Decisions (4th Book in the Boss's Niece Series)

Mel Speaks The Truth

*Mel's POV*

I felt a cold rush and heard the door of the small shack I was in open and close. I turned to see John walking in and dropping his coat on a chair.

"Hey! Look who's back!" I said, pretending to be cheery. "Dude, I've been lonely without you. Where've you been?"

John picked up the gun and pointed it at my head. I know it was supposed to scare me or whatever, but it didn't. I just raised an eyebrow at him, challenging him.

John pulled the trigger, but nothing happened.

"Knew that'd happen." I told him.

"You're lucky." he growled and turned back on to me.

"Of course I am. I mean, I've only been kidnapped for a second time and I'm now being tortured and injected with Dilaudid. So lucky."

"You deserve everything you're getting."

"So did Tobias."

John swung around and pointed the gun at me. He pulled the trigger, but again, nothing.

"Shut up!" he exclaimed. "Or I won't wait two days to kill you!"

"What's wrong Johnny Boy? Does the truth hurt you too much?" I challenged. "Do you even know what Tobias did besides trying to kill Reiders?"

"He killed those sinners. They deserved it."

"Don't you think that killing is a sin? Murder is one of the biggest sins out there and your brother committed it. If he was trying to kill sinners, he was right to die."

John pulled the trigger again. Again, nothing.

"You don't scare me." I hissed. "There's a real reason you're doing this. It's not just Reiders. Carl Jung once said that the healthy man does not torture others. Generally, it is the tortured who turn into torturers. Is that you, Johnny Boy? Were you tortured?"

He pulled the trigger again. Nothing.

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" he boomed.

"I don't." I agreed. "So why don't you tell me?"

"Why should I?!"

"Because I want to know why my killer was so close to his brother. I want to know why Tobias meant so much to you."

John sighed. I hoped this meant I broke him and he would tell me.

He placed his gun on a table and stood right in front of me. He knelt down to show me a burn mark on his head that was shaped like a cross.

"He did this to me." he explained. "He did it after he touched me. He said it was what God told him to do and if he told anyone, God wouldn't accept me into heaven."

This caused me to sit back. I wasn't expecting that.

"The reason I was so close to Tobias was because I didn't want my father to touch him the way he touched me. I didn't want him to be traumatized. Unfortunately, it didn't work. Father never touched him, but he did beat and burn and mark him."

"John," I breathed. "You don't have to kill me because you're mad at Reiders. The way I see it, this is all your fathers fault and your father is dead. Reiders killed him."

"No. No, he killed my brother. My brother was perfectly sane. He wouldn't hurt a fly. It's all my father's fault. If it wasn't for my father, this wouldn't've happened. He changed us." John yelled. "It's all your little husband's fault."

"Okay, you know what? I'm done being nice! I'm trying to reason with you, but you're not listening. It's time for me to speak the truth!" I snapped. "Your brother was a psychopath who killed people because he was insane!"

"No. No, you shut up. Stop saying those lies." John said and grabbed his gun, pointing it at my head.

"I'm not lying. Tobias was insane. He had three people in his head, one of which told him to kill. He was a schizophrenic, psychopath who killed for no reason at all. If it wasn't for Reiders, he probably would still be killing innocent people."

"I will kill you right here right now if you don't shut up!" he yelled.

"The reason you don't wanna hear all this is because you can't grasp the fact that your brother was a murderer because you want him to be an innocent, perfect little brother. You know that everything I'm saying is true, but you don't want accept that everyone I'm saying is the truth!"

John pulled the trigger. Nothing. I stared him down as he held his gun to my head, his hand shaking.

"You haven't got the guts." I snarled.

John's hand went back and punched me hard in the face.

And I blacked out.

**********

"The healthy man does not torture others. Generally, it is the tortured who turn into torturers." -Carl Jung