by K. R. Reese
My pulse thumps in my ears. Who is Rick? Did he do something to Maci? I don’t ask, she would tell me if she wanted me to know. So many unanswered questions.
“I’m coming to get you, Maci.”
“He’s never going to let me leave, Levi.”
I get into my car and pull out of the driveway.
“Get out of your room. Out of the house. Meet me at the corner. Stay on the phone, even if you’re quiet and don’t talk. I’m on my way, Mace.”
She sighs, but agrees. I can hear her shuffle the phone as she makes her way to meet me. “I’m outside,” she whispers, but I hear her anyway.
“Get to the corner. I’m less than five minutes away.”
I broke every traffic law there is to get to their house. But until I can see with my own two eyes that Maci’s okay, I won’t be able to relax. I pull down the side street, spotting her near the bushes underneath the streetlights.
I disconnect the call and roll down the window as I pull up beside her. She has a duffel bag thrown over her shoulder, her hands shoved in her pockets and her head down.
“Get in, Maci.” I tell her across the console.
She lets herself in, but won’t make eye contact. I clench my fists on the steering wheel and bite my tongue. It isn’t my place to ask. She called Mitchell’s phone. She wanted her brother’s help. I just happened to be the superhero this time.
Dear Diary,
I don’t know what to tell Mitchell.
I don’t know what to tell Levi.
He came to my rescue tonight after the incident with Rick. But I kept my head down and didn’t make eye contact when he showed me to the guest room and told me to get some sleep.
What a joke. I can’t sleep. My hands haven’t stopped shaking, my sobs have barely subsided. I know he heard me crying, I couldn’t hide it. But, just like before, Levi didn’t ask questions; he didn’t need to know what happened. He didn’t demand answers. Levi came to my rescue last night without an explanation on why I needed to leave.
I’ll have to remember to thank him for that. Later. I plan on hiding out in this room as long as I can. I’m sure my face looks bad, probably my neck, too. Mitchell will ask questions in the morning. Questions I don’t have legitimate answers for. Because he will kill Rick if he knows. Then I’ll lose the only person I care about and I’ll be alone forever.
I can’t let that happen.
Chapter 7
Levi
Three hours later, the sun is slipping through the curtains in the living room and I still haven’t slept. When I had answered Mitchell’s phone last night, I knew something was wrong. It wasn’t Maci’s sobs or her statements about Rick. Whoever Rick is.
I had a bad feeling all night. Mitchell partied it up with everyone else while I nursed a beer, smoked a few blunts, and…nothing. When all the missed calls registered on that phone screen, there was a feeling in the pit of my stomach that something bad had happened.
When I asked her what’s wrong and the sobs broke through the speakers, acid churned in my stomach and I jumped at the chance to save her. Even if I didn’t know what she needed saved from.
I clench my fists when I hear footsteps on the stairs and Mitchell appears in the doorway. From everything I’ve heard, and the few things he’s told me, they’ve had a tough life. At least the last couple of years. I truly had no plans when I drove to her house and picked her up. I was speechless when she sat in the passenger seat of my car and cried because I didn’t know what was wrong or how to comfort her.
But, if last night taught me anything, I’m determined to be the one thing in their lives that isn’t complicated. If that means babysitting Mitchell before he self-destructs, or rescuing Maci at the drop of a dime, I’ll do it if it means she’s safe and happy.
“Hey, Levi.” Mitchell’s gruff, sleep-riddled voice interrupts my inner turmoil. His hair is disheveled, his clothes wrinkled. But his eyes are finally the same amber color that I’ve grown to like from someone other than him. “I, uh, wanted to apologize. For yesterday. For last night. I shouldn’t have dragged you to that party.”
If I hadn’t been at the party who knows what he would have done. Mitchell shouldn’t have been at that party. But I don’t comment on that. Instead I shrug.
“Have you seen my phone? I thought it was in my pocket, but I can’t find it.”
My gaze doesn’t leave his face as I slide it across the table. All the missed calls are still on the screen from Maci. I clench my fists against my thighs and remain silent. I watch as his eyes widen, and he tries to dial her number. “Shit. Fuck, fuck. I have to get home.”
Mitchell takes off to find his shoes. I don’t let him get far before I yell over my shoulder. “She’s in the guest bedroom, asleep.”
His footsteps no longer echo down the hall. The house is eerily quiet.
Then his voice cracks from behind me. “Why is she in the guest room? How did she know where I was?”
I scrub my hand down my face and take a deep breath. “Your phone wouldn’t stop ringing. I was going to put it on silent until morning after you passed out in bed, but Maci’s name popped up. Again. She was freaked out, crying. She said she needed to get out of the house and was trying to get ahold of you.”
I watch as all the color fades from his cheeks before he turns and bolts up the stairs. I jump up quickly to follow behind him and stop him at the door. “You’re not going in there to wake her up. It was bad last night, Mitch.”
Mitchell inhales sharply before his gaze connects with mine. “I have to go in there, Levi. If she was crying, and needed to get out of the house, who knows what that…” He doesn’t finish his sentence and goes in the room, leaving the door wide open. I don’t enter, I just watch him stare down at Maci at first. Her back is to the door and her soft breathing fills the air surrounding us. Mitchell crouches beside the bed when she whimpers, and he brushes the hair away from her face. “Son of a bitch,” he says loud enough that I hear him.
I slowly step into the room and closer to Maci’s sleeping form. That’s when I see them. There are bruises along her eye and overtop her cheekbone, and darkened fingertips are visible around her neck. Those hadn’t been there when we left her on campus yesterday to find her own way home by herself. I didn’t notice them last night when she climbed into my car. She had kept her face hidden behind the mass of hair and tears streaming down her face.
Mitchell sits on the floor beside her bed, and I sit beside him. Did someone hit her? Choke her? I mean, obviously, something happened, but why? More importantly, who? Was that why she mentioned Rick last night on the phone?
“Who’s Rick?” I keep my voice low to not wake her. Mitchell’s head jerks in my direction and his eyes widen. “Who is it, Mitch?”
“He’s…he’s our uncle. Sort of. He isn’t a blood relative, just marriage, but he was the only one who would take us in when…” He clamps his lips shut like he’s said too much. He probably has. That’s more than I needed to know.
I incline my head toward Maci and watch as she breathes in and out. “When she called last night, she said Rick was there, and you didn’t come home. She was adamant she needed to leave, and that he wouldn’t let her if I pulled up outside.”
My muscles tense as I wait for Mitchell to say something. Anything. He places his head in his hands and mumbles something I can’t make out.
“What was that?” I nudge him with my shoulder.
“This is my fault. I should have gone home. High or not, I shouldn’t have left her there alone. Leave her sleep. Let’s go downstairs.”
I climb to my feet and take one last glance at Maci’s sleeping form before I close the door. I follow Mitchell down the stairs where he starts to pace the length of the living room to gain some composure. “This has happened before, hasn’t it? With Rick?” A pit forms in my stomach again and I know I’m not going to like what he has to say.
“You might want to sit down for this, Levi, it isn’t a happy tale.”
>
Chapter 8
Maci
I stay as still as I can to make them think I’m still asleep. I know Mitchell and Levi are both in the room. They’re both sitting beside the bed quietly mumbling to each other. I can’t make out what they're saying, but it doesn’t matter. They’ve seen the bruises, I’m sure, because it’s hard to hide when I only grabbed clothes last night. And I didn’t think Mitch would storm in here before I had the chance to try and hide them.
When I think about what happened, I have to concentrate to keep my breathing under control. If I start to have a panic attack, they’ll both know I’m awake and ask questions. Questions I’m not ready for, and questions I don’t want to answer.
Mitchell isn’t stupid. He knows how those bruises got there before he’s asked. Levi, though, doesn’t know anything about our past. My past. He’s heard the rumors; they’re impossible to avoid. He hasn’t said anything. I’m grateful for that. I don’t want him to know the truth.
When they leave the room and I hear their footsteps on the stairs, I sit up in the bed I crashed in last night. My head hurts, my eye is practically closed and there’s a significant amount of pressure. This isn’t the worst Rick has done. This isn’t the worst of what I’ve dealt with. The other scars are far more mental than physical, though. Easier to hide and pretend.
Instead of looking in the mirror, I quickly use the restroom and make my way toward the stairs. Mitchell and Levi are talking somewhere down there, but again, I can’t hear what they’re saying.
I descend the stairs with my head bowed and try to make sense of this weird situation we’ve found ourselves in. I know Mitchell stayed here last night, but why? He hadn’t said anything, probably because he was distant and closed off all day, but he could have told me. I would have found something else to do. I wouldn’t have gone home alone. But knowing my brother and the way he thinks, he’s probably already blaming himself enough for the both of us. I push those thoughts aside and stop on the last step. That’s when I hear them. Well, I hear Levi.
“You’re telling me that Rick abuses your sister and you’re still living under his roof? What the fuck is wrong with you, Mitch? You’re supposed to protect her from assholes like him. Especially after everything else you just told me.” Levi’s voice is a growl, my stomach muscles cramp with the onslaught of what he just said. “I can’t believe this shit. She could have come here with you yesterday. She could have stayed here last night. I didn’t believe any of the shit I heard.”
I gasp, and Mitchell’s head shoots up and his gaze connects with mine. Levi’s rant stops and I’m frozen on the stairs. Could he have told Levi what happened? Of course, he could have, but would he?
“Don’t mind me.” I finally find my voice and stalk to the kitchen.
“Maci,” Levi’s voice is pained, and he’s close behind my shoulder. I hadn’t even heard him move.
I look up to find his eyes on mine. They’re full of anguish and sympathy. Exactly what I didn’t want.
“How’re you feeling this morning?”
I ignore him and detour back to Mitchell. “You fucking told him? How could you, Mitch!” I’m yelling, but it’s weak. Mitchell’s eyes flare and he stands.
“He needed to know if you were going to continue eye-fucking every time you see each other. So, yes, Maci, I fucking told him. I’m out of here for a bit.”
As the front door slams, my knees buckle, and I sob. Levi catches me before I hit the floor and carries me back to the room I used last night. I don’t say anything when he lays me down and kisses my forehead.
“I’m going to find him. I’ll lock the door and be back.”
I curl onto my side and wait until I hear the door close downstairs. I rush to the bathroom and lock myself inside. This wasn’t supposed to be my life. This was supposed to be a phase after our mom’s death because the pain helped me feel better. Feel anything. But as years have gone on, I’ve found it still makes me feel that way.
I ditch the wristbands and dig in the cupboard until I find what I’m looking for. The first cut is euphoric, but the following are always better. I ditch the blade in the trash and sit against the door. Blood trickles down my arm onto the floor, but I don’t care. In this moment, nothing else matters.
When I still don’t hear Mitch or Levi return, I go to the bed and fall back asleep. Today started like shit, and I would rather stay away from everyone and everything.
Chapter 9
Levi
Two hours later, I still haven’t found Mitch. I don’t know where he usually hangs out, and our mutual acquaintance, Axel, hasn’t seen him either. I pull up outside the house and sigh. Today has not gone as planned, and all the sick things Mitch told me keep reverberating in my head.
I tried to steel my emotions when Maci came down the stairs, but she saw something in my eyes that set her off. I ignored Mitch’s comment, though, and still think he has no idea what he’s talking about. Do we eye fuck every time we see each other?
I shake my head as I enter the house and listen for any indication that Mitchell might have come back here. There is none. But, then, where is Maci?
I slowly make my way to the guest room she slept in last night. The door is slightly ajar and she’s quietly sobbing in her sleep. I kick off my shoes and decide to take the risk of her kicking my ass out of the room. I lay down beside her and curl my arm around her waist.
Maci shifts and her eyes flutter open. “Levi? What are you doing?” Her voice is low, hoarse from sleep.
I continue my exploration, my fingertips lightly gliding up her arm as her eyes stay locked on mine, lost in the moment.
“You were crying. I didn’t want to wake you, but I couldn’t leave your side either.”
“Did you find Mitch?” She bites her bottom lip, unaware what it does to me. I shake my head at her question.
I rub circles up her arms, intent on linking our hands, when my fingers graze across raised, rough edges where her wrist cuffs usually are. Maci stiffens in front of me and tries to pull away. I don’t let her get far before I pull myself up on my elbow and stare down at her.
There’s fear staring back at me as she folds in on herself. I wrap my arms around her waist and pull her closer.
“Let me see, Maci,” I whisper in her ear.
A sob wracks her small frame, but she doesn’t stop me when I lift her arms out in front of us. I blink a few times to make sure what I’m looking at. There’s angry, swelled skin sliced open up both wrists. Dried blood runs down her arm to her elbow. But the scars are what I’m fixated on. Faint pink and white lines, some raised and puckered.
“Maci, when did you do this? Why do you do this?” I don’t look at her as I wait for her reply. Her body stiffens again, and she pulls herself up. This time I let her go.
“Mitchell told you our story. Or at least enough of my story. I needed an outlet, a way to cope. This is it. Always has been. Mitch doesn’t know, so can we please keep it between us?”
I sit on the edge of the bed and tug her closer to stand in front of me. When I gaze up into her eyes, I see annoyance and something else flare.
“How ‘bout I make you a deal?” She’s so close now, I have the sudden urge to kiss her. Instead, I move her to my lap. She’s straddling my legs, her hands on my shoulders. “If you quit cutting up your beautiful skin, I won’t say a word to Mitch. But if you’re going to continue…” I trail off, and let the words hang between us.
Maci’s amber gaze is focused on my face. There are tears forming on the edges of her lashes, and I swipe my thumb to catch them before they fall. What surprises me most is when she leans into my touch, closing her eyes.
I almost miss the words she whispers next. “This is insane, Levi. I…I don’t even know you, but you came to my rescue anyway. No questions. No explanations. I don’t understand any of this.”
I stare at her, my thoughts jumbled together. The only thing running through my mind is the same thing since that moment under the pav
ilion.
Kiss her.
But she’s skittish. Emotionally and physically. And she has every right to be. Especially after last night.
I take a deep breath.
Inhale. Exhale.
“Look at me, Maci.”
It takes her a minute, but she does as I say. Her eyes flutter open, and there’s so much hiding behind her sad eyes that I want to pick her up and run as far away as I can get her. But I know better than anyone you can’t outrun your past.
“None of this makes any sense, Scribbles. From the moment I saw you in that pavilion, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you. I can’t explain it.” Inhale. Exhale. “Then, when I heard your panicked voice last night, I knew I needed to see for myself that you were okay.”
“Well, I’m okay as I can be.”
I avert my stare to the bruised fingerprints around her neck, and the dark purple hue around her eye. I grip her hips, my hands clenching without thought.
“No more, Maci. I’ll keep it to myself. I won’t tell Mitch. But you can’t do this anymore. Let’s go clean them up.”
Maci hesitates, her gaze softening. This girl may be my downfall. But if that’s how it happens, I’ll gladly take it. She’s still staring, a look of contemplation on her face. My thoughts scramble again.
Kiss her.
But knowing Maci’s story and everything she’s had to endure; I won’t take without permission.
I lean closer, inhaling her scent. Lavender and roses, and something else. I lay my head on her shoulder, and bite back the moan as her fingers play with the short strands of hair at the nape of my neck.
I try to distract myself with conversation instead. “You have classes today?” The thought of her going to campus after last night and this morning causes my chest to tighten. I don’t like it. She should rest.
“I have classes Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I’m free today, thank God, because I need to go buy something to cover my face.”
