“So get up, you’re coming with me to explore our beautiful little town.”
I looked at what she was wearing.
Jeans that had been ripped over the knees, and a grey tank top with the words, thick thighs save lives scrawled across the front.
I wasn’t sure what that meant, and I didn’t want to dress as she did, but I did need new clothes, shoes too.
“What time do we leave?” I asked, pushing myself into a sitting position.
“What?”
“I want to know—.”
“I thought you would at least object a few times. I was prepared to drag you out of this house. We’re leaving now!”
I nodded and stood up; sliding my feet into the fuzzy booties Dad had bought for me.
“I’m ready,” I told her when she remained in the doorway, staring at me.
“Oh, right. Let’s go.” She spun on her heel and walked out of the room.
I followed behind her all the way out to the driveway, where a car I hadn’t seen before was parked.
“It was in the shop. I sort of hit a mailbox,” she laughed.
I wordlessly opened the passenger door and got in; buckling my restraint once I was settled.
The ride to town was uneventful. Molly did all of the talking, mostly about things I couldn’t comment on. It wasn’t until we got closer that she began to ask me personal questions.
“So, Heath said you’ve been homeschooled since you were four. What was that like? How did you make friends?”
I didn’t have a clear memory of what she was referring to.
I vaguely remembered being dropped off and picked up in front of a large brick building, and then one day I wasn’t.
Dad taught me all fundamentals he claimed I needed to know.
Mother taught me all the rest with very thin patience: sewing, cooking, cleaning, and even how to shave under her supervision.
There was never anyone else around.
“I’ve never had friends,” I replied to Molly.
“Oh,” she mumbled, getting quiet for a few minutes. “I’m sorry, Lena.”
“Why are you apologizing?”
“Because that’s sad, and I shouldn’t have even asked. You’ve got me now, though. And I know you’ll make lots of friends once people get to know you.”
“It doesn’t make me sad. And you shouldn’t say sorry for asking a question you wanted an answer to.”
I shrugged one shoulder and looked out the window.
She didn’t say anything else.
Shopping was an exhausting venture.
I don’t think there was an area of the town we didn’t walk to in order for Molly to feel fulfilled.
The entire time crisp wind-chill nipped at our cheeks.
Molly helped me pick and choose what outfits to get after my third attempt to find something myself, fortunately not buying me shorts like hers.
There were undergarments of silk, lace, and cotton.
Shoes, toiletries, and what seemed like a hundred other things I would never have thought of without Molly’s guidance.
I occasionally found I didn’t mind her company, even if she did talk a lot.
After we dropped the load of bags we’d accumulated into her trunk, we went to one last shop.
This time it was for a cellphone.
“I programmed a few numbers in so you can text or call me when-evs,” Molly explained as we walked down the sidewalk.
She slid the shiny red device into the side pocket of the bag she had insisted I needed and then handed it to me.
We stopped at the end of the sidewalk just after the traffic light changed and cars began to move.
“There’s one more place I want to show you, “Molly said, looping her arm through mine.
“Okay.” I nodded and let her lead me through across the crosswalk when we got a green signal.
The two of us received many stares from other people passing by.
Molly didn’t acknowledge them, and neither did I.
We took a left and walked a bit further down another sidewalk, stopping in front of a chalkboard sign that had a cupcake drawn on it.
“This is where I work.” She gestured to a quaint building wedged between a hair salon and a private practice.
A round, pale yellow sign with the name, Patty Cakes hung between two glass entry doors.
Another sign that said, help wanted sat in the window.
There was a sweet, warm aroma coming from inside.
“We thought having a job would be good for you. Help you meet new people and not be cooped up inside all day. Plus, we get free pastries.”
I stared through the window, unsure how to respond to what she said.
“Come on, let me introduce you to Tonya, and you’ve got to try our Apple Fritters.”
She propelled me forward, pulling open one of the doors so we could both enter. A bell resounded, announcing our arrival. The smell grew stronger, causing my stomach to growl for the first time that day.
“Looks like we came at perfect timing,” Molly laughed, walking up to the long glass counter. “T?” she called out, leaning over a confection filled display case.
“Just a minute, hun!” a raspy voice answered, one I assumed belonged to whoever this Tonya, or T, woman was.
I took the time we waited to look around the establishment.
There were a total of eight round tables, each set with a menu and a small pot of flowers.
Behind the L shaped display case, I could see where drinks of different varieties were prepared.
A woman with pure silver hair came shuffling from the back, pulling my attention away from a butterfly cookie with her soft gasp.
“Goodness. You’re all grown up.”
I looked over at Molly, assuming this person was talking to her, but the gaze remained planted on me.
She referenced a time I was younger. I had never seen her before, so I didn’t respond.
“She doesn’t say much, like ever,” Molly laughed, nudging me with her elbow
“I can see that. Heath didn’t tell me how pretty she was.”
They spoke back and forth about me for a good five minutes as if I weren’t right in front of them.
Mother and Buddy did the same thing when they discussed my sickness and called me names.
I didn’t like this.
The bell went off as I turned to leave, and a girl a smidge shorter than me walked in.
She couldn’t have been much older than I was. She had shiny brown hair pulled into a low ponytail, and eyes that reminded me of cobalt. A small smile touched her lips as she took in everyone inside the bakery.
“He’s impatient today,” the girl said to Tonya.
Her gray head bobbed in response, and then she was disappearing into the back again.
“Wow, you look so good!” Molly enthused.
“Thank you,” was her soft-spoken reply. She looked away and studied the display case just as I had done.
I think Molly made her uncomfortable. I couldn’t say for sure, though. And that didn’t stop her from introducing us.
“Helena this is, Katie. Katie, Helena.”
Katie glanced over at me; there was a long pause as we stared at one another, neither of us saying a word. It was the visible movement of her stomach that broke our locked gazes.
I dropped my attention to the very round bump attached to the front of her.
She followed my line of sight and rested a hand atop of it.
“They don’t do that much anymore. I think they’re running out of room.”
They. There was more than one baby inside her womb? I wondered if other babies could be born sick like I was.
The ringing of the bell came again just as Tonya returned to the front with a square white box in her hands, passing it to Katie.
This time it was a man that walked in, the scent of his cologne nearly overpowering the smell of sweets.
I found this wasn’t a bad thing.
; He was tall, much taller than me, Katie, and even Molly. He was dressed nicely too, in a deep blue suit.
“Is everything alright?” he asked Katie, going straight to her side.
“Everything’s perfect; Tonya had to go get them.”
She looked at the man and seemed to become much more animated all of a sudden. Her small smile grew big; softness came to her features.
She glanced at me, still smiling, and laid a hand on the man’s arm.
“This is Mason.”
Mason and Katie. I thought to myself, committing their names to memory.
He turned to face Molly and me, giving a better view of him.
His hair was dark, eyes green, and skin naturally tan.
I’d only seen people like him on the old box-set.
“I know you,” he said to Molly before fully addressing me. “And given I’ve never seen you before that would mean you’re…?”
“Helena,” I replied.
“Helena,” he repeated. His eyes swept over me, then came a small nod, like he was answering his own question before he turned his attention to Katie again, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “Let’s get you home.”
“Nice to meet you,” Katie practically whispered to me as they were leaving.
I stared long after they vanished from sight into a black car.
The way he looked at her…what was that?
The whole encounter left me with a feeling I didn’t know what to do with.
Chapter Seven
Helena
The ride back to Dad’s was filled with Molly telling me about her attraction to a group of men.
I tuned her out, thinking of all the places I’d gone today, all the things I’d seen, concluding that I was nothing like anyone else.
If this was how normal people lived, I knew for certain that I would never be like them.
Mother had been telling the truth.
She said it would take a miracle for me to fit in, that I was destined to be alone.
I didn’t like what that did to my insides. It made my chest feel as if it were full of needles.
I rubbed at the skin to make the ache recede. I couldn’t recall ever experiencing anything like this before.
How did I get it to go away?
“Are you alright?” Molly asked, glancing at me as she turned onto the street that Dad lived on.
“I’m fin—.”
“He’s here!” she squealed, grabbing the hand I had pressed to my chest.
“Who is here?” I pulled myself free from her grip, grabbing for the side of my seat when she sharply turned into the driveway.
“Declan Andreou!” She hurriedly parked her car, and then pulled the visor down. “And if he’s here, Ethan probably is too.”
I watched as she fluffed her dark hair, turning her head left and right while making a face like a ducks.
She side-eyed me for a second, flipping the visor up with a huff.
“You didn’t hear a word I said the whole way back did you?”
“No.”
“Well,” she sighed. “At least you’re honest. It’s the other stuff we need to fix.”
Fix.
I’d heard that word many times before. It never boded well for me. Only I could fix things.
“I’m not fixable.”
My bitter tone had her eyes slightly widening, as did mine. But my surprise was gone quicker than it flared up.
She quickly changed the subject. “Um, I’ll give you a quick refresh,” That car is Declan’s.” She pointed to the sleek car parked in the street. “He’s an Andreou. His family literally owns this town, and the one beside it.
“Think the big bucks. Ethan’s family has money too. Everyone knows the deets on the two of them. Just like most people will tell you they’re dangerous, but never outright. I have no idea if that is true or not, but they’re seriously all like idols around here, so dangerous or not, everyone in Riverview loves them.”
When she opened her door, I did the same, unbuckling my restraint and getting out.
“And if you thought Mason was gorgeous, girl, just wait. I’ve been trying to get in their bed for months.” Shutting the door with her hip, she gestured for me to come and headed for the house.
I stared at the patio set in the backyard. I’d much rather have gone there. Her words had me wanting to see who these two people were, though.
I wasn’t interested in their looks or their money.
It was her saying they could be dangerous that captured my attention.
I’d never heard anyone other than me called that before.
Buddy had told Mother I was dangerous the first time he attempted to corner me in the basement.
That’s the day I had bitten him.
I bit him so hard I took off pieces of his skin.
Mother saw what I had done and agreed with his prognosis. I was deemed dangerous and disobedient.
She said my sickness made him do it, and then she had him hold me down so she could take another tooth from my mouth.
If these people were dangerous, they might be like me.
They could be sick too.
Walking into the Colonial, I smelled coffee and heard multiple voices coming from the sunroom.
Molly and I took our shoes off and then headed in that direction. She looked at me over her shoulder and flashed a full-toothed smile just before we reached the doorway.
I let her go in first, staying back so that I could survey the room.
“You’re back,” Dad said at the same time another voice greeted, “Hey, Mols.”
“Did you have fun?” Dad asked.
“Heath, you gave me a credit card. Of course, I had fun, but I’m like a thousand percent sure Helena has no idea what that word means,” Molly laughed, disappearing from view.
“Helena?” a different voice, one I considered smoother than the first, also somewhat cultured. “Your daughter, right?”
“Erm…yeah. Helena!” Dad called for me, not realizing how close I was.
I stepped into the room, blinking a glare of sunlight away.
“Hey, angel,” Dad greeted, smiling so big his eyes crinkled.
“Dad.” I looked from him to the two men sitting side by side on one of the wicker sofas.
It was very easy to tell which one was related to Mason Andreou.
He had eyes the remarkable color of silver stars, and skin that had been well kissed by the sun. His dark hair and facial structure was a perfect match when compared to the man from the bakery, as was his refinement.
I said his name in my head as Dad spoke it aloud.
“This is my boss, Declan.”
“And I’m, Ethan, the boss’s best friend.”
He was the day to Declan’s night. But with brown hair that was long on top and short on the sides, warm copper eyes.
With the blinding smile he aimed at my person, I found him to be just as difficult to look at.
There was no way either of them was sick. I doubted they were even dangerous. Men like them belonged in magazines.
The discomforting feeling from the car returned, causing me to leave the room promptly.
Once more I had a lack of understanding, not knowing what caused the ache in my chest. All I knew for certain was that being by myself never invoked these strange and uncomfortable sensations.
Once more, Mother’s words proved to be true. I was always going to be alone.
Chapter Eight
Declan
They say there’s a first time for everything.
You’d think having women run from me was a common occurrence given my profession and personal hobbies.
But it wasn’t. In fact, women always did the opposite. They flocked to a monster and invited him into their beds. So having one run from me for no reason whatsoever was unexpected.
Though being fair, she technically ran from Ethan too. I’d barely gotten a look at the girl. She was here one second and gone the next.
The fla
sh I’d seen of vivid blue hues wasn’t enough to intrigue me.
However, those same blues paired with long, golden brown hair, skin like porcelain, and a dainty little body, sure as fuck was.
“I apologize for that, Helena is…”
“She’s weird.” Molly casually tossed out.
Her statement was followed by the echo of a slamming door, and a reproachful glare from Heath.
“What? I didn’t mean that in a bad way. You know what I’m talking about. She’s different. Like super different. I just spent a whole day with her and I can you tell you for sure, No one our age acts like that.”
Heath opened his mouth to respond, closing it when he remembered me and Ethan were still in the room.
“Can you excuse us?” he asked her in place of whatever he’d been about to say.
“Guess I’ll grab the stuff from the car,” she muttered, rising from the chair she’d been sitting in.
A flirty smile lit her features just before she walked out, adding, “Nice seeing you two,” and a sway of her hips.
Heath’s jaw clenched as he watched her departure, not missing a single one of her come fuck me signals.
“That girl is going to be so much trouble,” he grumbled.
“Is going to be trouble? If that’s past tense, I’m sorry to inform ya Heath, but that girl,” Ethan nodded his head towards the doorway Molly had just exited from. “She definitely fucks.”
I shook my head at him and took a sip of lukewarm coffee, not bothering to suppress my grin.
“Anyone ever tell you that you’re an asshole, Ethan?” Heath remarked.
“All the time.”
“What’s wrong with her?” I interjected, far more interested in the girl that had just fled the room.
Heath’s eyes cut to mine. I could practically see the offense in them.
“There’s not a damn thing wrong with her.”
I raised my brows at his tone, and he quickly backpedaled.
“She thinks she’s sick.”
“She thinks she’s sick?” Ethan repeated back.
Heath sighed, rubbing a hand over his forehead.
“Helena is…” he glanced out towards the lake, clearly struggling for words. “It’s complicated. She had an unconventional upbringing, and because of that her social skills are severely lacking, practically nonexistent. I was going to bring her to the Hallows Eve party but after that…”
DEPRAVITY: Love Depraved Page 4
