The Monster's Fury

CHAPTER TWO

Hunter POV

I sit on the bed of my truck and watch another sunrise at the lake where it all started. Where I found out about Cole and where I found out how much I really loved Adrienne. How ironic those two go hand in hand now. I laugh to myself. Wind blows rustling the grass and sending ripples in the lake water. Things that I found so calming before do nothing now, but make me miss her more.

My cell phone vibrates and I reluctantly look at the screen to see “Mama” written across it. I grunt in annoyance. My mom has been calling me non-stop for the past couple of weeks and I haven’t answered or returned any of them. I’m not ready for the bombardment of Q&A about Adrienne that’s going to follow once I do, but I know her. Her patience is wearing thin and she’s going to eventually end up breaking down my house door if I keep her waiting. Especially after the outburst at Sandy’s last night. So, to save my house from any damage I don’t want to fix later, I know I have to see her.

I jump down from the bed of my truck and hop into the driver seat. As I speed down the freeway, Adrienne starts to flood my thoughts and I quickly try to think about something else. As much as I try to remember her beautiful face-- the last memory of her burning in that car is the only thing that comes to mind. I blast my radio and press down further on the gas pedal. I don’t want to remember her like that, so it’s better not to think about her at all.

I pull into the driveway of my parent’s house and take a deep breath before I get out of my truck. I’m not mentally prepared for this, but I know it has to be done. I take out my keys to unlock their front door and walk inside. I can hear the News blaring through the TV speakers in the living room and I know it’s my Mom. She watches the News religiously. If it wasn’t the News, it was those corny Lifetime movies with horrible acting. I never understood her fascination with that crap.

I round the corner and see her sitting on the sofa with her eyes glued to the TV. I stood at the doorway not making a sound, but she knew I was there-- she always knows when I’m around. I guess it’s that motherly instinct she’s always going on about. I can’t ever hide anything from her. She knows when I’m lying, when I’m hurt-- she said she can feel it somehow. So, I realized at an early age it’s better to just be straight with her and avoid wasting both our time.

“Are you going to have a seat or ya just gonna keep standing there like a deer in headlights?” She asks me, her eyes still plastered to the TV. I walk to the open spot next to her and sit down. She reaches for the remote and shuts off the TV before turning her attention to me.

“Why haven’t you been answering my calls?” She starts right out of the gate. I hesitate before I say anything.

“There’s just a lot going on right now Mama, I--”

“Don’t give me those bullshit lies you’ve been giving everyone else. You’ve never been able to lie to me, so don’t try and start now.”

“I’m not lying.”

“You’re not telling the truth either, at least not the whole truth.” Her eyes bore into mine. It’s like she’s trying to see everything that happened to me over the last few weeks through my eyes. The last person to look at me like this was Adrienne. I remember her telling me that you can tell a person’s life story through their eyes. Apparently my mother feels the same way. I lower my head, trying to avoid her all-knowing gaze.

“When’s the last time you had a good rest?” She probes. I shrug my shoulders. I honestly couldn’t remember. I feel her hand rest on my right shoulder while she laid her head on the other.

“I look that bad huh?” I chuckle, trying to lighten the mood.

“You look like someone who just lost their entire world.” A knot formed in my throat after she said those words. I jump up from the sofa. I’m not going to do this with her. I’m not going to break down, not now-- not until I finish what I need to do. She looks at me and raises that deadly eyebrow of hers. She exhales before she gently slaps down on her thighs. She stood up in front of me and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

“So what’s your plan here son? Are we just not going to talk about what happened?”

“What’s there to talk about? She’s gone Mama, that’s it-- end of story.” Her eyes squint and her jaw clenches. I know she’s trying to suppress her instinct to slap me.

“That’s it huh? End of story-- just like that? Wow. So, this is the man I raised.” She pauses and I can see the disappointment in her eyes.

“She deserves better than that Hunter.”

“There’s already a plan in the works to get Cole. I’ll be getting Adrienne’s revenge soon enough.” After the accident we had to tell my parents about Cole and to my surprise they handled it pretty well considering their son is going up against a mob boss.

“That’s not what I meant and you know it.” She scowls.

“Enough Mama.” I back away, not wanting to continue this conversation with her. She takes a deep breath to calm herself down, but she never took her eyes off me.

“And then what?” She spoke again.

“What do you mean?”

“You get this so-called “revenge” and then what?”

“And then it’ll all be over. No one will have to worry about Cole anymore and Adrienne can rest in peace.”

“Okay, and what about you? Are we going to have to worry about you?” I stood quiet while I thought about her question.

“I’ll be fine once he’s gone Mama.” She scoffs.

“I know I didn’t raise a dumbass. Do you really think it’ll be over once you kill Cole? Hunter, you’re going to be in the middle of a war. You’re going to have to think differently. You’re going to have to turn into somebody completely different. Do you know what kind of things you’ll--”

“Yes.” I firmly say, cutting her off.

“I know what I’ll have to become. I’ve already done things that I can’t come back from.”

“Then you know that you won’t be fine when all of this is over.”

“I have to do this Mama. I have to do it for her.”

“That’s not what she wanted and you know--”

“That’s exactly what she wanted!” I snap, not wanting her to continue her assumptions.

“She wanted Cole dead more than anyone, and even if she didn’t, I do!” All the emotions I was trying to control unravel before I even know what’s happening.

“He took her from me, Mama. She tried so hard to get away from him but he wouldn’t let up. He kept coming for her in the worst ways. I mean look at Taylor, she’s still in the hospital because of him!” I flop on the couch, exasperated as I ran my fingers through my hair.

“I know why she left-- anyone would have done the same thing, but I hate her for it too, and I hate myself for hating her.” I chuckle, knowing how stupid I must sound right now. I look at my mom as I try to find my next words. Her face was calm as she waited patiently for me to continue.

“When I was with her I had everything I ever wanted, Mama. The happiness that I felt with her-- I’ll never feel that again. Now, I have nothing but darkness and this intense anger that suffocates me-- not just for Cole but for her too. As much as I don’t want to say it, I’m f*****g pissed at her. If she would have listened to me and stood with me she'd still be here. Now she’s gone and what the f**k am I left with?” I could feel a fire burn in my chest. A fire that I know all too well whenever I think about this.

“I have this pain in my heart that I’ve never felt before and I don’t know how to make it stop. For the first time in a long time, I don’t know what to do, Mama.” She sits down beside me and pulls me into her arms. I don’t fight her. I know it’ll be pointless and, to be honest, I think I needed my mother more than I wanted to admit.

“You’re not supposed to know what to do, baby. There’s no guidebook when it comes to this part of life. You just have to take things one day at a time. Eventually, with time, you’ll heal but you have to let go of that anger. Let it go before it eats you alive Hunter.” I pull away from her and fix my eyes on the ground.

“I can’t do that.” She stays quiet for a while and I can feel the sorrow she feels for me.

“No one expects you to stop looking for Cole.” She sighs.

“Just stop shutting us out when all we want to do is help. You know more than anyone that it’s going to take all of us to bring down the Sullivan family. So I’ll give you the rest of the day to get your s**t together and get out of your pity party. Once you’re done, come find your family and we’ll all find Cole.” She cups my cheeks and lifts my head so that I’m looking at her.

“Think about it like this. If the roles were reversed. What would you want Adrienne to do right now? She deserves better than to be left in your darkest memories, son. Don’t put out the light that lit up your life.” She gives me a small smile before kissing my forehead and walking away.

I sink further down into the couch and exhale. I haven’t opened up about Adrienne since we lost her. I couldn’t or maybe I just didn’t want to, but my mother was right. Adrienne has always been the light in my life and she deserves to be remembered that way, but I just can’t get those last memories out of my head, no matter how hard I try.

I stood up to walk outside for some fresh air. I walk through my parents' vineyard and stop at a bench facing the mountains. I always loved this spot. I sit down and look at the view in front of me. The sky is a crimson orange with hints of purple. The sun peeked behind the mountains. This spot was always calming and peaceful. That's exactly what I need right now– peace. I sit down and look up towards the sky, taking in the soft breeze that brushes my face.

“What am I supposed to do now, gorgeous?” I ask out loud. I don’t know if it was the talk with my mom but I felt the need to talk to Adrienne and I hoped with everything in me that she could hear me.

“You know we had a funeral for you and I umm– I thought it would give me some closure. At least that’s what everyone told me but, I– l didn’t feel that. I just felt anger. All I’ve been feeling since you left is anger. I’m so f*****g mad at you Gorgeous. You came into my life so fast and opened me up to a world I didn’t know existed, just to leave me even faster. I think that’s what makes this so hard. It’s not Cole, it's that you cut our time short. I was supposed to watch you walk down the aisle to be my wife,build a dream home for us, buy a dog for f**k’s sake. I never thought I would want any of that until you came, and now I don’t know how to go back to living the way I used to. Is that even possible?” I sigh, knowing that I would have to figure all this out on my own.

“Why couldn’t you stay with me baby? I would have protected you. I know we could have beat him, but now even if we do, we still lost-- I still lost. I can’t sleep now. I couldn’t before I met you and I can’t now that you’re gone. I used to have these nightmares of me at the brink of death. Not being able to breathe, choking on my own blood. Somewhere in the back of my mind I always thought that was how I was gonna go out, it just always felt so real.” I pause as I thought about the feeling I would get every time I had that dream.

“The nightmares stopped when you came. Every time I held you in my arms at night, a sense of peace would take over me. I always got the best sleep when you were with me– but now you’re gone and every time I close my eyes all I see is you in that car. All I hear are your screams. It haunts me every minute of the day. You were so f*****g helpless and I couldn’t save you. I-” A tear slides down the side of my cheek.

“Everyday I wish this was all a dream-- that one day I’ll wake up and still have you sleeping in my arms, but then I wake up and I’m still here, in this hell. I don’t know, maybe it’s time I listen to Mama. I can’t keep living like this. There’s no way you would let me keep this s**t up if you were still here.” I take a deep breath.

“So this is it Gorgeous. I’m not ready to let you go and I never will, but I can’t keep hoping you’re going to come back home. Eventually, Alex is going to try and put me in a psych ward. I haven’t been the easiest to get along with lately. Everyone keeps walking on eggshells around me and giving me that “poor child” look, and you know how much I hate that. Mrs. Baker came to the office at least ten times with a different casserole. I could always tell which ones are hers because of the orange smears on the seran wrap. Yes, it’s possible that she could get even more orange.” I laugh knowing that she would’ve been laughing with me, but my laughter quickly, fades away.

“I love you, Adrienne, and deep down I know you knew that the moment you looked into my eyes. I’ve made promises to you that I still need to follow through on. So, I’m going to find Cole and I’m going to kill him. Mama says that I’m hellbent on revenge and she’s probably right, but I have to do this. I’m going to keep Taylor and your parents safe and maybe I’ll get the closure I’m looking for once I do.”

I sit in silence for a little while. I can’t lie and pretend that I’m not scared of getting up from this bench right now, scared of actually letting her go. My mind is telling me to get up but my body doesn’t want to move. I close my eyes, steady my breathing and clear my mind. I wanted to focus all these emotions on one thing. Cole.

When I open my eyes I feel the fire and determination in my heart. I’m going to find this motherfucker and when I do I’m going to make him feel every ounce of pain known to man.

****

After a while, I walked back to my parent’s house. When I got inside, I heard voices coming from the kitchen. As I walk further into the house, I see Adrienne’s parents along with mine standing around the island in the kitchen and my heart drops. I’ve been avoiding them since the funeral. I know they’ve been looking for me but I couldn’t face them. I told them I would protect their daughter but I failed. Now, with them standing right in front of me, I have no choice but to face the music.

I take a few more steps catching their attention. They all stop talking and the first person I notice is Carlos. His eyes meet mine and I can instantly feel his pain. He looks broken and Rosa looks even worse. They were soulless-- like if they died along with their daughter. My heart aches for them and I want to hug them but my guilt is keeping my feet glued to the floor.

Rosa begins to tread towards me and I look down at the floor, avoiding her heartbreaking gaze. She stood in front of me, reaching out her hand to cup my chin. She raises my head so that I’m looking at her.

“The man my daughter loved needs to walk with his head held high. Si?” Her smile is broken and tears start to well in her eyes. I can’t take it anymore. I wrap my arms around her and hug her as tight as I can without smothering her.

“I’m so sorry Rosa.” I say softly. Remembering the pain she felt when we found out Adrienne left.

“Don’t do that. You didn’t do anything wrong. We know what happened and we know you tried. There was nothing else you could have done.”

“Mira, pendejo.” Carlos interjects as he slaps my shoulder.

“Don’t put that guilt on yourself. You gained our trust a long time ago when it came to Adrienne. You took care of our baby and made her happy. That’s all we wanted you to do.” I nod and he grabs my hand, pulling me into a hug as he pats my back. I feel a weight lift off my shoulders knowing they didn’t blame me, but deep down I still blamed myself.

“What are you guys doing here?” I ask, changing the subject.

“They came for dinner.” My mom adds as she walks up to where the three of us are standing.

“Yeah, your folks have been amazing, helping us out with everything. We would have been stuck without them.” Carlos says.

“Thanks again, Diane, Jason. You don’t know how much it means to us.” Rosa is trying to hold back her tears.

“Don’t mention it. You guys are family.” My dad voices as he pulls out two Coronas from the fridge.

“If family can’t be there for you during your hardest moments, what are they there for?” He takes out his bottle opener and opens the two beers before handing them to Carlos and Rosa.

“Dinner is going to be ready soon. Have a seat and I’ll call you guys when it’s ready.” My mom smiles as she ushers them into the living room.

“Hunter, go upstairs and get your sister. You’re staying for dinner too.” I open my mouth to contend but quickly closed it once I saw my father shake his head.

“You’re better off just doing as she says, son. You know your mother.” He whispers. I press my lips together as my sign of defeat and turn around to go upstairs and find Leah.

I knock on her bedroom door a few times but she doesn’t answer, so I just let myself in. She’s sitting at her art desk with her headphones on. She’s so focused on her drawing that she doesn’t even notice me standing over her. I look down to see what she’s drawing and my heart skips a beat. It’s a portrait of Adrienne and holy crap, it’s damn near identical.

She looks back and forth from the easel to her phone, where there’s a picture of Adrienne and her parents. Leah is an amazing artist. She pays attention to every detail-- every wrinkle, every beauty mark, to make the portrait come alive. She’s drawing everything about Adrienne that I was trying to remember. I’m in awe-- lost in the eyes she drew on that paper.

“Holy s**t! Hunter? You scared the hell out of me!” Leah squeals, catching me by surprise. She takes the earbuds out of her ear and places them on the desk. The music is so loud I can almost hear it clearly. Jesus, this girl is gonna go deaf by the time she hits thirty.

“What are you doing? How long have you been standing there?” She stands up and gives me a hug.

“I knocked a few times but your music is so loud you couldn’t hear me. Is that Adrienne?” I ask as I release her from the bear hug I just had her in.

“Yeah, it’s not finished yet. I still need to add Mr and Mrs. Santana. I thought it would be something nice to give them. What do you think?” She picks up the drawing and hands it to me so I could get a better look at it. As I examine it, my fingers trace the outline of her hair, her face and then her lips.

“She was really beautiful Hunter.” Leah rests her head on my arm as we both look at her portrait.

“Yeah, she was. You did really good Lee, they’re gonna love it.” She looks up at me and furrows her eyebrows as if she were contemplating something.

“What is it?” I ask her knowing that she wants to ask me something but isn’t sure how. Her head jolts up, surprised that I noticed.

“Ummm, okay, so if I ask how you’re doing, are you going to lie to me and say that you’re doing okay?”

“How would you know if I’m lying or not?”

“Are you kidding me or you shitting me? You act like I haven’t known you my entire life.” I pause, taken back by what she just said.

“”Are you kidding me or you shitting me”? What the hell is that? Have you been hanging out with Alex?” She hurls over laughing, which tells me everything I need to know. I make a mental note to hit him a little harder in our next sparring session.

“Do not ever repeat anything that comes out of that i***t's mouth.” At this point she’s in tears and making her silent laugh that always makes me chuckle.

“What do you mean? It’s so catchy!” She says sarcastically. I can’t hide the disgust written all over my face, which makes her laugh even more.

“No, but seriously, are you okay?” She asked once she got her composure back.

“I’m getting there.” I smile. She smiles back and buries her head into my chest as she wraps me in a hug.

“You should have seen your face. Priceless.” She jokes.

“Whatever. Get your butt downstairs before I tell Mama you’re cursing again.” I flick her forehead.

“Oh really? You’re going to play that card? Such a Mama’s boy.” She rolls her eyes and rubs her forehead. Her smile instantly vanishes. How she can go from one mood to the next in .01 seconds always trips me out. It’s like she has two personalities or something. She opens the door and storms downstairs. I laugh as I hear her grunt and stomp on the way down. I love messing with her and deep down I know she loves it too.