The Lonely Hearts Club

Chapter 73: Unstable (Bree)

As I've said before, my favorite coping mechanism is moving on swiftly, pretending nothing bad ever happened in the first place.

This also appears to be everyone else's coping mechanism as well...well everyone aside from Hades.

Rowan was brutally murdered and then his whole body was set on fire until he was nothing but a pile of ash. Joey, Lana, Savvy, Nicks, Angelo, and even Coco have all moved on and haven't uttered his name since the night he was disposed of. They're now busy trying to find...Hillary?

Savvy hugged me once after I tossed Rowan's ashes in the bin and Coco reminded me about her healing sessions, but that's it.

Hades, on the other hand, is obsessed with asking me questions, trying to decipher my well-being every single day. I wish he would just let me repress my thoughts in peace.

"How are you feeling today?" He asks for the millionth time, hands skimming over my arms, blue eyes searching my face worriedly.

"Fine," I mumble. "I'm glad Rowan is dead."

"But—"

"It's okay Hades," I promise. "I'm okay."

Rowan being dead feels surreal. I don't know why part of me feels like he's going to still be alive somehow, even though he's most certainly dead.

I saw his stash, the Crow book, the picture of me he took years ago, the man murdered was definitely Rowan. No one else would have those things.

Even still, I can't believe he's actually gone.

He won't harass me ever again by sending me weird things or ever hurt me again. I'm relieved but I feel so weird about everything.

It's also something I don't want to think about.

"And you're still fine being the medic for us?" He asks.

"Yes."

I haven't had to help anyone, not yet. I spend my nights reading medical textbooks and taking various notes, horrified at the thought that someone's life is probably going to be in my hands any day soon and I might be responsible for their death.

"When should we start brainstorming for the Christmas display?" Vivienne asks, glancing around the art gallery.

"Soon," I promise, even though it's still November.

At least I still have my art gallery job. This is something that's been keeping me grounded throughout navigating everything I've found out.

The security system for the gallery has been upped exponentially since the incident Hades was involved with.

You know, when he gunned down the building to prove a point.

We still don't have a security guard, so he takes it upon himself to watch out for things every time I work.

I don't mind, I like his company and I feel safer when he's around.

Vivienne loves Hades, she thinks he's wonderful. I wonder what she would think if she knew he was responsible for that entire catastrophe.

"Okie-dokie, I'm going to hunt down some supplies at the mall, you'll be fine running the store yourself?" Her eyes flick to Hades. "I suppose you'll have Hades here in case the gunman comes back, so it should be fine."

"Yeah, I'll be fine," I say.

"It's preposterous they still haven't found the culprit responsible!" She huffs, pulling on a fluffy orange cardigan.

"Preposterous." Hades smirks.

I narrow my eyes at him when she leaves the gallery and embraces the cold winter weather.