Chapter 17

Aliyana 'Yo Yana, things aren't looking too good. I'm being followed, I'm going to park my car and jog to Di's house then head back to you guys. I'm tired of the lies Yana, we should tell the guys the truth when I get back. They might become a target too. I'll face the consequences. Get Elisa far away from here soon. I'm" He stops, his breathing defeated, 'I'm so sorry, Yana, I don't know why it happened. I'm so sorry, I don't know why I did it... Yana." Message ended The urge to play it again grips me hard, but I refrain as Gabriel, Mero, and Michel stand by my bedroom desk, the phone- Our sole object of attention. 'So, you were just going to hide it from us?" Michel barks, his voice hitting me like a rod against my cheek. His once calm facade now filled with murderous intent. There are times when I wish I could take it all back, the hurt, pain, and evilness that lives within us. But nothing is going to bring him back. No amount of sorrow, tears, or honesty. "Ren is gone." "Gone or not. What the fuck happened, Capello?" Michel yells. I have never seen him so enraged, I've never seen him so scared either. "What happened is not going to change the outcome of anything," I warn him, but I don't know who I'm trying to convince him or myself? Pain and loss- There is heartache in that. And the sorrow when someone dies - it's felt deeper when that someone is somebody you love. It gets worse when that person is such a deep-rooted part of you, that you feel a large portion of yourself has died with them. "I never wanted any of this to happen," I confess in a hollow voice I have become accustomed to these last 2 days. "Yet, you let it happen," Gabriel accuses me, in a quiet timber voice. I am too scared to look at Mero and Gabriel, afraid I would find the same look currently on Michel's face mirrored on theirs. There are times when I regret my choices, times when I wish to take back my words, my actions, and one of them is this, a secret that got spun out of control. I close my eyes, my throat thick as the saliva stuck in it remains seated, like an irritant pesticide. 'It wasn't up to me," I defend myself. Lies come easy in situations like these. Gabriel grips my jaw, lifting my chin to meet his cold expression. I see the betrayal in his gaze, but the deeper I search, I witness the understanding too, before pity and disappointment. Sometimes it isn't such a blessing to know someone so well that all they feel is stuck inside of you. 'That's the thing Liya, it's always up to you." Gabriel drops his hand from my chin. The touch of his fingers, his displeasure stings my skin even after his back turns to me. "Not this time." My confession makes me weak. But it is true. Gabriel sits on the bed, far away from where I am currently standing. Holding his head in his hands and just remaining there. I never wanted this, no, never. 'Either way, we need to know now. What was the big secret?" Mero asks, and his voice may be calm, but I know he is anything but. My mouth begins moving as my mind drifts to the day that changed so much. *** 2 years ago 'How many hours does it take to put on one dress, Yana?" Ren moans as his head or something hits my door. Elisa giggles as she stands on the opposite end of my bed, slipping on her red bow tie shoes. 'Is he always this impatient?" I smile as I stand in front of the mirror, appreciating the light dust of make-up I applied to my face. Today will mark the first time I have ever stepped foot in a fraternity house. The party happening tonight is the added bonus and the company- the cherry on the top. Papa would beat me until I was 3 shades of blue and 6 of purple if he knew. I am almost certain of that, and the thrill of doing something like angering Papa to such an extent is an aphrodisiac meant to make me shiver. My fear of getting caught is as real as the beating I'm confident Papa would give me. My only silver lining is the 2 girls sitting downstairs. One is Kylie Bray. I met her a few weeks back when I was at UW. We were both applying on the same day. Ren knew her from the day before that and introduced us. The other girl is her cousin, Sienna Bray. I liked her instantly, and Papa seemed to like them straight off the bat too. He was thrilled when I told him I was invited for a sleepover. He agreed, I could go if Ren escorted me, so naturally, I agreed. 'He's the only guy amongst 4 girls. He gets a pass today," I declare, making Elisa laugh. 'A pass until we get to the house, which I'm sure is packed with boys. I can't believe I am actually here," Elisa claps her hands together, twirling around in an overly cheerful giddiness I know is real. 'Believe it. Now come on, or I'm leaving you both here." Ren bangs on the door as Elisa laughs. I take the few steps opening the white wooden door separating Ren and us. He gives me a once over and shakes his head when he sees the red D&G high-tops I'm wearing instead of a high heel that should have been worn with the little black dress. His fitted blue denim and the red-ish blue tee is all casual and screams nothing of the boy who wears them. Ren turns his attention to Elisa. His eyes shift from mildly surprised to something I ignore more in disbelief as I wasn't in the habit of understanding Ren. Nobody could wear that title. A few years ago, Ren wouldn't have even acknowledged Elisa's existence, now she's almost one of us. More like me, but we share pieces of ours with her. The parts we know she can handle. The 5 of us in Chicago were named the misfits. And though the name was meant as a reminder that we were unwelcome in Chicago, we wore the name with pride. We were misfits and above the laws that were sometimes used to try and rein us in. The name carried us through high school and stuck even after we left our hellhole called Chicago. Now the name is whispered, feared. One day the name will be as dangerous as the Shadows our world faced. 'You both look ready, maybe I should pack my Glock in case some line-backer decides you ladies need some tackling." His face is all kinds of serious, but I know he's talking smack. 'Yellow. Lady of the house, if your ass isn't down here in 20 secs, I'm going to finish ole daddios scotch, and Mr. Catelli is going to have to carry my ass to this dig," Sienna screams from the bottom of the staircase. My eyes widen as I move past Ren, to rush down the carpeted stairs. 'I'm ready, I'm ready. Sorry I kept you guys waiting." 'How many years did you say this whiskey is again? I forget." Sienna takes a sip of an almost full glass of Papa's scotch. He hardly ever drank it. I knew there was a reason behind why he kept it at the back of his shelf. But he said I should make the Bray girls feel welcome and drinking his scotch is making them very welcome indeed. I don't know much about them, but Sienna and Kylie are so alike in personality. I wonder who calls the shots between the two. Though they look entirely different. Sienna is a light brunette, long-haired Texan. She has a wide, full mouth that resembles Angelina Jolie. Her cheeks are thin and jawline sharp. Sienna's brown eye twitches as her red lips thin in what I would say is more of a pout. Her eyes have been bugging me the whole day, it just seems off, unfitting. Almost as though they're contacts, color ones. But who would want brown eye contacts? Sienna obviously! I shake my head at the random thought and shake my head again, cringing when she takes another big sip. '30 odd years, I think." 'It's 45, my dad has the same one. It's meant for special occasions," Ren corrects me as he comes down the stairs with a quiet Elisa behind him. 'Well, I'm here, that is one huge fucking occasion right there." Sienna winks at me when I start laughing. 'Kylie!" Sienna screams as she shoves the almost full glass to Ren's extended hand. 'Give me a minute!" Kylie yells back from the lounge area. I can hear her on a call. 'Kylie Bray, get your ass here now, tell that uncle of mine we'll be home before the roosters croak." 'It's Momma, she wants our asses in Church tomorrow, you still wanna bitch and moan?" Kylie fires back in a deep Southern twang that is amusing as well as refreshing as her tall, lithe form walks through the archway leading to us. Sienna's golden skin takes a whole new shade as her big eyes widen when Kylie hands her the phone with her brows arched as if to say ‘you started it.' 'Hello, Aunt Hue." I watch her thin cheeks get tighter as her small eyes get smaller, and full lips pout as she glares at a smiling Kylie who seems unfazed. Ren hands the glass of Papa's whiskey to Kylie, who takes the offering and downs the remainder of the whiskey. As in, she swallows at least two fingers of potent whiskey as if it's water. Her eyes lock on Elisa, who is silent behind us. It's surprising when someone initially meets Elisa, and she chirps their ear off for a full hour then practically draws in on herself until she's just a piece in the room. It took me a while to figure out why, well, it took Gabriel a while. He was the one who made sense of Elisa's weirdness. Turns out, Elisa has a mild case of schizophrenia. I can't really explain this to the two overly confident Bray girls. 'She's shy," Ren explains. I am relieved when neither of the Bray girls say anything about Elisa's silence after Sienna gets an earful from her aunt. 'Let's get the hell out of here," Kylie announces as I see for the first time she has a helmet with her.