Tommy
Something ain’t right.
I can feel it in my gut, and in the air around us that something is going to change, and soon.
Every day that goes by, Didi loses herself, and Talia falls into a darker place.
Talia is fighting a war I don’t understand, dealing with internal rage I’ve never encountered.
Talia gave me extra attention this morning, which means she’s up to something extra naughty.
She then told Didi she could go to campus for the day—after days of insisting she stay in the house.
None of it makes sense. I know Talia’s also been seeing that prick Stephen.
Talia, Didi, and Bax never came home from class today. I have no idea what’s going on, and it’s driving me crazy.
“What’s wrong with you?” Remy asks, sitting across from the fire.
He’s broody as usual and agitated. The phone rang earlier; it was Remy’s father asking if Remy had any idea what Talia was up to and why Professor Crux was left in a bloody mess in his office.
I bet it has something to do with that damn book—not that anyone would tell me, anyway.
I run my hand through my hair. “I’m just worried about the girls, man.”
He pokes at the fire and lights smoke, gazing into the fire. “They’ll be fine.” He says that, but his eyes are tight. He’s worried, too. “They’ll be home soon. My father took care of it with the Sherriff, probably paid him a shit ton of money, but it won’t get to the public.”
“Talia’s up to something bad, man. You see that, right? This is just the beginning… She ain’t done.”
He takes another deep drag, coughs it out, and passes it to me. “Talia’s always up to something.”
Lucy comes out and asks if we need anything, and we politely tell her no.
She frowns at Remy, shakes her head, then heads inside.
He’s barely spoken to her since Didi’s been around, and I always wonder how deep her loyalty runs.
Perhaps she’s leaking information to the press.
Remy and Talia are going to have to deal with her one way or another.
Lifting the joint to my mouth, I take a long, deep pull, blow it out, and cross my arms.
Remy rolls his eyes and adjusts his leather jacket as the fire crackles. “Alright, why are you pouting?”
I snort. “I won’t tell you if you roll your eyes at me.”
“Is it Stephen?”
My jaw ticks. “I don’t get why your sister needs to sleep around. Am I not enough for her, man?”
Remy quirks his brow. “You’re sleeping around.”
I kick some rocks at him. “Not the same. You took my fucking girl from right under me. I like Talia, I really do, but she can’t go around acting like that. It’s not right. And I haven’t slept with Didi since that night. All we ever do is kiss…that’s all she’ll let me do.”
He lets out a deep sigh. “Look, Tommy. I never meant to take her from you like that. I fought how I was feeling for her. I swear, I fought it so hard. I wasn’t sure if Talia was going to let me keep her.
But now that she’s here…I can’t let her go.
You have always had feelings for Talia. You can’t deny that.
Talia needs a guy like you in her life. Otherwise, she will end up with a guy like Stephen Garcia, who won’t treat her right.
You need to marry her, man; it has to be you. ”
He’s right. Talia needs me. If anything, she needs me to make sure she doesn’t completely lose her damn mind and go on a killing spree or something.
I stare at the embers as they crack and spark, and smoke circles around the frosty December air. The trees around us have an ethereal glow that’s not helping my ominous mood. I keep staring at the road, waiting for them to come home. I’m so wired I can’t even strum my guitar.
“Have you ever thought about leaving? Getting out of here? Away from all this?” I ask after a few minutes of quiet.
Remy shakes his head. “Don’t even think about it, man. There is only one way out—silence or death. Plus, Talia won’t let you leave, so just take the money, power, sex, and leave it alone.”
I lean back on my hands, staring up at the dim sky just as Dream Weaver comes on my mix tape, and the weed kicks in.
I’ve discovered something over the past few weeks, mainly by observing and keeping my damn mouth shut. Talia’s not seeking nirvana…she’s trapped in a layer of hell and can’t get out. Death is the only way forward.
I stare at our pathetic fire as a heaviness presses over me. “I need you to tell me what happened to her, Remy. No more lies or half-truths. I want to know everything about her.”
He shakes his head and takes a swig of beer. “You don’t wanna know, trust me.”
I grind my teeth together. “I’m sick of everyone thinking I’m so soft and weak. Tell me what the fuck happened to Talia to make her the way she is. I’m not stupid, man. I know something messed up happened to her.”
“She was buried alive,” he snipes, and my blood runs cold. He keeps his head down, and the night goes silent, like sound itself doesn’t exist—even the music stops.
“What?”
A pause just as the chorus comes on. “She was sixteen when it happened. Masked men took her in the middle of the night and buried her in the forest behind our house. I followed them and dug her up…” He swallows a swell of emotion.
“If I was a minute later, she wouldn’t be here.
She didn’t have a damn pulse when I pulled her out.
She was white as a ghost and so small. I couldn’t give her air because she had dirt in her lungs.
I froze, man. I panicked. There was nothing I could do to help her.
And then she just…opened her eyes and expelled all the dirt out of her mouth, like she was spitting out hell.
” He grabs the back of his neck and stares right at me, his eyes blood red.
“She died that day, Tommy. Whoever came back to life wasn’t my sister. ”
Goosebumps prickle my skin all over. I don’t respond. How the fuck do I respond?
“Jesus Christ, man. Who did that to her?”
He chokes up. “You don’t want to know that, either.”
“Tell me,” I bark at him. I remember that year; I knew Talia at sixteen. I worshiped the ground she walked on. I could have helped her…
He swallows hard. “I have no definitive proof since they were all in masks, but I suspect it was Father Malcom. Talia had an affair with him, and when it came out, his reputation was stained, and they blamed her for everything. He marked her, man. You’ve seen the mark.”
My jaw ticks. I have seen the mark, I wondered but never dared ask. “How…how would he be able to mark her if he’s not one of us?”
He doesn’t answer.
He swallows hard and sighs. “The sickness in this town runs deep, Tommy. It’s extended beyond our families. I don’t know how or when it happened, but it did. Now we must contain it.”
Headlights suddenly shine over the driveway, and Bax’s Shaggin’ Waggin’ pulls up, jerking to a stop and shining light right in our eyes.
Damn…finally.
I glance over at Remy. “This conversation isn’t over.”
Bax’s lanky ass hops out of the van first, wobbling over to us with his hair in front of his goddamn face and smoke billowing around him like Pig Pen.
He gives Remy a slow high five and notices me scowling. “What’s with the long face, man?”
My back bristles. “Where are the girls, Bax? I thought they were with you?”
“Relax, man. They’re in the back seat.”
I glance over at the van, which looks dark against the blackened sky. “What the hell are they doing? Why aren’t they coming out? What the hell happened at school?”
Bax waves his hand, and Remy arches his brows. He grabs a log and drops it on the embers, instantly making the fire roar, and shrugs. “I don’t know what they’re doing. They closed the curtain, man.”
My dick twinges at the thought of the two of them alone in the backseat. Talia and Didi walk out holding hands, ignoring us. Talia looks normal, but Didi has blood all over her clothes and her hair is stained red.
They’re drunk…or super high. Didi has a feral look in her eyes, and her face lights up when she sees us.
“What the hell happened?” I ask them, and Remy just sits back and tilts his head like this is just another fucking Tuesday.
Didi and I catch eyes, and she gives me that beautiful shy smile before she walks over to Remy, who opens his arms and pulls her into his lap, despite her looking like Bloody Mary.
“I got the book back,” Talia says as she walks over to me.
My hand slides around her waist. “And how did you do that?”
“By killing Professor Crux,” Talia says dryly, and Didi giggles.
Jesus fucking Christ.
I can’t even be mad at them for being evil. They are a product of it.
My hand slides over her bare legs to warm her up. I just want to pull her into me and shield her from anything bad happening to her… Ever.
She turns around and kisses me like no one’s looking—almost like she knows I need it. She pulls her lips off mine, and her eyes twitch, and I finally smile at her.
“I have a present for you,” she says softly, her dark hair falling over her face. She pulls out a white baggy, placing some on her wrist, and I inhale it like it’s my last breath.
She wants to fuck tonight—getting me all amped up is a major tell.
I wipe my nose clean, and she leans up to kiss me again.
She’s wet, I can smell her arousal. She lifts her dress and settles her little cunt right over my swelling cock as the fire crackles behind us.
Didi’s hair is tousled, like she just got fucked.
What the hell were those girls doing in Bax’s van?
She peers up at me, and I swear if I didn’t know firsthand how evil she is, I’d think she was an incarnation of an angel. Her eyes exude innocence. She might not see it in herself anymore, but I do. Talia’s still there…I see her every day.
She pushes herself off me and walks over to Remy, grabbing Didi by the hand as we all stare in pinned silence. To my surprise, Didi slides off Remy’s lap and into Talia’s arms. “Sorry, Remy, she’s mine tonight.”
They walk hand in hand toward the house, and Talia turns back to face me. “Coming, Tommy?”
Oh, I most certainly will be.
Remy and I exchange glances because he knows damn well I’m about to fuck his sister and his girlfriend at the same time. Hopefully, his reading material will distract him enough to get that visual out of his head.
I jump to my feet and jab at him, “Happy studying.”
His jaw tenses as Talia smirks at him, and I waste no time following them into the house. “I want her in my bed tonight when you’re done,” he growls behind us.