52. Maddy
52
MADDY
I heard all the bullshit Brinna was spewing.
Her mind was all messed up. Kudos to that douchebag. Job well done if he wanted to fuck up lives. Goal accomplished. Brinna was never going to be a normal functioning person again.
Mom and Dad moved from commiserating in the bathroom with my mom going to their bedroom. My dad went to the kitchen where he was now getting answers from my friends.
“I want you to call Garrett.” That was my dad talking to my uncle. Snicker . “Find out if he knew about this? Why the fuck he allowed it?”
“The secret society?” That was Steele.
“No. I know he’s aware. It’s why they’re in Europe. Why didn’t you two go with them?”
“We were. We did. We were there most of our lives, but Brinna wanted to go to college stateside. We weren’t always over there. We have other family here on my mom’s side that we visit, but the plan was that Brinna would be at a university for the next four years. Dad didn’t like she was going to Cain, but it’s where we’re all going. It’s a family tradition. I came because I wanted to be close to her.”
“How the fuck did you end up here ? Cain’s three hours away. There’s other high schools closer.”
Steele didn’t reply right away. I heard some scuffling sounds. “My dad doesn’t know I’m here. Brinna enrolled me. She’s dealing with the payments, and all she told me was to get close to Maddy. I’m not a total dumbass. Once I knew Maddy’s last name, I figured out the connection early on. Brinna’s always talked a certain way about our older sister, but I’ve never let that influence me. I wanted to see for myself, make up my own thoughts about our sister.”
“Is my dad in this secret society thing?” That was Beltraine asking, his voice sounding strained.
“As far I know, no. He’s not in, but I’m remembering a few things Brinna said. I think he’s aware of the secret society and that he wants to be in. She mentioned a fake recruiting exception for him, but she laughed about it, said they were just using him. I didn’t know what she was talking about. I hadn’t met you and I thought he was being used for me, letting me stay here. Now I think he was letting me stay here as a way of getting initiated. Maybe. Or that’s what he thought.”
“You knew who Sam was?” My dad.
Another beat of silence. “I always knew who she was, but seeing her in person was… She’s not how Brinna said. I don’t—I’m not on board with anything my sister did. I knew she was going sideways, but I didn’t realize the extent of it until we all heard what she said. She’s messed up. She needs help.”
“She tried turning you against Sam?”
There wasn’t a response, and my heart hurt at that because of course she would. Brinna was cracked. If she were an egg, she’d been cooked the wrong way and her shell was all splintered up.
I listened to more, as Steele explained that once he met Beltraine, they bonded within the first weekend. It was an easy friendship. How Beltraine and Axel had no idea what Steele was doing. They were told he needed to hide from some bad family members. They didn’t push Steele for more, assuming he’d tell them what was going on when he felt comfortable to do that.
Grandpa Garrett had no idea what was going on, any of it. He had no idea Brinna was in communication with the guy in prison.
I barely remembered Grandpa Garrett myself.
The other bottom line is that they had no idea what to do with Brinna.
Which brought me back to where I was currently standing. Outside the study.
Brinna was inside. They were all in their kitchen meeting, deciding what to do with her.
I opened the door and walked inside.
Brinna straightened from where she was sitting in a corner chair. She unfolded her legs and brightened, the Brinna mask she wore when we hung out slid into place. Her smile seemed so genuine, like it always had.
“Maddy! Hi.” She laughed, tossing some of her hair over her shoulder. She smoothed her hands over her legs. “You must be confused at seeing me here, huh?” She motioned behind me. “Steele called. Told me what happened. I wanted to be here for my brother.”
So warm and caring. She was the picture of a doting big sister.
I shut the door, locking it.
She frowned at that, a slight flicker of worry showing before she hid it again. Her smile was back in its place. “It’s late for you, right? Have you been sleeping this whole time?”
I didn’t reply, only smiled at her.
That seemed to ease some of her worry. She relaxed back in her seat, the lines around her mouth softening before she grew pensive. “I’m in some trouble, Mads.”
I moved closer to her.
She looked away, and a hand reached up to rub at her forehead. “I—uh…I got a little out of hand and told Steele some things I’m now thinking I shouldn’t have. I don’t think he’s happy with me.” Her shoulders lifted up and went back down as she blew out some air. “Do you think… I shouldn’t ask. Never mind.”
I shifted closer to her. “What? Tell me.”
Her eyes latched onto me, sharpening. A keenness showed. Her smile stretched. “Steele took my phone from me—”
Lie . My dad took her phone.
“There’s a friend I need to contact. He’ll know what to tell me to do. Plus, I kinda told some of his secrets and they weren’t all mine to tell. You know? So stupid of me.” She rolled her eyes at herself, her mouth curving up. Being wry.
“What do you need me to do?”
“Do you have your phone on you?” She leaned forward, her hands folded in her lap, but I saw how she was holding onto her pants. Tightly. Desperately.
I went over to the desk and pulled out some paper and a pen.
My eyes caught on something else inside the drawer.
I hadn’t known what I was going to do when I came into this room, but there was something pulling on me. Calling to my darkness, asking to be let out. And Brinna, I lifted my eyes to her. She was watching me, but she wasn’t worried about me.
She was thinking ahead, plotting. Thinking about her next move? How to get out of the trouble she was in?
I took the paper and pen to her. “I don’t have my phone on me but write what you need to tell him and how to get in touch with him. I’ll send your message. I’ll do it right away. They won’t know I was even in here talking to you.”
She grew cautious, studying me.
I wasn’t lying. I would get the message to the guy.
She must’ve read the truth on me because she took the paper. As she wrote, she told me, “This is his email. He has a phone available to him, but he can’t always use it so send the email ASAP. He’ll get to that first and he’ll call when he can.” She hesitated, her gaze darting to the door. She bit down on her lip. “I’m—I’m, huh, I’m not sure when I’ll get my phone back.” A sardonic chuckle spilled from her, pulling at the corner of her mouth. “Steele’s really mad at me, but everything I’ve done is for him. I’ve protected my little brother all my life. You get that, right? You have a little brother and sister.” Some darkness shone in her gaze.
“I get it. I do.” I wasn’t lying.
Her entire body relaxed and she went back to scribbling her instructions. “So here’s his email. Write that out to him. If you give him your number, he’ll call you.” Her voice hitched, but I caught the excitement on her face.
I took the paper from her, sliding it into my pocket.
As I did, she let out a dramatic breath. “Thanks for this—” She choked, her eyes wide and alarmed. Shocked. She looked down at what was protruding from her body. When I put her message in my pocket, I grabbed the letter opener I took from my dad’s desk.
It was easier than I thought. I put some force into my stab, making sure it slid inside of her. The far right side of her stomach, in the middle.
She went to reach for it, but my hand closed over it. “No, no. Can’t do that. You pull that out and you might bleed to death.”
She made another choking sound, her face going pale. She let go of it, falling back into her chair.
I grinned at her, inspecting it. Pride filled me. I did a good job. “I wanted to make sure to miss your organs. That way you may still live. You won’t have permanent damage, but it’ll be a bitch to heal. A lot of pain. A lot of time for you to think. Process.” I laughed.
This was good.
I was enjoying this.
I felt almost drunk.
“Please—” She gasped.
I grinned at her, sinking into the chair across from her. “What? You think you’re the only one capable of wearing a mask? Bitch, please.” I got comfortable, sitting back. “The way I figure it is that you’re a psychopath. I didn’t just come in and happen to find you.” Rolling my eyes, I laughed. “I heard everything.”
“What—” She was holding onto the letter opener and tried to stand up.
I moved, shoving her back down. “ Stay . Please. I wouldn’t want to accidentally move that letter opener again. Maybe puncture something that couldn’t get fixed, you know?” I winked.
She gaped at me, making a mewling sound.
“Oh, calm down. You’ll live if you don’t fuck it up. Now, sit a bit. Let someone else have a say, hmm?”
She swallowed, her hands shaking. Sweat began streaming down her face, or maybe that was tears. She looked a mess. I liked seeing that. That was my handiwork.
I drew in a breath. Where to start? Right. “Your first mistake was thinking you could brainwash me. So stupid of you. I’m not you. I’m not weak. Weak minds get brainwashed. That leads me to your other mistake. See. I’ve been going through this whole phoenix changing thing since we moved here. I kinda love it, but I’m hating how it happened. I used to think I was a sociopath, but now I just think I have sociopathic tendencies. I have emotions. For example, I really don’t like that you hurt my mom.” I dropped the smile and let her see the real Maddy, the one that I was scared to show anyone.
She gulped, shrinking in her seat. She was still holding onto that letter opener, which I didn’t think was a good idea. But it was her body, I guess.
“Dad doesn’t know what to do with you. You’re a girl. He always has hang-ups about that. And you’re Mom’s sister so there’s that. Even though you’d love to continue to emotionally torture my mom, the sad truth is that my mom loves you. She probably thinks you’re some byproduct of that guy’s revenge and how she won’t let him have you.” I snorted. That felt right to me. “Bet you anything she’s determined to do whatever she needs to do to ‘get her sister back.’ I can already see it. She went to bed. Who knows if she’s sleeping, but she’ll come out with a plan. I’m sure that they’ll probably call your dad. Let him know what’s been going on, if he was actually in the unknown. Jury’s out on that verdict. I’m not convinced he didn’t know.”
She was still shaking, still pale She gasped, “He didn’t. My dad’s not like that.”
I grinned at that. “He’s not sick in the head like you?” I bulged my eyes out for dramatic effect. “Like me? Thought it was from Grandma Analise. Maybe it’s genetic on Grandpa Garrett’s side? But yeah. I can see my mom calling him, maybe having him fly here to have a whole talk about everything. Get it all out in the open. You—” I sat forward, resting my elbows on my knees. My head tilted to the side. “You’ll probably get sent to a facility. My mom’s all for those facilities. They helped Grandma Analise. Years of therapy, you’re looking at. That’s if they don’t decide to go another route. See if they can get you convicted for killing Grandpa James.”
The blood drained from her face all over again.
I bit out an irritated sigh. I’d have to call for an ambulance soon, but dammit. I wanted to have some more fun. This was going too fast.
I narrowed my eyes on her. “I don’t know what my mom is going to say about what you did to my grandpa, but you killed him. That’s what I say and right now, in this room, what I say is the only judgment that matters. He was already hurting. Missing Grandma Analise. As far as I think, you put the bullet in the gun and you handed it to him. You told him to pull the trigger. You’re the reason he’s dead. You killed him. That’s how I see it.” I frowned, not understanding part of it. “What did you say to get him to do it?”
“What?” Some of the fight was draining from her.
Dammit. I really would need to call 911 soon.
“What did you say to him? To get my grandpa so scared to take his life. It must’ve been something big—”
“Kai Bennett.”
I frowned. “Who?”
“He’s—” She cursed, squirming in her seat. “Are you serious with this? Call the ambulance! You don’t want me dead, then you gotta call for them. I think you punctured something serious.”
I gave her a considering look, testing to see if I cared about that. I grinned. I didn’t. “Tell me who Kai Bennett is and what about him got in my grandpa’s head so much.”
She cursed some more, glaring at me.
I liked seeing that look on her face.
“You’re so… You’re insane.”
“Already covered that. So are you. Come on. Kai Bennett. Who is he? What is he?”
“He’s—” She cursed some more, but I wasn’t moving.
“I never would’ve been brainwashed. That was your plan, right? Brainwash me away from my parents. Make me hate them like you do?” So stupid. “You only achieved one of your goals. My grandpa. That’s why you needed to get punished. Now, the severity of that punishment is up to you. Tell me what I want to know, and I’ll call 911. Don’t, and die. I don’t care. I should care. My parents will be horrified I did this, but I did it for them. I’m letting my dad off the hook for vengeance against what you did to his dad. And I’m letting my mom off the hook of trying to save you. She’s always going to be tormented about what you did to my family. Not me, though. Eye for an eye as far I see it. Pun not intended there. You killed my grandpa. I don’t mind if you die. But that’s up to you. You can still live. Just tell me what I’m asking—”
“I don’t know who or what he is.”
I scowled. “You’re lying.”
“I’m not. I swear. Uncle Seb told me to use that name. Said he was a threat to our group.”
“Your group?”
“The System. That’s the name of the society that replaced The Network. The old secret society.”
“The one that my parents destroyed?”
“Yes,” she hissed at me. “Uncle Seb said he wanted to see if two of his enemies would take each other out. And if they didn’t, then at least one might eliminate the other. That was the goal. It worked. James Kade took his own life because the threat of Kai Bennett terrified him more. Whoever he is. I don’t know who or what he is. That’s all Uncle Seb said. That he was a threat to The System. I tried googling him, but there’s almost nothing on him online. You want to know who he is? Ask your dad. I’m sure he knows all about him by now.”
I growled, getting to my feet and stalking her. “You’re lying. Stop lying .”
“I’m not!” she shouted before cringing, grasping onto the letter opener. She didn’t pull it out. She was just holding onto it.
I shook my head. “I wouldn’t do that. You’re probably moving it, making it worse.”
“Call 911,” she demanded in another gasp. “ Please .”
I considered her, considered what she said, considered what was said earlier. I was contemplating all of it and I sighed. “You made another mistake. For being this psychopath mastermind, you keep fucking up. You’re not very good at it.”
She snarled, the lines around her lips turned white. “What are you talking about?”
I smirked at her.
I knew that this would give my parents nightmares, what I was about to do, what I’d already done, but they didn’t understand that I was doing this for them. Both of them couldn't hand out the punishment that Brinna deserved. I could shoulder it. It was helping me learn more about myself, but I also meant what I said to my mom. I would use my abilities for the good and doing this to someone who hurt my family was the right thing to do.
I leaned over her and smiled. “You already proved that you could hurt my family and you brought up Nolan and Nash. You didn’t think I was aware of the underlying threat when you brought them up, but I’m better at this game than you are. You threatened my little sister and brother and I won’t let you hurt them. Because of that, I’m willing to roll the dice and see where it lands. If you die, you die. If you don’t…” I let that sentence hang between us and I reached forward, grasped the letter opener.
She tried fighting me off, but she was weak in body and mind.
It was almost too easy.
I tossed the dice and pulled out the letter opener.