Page 105 of Unwritten Rules (Rules 1)

I know he’ll never hear me when my knees surrender and I feel myself falling. As I slowly slip out consciousness, I wish I could go back and tell them the truth. All of it. And the last thing I see before all turns black… is the memory of Ian and his fighters staring at me across the room.

They all have scars.

S I X T E E N

Save Me

EXTERN

The room was silent.

No one was brave enough to speak or move a muscle, the tension in the atmosphere unbearably heavy. Like the numerous fighters in the room feared even breathing too loud would be enough to send the East Side leader into a spiral of uncontrollable anger, they stood there, helpless.

He had been sitting in silence with his face hidden by both his hands for the last twenty minutes. His friends, who usually cheered him up, couldn’t seem to find the words to ease his pain.

The room was wrecked.

Glass and furniture were scattered across the kitchen floor.

The Kingston house had never been such a mess, and Kendrick was to blame for its destruction. Exhaling, he remembered the dread he felt when the lights came back on and he looked around to see that she was gone. Winter was gone.

That’s when the silence was ripped away by a knock on the front door.

“Tell me it’s not your mother who forgot her keys again,” Alexander said, his gaze nervously wandering around.

“Can’t be. She’s working a night shift,” Kendrick whispered.

“And Kass?” Will asked, something shifting in his eyes.

“She’s at Morgan’s.”

Will gave Kendrick a faint nod. Alexander sighed and got up to open the door that would reveal the last person on earth they wanted and expected to see.

Hatred. Rage. It was all Kendrick could feel when he grabbed him by the collar of his branded clothes and punched him.

“You. You fucking did this,” he yelled, infuriated.

The blue-eyed boy took the hit. Seconds later, he had been pushed against the wall violently, the foundations of the old house creaking under the sudden duress. Avoiding a second punch, he pushed Kendrick to the ground.

“How is it my fault? I’m not the one who took her,” Haze spat, as angry as could be.

“If you hadn’t made that stupid deal in the first place, none of this would’ve happened.” Alexander and Will held their friend back before he trashed the house any more than he already had. It wouldn’t be easy to clean up, and they didn’t need more problems.

“Well, maybe if you hadn’t been so careless to let her follow you to our meeting, she’d still be here right now.”

Kendrick barely held it together. “How dare you show your face here? You never cared about Winter. Get out.”

Haze looked down, an unreadable expression crawling in his eyes. He didn’t move, persistent.

“I’m not going anywhere. I want to help.”

“You want to help? Are you serious? You’re the reason she might be suffering right now.”

Haze’s face twitched in discomfort at the thought.

“What would you get out of it?”

“I have my reasons” was all Haze could say.