The Angel Trumpet

22.

On the way back to my place, Rayne tells me he has to make a delivery with Xavier so he was just dropping me off and leaving, as if I was supposed to expect he would stay with me because I wasn't. I wave a half wave walking into the house and throw my stuff onto the couch and head into my room to shower. I turn the bathtub on setting the water on warm letting it fill as I undress. I slip into the water slowly grabbing the bottle of wine I found in the cabinet in the kitchen popping the top.

I lay back and take a few sips laying my arm beside me at the edge of the tub looking at my reflection in the water. It felt like forever, seeing myself as I am now and not the distorted one who haunts me every night or in a quick fleeting moment throughout the day taunting me like she always did.

My eyes wandered off and landed on the nightstand inside the bedroom and spotted a clock I didn't have before. I place the wine bottle down getting out and covering myself with my towel walking over to it checking the back of it.

Sure enough it's what I thought, someone bugged my room.

I take it and throw it in the pool and search the rest of the rooms and house and come up with a few more. I toss them all into the pool and call Misty.

"Can you tell me why I just found at least twenty bugged items in this house?"

Misty starts typing away on her computer and double clicks on something.

"The security cameras I had installed when I purchased the house for you are all down. I can't say how because the system is totally fried from your end."

I hear the sound of Rayne's car throwing on a t-shirt and some shorts still being in a towel.

"Try and find out something. Xavier just got here from doing a delivery." I hang up and meet him half way towards the door until him and Rayne are both high as shit chomping on chips and Slurpees from the gas station.

"Are you really high right now?" I say tossing my phone to the side having it land on the couch.

Xavier rubs his hands together and smiles, "We just earned twenty k."

I nod, "Okay well, while you were smoking and having a great time, I found this house filled with bugs which are now floating in the pool. We need to figure out how this even happened." Xavier peeks his head out the patio door to see items really swimming in the pool. "Okayyy, so I'll get some guys I know to watch the place and we continue our baking sesh." He pats my back and I side eye him for being irresponsibly high right now.

"And you? You decided to load up as well and forget to be the sober one?" I say looking to Rayne who is leaning on the wall sipping his Slurpee with no care in the world.

"We did the delivery, got the money, then gifted ourselves with a celebratory smoke. What's the big deal?"

Oh you know the fact that the house was rigged and no one seems to care but me.

I breathe heavy checking the time and how Xavier is already getting comfortable on the couch to sleep his high away.

"Am I not the boss?" I say blatantly.

Xavier sits up hanging his arms off the couch's sides saying, "You are Aleya but worrying about you is exhausting and we needed to release some of the stress that came with it."

"The fuck you just said?"

I question him angrily but he falls back into the couch closing his eyes hugging the pillows and falling asleep.

Rayne pulls me back taking me to the backyard before I can do any real damage to Xavier.

"He didn't mean it. He's just high Aleya."

He tries to reassure me but I just block him out until his phone goes off out of nowhere and he answers seeing it's his sister, Stella.

"Stella? Where the hell are you?" He says not being able to hear her over the loud music.

She must've said something to him because he rushes out of there and into his car without saying a word to me so I shout, "What the hell happened!" and he answers back, "Donnie."

With just that name I already know what could have happened. I take Xavier's car and end up in front of Don's lake house with Rayne. I get out the car trailing after him as he rushes in looking for Stella. From seeing her that night in the back of his car, I look for red hair and green eyes through the crowd of people. I shove and push as bodies try to rub against me from the music that was playing seeing Don looking healthier than he should have been.

The deadly toxin in him that I injected should be eating his insides.

My eyes look further from where he's standing and see a scared Stella holding her dress together as it's ripped in the front.

I walk over pulling her to me with my hand landing in hers and she doesn't say anything and follows me out of there. "Get in the car. I'll get your brother." I noticed a few bruises on her arms and a hand print on her thigh. She gets in locking the door (smart girl ) as I go back inside and try and find Rayne but only see Donnie boy and his friends laughing in the same spot I saw him in a few seconds ago.

"Donnie." I fake smile going in for a hug but knee him in his groin.

He heaves in pain and his friends back away but watch from a distance.

"When I told you to call your uncle for that money, I didn't tell you to make the story real." I growl in his ear grabbing onto the back of his head and taking him upstairs. I kick open his bedroom door then the bathroom door shoving his head into the bathroom sink. "What'd you do to her?" I say angrily. "Tell me Donnie or so help me," I turn the faucet on letting it fill the sink then shove his face into it holding him under until he taps on the sides for air. "N-Nothing." He says stuttering. I shake my head, "Bullshit. I saw the bruises and hand print Donnie." I put him back under and hold him longer and he taps frantically but I don't stop watching him go limp, then I pull him back up and he gasps loud.

"For someone who was looking sick about two days ago you sure recovered fast." I say releasing him and taking a better look seeing there is another puncture mark on his other arm as he falls back onto the floor coughing.

I lean down and snatch his arm and the mark is familiar as I compare it to the marks I have, as I do he lounges at me pinning me to the floor.

"All of you are the same." He hisses with anger and slaps my face with the back of his hand now making my lip bleed. I try kicking him off me but he wedges his knee between my legs having an advantage. "Funny thing about your stupid blackmail, I told my uncle and he laughed it off already knowing it was you and great thing about having connections is that you can find a cure for anything."

I head butt him and he groans in pain but slaps me still pinning me down.

"My uncle was right, you are a feisty one."

He forces his tongue down my mouth and I bite it not letting go only biting harder until he shoves my face away from him.

"And he should have told you I don't like to be held down like a wild animal since I tend to bite back."

I say with his blood around my mouth and teeth getting up and heading back to the car driving off seeing Rayne already took off with Stella.