Page 68 of The Reaper
LEAVE.
But I would never go. Not now. I’d never leave her.
I took a moment to look around the room at my fellow soldiers. All this time, they’d tried to convince me that it was my stepfather. They’d doubted me, challenged my memories and slowly twisted the knife. They had me questioning my sanity, and the more I thought about it, the clearer their intentions became. Thinking about it made me unhinged, anger was morphing into a need for violence. This had to end, and it would, at my hands. They needed to know that the game was up. I wasn’t going to take their bullshit anymore. Whoever the guilty one was, their sick joke was over.
“We all know this isn’t the work of my stepfather, don’t we? Let’s not kid ourselves.” I stared at each one of them, waiting for a reaction. Studying the tell-tale signs that I’d learned over the years, but they all looked clueless.
“Let’s get the van loaded up. I think we need to pay this Eddie Hall guy a visit,” Adam stated, moving purposefully towards the door, but I stopped him.
“I think we all know that’s a fucking pointless idea.” I saw Will’s eyes widen as I spoke, and he glanced at Colton to gauge his reaction. “Why haul ass all the way over town when someone in this room has got all the answers?”
Colton stepped forward, frowning in confusion. “What the hell are you smoking, Devon? What the fuck is all this about?”
“I’ll tell you what its about.” This was it. No more fucking about. I had to cut off the head of the snake to bring this to an end. “I don’t think it’s some random guy called Eddie who’s been sending these. I don’t even fucking know that guy. But I’ll tell you what I do know.”
“Please do,” Colton added, coming to stand next to Adam and giving me a look that dared me to go there. “Because the rest of us haven’t got a fucking clue what you’re on about. So, tell us, what is it that you know?”
I stood my ground.
“There are six people, other than those sick fuckers that Vinnie was friends with, the ones we took care of, that knew about what my stepfather had done to me. And by that, I mean knew details, proper details like the ones in these letters I’ve been getting. The darts, the bullseye, his threats about Russian roulette. Six people.” I held up my fingers to count them off. “Adam, Colton, Tyler, Will, Vinnie and me.” I took a breath, letting it sink in, and from the flared nostrils and venomous glares, they didn’t like what they were hearing. “Maybe I should make that seven.” I nodded to Liv. “I bet he tells you everything.”
Adam darted into action, pulling Liv towards him, his eyes boring a hole right through my soul. “Say it,” he hissed, daring me to jump off the cliff I was teetering on. “Just fucking say it!”
“I know I’m not sending this shit to myself. Vinnie is dead. And that leaves you lot.” I gave each one a pointed stare. “So, who was it? Who thought they’d fuck with my head for some sick fucking joke?”
“Jesus fucking Christ.” Colton threw his head back, exasperated at what he’d heard. “Are you fucking kidding me right now?”
“Do I look like I’m kidding?” I narrowed my eyes, my brain spiralling into a vortex of insanity. “Was it you? Are you getting some sick kick out of this? I mean, I know you like to be the joker, but has life began to imitate art? Do you think we’re in some twisted Batman shit? Have you taken the clinically insane angle a little too far?”
He shook his head and laughed, but his eyes were deadly. He didn’t find it funny.
“Me?” He smacked his fist against his chest. “Why me? Why the fuck would I do something that shitty? I might be the joker, but I’m not a fucking snake. If that’s what you really think of me, then let’s deal with this like real men. Let’s take it outside.”
The twitch that Colton sometimes got in his eye when his anger surfaced had made an appearance.
“No one is sorting anyone out,” Adam piped up, putting a hand on Colton’s chest to keep him in place. “Devon,” he growled, stabbing his finger towards me. “I don’t know where this bullshit is coming from, but trust me, you need to stop. There’s only so long I can hold my temper and you are pushing every fucking button and grating on my last fucking nerve.”
“I really couldn’t give a shit,” I argued back. All rational thought had now evacuated my brain. “Someone did this, and I think that someone is in this room.”
“Why would any of us do that?” Tyler announced, throwing his hat into the ring.
I turned, focusing my attention on him.
“That CCTV you keep showing me is really fucking convenient, Ty. No face shots, always angled to hide everything. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen a Polaroid camera in your room too.” Liv groaned, but Adam shushed her. Seems he wanted me to say my piece, get it all out in the open. “Did you take that photo? Do you think its fucking funny?”
“No! I didn’t! I’ve no idea when that was taken,” he spat angrily, pointing at the Polaroid sitting on the table. “But I’ve been up here with these guys all afternoon. They can all vouch for me.” He folded his arms over his chest, his muscles tensing as he too tried to rein in his fury. “Do you honestly think one of us is doing this? What the hell is wrong with you?”
Colton shook his head and with a face full of deathly hatred he added, “He’s in love. It’s fucked with his brain. He’s obviously not thinking straight.”
I flew across the room, ready to take his fucking head off, but Adam grabbed me, slamming me against the wall and pinning me in place. We were nose-to-nose as we both panted out our aggression, his face red with anger, mine hot with fury. This was it. No retreat, no surrender.
“Let’s get one thing fucking straight,” Adam hissed through his teeth. “Every single fucking person in this fucking building is on your side. We’d go to war for you. We’d die for you. Do you understand what I’m fucking saying?”
I took deep breaths and after a few seconds I gave a slow nod. I didn’t believe it, but I’d let Adam have his say.
“You’re our brother. More than that, you’re a fucking part of us. You hurt, we all hurt. Someone comes for you, they come for all of us.” His hold on me loosened a little and then he added, “And now, that includes Leah too. She’s yours and that makes her a part of this family. It’s a fucked-up family, but it’s ours and I will die before I see anyone destroy it.”
His words stung me. The sentiment behind them made it hard for me to reason with the warped reality that had taken hold of my mind. I didn’t know who to trust. Everything seemed twisted, distorted, fractured beyond all recognition. I heard what he was saying but could I really trust that it was true?
