In Our Bones by Pernell Plath Meier

Author:Pernell Plath Meier [Meier, Pernell Plath]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-10-05T22:00:00+00:00

Crystals in the Street

The night Bryan locked Lauren in the shed, he came back into the house to further humiliation from Steven, who had turned into a two-bit dictator overnight. He refused to let him get Lauren, even with the storm picking up. Bryan wanted to bring her food, but Steven said, “Hunger has a way of teaching lessons.” Bryan worried about her in the way that a narcissist worries about the continuation of his supply. He loved the idea of her, not Lauren as an actual person with her own needs and wants. He loved the way she made him feel in control. Now with Steven, everything was spinning beyond him, and he didn’t know how to make it stop.

In the morning, Bryan was given permission to bring her inside. He hurried through the backdoor only to see his green recliner burning on top of a pile of other items from the house. He forced himself to keep walking and stay quiet. Branches and refuse were scattered throughout the yard. As Bryan rounded the corner of the barn, he panicked when he saw that the shed had collapsed. He ran to start pulling off boards and debris, expecting to find Lauren’s shattered body. After he cleared the pile, and she wasn’t there, he started searching nearby. He was pissed. Though his predominant emotion was terror at how Steven would react to the news.

Bryan moped back to the house, passing the crushed path of daisies as he went. He thought of his grandmother and wondered what she’d think of him if she knew. They’d been her favorite flower. Without exception, she believed he was better than he ever was. She’d raised him after his mother died unexpectedly in a car crash when he was just twelve. His dad had taken off when he was a baby, so there was no one else. Tending a garden of rage throughout his life was an antidote to experiencing his pain; Bryan believed that opening his heart meant nothing more than suffering.

Bryan found Steven sitting at the head of the table in what used to be Lauren’s dining room. A group of ten sycophants surrounded him and hung on his every word. When Bryan came in, Steven smirked. Bryan felt like such a coward for being afraid of him. He had expected to become part of the core leadership of the Defenders once they’d taken over the house. Instead, Steven was determined to break him down and prove that Bryan was no threat to his authority.

Steven barked, “What are you doing skulking around back there. What do you want?”

Bryan clicked his heels and put his arm straight out. “Sir, Commander, I have bad news. The shed gave way in the storm, and Lauren seems to have escaped. There’s no sign of her.”

Steven replied, “Fuck that whore. I don’t care. We’ve got more important things to think about. Go get me a beer.” Bryan followed his orders.

Steven’s right-hand man was leading the conversation in the dining room.

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