Chapter 67

I was never someone who panicked in stressful situations, normally, i kept a tight leash over my emotions until after everything had calmed down. But not today. Panic has a hold over me that i can’t shake, one that will more than likely get me killed, and i am not ready to say goodbye to life. Not yet.
Sean walks closer to the bar, watching me as a predator does its prey, but my head will not be his trophy, i won’t allow it.
I won’t ever become the person they want me to be, i will never kill for them. No matter how many times they threaten me.
“This is your last chance Mae, you can either come quietly, or we will take you by force.” Nathanial smirks, he knows he has me cornered. “The choice is yours, girl, make sure you make the right one.”
There is only one choice i can make, and that’ll lead to a fight, a fight i am not sure i can win.
Sean leans against the bar, twirling his blade in his left hand, “Look at her eyes dad, she isn’t going to come quietly, she’s just stalling.” he laughs bitterly, “She was always good at distracting you long enough to get her own way.”
Nathanial stares at me for several seconds, the tightness is my body becoming worse with each moment that he just looked at me. It was as though he was trying to come to a decision, and i know it’ll be one that doesn’t lean towards mercy.
The man who raised me doesn’t know the meaning of mercy, he would never show it to his own children, let alone a Nati.
I always thought I'd be safe from his wrath because i was his little girl, but i was wrong. I was the one he hated the most. Because of me, my mother tried to leave him.
Nathanial doesn’t cope well with rejection, and because she tried to leave, he got her killed. Just as he was trying to do to me.
I guess sometimes history really does repeat itself.
“Get her Sean.” Nathanial finally says, sighing as though all of this is tedious. “But don’t kill her.”
I tighten my hand around the knife Mihai gave to me, knowing that i am going to have to use it against my brother.
I loved my brothers once, i looked up to them, i wanted to be just like them. But not anymore. Now they are everything i don’t want to become.
Sean smiles maliciously, his eyes gleaming with crazy, and then, he lunges himself over the bar and slams me into the bottles of whiskey and vodka. Shards of glass tear into my back, and i scream, not because it hurt, but because i wanted them to think it did. I want them to believe i am hurt.
Sean pins the hand i am holding the blade in, but he doesn’t see me pick up a shard of broken glass, he doesn’t even notice when i swing my arm and punch him in the jaw, the glass imbedding itself in his cheeks.
It is his turn to scream, and he sounds like a small, wounded child, it throws me off for a second, and that is all he needs. He pulls the glass from his cheek and slices it across my chest, cutting deep enough for blood the splutter across his white shirt.
I grunt, but i don’t scream, i cannot afford the luxury of showing my pain, “Is that all you’ve got, big bro?” i taunt, twisting my arm and breaking free of his less than perfect grip.
I roll over the bar, putting some space between us, and i am glad that i do, to be honest, the blood loss is making me dizzy. I chance a glance out of the restaurant window, but i can’t see Mihai or Luthor anywhere.
They're probably fighting for their lives. Just as i am.
I can’t expect someone else to come to my rescue, i must find a way to save myself.
“is that all you can do, little sis?” my brother taunts, “All you have ever done is run. No more. Face me or die.” his face darkens, “Or maybe I'll just kill you anyway.”
I turn to Nathanial, expecting him to scold Sean, but he doesn’t say anything, he doesn’t tell him to keep me alive anymore.
Maybe i really have burnt all my family bridges.
I shrug my shoulders, playing with the knife in my hand, “Kill me if you want, but it’ll never make your face any better.” i joke, “It will give you something to brag about though, other than your raging temper.”
Maybe i shouldn’t taunt him, it’ll only make things worse for me, in the end. But i can’t help myself, he’s a bully. He always has been. Just never to me. Not until the day i was taken from home.
“I’m going to gut you.” he promises, jumping over the bar and stalking towards me.
I manage to dodge his first punch, but the second connects with the wound in my chest, and i gasp in pain. Fuck. That hurt. A lot.
I twirl to the side when he launches another fist at me, stabbing him in the arm with my blade. If i can just hurt him enough to make him stop. I don’t want to kill him, even if he wouldn't show me the same mercy.
He is still my brother, no matter how fucked up he is.
He growls when my blade pierces his skin, but it doesn’t stop him, he lunges at me again, and again, and all i can do is move away. I don’t want to hurt him.
Nathanial laughs from somewhere to my left, “She isn’t even trying to hurt you Sean, she thinks she is better than you.”
What the fuck? When did i give that impression? I'm trying not to fucking hurt him!
Sean takes the bait, and he growls in pure rage, running right at me and knocking me flying, my body, and his crashing through the window and out into the car park.
I roll across the tarmac and sob a little, that was way worse than the knife, shards of glass are all over me now.
Sean grunts as he stumbles to his feet, staggering forward, ready to attack again.
But i am not ready, i don’t want to do this.
I don’t want to have to fight my brother.
“Stop holding back Mae!” comes a voice i had been longing to hear, “Don’t show him mercy when you would get nothing back!”
Mihai. He wants me to fight for real, and i can’t. I can’t hurt my brother, no matter how much he hates me. We are still family.
“You aren’t family anymore!” Luthor shouts somewhere behind me. “They won’t show you mercy because of what you are, remember your mother!”
I pause, staring at Sean as he smirks creully. “Listen to them little sis, you won’t see any mercy from me, or have you forgotten who i am?”
I did forget, for a moment. But not anymore.
If i want to live, i must do this.
I must kill my brother.