Chapter Eleven
Verena was still under her bed in the morning. Praxis eventually got Verena to get out from under the bed. However, she refused to be near him. She glued herself to the furthest corner in the room.
He felt guilt eating away at him. If they had only treated her right from the start, all this wouldn't have happened. But instead, they ignored her for something that wasn't her fault and abandoned her in a corrupt hospital.
Praxis gave her the space by staying on the other side of her room, watching her. He realized he was just making her more uncomfortable by being in her room, so he decided to go back to his room. Riven wouldn't be back for a while.
As Praxis approached his room, Azryn came out of his room. "How is she doing?" he asked.
Praxis scoffed. "Since when did you care?"
Azyrn raised a brow and looked at him in irritation. "The fuck is your problem?"
"You have not given a shit her entire life, and now you show interest in her wellbeing."
Azryn scoffed. "I can say the exact same about you."
Praxis ran a hand down his face and groaned, "You think I don't know that? The guilt is eating me away, seeing the state she is in. We were stupid to take our anger out on our mother for cheating on our father with his sworn enemy. It has never been her fault."
Azryn sighed, "You're right. It wasn't her fault, and it's our fault for ruining her childhood."
"Why the change of heart now?" Praxis asked suspiciously.
"Because she violently killed her brother's best friend, and the state she is now. We really fucked her up." He shrugged.
"Yeah, we did." Praxis solemnly.
"What do we even do? What can we do?" Azryn asked.
"I don't know." Praxis sighed as he slumped his shoulders.
Davian sat at his desk rubbing his forehead in stress. His nose was sore, but thankfully, it didn't bleed from the impact of his sister's foot. He should have known better than to just grab her like that but his patience had long since fizzled away.
Her screams shook him. He hadn't ever seen her like that before. Screaming in utter terror thrashing like she was prey in the mouth of a predator. He could not fathom as to how her state has gotten to this.
They never interacted with her so how could she suddenly develop such a severe disorder.
He couldn't recall of his mother ever having schizophrenia and it was never mentioned in her family.
He wondered if it came from her paternal side.
Vince Nicoletti was an asshole but never showed signs of schizophrenia.
Neither did his sons. Then again, he hasn't had much interactions with that man.
Davian was looking intently at his computer screen as he searched the symptoms and proper treatments of schizoaffective disorder with depression.
She had hallucinations obviously but he couldn't see delusions or disorganized speech since she hardly spoke. They didn't pay enough attention to her or care enough to see any signs of depression.
Davian rubbed his temples in frustration on how he could provide any help for her.
He wasn't going to send her away again due to how bad that went.
He would have to find someone to come to her with one of them being around to make sure she was safe.
That was the only thing he could think of. Praxis would probably have ideas.
A knock on his door tore him away from his deep concentration on his computer screen. "What?" he asked in a flustered tone.
The door cracked open to reveal Lucian. Davian looked up and Lucian waiting for him to speak.
"Cyprian texted me he's coming home tomorrow. Should I just tell him now that Verena is home?" Lucian looked at Davian unsurely.
Cyprian is Lucian's twin. He was never around much. He would often disappear for weeks on end and return at random moments. The only person he would share his whereabouts with was his twin which drove Davian crazy.
"Just tell him." Davian said dismissively. He wasn't worried about Cyprian's reaction. He would just be indifferent as usual. Riven was the only worry he had.
Lucian nodded and left without a word.
Davian spent the rest of the day pondering on what to do.
Verena was in her bed, surprisingly, with her eyes closed, trying to sleep. Her mind was restless, and she couldn't get to sleep. She could never sleep. She always had to be on alert. Waiting to be punished for her crime, to be put down like the monster she was.
She was unnerved that the menacing voice had yet to whisper in her ear. It was usually yelling and scratching her brain when she tried to sleep.
She slowly felt herself slipping away into sleep. The darkness was beginning to take hold of her. She was just about to fall asleep when hands suddenly wrapped around her throat.
Her eyes flew wide open to see her youngest brother above her with a sinister look on his face as he began to strangle her. Her hands gripped his and made a weak attempt to pry them off. She felt her blood circulation being cut off.
She couldn't scream, just feel the panic of knowing she was going to die. She thought she wanted it, but on her own terms. Having Riven's hands around her throat induced a panic she had felt only very few times.
No one was going to help her. She knew it. Her brothers would be glad she was gone. The darkness was permanently wrapping around her.
Verena's eyes flew open, and she jerked into a sitting position, trying to catch her breath. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she grabbed her throat as if Riven's hands were still there.
She flinched when her door swung open, revealing Praxis with an alarmed look on his face. Lucian was right behind him, and Davian was quickly making his way there.
"What happened?" Praxis asked with his eyes wide and nothing but alarm in his tone.
Verena, of course, didn't answer him and continued to try to catch her breath. Praxis's face turned into recognition and relief when he saw she wasn't physically being harmed.
"Did she have a nightmare?" Azryn asked, appearing behind his brothers.
"I think so," Praxis said as he slowly moved toward Verena.
Verena looked away from them and scooted as far away from them as possible, with tears streaming down her face still.
"Verena," Praxis called softly with sadness in his voice.
Verena just shook her head. Praxis felt helpless.
"Let's just leave her be for now. She won't say anything about it and clearly doesn't want us." Davian spoke up with a face that was expressionless.
Lucian and Azyrn retreated back to their rooms while Praxis stayed behind, still watching his sister in worry.
"Praxis," Davian said sternly.
Praxis sighed and left her room as well.