Heartbreak hotel

Chapter 16

Silas had impatiently waited for Soren to return with his family, pacing back and forth in the tightly packed room. He opened the windows to let some fresh air get in, as he knew Soren wouldn't like being crammed into the room without any fresh air. And looking at the room, god, everyone who lived on the side of the street was packed into this house, and while the living room was littered with rage, it was not meant to accommodate over twenty-five f*****g people. Silas bit his lip. How would he even make Soren comfortable in this situation?

“Silas!” Erza hissed, adjusting Olivia in her arm. “I get that you’re worried, Kiddo, but stop pacing. There’s not enough room in here, as it is.” She adjusted Olivia in her grasp once more.

“You know,” Olivia began innocently, turning to stare at the woman. “You could just let me go; we’ll be even after you fake-dated my husband.”

“You what?!” Wendy asked, mouth wide open. This had been news to everyone because when had his mother ever fake-dated Scar? God, even imagining it, Silas shivered. That was an image he never thought he would have.

“Dad,” Melody whispered in both shock and horror. “You dated Aunt Liv? God, does that mean if things had worked out with y'all, Silas would have been my brother?” He wasn’t sure if he should have been offended by the look of horror on Melody’s face. Indeed, that had to be a negative thing.

Erza rolled her eyes. “Oh, calm down. It was well before Liv even met Scar, and I was just using him as a cover for the store. Clearly, she hasn’t gotten over it.”

“Let me go, and I call us even,” Olivia responded, shrugging.

“You say that any time you need a favour.”

“Let me go, so I can f*****g kill him.” Her voice had started to be gentle, but then she screamed as she turned to glare at Seth, who was standing with his back plastered against the wall and hiding behind Lillian a little.

When the door opened, a wave of relief washed over Silas, thinking it was Soren and his family who had returned, but instead, it was Alex who had walked into the party the latest, frowning. Silas heard the door lock. He wanted to call Nathaniel to leave it unlocked, but the noise coming from Alex’s throat as he realised who was standing there caught everyone’s eye. “Oh, I should have warned him,” Luca whispered, a look of pity crossing his face as he stared at Alex.

Tears had welled up in the man’s eyes as he left the room. “You really could have,” Nathaniel muttered. “Bailey, stay here. I’m going after him, but before I go.” Nathaniel approached Seth and punched him in the face before running after Alex, weaving through the bodies.

“That was assault,” Lillian deadpanned, staring at Luca.

“I’m off duty,” he deadpanned, shrugging. “And don’t act like he doesn’t deserve it.”

Silas vaguely remembered the duo but wanted to know why they were back. Seth, of all people, hadn’t been here when they had presumed him dead, and what a toll it had taken on Alex. Why was he back? To make him more miserable? Alex and Nathaniel walked back almost ten minutes later, and the two remained furthest away from Seth and Lillian, standing near the window. Alex clung to Nathaniel’s arm, wiping tears away every few moments. However, when they heard the front door opening and Ash asking why Ash Bubbles was restraining him, Silas relaxed.

“Ooh,” Wendy grinned. “Someone’s gonna get it.”

Soren walked in behind Thea, and without hesitation, Silas walked over to him, standing next to him without a word. When Ash realised why their time as a family had to be cut short, he tried to lunge, but Sebastian had already been holding his hand and moved to keep him close to him instead, his hands interlocked on his husband’s chest.

They finally revealed their purpose. The Cleaners were after them, and Silas frowned. He had heard of the Cleaners; he knew what their role in the underworld was, and if they were next on the list, they were so screwed. After countless arguments and persuasion, everyone but Bubbles had let go of the people they had been restraining, and they all stayed put.

After another hour of arguments, some people finally left, and Soren finally relaxed a little, which in turn led to Silas relaxing. With many people having left, a lot more space had been created, and Luca had moved to sit on the couch, with Rick following after him with a smile. Luca frowned but said nothing. Silas and Soren stared at one another with puzzled looks, but both ended up shrugging.

Sebastian finally let Ash go, and that might have been his biggest mistake, but he did stay put for a total of five seconds before he ran at Seth, tackling the man into the ground near the hallway archway, and he began beating the absolute hell out of him. The room erupted in screams, with Olivia, Dai, Lucky, Erza and some of the cousins egging him on while others, mainly Sebastian and Lillian, tried to get Ash off of Seth. However, when Lilian got a little too rough with him, resulting in her grabbing his throat, Sebastian shoved her away.

“Don’t f*****g touch my husband like that,” he hissed, glaring at her.

Lillian scowled. “He’s beating the s**t out of Seth.”

“Don’t act like he doesn’t deserve it.”

“Oh!” Luca said, grinning as he raised his hand. “I said that too.”

Rick frowned. “Aren’t you going to stop this?” he asked Luca.

“Nope, Alex told me everything he did when Seth faked his death. Trust me, that sentence should be proof that he f*****g deserves every beating Ash is handing him right now.”

Silas was curious about what Seth had done to deserve this much hatred from everyone, but as he looked back over, he was faced with Sebastian and Scar finally managing to pry Ash away from him. He was out of breath, and Seth had managed to get one good punch in before Ash had used his knees to sit on his forearms. He wiped the blood away from his nose as he stared at his husband.

“Oh, and before you get mad at me, Bubbles. I did stay put. I didn’t say how long I would stay put, though.”

Sebastian sighed as he beckoned his husband into his arms, and once he had pulled him close, he leaned down and whispered something intelligible.

Lillian sighed as she grabbed Seth’s hand to pull him. Silas stared at the man blankly. He had multiple wounds, and blood was leaking through the corners of his mouth and his nose. But he said nothing as he wiped it away and stood silently beside Lillian.

“As I said,” she began, staring at the remaining people. “The Cleaners want you gone. We work for them now. And, they’re coming for you, and we wanted to warn you.”

“We're out,” Ash hissed.

“No. Once you're in, you're in. There’s no getting out until you're in the grave. And they're coming for all of you. Your kids included.”

~*~