42 | Mike
Mike
IT MUST BE AROUND FIVE in the morning when I arrive at the house. I enter through the front door, making my way silently toward the living room on my way to the bedrooms when I notice Jessica sitting on the window ledge where my brother usually sits.
This girl has a piece of every single one of us if you watch her long enough.
Nathan’s ability to appear as normal—no one should ever worry about her—exactly like my man does.
No one would think he is a serial killer.
My impulsive, unhinged need for a hunt. Liam’s tendency to shut down when things get to be too much.
She is our equal in every way, and if we are not careful, she will be the end of us.
I have been noticing her since she entered our lives.
She always seems to be happy and bubbly.
The guys love that about her, I am sure, but there are moments like this one, when she gets dark and gloomy.
A look in her eyes that seems almost as dark as night.
It’s when I realize that she isn’t who she appears to be at first glance.
There’s more to her than we know. She is quick to shed it when someone notices—a strong girl in every way—and I can’t help myself from wondering what happened to her.
I am pretty sure we are not the reason for her sorrow, or at least I hope we are not.
We can’t be, though, even with all the death surrounding us. She is still choosing to leave town with us soon. She wouldn’t if that scared her. At least I know that much.
This woman has an amazing, strong personality—a captivating nature in every sense.
It is no surprise to me that all three of us are head over heels for her.
In fact, I wish she had entered our lives earlier; maybe some of the things we have been through would look less horrible with her by our sides.
However, I still think we should be careful, because when someone hides their darkness, it doesn’t end well.
And tonight, we got a glimpse of hers. Who am I to judge, though?
It’s not like I didn’t invent the damn game.
I step closer to her, but she doesn’t seem to notice that I have entered the house at all. I observe in silence how small and vulnerable she looks at this moment, taking a second to see her for who she is before I speak.
“What troubles you, angel?” I ask her, keeping my voice low.
She turns her head to look at me, and I notice the tears in her eyes. Something inside me breaks at the sight of her crying.
“Who hurt you?” I press. “Tell me what happened.”
A moment after she registers my presence, her body language changes. It’s almost as if she has put her armor back on, but I can still see a crack in it. She isn’t completely shielded behind it.
“I just wonder—” she starts, taking a pause to gather herself, “what would be different if my mother were still here.”
Her words confuse me, and I wonder what happened before I can stop the words from leaving my lips. “What happened to your mother?”
I can’t recall Liam talking about it. I know she died when Jessica was young, but other than that, I don’t think he knows much about it either.
I know he has done his research on her father.
If that man wasn’t such a burden on Jessica’s life, maybe Liam would have kept his distance.
If her life were perfect, I know my brother wouldn’t interrupt it.
He is not selfish in that way. He is not selfish at all—in fact.
She turns her head away from me, her eyes fixating on a tree in the backyard. “She died when I was ten,” she tells me.
I take the seat next to her, waiting for her to share the parts of her story she is willing to give without pressing further.
I would love to push her right now, but I need her to share this willingly.
I have always had the need to take the pain away from the people I love.
Liam’s tears and the belt marks on his skin haunted me more than my own.
Nate’s sobs in his sleep turned my dreams into nightmares when the horrors in my life couldn’t.
I would end everyone and everything for those two, and now Jessica seems to have joined that list. I would turn the world upside down if it meant she wouldn’t shed another tear, but I don’t tell her that. She doesn’t need to know.