Page 11 of Healing Souls

Rage pinches his lips together as he thinks about it. “Faintly. I just remember her being friends with Harley’s mother.”

Lincoln nods. “Right, so I’m gonna give the details I have and maybe at some point if we trust each other more, Bri can give her own full story.” At this, everyone at the table nods.

He goes on to explain how Lilian, who is Harley’s mother, came to her when she was pregnant and stayed as long as she could. But people came looking for her, and she ran. Brielle never saw her again. Then Harley found her when she ran away from here months ago. Brielle kept her safe, and Harley had a rough couple of months.

He doesn’t go into detail about what Harley struggled with. As much as that’s frustrating, I see respect in Rage’s eyes for it. My own heart beats a little steadier knowing she has even more people who seem to care about her.

She doesn’t need me.But maybe you need her.

I brush off that thought and listen to what else Lincoln has to say. Harley opened up a little to them about the abuse she endured from her aunt. But she wouldn’t give much information. Brielle told her the story of her mom.

We all watch as Rage punches a hole in the wall, listening to Lincoln explain how Lilian was raped and Brielle thinks she had some kind of Stockholm Syndrome over her rapist. That she fell in love with him. It devastated Harley, but also made her enraged. They had known she was angry, but no one expected her to do this.

Rage keeps his face perfectly blank but after knowing him for so long and always being the one standing back and watching I know behind that mask is distress and devastation. I can only imagine the horrors he must be reliving from his past as he paces the room, constantly clenching and unclenching his fists. Finally stopping, he lets out a grunt as he turns and stalks off down the hallway toward his office.

Lincoln stops talking, glancing around at everyone in confusion.

Sugar runs a hand down his beard as he sighs and stands up. “Just give him a minute. This is bringing up a lot of shit that happened back then that he has forced himself to repress.”

Lincoln and Atlas glance at each other before nodding. Watching them closely, I can’t help but notice Lincoln shut down. His face is like pure stone. It conveys nothing, meanwhile Atlas looks enraged and ready to fight at any second.

There is a loud crash that sounds from down the hallway where Rage disappeared to. Sugar blows out a breath before heading in that direction.

Rage (Gabriel)

As soon as my office door shuts behind me, I grab whatever is closest to me and throw it against the wall, heaving as I try to stop my hands from shaking.

I haven’t thought about all of these things since I was younger. I learned to block it all out, otherwise it would have destroyed me, and my father would have killed me. Even now, his voice echoes in my head,Having weaknesses makes you vulnerable. As men, we have no vulnerabilities.

I shoved everything down in a tiny box and tried to forget about it. But how can you ever truly forget? It all comes back to haunt you eventually.

In my case, it came back in the form of a redheaded girl who looks like her mother but has my anger simmering inside of her. Harley. God, I can’t believe that’s her name. I rememberthatweekend.

Lilian was struggling with things in her life, and I was fighting my own emotions of wanting to kill my father but not being able to at that point. Lilian had so much strength; I admired her. Hell, I admire her now. I fell in love with her instantly.

All of these things from my past being dragged back up brings to the fore memories I will never forget.

We pull up to a viewpoint that looks straight out at the ocean. The sun is rising, and it’s a beautiful sight. Both of us watch the waves crash into the huge rocks that line the bottom of the drop off where we park.

Lilian hops off before I even get the kickstand on my bike down. I chuckle at how excited she is to see the water. Her long, beautiful copper red hair blows in the breeze as she stands at the edge of the small cliff, looking over the water.

“It’s so beautiful!” she exclaims, spinning in a circle. She has a smile on her face that takes my breath away.

This spot is about two hours away from home. It’s basically just an enormous cliff that overlooks the ocean. When the sun rises here, it’s breathtaking and peaceful. From where we are, you can’t see anything except the water and the trees on either side of us on top of the cliff.

I get the blanket I brought out of my saddlebag, and we sit down on it with our legs hanging over the rocky ledge. She rests her head on my shoulder as we watch the ocean waves. We’re quiet as we listen to the surrounding sounds, the birds singing and the waves crashing into the cliffside. After a while, I break the silence.

“I wish I could take it all back Lili; I wish I would have just killed him instead of listening to him and doing whatever he says.”

She sighs, keeping her head on my shoulder. I have no idea how she can even stand to be around me, let alone touch me. “Sometimes I think about things like that. What it would’ve been like if I had done something differently or if the outcome had been different, but sometimes I think things aren’t meant to happen a certain way.”

“How can you say that?” I whisper, feeling tears burn the back of my eyes.

I have never been allowed to cry. If I did, my father would’ve beat the shit out of me. But right now, I feel broken.

My father pushes and pushes. He takes everything and gives nothing in return, and it’s taking everything in me to keep my morals and not fall into the same path as him or allow myself to succumb to his ways.

Sometimes I think it would be so much easier than what I’m trying to do.

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