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1689 Words
"So, your hidden skill is to drink yourself sober, huh," Julian asked as they took a break from stacking the wood into the rebuilt shed. It had been a few days since they met, yet it was if they’d known each other for years.
Taking a drink from his water bottle, Lukas coughed as he laughed. Getting his bearings back, he grinned, "Yeah, which is why I win nearly every drinking game I'm in."
"Damn, remind me to never go up against you," the other man laughed as he went to the shed with another armload. Half the shed was filled with large chunks, while the other half was stacked with smaller splits.
Turning to Julian, he smirked, a plan forming in the back of his mind.
Idea after idea ran rampantly through his head until he settled on one that would fix both their futures permanently.
"Hey, Jules, I was wondering," he started, grabbing the other man's attention.
"Oh, boy," Julian laughed. "What are you up to now?"
Lukas's smirk turned into a wide grin, "In case she tries to lie to me, I want to be able to call her on it. I know that there are certain things that can tear a girl’s hymen, but it doesn’t actually determine virginity. Then again, Oma is old school. She’ll want to know for sure if Emilia’s been touched."
"I hear you," Julian chuckled under his breath. "You're in luck, Luke. My mother is a nurse at the clinic where my father works. We can call on her if you don't mind my tagging along. Just so you're up-to-date, I have slept with Emilia. Several times."
"Why haven't you married her? If you guys are so in love, you could always run away together."
Shaking his head, Julian frowned, "Her parents don't like me, and she loves tormenting her sister. To Johan, nothing is more important than power and status. It’s part of the reason he’s insanely jealous of your father’s family."
"Ah, I see," Lukas said as he spotted his grandmother coming out of the house. "Looks like Oma's ready to go."
Stacking the last of the wood, they joined his grandmother at the gate and started down the road. Telling his idea to his grandmother, he wasn't at all surprised when she agreed. Having heard the rumours for herself, she wanted to know the truth, too.
Getting to the clinic, Lukas relayed the story yet again to the woman Julian called mother. She grinned, eagerly running to let her husband know that she was needed. Grabbing her bag, she threw in a few medical items along with two of the clinic's pregnancy tests for good measure.
Walking out, she led them to her car and drove them to the Meyer's house.
******
At the Meyer house, Emilia paced in her room, eager to finally meet the man she would be spending the rest of her life with. Her sister had nearly gotten her into trouble last night, but her father took her side as usual.
Knowing that her sister was still locked in the woodshed, a small, spiteful smile played across her lips. Johanna would not be able to interfere, and she would get away with everything. She knew that she was probably pregnant, having missed her monthly menses for a second time. Men were inherently stupid when it came to the inner workings of a woman's body, so all she had to do was convince him the child was his, and that it was born early.
The door opened, and her mother entered the room, her face pale. “Oh, dear… oh, dear…”
"Mother, what's the matter? Has something happened?"
Straightening her woollen sweater, her mother glared at her, "Tell me the truth, Emilia. Are you chaste, or was Johanna actually lying.”
"Of course, I am, Mother," the girl shouted back.
Silently, her mother led her out to the dining room. Taking a deep breath, the older woman put her hands on her daughter's shoulders. "Mr. Roberts, this is my daughter, Emilia."
The man turned his grey eyes to the girl. He looked bored with the process already. "I have heard a few things from the locals, and I appreciate honesty, so I will be testing her. If she fails, I won't hesitate to cancel the wedding."
Emilia opened her mouth to say something but closed it again. She paled as she noticed that her boyfriend's mother was standing near the sink in the kitchen. The woman was looking through her bag, probably trying to find her keys. Her throat was suddenly dry as she noted the medical bag on the floor. "Um, why is that woman here?"
Her father's frown deepened as he glared at Julian, "I still want to know why he's here. This wasn't an open invite, Mr. Roberts."
"Julian and I have recently become friends, and I asked him to come with me as he seems to know your family better than I do. Ignore him – for now. As for the nurse's attendance here, that’s on me as well. Emilia, just so you know, I'm not in the habit of taking people's word at face value, and I like making people squirm. It’s normally preferrable to take necessary precautions, especially since I heard you have quite the reputation with men," Lukas replied with a bored tone.
He took note of the way Emilia's eyes shifted nervously between everyone present. He saw the way her eyes narrowed on Julian, daring him to speak against her. The way that her weight bounced from foot to foot anxiously was another tip that she was hiding something.
"Why can't you simply take my word that my daughter is untouched, Mr. Roberts?" Johan snapped.
Getting to his feet, Lukas grabbed the man by the collar of his jacket. "Snap at me again, and I assure you that a trip to the morgue will be in your immediate future. My friends don't call me Storm for nothing. If you or your daughter have been lying, you will pay my toll for disrespecting my grandmother. By the way, I already know the truth. This—" he waved his hand toward the nurse, “is nothing more than me making a point. I warned you, Meyer. I am my father’s son, so do not mistake my kindness for weakness. I’ve already been given the green light to bust your face into burger meat, so back the f**k off, you jealous old warmduscher.”
Julian tried hard to hide his smirk as Johan paled at the threat. Not once in his history of knowing the man had anyone in the village challenged him like that. Lukas, it seemed, had more intricacies than a professional maze maker.
Nearly an hour later, his grandmother stormed out of Emilia’s room. "Both you and that girl blatantly lied to me, Johan! Emilia is pregnant!"
“That’s unfortunate for you, Johan, but there’s a way to salvage this,” Lukas muttered. His eyes surveying the room, he asked, "Where’s Johanna?"
When no one seemed to want to answer him, he said, "Fine. Have it your way, then. Julian, come help me search the house for her. Tear it apart if you have to.”
"Don't bother," Mrs. Meyer cried out as she hurried to stop them. "She’s in the shed – punished for supposedly lying.”
"Dear God, no," Nurse Schneider whispered. "Why on earth would you do something like that, Johan? Ursula, why would you let him go that far? The temperature dropped to nearly zero last night!"
Lukas calmly slammed his fist into Johan's stomach repeatedly. Letting him go for a moment, he watched the man double over in pain before Lukas slammed him against the wall. Grabbing him by the hair, Lukas slammed Johan into the doorframe until he saw blood splatter over the wall. Pulling his head back as the man sobbed and begged, the younger man sneered. "Since you caused this situation with your repeated disrespect of my family, I’m going to do something you’re not going to like. From this moment, let it be known that I will take Johanna rather than her w***e of a sister.”
"No!" Ursula cried out. “The deal…”
Her words were but off as Lukas sent her a withering glare. "You no longer have a choice in the matter. I'm a smart man, and I know what to look for when someone is lying to me. I noticed every little slight. Heard every little rumour about how you favour one over the other, abusing your younger child without remorse. God wouldn’t even forgive your soul-shattering sins, so don’t expect it of me!”
With Julian on his heels, he ran out to the shed and gave the door a calculated yank. The shiny new lock and hinge snapped with the effort, but he didn’t care.
Lying on the cold earthen floor in nothing but the dress she had on the day before, Johanna shivered violently. Her dress was damp and dirty from spending the night and most of the day in the cold shed. A light sheen of sweat coated her brow, and her cheeks were flushed - a sure-fire sign of a fever.
Julian cursed as he fought the wave of emotions that tore him apart. "Is she alive?"
"Yeah," Lukas replied as he shrugged out of his coat. “Barely.”
As gently as he could, he picked the shivering girl up, cradling her in his arms as he tenderly brushed the loose hair back from her face. Putting the jacket around her shoulders, he whispered softly, "Johanna? Wake up, sweetness. Come on, open your eyes for me."
She murmured in her sleep, turning her face to the warmth of his body heat. "Please... Papa... don't..."
Julian glared over his shoulder as Emilia walked out of the house with her parents. Stepping aside as his mother reached them, "Heaven have mercy. She’s feverish and needs immediate medical attention. Please, hurry to get her warm in the car while I call my husband."
"Thank you," Lukas breathed.
- Writer
