Page 47 of Broken
Chapter Twenty-One
Izzy
Today is the day.
After yesterday I need help. I need to talk to someone about what is going on. By telling them I risk having them turn their backs on me. If I don’t tell them, I know Hades will follow through on his threat.
I need Max to hear my story because I need him through this. I need his support to feel like I can make it through this.
I want Lucy to hear my story. I want to be honest with her and I want her support for when I tell everyone else.
I texted them asking them to come up here to meet me. I know that this probably isn’t the best place. But is there really any good place to let someone know that you’ve been lying since you got here? I spend the next hour practicing my speech in my head. Preparing whatever answers to their anticipated questions. When my door opens and Lucy walks in my nerves skyrocket.
“Hey, what’s up with all the hush hush talk?” She smiles.
I asked her in the text not to tell anyone that we were upstairs talking. I don’t want people becoming suspicious.
“Um, I just need to talk to you, but we need to wait for Max to get here.”
Her eyebrows furrow in confusion. “Max is coming?”
I nod.
The door opens before I have to elaborate anymore.
Max walks in. When he sees Lucy I can tell he’s confused.
“Can you guys sit down, please?”
They both give me looks of confusion before having a seat in the two chairs I have in the room.
“Okay. I have to tell you something. The thing is that I need you to hear the whole story or you’ll never understand it. About halfway through you’re going to hate me. You’ll want to leave this room and get as far away from me as you can. I’m begging you not to. Please listen to everything.”
They both nod slowly.
“My memory came back.”
Max jumps up. “Really? That’s—”
“I need you to sit down. Please, you guys have to let me get through this before you say or do anything.”
He sits back down and his eyes focus on me.
“I grew up getting passed from home to home. Each was worse than the previous one. Once I turned sixteen I couldn’t take it anymore. I ran away. I was homeless. I had no money and had taken the money offered to me by a pimp. I didn’t know who he was or what he did when I took it. He had given it to me one night when I was sitting outside a diner trying to get some money to eat. One day he told me that I had to pay him back when before he had just offered it to me so I could eat for a couple weeks. I only took money from him once and I didn’t see him again for almost a month. I was in deep shit. I had absolutely no money. That’s when I met Hades. He intervened one day when the pimp was threatening me.” I remember how I thought he was my savior. Then I remember the moment when I realized that he was everything but that.
“Hades is President of the Devil’s Sons MC. He offered to let me become one of their girls. The way he explained it seemed so glamorous. I’d be wanted by every man around. I’d have my own room. They would make sure I never spent another night hungry again. I agreed to be theirs and the next day I got to the clubhouse.” I turn away from them. I can’t face them as I recount all of this.
“It was terrible. The way they treat the women there. It’s nothing like it is here. After only a day there I wanted to leave but was too afraid to try. Hades developed a special interest in me. I was his guinea pig. I swear I find a new scar every day from my time with him.” I pause, trying to push the memories away now. “Apparently they do a search on their girls to make sure that they aren’t connected to the cops or anything like that. I guess by doing that they tracked down my birth parents. They had recognized one of my sibling’s names and realized that it was Twisted. I guess they thought they hit the jackpot.” I stop, trying to suck in the tears that are about to fall.
“Hades told me that I was chosen to be their mole. That I had to come here and find out information they could use. He wanted to know how to destroy the club and needed someone to get him inside information. They told me if I was successful that I’d become an old lady. At the time it was all I wanted mainly because the old ladies were treated with respect. I thought I’d be safe. If I failed they said they would kill me. The night when you all found me, they planted me there. I was told which way to walk so that I would run into the clubhouse. They started to beat me so I would seem like I needed help. The problem was they were having too much fun doing it that they went overboard. That’s what caused me to lose my memory.” I turn around and their faces hold so many emotions that I can’t read them.
“I have grown to love everyone here. I would never do anything to hurt you all, or cause you harm. You all took me in and cared for me like I was one of your own. I have never had anyone do that for me before. The reason I remembered all this was that Hades found me when we were at that restaurant. He attacked me in the bathroom and the memories just started flooding back. My time is up with them. They want me to tell them the club’s weaknesses or I’m dead. I would never do that. I can’t. I don’t know what to do.” Tears start to glide down my cheeks.
“If everyone hates me for who I am I’ll understand that. I hate myself. I can’t even bare to look into the mirror at the person staring back at me. She is someone I don’t know, that I don’t want to know. I want to fix all of this, but I don’t know that I can. I am telling both of you now because you mean so much to me.” I drop my hands, defeated and drained from recalling my past.
Lucy jumps up. She rushes over to me, her arms wrapping around my neck. “I don’t hate you. I can understand where you were coming from. We have to tell Twisted. He can help you.”
“I’ll tell him. I promise. Will you be there when I do? I know that he and the boys aren’t going to take this well and honestly I’m scared.” My teeth gnaw at my lip.
