Twisted Complications by Nikita Parmenter

Chapter Seventeen

The guy doesn’t even look up as we approach, seeming to be in his own world. I take the opportunity to study him. He looks a lot older than his forty-something years, hunched over on himself and so skinny that if I hadn’t met the lovely nurse, I’d assume they weren’t feeding him. He’s not dressed in hospital scrubs like I’ve seen patients before but in chinos, a shirt, and a thick navy-blue cardigan, and all of them are brand names from what I can tell. We slowly approach, much like you would a wounded animal.

“I know you’re there, you know.” He snaps, making me jump.

“Sorry, Sir. We meant no harm,” Trick says calmly.

“You can call me Clint; Sir is my dad.” He says.

It sounds odd coming from the man before us, very much like he doesn’t realise how old he actually is.

“Sure, Clint.” Cash, grins. “These are my friends, Trick, Atlas, Jensen, Rage, Rafe, Riot, Luc, and Ever.”

Clint still doesn’t look at us, staring off into the distance as we all take seats around him. I let the boys carry on the conversation since they started it.

“I don’t know you. You don’t go to school with us.” He says, confirming my earlier thought that he doesn’t really understand how old he is, and he thinks he still goes to the academy. “What kind of a name is Ever, for a guy.” He scoffs.

I shake my head as Trick starts to correct him, he’s talking, mentioning I’m a girl might throw him off.

“Wait!” He says sounding mildly panicked but not looking at us still. “Are you cops?”

“No why?” Trick asks cautiously.

“No, no reason.” He mutters, but even from where I’m sitting I can see his hands begin to shake.

“We came to talk to you about the academy?” Trick says, changing the conversation.

“What about it?” Clint says putting his guard up.

“Start with less assuming questions. We won’t get anything out of him if we go straight for the Phoenix.” I sign, Cash and Trick nod their agreement, while Rage looks slightly confused.

Note to self, we need to teach him ASL, Rafe might not be using it nearly as often as he did but it’s a handy way to communicate when we don’t want anyone else to know what we’re talking about.

“Who are your friends at the academy?”

“Trent, Josh, and Rico, are my closest friends, we do a lot together.”

“Are they in Phoenix with you?” Cash asks, keeping his voice quiet and calm.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” His voice turning hard.

“Are you sure? Phoenix is a very powerful group, I bet you’re the kind of guy that they’d want in it.” Trick adds.

Clint’s chest puffs up at the blatant flattery, “Well yes, I suppose that might be true, they’re bad, bad news though.”

“What do you mean?” Cash asks.

The rest of us have all silently agreed to let those two do the talking, adding too many different voices at the moment might affect him.

“Bad, bad news.” He repeats.

He lifts his head and starts to look around at us all for the first time since we arrived, if he’s intimidated by the guys, he doesn’t show it in the slightest, observing them calmly. When his eyes land on me though, they fill with fear, he gasps, and starts shaking as he moves himself further away from me.

“Amelia?” His voice shakes, his haunted eyes never leaving my face.

“I’m not Amelia.” I reply softly.

“Lies, you sound like her!” He yells, his head begins shaking back and forth rapidly. “There was so much blood.” He whispers brokenly, his eyes wild.

I share a look; he was there in that room with all that blood.

“What happened, Clint?” Trick asks, as Atlas and Rafe move to stand in front of me, blocking me from his view.

“So much blood, they screamed. The screams, I can hear them. No one wanted to be a part of it, but you couldn’t say no, not to him.” He seethes, “So much blood, dripping. It was all her fault. It was all her fault.” He repeats.

His rocking speeds up, as his hands weave into his hair and pull roughly.

“He’s trying to ground himself in the now, through pain.” I whisper, trying not to trigger him further.

“Blood, so much blood, she screamed. We all screamed. All of the screams echoing. Why?” He asks no one.

“I think we should go; I’ll call the nurse.” Cash says as we all back up.

As we reach the door his voice calls out, sounding so much stronger than before. When I glance back towards him, his eyes are clear for the first time since we got here.

“You shouldn’t have come here children; they’ll know that you’re looking into it now. You’re in too deep, the only way out is to solve it.”

I open my mouth to ask him for anything that he could tell us that could help, but his moment of lucidity has already disappeared. He starts rocking and mumbling again.

On the way out of the door to the lounge we run into the nurse who comes rushing down the hall. Cash pressed the call button before we left.

“I’m so sorry, I think something we asked may have brought up some bad memories for him. He’s rocking. It was not our intention.” I apologise.

She smiles softly and gently pats my arm, “That’s okay dear, these things happen, I’m sure I can calm him. There’s pie for lunch, he loves pie. I trust that you can see yourselves out, dear?”

“Yes ma’am.” Jensen replies.

We all make our way back to the cars in silence. As soon as we’re buckled in, I speak.

“That was interesting, we learned that he was there but he’s in no position to be able to tell us anymore.”

“I guess we can assume that the ‘she’ was Amelia, he looked terrified when he thought you were her. I wonder what she did?” Trick says.

“Well, it was clearly enough that the ‘he’ that he mentioned had a massive problem with all of it. Do you think he killed the missing students?” Atlas asks.

“Don’t forget about the strange circumstances surrounding the deaths of all of the names on that list.” Riot adds.

As we continue the drive home.

“I guess if he was the one that hurt the five missing students, then it’s possible that he’s also the one that’s taking out the others on the list, but why?” I ponder out loud.

“It could just be that they know what happened down there, maybe he’s lost influence over them?” Cash suggests.

“It feels like more than that.” I mutter. “While it’s all fresh in my mind, I’ll write down our conversation, it might help to see it from a different point of view.”

“Good idea, don’t forget to add that he thought you were Amelia. It’s probably only because you’re a woman and he couldn’t distinguish between the two of you in his mind. You might even have the same hair colour as she did which just added to his confusion. It’s still worth writing it down.” Trick says as he pulls the car into our driveway.

I really miss my freaking bike; I could use the utter silence that it brings me.

“Yeah, I’ll write it all down even if I feel like it’s not important. It could mean something, but we just don’t have all the information yet.” I say, hopping out the car.

“What’s the plan for the rest of the day?” Jensen asks, stretching as he climbs out of Rage’s car.

“That took far less time than I thought it would, so movies and chilling out at home until we’ve got to go to the lake house for the party later?” Luc suggests.

“Sounds good to me.” I say, toeing off my shoes and wandering into the kitchen, the table is still covered with notebooks and the stuff we found in the bunker, so I sit down and quickly start jotting our conversation with Clint down.

“You guys start without me; I’m just going to write some stuff down and then I’ll be in.”

“Alright, Princess.” Atlas says, kissing me gently on the top of my head while I continue writing and making me smile.

It only takes me a few minutes to get everything down and then I join the boys in the sitting room squishing in between Luc and Cash. As soon as I sit down, Luc wraps his arm around my shoulders, and I lay my head on his chest as Cash puts his head in my lap. I sigh happily, glad to have all my guys around me.

“My aunt sent me some more photos of my nieces.” Luc says casually, my head snaps up.

“How?”

“Cash encrypted my Facebook so it can’t be traced. We’re trying to keep all contact with anyone strictly necessary so it’s not like we can just ring or message home, just in case but I had a message from her so opened it. Want to see?”

“Are you kidding me?” I squeal, the guys turn to me shocked. “Of course, I want to see the babies!”

Luc chuckles and brings me close again before he opens his phone and starts swiping through photos to show me his gorgeous nieces.

“Oh, my goodness, look how big they’ve gotten! They’re so adorable, I hope we can go and see them soon, give your aunt a break.” I say excitedly, wanting this whole stupid thing to be over more than ever so I can have baby snuggles. I frown as something occurs to me. “Luc, why do you call them your nieces? Technically, they’re your cousins.”

It hadn’t occurred to me before, there was so much else going on that I didn’t really pay much attention to the wording but now, it doesn’t make much sense.

“I don’t know, when my aunt got in contact with me again after all those years, that’s what she introduced them as. I was so focused on the fact that we were back in contact and she was safe and happy that the terminology didn’t register as wrong and I’ve just used it ever since, it’s not like I’m really sure of the right terms.” He answers me frowning.

The guys all share a look.

“Why don’t you ring her and find out man. It’s going to play on your mind otherwise.” Jensen suggests.

“Can I do that?” He asks Cash.

“I can probably block the call for ten minutes over messenger, but I won’t be able to safely do it for any longer.”

“Trick?” Luc asks, looking to him for advice on what to do in this situation.

“It’s going to play on your mind. Its fine with me but only for ten minutes, I can’t risk anyone after Ever knowing where we are.”

“Although to be fair, Liam already appears to know I’m here and he’s the threat, isn’t he?” I ask.

“Until we’re certain, I’m not risking it.” Trick says sternly and I nod.

“Send her a message first and make sure she’s free to talk, give me your phone a second.” Cash asks and Luc hands it over.

He fiddles with it for a couple of minutes before handing it back.

“Okay, you’re good to go. Send her a message first.”

Luc nods and types out a quick message, he receives one back immediately and starts the call. The guys pause the movie and we all turn to Luc. Being nosey fuckers but if he didn’t want us to listen, I assume he would’ve left the room. I thread my hand through his. I have a feeling this conversation isn’t just going to be whoops silly me, I meant cousin.

“Hey Luc, Ever. It’s so lovely to hear from you.” Elena beams, the picture clear on the video call.

She looks a lot more relaxed and calmer than she was the last time we saw; she’s got into the swing of being a mom.

“Hi, I’m sorry, I can’t talk for long. I just wanted to ask you something.” Luc says without any preamble.

“Why do I get the feeling that this isn’t for a catch up?” She asks, her face becoming serious.

“Probably because it’s not. Why do you call the girls my nieces? I’m not their uncle, I’m their cousin.”

Elena takes a deep breath, sadness swims in her eyes. “Because they are your nieces. I’m your older sister.”

“What!” Luc exclaims, his eyes wide as his hands begin to shake.

“Our parents kicked me out just before they moved back near Trick and the guys parents, when you were still tiny. They all went to school together, our parents were a couple years older than the guys parents, so when they left high school they moved away. I’d been asking for years to meet you and that time you came to visit was the first time they agreed. Part of the agreement was that under no circumstance was I to tell you that you are my brother. They’d spent their whole lives telling you I was your aunt anyway.”

“Fucking hell.” Luc curses, his eyes filled with emotion.

“I thought you looked damn good for someone who was forty.” I chime in, trying to give Luc time to compose himself.

She bursts out laughing although it sounds watery as hell, “Thanks I think, I’m actually twenty-seven, mom had me when she was eighteen.”

“You’re my sister?” Luc chimes, emotion catching in his throat. “I have a sister.” He inhales shakily.

“Yeah.” Her grin is wobbly as fat tears drip down her face. “You’re an uncle, Luc.”

“I’m an uncle.” He repeats, his smile is beautiful and a single tear drips down his cheek.

“I’m sorry, I can’t keep it safe for much longer.” Cash says regretfully.

“Are you okay?” Elena asks, her voice sharp.

“We’re in a bit of trouble but we’re fine. Ring Jenny and they’ll fill you in, tell them what you told me, and I can guarantee they’ll accept you with open arms, I promise. We’ll come and see my nieces as soon as it’s safe. I love you all.”

“I love you, you too Ever, and the guys.” She yells, worry clouding her eyes.

Luc hangs up the phone with seconds to spare and just stares at it.

“I have a sister.” He repeats sounding bewildered.

“And nieces.” I grin, squeezing his hand tightly.

He smiles, a wide a beautiful grin before his features suddenly darken. I watch as he gets up and starts pacing the room.

“That means that my mom wasn’t being dismissive and a down right cunt about her sister which is bad enough, but her own fucking daughter.” He bellows.

“I know, man. It’s fucking disgusting.”

“How could they fucking do that?” He growls, “What kind of sick, deranged fuckers, treat their own daughter like that? And to kick her out in the first place? She must’ve been nine when they gave up on her? Where did she go? Was she adopted? My parents obviously kept in contact with her.” He still pacing the room, shaking his arms as he gets more worked up.

“Fuck!” He screams.

“There’s a punching bag in my room I set it up last night.” Rage says as he watches me cautiously.

I’m trying to hide it, but my father used to pace before he lashed out at me, apparently, it’s a trigger I didn’t know I had. I take a breath and start counting, Luc would be devastated if he triggered me. I’m not adding to his hurt now.

I’m safe, it’s Luc he would never hurt me.

“Come on man, I’ll spar a couple rounds with you and then we can decide how we’re going to fix this, I think destroying your fathers businesses and taking all of that money he loves would be a good place to start.” Jensen smiles viciously.

Luc’s grin is full of dark promise, as he follows Jensen to Rage’s room.

“You okay?” Rage asks softly, once they’re out of earshot.

The guys’ attention snaps to me and their face’s fall.

“What happened?” Cash says, pulling me into him.

Atlas sits on my other side and threads his fingers through mine, while Trick sits on the floor facing me. The others all move closer, even Rage. I’m surprised that he noticed.

“When Luc started pacing and raised his voice getting angry, it started to trigger me. I didn’t realise it was a trigger. My father always used to do that before lashing out at me.” I explain.

“Oh Sweetheart. You should’ve said something.” Trick mutters, his eyes sad.

“I didn’t want to add to Luci’s hurt, he would’ve been devastated.”

“What do you mean you didn’t know?” Rafe asks curiously.

“Sometimes people’s triggers can make absolutely no sense.” Rage starts, “They can be something as innocent as someone placing a mug down too harshly, by accident but it can trigger a full-blown panic attack. It could even be certain words or phrases that don’t mean much to some people but to that one person can send them back to a time and place where they weren’t safe, and pain usually followed. Sometimes you don’t know you even have a trigger, until its happened.” The entire time he talks his eyes don’t leave mine.

Only those who have experienced it, truly understand.

“I thought I was just weird,” Riot frowns. “There’s a few religious phrases that used to get preached at me, if I hear them now, I go straight back.”

I watch him sadly. Still incredibly angry at what his parents put him through they better hope that they never get out of fucking prison.

“I can’t hug a woman.” Rage says, his head bowed like he’s ashamed. “My mom and my aunts used to pretend they were being kind and then pinch or cut me, hard enough it always left bruises. The cuts small enough they were never thought of as anything but normal scrapes. They loved to do it in public, if I pulled a face or made a noise, they’d do it worse. It was a game for them.”

“Fucking hell, man. That’s messed up.” Trick says, angry on his behalf.

Rage watches him curiously.

“Thanks man.”

“Okay, all of you who have triggers or the potential for them I want you to make me a promise. This includes you Rage, you’re family.” He says firmly, not saying anything more until Rage nods, his eyes clouded with emotion like he can’t quite believe that we still want him after what he’s said. “Anytime you feel yourself being even the slightest bit triggered you fucking tell one of us, don’t worry about hurting our feelings or anything like that I can guarantee that all of us would rather you told us than risk triggering you again in the future, okay?”

“I promise.” I reply, my love for him growing even more.

We all agree. Easiest agreement I’ve ever made.