Chapter 16
Angel
They have him chained to the fucking ceiling and floor. Fucking chained! I’m almost pissed, but then I glance around and see why. He tore the place up. There’s shattered glass, broken chairs, and tables lying all over the floor. I drag my gaze back to meet Silas’s and see the evil grin on his face.
“Did they think you could stop me?” he hisses at me. Levi said he was drunk off his ass and losing it.
“No.”
“Then why are you here?” I walk closer until I’m standing in front of him. He tore his shirt off at some point, the stab wound in his shoulder still oozing slightly. I look up and see the chains attached to the ceiling before looking back at Silas.
“How the tables have turned,” I taunt, nodding toward the chains. He smirks.
“Get a good look, baby, because when they let me down, these chains?” he sneers, rattling them. “Are going around that pretty little neck of yours.” I can smell the alcohol on his breath, and I also know neither Silas nor any of the guys are big drinkers.
“I don’t know if you’re getting down after this,” I retort, nodding toward the mess he made.
“Oh, I will. And then we’ll have playtime,” he hisses in my direction. I step back and glance at the guys wondering what the fuck they thought I could do. He isn’t going to listen to me. He isn’t going to listen to shit I have to say.
“What happened?”
“That’s a Kings issue.”
“And now I’m here, making it an us issue.” He laughs, throwing his head back.
“Us? You want to make this a us issue? Then tell me, my little sick, fucked up Angel. Why did you cut your wrists?” He grins at me, and something inside of me cringes. Does he know? There’s no way he could know.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“But you want me to talk? An eye for an eye, right?” I swallow hard, but I refuse to do this with him. I turn on my heel and start back toward the others when Silas yells.
“It’s because it was you! It was fucking you, wasn’t it, Angel?” I turn to face him, unsure of what he’s talking about. I hear Rylan curse, but I keep staring at Silas.
“What was me?”
“Let’s not do this while you’re fucked up, Silas,” Rylan urges him. Ry grabs my arm and tries to pull me away while Silas jerks at the chains, causing them to rattle loudly.
“Let her fucking go, Ry! Get your fucking hands off her!” He roars louder this time. Rylan sighs and pulls his hand away. He turns and walks back to the others while I stand and face Silas.
“It was you, wasn’t it, Angel?” he asks, a little calmer this time.
“What was me?”
“The girl. The fucking little girl.”
“What little girl, Silas? What are you talking about?” His eyes are full of unshed tears, and I find myself lost in them. Silas doesn’t cry. He never has. But I can see them in his eyes right now, and it makes my stomach cramp because now I know he knows.
“It was my dad, and you knew it. You had to have seen him,” he murmurs as I shake my head slowly.
“Don’t.”
“Yeah. You saw him. There was no other way to get to you. He couldn’t just go to your mom and ask, right?”
“Stop, Silas.” My hands begin to tremble.
“You had no idea what you were in for. He just took you there and left you, didn’t he?” A tear slides down his cheek, and it feels like my heart shatters into a million little pieces that will never be whole again.
“Please, don’t do this,” I tell him as tears of my own burn the back of my eyes.
“He left you there to that piece of shit. He fucking left you there for him to do whatever the hell he wanted to you, and you didn’t know any better!” He roars this time. I hear Levi growling behind me but I can’t make myself look at him. Instead, I keep my eyes locked on Silas.
“Did you find that in my journals?” He shakes his head. If he had looked further at the old ones, he would have known what had happened to me.
“Tell me, Angel. Tell me what he did to you,” he sounds like he’s begging me, and that’s not something Silas does. He doesn’t beg. He makes me beg. And now I do.
“Don’t make me do this, Silas. Please.”
“You beg me so beautifully, baby, but I need to hear it from you.” His eyes are pleading with me, and even as my entire being is being torn to shreds, I don’t want to do this. It’s fucking killing me to stand here and know he knows. I feel sick to my fucking stomach because I don’t know how much he knows.
“I can’t tell you that, Silas.”
“You can and you will!” He screams, tugging at the chains, and honestly, right now, I’m glad he can’t get to me.
“I won’t.”
“You will. You will if you fucking love me, Angel, and I know you love me. You’ll fucking tell me!” My chest aches because he’s right. I love him. More than I thought I could, I love him.
“It wasn’t just your dad,” I tell him, wiping the tears from my cheeks. He narrows his drunken eyes on me and waits. “It was my brother, too.”
“Tom?” I hear Rylan behind me. I don’t look back, just nod my head.
“He’s the one who got me away from everyone else. He told me he wanted to take me for ice cream, and after he’d been gone for so long, I jumped at the idea. I got in the car, and we drove to the park. He said he needed to wait for someone, and I didn’t know any different.”
“Then what?” Silas asks.
“Your dad showed up.”
“And?”
“I don’t want to do this, Silas.” Sobs rip me apart, but I know why he’s pushing me. He needs to hear it, I need to release it and that’s exactly what Silas is doing right now. He’s making me release it all.
“I’m going to fix it all, baby. Do you hear me? I’m going to fix everything!” He yells loudly. I jolt, but I reach up and wipe my cheeks, trying to stay strong.
“I got out when Tom got out and walked around the car. As soon as I stepped up next to Tom, your dad put a hood over my head and tossed me into what I assume was his car. I tried to fight him, tried to kick out the back windows. I wasn’t strong enough,” I tell him as he continues to watch me intently. “The ride didn’t last long, and I was taken inside somewhere and tossed to the floor like a rag doll. When the hood was finally removed, I saw him. Ron stood over me and smiled.”
“Keep. Talking.” His teeth are gritted, and his jaw is locked. He’s pissed.
“I tried to fight him, too. He … he was stronger and laughed at me when I fought. Tom came in and held me down. I think you can figure out the rest,” I tell him, shutting up quickly. I wrap my arms around myself just as Silas roars. It echoes through the room as he rages. The screaming doesn’t stop, and neither does the rattling of the chains. I have to walk away from him.
“He’s going to be fine once he’s sober,” Rylan reassures me as he pulls me into his arms. I cry. I don’t think I’ve cried this hard in my life, not even when it happened. Not even after.
“That wasn’t everything,” I confess through the hiccups of tears.
“What? What else is there?” As if Silas knows, he laughs.
“Come on, Angel. Tell us the rest.” Glancing over my shoulder, I turn to face him.
“You already know, don’t you?”
“I had some suspicions. I didn’t know for sure until you told the story.” His fists tighten around the chains.
“I can’t do this,” I mumble and turn away from him.
“She was pregnant. That motherfucker put a baby inside her when she was only a baby herself!” Silas screams. I fall to my knees and sob as Tamsyn settles next to me.
“What?” Hoax snaps this time. “Is that true?” I nod my head as I cry into my hands.
“They sent me away until the baby was born. They told everyone my grandma was ill and she only wanted me. They cut the baby out of me along with everything else in me!” I stand to my feet now, angry at Silas for making me do this. Angry at them for what they did to me.
I storm toward him and punch him in the chest repeatedly. I feel someone pulling on me, but I jerk out of their grip and continue hitting Silas.
“Leave her alone!” Silas roars as I keep going.
“Are you fucking happy now, Silas? Everyone knows! They all fucking know what happened to me!”
“It changes nothing,” he says calmly.
“It changes everything! I can’t have kids, Silas! Do you know what’s going to happen to me in this fucking society? What will they do once they find out I can’t have kids?”
“They won’t do anything. I won’t let them.”
“And you? How the hell could you want me after what I told you? How could you even look at me?” I scream at him before pounding my fists against his chest once more. When I wear myself out, I fall to the floor at his feet, and he lets out the loudest roar I’ve heard from him yet.
He doesn’t stop. He’s drunk. He’s angry. I get it. I am, too.
Levi grabs one of my arms as Hunter grabs the other, picking me up off the floor. They lead me into another room and sit me on a chair, giving me water. I take small sips as everyone stands around, not knowing what to say. What the hell could they say?
“You should rest,” Hunter tells me.
“I’m not leaving him.” My voice is hoarse.
“I’m not letting him down until he’s sober,” Hunter says point blank. I didn’t expect him to.
“I’m still not leaving him.” Hunter nods his head and leaves the room.
“We’ll all stay here tonight,” Rylan says.
“No. You can go. I’ll be fine.”
“You’re strong, Angel. I’m not worried about you right now.”
“You’re worried about your friend.”
“Not just him, Angel,” Levi says.
We stay in silence for a long time until I notice it quieten down out there. I stand and walk out the door to see Silas’s head down, just hanging there.
“He passed out,” Hunter reports as he drags a cot across the floor. “You can sleep here.”
“Thank you.” He nods, and I walk over, pulling the blanket back and climbing onto the cot. I’m exhausted as I lay down and look back up at him.
“I love you, Silas.” Then I lie on the cot at his feet, my eyes slowly fluttering closed as sleep drags me under.