Page 14 of Ring Around the Rosie

Sabbath stood tall, wearing a sleeveless, ragged band t-shirt, and faded jeans with his boots. His black hair was slicked partially back, and you could see all his piercings and tattoos, only there were more than I remembered. He had a smug grin slapped on his face. I nearly fell back over, but his grip of my hand tightened.

“Long time, spitfire.” I ripped my hand back in horror.

My body went cold, and I couldn’t speak. Kaila and Sandy looked from me to him before they broke the awkward silence. Kaila cleared her throat. “Aster?” She pointed to Sabbath. “Are you going to introduce us?”

Sandy placed her hands on her hips. “We’re waiting, Aster.”

What the hell am I supposed to say? This is Sabbath, the man who claimed to love me, but instead killed my entire family and has been stalking me all over the country ever since? Oh, don’t worry, he’s just a liar, an arsonist, a goddamn murderer, and a fucking batshit crazy person! No, I couldn’t say any of that. Especially not here, in front of everyone. I couldn’t just run away again, even though I really wanted to. No, I had to control myself. Sabbath was dangerous, and he was smart. I needed to figure out why the hell he was here and how he had found me. But I couldn’t do it right now. I had to be smart. I might not have been able to outrun him, but I could try to outsmart him. Fuck, I really hate that he’s here. Why can’t this be another fucking nightmare? Wake up. Wake up!

“Aster?” Kaila’s voice pulled me back to reality.

I glared at Sabbath and realized the only thing I could say to make this not so creepy or awkward. And I hated that I was about to say it, considering our past. “This is Sabbath.” He smiled at my friends. “He’s my… stepbrother. Older stepbrother.” My whole body shook in disgust. Kaila and Sandy got all bashful and red as they introduced themselves. I watched him closely as they fawned all over his bad boy demeanor and remembered how I once did the same. God, he was so sick and twisted.

“Sabbath!” We all looked past him. A young boy, roughly ten to twelve years old, with black hair and blue eyes, came running up to him. My heart ached as I looked at him. He looked so muchlike Ozzy, only his eyes were lighter. Instead of brown, they were blue. Hell, they could be twins.

Willie shot from the administrative cabin and waved in our direction. “Hey, Kaila! Sandy! Come here for a second!” The girls waved goodbye and ran inside after him.

The little boy smiled as he held his arms out, and Sabbath embraced him so casually. They hugged, and I fell to my knees. It was like seeing Sabbath and Ozzy together, and the very idea nearly broke me.

Sabbath turned as he looked down at me. “Hey.” He put the little boy down and crouched in front of me. “Not here. Not now.” I stared straight ahead and pictured my last memory of Ozzy, snuggled in his dinosaur pajamas and asleep like the little prince he was. “Aster.” I ignored Sabbath. I hated him. God, I fucking hated him. He stole everything from me, and now he was here with this Ozzy look alike, rubbing it all in my face. How could he? How could he! “Rosie!” My eyes snapped up to him. He was staring intently into my eyes, and for a second, it felt… caring. “Not. Here.”

I looked past him at the young boy. His eyes followed, and he sighed. “Who is he?” I asked. Tears strolled down my cheeks, and my hands curled into fists along my thighs.

Sabbath’s nostrils flared. “This really isn’t the time?—”

“Who is he?” I growled.

Sabbath’s jaw clenched. He stepped back and licked his lower lip as he tried to restrain his temper. “This.” He placed his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Is Foster. My younger half brother.”

My eyes widened. “Half brother.” Ozzy was his half brother. “Is he—” I trembled back to my feet as I looked down at the boy. “Is he?—”

“No.” Sabbath picked the boy up again. “He’s not your half brother. Only mine.” Why did that hurt to hear?

“How?” I asked. “Your dad… He’s dead.”

Sabbath sighed. “Don’t you think I, of all people, know?” A cruel reminder that Sabbath killed them all. Including his own father, my stepfather, and Ozzy’s dad. “He’s my mom’s.” Fate couldn’t be real because if it was, it was sick. And so unfair.

The boy laid his head against Sabbath’s broad chest and looked at me in an oddly chilling way. It made me a bit uncomfortable.

I shook the feelings from my body and looked back at the man who ruined my life. “Why the rose? Were you trying to give me some sick heads up that you would be here?” I had so many questions.

He looked around nervously. “Actually, I half hoped the very idea of seeing me would make you run. But you didn’t. Why?” I ignored him and asked again why he was here. “Not here.” His eyes returned to me.

I was beginning to feel angry. “Why? Why not?” I crossed my arms in a huff.

Sabbath grinned at my temper. “You always did light up like a match. Nice to see some things never change, spitfire.”

“You don’t get to call me that.” Not anymore. “Why should I give you the respect of doing things on your terms after everything you’ve done to me?” I tried to control my anger. “Give me one good reason.”

Sabbath set his little brother down and stepped closer. I could feel the warmth as it radiated from his body. His smell twisted through my nostrils, and I tried to focus. The corners of his lips curled in such a sinister way. “Because I’m not here for you. At least, not right now. I’m here for Foster.” I didn’t believe him. A killer doesn’t just stop to take his little brother to summer camp. “It’s been a long time, Rosie. I’ve missed you.” His hand slowly raised, and he tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear. “No matter how much time has passed, or how much you thinkyou’ve changed, you remain the same. Broken, and waiting for me to piece you back together.”

I swallowed my feelings, and my throat burned. “No.” I pushed his hand away. “That’s not my name. Rosie died that night in the fire, along with the rest of our family.” His smile remained the same. “And I may be broken, but I’m sure as hell not waiting for you to fix me, brother.”

“Stepbrother,” he growled. Sabbath stepped closer, and his face almost touched mine. “Funny. I remember a time when you wouldbegme to fix you. In all the wrong ways.” Sabbath winked as he pulled back and grabbed Foster’s hand. “I looked forward to spending all summer with you, Aster. Oh, we’re going to have so much fun, sis.” Sabbath and Foster walked away as they collected their bags.

I began to panic and ran back to our cabin.

After finally calming the hell down, I had rejoined the rest of the counselors in the cafeteria. Kaila and Sandy ambushed me, demanding to know how long I’d planned to keep Sabbath a secret. Little did they know just how much I wished to hide him and pretend he never existed. I had to play along and pretend that I had simply forgotten he was arriving at camp. Of course, I also had to explain our weird family dynamic, and how he had a younger brother that wasn’t related to me. God, that was a headache. I’m shocked they could even keep up. Sabbath’s parents separated when he was young, and his dad met my mom not long after. I was pretty young myself when they got married, but not much later, Ozzy was born. I did leave out theawful details of how he killed everyone, and skipped ahead to his mother apparently having a kid with someone else, thus here we all were. One big, twisted and fucked up family. Of course, when asked where my mom and brother were, along with Sabbath’s dad, I had to lie and say they were killed in a tragic accident. Accident, my ass.

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