Right Before Your Eyes (Random Updates)

Chapter 33

Brooke slowly opened her eyes and whimpered as fire ran through her veins. Her mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton and she had just spent a month in the desert with nothing. Her skin was so tight that it hurt to even breathe and she could have sworn there was sandpaper over her eyes. Everything hurt so bad that she just wanted to quit breathing to lessen the pain.

Knowing that she couldn't though, she forced herself to sit up and realized that she was in a room she didn't recognize. Barely turning her head she felt her hand touch something really soft on her skin, easing some of the pain. She looked down to see the four plushies by her and she pales.

No, it's not possible, I didn't...I couldn't have...no, I'm not like that anymore... She carefully slipped out of the bed and found the bathroom after having to take a few breaks to breathe through the pain. The bright light caused a sharp pain to reverberate through her eyes but after a minute or two she found she could tolerate it enough to use the toilet. Biting down on her lip as tears slipped down her cheeks, as the fire in her body roared up into her stomach so hot that bile formed in her throat and into her mouth, mixing with the small coppery taste of metal that she could taste on her tongue.

Please no, not that again, please, please, please, let me wake up and this just be a horrible nightmare. This isn't real, I'm going to wake up any moment now, I have to...

As she stood, dizziness swept over her making her lean against the wall until the black spots faded away. "Not good," she mumbled as she flushed then stumbled over to the sink. "Shit," she whispered as she finally laid her sad eyes on the colorful bruises and bandages decorating her skin. "No," she whimpered as the salt in her tears stung her eyes. She looked down at her arm and touched a bruise that was hand-shaped and wrapped around her. It throbbed under her fingertip as she touched it again. "Not real, not real, not real," she whispered as her fingers skimmed over the rough tape that held a bandage in place.

I can't put the brothers through that again. I can't, it's too much for them, she thought as she turned off the lights, swallowing her into the darkness once more. With careful breathing, she managed to make it over the window and watched the stars sparkling against the night sky for a few minutes before deciding to find out where the guys were. Honestly, she was shocked she woke up alone if her nightmare had in fact become a reality once more.

"How do you think she will be when she wakes up?"

She frowned, despite her bottom lip protesting its attempt to heal the split in it, then realized that the window was cracked open to let some cool nighttime fresh air into her room.

"I don't know," Sean's voice replied. "Physically she will be in a lot of pain, mentally...I think Hades, Styxx, Dragon, and Bear would be better to answer."

"They left," Owen said coldly, making her wince.

"Do you think she will still be a little?" Gabe asked hopefully. "Fuck, I can't believe she has been a little this long and we had no fucking clue."

"Look, I'm sorry we didn't say anything," Luke sighed as if he was exhausted. "All I can say once again is that she refused to accept it and most likely she will refuse to acknowledge it again once she is able to become big again. I'm still trying to figure out how to convince her to speak to Aunt Lily. She's going to want to act like nothing happened."

"We won't let her," North growled. "Not this time. She can't keep bottling this up anymore. She needs to heal from everything she's been through and we can't let her push us away again. She may be a stubborn little girl but it's time she faces the fact that we are more stubborn than her. No matter what she does and has been through, she isn't going to push us away or act like what happened wasn't real anymore."

"It will definitely help that we have the assholes locked away and there will be no getting away with it anymore," Owen replied. "She will get the proper kind of justice for this one way or another. We will do whatever it takes to help her through this, no matter how long it takes."

She watched as Raven paced around the backyard with Corey following beside him. North looked like he was ready to get into the ring with Nathan and Silas while the others just sat around the fire pit. She couldn't take the tension anymore so she turned away and left the room.

She needed a drink and knew exactly where to find one. Pushing Raven's door open, she stepped over the pile of clothes on the floor and headed to the bookcase. Grabbing the vodka bottle that was in the very back so at first glance it wouldn't look like anything was amiss, she headed to the library. Spotting her favorite book, she grabbed it before heading to the back. Feeling around the wall, she found what she was looking for and pushed on the hidden panel. When it pushed open she let out a soft smile, Thank goddess they never closed up this hidden room she thought as she stepped inside before pulling it close. Seeing her old comforter and pile of pillows she got as comfortable as she could before opening the bottle and taking a long swig.