Page 76 of Broken Empire
WhenI’ma little calmer,Isit up in bed.I’mstill alone.Notsure ifMasonis back yet or not.Ihate to admit thatIneed him, butIdo.Wheneverhe’s sleeping next to me,Idon’t have the nightmares.It’slike his presence just keeps them away.
Ireach over to the nightstand to grab the bottle of waterIhave there, that’s whenIbecome aware of my surroundings and realize thatI’mnot alone in the room after all.Ifinally look up and with the faint light from the nightlightIsee that someone is sitting on the chair by the window.
Atfirst,Ithink it’sMasonand he just wasn’t ready to come to bed yet, but whenIlook up at the face, allIcan see is my father’s face.I’min shock, asIblink rapidly, but the face is still there.
Okay,IthinkIknow what’s happening here…I’vefinally lost my mind and nowI’mhallucinating.That’sthe only logical explanation, right?Amoment later, he stands and starts to move toward me.Thatis my cue to get the fuck out of here.
Iscramble off the bed from the other side and quickly sprint toward the door.Ifling it open and fly down the stairs like my life depends on it, well it might, sinceI’mon the verge of going crazy.
I’mscreaming, crying, on the cusp of hyperventilating asIrush toward the den.Assoon asImake it to the door,Masonsees me and rushes over to me.
“Baby.Baby!Calmdown.What’sthe matter, are you hurt?” he quickly asks, while checking me over to make sureI’mnot injured.
“I-I-I….”
“Justcalm down and tell me what happened.Takeyour time,” he tells me while pulling me into his chest.Herubs his hand up and down my back in a soothing motion.Ipull my head away from his chest a moment later and look up at his face.
“I-IthinkI’mlosing my mind and seeing ghosts.Helpme!”Ibeg.
“Whatdid you see?”
“Isaw m-m-my father in the room.Ican’t deal with this anymore,I’mgoing insane,”Icry into his chest.
“Whatis wrong with you, you fuck?Itold you to wait until she woke up and we eased her into it before she saw you!”Masongrowls.Ilook up at his face and see he’s looking at the door to the den.Itwist my head to look behind me andIsee my father standing there.
Ilet out another scream while backing away fromMasonand the door.Inthe next instant my brother is behind me and he wraps his arm around me.
“Calmdown, sis.You’renot going crazy.He’sreal,” he whispers.
“Hi, baby girl,” my father says andIburst into gut-wrenching sobs.Hewalks over to me, pulling me into his arms.Isob even harder because it’s been so long sinceI’vefelt one of his hugs.Ithought it would never happen again because he was supposed to be fucking dead!
“Yo-you’re real,”Iwhisper.
“Iam andI’mso sorry for everything, baby girl,” he says, and just like that,Ibecome angry.So, fucking angry.Ipush away from him forcefully and take a step back from all of them.Theguys including my father are all standing by the couch, whileI’mall the way over by the fireplace.
“Explainnow!Anddon’t fucking leave anything out,”Isnarl at him.I’mhappy that he’s alive but there’s so muchIdon’t know.
“Well, um,Ifound out thatEmiliaandAlisterwere coming after me andImade a plan to fake my death, soIcould gather information to take them down.Butthey came for me beforeIhad everything in place andIhad to put my plan into action sooner thanIwould have liked,”
“Whywould you let me believe that you were dead for so long?”Iyell at him, feeling my chest ache with the unbearable pain of his betrayal.
“Trustme sweetheart.Itwasn’t supposed to go down how it did.”
“That’sjust it,Idon’t fucking trust you!”Isnap at him. “Tellme about that day.”
“Well,Alisterhad someone crash into my car andIalmost died for real.ButIdidn’t, soIhad my doctor get the silicone replica of me ready, that wayAlisterwould thinkIwas dead.That’swhy they took so long to inform you.Ihad to get everything ready.Ididn’t think he’d go after you the way he did though.ButIhad thoughtMasonwould protect you, not make shit worse,” he growls looking atMasonlike he wants to kill him.
“So, you lied to me and have been lying to me for months, by having me think you were dead!Howfucked up is that,Dad?”Imutter putting emphasis on his name.
“I’mso sorry, sweetheart.Inever meant for any of what happened to you to happen.”
“Didyou know?”Iask my brother.Hedoesn’t answer, but from the guilty look on his faceIknow that he knew all along.Tearsstream down my face at his betrayal.
“Pleaselet me explain sis—” he starts butIcut him off and turn to look atMason.
“Whatabout you?Didyou know?”
“No.Ionly found out earlier whenIgot back home, after taking care of something.” he says andInod.Justthen a thought comes to mind andIturn to look back at my father.