The Devil in the Form of Those That Follow: Calamitous

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

TW: Rape

"...it feels like it'll never end."

"Do you think we should tell him about Phillip?" Clover asked, leaning against the bars.

"I mean I don't really like the guy," Finley said, doing the same as she was, "So I wouldn't really care much."

"But what if it's for something deeper?"

"Name another despicable person in our family that can even match up to Phillip," His voice rose slightly out of anger.

Clover was quieter because of his switch in tone, "He's still our family."

"After what he's done, he can't even call himself family,"

"But-"

"There aren't any 'buts' Clover," His voice was harsh, "When you combine what he did to you and everything he's done to Esther, he deserves to rot."

"And I want to forget about it and try to be a normal family-"

"You can't be normal after something like that. There is no normalcy in his immorality,"

"Well what I did was-"

"You didn't do anything to him," He was looking in her eyes, "Don't blame it on yourself."

"But what if he was right?" she sobbed.

Finley reached out for her through their confinements. His voice softened, "It wasn't your fault. I swear to you it wasn't. Nothing can justify his actions."

Clover couldn't speak anymore. Her reddened face was being covered by her hands. She wouldn't be able to get words out if she tried. It was all flooding back too fast for her to stop it.

✥

Five Years Ago

"Do you think they were okay with it?" Clover asked. Her and Finley had left the dining room of their grandparents' home and gone to the living room. It was a family reunion for Finley's birthday.

"Of course they were okay," he assured her, "None of them really had a frown... except for Phillip... and we know how he is."

"I didn't expect him to be okay with it," She crossed her arms, "Especially with how he's talked about bisexual women before. I shouldn't have told him."

"Who cares what he thinks? What matters is that you feel more comfortable being out," Finley gave a sweet smile.

"I guess so," Clover smirked a little, "I mean he is the dumbass."

"There's the Clover I know," he grinned with her. He then heard his mom calling for him in the dining room.

"She probably wants me to sing for the fiftieth time," he muttered, "I'll be back." He walked off, leaving Clover to sit on the couch. She didn't get to sit long though until Esther came up to her. Clover's mom always talked about how Esther looked more like Clover's sibling than Finley did, and she was right. The only real difference was Esther's face shape being more rounded.

"Hey Clover," Esther's voice was so quiet, Clover could barely hear, "Dad wanted to talk to you." She didn't look up at her. She seemed more focused on the cast covering the majority of her arm. No one was quite sure how she had snapped it, but it was accepted that she had gotten it smashed by some equipment on Phillip's farm.

"What did he want?" He was the last person she really wanted to talk to.

"Something about a present for Finley. He said he needed your help with it," Even though Esther was only a few months younger than Clover, she still managed to look like a twelve year old.