Chapter 20
Edoardo Jackson “Jackyl” Bianchi
The pain was migrating away from my hand, up my forearm, to my elbow.
Swollen twice its normal size, the fingers were purple, the nails turning black, the skin so tight, it was difficult to bend them.
My clothes were drenched from sweat, beads constantly dripping into my eyes to sting.
It had been three days since I’d eaten or slept, only occasionally drinking from the lake, and my body was protesting with agony.
The walls of the cave were closing in on me, making it difficult to breathe at times.
Hearing a sound just outside the entrance, my heart skipped a beat, and I lunged for the gun.
Cocking, I aimed it, panting erratically.
I crept to the opening, squeezing and unsqueezing my eyelids, rubbing the sweat out so I could see properly.
My vision was blurred and doubled, but I could barely make out the figure strolling closer.
“Dash?” I grumbled, shaking my head and digging my thumb and fingers into my eyes. Taking a sharp inhale through my nose, I shook the sweat from my fingers and tried to focus. “What are you doing here?”
“They’re all laughing at you, Jackyl.”
My brows furrowed, the gun lowering with a sense of humiliation. “What?”
His hands pushed to his pockets as he strutted closer, snickering. “They’re all up there now, laughing at you.”
“Who?”
“Everyone. Vin, Tiny, Tyler. Your kids.”
A breath hitched my throat and my spine snapped straight, my stomach twisting. “No, they’re not.”
“They are, too. You’re the joke we laugh about every night at dinner while your kids are watching cartoons. You’re the loony tune now, man,” he laughed heartily.
I threw my arm back out and aimed the pistol. “You shut your fucking mouth. That ain’t true.”
“It totally is, man. Ty’s up there, dicking your wife every night, after tucking your babies into bed.
Vin’s already planning a family vacation to Florida next summer.
Even the Serpents say you ain’t nothing but a joke now.
Ty’s replacing you everywhere, Edoardo,” he mocked, emphasizing my real name.
Betrayal digging deep into my back, I snarled from the pit of my gut, screaming through gritted teeth. “Fuck you!” I shouted, pulling the trigger four times in a row.
The tree behind him splintered, bark flying in the air. Dash just laughed harder and gradually faded away.
Heaving, my pulse thumping at my temples, I lowered the gun, confusion muddling my brain. Grunting and rubbing at my eyes again, I hissed when the movement caused pain to shoot down my arm from my knuckles.
“What the fuck?”
Trying not to hyperventilate, I threw my arm up again, pointing out at the woods. Hearing something to the left, I spun in that direction and fired another shot. Dash was now laughing to the right, so I twirled and fired yet again.
“Give it up, man. You ain’t shit no more. You lost everything. You’re out, Jack. Finito.”
“Shut up!” I roared at the top of my lungs, pulling the trigger until the bullets ran out.
Exhausted that easily, I slumped to my knees, wheezing and choking on sobs.
“Shut up. Just shut up,” I whimpered, bending over to bury my face in the dirt.
The gun pressed to the side of my head, my mangled fingers dug into the ground.
His laughter came in and out, getting loud, as if he were right beside me, then fading off. “You’re a loser, Jackyl. We all take orders from Tyler now. He’s gonna run the Serpents one day, not you. You’re weak and pathetic.”
Scrambling to my feet, I howled, my voice croaking, and ran down the slope for the river.
I was going insane. I needed food, water, sleep, pain meds.
Splashing into the stream, I waded until I was waist deep and slumped, dunking under to cool off.
The chill shocked my body, making my heart race even faster.
Breaking the surface, I raked my fingers over my short hair and then rubbed at the stubble on my jaw.
Thirsty, I cupped my good hand and slurped some into my mouth.
So dehydrated, it literally hurt, my throat swollen.
He was lying, Dash was full of shit. He was pissed because I was fucking around with his woman.
I never dipped my dick, but she’d sucked me off plenty of times while I fingered her cunt.
The cops finally tracked down her secret lover to me, not a rival gang member, and now he was trying to make me suffer for betraying him.
“Jackie,” an oddly familiar voice sang.
My brows furrowing, I bristled, every hair standing on end.
“Jackie, over here.”
My shoulders squaring, bit by bit, I turned to face the bank. My heart sank and my jaw fell. “What the fuck?” I croaked, nauseousness making me dizzy. Bile coating my throat, I retched and then puked the water I just drank. Swatting it away, I trudged for the bank, shaking my hands out.
“Jackyl!” she shouted, her tone now angry.
I choked on a gasp and spun around, frantically searching for her again. Standing on the edge of the trees, she was wearing the same outfit we buried her in, her face mangled, the flesh rotting to show her teeth through her cheek.
“Cathy?” I rasped, squinting and creeping toward her. There was no way. After all these years, she should be dust by now. Why did she look so…fresh? As if she’d only been dead a few days.
Her hands on her hips, she shook her head, her hair matted and full of twigs and dirt. “You ruined her.”
“Who?”
“Tiny. You know damn well you could have handled that situation with me without bringing that little girl into it. You knew she wanted to be a lawyer, and you didn’t want that.”
My breaths were shallowing again, my eyelids rounding.
“You wanted her, you always wanted her. Even before my magical little makeover, you wanted that little girl.”
“What? No, I didn’t. What the hell are you talking about?”
“Where were you hiding the dope before you started using her closet, huh?”
Shame burning my face, I pulled at my nape. “I, uh…what?”
“You used that as an excuse to get close to her. Then, when you suspected I was a cop, you used that to reel her in deeper. You could have handled everything without involving her, at all. Had you just left her alone, she would have forgiven Tyler, they would have gotten back together years ago, and she would still be good. She would be a lawyer right now, married to her true love, and those would be his babies.”
“Shut up!” I bellowed, my words echoing off the trees.
“You preyed on that little girl. She was just sixteen years old, and you set your sights on her. I don’t know if it was because you were jealous of how good she was, how pure and innocent and smart, or if you just wanted to fuck her all the way back then, but you made the decision to trap her in your life and make sure she needed you and no one else. ”
I lifted my arm, just now realizing I’d lost my gun somewhere. Holding my hands out, I looked at them, then patted my jeans and sides. Where the hell was it? What happened to it?
“You’re a sick bastard, you know that? She was just a kid, and you purposely corrupted her—”
“Shut up!” I screamed, shaking my fists at my sides, the pain overwhelming when I curled my left fingers. Sobbing, I dropped to my knees, the heels of my palms pressing into my eyes, and rocked. “Shut up, just shut the fuck up.”
Birds tweeted and the wind blew. After a minute or two, I dared to peek, but found I was alone. Grunting, I rose to my knees and turned in every direction, but there was no one. No one, but distant laughter echoing through the woods. Not just Dash, either, it was several people. All laughing at me.
Crying, I bent over again, my face in my hands on the muddy beach. I was going crazy. I was losing my fucking mind!
“Tsk, tsk, tsk.”
Ice rolled through my veins, and I choked on a breath, opening my eyes to stare at the dirt. Panting heavily, my heart sank to the pit of my stomach, the urge to puke once more rising to the surface. “No…fucking…way.” Very reluctantly, I lifted my head and gawked.
Melanie stood a few feet away. Five foot six, her wavy black hair fell around her tiny shoulders, her light brown eyes glowing with disapproval. Her tanned skin shimmered under the bright sun, her hands on her hips…the bullet hole between her eyes still bleeding.
“Oh, shit,” I rasped, trembling a bit.
“Look what’s become of you, Jackson. Face down in the dirt, crying like a baby. And to think, I was once afraid of you.” She snickered and shook her head, leaning her weight to one leg while crossing her arms. Completely naked, there was blood smeared between her thighs, as well.
“This isn’t real.”
“Oh, I’m real, all right.” A brow arching, her focus lowered, following my line of sight. “Oh, you like looking at what you did?”
I licked my lips and gulped, my focus darting between her face and pussy.
“Yeah, I probably should have just let you fuck me, huh? Had I not said no, I might still be alive right now.”
My sight met hers, my heart thumping at my temples.
“But you still wouldn’t have let me go to college, now would you?
Just like you wouldn’t let that little girl go.
Why did she miss registration, Jackson? Hm?
Because you had her running errands for her until the last day and then, oh!
” she exclaimed, covering her mouth with her fingers.
“She leaves her house to find out she has a flat tire. Guess who didn’t make it in time? ”
Rage festering, I hissed, “She didn’t need that school—”
“Just like I didn’t need it. Why do you get to decide for everyone what they do and don’t need?”
“I know what’s best for mine.”
She pouted. “I was yours. Look what that got me. Look what you did to me, Jackson!” she screamed, bending at the waist and pointing to her forehead.
She scoffed and shook her head, looking off to the side.
“I guess I should be honored since I was your first kill. After you raped me, you killed me. I see you haven’t changed or grown up. Still just a scared little boy—”