Heartbreak hotel

Chapter 7

After some people left, some space cleared up in the lounge room, and Soren boldly walked over to the couch. He wasn’t afraid of body horror or gore, but there was something iffy about this situation that he couldn’t quite place his finger on. And the longer he stared at the dark-skinned, clammy man who had just been stitched up by his uncle on the couch, the more he realised there was something about him in particular, and whatever it was, he couldn’t put his finger on it either, and it seemed to be driving him insane.

Was it familiarity? Did he know this man from somewhere? But the longer he stared at him, trying to analyse the bone structure, his almond-shaped eyes, the long lashes coated in tears, the curve of his nose, the more he realised it wasn’t familiarity; he did not know the man before him. But it was something.

Ash tsked and grabbed Soren’s arm, moving him away from the couch. “You don’t need to be looking at this.” He didn’t give Soren a chance to reply as he turned his attention to the two older Romero’s and glared at them, crossing his arms over his chest. “Why are you three here?”

Rick stared at Roman, and Roman stared at Rick. Then, the younger one, Rick, ran a hand over his short hair and ran his tongue on his cheek. With his arm raised, Soren realised a gold tattoo was visible on his hip. “We tracked the Fells here.”

“Bullshit,” Ash spat, but then he frowned and stared at them in confusion. “Who the hell are the Fells?” He didn’t wait for them to reply either before he waved his arms and sighed. “You know what, I don’t care, I need coffee.”

Ash stormed past everyone, and surprisingly, people moved out of the way like a sea, and Sebastian stared in the direction of the kitchen and sighed. “I swear to god, if you all f**k him over, I am going to kill you,” he snapped, glaring at the Romero’s before he followed after his husband.

Erza cleared her throat as she tried to tame her bed hair. She adjusted her black robe, trying to make herself look more presentable, and cleared her throat. She soon gave up on trying to look presentable. “Why is your stabbed nephew bleeding out on my couch? Why did you think coming to our house, where our f*****g kids live at three in the f*****g morning was a good idea? So, spill the s**t. Why are you really here?”

Roman sighed. “Just as Rick said, we tracked the Fells here.”

Rick tsked, causing the attention in the room to land on him. Soren stared at the two men, side by side. Roman was slightly taller, but he was much more muscular than his brother, who was on the leaner side. One thing they both had in common was the colour of their attire. However, while Rick wore a leather jacket, some jeans, and a t-shirt, Roman wore an expensive-looking suit with an expensive-looking gold watch on his wrist.

“We need to crash here, just until we can get our place somewhere close sorted out,” Rick said, and Soren felt Silas beside him tense up. He looked up at the man in confusion, but his eyes were glued to their nephew, who was unconscious on the couch. Before anyone could speak up in protest, he continued. “Milan of ‘20. You owe us.”

Erza groaned. “Oh, for god’s sake.”

Megan exhaled, adjusting her position on the couch and staring up at her wife. However, Soren knew from the look in her eye that she was scheming something. “This is definitely not the worst thing they could have asked for, considering the value of what they did for us. And, it would be a massive weight off my back if this is what they cash it in for.”

Erza stared at her wife, then sighed. She turned back around to look at the man. “Rick,” she deadpanned. “You’re with Luca. Roman, you’re with Alex and Nathan, and Ravi can stay here in the guest bedroom,” she responded.

“I don’t know where Luca lives,” Rick replied, smiling at the man. Luca stared at him blankly before walking out of the house, the door slamming shut behind him. Before Rick could follow, Luca had already disappeared, so the man returned to the house with his head hung low. “I lost him,” he whispered.

Erza looked around the room. Her eyes landed on Soren and Silas, and he was a little scared she would ask them to escort the very scary-looking man to Luca’s place, but then her eyes landed on the three stoners across from them, and she grinned as she looked back at Rick.

“You three!” she yelled. Midnight, Royal and Isaiah stopped snickering amongst one another, a little out of it and turned to stare at Erza with expressions of deer caught in headlights. “Take Rick to Luca’s. And then go home and sober up, Jesus.”

Midnight nodded and led the way, but Isiaiah purposefully tripped him, and Midnight stumbled into the wall; instead of being angry, he burst out laughing, leading the other two to laugh. Rick nervously stared at Erza. “Can someone not higher than the sky take me? Like those two? Your son and Ash’s.”

Surprisingly, it wasn’t Erza who spoke up. “My kid and nephew aren’t going anywhere near you,” Megan snapped. “You’re getting to stay here; that should be enough. And until we find out why you’re here, you stay six feet away from all the kids at all times. While we’re at it, Bailey. Go with them.”

“Do I have to?” he whined.

“Yes.”

Soren thought about why Megan would ask Bailey, but then he remembered that out of all of them, Bailey was the best at hand-to-hand combat, and he could take a man three times his size down despite his small frame. So, he was going to be the babysitter.

“Now,” Erza said. “I am going home. Soren, I assume you’re staying here. Thea keeps an eye on Ravi. Roman, follow us, we’ll drop you off at Alex and Nathan’s house.”

Soren quietly watched everyone leave, and once the house was back quiet, he turned to look at his sister, who was wagging her eyebrows and spreading her arms out wide. “Who wants to babysit the bleeding man with me?”

Soren snorted. “Not me. Good luck.”

He was too tired to deal with this and left to go to his room, and he could hear Silas hot on his heels.

~*~