Shattered (Book One of The Progressive Trilogy)

Chapter 16: Growing Pains and Lullabies

*Unedited* (Lullaby is the first part of the video!)

Time seemed to fly by and before I knew it, it was October. Talk of a costumed homecoming dance buzzed around campus, but I ignored the useless chatter. After Kane's weird confrontation, the royals ignored Heather and Logan's existence at first, but when they realized they were the only people I spoke to they seemed to welcome them into their creepy ass fold immediately. Heather, of course, ignored them because she said, and I quote, "Cults creep me the fuck out." She really was just like Emmett. Logan on the other hand was happy-go-lucky, unless speaking with Heather, and either didn't notice the groups shift or didn't care.

My students continued to improve, the twins showing their scars more and more. Hunter and Louisa seemed to help the twins come out of their shells little by little. Blair, Axel, and I began to embrace our bodies and accept our scars. Without even realizing what was happening Heather, Logan, and my students quickly became a permanent fixture in my life, a family of sorts. I had formed a routine and my recovery seemed to be looking up, of course my luck never lasted long.

Late October after a particularly grooling MMA class is when my life took a nosedive into what-the-fuck-ville. It was time for Heather and me to spar. The smirk on her face grew as Brant did his usual opening tirade to gather everyone around. I could hear the bell to the door jingle as parents and other members filtered in to watch our match. Our sparring had become the norm around here, people flooding through the doors to watch and cheer as we fought. We seemed to attract a lot of attention, meaning Uncle Andy's business was booming.

Before Heather and I could begin, a sharp pain shot through my body. My arms and legs felt as if they were being pulled in different directions, my spine felt as if someone was pulling and twisting it like taffy. The pain was so severe that it had me dropping to the ground and unable to breath. My vision blurred as I went in and out of consciousness from the pain.

∼

"Sweet Emmy, how would you like to see that twin of yours, hmmm?" Jax asked coyly.

I was still weak from the branding the day before but at the mention of my brother my head twitched upwards. The smile Jax had on his face made my stomach twist in disgust. "I would." I hoarsely whispered out.

"I thought you might Emmy. See, I'm a very thoughtful man aren't I?" Jax asked, his gravelly voice full of a sick, twisted version of compassion. He cut the zip ties from my body and threw me over his shoulder. I cried out in pain as the cuts on my stomach rubbed and ripped against his body and the burns and cuts on my back cracked open. "Such a beautiful song you sing Sweet Emmy." Jax sighed out contently at my cry.

He walked from my kitchen and through my house until we got to a room I would be able to recognize anywhere -- the workout room. I could see blood splatter on the blue floor mats as he made his way to the ring in the center. I heard labored wheezing the closer we got, the noise striking a chord in my heart.

Please God, don't let that be Emmett, I internally prayed.

Jax hefted my body up and threw me effortlessly over the ropes and into the ring. I landed with a hard thud and rolled, too weak to stop myself. Jax climbed in and came to my side, smiling all the way.

When he reached me he kicked me so I would roll over. I came face to face with one of the most painful sights I had ever seen. Emmett was tied to the corner post of the ring, his legs spread out in front of him. Long, clean cuts were made along the expanse of his muscled body. Small holes about the size of a pencil eraser covered him in swirling patterns, blood oozing out like sap from a tree with every involuntary twitch. The skin that could be seen under the blood was black and blue. The worst part, however, were the red streaks that began at the sight of the holes and spread to the rest of his body to the point where his skin almost looked red.