Chapter 21.

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CHAPTER 21: the truth kills

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We all decided to have an afternoon of movies before Owen and Jaxon set off to a mission in the morning. I was invited to stay with Coco as company because she said and I quote 'I'm going to be such a loner whilst those two bastards are gone' so here I am, being a good friend and getting absolutely traumatised.

"I can't believe we agreed to this," Jaxon said, running a hand through his hair as the two boys entered the dark living room, popcorn in their hands. Owen had barely any emotion on his face as he settled on the other side of the couch to me. I had blankets and pillows with me as I stared anywhere apart from Owen.

"Oh, shut up, this is going to be so fun," she exclaimed, glee dripping from her voice. Why did I even agree to this? Oh, yes because I happened to not be doing anything today. Jaxon looked at Owen then at me, then back at Owen and then back at me. Once his eyes landed upon mine again, I glared at him, stuffing more popcorn in my mouth.

"What?" I snapped, taking Owen and Coco by surprise before they both release a chuckle each, "why is he looking at me then at you? Seriously, I want to know."

I don't know about you, but I've been one of the most upfront and snappy bitches this week. It could be my period or it could be my suspicions that are eating out my soul. Who knows?

The others only raise their hands in surrender. I sat back down on the comfy couch and munched on my popcorn. Owen was busy fixing the film up for us and I ate my popcorn, watching his eyebrows furrow together in concentration.

"Oh Jesus, who turned the sun on?" Jaxon groaned in annoyance as he headed into the hallway. A glimpse of the sun shone through into the living room as we cleaned things up after our movie. Jax shielded his eyes as he grabbed his shirt and put it on before checking himself in the mirror.

Coco shook her head and tidied the mess of wrappers and glasses, heading into the kitchen to start on the washing up. Owen, on the other hand, was still fast asleep on the couch. His hair was dishevelled and I could see his slow breathing. I must admit, the film did get boring after some time so I'm not surprised he fell asleep. I headed over to him, careful as to not tread on his feet and tapped him lightly on the shoulder.

"Owen, time to wake up," I spoke softly. He moved around slightly before swatting my hand away. Oh no he didn't, "Owen, if you don't wake up, somebody's going to slap you."

His eyes opened slightly and glared at me through his hooded lashes. He ran a hand through his hair before sighing. Damn, I wanted Jaxon to slap him, not going to lie. I stood back and headed to the door before he could kill me and I helped Coco set out the dishes.

At dinner, we all needed to talk over the possibilities of what happened to Jaxon that day. He can't remember what happened and I doubt he was drunk. Apparently, he showed us what he drank before school and it wasn't even that alcoholic, at least not enough for him to get drunk after one shot.

"The most likely thing is that he might've been drugged. By who? I don't know, but that's the most sensible possibility at the moment. I'll ask around and see if anyone's been acting shady these past few days," Coco spoke and we all nodded. Jaxon was still quite worn out, but the colour in his face was coming back.

"We need to check the CCTV footage of the house. Obviously, this will take a few days and me and Jaxon won't be here tomorrow so I need you two to check the rest of them over tomorrow," Owen ordered, biting into his garlic bread again.

Suddenly, the front door opened and slammed shut. Owen stopped talking before grumbling in annoyance. Kiara enters the kitchen with two bags full of groceries.

"Well, it looks like dinner's sorted for you lot. Oh, hi, Brielle, how are you?"

"I'm good thanks," I said politely. It was a bit awkward because we were all just sat in silence until Kiara stared at Owen, drilling holes into his skull. She took her gloves off before smacking him on the head with them.

"Auntie!" he exclaimed, covering his head as his frown deepened. Jaxon snorted and Coco covered her mouth so no one would see her laughing, "why is it always me?"

"Because you're just unfortunate. Aren't you gonna ask your dear aunt how her day was?" she retorted, one hand on her hip as Owen only rolled his eyes. He didn't look up to Kiara and only focused on his food.

"No, I used to, but since the answer was always the same, what was the point in me asking?"

"You are one bad boy, you know that right?" she turned to place the groceries in the cupboards and fridge.

"That's what every girl says, auntie K," his brother spoke up as she sighed, rolling her eyes before smiling at us.

"Oh, look at all of you. I remember when I was your age. My life was going smoothly and I knew what I wanted and I was going to take it. Obviously, it wasn't easy, but I got there. All of you, do well in life, will you? For the sake of my sanity." we all chuckled at that and even Owen managed to crack a smile as we finished up our food and headed through into the living room again where we settled for small talk and relaxing. Apparently, the gang did it all the time to get off their adrenaline rushes.

I was looking through my bag for my phone so I can check if my mom called or texted. She usually did that to check on me, but if I didn't answer, I'd send her a text to tell her I'm fine.

"Hey, B, do you mind fetching us the jug of water in the fridge?" Coco asked as she turned on the air conditioner. I nodded and placed my bag down on the couch. It fell on its side, but I figured I could sort that out later. I walked out and into the kitchen to the fridge. A feeling settled in my gut as I bought the jug through into the other room.

As I walked in, the atmosphere immediately changed. It was cold and frosty. The others were standing up, stern looks on their faces. They all looked at me, concern or bitterness in their eyes.

"Hey..." I started as I placed the jug of water on the table, "what's going on?"

It was dead silent in the room, nobody speaking up until Owen breathes in, his glare hardening on me as he reaches forward to grab my arm, yanking me towards him. His grip was strong and painful upon my wrist.

"What do you mean what's going on? How could you not tell us?" he snapped as I jolted away slightly at his harsh tone. What was he talking about? He was scaring me with his shouting and it sent shivers down my spine.

"W-What? I don't know what you mean," I spoke, my voice quiet as his hold on me tightened, "ow! Owen, that hurts."

"Tell me why that man's blackmailing you." he boomed, his voice louder and his breathing hoarse.

"Bro, chill, will you? You're scaring her." Jaxon's voice was calm as he placed a hand on Owen's shoulder.

Blackmailing me?

Huh? Oh, he saw the letter from—.

Oh. My. God.

"O-Owen, I can't t-tell you so please." I quietly begged, trying to free my wrist from his grasp, but he only tightened his hold on me even more, "ow! Shit, let go, you jerk!"

Jaxon and Coco were shouting at him to let me go and I winced slightly before glaring at him whilst punching his arm to try and get him off of me. The pain I felt was quite bad and my hand was going numb.

He was only looking at me with a hard glare, which was filled with what looked like betrayal. I mean, I'm not surprised. This involved his gang and he would want to keep them safe so if he only just found out someone was threatening his group, then of course he's not happy.

"Tell me who that man is and why he's threatening you." Owen roughly pulled me closer to him as I whimpered from the pain, tears pricking my eyes. It would be easier just to tell him, girl! This ain't worth the death!

"HE'S MY DAD!"

There was a long pause as everyone in the compound became quiet. It was so silent that maybe you could hear a pin drop to the ground. Owen's grip loosened on my wrist and he let go. I clearly wasn't comfortable telling him something and he still fucking asked me. I glared at him before a frown takes over my lips as I said,

"H-He's always been abusive to my mother and me. He did drugs and never supported us. We've lived through it for years because of how I always stand up for the man, letting him hurt us like this. Recently, we left him because my mother was tired of his actions a-and he got desperate because he just kept shouting and shouting at us, saying he was going to find us and kill us."

"Why didn't you tell us? You know for a fact you should've told us," he said, his voice hard as I whimpered. My legs were shaking and I had to lean on the wall next to me. Jaxon's arm went around me and pulled me to him as he shot a look to his brother.

"Now look what you've done," he snapped, as he gripped me on my shoulder. I shook lightly in his arms, my legs turning into jelly.

"It's her own fault for not telling us. She's playing a dangerous game here," he barked and I whimpered loudly. For a second, he stops shouting and the anger in his face leaves before a slight glare takes over once again.

"I didn't have to tell you anything! I didn't want you to get involved in my shit, that's why I didn't tell you! This is my problem that I have to sort out myself and I don't want you to fight what I need to fight for myself," I spoke, my voice wobbling as a tear ran down my cheek, "you think you're all high and mighty protecting everyone, but I don't need you to protect me and I don't need you to tell me what I can and can't do!"

He only stared at me in shock as I gently pushed Jaxon away before running my hands through my hair, tugging at the strands. My breathing quickened and another tear ran down my other cheek.

"H-He not only threatened me then, but he also threatened me and my mom before. When he hit my mother, I got so scared, I would cry in my room and oh god when mom came in after with bruises on her face or a bust lip..." I stopped there, remembering every time mom had a bruise upon her and soon, I was stuck in a nightmare again. I let out a sob and covered my face with my hands. My heart ached and I was now strong enough to drop the barriers I made and just be the defenceless me I always was.

As I sunk down onto the couch, my eyes watered, blurring my vision as the tears threatened to spill. I was always strong, especially for mom, but right now, I just wanted to cry, to break down and just cry.

"It was all because of me. This whole problem was my fault to begin with. I noticed the change in dad and I should've told mom, persuaded her to leave with me, but I didn't. I-I started this so I'm going to finish it and I don't want you involved whatsoever." I couldn't have anyone else hurt by my actions or what I'm doing. It just couldn't happen and if it did, I could never live with myself knowing what I've done wrong. Owen just ran a hand through his hair, groaning in irritation as he turned away from me.

"I really am sorry for not telling you. I didn't mean to, but I wanted to fix this for myself. It's the least I could do for mom so please, forgive me. I-I never meant to cause trouble." he tried to approach me, but I dodged his arms and pushed him away lightly, "no, I can't. Uh, I need a second."

Taking my chance, I walked out of the room and outside before sitting on one of the chairs outside. I really just needed a breather to think things through. I just blurred out the shouts of Jaxon and Coco and focused on myself. Selfish, I know, but I needed space and I needed to be free for just a second, to feel nothing and everything at the same time.


"Mierda," I swore under my breath as I watched her leave the house. My brother stared at me with a hard expression and Coco only folded her arms over her chest and sighed. They were mad at me and I knew it. It wasn't every day that I ended up making another girl cry and I went after her. Brielle was the first. My mother always told me girls should be treated with respect and it would be clear she wouldn't be proud of what I was doing.

"You piece of shit," my brother snapped, "you really fucked it up, didn't you? I thought we agreed to ask her about it, not to practically scare the information out of her. She's already screwed up due to her parents and you really have to rub it in."

Jaxon paced the room as Coco's eyes turned into a guilty and concerned expression. During the moment, I was angry and disappointed, but now that it was over, my gut was telling me I screwed up. All that pent up remaining anger that I had shot out at my brother instead.

"I didn't know it was that bad!" I barked at him in which he only just scoffs. Coco comes between us and separates us. She tried her hardest despite being smaller than us, "if the rest of you hadn't kept this from me, I wouldn't have yelled at her! But I didn't know! I didn't understand!"

"If she didn't tell even me or Coco about that letter then that might just suggest it's something she doesn't want to talk about. I'm going to go out there and check on her. After you've chilled out, you better apologise to her," my brother told me as he pointed a finger at me sternly.


I wasn't even mad at him, just more relieved I got it off my chest, but it hurt so much for him to know how much I was failing at living life to the fullest unlike him. You know, living without fear. I was timid and I got scared of the tiniest things, but whenever he showed me something new, more of that fear dissipates.

As I laid back in the seat, my mind wandered back to everything I had when I was younger. Children would've wished for toys or new clothes or shoes, but when I had my parents, I felt like I had everything I needed: A mother who loved me and a father who loved me.

When I came home from school, I was always excited to see mom's happy face as soon as I stepped through the door and dad's cheery laugh later in the evening. I fiddled with the bracelet dad had given me on my tenth birthday, which was the last year I had a proper birthday with my parents.

In the distance, there was a sunset. The sky was a mix of oranges, blues, yellows and pinks. My parents used to love watching sunsets together with me. Those were the days when the pain was bearable and the only memories I had were sweet, not bittersweet. I've learnt throughout my life that everyone learns from their mistakes and I thought dad would, but he never learnt. He never cared. Well, he used to and now, he doesn't.

A tear ran down my cheek as I quickly wiped it away. I couldn't. What would my mom say if she saw me crying? She'd be just as upset as I am and she wouldn't even know what was going on. No matter what I did though, the tears just kept coming and they weren't going to stop any time soon. I sniffled, again and again, hoping it would stop, but it won't.

Rustling was heard behind me and I looked back to see Jaxon with a small smile on his face. He came to join me with a chair of his own and placed a hand on my back, rubbing small circles against it.

"Darling, you need to breathe, okay? It's going to be fine. He didn't mean to do it," Jaxon said, smoothing down my hair and wiping my cheeks clear of the tears. I struggled to breathe as I choked on each sob. It was my fault from the very beginning. Everything felt as if it was crashing down on me and then, only then, did I realise how much of my life I wasn't enjoying.

"Brielle, look at me." that wasn't Jaxon. As I looked up, the familiar sight of Owen surprised me so much, I jumped slightly as he held my cheek and rubbed the tears away.

"What do you want?" I croaked out before sighing, "why are you here?"

He looked at me with such sincerity and sympathy that it couldn't have been fake, but the thought of it alone made me feel sick to my stomach. I admired that people felt sorry for me, but I didn't want that. Sympathy from others made me feel bad for getting in the way of people's priorities and the feeling made my skin crawl. Sure, I was thankful, but if you ever feel sorry for me, don't start some pity party. 

"I'm sorry I forced you to say those things about your past. It must hurt having to say it all out loud again, but I needed you to say it and admit it was true."

Huh? Admit? Excuse me?

I stared at him in shock as he held one of my hands and kissed the top. Stop with the flattery, boy and tell me what the heck you're talking about.

"I've...heard...rumours. From other people of the gang. They were saying that you didn't particularly have the best of living conditions due to your dad. They never told me though. I kind of just heard."

"W-Well, they are true so now you know. To be honest, I'm more relieved now that it's out in the open." there was a long pause before I asked, "but it didn't feel nice admitting everything to you. I shouldn't have kept it from you, but I thought I might be able to handle this on my own and it turns out, I'm weaker than I thought. Anyway, what are we going to do about it?"

"First of all, you're not weak. Telling me all of that takes courage and I haven't decided yet. Obviously, what you said, changes things. My idea was we dispose of your father easily because he definitely was a part of Liam's plans. Since he's your dad though, I don't think you'd take too lightly to that." Owen just shrugged casually before smiling. It wasn't like his usual smirk that laughed at you whenever you saw it. It was genuine. I felt like I had his support and he didn't pity me like everyone else did; he made me feel better by taking my mind off of it. Whether he feels sorry or not, that's his opinion. He hides it quite well though.He told me a few jokes as we watched the sunset together and I seemed to have forgotten that it ever happened in the first place, but the thought still lingered at the back of my mind. 

My dad was still out for me and even with the protection of Owen, who's to say nothing bad will happen? I always knew my dad was protective of me and he was stir crazy about it sometimes, but I thought he was joking. 

Owen sure hasn't changed from a few years back. He still had that sense of humour that contrasted to his serious Leader/King side. I remember how we used to be close and how over the years, we've drifted due to him getting on the bad side of the mayor and getting kicked out of town a lot of the time. Apparently, the mayor had a 'different way of thinking' to him. Still, I appreciated that he was here

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