Remington
THE DAY OF THE JENKINS MURDER
Tommy takes off toward his house at the fork in the path close to our houses. He’s salty because I beat him, but he should have known I would never let him win that bet.
I jog the rest of the way home until I turn a bend on the path and halt as I come upon the shadow of someone standing in front of me. I freeze, processing what I am looking at as the sun casts long shadows along the path.
Something ain’t right… The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end as I watch Talia—wearing the same platform shoes, red blouse, and tight bell bottoms from last night—peer down at someone. Even in the dull mist, something flashes in her hand.
I move closer, and that’s when I see blood dripping from her hair and face as she peers down at him, almost in a trance-like state, unaware of my presence behind her.
A snap of a twig beneath my feet alerts her and she turns her head slowly toward me, almost expectantly, like she knew I was going to come. Her eyes crazed, wild.
The usual sounds of birds and insects are replaced by a harrowing silence, the wind barely hitting the branches. Only a small ray of sun breaks through, shining a light upon her.
My sister, two years older, is my world. She’s all I have. Even though I’m taller than her, she dominates everyone by merely existing. I never thought Daniel was good enough for her.
And now Daniel is in pieces beneath her feet.
“Talia,” I warn, and she stares at me, her eyes twitching.
Her voice is sweet. “Yes, Remy?”
I take a careful step toward her. “You have to put the knife down. Daniel’s dead.”
She glances down at him like she forgot he was there. Her boyfriend and lover for four years, shredded apart, barely recognizable.
She gouged his eyes out.
She displays zero emotion beyond a hint of irritation, as though this is a minor inconvenience. She shows no affection for the boy she'd been madly in love with since she was sixteen. The one who helped her get over her trauma.
“Oh,” she says, staring down at him. “I suppose he is.” I knew this was coming…I just didn’t know when. She drops the knife and falls to her knees. I rush over and steady her shaking.
She’s in shock…and I need to be strong—I can’t show any weakness.
She looks up at me, her dark eyes flash. “I…I finally did it, Remy. I’m one of them now.”
I swallow hard and lift her up, leading her away from his body. The severity of his wounds makes my stomach hurl. He had no idea it was coming. She could have killed him with one stab to the stomach…she didn’t need to do this.
She’s outta her damn mind.
She stares back at him with a blank expression and leans into me. “I loved him,” she breathes. “I really did.”
I squeeze her shoulder. “I know, Talia.”
Damn. This is a mess—one my father won’t be happy to clean up. Talia wasn’t always like this; she was innocent once. That horrific day when she was sixteen broke her, and I’ve been trying to put her back together ever since.
She angles her head. “Can you help me bury him?”
I let go of her and stumble back a step as I realize what she’s asking. She planned this. She knew I’d be running at this time of day.
“Leave him here, you go home and shower, then go to church and pray. I’ll go tell father. He’ll have his guys take care of it. They will clean this up.”
“Remy, please.” Her voice breaks, breaking my heart right along with it. “My life will be over if anyone else finds him before Father does. We can’t leave him like this.”
She knows I can’t say no to her—I love her too damn much. And she’s right. My old man’s influence runs deep, but we need to be careful.
My jaw grinds together. “Go. Home. I’ll handle it.”
“You won’t tell anyone?” she asks, gripping my arm.
I move her a few feet away. She’s still shaking, still blood soaked. “I won’t tell anyone.”
“Promise?” she asks me.
“I promise.”
She hesitates, stumbling back a couple of steps. “What are you going to do with him?”
“I’ll figure it out. Get out of here, Talia, before someone sees us.”
She leans her head on my arm, her hair sticky with blood. “You’re the best brother, Remy. I love you so much.” She then bolts down the path in the direction I just came from leaving me to clean up the mess.
I’m going to hell, but at least I’ll go knowing I’ve done everything to protect her. I promised her I would the day she lost herself.
The day this town killed her.
I pull the body, dragging his six-foot ass deeper into the woods where I plan to dig a shallow grave. May his soul rest in peace.
That memory replays in my mind like a record, round and round for hours.
I buried Daniel that day. I hid his body under a tree and went home to get some help.
And while they couldn’t hide the fact he died the way he did, a couple people in town made a lot of money covering this up.
We called the sheriff first—it’s not the first time my family has paid off the sheriff.
From there, the sheriff took care of it.
I heard on the radio a couple of days later that the coroner counted fifteen stab wounds, though I bet he was dead after one.
Talia always had a flair for the dramatics.
She checked herself into a wellness facility for three months to help her with her grief, and when she gets out, she will be $500,000 richer and will have gotten away with murder. The moment we make our sacrifice is the day we get our inheritance. Not a day sooner.
Tommy will have to do this too, but he’s too dumb to have figured out his dad is a monster too. I’ll leave him in his blissful ignorance a while longer.
They started the witch hunt shortly after, and our family was enemy number one. I don’t know how my father did it, but he made it go away.
But he wasn’t too happy about it and told me I need to be more subtle. The witch hunt was a reminder to have respect for the secrecy of the oath we both took when we found out we were a part of the Order of the Shadows.
A warning not to screw up again.
I push up my leather cuff to stare at my Rolex— almost four-thirty p.m.
Almost time for Diana to catch her bus, which she will miss because I plan on taking her home today. She sits in her usual spot, near the back, and has yet to see me watching her after she’s been avoiding me in class all week.
I stuff my book into my bag and get ready to intercept her exit. I make my way around the bookshelf and walk out right as she makes her way into the light.
She hits my body like a stone, letting out a cry as she steps back. She squints at me as I lean on the bookshelf.
“Remy,” she hisses. “What are you doing?”
I flick my eyes up and down her body. “You’ve been avoiding me.” She’s changed her outfit, her hair flowing over her shoulders, not in the usual two braids. She looks like a wet dream.
I wonder if she’s dressing up like that for Tommy since she’s been spending every lunch hour with him.
Her eyes meet mine. “I haven’t been avoiding you. I barely know you.” She tilts her head. “Wait…you were the one trying to scare me the other day, weren’t you?”
I lean over and press my arm, stopping her, forcing her body against mine. “I have no idea what you’re talking about?”
She lets out a deep breath. I can feel her heartbeat through her chest. Little lamb is scared of me, and her fear is causing my dick to do things.
She dips her chin. “Please move out of the way. I don’t want to talk to you.”
I don’t budge. “You think I’m a killer? You believe the rumors about me, don’t you?”
Her body goes wholly still. “I don’t think you’re a killer.”
“Yet you’re still scared of me? You’ve been avoiding me since our last interaction.”
She pauses for a moment before she says, “I don’t want to talk to anyone here.”
I lightly run my hand down her arm and grab her wrist, and she freezes. “You talk to Tommy.”
Her skin is soft under my fingertips, and her chest falls and rises. She’s smaller than I thought she’d be. Delicate, petite. She reminds me of Talia in that way.
“Tommy’s nice. He’s the only one who’s been nice to me since I started here.”
I lick my lips and smile. “I can be nice, too.”
She glances at the floor then tilts her head up to me. “Everyone thinks you are a killer.”
I lift my chin to face her, and she’s trembling. A few seconds tick by before I ask, “Do you think I’m a killer, Diana?”
She forces down a swallow and hoods her eyes. “I don’t know yet,” she says honestly. “Something evil is in this place. I can sense it.”
I stare down at her. I’m at least a foot taller sitting at 6’2 and she’s barely 5’4. I could crush her with my bare hands. She’s right to be wary, her read on me is correct. I’ve never killed anyone, but I want to.
My hand finds her cheek and I run my knuckles down her face. She holds her breath and closes her eyes, and my hand finds her chin. Then I step into her, forcing her back to the bookshelf. I place one hand by her ear and the other on her hip. “Have you let Tommy touch you, little lamb?”
She shutters a breath.
“You can tell me.” I lift my hand up her shirt running my hand up her abdomen. “Every girl falls for his pretty smile first. But they are always drawn to me, eventually. When I want you, I will have you. Now or later; eventually, I’ll get a taste of you.”
Her soft white eyes blink a couple of times, and she releases a heavy breath. “Is that why you’ve been watching me?” she asks. “You’ve been in here every day watching me, haven’t you?”
I don’t deny it. “I’m not going to hurt you, Diana. I want to get to know you better.”
Her mouth parts and she jerks her arm away from me. “Please,” she says weakly, “I have to catch my bus.”
I let her pass, grinning at her discomfort as she rushes out the door. I take my time and follow her out to the front of the school just as ol’ Marty passes with that clunker he drives around town, leaving her behind.