Burning Fury

VI

"We should say something to her," I said, rubbing my arm as the seven of us stood in a huddle at the back of the reception hall.

"Are you insane? She basically just sent a witch hunt after us," Emily mumbled.

"She's hurting, Em. If it were one of your brothers, you'd be feeling the same."

She sighed. "Charge ahead, fearless heathen."

I led the group over to the Adairs who stood off to the side, shaking hands with people and giving and receiving hugs. We waited in line and when it was our turn, you would've thought we'd spit on his grave. Mrs. Adair glared and clenched her jaw.

"Mrs. Adair, we are so sorry for your loss. Gavin was a beautiful soul who was taken from all of us way too early."

"How dare you speak to me as if you give a damn you...Satan's tart," she spat. I swallowed hard but didn't drop her gaze. "You have some audacity to have even shown your faces here."

"Mrs. Adair, we aren't here to prove anything. We came to pay our respects and to let you know how much Gavin meant to all of us," Callum said. "We are truly sorry for any pain any of us may have caused."

Her gaze swung back to me. "You have brought a darkness back with you. Everything was fine before you came back. A veil of black hangs around you and I hope you all go to hell."

She drew back and I knew what was coming, but I let it happen. Her slap left my cheek stinging, echoing through the reception hall and bringing all conversation to a halt. Ryder grabbed my arms to steady me, and then my dad was there. He mumbled an apology to Mrs. Adair and steered me out of the church.

"That looked painful," he remarked.

"Thank you, dad. It was."

"You kids need to keep a low profile. I know this is difficult for all of you, but seriously, everyone's suspicions are on you. It's easier to accuse one of you than to believe there's an unknown psycho running around the town. Take it easy, kids."

My dad brought me to the car and we left, I watched everyone's face slowly pass by and rested my head on the window.

"I know this is taking its toll on you, doll, but you need to stay strong. The righteous hand of the law will get this guy. Then you and all the other children of this damn town will be safe."

"I know, dad," I whispered. "It's just torture sitting back and letting the whole town believe that we're the ones capable of killing a friend."

"Everyone is going to have their own opinions when it comes to this. But don't let it tear you down. You are of my blood, you are tough."

That night, they visited me again, asking me to sneak out. We went back to the park, and reevaluated everything. We each told our version of the story, hoping to find something that would stick out. But we came up empty handed. Later, we parted at the woods and I went home alone. I was almost up the hill, out of the line of trees, when I heard a stick snap behind me. I whirled around and stood absolutely still, waiting for the pounding of my heart to slow enough so I could hear something-anything.

"You did a bad thing."

I spun on my heel, hearing the voice behind me, but still seeing nothing. I sprinted up the rest of the hill and broke out of the trees, pushing my legs to move faster, to the safety of a street light. Something hit me from behind and I went down, skinning my elbows and knees on the hot asphalt. Fists rained down on me, hitting any vulnerable part of me they could. I couldn't see through the hands at who it was, but it sounded like females when they let any sort of noise or word out.

"Heed this as a warning: if you or any of your group kill again, we will come for you."

By the time I'd cleared the blood from my eyes, they were gone, retreating down the empty street, faces hidden. I hauled myself to my feet and favored what I was sure was a bruised rib. When I got home, I crawled up the stairs, shutting my door and resting against it, finally allowing the tears to come.