting Ana." He explained quietly to me, as though he was afraid to wake the sleeping girl before me.
I was going to tell him just to shut the door when an obnoxious squealing sound started ringing around us from overhead.
"Code blue, code blue, code blue..." A mechanical sounding female voice repeated.
As if of one solid mind, we all turned to look at one another, they guys' faces set into lines of grim determination. I hoped mine matched, because there wasn't a chance in hell that I was going to be the chicken of the group.
We all ran from the room just in time to watch Holden's back disappear around a corner at the opposite end of the corridor. Eliam, Gray, Beck, and I all ran for the room that nurses and doctors were rushing in and out of while Gatlin, Kellan, and Rafe took off in the direction that the mayor had went in.
Once we were inside, it was pretty clear that there was no saving the woman that lay motionless beneath the sterile, white hospital blankets. There was another shrieking sound coming from the doorway, but it wasn't an alarm. As I looked back, I noticed the red-headed slimeball trying to push himself through an armed security guard and a number of nurses. My heart hurt for him as I realized that this was likely his mother, Sanya lying in the bed. As bad of a person as Drea had told me this woman was, I still couldn't help but think that she didn't exactly deserve an ending this way.