Scandalous Love

39. | Riley

I head outside to find Hunter and a few other guys who I'm guessing were his friends huddled around in a corner. They were all smoking and exchanging sips of drinks from out of a can. 

I was intending to walk straight past them but the fact that it was Hunter made me stop for a moment. I still hadn't completely gotten over the fact we could have been related to each other if it wasn't for the fatal incident where both our parents died. 

I can't help but wonder what it would be like if things had ended differently. If Mum and his dad weren't a secret, what would have happened? What if they were together as a couple out in the open? 

I continue walking but at a slower pace. I was hoping Hunter would see me and come and say something to me but he doesn't say anything. In fact, by the sound of his voice he barely sounded sober. 

I glance back at them and my eyes take in the view of all the bottles on the ground beneath their feet. 

Hunter and two of the other six guys could barely stand. They were leaning against the window pane of the building while some of them sat on the floor, only one or two of them standing up. 

I knew I shouldn't have lingered around them for too long because they weren't the type of crowd I would have wanted to get involved in but the things they were saying amongst themselves weren't the kind of thing I could just shake off without second thought. 

I listen to every word that leaves their lips, Hunter's specifically. "Are you sure about this, man?" one of the guys who I'm pretty sure wasn't as intoxicated as the rest of them says. "I mean, isn't that what happened with your dad? He ended up losing his life and so did your mum." 

"We're doing it," Hunter growls. His eyes roll forwards after they had hung towards the back of his head. He looked drained. His pupils were red.

As I linger around, listening, I begin to cower, unsure of what to do or where to go, let alone what to say if I should have even said anything at all. "They're locking people up in those dens. We're doing it. They're starving us. Brutalising us. They won't learn a lesson until we show them the damage we've caused." 

"They called us dangerous. Like animals," another one of the guys speaks up, inhaling the smoke from his cigarette. 

"So we'll show them dangerous. We'll act like animals. If that's what they're seriously willing to compare us to," Hunter confirms.

Confusion fills my face but just as I take another step forwards, about to walk past them, the sound of rustling fills their ears and gains their attention, causing all of their eyes to turn and fixate on me. 

I hold my breath, my heart stopping. I couldn't get out of this. They had seen me and if I was to turn away now, they would no doubt follow. 

I look down but I could feel them glaring at me harshly. I try to look up and out of the corner of my eyes I spot Hunter. He was staring at me. Deeply. His eyes looked like they were pinning me to the ground and he was about to pounce. 

I try not to move but doing so only makes me look more suspicious than before. It was blatantly obvious what they had been talking about but I didn't want to bring too much attention to myself. 

I take a step back, attempting to turn around and head back inside the building for a few minutes just to get them off my back but I couldn't even do that. As soon as I make one movement, they pick me out. "Wait up!" one of them shouts. 

I freeze and bite my lip, closing my eyes before turning around to face them. I really didn't want to hang around with them right now. They were the last people I wanted to be talking to but I didn't want to put myself at even more of a risk.