6. Six
Six
Francis
They say to keep your enemies close. Well, Cole Michaels was too insignificant to merit being a true enemy.
Despite his size– near my own– he and his sniveling father were unimportant now that we had Antoinette back.
Still, I intended to keep the hockey player close.
His was a name I had heard part my sweet sister’s lips far too often.
First, when we were children, she’d return from this god forsaken place spouting his name, or those of the other two.
And even later, in shitty apartment after shitty apartment, I would sneak into her room once she was asleep and watch her.
The sight of her sleeping, so defenseless and unaware, was exactly how I wanted her.
But far too many times, I would get halfway towards her, my zipper down, ready to claim what Father had promised was destined to be mine, only to hear her whisper his fucking name and ruin everything.
So, while rumours of what happened last summer had already made it clear that their relationship wasn’t what it once was and tonight’s events were further evidence, I needed to make sure it stayed that way.
A campfire had seemed like a waste of my time, but I needed to keep a close eye on Antoinette.
Father was very clear about his expectations.
Not that I would have left her unattended with so many people outside my sphere of control.
So, I had gone to the stupid campfire. The many trees made for convenient hiding spots, and the late hour helped me remain invisible, tucked into a dark corner right near the front of the stage.
From there, I was able to watch my sister and all the action that followed.
Had anyone else punched her, I would have killed them instantly for damaging what’s mine, but Cole’s rash actions only served to further my cause.
This place was full of people who stole my sister’s attention from me.
Those friends of hers weren’t so urgent.
But I would deal with them eventually. My focus was first on destroying not only the guy in front of me, but the dark-haired one, and the wannabe punk, too. To do that, I needed information.
After shaking Michaels’ hand, I returned to my vacant seat, uncomfortable as it was.
Everything in this place, the office furniture, the benches and tables in the dining hall, even my supposedly brand-new cabin, all looked used.
It smelled of campfire smoke and age, and I was already longing for the clean, empty scent of Father’s penthouse.
I ignored thoughts of setting the chair beneath me on fire and listened to Mitchell prattle on about various female staff members.
Meanwhile, Cole sat silently atop the desk at the far side of the small space.
Eventually, with only a grunt to the two of us, he left, stalking off into the darkness alone.
“Ignore him. He’s been a total pussy ever since his girlfriend broke up with him last summer,” Mitchell rolled his eyes as he explained.
Girlfriend? Interesting. I added that information to the mental list. Like I said, information was important. All I said in response was, “Oh, yeah?” I would let Mitchell fill in the gaps.
“Yeah. Michele Greenwood. She’s the Creative Director, the hot blonde who was sitting with your sister at dinner.”
I knew immediately which of my sister’s little gang he was referring to. She was the only blonde, after all.
“Mmmhmm,” I answered non-committally, “Why’d they breakup?”
The useless oaf just laughed, “No one knows. Personally, I’ve always thought she was an uptight bitch. I prefer my girls a little more…” he trailed off, suddenly shifting in his seat.
“Do you think you could find out?” I asked.
Shaking off his own thoughts, he looked back at me, “Why Cole and Michele broke up?”
“Yeah.”
“Why do you care?” He asked back, with a little too much force for my liking.
Pulling out my cell phone, I opened my betting app and flashed him the screen. “Because his shitty season cost me almost five grand. I’d like to see him get his head back in the game.” It wasn’t not true. I had been betting on the MSU team all year and losing big.
Greer laughed again, too hard. Much harder than my lame joke deserved.
“Alright, boss, I can try and find out.”
One thing I appreciated about Mitchell right out of the gate was his willingness to bow to his superiors.
He didn’t even need to be told. I’d let him run around like my own personal spy, gathering secrets and reporting back, until I had everything I needed to destroy all the people in my sister’s life.
When she had no one left to turn too, she’d come running back to me.
Leaving Greer in that pitiful office, I strolled back to the Staff Village.
Or, at least, I walked slowly. There were so many fucking roots and rocks everywhere that I must have stubbed my toes twenty times on the way.
I was about ready to pick up the next rock and cram it down someone’s throat when I finally got to my own cabin.
It was bigger than any of the others around it, and thankfully, had a small light over the front door so I could finally fucking see.
The single bulb threw enough light that I could see across to Toni’s door on the opposite side of the path.
With my frustration swirling the way it was, only the sight of my sister would calm me down, so I turned and headed for her door instead of my own.
With a quick glance in either direction to check that I wasn’t being watched, I slowly turned the knob, only for the rattling click of the lock to stop me.
Fucking locked. My hand gripped the knob harder.
It wouldn’t be that hard to rip the cheap timber from its frame and let myself inside, but that was exactly the kind of disruption our father had warned me about causing.
Hopefully, he would call soon and put an end to this farce so I could lock my sister back in the beautiful cage I made for her.
And if not, maybe he’d at least call me with an assignment.
Less than twelve hours and I was already sick of the forest. I missed my sister’s pretty pink bedroom, I missed the city, and most of all I missed the screams.