Chapter Eighteen
Raven.
As I hover over my mother, one word clings to my grey matter, making the back of my skull hum – retribution.
I let my eyes roam over her, so… peaceful in her sleep.
Memories come to the forefront. Every hug that became infrequent.
Her smiles toward me then became sneers.
Her time was given away to everyone until only a fraction of an hour was dedicated to me.
and that usually involved a plate of food around a table where Axel was the center of attention.
But that was never really an issue with me.
I knew if I opened my mouth for longer than necessary I would be criticized.
So I did all the things that meant the attention would not fall on me.
I kept my grades top-notch. Stayed in my room and practiced my cello to make sure I was first chair every week.
And when summer came around, I applied for any and every music program outside of the continental US so I wouldn’t have to be home. Where I could be… myself.
College was going to be my safe space. A place where I was going to make friends, dress the way I wanted to, meet a cute guy and hopelessly fall in love a few times and get my heart ripped out of my chest before I graduated and then met ‘the one.’
So many hopes. So many dreams.
Gone in the blink of an eye. In the break of a leg. In the last beat of heart that was already broken.
And the woman sleeping soundly before me was at the root of it all.
My brows furrow and my eyes narrow as I squint at Sofia’s motionless body. Only the swift rise and fall of her chest tell me she’s alive. Then I look at her lips. The same ones I inherited.
How many times a conversation turned into a screaming match until I realized my words, my voice, meant nothing to her. So I stopped talking around the mansion. Stopped laughing. Swallowed down my anger because what difference would it make?
Seems I was tongueless a lot longer than I originally thought.
Turning eighteen and going to college was going to change my life. In so many ways, it did. In a weird, fucked up way, I’m grateful for it.
But not for her.
Sofia snores in her sleep. The half-eaten chocolate cake is her only companion in the enormous bed.
Her public downfall was glorious. For weeks she tried to say it was AI, but when an anonymous source produced more viable footage of her in the same clothing being seen in Madrid, she backtracked and did the whole “apology” video with fake tears.
Still, her empire crashed and burned faster than she could even try to save it.
SOFIA MONROE - RUINED
Inhale.
Exhale.
I follow the rise and fall of Sofia’s chest, now plumper than before and go over to stand by the foot of the bed.
I grab the heavy comforter and slowly drag it down her body inch by inch.
She stirs softly, hand moving to reach for it and when she doesn’t find it, feeling it slip down her body and past her knees, she jolts up like a doll come to life.
Huh.
How the tables have turned.
When she sees me she shrieks and shuffles closer to the headboard. “Porfavor! I have no money! Take what you want but leave me alone!”
I stop then, recognizing the palpable fear in her pale green eyes.
I can almost taste it as my lullaby starts…
different now… but there. Ohhhh…. Hello, old friend…
it sings to me as chills rush down my spine.
I jump on the bed. Sofia squeals, but acts quickly, rolling to the other side and gives chase.
Fuck.
I grin like a fucking villain under my mask, glee tingling every extremity down to my fingers and toes.
Why do I like that?
The white silk robe she fell asleep in trails behind her as she runs into the bathroom.
Idiota. After receiving the deed I received something else- the original blueprints of the mansion.
I scrutinized and studied every square inch of this place and its hidden corridors.
I run in the opposite direction and straight to John’s old office, hiding in the shadows where sure enough, out pops the wall where the old portrait of the Monroe family once hung.
The one painted without me. The one I looked upon while I was covered in John Weston Monroe’s viscera.
Such a sweet… happy little family… weren’t they?
John… Axel… Sofia…
But where was Raven?
Exiled.
Confined.
Every bitter moment I ever spent in Lorne Wood seeps out of the wrinkles of my brain and pours behind my eyelids like a fucking movie.
Drugged.
Beaten.
Psycho Little Raven…
“She can’t talk.”
“She’s faking it!”
“Mute.”
“Freak!”
I fight the ghosts rattling in my brain as I stalk my visibly shivering prey.
“Broken… Little… Doll…”
That’s the one I hated the most. That’s the one that left her lips just recently.
I slowly unwrap the rope from around my torso and make a pretty little noose.
I wonder if John and Axel are watching now?
A creak out in the hallway tells me Jonas is nearby.
The door slowly swings open, but there’s nobody there.
It adds to her growing paranoia, little whimpers leaving her throat.
I grin to myself beneath the balaclava as Sofia slowly spins, breathing heavily between the soft whimpers but I match her step-for-step, staying behind her as I finish tying the last knot.
She takes in a shuddering breath, seemingly thinking she’s safe.
Awww…. So did I.
I thought I was so, so, so safe, too.
I throw the noose over her head and yank her back.
She screams, landing on her ass and fuck, she’s gotten heavy.
But I drag her anyway, relishing in the screams, the small thuds of her feet landing each kick on the hardwood flooring as I make it into the hallway where Jonas is waiting for me.
He grabs the tail end and pulls right along with me, helping me.
We get to the grand staircase and Jonas seems to know exactly what I have planned because he ties the end of the rope three times around one of the balusters and I pull her until she’s at my fucking feet.
Grabbing the roots of her hair and lifting with all my might so she’ll stand between me… and the banister. She stands between me… and her death. How very fitting that both of John’s wives will roam these halls, trapped here with him.
Tears and snot stream down her face, over her lips. “Please!”
“I begged for mercy, too.” I seethe. I pull off my mask and hand it to Jonas.
Her eyes widen as if she can’t believe it’s me.
I would care, probably, but the symphony in my mind is growing…
and it feels so fucking good. It sounds beautiful.
Haunting. The kind of song you’d imagine playing in a haunted palace as ghosts waltz in the ballroom.
It builds, and builds, bouncing in the space between my eardrums like an EMDR therapy light, with bilateral stimulation.
“Was my life’s work not enough for you? Was ruining me not enough?” She asks between struggles.
I pause briefly and contemplate every emotion I ever felt while at Lorne Wood. How during the first two years, I had somehow hoped my incident would have brought us closer together. Instead I was left alone. Caged. And angry. So fucking angry.
I’m ready to let it go.
With one short breath and an even shorter decision, I do a half-squat, grab the lapels of her robe, drive down on my heels, and lift her with a grunt. “Vaya con Dios, Mama.”
Her hand comes up but I push her over the railing and move just in time so her nails don’t catch me. Her final crescendo dies midway through though it reverberates around the old mansion, bouncing off every way and back into my ears.
The rope creaks as it sways back and forth… back and forth.
I shed one last tear for her.
Not for Sofia.
For the mother she was once upon a time.
And then never again.
Jonas tucks me into an embrace then kisses my temple. “You okay?”
I nod.
I don’t allow myself to dwell.
I can’t.
In the end, she got what she deserved.
Jonas and I work quickly and fastidiously, getting rid of any evidence anyone else other than Sofia was here.
It’s four in the morning when we sneak out and get into the SUV Aleksi has been waiting for us in. He keeps his brown eyes on me for a moment. “That… was fucking neat, Rave. Seriously. Smoothest execution I’ve seen in a while.”
I dip my chin as a smile crawls across my face at the compliment. Jonas hugs me from the side and kisses my temple. “Can you scrub that?” He asks Aleksi.
“Already did man. Alright, let’s go. The story is you got an alert on your phone but the cameras inside the home have been cut since you sold everything and it’s been sitting empty, okay?
As soon as we get back to New York, you’ll call the alarm company, which as you both know is mine and Franny’s security company so it’s on your phone records.
We’ll call the local PD, let them know we either had a glitch in the system or someone broke in.
We'll give them the code to the house, and they’ll go in and find her once she’s cold and stiff. Sound good?”
I nod, put my hand on my husband’s thigh, and he grabs it to hold. I let my head rest on his shoulder as I doze off.
For the first time in five years, I dream about absolutely nothing.