Bloodshed (Order of the Unseen, #1)(10)

She never told me.

And I never asked.

All I knew was that Mom devoted practically all of her time as a waitress at a small restaurant downtown, working hard to make ends meet.

I stuffed my duffle bag full of clothes and then shoved it under my bed.

My phone lit up with a text from Jensen.

Party at Marcus’ place tonight. You down?

I’ll be there, I sent back.

The party was okay. The music was blasting so loud that I could hardly even hear myself speak. There was underage drinking involved. Smoke from blunts and cigarettes filled the air around us, the entire house almost completely fish bowled, and everyone was dancing.

“Hi, Damien,” Penny slurred, pressing her perky tits against my bruised abdomen. “You never texted me back.”

Of course, I didn’t.

I wasn’t interested in sex.

I was more interested in shedding blood.

“I’ll text you back, baby,” Micah purred. “All you have to do is give me your number.”

“Piss off, Micah,” Penny groaned, tilting back her head to look up at my face. How she had yet to notice the disinterest behind my gaze was beyond me. “Want to go find a room…so we can talk?”

Talk. I laughed under my breath. “You couldn’t handle me even if you tried.”

“Let’s find out,” she seductively replied, batting her eyelashes at me.

“Not tonight, Penny,” I shot back, uninterested.

She snarled and stepped back, no longer clinging to me. “Suit yourself,” she muttered, turning away.

Until my fingers locked around her wrist, and I brought her back to me.

“Let’s go,” I let out, leading her toward the back of the house.

We made our way down a long hallway before turning right. As soon as I shut the door behind us, Penny fisted my shirt, drawing me closer. Lifting my hand, I ran my fingers through her long, strawberry-blond hair. It felt so soft, and she smelt like flowers.

She kicked off her heels and stood on the tips of her toes, not even coming close to my height. Grabbing the back of my neck, she pulled my head down lower, and pressed her lips against mine.

Her cherry lip gloss coated my mouth, and I leaned down, slipping my tongue through the seam of her lips. Without warning, she bit down on my lip.

I savored the copper taste of blood, and my dick twitched against my zipper.

But barely.

She yanked down my pants and shoved me onto the bed. I leaned back, watching as the excitement vanished from her eyes. Penny rubbed my crotch over my boxers, and when nothing happened, and my cock stayed limp, she frowned.

“Should I take off my clothes or something?”

“No,” I bleakly answered, not even feeling the least bit turned on. Girls just didn’t do it for me. Guys didn’t either. No matter how much porn I watched, and I’d watched some weird shit, nothing seemed to make me hard anymore.

Not since the moment I began getting my only excitement from hurting people.

From causing pain.

Real pain.

“Does your dick not work?” she teased, looking at me like I had ten heads. She rubbed me through my boxers harshly.

“What the fuck, Penny,” I grunted, shifting away from her rough touch.

“What’s wrong with you?” she ridiculed, eyes narrowed.

“A lot,” I smugly replied, belly laughing uncontrollably. “A lot is fucking wrong with me, Penny.”

She angrily rushed out of the bedroom, leaving me alone. For a while, I was lost in my thoughts, until I heard faint footsteps from the hallway.

Jensen entered the room first, and Micah followed closely behind.

“You good?” Jensen asked.

I sighed, pushing my hands through my hair. Standing up from the bed and pulling up my pants, I shrugged. “I’m fine.” Glancing down at the time on my phone, I let out a sharp breath. Ten forty-five. “I have to go.”

“This early?” Micah asked. “You’ve only had two beers.”

“We’ll have enough to make up for him,” Jensen countered. “See you tomorrow?”

We locked eyes, and after a moment of silence, he nodded in mutual understanding. I didn’t even have to answer. He just knew. Micah did, too.

“Let us know if you need us, man,” Jensen said. “You know we’ll be there.”

I ended up leaving the party as sober as can be, ready to start a new adventure. It was a ten-minute walk from Marcus’ house before I got home. I still had more than enough time to spare.

But the moment I stepped inside, an eerie feeling crept up on me. Something didn’t seem right.

“Mom,” I called out, unsettled, looking up the top of the staircase.

There was silence.

Maybe, she was still at work.

Maybe, she changed her mind.

Or maybe…

Stepping through the doorway of the kitchen, I was suddenly frozen in place. My stomach twisted, and my heart nearly stopped. Time now ceased to exist.

My whole world crumbled around me.

Total paralysis claimed me as I stared at the image of my mother lying on the kitchen floor in a puddle of blood. She was dead. She was dead. She was dead.

Suddenly, she twitched.

I ran over to her, tripping over my own feet, and dropped down on the floor beside her. Her eyes were open…but barely.