The Arrangement 21 (The Arrangement #21) by H.M. Ward

Author:H.M. Ward [Ward, H.M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Laree Bailey Press
Published: 2016-02-28T17:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 10

Morning comes and goes. Sean is asleep next to me in the blood-colored bedroom once again. We planned to stay up last night, wearing ourselves out until we passed out this morning in order to sleep before tonight. The thing is, I can't sleep. There are no nightmares. I just can't doze off. I lie here, staring at the ceiling, wondering about everything.

Like Henry. He was such a great guy when I met him. I wonder which version of him is real, the dashing English nobleman or Jack the Ripper. Maybe he was high or something the night he went nuts on me? His intolerance of Sean is obvious, regardless of everything else.

Why do I care if he's a good guy or a bad guy? I'm with Sean.

It's not about that. Thoughts start to simmer at the back of my mind. They have no words yet, no pictures to help me discover what I'm thinking. Then there's a bubble of truth—it's about you, Avery. Then another—picking paths. Soon the pot is boiling, and I can't stop it. My mind wraps around the hot pot with nothing to keep it from searing my skin. My heart pounds harder and my breathing shallows. Suddenly it's too hot, and I don't want to think about it anymore. But the thought is still there, plain as a black mark on a white page.

Vic Jr., my brother, had to start somewhere. People aren't born evil.

Constance. Sean's mother, she had to be kind as a girl. People choose paths.

Mom. The woman I knew wouldn't be in bed with a guy like that, never mind everything else. I didn't know her as well as I thought. I faulted her for things I was clueless about.

Sean. The man sleeping next to me was once a wide-eyed little boy with no nefarious thoughts at all.

Mel. Surviving justifies anything.

Isn't that what they all have in common? Isn't that why I feel an anxiety attack ready to bop me in the back of the head like a two by four? Because it's not just them and they didn't do this to me, to my life—I did. I made my choices, and I have to live with the consequences. Trying to outrun them turns people cold, like Constance. Reveling in it leads down my brother's path. He's a bloodthirsty nut. If he had a brother instead of a sister, I doubt incest would be on his mind. Or necrophilia. Maybe it would be. Sex is power, and that guy is power thirsty. He'd do anything and everything to get it. I shudder under the blankets even though the room is warm.

It's past noon. I can tell from the way the light cuts through the center of the drapes, casting a long golden slab of light on the dark carpet.

I watch Sean for a moment and want to ask him where he was the night he came back covered in blood, what he did, but I know better. Leave the past in the past.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.