Page 62 of Chaos
“You fucking bitch!” Evan screams.
He gets up, readying himself to charge at me, but the front door opens and Odin steps out, leaving the door open.
“What’s going on, princess?” Odin checks me over, making sure I am fine.
My hands are shaking, and my breathing is a little erratic, but besides that, I feel fine. Better than fine. Finally having the power to stand up to Evan makes me feel like I am on cloud nine. It’s an addicting feeling.
“Princess?” Evan scoffs. At that moment, Zeus and Midas come outside and surround me.
“That’s enough, Evan.” I bite back.
“Are you fucking them all?” Evan glares at me. “You fucking slut.”
The retort I want to spew at him is on the tip of my tongue, but before I can say anything, Midas launches himself at Evan, punching him in the jaw. Zeus steps up behind me, his arm wrapping around my midsection, offering me comfort while Midas and Evan wrestled on the lawn. It wasn’t wrestling as much as it was Midas kicking the crap out of Evan.
After a few minutes, and Evan looking like he was on death's door, Odin walked down the steps and hauled Midas off. The two of them stood over a bloody, broken, and cowering Evan.
“Next time I see you harassing my girl, I will put a bullet between your eyes, and no one will ever find your body.” Odin’s voice is as sharp as a knife.
Evan glares at me through swollen eyes one last time, promising me this isn’t over, before getting up and limping towards his rental car.
The four of us stay rooted to our spots as we watch him pull out of the driveway and down the road, until we can’t see him anymore. Midas and Odin speak to each other in low voices. I can’t hear them, but I can see the unshed violence in their stances. Their bodies are tense, like a cobra ready to strike. When they turn towards me, all that fades away, leaving behind the sweet men I have grown to care for.
“Who is ready for dessert?” Odin claps his hands together.
Midas
Zeus called Odin and me over a few hours ago, saying he had something he wanted to show us. The guy has been obsessively reviewing the footage from the night of Serena’s attack, trying to find anything that will lead us to the guy.
I have tried to stop him, not wanting him to learn about my secret. If they knew what I did, they would never forgive me.
All I have been feeling for weeks is guilt, remorse, and fear. Guilt that I was enough of an asshole to do something as stupid as faking a kidnapping so Serena would come running to us. Remorse that I am the reason she got shot. And fear that this secret will come out and everyone will leave me behind.
All afternoon, I have tried to distract them, keeping them away from Zeus’s computer, but I could only come up with so many excuses that would distract them.
The three of us are sitting in front of Zeus’s desk. One of the screens is a live view of Serena’s room. She invited her friends over earlier. They haven’t done much, just spent the day in her room gossiping.
Her friends asked her how things are going with us. Serena instantly blushed and tried to change the subject, but her friends wouldn’t drop it.
I know we shouldn’t have, but we listened to her tell her friends everything. Every detail. Including my two best friends and my enemy fucking her. Her friends squealed and giggled as she laid out in detail what the three of them did to her.
I wanted to rip my ears off while I was stuck listening to that. Not because I care that my friends got her before I did -it does bother me that Dante did- but because I am no closer to her than I was before.
I know deep down, it’s my fault. I have pulled away from her, and I have seen the hurt in her eyes every time I do. I hate myself for it, but it’s hard to get closer to her when I know what I have done.
Eventually, the girls started talking about other things, and we turned towards the other screen that is filled with the scene that haunts my nightmares. Serena was running from her room, followed by the prospect in a mask. The camera then switches to the kitchen. Serena is holding up a knife as he pulls out a gun and aims for her. Zeus pauses the footage.
“Look. There. Does that tattoo look familiar to any of you?” Zeus points to the guy’s wrist, showing the edge of a small tattoo.
“Yeah. Maybe.” Odin says as his face gets closer to the screen, trying to get a better look.
The tattoo is barely showing, and the image of it is blurry. There is no way anyone would be able to identify it from that small glimpse. Zeus clicks through a few frames, and seconds later, the prospect's sleeve rolls up a little and the tattoo is more visible.
I know the tattoo that he has there, and more of it is shown. You can see most of the blade of the dagger tattoo. I rack my brain, trying to come up with anything to say to throw them off track, but the harder I try, I can’t come up with anything.
“It looks like a dagger. Don’t we know someone with a dagger tattoo on their wrist?” Odin comments.
“I… I… I can’t think of anyone.” I stumble over my words, needing more time to think. More time to make an excuse or find a way to sidestep this. “But that’s not a definitive way to find the guy. What if it’s a fake tattoo or something?”
