Perverse Riches

Chapter 8

Soundtrack: I Miss The Misery - Halestorm / Start a Fire - Cult To Follow

Leo insisted on going inside the house first. Rosalie was still sleeping peacefully after the last stop half an hour ago, so it was easy to close my eyes and let my senses expand beyond sight. Trees rustled in the lazy breeze and a couple of squirrels chattered goodnight in the trees while happy sounds travelled from the other houses. Leo was coming to the door in hurried steps, worried about leaving us exposed too long, but nothing else moved inside the house.

"It's empty. Come in." He took the bags from my shoulder without being asked and opened the door wider, looking hard outside. Two cars blended in the street with officers inside to make sure the assassin didn't catch us unaware.

"I'd say welcome to my home but we both know reality isn't like that." I settled Lee in the couch, and stretched my sore muscles. Everything cracked with the enforced inactivity. I should probably warn Beth I'd arrived well. Leo rounded on me suddenly, like he had had enough of my attitude.

"Look, I know you don't want me here, but get used to if at least for now. I'm here to make sure Rosalie doesn't lose another mother, I'm here to keep you safe. Can you respect that? Can you let me do my job without the constant quips?" His anger was amusing in a sort of strange way. He'd never acted angry before. It made him look, gulp, more intense and commanding. It annoyed me.

"You seem to miss the point. I don't need saving. I survived six months in the pit, remember?" Leo snorted.

"How much time can you survive against someone who's aiming for your life?" He towered above me and to my immense shame it triggered a flashback.

I found myself in the ground back at the manor with Leo checking my pulse and Martha cursing in the background. My neck ached with cuts from the vase and it was impossible to breathe. It was hard to see my current surroundings through the overlay of the trauma.

"Liv! Liv!" Leo's touch and the worry in his voice did nothing to help, it only strengthened the bridge between time. Gasping for breath I pushed him away and stumbled to the bay seats, where I'd forgotten to grab the textured bead necklace. It was brown with ends, similar to a prayer bead necklace, but this one wasn't for prayer and the beads were textured different ways. It was a coping mechanism the psychologist suggested. The way each bead was different intrigued the brain and stopped the ache on my neck. Slightly steadier, I opened the flask of peppermint essential oil in the mantel of the fireplace. It replaced the scent of dirt and blood. Leo watched with confusion as I followed the steps to stop the flashback until his sharp intake of breath told me he realised what was happening. The beads were touch, the oil was smell, the bowl of wrapped candy on the coffee table was for taste, the tv with low volume took care of the last two, and the rhythmic breathing ended the deal but the shaking from leftover terror and emotion didn't go away. This was one of my fears, that he'd provoke the PTSD with his very presence. On top of hate, there was fear.

"I'm sorry, Li-"

"Don't hover above me like that." I was still clutching the necklace to my chest and trying to breathe normally. If he wasn't there I'd cry to release excess fear hormones, but like hell was I going to let him see me waver.

"Do you need a glass of water?" He kept his distance now, wary of triggering another bout. The anger I tried to maintain was cracked. He knew now the second main reason I pushed hard against him and it left me vulnerable and even nearer to tears.

"It's fine. I'm going to prepare dinner. Store your shit in the bedroom upstairs, through that arch and up." I acted tough to hide, but we both knew I was faking. Still, he got his duffel and went where I told him to while I went to the kitchen counter and got chicken, potatoes, green peppers, vinegar, onions, carrots, green chilli pepper and asparagus.