Vince smiles a menacing smile. “We’re brothers, we’re meant to share.”
Kade snaps around to me and I flinch, swallowing hard. He steps forward and reaches out for me. His arms scoop under my thighs and under my arms, and he cradles me close to his chest. His smell eases my stress levels and makes me feel safe, so I grip his black tie and bury my face in my hands to prevent me from crying. Underneath my ear, Kade’s chest vibrates.
“Touch something of mine again, a slave, a chair, even a fucking cup and I will kill you.”
Vince laughs—and others join him. “You’re awfully defensive over an Unfortunate… maybe I was wrong. Maybe you are using her the way Father intended and her tight cunt is screwing with your head. Should I let him know your slave is defective?”
“My slave is fine. You are defective.”
I keep my eyes shut as Kade’s heavy steps rock me into temporary comfort. I don’t ever want him to let me go. Outside, the cool air clings to my naked body and more tears begin to fall.
“It’s all right,” he mutters, planting a soft kiss on the top of my head. “I’ve got you. I’ll take care of you.”
It feels like an eternity has passed before we’re back at the Sario manor and in Kade’s room. When we’re alone, I feel better, as if I can finally feel sorry for myself and cry without fear. So I do. When Kade sets me down on the couch and disappears into the bathroom, I draw my knees to my chest and cry. My head still spins, rolling faster than ever before. I feel like I’m in a swing and it’s twirling faster than I want it to. I don’t know how long passes before Kade returns and picks me up again, but when he does, he’s no longer wearing his jacket and the sleeves of his black formal shirt are rolled up to his elbows.
“What did he give you?” he demands, but the question refuses to resonate with me and all I can do is shake my head and cry a little more.
I black out until Kade lowers me into warm water. I panic then and shoot up, desperately clawing at the edge of the bath. His hands restrain my shoulders in a gentle but firm grip and for a moment, it doesn’t feel like this is happening… it’s like I’m watching it happen from the sidelines, witnessing the event unfold. There’s a girl in the bath who looks like me. I can see the fear in her eyes, the absolute terror she feels is reflected in the way her chest raises and falls, but on him, I see the determination. He has the entire situation under control and all of it is evident by the way he looks at her and strokes her hair in an attempt to soothe her. At his touch, she takes deep soothing breaths and her knuckles are no longer white as she holds onto the bath. Then, I float back into myself, and see Kade front on.
“You’re in a bath, in my room. You’re safe. You’re safe, I promise.”
My lips part as my hammering heart finally stops pounding my lungs. I can breathe. Oxygen begins to flow more smoothly, calming my scratchy throat instead of irritating it.
“What did he give you, Nine?”
I flinch at his question and search through my hazy memories. “A pill… I think. It-it was too dark to see.” I let my hands falls from the tub and I slowly inch backwards, leaning against the white enamel. My voice sounds distant and quiet and I want nothing more than to fall asleep. “He pushed me down and dropped it into my mouth… the next thing I know alcohol is being poured down my throat…” I close my eyes and let my head loll to the side. Quick, thick fingers tapping on my cheek is the only thing to keep me awake. “I thought I was going to drown,” I mumble, my eyes threatening to close. “It filled my stomach, my throat, my mouth… it went into my nose.” I shake my head.
I’m too out of it to take note of Kade’s features, all I want is a bed and to forget this ever happened.
“There’s dry blood. Did the Unfortunate… did he?”
I feel my body withdraw at his words and I pull my knees into my chest… a dry pain shoots from my centre with no warning. I dig my heels into the table, desperate to get away from the pain and I snap my attention to the Unfortunate’s face. A lump chokes me when my stare manages to focus on his heavy eyes and slight smirk. He pushes his finger in deeper, as far as he can, and grabs my hip with his free hand, pulling me even closer to him.
“He put his fingers in me.” I begin to cry, this time not caring if I shield my face or not. “It hurt.”
My chest heaves… although the Unfortunate didn’t put his penis in me it doesn’t make it any less traumatizing. It doesn’t make it okay.
“Where were you?” I ask, sniffling, making Kade flinch. “You promised… you promised no harm would come to me.”
His beautiful face falls as guilt washes over him. I don’t know why, but suddenly, I blame him. He left me alone even though I didn’t want him to. He doesn’t have to follow me around twenty-four seven and protect me from the other Fortunates, but the one time I needed him to, he didn’t.
He grabs the hand held bath head and pulls it off of its holder. I shiver as the cold water sprays off of the tiles and drops over my naked skin. My skin feels slick with oil, like I’m covered in some kind of invisible sludge. I hate it. I sit forward as Kade moves the now warm water over my back, and lets it roll down my spine. I’m still crying, unable to stop. The Unfortunate’s face, Vince’s face—all of their faces are burned into my skull and I see them every time I blink. I cry harder, dropping my head against my arms.
“Stop crying, Nine,” he orders, his voice deep and commanding.
I try to stop. I purse my lips and bite them shut, but the harder I try, the harder the tears fall.
“Nine!” His booming voice echoes but my body doesn’t even register it. He drops the shower head into the bath and I hear him kick off his shoes. The water swishes and rises in level as he climbs in. I feel his legs fall to either side of my body and he roughly grabs my face. My eyes meet his—violet to black—and his are pleading, kind.
“Stop crying because I don’t know how to make you better... I don’t know how to fix this.”
His hands radiate warmth and kindness, no matter how tightly they’re gripping my face. Doesn’t he think I want to stop crying? Crying isn’t something I particularly enjoy doing. I want it to stop, but it won’t. I want tonight to go away and leave me alone, but it won’t. This is my reality and no demand from him is going to change that.
“I want to go to bed,” I sob, pulling my face from his hands. “Please, can I go to bed?”
“Only if you stay here with me.”
I start to shake my head, then stop. I can’t sleep alone… being alone is how this happened in the first place. I need Kade with me… he’ll keep me safe.
“I’ll stay with you.”
Happy with my answer, he climbs out of the bath. As I peer up at him, he hands me a towel, and even though my legs shake as if I’m cold, I pull myself to my feet. With a hand firmly positioned behind my elbow, he helps me from the bath. It’s nice of him, and I know the gesture doesn’t mean as much on his side, but for me… it soothes my soul.
∞ Kade ∞
He tried to ignore the way her terrified, violet eyes penetrated him as he tucked her naked into his bed. She’d pleaded for him not to leave her, but he had things he needed to take care of. Kade left so many things unfinished tonight… things he had to put an end to. The last thing he wanted was for anyone to think he was weak. He left the Black House with his sobbing Unfortunate in his arms earlier and that would only bring him trouble unless he did something about it. If word got back to his father, how long would it take for him to come and take Kade to the ‘city’ to kill him like he killed his own wife, the mother of his children?
He knew getting revenge was going to make him look worse, but he was serious when it came to his things. It had nothing to do with Nine. He’d kill for a pen, if one of his went missing… or so he told himself.
“I’m scared…” Nine cried from his bed. Kade looked at her. She had the heavy, mahogany blanket pulled up to her chin and it looked like it was going to swallow her at any second. Nine had always had a full f
ace, beautiful and healthy, but right now shadows obscured it, settling underneath her eyes and in her hollowed cheeks. “What if someone comes while you’re gone?”
He buckled the belt and tugged on it, adjusting the way his new, dry pants sat. “I’ll lock the doors from the outside. You’ll be fine.”
Locked away in his cupboard, Kade had some powerful guns; handguns, shot guns, machine guns and rifles. You name it, he had it. If it went ‘bang’ and put a decent sized hole in someone’s chest, it was in his cupboard. They varied in size, shape, and efficiency, and of course, he couldn’t pull one out in front of Nine without terrifying her, so he had no choice but to take care of business with his bare hands. He preferred it that way, anyway. He’d only killed twice before, once when he was eleven. He’d tried helping an Unfortunate escape by stabbing an unsuspecting Moderator in the throat by the big fence… the Moderator died, but there were three others watching from above. They shot his friend, Caleb, and dragged Kade kicking and screaming back to his father. Seeing him as a child who didn’t know better, Michael locked Kade in a sweltering tin shed for days. No food. No water. Through the speakers, the same man was talking over and over and over, repeating the rules of society, making sure it was well and truly drummed into his head—and it was. Kade came out hating every Unfortunate he saw. As the weeks passed, though, his old self began to resurface a portion at a time and he found himself wanting to help them again. And the second time, using the cover of night at fifteen years old, Kade had wanted to help an unknown pregnant Unfortunate get away before someone else noticed. He was smarter this time, faster. He used the shadows and moved with objects. They made it a hundred metres from the fence with victory in sight… and then Vince popped out of nowhere. He was only a kid, but he was the evillest little shit you could ever imagine. With a smirk, he screamed, he screamed so loud he alerted the moderators. They were on them in an instant and they hurt the Unfortunate he was supposed to save. They hit her repeatedly, until blood was coming out of her mouth… and Kade couldn’t handle it. He ran. He tried to run as far as he could and never come back, just to avoid the punishment he was sure was coming. That was when he heard a bang and fire shot through his leg, paralysing his entire body. With a scream, he crashed to the floor. He’d been shot in the leg and it wasn’t until he heard his father shout, “Kaden! Kaden, you little shit! What have I told you! Look what you’ve made me do!” did he know who shot him. His own father had shot him, and all for nothing… all because Kade wanted to help someone in need. The worst part of that night was when he had to kill his second person… an innocent, no less. The woman cried up at him, her face bleeding like nothing he’d ever seen before. Michael slapped the warm magnum down into Kade’s hand and demanded he pull the trigger. Kade cried… and peered at Vince, who watched the gun in Kade’s hand with an excited gleam. It hurt his chest… he was supposed to look after Vince, like his mother wanted, but it was too late. Vince was gone, ruled by the Fortunate way of life while Kade was still torn between the two.
“Shoot her, dammit!”
And he did. He pulled the trigger and the gun recoiled, throwing Kade back. It vibrated in his hand and pinched his skin. He dropped it immediately as he fell down into the grass. Everyone laughed as the woman with the missing face tumbled to the side. Bile rose in Kade’s chest, the image burned into his head forever, and he rolled to the side. He gagged over and over until something came up. After he had his moment, the moderators and his father congratulated him while he sat crying, his hands shaking and ears ringing. Nausea dominated his stomach… and he told himself he would never, ever be weak again. From that moment, he realised how he had to live. He was a Fortunate and there was no changing that. The only way he could help the Unfortunates was by not helping them at all. If he left them alone, no one would get killed. He’d used them, of course, but not once had he ever beaten, raped, or murdered another. Those he had sex with, willingly did so. Those who had been killed in his house since then weren’t by his hands, and that was the best he could do to help his mother’s cause, the one she’d died for.
Kade hadn’t willingly killed an Unfortunate, but tonight he had no choice. Ordered to or not, that Unfortunate hurt Nine, and Nine was Kade’s. That Unfortunate also fucked up his plans. Kade couldn’t, in good conscience, force her to do something sexual after another experience left her scarred. It was wrong.
His thoughts pulled him all the way outside and he closed the heavy, lacquered front door. The Black House was three manors to the left. He stuffed his hands into his pants and strolled along the concrete path. Vince’s party was still going. People littered the carless street and loitered on the steps of their manors. Kade couldn’t wait to move into the city. No one partied there. Whenever there was an event, they all came out here, where their children were and their friends who didn’t have a skyscraper spent most of their days. In order for Kade to move into the city, he needed his father to die. And he would… all in due time. Kade was going to wait until he secured the deal with Albert to kill his father, but that was on hold. He knew Albert was in the Black House tonight. He told Kade himself that’s where he was headed when Kade left him to go find Nine. He stood by and let it happen. If he’d stopped it, he could’ve had her, but now that was his fucking loss and Kade would tell him that, too.
Before he knew it, he was standing in the Black House, watching people fuck against every wall and on every surface. Kade wasn’t a stranger to these kinds of parties, no Fortunate was, but tonight he wasn’t here for fun. With a quick scan of each of the main rooms, Kade couldn’t see the Unfortunate he was looking for, so he tried upstairs. The first six rooms were either empty or filled with threesomes and mass orgies. No one noticed when Kade opened the door and studied each and every one of their faces. They all went about their business, fucking each other into oblivion.
In the seventh room, he found him, sitting on a long table nursing his wounds. Kade stepped inside and closed the door. The Unfortunate didn’t notice until Kade clicked the lock into place. He whipped around on the table, but didn’t stand up like every other Unfortunate would have. Why would he? Kade could see it on his smug face. He knew he was a dead man.
“There you are,” he said, flashing Kade a smile. “I was wondering when you were going to come find me.”
Seeing his face was enough to get Kade’s anger-fuelled adrenaline pumping and he launched forward. The Unfortunate wasn’t able to make it off of the table in time and Kade gripped him by the scruff of his tunic, bunching it up into his fists. Kade cocked a fist back and smashed the Unfortunate in the mouth, over and over until his lip was swollen eight times the size it was already. Blood splattered Kade’s white shirt in random patterns and he liked it. He was taking back the blood Nine lost because of this slimy motherfucker.
“I was ordered to do it,” he choked, spitting more blood onto Kade’s shirt. “Please…”
“I don’t give a shit!”
The Unfortunate’s brown eyes darkened as Kade held him against the table. It was a look he saw often in Nine, the look of defiance… the look of simply not giving a fuck. “You know what? I wanted to do her. I wanted to fuck the Unfortunate everyone has been talking about for weeks.”
Another surge of rage flared through Kade’s veins. He dragged the Unfortunate off the table and slammed him to the ground. He relished in the sight as the Unfortunate gasped and spluttered, desperately trying to suck in air.
“You haven’t touched her yet, have you?” he squeezed out, struggling with his breath. When Kade didn’t answer, the Unfortunate smiled. “You like her.”
Kade hated his smug face—it reminded him of Vince. His thick, bushy eyebrows and groomed hair irritated him further and he was ready to end his pathetic life.
“Would it be so bad if I did?”
He surprised even himself when those words fell from his lips. If he was, by some miracle, going to spare the Unfortunate’s life, he couldn’t now, not after that irrational statement.
/>
“I don’t know, why don’t you ask your father or your brother? They seem to have pretty strong beliefs on where Unfortunates stand in comparison to Fortunates.”
Kade gritted his teeth. “Fuck them and fuck you.”
The Unfortunate smirked again. “Too scared, then? If I were you, I’d use her up before your brother gets to her. I’ve seen the way he looks at her… he’s not going to stop until he’s tasted her. You know how he is, better than anyone.” He stopped to chuckle darkly. “And I hope he does. I hope he takes her from you. I hope he deprives you of any love, of any happiness, so you can suffer like I have—like we all have.” A tear burns out of the corner of his eye, but it does nothing to deter Kade’s rage. “She’d be better off dying by hands that don’t love her, than by hands that do but pretend otherwise. It’d hurt less.”
Kade’s hands snap to the Unfortunate’s throat and he squeezed until his knuckles turned white. He gasps for air, his fingers, the same fingers that dug themselves into Nine, were now fighting, clawing against Kade’s arms in a desperate attempt to live. A few moments passed by and the Unfortunate’s hands fell away… and he became lifeless.
The third person Kade had ever killed.
He released the Unfortunate and sat back on his heels, watching. He couldn’t help but notice that it felt different this time around… it felt justifiable. Because of Kade, Nine never had to see his face again and it had nothing to do with emotion or fondness. He owned her and he was defending his own name.
He felt he should clean up the body, maybe bury it, but that would only waste time Kade didn’t have. Besides, the death of an Unfortunate didn’t matter in this society. No one would ever convict him. No one would ever chastise or be disgusted by him… because the Unfortunates didn’t matter, and to die at the hands of a Fortunate was normal—expected, even.
He wiped his hands over his shirt and pushed himself to his feet. He noticed his heart was beating rapidly, too fast for his brain to keep up. It restricted his chest, tightened it until he couldn’t breathe. This isn’t me… I’m not a killer. My father… he’s the killer. He swallowed hard and took a step back, raking his fingers through his hair. What was happening to him? He had no idea. As he stood, studying the dead Unfortunate at his feet, there was a tug in his chest, one that begged him to return home, to return to Nine. She would comfort him… tell him he’s nothing like the others. That’s what he needed, to be convinced that he wasn’t his father.