Chapter 11 #2
I remember how they would scurry across the kitchen floor in the dark, their beady eyes searching for any scraps of food that they could scramble up.
Their silk-like whiskers sensing their surroundings.
It’s enough to send a shudder racing through my body.
It’s been so long since I visited a place that reminds me of such a horrible time in my life, and now I fear that it’s all I’m able to see.
I can’t fall apart now. Brynne is going to be going into Leroy’s house alone. She needs me and that’s enough for me to yank my anxiety ridden body out of limbo and back into the present.
As I park my bike a little bit further down the road, I watch as Brynne turns off the engine of her truck. She doesn’t get out right away, instead she sits there.
What’s going through her mind?
Will she go through with it or rethink her decision? Or will she call me for help?
I’d like to think in a situation like this that she would, but that isn’t Brynne. That isn’t the woman I’ve come to know and.. love?
Do I love her? If the aching in my chest and the way my heart threatens to ram through my ribcage like a freight train anytime that I’m around her is enough to go by, or the way my stomach sours at the thought of her not being in my life makes me want to fucking die, then I think I can confirm that what I feel for Byrnne is love, maybe something even more powerful and deadlier than that.
I think it’s something that’s completely out of this world. A power so vicious that it could send me to my knees. She could bring me to my knees.
My palms begin to sweat and I can feel my lungs screaming for the taste of fresh air.
With clammy hands I unclip the helmet and yank it off my head before resting it on the tank, then I switch off the engine.
Silence surrounds me, mixing with a faint whisper of wind blowing past my ears.
Instantly I inhale the sharp air to fill my scratched lungs.
After a few more deep breaths, I can finally focus on Brynne.
Carefully she slips out of the SUV with a holdall bag over her shoulder, the hood of her hoodie shielding her face.
I watch with intent as she turns on her heels, scouring over the empty street– probably to check if she’s in the clear.
Obviously she’s not that great at scouting her surroundings because she still hasn’t clocked me.
You need to be more careful, love. You’re not the only monster out tonight.
Lifting my hand from the tank, I carefully slip out the key and kick down the stand to balance the bike, then I swing my leg over the heavy machine and unclip my phone from the mount, sliding it into the back pocket of my jeans.
All the while I keep a careful eye on Brynne, she softly closes the door of her truck and shrugs the bag further up onto her shoulder, then she’s off, taking careful steps through the front garden.
I can’t see much of the house from where I’m standing and instead of second guessing what she’s walking into, I head down the path, keeping my back against the fences until I reach what seems to be Leroy’s house.
I stop at the edge of his garden and slowly turn my head around a dead bush.
The leaves are dry and brittle, with one soft touch they’d fall from the branches.
From between the dead leaves, I can see Brynne on her knees as she picks the lock of the battered front door, wood panels are littered with cracks.
One gust of wind and that thing will blow right off its hinges.
I could boot the fucker down but I want to see my woman at work. I want to see the deadly spider catch her prey, with me as the sidekick, of course.
Bright red spray paint covers the white exterior of the house, the word rapist being the focal point of Leroy’s home.
Just looking at the word has all the puzzle pieces that make up Brynne, clicking together in my mind.
That has to be the reason why she chose Leroy, why she chooses any of her ‘victims’.
Something horrific happened to her and now she’s on a war path, a vicious journey of revenge to write the wrongs of these men, these fucking pigs.
I know what I’ve done in my life isn’t right, and it’ll never be right.
I’ve come to terms with that, that maybe I’m not a good person in my core but I would rather die than ever lay my hands on a woman the way Leroy probably has.
If I could change the actions of my past, I would but I can’t.
I can only live with the choices that I’ve made, that were forced upon me.
The actions of another who has made me who I am today, and I’ll forever hate her for that.
Anger floods my system. If I could dig up my mother and kill her all over again, I absolutely would do, without a second thought.
Instead I’m left with the broken pieces that she left behind, and I can only hope that once Brynne finds out why I am the way I am, that she doesn’t mind cutting her hands with my sharp edges because I’d happily bleed out holding hers.
Click!
The sound of Brynne finally cracking the lock on the door throws me right back into the present.
She makes quick work of throwing the metal pins back inside the bag and entering Leroy’s home.
Darkness shrouds her as she steps over the threshold and just the thought of her going in there alone has my heart threatening to fall out of my ass.
This fucking woman.. I think to myself.
I roll my eyes and crack the muscles in my neck before stepping out from behind the bush and make my way up the path, keeping my steps silent as I follow in behind her.
Sour sweat and pungent urine hits me like a brick to the face.
It’s so strong that I’m ready to throw up all over the grimy floor.
Instead, I keep to the shadows for a moment and watch as Brynne takes careful steps over the rubbish that litters the carpet and just before she can enter into what I think is the living room, I sneak up behind her and wrap my arm around her waist whilst my hand clamps over her mouth.