by Summer Rose
“And those girls?” I asked, feeling so numb and out of it.
His face suddenly changed from remorseful to murderous once again.
“They hurt you, Kat. They had to be punished,” he said and nodded at Tiffany. “This one saw too, so I have to kill her. It’s a shame. I actually really liked her.”
He began to approach us, and I took a step back, ready to protect her with my life, when out of nowhere Jake came out from the passage that led to my bedroom and rammed into Liam. They struggled with each other for dominance while I pulled Tiffany into my arms, both of us holding the knife tightly.
A few seconds later, the door flew open, and the cops ran in.
We ducked behind the kitchen island, tears blurring my vision. How could I not have known that Liam was the killer? He had even robbed me of my father.
I felt a tangle of arms around me, but I didn’t panic because I knew exactly who they belonged to…
My boys… and I knew I would be safe with them.
OBLIVIOUS
A Dark High School Romance
The Brotherhood- (Redwood High) Book 2
Summer Rose
CHAPTER ONE
F our weeks ago, one of my best friends tried to murder me and I wasn’t his only victim. Liam also tried to kill his longtime girlfriend, someone we all thought he loved. He had already killed two other girls who attended my high school, claiming he was trying to protect me. Worst of all, he’d unwittingly killed my father, when he’d been involved in an altercation with his father.
My father had been involved in a deal with Liam’s father. According to Liam, things had gotten bad one day and he’d been forced to hit my father in self-defense. As for Leila and Gina… they had been bullying me. Leila pushed me, causing me to twist my ankle and end up in the hospital with a broken leg and a concussion. Gina shoved me into a large pool, which I almost drowned in. Whatever they had done, none of them deserved to pay with their lives.
But all three of them were dead now.
I never imagined that moving away from Los Angeles - where my parents and I used to live - to the sleepy town of Greenwood following my father’s death, would have brought me closer to his killer. I never expected the perpetrator to be one of the friends I had made in my new town.
My father’s death had been a mistake and Liam and his father had covered it up as an accident that occurred due to a storm. Despite this, Liam had still gone ahead and killed two other girls, claiming to be protecting me from them. In the end, he had even threatened me, the person he wanted to protect in the first place.
Luckily, I had been saved by my boys and the police. However, rather than being locked up, Liam had been transferred to a psychiatric correctional facility. According to the authorities and Liam’s father, he had a severe mental illness. Both father and son had tried to cover it up, and now things still had gotten out of hand.
My wandering thoughts were interrupted by a knock on my bedroom door.
“Katrina bebé, I’m off to work. Are you going to be alright?” Elena Dawson, my mom, asked through the door.
“Yes, mom,” I yelled back at her, still refusing to open the door. At least she wasn’t bothering me about it anymore.
Ever since Liam tried to kill me, I had locked myself up in my room, refusing to see anybody. The school had been closed for the first two weeks. The principal said that everyone needed the break to come to terms with the horrific situation. It had now been open for two weeks and I still haven’t gone.
The only time I stepped out of my bedroom was when my mom left for work. I refused to see any of my friends. I was surprised by how understanding my mom was being. I had expected her to drag me out and force me to school way sooner, but she hadn’t.
As soon as I heard her car’s engine fading in the distance, I threw my blanket off my body and headed downstairs, where I knew my breakfast was already waiting for me. I would eat and watch movie after movie, then head back to my room and stay buried in my thoughts just as I did every other day. At least that was the plan.
Downstairs, six pairs of eyes met mine, daring me to continue ignoring them like I had been doing for the past 28 days.
As I turned to walk back to my room, a voice stopped me.
“Don’t even think about it, Katrina.”
Only one person except my mother would dare call me by my full name, and when I turned to look at him, it was indeed Jake.
His dark eyes held mine, and for some reason, I couldn’t look away. Jake had always had that effect on me. “Your mom let us in, and we are not leaving until you talk to us. We’ve been worried about you, Katrina.” His eyes held a vulnerability that I had only seen once when he had explained why he was sort of a recluse in Redwood town. In those dark eyes, I could see how worried he had been.
Suddenly, Mason leaped off the couch and came to stand in front of me, holding my hands in his large, rough ones, his blue eyes staring into mine.
“We’ve missed you, Kat, and I understand that you’ve been having a hard time but so have we. You have to talk to us, Kat.”
His words prompted me to look at the guys - really look at them - and I realized at that moment that I wasn’t the only one struggling. Liam had been their friend too since childhood, and they had had no idea what was going on in his twisted mind.
Catching the sad smile Aaron directed at me, I nodded my head. I would let them stay. We would talk things through. I allowed Mason to lead me to the couch, where I sat in between Jake and Aaron, while Mason sat in the chair facing us.
“I’m sorry, guys, I’ve been so selfish,” I whispered as tears slid down my face.
Jake wiped away the tears and turned me towards him.
“No, Katrina, you did what you had to do, but we can’t let you go on like this. You were the one that showed me I could lean on my friends, and now I want you to do the same. Talk to us, tell us how you are feeling.”
I had thought long and hard about how I felt in the past few weeks, and I had come to one conclusion: “I don’t know,” I told them. “I don’t know how I feel. Liam was one of my best friends. I trusted him, yet he had been the one behind my father’s death. Knowing that he had been sick changes things, and I don’t know how to feel about that either,” I said. “We were his friends, and we didn’t know.”
“You can’t blame yourself for that, Kat. We didn’t know because he didn’t tell us, and he hid it well,” Mason said.
“Why?” I asked, not knowing if they understood my question.
Aaron’s green eyes met mine. “Redwood is a small-town Kat and Liam’s father didn’t want his son to be shunned.”
“We are going to get through this Katrina, and we are going to do it together, I promise you,” Jake said, and the others nodded along.
There and then, I knew that all I needed was my boys.
CHAPTER TWO
M y reflection stared back at me from the mirror in the car as I pulled my blonde hair quickly into a ponytail. Oceanic blue eyes stared back at me, and I could see the anxiety in them. My hands shook while I fidgeted in my seat, heart pounding as I thought of the different reactions I might get upon my arrival at school.
I felt the warmth of my mom’s hand on my arm before I heard her voice.
“Don’t be nervous, darling. Everything is going to be fine,” she assured me.
I nodded in response even though I was still worried. Everyone at school now knew those two girls were dead because of me, and while I knew it wasn’t my fault, Liam had been the murderer. It was still hard not to blame myself when the majority of the town blamed me. After all, Liam had been a sweet, innocent boy who couldn’t hurt a fly as far as anyone knew, until my mom and I arrived in town. Somehow, they seemed to think my presence in Redwood had turned Liam dark.
I picked at a thread on the blue sweater I had paired with dark jeans and black combat boots, my other hand wiping away the sweat that had formed on my forehead. ‘It is all going to be alright,’ I thought. �
�Everything will be alright.’
“So, what do you think, honey? Is that okay with you?”
My mom’s voice filled my ears, and I turned to her with a blank stare and confusion written all over my face. She sighed, frustrated with my lack of attentiveness.
“You weren’t listening, Katrina.”
“Sorry, mom,” I muttered. “I’m listening now, I promise.”
She stared at me for a few seconds as if to make sure I was telling the truth before turning her attention back to the road as she drove me to school.
“I said Danny, who is a friend of mine from work, will be having dinner with us during the weekend, and I asked if it was okay with you.” She finished with a sigh, obviously tired from having to repeat herself.
“A man?” I didn’t know how to feel about that. “Dad’s only been gone for four months now, and you’re already dating?”
This made me feel angry, enraged even. How could she? My father had only been dead four months, and now that we had found out who his killer was, his death was even fresher in my memory. My thoughts must have been reflected through my eyes because my mom looked aghast.
“Of course not. I’m not dating Danny; he is my friend and nothing more,” she sighed as I merely looked skeptical.
“Katrina, I know you think I’ve moved on from your dad pretty quickly, but the truth is, I’m only trying to stay strong for the both of us. Danny was the one who told me about Redwood, and he helped me get my job. He just moved here himself after his wife died. I’m only trying to thank him for his help.”
“Fine,” I said. I didn’t particularly like the thought of having a stranger in our home, but I knew it was good that my mom was making friends.
She hadn’t been able to connect with anyone in town. Even Jake’s mom, who was our neighbor, rarely stepped out of the house, so I was glad my mom had someone her age she could talk to. Even though she didn’t show it, moving to a new town had been hard on her too.
“Thanks for understanding, bebé,” she said with her beautiful smile that I was always happy to see.
I returned her smile, but a thought occurred to me, causing my brows to furrow. “How did your friend know about this town when he wasn’t even living here?” I asked.
“Oh, he was born in Redwood, but his family moved away when he was only five. They used to live in that mansion the townspeople say is haunted. All he remembers of the town is that it was small and quiet, which according to him, was what he needed after his wife’s death.”
I responded with a slow nod. In a way, he too had moved to Redwood for the same reason we had: the death of a loved one. Perhaps, it was just what my mom needed, a friend who understood her because they had both experienced a similar tragedy.
My nerves seemed to diminish after that. I managed to relax and enjoy the ride, but they immediately skyrocketed as my mom drove into the parking lot. Just like that, several scenarios popped into my head, and I began to shake once again.
“Katrina…” my mom said as soon as she killed the engine. She gently grabbed my chin and forced my eyes to hers as she took me by the hands.
“I know we haven’t really talked about everything that happened, and that’s just because I wanted you to come to me whenever you were ready. But I want you to know that none of it was your fault, no matter what anyone says. That boy was sick, and no one knew. There was no way you could have known either. None of it was your fault, do you understand me?”
A tear slid down my face as I nodded vigorously in agreement.
“I am scared, mom,” I admitted. I was utterly scared of what would happen when I walked through those doors. I didn’t think I was brave enough to find out, but as always, my mom understood the reason behind my fear without me even telling her.
“I want you to walk through those doors with your head held high, Katrina because you did nothing wrong.” Her eyes moved from mine to stare behind me, and I followed them.
“Besides, you’ve got friends who are going to stand by your side no matter what,” she said, referring to the three boys who now stood a few feet away from the car, waiting for me.
CHAPTER THREE
W alking into school with Jake, Mason, and Aaron gave me the strength I needed to face everyone else. Sure, people still made side comments, I even caught someone muttering the b-word, but no one outright approached me, and for that, I was grateful.
As always, we attracted attention as we made our way in, especially now that Jake, the school resident bad boy, was part of our group. He had been previously labeled a murderer for accidentally killing his abusive father, and Jake had been shunned by everyone at school ever since. Because of this, he had stopped talking to his childhood friends.
I had changed that. My being friendly with Mason, Aaron, and Liam had brought Jake back together with them.
With Liam gone, there were now four in our little group, and I shared a lot in common with the boys, even in appearance. Anyone who didn’t know Jake and I could mistake us as siblings since we both had blonde hair, creamy skin, and similar blue eyes. As for Aaron and me, our similarity could be seen in the way we dressed.
Today he wore a blue shirt and dark jeans with similar combat boots to mine, and no, we didn’t plan it. Jake and I were much more similar in personality; both of us didn’t talk much and we weren’t precisely social. While Mason and Aaron were quite friendly with almost everyone in school, they were the only friends Jake and I had.
My closeness with the boys, while it made me a bit of a school celebrity, also made me the most hated female at Redwood High. It was the reason I had been bullied in the first place. For some reason, the girls at school hated the fact that I was friends with the most popular and handsome guys at school.
The only female friend I had made was Liam’s ex-girlfriend, Tiffany. And she had moved to New York after witnessing him murder someone and almost becoming his next victim. Tiffany couldn’t handle the fact that her loving boyfriend turned out to be a murderer, so she had moved to the big city to live with her eldest sister.
“You guys don’t have to follow me everywhere; it’s not like I’m going to be swallowed or anything,” I said to the boys, who stood behind me like my bodyguards as we approached my locker. When they didn’t respond, I sighed.
“You know, I can take care of myself,” I said again.
Mason leaned casually against the lockers. “We aren’t following you around, darling, we are just casually walking alongside our friend,” he said, to which I rolled my eyes. They sucked at being subtle.
I looked at Aaron for help, but he was too engrossed in the giant science textbook he had his nose buried in to notice me, so I turned to Jake, but he wasn’t much help either.
Shrugging, with his hands in his pockets, he simply said. “Just pretend we are not here.”
“How can I do that when you guys are constantly hovering?”
He simply shrugged again and continued glaring at anyone who walked past us.
I scoffed. “Now you are scaring people away?”
My question went unanswered. Sighing, I said, “Let’s just go to class.”
Following behind me, they began to fill me in on what had been happening the past few days, while offering to help me with the classes and assignments I had missed. I could hear the noise in the classroom from the hallway, but as soon as we entered, everyone went silent. All eyes were on us.
With lowered eyes, I walked to my seat, and I soon noticed the guys had all conveniently acquired seats around me. Mason and Aaron were on either side while Jake was behind me. Deep down, I was glad for this new arrangement, because judging from the deadly glares I was receiving, the other students were no doubt itching to confront me. With my boys around me, no one dared to.
After a few seconds – which felt like hours -- a teacher I had never seen before made her way into class. She was quite beautiful with long, dark hair that fell to her waist, brown eyes, and an angelic face. While she was a new teacher, she
didn’t introduce herself, so I guessed she must have done it some days ago.
“She’s the new biology teacher,” Aaron whispered to me when he saw the lost look on my face. I smiled gratefully at him, my smile turning into a deep blush when he smiled back at me.
Quickly I averted my face, embarrassed by my reaction. Still, before it got awkward, the classroom door opened once again to reveal a boy and a girl. Pale skin, green eyes, platinum blonde hair, and six feet tall, they were absolutely stunning. I wasn’t the only one who thought so because everyone else seemed to suck in a breath upon laying eyes on them.
They were dressed in all black attire, dark t-shirts, leather jackets, jeans, and boots, and it was clear that they were siblings. However, there was something about them that was simply mesmerizing. Their appearance pulled one in, and it made me extremely curious about them.
“I’m Noah, and this is my twin sister Noelle. It’s nice to meet you all.”
The boy made the introductions for them both, and his eyes flitted across the room until they landed on me. Suddenly, a broad grin appeared on his face
“Really nice to meet you all,” he enunciated.
My heart pounded faster.
CHAPTER FOUR
S eated at our usual table in the cafeteria, I listened to the boys go on and on about sports; to say I was bored was an understatement.
“Can we talk about something else, please?” I groaned, and they all turned to me with amused smiles.
