Page 10 of The First Seal

We both nod at Luna after she gives us our drinks. We start looking at all the booths to find the girls. Once we spot them, we realize our brothers are already there, and so is a man we don’t know. He is sitting between Aspen and Vee. Ezra is between Vee and Ember. They are all laughing. Except for my Little Fury, who looks like she is a million miles away.

At the booth, I sit next to Ember, putting my arm on the back of the booth behind Ember's head, and Onyx sits beside me.

While everyone is chit chatting about Vee's mysterious man. I notice Ember hasn’t spoken once. Leaning into her ear I ask.

“Is everything okay, love?”

She looks me in the eyes. “Yeah, everything is fine.”

“No it's not, I can tell by the look on your face. So tell me what's wrong?” I say with a stern voice.

“The guy that is beside Vee is… is ummm. It’s hard to say out loud. Vee doesn’t even know.” She says with tears welling in her eyes.

I nudge Onyx, and he looks at me funny, and I nod my head to Ember. Hoping he understands what I am trying to say.

“We are gonna leave you guys and go somewhere private to talk to Ember about what her job here would entail.” Onyx discloses to our brothers, and they take one look at Ember.

“We are coming too.” They say in unison.

“Since we all own End Times. She should be able to get everything that we all expect from her.” Aspen continues.

We take Ember upstairs to our balcony, and I walk her over to have her sit in the middle of the couch. Onyx sits on one side, and I sit on the other. Then Aspen and Ezra sit in front of Ember on the table.

“Okay love, tell us what happened with that guy your friend is with. You can tell us anything, we won't judge you. We promised your father to always protect you, no matter what.” I tell her with a calming tone.

She takes a couple deep breaths and then starts from the beginning.

“When I was fourteen years old. Back when Dmitri Orlov and I were best friends since we were babies. Dmitri’s father, Damien Orlov, worked as Papa’s right hand man. So, every day we were always around each other. Then one day, he started acting very strange but wouldn't tell me why or what was wrong. We decided on playing hide and seek in the backyard. Just like we always did, when our Papa’s needed to talk business and wanted us out of their hair.

It was his turn to find me. I was hiding behind the largest oak tree that was deep inside the middle of the woods. I was only hiding for about five minutes before I started peeking around the trunk of the tree. My eyes scanned the area, hoping to spot him first. I didn't. I was peeking around the one side of the tree trunk to see if I could see him. I was startled when a firm hand grabbed my arm, screaming, ‘Found you!’ I screamed bloody murder scared shitless in that moment. I said,“ It’s my turn to find you now.” but he said, “No, I wanna play a new game.” I just stared at him so confused. “Why? We always take turns finding each other.” He pinned his hips against mine, making my back flush against the tree, and ran his hand down over my chest. I told him to stop, but he didn’t, and he said nothing else. As his hands traced my body, lower and lower. Fear then gripped me by the throat. My body froze, unable to move, and I was unable to make a sound come out of my mouth.”

“I couldn't even scream.” She said while tears ran down her face, and when she stopped, she just started sobbing.

“It’s okay if you don't want to continue, we understand that something like this can be hard to talk about.” Ezra says, holding her hands in his.

“No, I need to continue. I need to tell someone, like I should have back when I was fourteen." Her gaze met mine as she nodded.

Taking a deep breath, she continued, "Where was I?" Her brow scrunched deep in thought, "Oh! Right.... He eventually got me on the ground and forced me on my stomach. I remember the smell of the dirt, leaves and the grass. That day, he stole so many things from me. Not only did he take my body. But, the one thing I loved about the woods; the smell of nature after rain. The scent that reminded me of innocence and happiness. He ripped that away from me. I don't remember when or how he got my shorts off of me, I just remember the feeling of him forcing his way into my body will forever be imprinted in my mind. My body will forever feel his mark taking from me an innocence that was not his to have. It hurt so bad and I remember crying into the dirt and him screaming at me to “shut the fuck up and take it. You know this is what you always wanted.” I kept telling him no and yelling at him to stop, but he didn't care. Tears ran down my cheeks the same way blood flowed down my inner thighs. I couldn't do anything but pull my clothing back on in haste, running for the comfort of home. I kept thinking this was no longer the boy I grew up around and who was my best friend. No, he was now a monster, the very one that haunts my dreams.

“You never told anyone about what he had done to you?” Ezra asks.

“No, I did tell two people. Papa and Damien Orlov. When I ran to the house, Papa and Damien Orlov were outside. When Papa looked at my dirty, tear stained face and the blood covering my legs. He was furious and asked what had happened. I told them everything. Papa told Orlov that Dmitri was no longer allowed at the house or around me. Orlov tried explaining that his son would never do anything like that and I probably asked for it. Papa was so mad at Damien and Dmitri for months. Yet, he still kept Orlov as his right hand man. I haven’t seen Dmitri since that day. Until now.” She said, whipping her tears away.

At this point, all four of us are having the same feeling. I can tell by the change in the atmosphere. There was nothing but pure rage and anger pouring out of us.

“Vee, really doesn’t know what he did to you?” Onyx asks

“Nope, I was about to tell her after I saw them dancing but he came over before I could even gather the courage to. Then Aspen and Ezra showed up like they both knew something was wrong or off with the situation.” She replied

“We need to find him and have a “chat” with him.” I state, fuming with anger and rage.

“We can take him to the basement for this chat.” Onyx says with a sinister grin.

“Aspen and I can get the basement ready for this “chat”. You guys try to get him down there. Let's say in about ten minutes?” Ezra Cheshire's smile graces his face.

Chapter six

Onyx