Apathy by L.K. Reid

Ash

When I was about nine or ten years old, I fell off my bicycle and managed to cut open my knee. There was only one other time when that kind of pain took a hold of my body, and as the blood kept dripping down my leg, the onslaught of memories attacked me, making me remember what I was trying to forget. Or, well, what my mind was trying to shield me from.

That day was the first time I saw my uncle cry, and the first time I learned the full truth. That was the same day my uncle told me not to wallow in pain, but to use it to focus and change things. And I did.

I lived for the moment when we would come back to Winworth, to right what went wrong, but I didn’t expect her. I didn’t expect to feel anything but the burning anger, and yet I did.

Skylar Blackwood used to be just a name on paper. She used to be the face in the dark I would think about when the pressure of what we needed to do would become too much to bear. The first time I saw her picture was the first time I knew what hatred felt like.

Brilliant, white smile and silver eyes filled with promises of paradise. She had everything, while my brother and I had nothing.

So, she became my obsession. My little secret, and even though she didn’t know who I was, I knew more about her than she wanted me to. I knew how she looked with a smile on her face, and how she looked with tears streaming down her cheeks. I knew everything because she became my job. She became the golden ticket, and to get to them, I had to get to her first.

But I didn’t expect to see this version of her. No, I expected the same smiling girl my uncle showed me when I was eleven. I expected the brightness in her eyes, not the apathy flickering around her body like a protective shield. She was just a pawn in this game we were playing, but I couldn’t allow myself to feel sorry for a Blackwood.

No. The poison running through her veins was enough to remind me why we were doing this and what was at stake. She was just another privileged brat who couldn’t know how fucked up life could really get.

Lauren swam toward the edge of the pool, pulling me back from my thoughts as she started speaking.

“You’re a quiet one, aren’t you?” she asked, looking right at me. If only she knew.

You’d be surprised at the amount of information you could get just by being quiet. People tend to overlook the quiet ones, thinking that we either aren’t paying attention, or we aren’t interested. But those assumptions were the ones that helped me gather necessary information when they least expected it. Take for example this situation right now.

I was here for less than a day and I could already see that Danny wanted to have something with Lauren, while she avoided being alone with him. I could also see that this group of theirs was as unhealthy as it could get. I wasn’t sure if it was co-dependency or if it was because they were just thrown together and decided to run with it, but whatever it was, none of them wanted to be here.

With the exception of Lauren and Skylar, who seemed to get along much better with each other than with the rest of them. Talking about Skylar, she seemed shaken by whatever took place back at the school.

I didn’t think that the girl they were talking about was part of their group, considering that all of them here, except for Hailey, belonged to one of the original families, and Megan definitely didn’t. No, there was something else eating at her insides, and as she kept staring at the darkening sky above our heads, I wanted to know what was happening in her mind.

What happened to the smiley girl I remembered from those pictures?

“You can’t take your eyes off her,” Lauren started, pulling my attention back from Skylar to her. I tilted my head, taking in her wet, auburn hair and dark twinkling eyes. She looked like a regular girl, but every single one of them here was unknowingly bred for the depravity waiting for them. Whether they knew or not wasn’t my concern, but I wondered what pushed people to turn vile.

“You should go and talk to her.” Lauren smiled.

“And why is that?” I leaned down, holding a bottle of beer in my right hand. “Why should I talk to her?”

Another interesting thing about Lauren was that she never knew when to keep her mouth shut. I was certain that she wanted only the best for her friend, but right now, she didn’t know that the information she was feeding me with wouldn’t help Skylar.

“There are… things about Skylar no one knows.” She looked at her. “Hell, I’m her best friend and I don’t know everything. Truth be told, I don’t think any of us know her at all. I’m not sure if she knows herself.” Interesting. “This past year has been hell on her. What happened three months ago…” She took a deep breath and looked back at me. “Look, I think she just needs someone, and seeing you two together today makes more sense to me than her and Kane.”

“Is he her boyfriend?” This conversation was getting interesting.

“Who? Kane?” She started laughing. “He wishes, but he could never replace…” She trailed off, losing the smile from her face. “Anyway…” Lauren cleared her throat. “He’s not, and between you and me, he never will be. But not for lack of trying. I just don’t think that he and Skylar are compatible enough for all that to happen.”

“And you think she would be compatible with me?”

“No, not really.” She shrugged. “But it would do her good to have some fun at least. Besides, she doesn’t talk too much, you don’t talk too much, see, perfect.”

Perfect, indeed. Little Lauren was a true matchmaker.

I just wondered if she would feel the same about putting me together with Skylar if she knew the whole story.

“Just think about it. And you could always use a friend.”

A friend. I would have laughed if the situation wasn’t sad at its core. Skylar Blackwood and I could never be friends. What they did to us… No, friendship would be the last thing between us.

“And what if I’m an asshole? What if I hurt her?”

I wasn’t sure if my words rendered her speechless or if she just didn’t expect me to say anything at all, but the carefree attitude she was showcasing was immediately replaced with something sinister.

“Then I guess I would have to kill you.” She smirked as she swam away, once again leaving me alone.

I sat there, unmoving, looking at the spot Lauren vacated, thinking about what she said. Her words rang in my head, and if this was any other town, any other families, I would think about those words as silly, empty threats, fabricated by a teenage girl who wanted to appear tough. But I knew about these people.

I spent my life learning everything I could, so that I would be prepared once the time came. And now that I was here, I just hoped I was strong enough to withstand the storm that was about to happen.

But before I could dwell more about the past and what the future was about to bring, a commotion on the other side of the pool drew me in. My eyes zeroed in on two figures, arguing, but not loud enough for me to hear anything they were saying.

When the fuck did he get here?

Skylar and Kane stood on the grass, facing each other. He seemed angry, and I would be too if I were in his place. It was obvious from everything I saw and from what Lauren told me, that Kane liked Skylar a lot more than she liked him. He behaved like a jealous boyfriend, while she obviously didn’t give a fuck.

Which worked in my favor, I guess.

The only thing that didn’t work in my favor was the burning rage in my gut as he took a hold of her arm, pulling her closer to him. The other thing that definitely didn’t work was the way my body reacted to her. When she touched me in the classroom, I felt as if a thousand tiny electric shocks traveled over my body from the place she laid her hand on.

When she looked at me in the crypt, I forgot about the plan, about the past, future, consequences and all the other things that were important to me. I forgot that Skylar Blackwood was nothing but an enemy. Nothing but a means to an end and someone I had to use to get to what I wanted.

Something inside of my soul screamed at me to get over there and pull her away from him. Something in the way she stood in front of him, quiet, submissive, didn’t sit well with me.

Before I could talk myself out of it, I started walking around the pool, heading toward them.

“Oh shit,” Rowan exclaimed as I passed next to him and Hailey, who were making out on one of the loungers. I didn’t stop even after he called my name.

A whooshing sound filtered through my ears, and nothing else mattered but getting to Skylar. I wasn’t a saint, and I wasn’t here to save her. But if anyone was going to hurt her, it would be me.

She didn’t know that I held her life in my hands. Skylar Blackwood was mine to break, and no one would touch her but me. No, Kane wasn’t a part of my plan and he had to be removed.

“Ash!”

I could hear them behind me, trying to catch up to me, but I was already almost reaching Kane and Skylar. I hated how she seemed smaller than she actually was, standing in front of him.

“Ash! Stop, goddammit!” I didn’t know if it was Rowan or Danny, but they were too late. I was already next to Skylar, pulling her behind me.

Kane’s blazing, dark eyes focused on me instead of her, and I knew. I could see it there. This guy wanted to destroy me. When I saw him this morning, standing there, behaving like he owned the whole world, I couldn’t pass the opportunity to fuck with the Golden Boy of Winworth.

I could smell the alcohol emanating from him. I could see the bloodshot eyes, dilated irises, and the cruelty shining from them. Just like his parents. I guess that the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.

“Why is it,” he stepped closer to me, until his face was mere inches from mine, “that everywhere I look today, everywhere I go today, you’re there?”

“Aww,” I mocked. “But I thought you loved seeing my face.”

I mocked him, because if I didn’t rein in my emotions, everything we planned for would burn in flames, and we would be done before we could even start.

I winced as Skylar dug her nails into my arm, but I couldn’t look at her now. Violent people were unpredictable, and whatever had him upset obviously had something to do with her. Not to mention, the amount of drugs he must have taken already mixed with alcohol and a foul temper, it could all lead to a disaster. I kept my eyes on him, shielding her from his sight.

I counted on him hating me at first sight. I counted on him feeling threatened by me, but I didn’t count on him getting violent.

Was this the first time he was getting violent with her? My heart squeezed thinking about it, because no matter what, no one should lay their hands on those weaker than them. I loathed men who couldn’t handle real life and whatever was bothering them—the men that would take their frustrations out on their families or their friends.

“Fuck you!” Kane bellowed as Skylar started pulling my arm, trying to take me with her.

“Ash,” she pleaded. “Let’s go. Leave it be.”

I took a step back, grinding my teeth, because while a part of me knew that I couldn’t start waging wars without a proper strategy, the other part of me wanted to rip Kane’s throat out.

You can’t be reckless, my uncle said. Patience is a powerful tool. We waited this long; we can wait a little bit longer.

Patience.

I was many things, but I wasn’t a patient person. Dozens of schools and a record with more stains than blank places could attest to that, but I would have to rein in my temper until the time was right. I couldn’t do anything until all the pawns on the chess board were placed properly. Our time was coming, and this little town wouldn’t know what hit them.

Turning toward Skylar, I failed to see the fist flying to my face, and before I could react, I was on the ground, with Kane straddling me. I could hear the screaming all around us, but I focused on the fists coming closer to my face.

“Kane!” Skylar screamed. “Stop it!”

But this motherfucker wasn’t stopping. If anything, he increased his pace, and just when I thought he was going to stop, he wrapped his hands around my throat, cutting off the oxygen supply. The promise of obliteration was written all over his face as I started fighting back, trying to push him away. My hands connected with his face, forcing his head backward, but the adrenaline coursing through his veins was propelling him further.

Patience. I had to be patient because this was what I wanted. To see Kane crazed, jealous, livid. To see him fall apart in front of everyone he cared about. I just had to survive this, tonight.

“I’m going to kill you, fucker,” he sneered. The position he was in gave him an advantage over me, and as black spots started dancing around the periphery of my vision, I knew I wouldn’t be able to last much longer.

Out of nowhere, a mass of blonde hair and a tiny body knocked him off of me, going to the ground in a heap of limbs and screams.

“Skylar!” a feminine voice shouted. I wasn’t sure if it was Hailey or Lauren. I started pulling myself off the ground, coughing, inhaling more air than necessary.

“Are you okay?” A voice filtered through my mind and as I looked up, I realized it was Hailey. I focused on the loose strands of her chocolate-brown hair, controlling my breathing and clearing out my mind.

“Here.” She pushed a bottle of Jack Daniels in front of me, shaking it slightly and waiting for me to take it.

I lifted one eyebrow, slanting my head to the side, and looked at her. “Really?”

“What? It’s either this or pool water. I’m pretty sure you would rather have this.”

She did have a point, but I would rather have a glass of water than this. The ghostly feeling of Kane’s hands around my throat was still ever-present in the forefront of my mind, and as I took the already uncapped bottle and took one large sip, I could feel the burn stronger than it usually was. I pressed a hand against my raw throat, trying to swallow past the pain, trying to shake the dizzy feeling from my head. I wanted to get up, wanted to check up on Skylar, but I didn’t have enough strength in me to get up now. Faraway voices trickled through the air, and I turned my head to the side, seeing Skylar’s back going inside the house.

The amber liquid sloshed in the bottle as I threw it to the ground. As I wiped my mouth, I noticed that Kane was nowhere to be seen.

“She went home,” Hailey answered as I started looking around, hoping to see Skylar coming back. “Lauren took her.”

I leaned back, seeing Danny and Rowan talking animatedly. “And Kane?” I asked her as I looked back at her. “Did he go back with her?”

Hailey took a deep breath and sat down next to me, taking the bottle from the ground and draining the rest of its contents in one sip.

“I honestly have no idea where he went, and I don’t really care.”

“I thought he is your friend?”

She scoffed at my remark and threw the now empty bottle away from us.

“That’s like saying that cats and dogs are friends. Kane isn’t my friend. He never really was and I don’t want him to be.”

“Why’s that?”

“Seriously?” She laughed. “He just attacked you, told God knows what to Skylar, and was so high that he didn’t even realize what he was doing until Skylar jumped him. Do I look like I want him to be my friend?”

“I don’t know.” I shrugged and straightened myself up. I flexed my hand reflexively against my throat, wincing from pain.

“That’s gonna bruise,” she mumbled. “If you were a girl, I would tell you to cover it with some concealer, but since you’re not a girl—”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it.”

The day was already getting darker and as the lights around Lauren’s house started turning on, I knew I should be going as well. But I wanted to know more.

“Does this happen often?”

“What? Kane?”

I nodded. “It just seems that none of you were as fazed about this as I was.”

Hailey crossed her legs and turned fully to me before she started talking again. “Kane and Skylar are… complicated, to say the least. You’ve been here for one day and you’ve already managed to piss him off, and I gotta tell you—you need to be careful. Kane might seem like a spoiled brat, he might act like one, but people in this town are never what they seem.” Don’t I know that. “He was never my favorite person, but it’s like a switch was flipped and he became this…” she trailed off. “I don’t even know how to describe him now. He has an unhealthy obsession with Skylar who doesn’t really give a shit about him. It would be funny if it wasn’t sad. But what happened with his brother…” She suddenly stopped, her eyes widening, looking around us. “I shouldn’t be talking about this with you.”

“Well, the guy did try to kill me, so I’m pretty sure that I would love to know everything there is to know.”

She looked behind me, then to the side, as if she was checking if anybody was listening.

“Okay, look, I like you. You seem okay, and you didn’t grow up here, which in my book, is a major plus right now. But you didn’t hear any of these things from me, because if they find out that I told you—”

“Don’t worry.” I placed my hand on top of hers. “I won’t say a word.”

Her face showed the battle she was waging inside her head, but when she spoke again, I knew I had her.

“Okay. Three months ago, Kane’s brother went missing…”

* * *

Pieces of the puzzle slowly fell into their rightful place once Hailey explained what happened three months ago in Winworth, and Kane’s idiotic behavior. I was told stories about this town, about these people, these kids my age, but seeing them interact with each other was a completely different thing from everything my uncle ever told me. Listening to Hailey talk about the nightmare that fell over their town was another thing entirely.

I heard what happened. The entire world heard what happened here, but I wanted to hear it from someone who was close to them. Someone who could give me more insight into their fucked-up relationships and depraved shit they were throwing themselves into. Information was power, and how you used it could make or break whatever you had planned.

I feigned shock as she described the gruesome details, the heartbreak and panic; the soul-shattering event that changed their lives forever. It took everything in me not to react as she talked about it as if it was the first time for something like that to happen in this town. Though, I had to admit, I was surprised that somebody from the St. Clare family was taken, which also told me that this time it was different.

This time, the game had changed and none of them were ready for what was about to come. I left as soon as she finished telling the story, explaining that I had to catch dinner with my family. Danny and Rowan offered to drive me home, but I preferred walking. If I could help it, I would like to keep them all as far away as possible from my brother and my uncle.

I stopped on the bridge connecting the West and East Side of Winworth, staring down at the river coursing underneath, darkened by the night that has already fallen on the town. Winworth was founded on blood and tears, and secrets so deep that even a thousand years of trying to dig them up would result only in uncovering more secrets and more depravity that has wrapped its filthy hands around the roots of this place. I was told the story of Winworth more times than I could remember. My uncle made sure that my brother and I knew where we came from, and why we had to leave.

Once I remembered the night that changed our lives, he told me everything, leaving Sebastian, my brother, out of it.

Five founding families fled here in the fifteen-hundreds when they couldn’t handle the church that was hunting them and burning all their sanctuaries to the ground, anymore. Blackwood, St. Clare, Maddox, Lacroix, and my own, Crowell, settled in between the two mountains, in the valley of the river coursing below me now. The elders here loved spouting lies to the young ones while talking about the history of Winworth, excluding all the gruesome details.

But we knew better.

Those five founding families created the disease here, letting it spread all over the town, its people and all the surrounding areas. I wasn’t sure if Emercroft Lake, the town separated from Winworth just by the mountain, had the same history, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they managed to dig their claws in there as well.

My family was almost completely destroyed twelve years ago—only my brother and I survived. I was six years old when the unholy inferno came barging into our house, swallowing everything in its path. I was six when I came face-to-face with true evil, hiding behind the mask of a kind businessman.

They destroyed our lives and now we were going to destroy their sick world. The plan was already set in motion, and their kingdom was going to fall.

I stepped away from the rail and started walking toward the darkened street. There wasn’t a person in sight, and I knew why. The East Side of Winworth was not a place where you wanted to find yourself in the middle of the night. Doors were shut, windows enforced with the metal bars and even the local police force didn’t dare to come here if they didn’t have to.

Local authorities abandoned the people here, and I knew that my family was one of those at fault for that.

The story goes that shortly after Winworth was established, the wealthy families started occupying the parts of the land near the forest and the river, taking their friends with them and giving them land that was good for crops. In the process, they pushed those that weren’t considered a “blue blood” to the other side of the river, letting them fend for themselves.

Well, letting them fend for themselves and at the same time using them for their wicked games.

I wanted to laugh at the fake picture they were trying to present as I looked at the buildings closest to the bridge. If you were a tourist just walking on the bridge or on the other side, the East Side of Winworth would look exactly the same as the West Side, with their beautiful architecture and welcoming energy. But if you walked down the street and took the left turn, you would see the true picture of this side.

Closed shops with wooden panels over their windows lined the streets, because people here didn’t have enough money to enjoy the treats from local bakeries or to go to the coffee shops during their break. If you drove further down the road, following the signs toward the factory for aluminum, you could see the true face of misery. You could see the children running all over the street, missing pieces of clothing, with their dirty little faces and starved eyes.

You could also see the vicious men and their calculating gazes as they watched those same kids, counting the years until they could use them for their business—until they could condemn their lives to eternal agony. But people always saw only what they wanted to see, and even when the truth was right in front of their eyes, they almost always chose to keep their eyes closed, so that they could preserve their own peace of mind.

And I didn’t mind that, I understood. But I couldn’t understand how humanity could fail this much. How could all those politicians close their eyes when it was obvious that this part of Winworth was completely neglected and almost forgotten? Laws didn’t exist on this side, and the only rules you had to follow were those imposed by local gangs who came into power when people that were supposed to take care of the entire Winworth stopped caring for those that didn’t wear branded clothes and golden smiles.

I could feel eyes on me as I took the right turn at the end of the street, heading toward the alley I used as a shortcut to get to our house. The East Side of Winworth reminded me of one of those medieval cities in Europe, resembling a labyrinth more than a town people lived in. The only street that was wide enough for two cars was the one connecting the bridge with the rest of Winworth. The other ones were barely enough to have one car, let alone two.

Uncle Neal hated that I didn’t want to use the car to go to school, but I preferred walking. It would surprise you how much thinking you could do while on foot.

My eyes traveled over the faded, peeling paint on the buildings. Most of the tenants here either worked in the factory or in West Winworth, trying to survive until the end of the month. From paycheck to paycheck, wallowing in misery, and instead of leaving this godforsaken place, they stayed.

As I passed the only open store on this side of the town, with its flickering light right above the door, I could already see the gate leading to our house. It was a sad reality these people had to suffer through, but until the remaining founding families agreed to change something, we could do nothing but talk about wanting something better here.

The shrill sound of my phone ringing broke through the silence of the night, and as I started opening the gate in front of our house, I pulled it out, smiling at the name on the screen.

“I’m in front of the house,” I spoke, pressing the phone between my shoulder and my ear.

“Is it done?” My uncle’s voice reverberated in my ear. “Are you in?”

“What do you think?” I laughed. “They welcomed me as if I was always part of their group.”

“Good, good. And they don’t know who you are?”

“Nope,” I answered and walked to the front door. The light illuminated the pathway as the front door opened, revealing my uncle standing there with a serious look on his face. “They don’t suspect a thing,” I started, ending the call on my phone. “And they won’t suspect anything until it’s time.”

They wouldn’t suspect a thing because none of them knew that we existed. Twelve years ago, I stood in front of a man with a knife and a sinister smile, pleading for my life, trembling from the fear coursing through my veins. And when he plunged that knife into my stomach, when the scream tore from my throat, swallowed by the fire spreading through our house, I promised if I survived it, that I was going to come back.

I was going to come back and hunt them how they hunted us.