Page 5 of Like An Animal

THE GHOST

Two Weeks Later

“ S eriously, what the hell are we doing here? We could be at that Halloween party at Duncan Malloy’s house,” Missy whines before pouting.

Today is All Hallows Eve and instead of being at the party Missy desperately wanted to attend and get drunk at, we are at my brother’s last performance of the year.

“You can go if you want. I can catch a ride with Jer,” I offer.

After all, Jeremy is coming to the party afterward because god forbid I attend a party without him close behind. He’s so protective it’s unbelievable. I’ve learned to accept it though. We have both experienced horrors and he wants to prevent something else just as bad from happening to me.

He doesn’t like it when guys touch me or look at me–hell, even talk to me. He gets this look on his face when he’s about to attack that is an easy indicator that he has hit his limit.

“I’m not leaving,” she refuses and a part of me is irritated.

It’s no secret that Missy has a massive crush on Jer. She has made it clear for years that she wants him, but maybe I’m just as protective of him as he is of me. She knows she is forbidden to go near him or our friendship will be over. I’m that serious about it.

However, she still flirts with him, but a part of me thinks she does it to get on my nerves. When she flirts, Jeremy looks at her like she’s fucking insane.

He’s definitely not interested in taking her up on any of her laced offers.

She’s my best friend, but the whole best friend’s brother trope is only hot in books, not in real life. That’s a dirty, disgusting mess just waiting to happen.

I want him to be happy, but not with her.

I watch the stage as the current band leaves and JMX steps out onto the stage, their face painted like with every show they do.

I have to say I like Jeremy’s makeup better than the others.

Xavi’s makeup is just navy blue with white speckles and a painting of the moon over one of his eyes.

Massimo’s makeup is a gold base with a red, white, and blue purge mask design.

Jer’s painting is more unique with the stitching and colors–red and white.

I cheer for them along with the crowd and Xavi waves at me, unbeknownst to my brother.

Xavi and Massimo have been a constant part of my life since Jeremy entered it. They’re like brothers to me now. I’d defend them just like I would Jeremy.

Based on what I’ve been told, Jeremy, Massimo, and Xavi are the only three heirs left of the Russian mafia. One of them for each of the families, which means when Jeremy’s grandfather from his father’s side of the family dies, he’ll be expected to take over as the bratva.

That is just so hard to comprehend. When I think of the mafia, Jeremy’s face is the last one that would pop up. I mean, he’s… Jer, my step-brother. He doesn’t dress like a mob boss, doesn’t have tattoos, and barely knows how to speak a lick of the Russian language, as far as I know anyway.

It just seems… wrong in so many ways.

Every song they play is written by Jeremy with just a dash of Massimo’s flair.

The words all come from Jer, though, and I wonder who was the inspiration behind them.

They’re songs of obsession, determination, lust, and soul-crushing love.

However, they all seem to be directed at the same person or people.

The ideas and wordage overlap in places.

Descriptions and events mimicked in the chords of every song.

I dance along to the beat as my brother jams out on his guitar, his eyes locked on me in the crowd.

He watches me and everyone that gets close to me.

One might think his focus was completely on me if his fingers weren’t flying across the strings in a pattern he has memorized.

He has a talent of songwriting and performing that closely resembles that of Vessel.

It’s a beautiful melody with seductive lyrics…

and that’s fucking weird because he’s my brother. There’s no one closer to me than him.

I’ve stopped trying so hard to get male attention from anyone. I’ve found a comfortable contentment with just hanging out with Jer. It’s nice and calm and stress-free. I definitely don’t have to worry about him attacking himself for talking to me.

“Go, Jeremy!” Missy screams as she cheers. It’s enough of a distraction that I stop dancing and glare at her. I was getting lost in the music until she bursted the bubble I carefully crafted.

His eyes snap to her for a second as well before they come back to me. Then, he sends me a teasing smirk.

He’s so expressive. He doesn’t need to say a word and I know exactly what he’s thinking. It’s refreshing.

I roll my eyes before slapping Missy’s arm. “Don’t distract him.”

Her eyes widen. “And, you think your dancing isn’t a distraction? You might as well be wearing a shirt that says your pussy is open for business.”

What the fuck? “I’m having fun. You’re trying to get his attention. What is up with you?”

She huffs. “Nothing is up with me. I’m not the one that’s in denial. You’ve been a massive bitch the last few weeks and I’m tired of it. Why don’t you just admit it already? You don’t want me screwing Jer because you want to.”

What the fuck? “No, I don’t. He’s my brother. That’s just gross.”

“One, he’s your step -brother. His mom married your dad.

It’s not as uncommon as you think. You’ve been so weird about him lately.

You flirt with my brother all the time, but it’s a problem when I flirt with him .

Get real, Bron. You want to fuck him. Everybody already knows.

You practically have a neon sign on your back.

Just do it and get it over with so you can stop making everyone else miserable. ”

I don’t flirt with Mattie, Missy’s brother. We just have a playful banter that can look like flirting. Neither of us mean anything by it.

Missy storms off as I watch her leave.

I don’t want to have sex with Jeremy. I don’t know where she got that idea. She’s confusing protectiveness with possessiveness. They can look similar, but she’s the one that’s completely out of line, not me.

Jeremy is in the middle of a performance and doesn’t need to be distracted by a girl screaming his name while he’s playing.

Most people don’t know who the men are behind the face-paint and that’s kind of the point. Anonymity.

Yeah. That’s all there is to it.

I don’t want him.

At least, I don’t think I do.

Even though I’m half-drunk, Jeremy carries me into the house no matter how many times I object. He won’t hear any of it, not a single word. He carries me up the stairs and straight to his room, locking the door once we’re inside.

“Could you put me down?” I whine, but he doesn’t listen until he drops me on the bed.

“I’m going to take a shower. You need to get changed.”

A week ago, he cleared out a small drawer for me to put some pajamas in so I don’t have to run off to my room and run the risk of my father catching me.

“But, I’m not tired,” I complain.

Okay, so maybe I am drunk.

His eyes narrow at me. It’s his warning look to tell me that I better listen to him.

“You’re not as scary as you think you are.” I slip off my heels and he watches the move carefully as if he’s trying to figure out what I’m doing. “I think I might have lost my best friend tonight and it’s all your fault,” I admit, a frown pulling at my lips.

“Why is that my fault?”

I tilt my head to the side, something that he usually does. “Because she wants you and I told her that she can’t have you.”

His eyes widen before they narrow. “Why did you do that?”

I shrug before letting out a deep breath. “I thought I was being protective, but she thinks I want you for myself. I don’t think I do, but now my head is all kinds of confused.” I pout as I look up at him and into those deep, dark eyes. “Do you think I want you?”

He smirks. “It would explain a lot.”

An idea pops into my head and it feels wrong and stupid, but one thing about being drunk is everything I think comes flying out before I can rethink it. “Would you mind kissing me?”

I’m definitely going to regret this in the morning.

“You want me to kiss you?” he presses as his fingers move into my hair.

“Just so I can see if I feel anything. It’s an experiment.” My words slur, but I’m not sure if he notices. I think he might be pretty drunk, too.

“An experiment to see if you like kissing me?” he presses and I slowly nod.

“It doesn’t have to mean anything. Just a quick kiss. You’ve kissed girls before, right?”

It would be weird if he hadn’t. Jer is two years older than me and I’ve kissed a few boys before. He never went through a girl-crazy phase though.

“Yup.”

“So, it shouldn’t be a big deal. Just a kiss.”

“Just. A. Kiss.” he murmurs, his words mixing together, and I nod.

Then, his mouth is on mine and I feel everything.

My heart races and my head spins. I’m pretty certain that neither of those things are from the alcohol.

I moan as his tongue runs along mine and I find myself grabbing him and pulling him on top of me.

His hands roam all over me and I know immediately that I’m completely fucking screwed.

It takes every last ounce of self-control I’m clinging to to push him back. Our lips and tongue unfuse from each other as we both let out loud gasps.

“Experiment… over.” My breathing is ragged and his pupils are blown so wide that his eyes have shifted from brown to black and his gaze drops.

Where his hands are… they aren’t supposed to be.

We were seconds away from doing something really bad, something that we wouldn’t be able to take back.

A kiss can be brushed off as a drunken mistake, but if I hadn’t stopped what we were doing…

“I need… a shower,” he grunts as he pushes himself away, rushing for the bathroom.

I could use a cold shower, too.

I guess Missy wasn’t completely wrong. Somewhere deep down, there’s something dark and unnatural that takes over where Jeremy is involved.

I stand up from the bed and grab my pajamas from the drawer before changing, but once I finish, I walk out of the room. I need a few to cool off away from the room filled with teenage hormones.

That has to be it, right? Hormones.

I haven’t been kissed or touched in a long time, way longer than I had been used to. That’s all it is. Point blank period.

I walk down the stairs and head straight for the kitchen to get some water. Walking in through the doorway, I stop when I see Kathy sitting at the table with a mug of steaming tea.

“Hey, Bronwyn. Did you have fun?” She gives me that sweet smile I always thought was a caring maternal figure peaking through, but I now know is just a facade.

She’s not a mother. She’s a snake in the grass.

I’ve managed to avoid her the past two weeks by pretending I don’t feel well when she’s around her. Now, there’s no avoiding it.

“I just need some water.”

I don’t move though.

When seeing her, all I can think about is watching her feet from under the bed and rage is replacing the mind-boggling emotions I had only a few minutes ago. Suddenly, my thighs are as dry as the Sahara. Not even a drop of sweat to be found. I’m chilled to the bone.

I walk right over to the table and press my hands down on the surface.

“If you ever touch him again, I’ll kill you myself,” I warn, venom rolling over my tongue.

Her eyes widen. “I’m sorry, sweetheart, but I need you to specify who you’re talking about.”

I narrow my eyes at her in warning. “Jeremy is who. If you come into his room at night and try to crawl into his bed again, I’ll rip you apart. You got me, Kathy ?”

She turns white. “Bronwyn, I don’t know what you think–”

“Cut the crap, you disgusting, incestuous pedophile. I was in the fucking room. I know what I heard, what I witnessed . You stay the fuck away from him or I’ll call the cops and report you right fucking now.

I will stay in his room to make sure you don’t come in there every fucking night if I have to. Do you understand?”

She falls silent and the color her face turns makes her look like a corpse sitting up in the chair.

“Do you understand me?!” I bellow in her face before I grab her by her shirt and drag her out of her chair.

“I-I-It wasn’t what you think, okay? Just calm down.”

Oh, no. This bitch did not just try to make me think I’m crazy. I know I’m not. Jeremy confirmed it. He said it’s been happening for as long as he can remember. My earliest memory was when I was three, which means she’s been doing this since he was a small child.

“I bet his grandfather would have something to say if he knew what you’ve been doing to Jer,” I state before I slam her back into the window.

“Also, I’m not against the killing-you option.

You either stay away from him or you die.

My brother probably wouldn’t care either way.

You and everyone else like you don’t deserve the air you breathe.

” I pull her back and slam her into the window again.

I feel the glass start to give under her weight as she cries.

“I didn’t–”

“STOP FUCKING LYING! YOU DID!” I take the same fist I hurt against the wall two weeks ago and slam it into her nose, feeling the skin break and the bones crunch, but I don’t stop. I hit her again and again until my fingers become numb.

“I didn’t,” she cries, but then I’m yanked away from her and feel arms lift me up, restraining me against a soft chest.

Jeremy.

“Calm down,” he warns in my ear, but I can’t.

If I don’t do something, she’ll try to hurt him again.

No one is more important to me than he is.

I can’t let her hurt him. I pull back my leg and let out a hard kick, landing it directly in her chest. The glass shatters as Kathy goes through the window and falls the full story down to the garden.

It’s not far enough to kill her, but she’ll remember that tumble for a long fucking time. I grab on tight to his arm as my feet hit the ground and Jer groans in my ear.

“Breathe. Just fucking breathe.”

“I had to,” I admit as tears fall down my face. “To keep you safe.”

“I know. The bitch won’t die that easily, but I can’t let you kill her. Your life is worth way more than hers. When you graduate, we’ll leave and we won’t come back. Then, we’ll turn them into the Bastards and they’ll take care of Kathy and David. Deal?”

Slowly, I nod.

“Deal.”

“We’ll just stick together until then. Only three and a half years and we’ll keep our heads down.” He presses a soft kiss against the side of my neck and I nod.

“Okay.” The word is barely a whisper, but I know he hears it. We have a plan in place. It’s just a waiting game. If we make a move before then, we’ll be put in foster care and separated. This is the only way we can make sure we stay together.