But before I could say anything, she was already heading toward the booth I’d walked out of.
Grabbing her arm, I pulled her back. “Don’t go to him.”
She looked at me for a long time before nodding and stepping back next to me. “All the other ones are full. Daddy, Mommy, and Wyatt went in.”
I looked around the cathedral and in the wooden rows were all of Mom and Dad’s people. Two were directly behind Dona, speaking to each other, and a few others moved through the crowd to be closer to one of the stalls where I guessed Dad, Mom, or Wyatt were.
“Just wait for another one.”
“Okay,” she agreed, sliding into one of the rows, her green dress puffing up when she did.
Just when I sat next to her to wait, another person moved to the stall, but jerk face Santa Claus came out. He didn’t look at me. Well, I think he couldn’t see me over all the other people. He apologized to the guy trying to go in next before going back. For some reason, I couldn’t look away. I had this feeling in me and I didn’t know what it was.
“Where are you going?”
I didn’t realize I was standing and moving until she said something.
“To the bathroom,” I lied and started to walk through the crowd.
“Ethan!” one of my dad’s guards called out to me.
“Bathroom!” I lifted my phone for him to see. I knew he was still following me, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t doing anything bad. Plus, all the people made it hard for him to catch up.
When I made it out of the main chapel, I looked to my left and right, but the fatso was gone. I went right because…well, why would he go to the church shop place? The farther down the hall I went the darker it became, and the light coming in from the blue stained glass made it look like the sky before it rained. I walked and walked until I got to a hall with a sign that said ‘Priests Only.’ Ignoring it, I walked down the hall. Most of the doors were closed and one cracked open the tiniest bit. I heard his voice.
“What do you mean the audio did not work?”
Tilting my head and looking through the slit, I saw Fatso near the glass window, trying to look out at someone, gripping the phone in his hard.
“Fine. Fine. That doesn’t matter. The boy confessed it. I heard him say with his own mouth that he and his parents were murderers.”
What?
It was only then that I noticed the wires on his desk.
It clicked.
Him being new.
Him being new and coming to this church, my parents’ church, and hating my parents.
“So you’re saying even if I testify it’s not enough? What do you want me to do? Catch them in the act?” he yelled so loudly I guessed he didn’t hear the door as I came in.
But then again it was even more quiet than I thought it was.
“Look, the deal was…no, you listen to me! The deal was I do this and no one finds out about Ohio. I will not—ugh—ahh!”
“—ugh—ahh!” Those were the sounds he made as my knife went into his back.
Thump.
The phone slipped out of his hands as he tried to turn. Pulling the knife out, I watched as his red robe got darker and darker as the blood came out.
“What…what…what did you…?”
“This.” I stabbed him over and over again, anywhere I could, his huge body fell backward, trying to grab onto the desk but falling to the floor.
“Aww, man!” I groaned at my now broken knife. “I just got this one too!”
Sighing, annoyed, I picked up the phone, which was already disconnected. Stepping over him, I grabbed the wires and pulled and cut them.
“Mon…mon…”
“Monday?” I turned back to him.
He was trying to crawl, but to where I didn’t know. “Mon…”
“Monkey?”
His belly rose and fell, rose and fell. He was in shock, I think. He was staring at me in shock. His blue eyes shone with tears, not sad tears. Or forgive me tears. Just another liquid coming out of his body.
“Monster,” I said to him. “That’s what you want to call me, right? This week in school they made us read Frankenstein. It was cool. I liked it. I like books that make me think. That’s why I’m in the advanced class. My favorite part is when the monster looks at Dr. Frankenstein and tells him it’s his fault. It kinda reminds me of now. You called me a monster. I walked way. Then you threatened the monster. And so if it comes down to you or me, I have to pick me.”
“Go to—”
Taking out my second knife…well, Wyatt’s knife, I stabbed him in the throat and pulled it out. When I did, blood went everywhere. Wiping my face, I moved to the window that was stained glass too, trying to see what he was looking at before.
“Ethan?”
Turning around, it was my dad’s guard. He looked between me and the guy in red…I wasn’t sure if he was cop or priest. Pulling out his phone, he dialed one number before speaking.
“Dozen Lilies delivered to my location,” he said, walking closer to us.
“From Ethan,” I added.
He just stared at me, and so I stared back.
“Yes, that’s right. A dozen lilies from…the second. Let the boss know.”
“Let them all know,” I whispered mostly to myself, staring at both of the knives in my hands.
Rule 103: always have a knife.
ONE
“Begin, be bold, and venture to be wise.”
~ Horace
ETHAN
It was only when my lungs began to burn, begging for air, did my eyes open again. When I did, I could see figures walking up to the edges. Sitting up from the bottom and swimming till my head broke the surface, I brushed my hair back, inhaling the cold air through my nose.
“Good mornin’, boss,” all four said.
Two to my left and two to my right.
Replying to none of them, already at the edge, I lifted myself out of the water, walking over to the shower to wash off. A maid, who was trying her hardest not to look at my cock as I rinsed off, dropped sandals at my feet once I stepped out. However, before I could reach for the towel, she made a move to dry me. Toby, saving her life, reached out and grabbed her wrist, gripping tightly as I took the towel for myself and tied it around my waist. When I looked up again I scanned her and then behind her, at the chair where my breakfast was waiting.
“Where is the second towel?” Toby demanded her, releasing her arm.
“Second…what?” She stared wide-eyed and back at me as I moved to my chair. “I’m sorry, sir. I only brought one.”
Ignoring her, I sat down, lifting the cover from my food only to wish I hadn’t. Annoyed, I dropped the cover back onto the plate.
“I’ll get another one—”
“Get out,” I spoke under my breath, speaking up for the first time, reaching for my phone and rising back from the chair.
“Sir?” She leaned in.
Scrolling through my messages, I started walking toward the elevator. “Toby, tell the head maid that if she ever tests my patience with halfwit maids again, it will be her who will be seeking new employment.”