Chapter Three
Verena sat on the floor in the corner of her room.
Her fingernails bled as she had picked at them too much and mutilated the skin surrounding her nails.
Her arms had been wrapped up against her wishes because she had been scratching them too much.
The nurses labeled it as her trying to commit suicide.
Verena failed to see how you could slit your wrists with your fingernails.
She had to do something, and the skin of her fingernails was her only option. She felt uneasy. The shadow man had been quiet today. He had been lurking but hadn't said a thing. It was unusual, and that scared her.
Verena was startled out of her thoughts when two nurses rushed into her room, with one of them having a small bag in their hands. Verena flinched when they rushed towards her and grabbed her face.
The nurse began to pull makeup out of the little bag, and Verena tried to pull away, only for her face to be held tighter by the nurses.
"Stay still!" the older nurse with the gray hair hissed. Verena was so startled and confused that she froze in place.
"We must hurry. We don't have much time. Who knows what they will do if they see the bruises on her face." The younger nurse rushed out as she aggressively put what Verena assumed was concealer on her face.
Verena had been slapped by one of the nurses so hard a few days ago it had left a bruise. She also had a black eye that had faded a lot, but it was still noticeable from two weeks ago after she was caught in the crossfire of a girl's psychotic episode.
Verena wondered who the nurses were talking about. Who in this place would care if she had bruises on her face?
After a few moments of the nurses fussing over her face, they stepped back and examined their work as if they were going to get a grade on it.
"That should be good." The older one nodded with approval.
The younger nurse bent down to Verena's level on the floor and looked at her dead in the eyes. Verena felt the hair on her neck rise as the nurse's black eyes pierced into her own. "You do not take that off, you hear?" she warned, giving Verena the concealer bottle.
Verena stared at the concealer bottle with an emotionless expression. She was still confused as to why she was even being forced to wear the smelly content on her face. Her skin was stinging in irritation from the liquid that didn't seem to work with her skin.
"I said, did you hear me?" the nurse raised her voice.
Verena only nodded at the nurse in compliance, which seemed to satisfy the nurse enough to leave her alone.
"Her brothers are in the lobby." The elder nurse said with a nervous tone in her voice.
Verena's head snapped up at the words. Her brothers? They were here. Verena felt her stomach twist at all of the possibilities that could come from this.
They left her here to rot. Why in the world would they suddenly come for her? The first thing Verena could come up with was they were going to kill her or send her off to juvie this time.
Verena felt herself starting to sweat with anxiety. Her skin felt warm, and she felt an overwhelming urge to run. She didn't want to face her brothers. Were all of them here? If Riven had been here, she would have been dead for sure. She just hoped it would be quick if she was going to die.
"Let's go." The younger nurse snapped, hauling Verena up and almost dragging her out into the hall.
Verena forced her legs to walk as she was hurriedly guided towards the lobby. They went through the door, revealing two of her brothers. Her eldest brother, Davian, and her fourth eldest brother, Praxis.
Davian had always scared her despite the fact that he hardly ever interacted with her.
He always made her nervous because he never seemed to have any emotions.
His eyes were cold and empty, and it was unnerving.
She accepted early on in her life that she would never receive his love.
She now assumed he wasn't capable of feeling anything.
Praxis always seemed to be neutral when it came to her. He would respond to her but never acted like he enjoyed her presence either. He never showed affection but just the mere action of him paying attention to her was all Verena wanted.
She would go up to him when she was six and show him the drawings, she had created for all her brothers.
Davian didn't even look but Praxis would nod in acknowledgement.
It filled her with happiness to see her brother notice her drawing.
He didn't have to say anything. The quick gesture was enough to make her happy. He didn't destroy them as Riven did.
Davian and Praxis seemed as if they were hissing at each other when she approached them. They were tense and irritated, like they didn't want to be here.
They both looked up when they saw Verena approaching with the two nurses. She looked both men dead in the eye, trying to see whatever she could from them. She wanted to see if she could somehow see their intention of being here just by looking into their eyes.
She was surprised to see Praxis look like a deer in headlights. He looked surprised to see her as if he hadn't expected her to be there. Davian just looked right back at her with the dead expression she gave him.
"Verena." Praxis broke the silence by saying her name in a way that seemed to be a relief.
Verena looked towards him as Davian roamed his eyes over her as if looking for something. Praxis was about to say something when Davian spoke up.
"What are those marks on my sister's wrists?"