Hallows: Merciful Death

So Close

Arctic Monkeys- I Wanna Be Yours

B.B.:

Everyone is back when we get to the house which is a huge disappointment. I was excited. I looked over at the nook at the far end of the library where I like to read and do homework when my room gets too big for me. It would have been nice to add another fond memory to it.

"Soon," Carson kisses the side of my head as he hands me my food. I place it on the glass of the coffee table. I'm a little uneasy about Rodrigo Jimenez now. The uncertainty doesn't just belong to me. The reaper is close. I can feel her just as much as I can feel the snake. She's lingering.

"I don't know who has bigger balls. The snake or the Aztec," Luc laughs. "It was pretty ballsy to go out in the open the way you did. The streets are buzzing,"

"He doesn't know," Carson says sitting at my desk.

I want to tell him to get off but he looks way too good sitting there with his elbows on the arms rests. The tips of his fingers pressed together as he moves the chair from left to right ever so slightly. A boss. I look down at my fries and put one in my mouth. What is happening to me? I used to be a good girl. I set a good girl trend. Grades rocketed my freshman year and there was an abstinence club. It was disbanded sophomore year when the president was caught with the former vice principal but still. I did that. I made being good prideful. Now, look at me.

"I mean, why would he?" I ask. "So she roughed up some of your girls. It doesn't merit murder. Not the way I did it. If he wants answers he knows he's going to dig deep. This was intimate. Very much personal. He's going to look into old boyfriends, new ones, and alliances. He's going to crumble. Just let him run around for now,"

For a few minutes, no one said a word. Even though this was the plan and it's going accordingly. I can't help but feel guilty about it. The way he looked at me. The way the reaper reacted to him. I don't think he deserves this and it's going to hurt when I have to finish it. Man, it's going to hurt a lot. I already feel it.

"Is this one of your weird philosophy bullshit things?" Carson asks. I laugh looking over at him.

"No, it's one of my burn-them-all bullshit things," I say, jokingly. But is it really a joke?

"That's my girl, creepy and dark," Luc chuckles. "On that note, Stacy repackage the coke B.B. brought back. Give it to Elenor and have her deliver it to Rigo by tonight. Tell him your girl didn't make it to the location because someone jumped Nat. Nat go with them. Show off those pretty colors on your face,"

"Okay," the two of them agree.

"Dylan, did you put that list together for Detective Espinosa?" Carson asks.

"Yes, sir. I got it right here," he stands up pulls it out of his pocket, and hands it to me. I open the piece of paper and snap a picture.

"Who's taking the fall?" I ask.

"No one. I used lead ink. The kind you find in ballpoint pens. Kids gonna be down for a while," he smiles.

"f**k him," Stacy scoffs. "Anything else?"

"No more late-night deliveries. Curfew is at seven. If I see any of you out there after that, I will personally f**k one of you up. Got it?" Carson threatens. I looked over at her to see her lower her gaze. She nods. "Where are we on finding a clubhouse?"

"A clubhouse?" I ask.

"A business front. Somewhere we can meet, distribute, and work from. Luc is graduating this year and we need something a little more stable. We can't work out of the school forever," he explains.

"With everything going on, I haven't been able to look into it," Luc tells him.

"I'll take care of it," I stand up. They all looked over at me. "Do you have any special requests?"

"Make it something that can keep Luc busy. He's easily distracted," Carson nods.

"I'm not," he scoffs as he taps away at his phone. I laugh.

"Sure," I agree.

"No, liquor," Luc raises his hand. "I will drink it all,"

"You're eighteen. You can't run a bar, smartness," I roll my eyes.

"Oh, yeah," he shrugs. We all laugh.

"Okay, I'm only going to say this once. None of you motherfuckers are allowed to be alone out in public. You all watch each other's back," Carson adds.

"Also we have a butler now. I am adding him to the group chat," I say.

"A butler?" Luc looks up at me.

"James?" I call out.

"Miss?" he appears in the doorway. Luc and Dylan jump up moving away from him. Carson and I laugh.

"What the f**k?" Dylan put his hand to his chest.

"Guys, this is James Charleston. He will be taking care of us from now on. He knows what we are," I introduce him. "He knows who you are already,"

"Really?" Luc challenges.

"Yes, Master Daniels. You look just like your father," he smiles.

"Aww," Luc looks back at me. "I like him,"

"Master Cooke. Master Del Monte. Lady Whitmore. Lady Phantom," he bows. "I am honored to meet you all. You are the second generation of Hallows I assist,"

"Hallows? Is that what you call us?" Natalie asks.

"That is what you are," he smiles. They all look at me. I shrug. I know a lot less about this than they do. "I am at your service. Cleaning up is my specialty. I also dabble in stealth and tracking,"

"Sick," Luc smirks. "I can tell we're going to be good friends, Jimbo,"

James glances at me annoyed with both of them. I laugh going back to my burger. I turn the TV on and coincidentally, the news is on. Espinosa is on TV. I send him the picture and tell him he looks like crap on TV. He sent back a LOL.

"-there is a total of six victims. Five males and a female. There is no evidence of forced entrance or a struggle-"

"Boring," Dylan changes the channel. Everyone laughs except for me.

When I'm done with my food, I grab my backpack and go over to my nook to finish the homework I never worked on. The others hang out for a bit but start leaving two by two until it's just Carson, Luc, and me.

"Do you have a game console anywhere in this house?" Luc asks.

"There's one in my room. Slide my vanity mirror to the right. There's a TV and my PS5 behind it. Tell Alexa to turn it on for you. Don't turn it off manually, I broke the button. She keeps it on sleep mode,"

"I'll get that fixed for you," he gets up. He stops looking back at me from the archway that leads to the stairs. "You look super cute today, Blackstone. I forgot to inform you earlier,"

"Report received, Daniels," I smile. He blows me a kiss and storms up the staircase. I can hear his feet thundering up the steps.

"You're never going to get him off that thing," Carson laughs. He has two laptops in front of him.

"That was the idea, I think," I laugh. He looks up at me this time.

I pat the spot next to me. He leans over to make sure we were alone and slowly makes his way over to me as if he were truly afraid of getting caught. As soon as he sits down, I swing my leg over him and straddle him.

"You have really insane ideas," he groans sliding his hands up my t-shirt without hesitation.

"This was your idea. I'm just making sure everything is in order,"

I lowered myself to him and press my lips to his. Carson Hayashi is a bad boy. The worst kind. Toxic, murderous, sleazy. So, why have I been so infatuated with him for as long as I can remember, you ask? Well, before his parents died, Carson was one of the best people I knew. He stood up for the little people. Those little people are me and Luc.

Luc might be tall and athletic now, but he wasn't always. I was taller than him despite him being a whole year older. He didn't hit his growth spurt until he was almost thirteen. He also had to wear a brace on his right leg to help it from curving and all the little preppy fucktards were mean to him. Carson would always defend him, even outnumbered. This was even before they had officially become stepbrothers. I'm convinced that their parents rekindled their love because of how much the guys got in trouble and had to have their parents called.

"Am I interrupting something?" I jump up pulling away from Carson when I hear David's voice. I straighten my clothes and groan.

"So f*****g close," I whisper. Carson rolls his eyes but the smirk on his face doesn't fade. "What are you doing here, David?"

"I'm looking for Lucien Daniels," he answers. My stomach clenches tightly.

"Well, he's not here," I shrug wiping my mouth a little. "Obviously, we're alone,"

"Do you mind if I look around?"

"Who let you in?" I ask.

"I have a key,"

"You don't live here anymore. So, yeah. I f*****g mind you looking around my house. James!"

"Miss," he melts out of the shadows. Espinosa almost jumps out of his caramel skin.

"This is Detective David Espinosa. Under no circumstances is he allowed in my house unless I say so. Please, escort him out,"

"Yes, Miss. Detective," he motions Espinosa out but he doesn't move a muscle. "I am the legal guardian and legally in charge of the vicinity. Now, you are upsetting my ward. Something I simply cannot allow. You will either walk out of here willingly or I will throw you out, Detective. You are breaking and entering,"

"I thought we were making headway, B.B," Espinosa turns his attention to me.

"Yeah, well you should have knocked. Give me my key," I hold my hand out. He puts his hand in his pocket to pull out his car keys. He takes it off the ring and hands it to me. "You said you'd give me a warning. I just want you to treat me like a person. I don't know what I did to deserve you treating me like a criminal. This is literally the worst thing you've ever caught me doing since we met. Just go,"

Guilt is written all over his face. He opens his mouth to say something but then decided against it. I know I have no right to say that to him but he doesn't know that. He walks out without saying another word. I feel bad for talking to him like that but there is no way I was going to let him take Luc. I hand the key to James and rush up the stairs toward my room. Luc is sitting at the end of my bed completely engrossed in the game. I pull the headset off his head.

"Hey," he smirks. "Done already? That's disappointing,"

"What did you do?" I growl. "Espinosa is looking for you,"

"Oh," he laughs taking the headset back. "I punched Lovewell in the throat 'cause he said we were whoring you out. I'll turn myself in once this game is over,"