Chapter 14 TRACE #4
I take a step back and allow him to breathe, knowing that soon, I intend to take his last breath from him the way that Seren’s voice was taken from her.
“Did you know that my sister wrote everything in a fucking diary, Broden?”
I turn to face him, eager to capture his reaction, but his head is hung as snot runs down his lips and over the edge of his chin.
I slide my hand into my pocket, fitting my fingers through the brass mold before walking back over to him. He flinches the closer I get but I stop at his feet and lower my voice.
“I asked you a fucking question,” I say and he brings his head up to look at me.
“Why the fuck do I care about a stupid journal?” He snarls right before he literally spits at me.
Wrong answer.
I lunge for the back of his head, pulling on his hair to guide his head back before I swing my brass knuckles into his face. The audible crack of metal and bone echoes in the air and his scream follows seconds after. Blood spurts from his nose and drips onto his thighs as he writhes in agony.
“What the fuck?” he shouts, and I watch as blood starts to pour from his mouth too.
“I like to be answered when I ask a question, Broden,” I say calmly as I swipe my brass knuckles across the unstained part of his pants, cleaning them of his blood.
“You’re crazy. It’s a fucking journal!” He spits blood out onto the floor before pulling his head back up to look at me.
His eye contact is lazy, but I know it’s probably because he’s feeling a little light headed right now. His nose is also definitely broken as it bleeds profusely along with the sizable gash adorning his cheek.
“I thought so too. But that journal told me some very vital information that I thought you might like to be aware of.” I slide the brass knuckles back into my pocket before dropping to my haunches in front of him.
I press the tip of my knife right under his chin and watch as a bead of blood starts to appear. Broden whines as he tries his best to hold still, attempting but failing to control his breathing.
“Four years ago, there was a party thrown, about a month before Thriller Nights. Someone or someones lured my sister into a room where she was then raped. And while my sister was being assaulted at the party, she claims to have heard your fucking name,” I whisper menacingly.
He immediately starts to freak out, causing the blade to scrape across his skin.
“No. Ow, fuck! No, she didn’t. I wasn’t there, I fucking swear it.” I stand up as he starts to flounder in his chair once more, attempting to kick his feet and wriggle his hands free.
Pure terror crosses his face as he begs and pleads for me to listen to him.
“Are you calling my sister a liar?” I tilt my head at him.
“Yes. I mean no. No. But I- I wasn’t in the room with her. I was su- supposed to meet up with the guys but I passed out drunk. I never actually went. I didn’t even know they actually did it.”
There we fucking have it.
I step up to him, but this time, instead of using my knife, I decide to pull the pistol from my hoodie.
“So,” I start, making a show to analyze the gun . “You do know who was in that room with her?” I ask.
Broden pales as I lean in and hold the tip of the gun to his forehead.
“Y- yes, I- I mean, I think. I do- don’t really know if they went thr- through with it or not. Damn it.” I can see he’s struggling to keep his brave face but is panicking instead.
“You better not leave a fucking detail out, or you’ll face a fate far worse then Deck’s,” I threaten but his eyebrows pinch inward as he tries not to move.
“Deck? You mean like Deck Winters? Wha- what the hell does he have to do with this?”
I pause for a beat, hearing the genuine confusion in his tone. Deck is the only other name Seren gave me, but he’s already dead. But if Broden had anything to do with what happened to Seren, and he’s questioning my mention of Deck, then why did Seren accuse him?
I don’t have time to think about his concern though.
“Broden, I’m giving you five fucking minutes.” I push the metal tip of the gun into his skull, eager to get this piece of shit dealt with so that I can move on with my night.
“Okay, okay. If I tell you what I know, will you let me go?” He squeezes his eyes shut, desperation lacing his voice.
“Depends on my mood afterward.” I’m not sure I truly intend to kill him one way or the other. I want to, but I know for sure I will do whatever I have to get the answers I need out of him.
He swallows before opening his mouth to answer me. “I didn’t have sex with your sister. But I- I was the one who dru- drugged her.”
I don’t move, and neither does he. Silence greets us for a moment as he keeps his eyes shut and I keep absolutely still.
But the second he dares to open his eyes, likely in an attempt to see my reaction, I make my move.
I whip the side of his skull with the butt of my gun.
He shrieks in pain and blood starts to drip from the side of his head.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he cries and chants pathetically, over and over again.
Struggling against his restraints, he thrashes in a fit of panic as the pain pummels him.
But I don’t let him have a reprieve. If he was the one who drugged my sister, then he’s responsible for the state she was in that led to her assault that night.
But it also means that he was also likely the one responsible for drugging Olivia.
I wasn’t planning on going to the party that night.
I went because Olivia was going and I wanted to see her.
Not more than an hour later, I found her close to fading in the bathroom and I decided to take her home.
I knew she didn’t drink much but then, I had just chalked it up to her getting sick.
But now, looking back, I remember something.
I had watched as Seren passed Olivia her red solo cup, and Olivia drank from it.
Something so innocent. And now it makes sense.
After finding Seren’s journal and learning about what happened to her, I started to feel guilty for leaving with Olivia that night instead of staying.
But how could I have known that she would have been taken advantage of?
And now, now I feel like an impossible place of feeling like I failed my sister while carrying that guilt and feeling somewhat vindicated.
If I hadn’t gotten Olivia out of there, could she have been in the same place Seren was in?
I stalk inward, crowding his space and getting right up to his ear. I let my voice drop as he starts to hyperventilate.
“Give me their names.”
“I don’t- It was-”
My phone vibrates in my pocket and I know exactly who it is—or rather what it is. But I pull it out anyway to see that motion has been detected on the camera inside Olivia’s cabin.
“Terrible fucking timing, flower,” I say out loud before shoving my phone back into my pocket.
Broden looks up at me in horrified confusion. I know I should stay and get the names out of him. But I also can’t let Olivia down.
Besides, whether he gives me names or not, he’s not going anywhere. Not while I have a say. And honestly, as much as I’d enjoy a little bloodshed, I know that making him suffer a little longer will only add to the appeal of him telling me the whole truth.
I put my gun away, trading it for my knife once more.
“On second thought, I feel like sparing you a little bit of time right now.” I take a step back, seeing Broden relax just a bit, blood dried in a trail from his nose down to his chin but his head is still actively bleeding.
Though, I hardly think it’s enough.
I point the blade downward and swing it into his thigh, piercing his skin and immediately producing a stream of viscid liquid to puddle and pour.
“AHH FUCK!” Broden’s scream is like a symphony to my ears.
He violently swings himself around in the chair, lifting it up off the ground and slamming it back down.
He lets out a frustrated groan when he realizes that nothing is going to budge; he’ll remain right where I want him until I say he can leave.
He folds over and swings his head back and forth in fear and pain as tears fall from his face, mixing with the trail of blood.
“I’ll be back later to finish our talk,” I tell him as I turn to walk away, leaving the knife in his leg.
“What? No!” he groans. “You have to le- let me go.”
“That’s funny,” I start as I approach the door to the stairs that lead up to the main floor. “I seem to believe that I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to do.”
He continues to cry out in agony as I start my ascent upward, leaving him to bitch and moan in a puddle of his own blood. I know he won’t bleed out. He’ll probably pass out though from blood loss. But he’ll be fine in the end.
And though I am so fucking close to getting the answers I want, it’ll have to wait. I know that I’ll have justice for Seren no matter what. But right now, I have to get to Olivia.
The forest is eerily quiet. So much so that I can practically hear the soft snow falling like a light powder gently brushing against the pines.
I unlock the door to Olivia’s cabin with the spare key I pocketed, careful not to make a sound.
I sneak inside, already alert to the anguished groans coming from her bed before quietly closing the door behind me.
Before heading her way though, I have to make sure the boys have done their job by keeping Alli away.
Once the cost is clear, I silently head to Olivia’s room. She’s moved since I checked on her; rolled over to her side. As I stalk closer, I can make out the faint squint of her eyes as the flicker of the candle she recklessly left lit glows against her perfect fucking skin.