Fiendish: A Twisted Fairytale (41 page)

As I got ready to drive up, I was halted by another car that pulled up.
 Calida was stunned by the near attempt on her life as the driver whipped into the parking lot, barely missing her. She looked angry, like she was yelling, but her anger quickly dissipated when the driver got out of the car. He engulfed her in a tight hug, spinning her around once. I watched, my anger rising. She playfully punched him in the arm, he seemed to apologize for his actions, and I saw red when he leaned down and kissed her cheek. She was very familiar with this man.

 
Based on her body language and the smile on her face, I didn’t think this was the ex, but who was he? She’d never mentioned any other boyfriends, but this guy was someone to her. 
She’s been lying to you. This whole time, it’s been a lie.
My hands tightened on the wheel. They talked for a little while, and the mystery man kept his arm comfortably thrown around her shoulders before she finally got into the passenger seat of his car. 

I was ready to believe her claims, yet here she was doing the very same thing.
 
She doesn’t deserve your kindness. She needs to pay. 
I followed them, wondering how I could have been so wrong. They arrived at her house. She was still all smiles and laughing as she got out of the car. He put his arm around her waist as they walked through the gate. 
She needs to pay; she needs to pay! 
My fingers dug into the steering wheel as the thoughts ran through my mind. This was worse than that boss of hers. She knew this guy; she seemed to like this guy’s company. My thoughts started to race wondering who he was and what they were doing.

I saw him hugging her, kissing her. Images of her beneath him while he ravished her body over and over played on repeat in my head. I shook my head to clear the images only to have them replaced with ones even more disturbing. I saw
the bloody, lifeless bodies of everyone in the house: the friend Mitch, the mystery guy. Every one of them dead-by my hand. Every one of them but her.

Could you really kill her?
 Shaking my head again, I cleared my mind of such thoughts. The rest of them, no problem, but her, I didn’t know if I could.

***

“Why didn’t you tell me he was coming?” 

I glanced over at Macy who was reclining on my bed, looking like the cat that ate the canary. Stripping free of my work attire, I pulled a pair of yoga pants and a t-shirt from my drawer.

“I wanted to surprise you. You needed a serious pick me up, and since I wasn’t cutting it, I called in reinforcements.”

“Yeah, he was a real pick me up,”
 I said laughing. “He nearly mowed me down in the parking lot. His time in Europe has made his driving worse.” 

Macy sat up on the bed, her face contorted into a very frightening scowl. “He did what?”
 

“Hey, it
’s no biggie. I wasn’t paying attention, and I’m sure he wasn’t really gonna hit me,” I said quickly, trying to calm her before she murdered her brother. “Seriously Mace, you didn’t really ask him to come here did you? I mean you didn’t tell him about Seth.” I recalled how Malcolm had almost gotten into a fist fight with Paul after Macy told him I caught him cheating. 

“Relax, Lee.
 No, he’d been mentioning wanting to come check out the place, and since he was deeply heartbroken you didn’t come to his welcome home party, he came to you.” 

I rolled my eyes at her.
“Yeah right.”

“I
’m serious, Lee. All he talked about was his Ginger. Blamed me for not dragging you along, completely ignoring the fact I told him you had just started a new job. You know Mal, the world revolves around him.”

“Yes, how could I forget he
’s God’s gift to everything,” I replied, laughing as I pulled my hair from its bun. 

“He just called me yesterday, so no, I didn
’t tell him anything. And I wouldn’t, you know that. Hell, I don’t even know what to tell him.” 

I could hear the hurt in her voice since I hadn
’t said why Seth hadn’t been around. She’d made a few snide comments about my ‘old lady wear,’ but that wasn’t unusual. I gave her a weak smile before opening the door to join the boys. They were sitting on the couch chatting and drinking beer. 

“Ginger, what
’s for dinner?” Malcolm asked when he saw us. 

“Haven
’t you picked up any cooking skills during your travels?” I replied.

“I
’ve picked up some skills, but none that Mace would approve of me showing you.” He smiled and gave me a wink.

“Keep it in your pants Mal or Mom and D
ad will have two daughters.” 

Both he and Mitch winced at her threat, grabbing
themselves for protection. 

“Ignore her, Mal.
 She’s become such a prude in her old age.” I stuck my tongue out at Macy, and we both laughed. 

“So, Macy tells me you girls have been remodeling this house,” Malcolm commented, walking over to me.

“Yes, she’s the brains. I’m just the unpaid help,” Macy piped in as she went to go sit with Mitch.

“Yeah, we just finished this space not long ago.
 We started with our rooms. Macy’s was first since it was the worst.”

“You mean because she
’s a princess,” Mal said with a laugh, looking over at his baby sister. She flipped him the bird in return. “Well, it looks great.”

“Give him the grand tour, Lee. I
’ll order dinner,” Macy said, walking into the kitchen. Mitch got up to follow behind her.

“This is the grand tour,”
 I replied, waving my arms around the room. 

Malcolm gave me a kiss on my temple. “I guess that means I
’ll be bunking with you,” he said loud enough for Macy to hear.

“Malcolm! Don
’t make me hurt you,” she called out from the kitchen.

We both started laughing, and I grabbed the beer from his hand, took a drink
before handing it back to him. 

“Last time I saw you, your hair was short.
 The longer hair looks great on you,” he said, reaching out to touch it. I flinched and the reaction was not missed by him. 

My thoughts went to Seth and his fascination with my hair.
 I remembered how good it felt when he ran his hands through it, how relaxing it was and how I didn’t hate its color as much. But then I also remembered the sting of my scalp when he got angry.

“Hey, are you okay?”
 

From the look on his face, I knew my thoughts were shown clearly on mine.
 

“Yeah, I
’m good,” I answered, running a hand through my hair. “And thanks, I was thinking about cutting it again, but since you approve of this look, I guess I’ll keep it.”

“Good.
 I’m gonna grab another beer then you can fill me in on this Mitch guy,” he whispered the last part with a wink. 

“What are you two whispering about?” Macy asked as she and Mitch walked back into the living room.
 

I started to answer but Malcolm grabbed my hand and gave his sister a coy smile. “We
’re adults, Mace. We don’t have to tell you everything we talk about. Besides, some conversations are best if they remain private.” 

He winked at me, and my face flushed a little.
 He loved getting her all ticked off when he hinted around to anything possibly sexual where I was concerned. I wondered again, briefly, how things could have been if Mal and I had dated, if he’d actually been my first.

“What did you order?”
 I asked changing the subject before Macy blew a gasket and getting my mind off things that could never be.

“Mexican from Padre,”
 she replied, giving Mal a mean stare. “We’ll go pick it up. Mitch can entertain you,” she finished, poking Mal in the chest.

“Nope, Ginger and I will go.”
 

She was about to protest, but Mitch circled his arms around her waist. “Let them go,
Baby. I’m sure they will be on their best behavior.” 

He then whispered something in her ear that caused a huge grin to spread across her face.
 It didn’t take much for us to figure out what that was. I quickly ran to my room so I could slip on some shoes. I grabbed my jacket and phone, took Malcolm’s outstretched hand upon my return, and then gave a little wave to Macy and Mitch as we left.

“Why do you mess with her like that?”

“Because I can, Ginger and it’s fun to see her get so worked up. She acts like I’m some playboy heartbreaker only out for a quick lay.” 

“Um, that
’s exactly what you are, Malcolm.”

“I
’d never break your heart though,” he said, pulling me closer to his body.

The warm, relaxed feelings I had instantly went cold when I saw Seth standing there.
 His gaze dropped immediately to our joined hands then back to my face. It felt as if I had a large rock lodged in my throat, and my breathing felt constricted just from seeing him. He stood there, arms folded across his chest, his gaze cold as he sized up the scene before him. My mouth was suddenly very dry. I was unable to form the words I knew I so desperately needed to be spoken, leaving the explanation of who Malcolm was trapped.

“Seth,”
 I finally managed to croak out after what felt like an eternity but was merely seconds. “What are you…I mean I didn’t expect to see you.” 

Malcolm still had a firm grip on my hand and had moved slightly in front of me.
 Much like Macy, he took on a self-appointed role of protector. Seth’s eyes once again looked down at our hands before he spoke.

“Yes, well that fact is obvious.”
 

The empty even tone of his voice gave no clue as to what he was feeling or thinking.
 Recalling his contempt from our last encounter, I had no doubt as to the thoughts going through his head. 

“I thought we needed to talk,” he continued, looking only at me. 

I wiggled my hand free of Malcolm
’s. Only then did he turn his gaze to acknowledge him.

“I
’m Seth,” he said, extending his hand towards Malcolm.

“Malcolm.”
 

They shook hands briefly.
 Both men were putting on the fake mask of politeness as they locked into a staring competition. I had to clear my throat to get their attention.

“Now, um, isn
’t really a good time,” I squeaked out. 

His steely gaze was once again focused on me, and it took all I had not to shrink back from the intensity of it.
 Lazily he crossed his arms in front of his chest, taking on what appeared to be a relaxed nonchalant stance. His overly calm demeanor spiked my anxiety level.

“I
’m here now, so it seems like the perfect time.” 

I took a few calming breaths as I thought about the sheer gall of his statement.
 
He’d left me, then ignored me, and then shows up here expecting me to just drop everything for him.

“She said it wasn
’t a good time,” Malcolm replied for me, taking a step forward. “Ginger and I are on our way to grab some dinner.” 

Seth was unfazed
by Malcolm’s statement; he never took his eyes off me. “Ginger?” he asked, cocking his head to the side. “Are you taking on aliases now, Ms. Alexander?” 

His icy stare penetrated to my core, and I knew this situation could possibly escalate quickly as his patience started to waiver.
 Ignoring his question, I turned my attention to Malcolm.

“Can you find the place without me?”
 I asked softly.

“Yeah
my car has GPS but…” he stopped and shot a side glance at Seth before continuing. “I don’t know what this guy is to you, but from where I’m standing, you are basically asking him how high to his command of jump by staying here to talk to him.” There was no hint of humor in his words, and the look on his face showed clearly his annoyance at my choice. 

“It
’s not like that,” I defended halfheartedly. “I really do need to talk to him.”

“Yeah, Ginger, whatever you say.”
 

I picked up the sarcasm in his tone mingled with the disappointment on my choice.
 Seth said nothing, and he didn’t have to. The smug look on his face said it all. He had won and he knew it. He knew I would cave, but it wasn’t about him wanting it now. This was also about me. I needed answers; I needed to know why he just left like that. Or maybe it was just the lie I was telling myself. Malcolm got in his car and drove off, and I felt like shit for not going with him.

“Come; let
’s go somewhere we can talk.” 

I looked at Seth
’s outstretched hand but didn’t take it. “We can talk here,” I retorted, folding my hands in front of my chest, hoping they could somehow help to control my quivering insides. 

Seth took a step forward. I wasn
’t sure if it was because I was too scared, or because I wanted to be close to him, but I didn’t move. I pressed my lips together to suppress the sigh that threatened to escape when he cupped my cheek.