Unraveling Mathias by Marisa Maichel (reading women TXT) 📕

"Do your ribs hurt?" Father asked.

"No, not necessarily."

"Reese."

"Okay, I think a couple might be broken. There's not much we can do about my ribs, though." He frowned at my chest.

"Oh, son," he sighed, exasperated. "What am I going to do with you?"

"You could start by not blocking him again," Uncle Soren said.

"Shut up, Soren. You're right, though. I shouldn't have blocked him. That was my mistake. It won't happen again."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Scarlett started following me around in school. Her route changed so that it matched mine. If I tried to go a different way, she seemed to know about it. Sarah didn't like it and made a few snide comments. I told her to calm down and she didn't speak to me for the rest of the day.

Sarah was tense, moody. Ariella let it slip that Sarah was having nightmares again. Her dreams were very vivid, Ariella had said, and Sarah was hurting from them. She also mentioned that Sarah's mother Alicia was drinking heavily again. Mother was watching Sarah twenty four/seven now. So was Alexander. But while he was more concerned about the baby, Mother was truly worried about Sarah.

One night, Sarah and I were cuddling on the couch and watching a musical. Both of us said it was bad, but neither of us could tear our eyes away.

"Reese, what would you do if...nevermind," Sarah began.

"Sarah, tell me," I ordered.

"No, I don't think I will. You'll get upset."

"Sarah Cresley, tell me this instant."

"Fine. I was just thinking, what would you do if Glen made a reappearance?"

"I'd kill him. I think it would end, though, if you told him that you choose me."

"Yeah, probably."

"There's no 'probably' about it."

"Why are you in such a bad mood?"

"I'm not!" I snapped. She huffed and sat on the other side of the couch.

"Why are you blaming me?" she asked.

"Sarah Harper Cresley, the day I blame you for this will be a cold day in Mexico. Why are you in such a mood?"

"Because you're blaming me for this, because I'm pregnant, because Scarlett won't back off, and because I'm craving ice, and ice is not being produced."

"I'm sorry," I said quietly after a moment. "I know you've been having nightmares."

"That, too. And I'm sorry, too." She sat beside me again. I pulled her into my lap. "What do you say we change the channel?"

"Sounds good. There's a documentary on mollusks tonight."

"Sarah, you hate documentaries."

"Not all documentaries. Just the ones not about things I'm interested in."

"Which would be fashion and dogs."

"Hey, there's more to me than that, you know."

"I haven't seen you draw or heard you sing in a long time!" I said.

"My voice keeps cracking. And I don't know what to draw."

"You could draw me."

"I have drawn you, many times." She seemed embarassed at her confession. She looked back at the fire in the fireplace. "I should go home."

"It's Friday night, and it's only seven," I reminded her.

"Yeah, it is," she said softly. She got up and went to grab her purse. I stood up and followed her.

"Sarah, stay," I begged, holding her arms.

"I can't. It's Friday, and Mom's probably to get drunk again. Please don't ask me again."

"Stay," I said anyway. "I'm sorry we fought tonight."

"Bye, Reese." She stood on her toes and kissed my chin. Then she pulled her tennis shoes on and grabbed her keys and purse.

I turned the TV off and went to my room to mope. I laid in bed, turned toward the wall. I soon felt a feline jump onto my bed. I looked back. It was Sugar. She sniffed the covers, then started kneading my pillows. The cat settled herself on one of the pillows.

CHAPTER NINE - FORGIVENESS

Sarah called me the next day and apologized for her part in our fight. I apologized for mine. We agreed to meet up that day at The Book Mart. One thing that Sarah and I did have in common was that we both loved to read and collect books, although our taste in genres differed.

Sarah preferred romance, contemporary, chick lit. I preferred horror, thrillers, suspense. We both loved fantasy and mysteries. I enjoyed reading fantasy because some of it was surprisingly accurate to real life, and other times it was so absurdly false.

When we met at The Book Mart, we hugged and chose a table. The Book Mart had recently started selling drinks as well. Sarah filled up her basket, and I filled up mine. Together, we had about fifty books. I bought all of them at once to save time and money.

"Are you sure you're okay with it?" Sarah asked for the zillionth time.

"Yes, sweetheart. Our money will be combined someday anyway." She bit her lip and picked up a Julie Anne Peters book. She focused her attention on that for awhile. I quickly bought caffeine-free tea for her and water for me. She sat in a chair, reading the book. I looked around, carefully watching for enemies.

I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. It was a big black cat. It was staring at me. "Can I help you?" I said.

"Dawn! Leave him alone!" The salesgirl smiled at me. "Sorry. She's just curious."

"Her name is Dawn?" I said.

"Yeah. She came to us last winter. We call her our little psychic." The salesgirl gave an awkward laugh and went back to work. I looked at Dawn. She seemed to be smiling at me.

"You know, you remind me of another cat," I said. "He's big, black, and has long fur, like you. His name is Shadowfang." The cat's ears seemed to perk up. She jumped off the shelf and weaved between my legs.

Sarah soon said that she had to go. She had work. I put her books in her trunk, jumping a mile when my cell phone rang.

"Hello?" I grouched.

"Reese! Thank the gods!"

"Father? What's going on?"

"Mathias is here, in New Jersey! He attacked Soren!"

I stared at the phone in shock.

"What...how?"

"I don't know how he got here-Toby and Dimitri are scouting the woods now. Spencer is with your uncle. He's at St. Brigid's!"

"I'll be there soon."

"You are to go straight home and wait for the guys. Do not even think of going to the hospital!"

"Father, when have I ever listened to you?"

"REESE EMERSON, YOU WILL GO HOME OR I SWEAR I'LL GROUND YOU FOR LIFE!"

"No, you won't. My life is going to be pretty long."

"Hang on, Toby's calling." Father put me on hold for a minute. I looked at Sarah, who was watching me with wide eyes.

"Family emergency," I told her. "Stay away from the woods behind my house. I'll see you later." I kissed her. She got in her car, and I got in my van. I put the phone on speaker and put it on the dashboard.

Finally, Father's voice came on. "Well, it's a good thing you're not home. Mathias was caught trying to break in."

"So I can go to the hospital?"

"Uh...I'll still rather you didn't. Soren doesn't look too good right now."

"Father, I can handle anything."

"No, you can't. This is bad, Reese. Trust me. Go to the store, or go see your friends."

I hung up on him. I would probably pay for it later, but right now, I didn't care.

My eyes widened. Uncle Soren was a mess. He was completely bloated. Everything from his face to his middle was completely swollen.

"There you are!" Father said.

"How grounded am I?" I asked. He sighed.

"You have no idea how tempted I am to lock you up and stand guard over you for a hundred years. But that would not help anything, so you're off the hook."

"Mordecai, leave him alone," Uncle Soren said, causing me to jump. His voice was deeper and more gravelly than normal. "He wanted to check on his favorite uncle."

"You're his only uncle, you bloated sack of stupid!"

Uncle Soren gave Father the finger.

"Where's Louis?" I asked.

"Still at the store, I expect. He'll stay there unless Sarah tells him. She works today, correct?" I nodded.

"Shit," Uncle Soren said.

"How do you feel?" I asked him.

"Bloated. I can literally feel the air beneath my skin."

"How did this happen?" Father asked.

"How the fuck should I know? Mathias just jammed a huge-ass needle into my gut, and now this is my life."

"How did he even get-"

"Don't ask questions you don't want answered, Mordecai."

"Don't interrupt, Soren. How did he even get close to you?"

"I was a dumbass. I really thought he'd changed."

"Wow, you really are a bloated sack of stupid!"

"Screw you, Blondie!"

"Both of you shut up!" I cried. "You're giving me a headache." Father glared at me, and I glared back. I paced around the room. "Crap, this is my fault."

"It's not your fault, Reese," Uncle Soren said. "It was my own fault for getting too cocky."

"How did he even get to America?" Father asked. We all looked at each other and shrugged.

"How did he get to America the first time?" I asked. "That's the real question."

"No, the real question is how he got out of the hospital," Uncle Soren said, then winced. "Odin, my ribs hurt."

Our heads snapped up at a commotion.

"Get out of my way! He's my father!" Louis came into view, hair tangled and looking frazzled. "Oh, fuck." He had just seen his father. "I didn't believe it at first...I'm so glad that I confirmed it with Sarah."

"What about my Sarah?" I asked.

"Mathias came into the store and started scaring her. I got involved, and he went on this rant about how justice was finally done and that he'd gotten revenge. I kicked him out, then I asked Sarah if you'd gotten a call. She'd mentioned that you and her had hung out this morning," he explained.

"Oh, sure, it's not enough to hear it from Mathias himself, you had to hear it from Sarah!" Uncle Soren snapped.

"Wait a minute," I said, looking at Louis. "Did you leave her alone?"

"No, Mr. Overprotective, I left her with Richard and Delia."

"Hold on, why is Delia still there?" Father asked.

"Louis wants to ravage her," I said, frowning at my cousin.

"Here's an order: fire Delia. She's a spoiled brat," Father said.

"You're the owner, you do it!" Louis retorted.

"ALL OF YOU SHUT UP!" roared another voice. It was Grandfather.

"How long have you been there?" Father demanded.

"Long enough to know that Mathias attacked Soren." We all looked at him in shock. Why had none of us heard or smelled him? Grandfather pressed his fingers to his temples. "Soren, describe the attack."

"I got a call from Mathias saying that he wanted to make amends. I asked him how he got my number, and he only said that he "had his ways". He said that he was sorry and that as brothers, we should be consoling each other. I stupidly believed him, and he made me feel guilty, so I went to meet him. That's when he attacked. That's the short version."

"Mordecai, how did you find out?"

"Soren called me himself. I begged him to go to the hospital, and I'm so glad he listened to me."

"So am I. Reese, begin."

"Father called me. He begged me go to the house. I was just ending a date with Sarah, and I told him that I was heading to the hospital anyway. He got a call from Toby, who said that he and Dimitri had caught Mathias."

"I will question Toby and Dimitri, then, and then I will question Mathias. Mordecai, I assume you want to be involved?"

"Of course," Father assented.

"And Louis?"

"Yes."

"Reese?"

"UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES-"

"Mordecai, shut it. If the boy wants to be involved in the questioning, you cannot stop him."

"Yes, I do," I confirmed. Father looked at me like I'd canceled a major holiday.

"Mordecai, Reese is old enough," Uncle Soren said. "He's almost eighteen."

"I know how old he is, fatso," Father snapped.

"Wow, Mordecai. Calling me fatso, that's really mature."

"It's true! Even when you're not bloated, you're still fat!"

"Enough!" Grandfather said in his I-am-the-coven-leader voice. "Mordecai, don't tease your brother. I swear, it's like neither of you grew up at all."

Uncle Soren groaned and clutched his chest.

"Dad?" Louis said. "Are you okay?"

"My