It was during training when Corbin stormed into the arena looking for a female he’d fucked and somehow lost.
How the hell do you lose a female?
He paced the arena for ten minutes cursing and punching everyone, and everything in sight. No one got out of there without a black eye, or busted lip. No one except me.
That day, he told me he had something he wanted me to do. Of course, I followed him. He was already a Twelve, so I had no choice.
Roman tried to make some lame excuse about needing to go to the Den, and of course Corbin was more than happy to oblige. He wanted an audience. Had I known what was about to go down, I would have ended my life then and there to save myself the shame of what was to come.
I knew the Den well. I knew every mark on the walls. Every line of rust on the pipes that ran across the ceiling. I knew exactly how many tiles were on the filthy, blood and vomit stained floor—nine hundred and sixty-five.
And I knew the dry blood splattered on the stainless-steel sink, was mine.
When Corbin closed the door to the Den and ordered Roman to sit on the stool by the counter, a twinge of panic was already growing in my chest. I’d been down here, beaten, lashed, stabbed, branded... but a gut feeling told me this time would be worse.
Corbin lit up a cigarette and paced toward me, smiling. “You seen my female, Nine?”
I clasped my hands behind my back and shook my head. “No, Twelve, I haven’t seen her.”
I’d find out later that he’d killed the female in a drug induced fit of rage and dumped her body in the garbage compacter.
He paced in front of me while puffing on his cigarette. When he was done with it, he pressed the butt of the cigarette into my arm. He was waiting for a reaction—I didn’t give him one. Maybe it would have changed what happened next.
Corbin’s fists hit my jaw around six times before I finally hit the floor. The room was spinning, the dirty, yellow stained tiles looked more like waves on the ocean. A kick to my ribs sent me sliding backwards. Corbin’s laughter filled the Den.
Roman was silent.
By the time I was on my knees I was already losing my will to live, and when Corbin pulled his belt off and tightened it around my neck, I begged him to kill me.
Roman begged for my life. It was the first time he’d asked to take my place.
Corbin sat on a wooden chair and unzipped his jeans.
From that moment, time passed in a blur, everything I’d ever believed in was in the pits of hell burning, filling my nostrils with the acrid stench of death.
While I was choking, I prayed for death. It didn’t come.
I struggled against him, it was no use.
I cried like a fucking baby. And Corbin laughed.
When it was over, he pulled me to my feet and held my chin in his hand. “You like that, Nine?” he said with a smirk.
I spat in his face, then, I said, “Fuck you.” They were the last two words I ever spoke.
Five days later, I woke in a hospital room, minus part of my tongue, and my will to live.
A little over three years later, I still have nightmares, and I still do whatever Corbin Malum tells me to do.
Skylar’s voice breaks through my thoughts. “What happens if we find one of them? Do we call Twelve?”
I shake my head. My main concern is Corbin sent us out here to be ambushed, and we won’t know until it’s too late.
When I reach the end of the track leading up to the peak of Mount Cole, I stop the car and turn off the lights. Skylar gets out first and scans the area. “I still can’t believe the Fallons are actual angels. Have you seen their wings?”
I lean against the car and cross my arms over my chest, then nod. Her eyes widen, and her mouth opens to an ‘O’. “Really?”
I nod again and smile.
She walks over to me and places her hands on my biceps. Her touch always comes with an overwhelming sense of calm. I never expected I’d find a girlfriend, especially not in the Fray. The worst part is, we can’t show any affection to one another at the warehouse in case the Commander or Corbin notices. I know what they’re capable of and there’s not a chance in hell I’ll put Skylar in danger.
She continues asking about the Fallons. “Are their wings really that big? I heard Eight saying they were huge and coloured. Aren’t angel wings white?”
So many questions. And I can’t answer one. I sigh and drop my head to retrieve my notebook and pen from my pocket.
Skylar leans against the car beside me, watching me write. When we first met I didn’t want her to know about my disabilities. I don’t want anyone to know anything. Roman is the only one who ever looked at me as though I was more than a piece of trash.
I’m still not used to it.
Skylar nudges my arm. “Come on, hurry up!”
I laugh as I write,
fallons have 4 colours red blue purple black
other angels have white they are not fallen
She reads the words, then looks up at me. “You didn’t make any mistakes.”
I look over the words again, checking them, sounding them out in my head. Fuck. I did it.
I write again and hand it to Skylar and she reads it out loud, “You have helped me learn.”
She jumps up and wraps her arms around me. Her breath is warm against my neck. “How big are their wings?”
I extend my arms as far as I can.
“Whoa, we should totally go there. They’d let me in, I used to work for them, remember.”
I grip her shoulders and shake my head hard.
“Fine.” She rolls her eyes. “Let’s walk then, and maybe we can do some other stuff up there under the stars.” She gives me a sexy wink.
I slide my hand around to her back and pull her closer to me, then, I lean down and press my lips to hers. She kisses me back as her hands glide up and down my arms before stopping to grab mine and lead me up the mountain.
On the east side of Mount Cole, the peak looks out to more mountains in the distance. The west side is where the Fallon Mansion is, and from here it’s barely visible through the trees.
Roman said a couple of the lower recruits found one of the angels out here, but my guess is they were doing drugs and most likely hallucinating.
We sit on the grass by a huge oak tree. Skylar takes her knife out of its sheath and starts cutting into the trunk of the tree while she talks, “Do you think we’ll ever get to have a real life now?”
I shake my head.
“What about going out... for dinner, or clubs?”
I shrug and pull out my notebook again.
the ivory tower we can go to if you wanna go
She snatches the paper from my hand. “The Ivory Tower! I’ve always wanted to go there. Can we?”
I nod.
“What about Heavenly Sins? I think the Fallons own it, can we go there?”
I shake my head.
Skylar sighs and stabs her knife into the tree trunk. “Alec... who did you kill to get into the Fray?”
I write down the words then hand her the piece of paper.
When she’s read it, she looks up at me. “You killed your brother... I’m... I’m sorry.”
I shake my head. I’m not sorry, the asshole deserved it.
Skylar folds the paper in half, then in half again. “I killed a homeless guy. I don’t even know who he was. Does that make me a bad person?”