TABOO: THE COMPLETE SERIES(42)

I couldn’t have felt more like a deer caught in the headlights than I did just then. “Jackie…”

“Don’t Jackie me! You really have a thing for him! Is that why you two are fighting?”

“I wouldn’t call it a fight.”

“What would you call it then?”

I don’t know… the strong urge to slice Weldon’s throat? What would you call something like that? Murderous intent? Being human? The way this was going, it couldn’t have gone better. And I had to keep this up until my real intentions found a way to become reality. “Jackie, do you want to hang out with me at my place?” Despite the tightness in my chest I said this as casually as possible. “I just can’t stand being alone right now.”

The one thing that I knew would get Jackie to my place better than an offer of sex, was dropping the hint that I was lonely and suffering. Just as I thought, she agreed without a fuss.

It was time to put my plan into motion. “There’s just one stop I need to make first,” I said as we got into my car. “We need to go to Randy’s. It won’t take long.”

“That’s fine,” Jackie said. “There’s some stuff I have to buy for dad anyway.”

Jackie Huntington.

I’ve never used you or your family for my own personal gain but today my personal gain is someone’s life. And Jake doesn’t know but I can do anything for him, kill, maim, murder, destroy… if he’s safe nothing else matters.

He’s my salvation.

I might have lost the battle with Aubrey but I will not lose this time.

There’s nothing Weldon can do to stop me.

I will stop at nothing.

Watching Jackie’s trusting face smile at me while her hands got busy pulling the seatbelt, I felt genuine remorse. This was not me. I’d done a lot of shady shit in my life, I couldn’t deny but nothing of this nature, nothing this purely malevolent and I stifled the urge to tell her all and warn her against my own selfish needs. The darkness that had taken over wasn’t the kind that could be snuffed without bloodshed.

I’m sorry, Jackie. This isn’t your fault. But it’s the only way I know that will put a stop to your brother’s evil.





WELDON


PRESENT DAY



The short walk through the hallways toward the lab gave me enough time to calm myself down and be ready for what I was about to do. It had been a while since I had confronted my demons and my past and I knew it was time to address both. Everything was related to Trey, everything had always been related to him, Jackie made sure of it by having her futile crushes which could have wrecked our family. I knew Trey was only using her to get to me, but Jackie never understood the real reason she got ditched at prom—because I intervened and put a stop to her so-called boyfriend’s plans to use my sister as a sort of display item so no one would know the truth about his sexual preferences. Even if he was bi, as Trey claimed, it was still dishonest to hide that from my her. I mean who could actually believe that a guy like him could be interested in someone like Jackie?

Jackie wasn’t some hot bimbo Trey could ruin, she was my sister. Her happiness was meant something to me. And if a few people got hurt in my attempts to save her a ton of heartache in the long run, then I could live with that. Living with secrets was all I ever did, ever since I found out I was into men. Keeping a few more secrets didn’t seem like that much of an issue. If it wasn’t for Trey, those secrets would have been safe. I opened the massive door to the lab and stepped inside. The smell wafted from one corner—a pungent, chemical stink that could mean only one thing.

“Working on something new, Trey?” I said, entering the tiny room inside the lab where the fumes were still existing despite the exhaust system working full force.

Trey looked up, a little startled. He wasn’t expecting me. Just as well. Catching people off-guard was always a good start. He lifted the safety goggles and set them next to a flask of blue crystals on the counter. His gloved hands were stained purple. “You could say that,” he replied, setting the empty beaker aside as I walked up to him.

“I see you met my sister,” I said, trying to stay casual. Trey’s eyes searched for the meaning of my words but I wasn’t going to give him anything.

“We ran into each other.”

“You just happened to run into each other?”

“Is this an interrogation? Should I have my lawyer present?” Trey meant that as a joke but it was still smug of that bastard and it hadn’t gone unnoticed.

“Why didn’t you tell me about Aubrey?” My question definitely rattled him. The perturbance was obvious on his face. He wanted to be free of this line of questioning but I was just getting started.

“I’ve barely come to terms with it myself.”

“You told Jackie,” I said. “Did you think it would help her bond with you again?”

Trey looked disturbed. “I don’t need my sister’s death to bond with Jackie,” he said. “And you know that, Weldon.”

Now, he was just rubbing it in my face. The nerve of that guy! When I finally set him straight, he wouldn’t know what hit him. “What do you want, Trey?”

“Excuse me?”

“Come on, Trey. Your sister dies and suddenly you have the balls to go visit Jackie, something you haven’t done ever since I explicitly told you not to! That too when she’s in a vulnerable state because of my father’s health. You’re seriously going to tell me you didn’t have some diabolical plan in play?”