Deadly Alliances

Chapter 12: Monster

Song: Ghost - Justin Bieber

Flynn's POV

Life is so vulnerable sometimes. One wrong thing can shatter the semi-perfect reality that you knew.

She woke up in the middle of the night, crying uncontrollably. If I didn't already feel shitty, I definitely did after that. Even worse, I don't really know how to comfort people. I rubbed her back in a way that I hoped felt caring. I do care. I just don't know how to show it.

As soon as she fell back asleep, I called Sergei, Juliette's middle brother. After all, he'd once told me "Let me know if you need help getting her a Christmas gift. I always know what to get her."

"What is it?" he answered in his thick, Russian accent.

I filled him in on the situation; what had happened, what I did, everything. He sat quietly on the other end of the phone for a minute.

"My Juliette? My baby sister?" Unbelief and heartbreak touched his tone. "I'll be there in twenty minutes."

"She's sleeping right now," I added. "You may want to wait until later."

"So why did you call?"

"I want to make her feel better. Is there anything I can get her to ... apologize?"

"Apologize for what?" Sergei asked. "You did nothing wrong. You saved her."

I appreciated the sincerity in his voice. Sergei was one of the most realistic people that I knew. He would not say that unless he truly believed it. Too bad that I couldn't make myself believe him.

"I just want her to feel better," I lied.

"Well ..." he droned off. "It will take time for her to truly feel better, of course. But, word on the street is that she would like a ... bunny."

"A bunny?"

"Yes. You know, a tiny little rabbit. It hops. I think. I don't really know. I'm not good with small creatures." He shivered over the phone like the thought of a tiny animal mentally wounded him.

I huffed a laugh before going serious again. "Sergei, do me a favor?"
"I just did you a favor."

"Will you do another?" I deadpanned.

"Depends."

"Tell your brothers what happened. Tell them they are welcome to come by and check on her if she wants them to."

"Will do. Let me know when she's awake and I'll be there."

We ended the call. His gift idea sat with me for a while. Did I really want to get her a bunny? Did she really want a bunny?

All five of the Ivanov brothers stop by in the afternoon. Pavel stayed pretty silent, while LJ was more talkative than normal.

Usually, LJ's remarks were rude and harsh. Now, he was throwing jokes and making Juliette laugh. I could tell he felt bad.

Valentin fussed with the blankets on Juliette's bed and the lamp on her nightstand just to have something to do with his hands. Alexei was also trying to cheer her up with memories of "the good old days" when they used to get in a ton of trouble. Sergei stood by, only adding commentary to make the stories funnier. I stood in the doorframe and watched the entire time.

Eventually, they had to leave. Juliette stood up and gave each of them a hug. Pavel wrapped his arms around her hesitantly. Their hug seemed to last a little bit longer than the others, as if they were having an entire conversation without words.