Unholy

Chapter 1

Tristan

I kick my feet up on the table in front of me, crossing my ankles as I glare at the doctor. Then I reach over and grab a doughnut off the plate and pull a piece off, popping it into my mouth.

“So, what is it today, Doc?” I ask him. “Still a psychopath?” I ask him while I chew. I pull another piece off and shove it in my mouth while I wait for the asshole to answer. I only come here because my mom asks me too. Well, that and a little legal trouble.

“Tristan, you’ve been coming here since you were three. I still don’t know how to categorize you. You’re not typical of anything,” he tells me like this is the first time. It isn’t. I just like to hear him say it.

“Then why am I still here?” I ask him, shoving the rest of the food into my mouth.

“Court order says you’re to be here,” he reminds me. I smirk.

“Court orders. Who gives a fuck what the court orders? They don’t know me. They don’t know shit about me.”

“They know enough to know you need to be here.”

“Do you think I need to be here?” I ask him in a condescending tone.

“As I said, you’ve been coming here since you were three. So, in that case, yes, I do.”

“We go over the same shit every time I’m here. Nothing changes aside from my meds if I decide to take them.”

“And you should be taking them, Tristan. They’ll help, but you don’t give them time to do that,” he tells me.

“Have you taken them?” he shakes his head.

“No.”

“Then you have no idea how the hell they make you feel. One second, you want to claw your fucking skin off, and the next, you’re too lost in a fog to even know you have skin,” I tell him.

“We can change them if they give you side effects,” he suggests as if I haven’t heard this before.

“Doc, I hate meds, okay? I hate how they make me feel. I hate how it makes everything around me dull. Frankly, I just hate them.”

“Then you have no choice but to keep coming here until you are med-compliant, Tristan.”

“Then I suppose you’re going to see more and fucking more of me, aren’t you, Doc?” His face never changes. Not a single bit.

He’s always got this bored, hard as fuck exterior I can’t seem to get around. Most others, I can, but not him. Doctor Hassan has been treating me since I was three. Three fucking years old, and I was coming to this prick just because my mom didn’t know how to handle me.

I was a bad kid who grew into a bad teenager and then grew into a bad adult. What fucking more did she need to know?

But I love my mom. At least as much as someone like me can love. The good old Doc here says I use her to get what I want, and maybe he’s right. Maybe that’s exactly what I do to her. Maybe he’s wrong? Who the hell am I to say?

I check the time and see I’ve been here for the hour I’m supposed to be here. I let my feet drop back onto the floor before standing and saluting the asshole.

“Until next week, Doc.” I head for the door when he speaks, stopping me.

“You know she’s worried about you with the upcoming wedding.” I cringe not needing to be reminded of that shit.

“Well, she has no reason to worry. I’ll be on my best little behavior,” I tell him.

“I mean it, Tristan. She thinks this marriage is going to be what pushes you over the edge.” Now, I snort a laugh.

“Sorry, Doc. Times up,” I remind him before pulling the door open and walking out of his office.

I head through the waiting area and out the main door to where my mom is waiting.

“How’d it go?”

“Same as always,” I reply.

“Did he give you new meds?” I nod my head, lying to her.

“Yeah. I’ll give them a try,” I lie to her again. He didn’t give me shit, and I sure as hell aren’t going to try anything new either. I wish she would understand this, but she doesn’t.

“Good. Did you talk about the wedding?” she asks softly. I rest my hand on her shoulder and nod.

“I’m fine, Mom. As long as he treats you well, that’s all I’m concerned about.”

“You know he does, Tristan.”

“Then I’m happy for you. Let’s go. I’m starving.” She smiles and we both climb in the car before she takes off.

“I did tell you that Ash is moving in with us too, right?”

“Yeah. I’m thinking about moving into the warehouse anyway. It’s almost ready.” I have a warehouse. My dad left it to me when he died a long ass time ago, and I converted it into a livable space. That’s where I spend a lot of my time.

“You don’t have to do that. I think it’ll be nice having us all under one roof, at least for a little while. Will you at least think about it?” she asks, pulling into the restaurant parking lot.

“Yeah, of course. Maybe just a few months until I finish upgrading the warehouse,” I tell her, just to make her happy. I highly doubt I’m going to stay at my mom’s any longer than I already have, considering I’m twenty-five fucking years old.

“Good. Let’s go eat. Ash will be here tonight, so you’ll finally get to meet her,” she says excitedly. I’m not as thrilled as she is, but for her I can do this.

We climb out of the car and head inside, where she leads me over to the table.

“Ted.” She bends down, pressing a kiss to his cheek. He doesn’t even greet her like a normal person should, and that makes me sick to my fucking stomach and ready to gut the bastard with my knife.

“Amy. Tristan.”

“What’s up, Ted?”

“This is Ash,” he announces, motioning across the table to his daughter. My eyes move to meet hers, and that’s where I’m lost. Big brown eyes gaze back at me with a mix of fear and intrigue.

Not that I would give her the time of day aside from playing with her a little. She’s a fucking bible thumper, just like her dad. And my mom, apparently.

“Take a seat,” Ted says, causing me to pull my gaze away from his precious little daughter. I drop down into the seat next to her, sliding a little closer than I need to. Ted orders for everyone, annoying me further as conversation picks up between him and my mom. I turn to Ash and start to stare at her, making her uncomfortable.

“I’ll be-” I don’t let her finish her sentence. I lower my hand under the table and rest it on her thigh. Her breath instantly hitches as she slowly turns her head to look at me.

“What are you doing?” she whispers.

“What do you mean? I’m getting to know my new sister.”

“Move your hand,” she hisses at me.

“Nah, I like it there.”

“I’ll tell.”

“Oh no. Not a tattletale. What will I do?” I ask her in a condescending tone.

“Move your hand,” she demands, and I squeeze her leg a little tighter. She moves her hand under the table, trying to pry my hand off her, but it does no good. I’m not moving it until I’m damn good and ready.

“What is wrong with you?”

“Me? You’re the one being a little bitch,” I tell her. Her mouth parts, her cheeks turn pink, and I realize she has never been called that before. I smirk, knowing I’m the first.

“So, Tristan. Your mom tells me you’ve been doing some work recently.”

“I have.”

“What are you working on?” he asks as if he’s really interested in me. He isn’t. He knows I’m a fuck up, just like everyone else does. He only pretends to care because of my mom.

“Sculptures, mostly. Some rich prick saw my work and wanted his own,” I answer as I grab the glass of water in front of me and bring it to my lips.

“What kind of sculptures?”

“The kind that would have your little nun here clutching her pearls,” I tell him. My mom chokes on her water and quickly sets it back on the table while I take my down, finishing the glass.

“So something interesting then.”

“Nude women. He likes the sculptures of nude women. In fact, he’s so well off he even sends me a nude model to work off,” I add. I can feel Ash tense under my grip and it makes me smile knowing she’s that uncomfortable.

“Really? Well, that is something else,” he says before our food arrives. Now that I have to eat, I pull my hand away from Ash and grab my knife and fork.

“Tristan is really good at what he does. That piece near the courthouse, the horse? That’s his work,” my mom chimes in, trying to make me sound like a better person than I am. I shake my head, not wanting her to say a word, but that gets Ted all interested again.

“Really? That is quite a piece of work. Do you make it all by hand?” he asks, and I nod.

“I like to work with my hands,” I reply, glancing at Ash out of the corner of my eye. She knows I’m looking at her she’s just too shy to admit it.

The rest of dinner goes by in a blur of them talking about religious shit that I have no interest in, so I zone out.