Chapter 6 The words I couldn’t swallow
THEA
I have bodies to bury.
The words echoed inside my skull, loud, violent, and unrelenting.
He hadn't flinched when he said it. His rough, gravelly voice hadn't carried a single trace of hesitation or fear. It had been smooth. Casual. The bored confession of a monster who treated human lives like discarded blunt roaches beneath his boot heel.
My knees trembled violently beneath me as I pushed the side door open and slipped back inside the house.
The contrast hit me like a physical blow. The house was warm, bathed in soft, golden light, smelling richly of roasted pork tenderloin, garlic butter, and expensive red wine. Soft jazz hummed gently from the living room speakers. It was a picture of domestic perfection, an obscene, suffocating lie.
I walked stiffly down the hallway and stopped right at the entrance of the dining room.
Calvin was leaning back comfortably in his chair at the head of the table, swirling a glass of burgundy wine, laughing softly as Mom leaned affectionately toward him. My mom was glowing, her cheeks flushed with alcohol, her diamond-encrusted bracelet catching the chandelier light.
The sheer normalcy of the scene made my stomach knot so hard I nearly choked.
“Mom,” I said.
My voice was too loud, too raw, cracking straight through the smooth jazz.
Her laughter died instantly. She set her fork down with a sharp click against the porcelain plate, her delicate eyebrows drawing together in immediate irritation. “Thea? Where did you run off to? You’ve been gone for nearly twenty minutes. Our dinner is getting cold.”
“I need to talk to you,” I said, keeping my hands jammed deep into the pockets of my hoodie to hide the violent tremors in my fingers. “In the kitchen. Right now.”
Calvin tilted his head, his warm, polished smile resting comfortably on his face as he set his wine glass down. “Is everything alright, Thea? You look like the cold out there gave you quite a shock.”
Hearing his calm, cultured voice sent a sickening prickle of ice down my spine. I looked at Calvin’s tailored grey suit, his immaculate styled hair, and the terrifying warning Emmett had just uttered flared violently in my memory: Calvin Rhodes is the one everyone should be more afraid of.
I couldn't look at him. I couldn't breathe the same air.
“Mom. Please,” I choked out, my eyes pleading directly with her. “It’s important.”
She let out an exasperated sigh, dabbing her lips with her linen napkin before offering Calvin an apologetic, fluttering smile. “Excuse me for one moment, darling. My daughter seems to be having one of her dramatic episodes.”
“Take all the time you need, sweetheart,” Calvin said smoothly, taking another slow sip of his wine, his cold grey eyes lingering on my face just a beat too long.
She stood up, her heels clicking sharply against the hardwood floor as she strode into the kitchen. The second the swinging kitchen door clicked shut behind us, cutting us off from Calvin, her pleasant mask shattered into pure venom.
She grabbed both of my arms, her fingers digging fiercely into my sleeves as she yanked me toward her, her chest heaving with suppressed rage.
“What is wrong with you?” she hissed, her voice trembling. “Do you have any idea how important tonight is? Calvin is the most generous, respected man in this city, and you are acting like an unhinged child!”
“Mom, listen to me!” I pulled against her grip, my voice dropping to a frantic, desperate whisper. “You cannot marry him! You have to cancel this wedding right now!”
She stared at me in stunned disbelief, her mouth parting slightly before her face hardened into disgust. “Cancel the wedding? Are you out of your mind?”
“Something is wrong with them, Mom! Something is horribly, horribly wrong!” Tears of pure frustration burned behind my eyelashes, but I forced them back, leaning in close. “Emmett... Emmett is dangerous. He carries a hunting knife in his jacket. He was out on our patio right now doing... doing disgusting, terrifying things! And last night, Mom, last night near the music building, when Maya was killed...”
Her hands shot out, gripping my shoulders and shaking me hard, her chest heaving, her eyes wild with furious, bitter tears.
“Don’t you dare,” she whispered viciously, shaking her finger inches from my nose. “Don’t you dare try to ruin this for me, Thea!”
“Mom...”
“Ever since your father walked out the door and left us with nothing, you have looked at every single man like he’s a villain!” Her voice cracked with years of pent-up resentment. “I spent ten miserable years working double shifts, drowning in debt, struggling to put food on our table while you skated on that ice! And now, when I finally have a chance at real security, when a good, wealthy man actually wants to take care of us, you want to burn it to the ground with your sick, paranoid fantasies!”
“It’s not a fantasy!” I choked out, a sob ripping out of my throat. “I saw him, Mom! I saw Emmett standing over Maya’s body!”
She didn't even blink. Her expression twisted with total disdain, her grip on my shoulders tightening until my bones ached.
“You are grieving, and you are hysterical,” she spat coldly. “Calvin told me all about Emmett before they even arrived. Emmett is a troubled boy. He lost his mother, he acts out, and he dresses like a delinquent to rebel against his father. That doesn't make him a murderer! And you... you are just a selfish, jealous girl who can’t stand to see her mother happy!”
She pulled me even closer, her face inches from mine, her voice dropping into a razor-sharp threat.
“You will wash your face. You will walk back out into that dining room. You will sit in your chair, smile, and apologize to Calvin for your behavior. And on Saturday, you will put on that bridesmaid dress and walk down that aisle. If you utter one more insane word about Emmett or the police, I swear to God, Thea, you can pack your bags and find somewhere else to live.”
The words struck me right in the center of my chest.
I looked at the woman holding me, the mother I had spent years trying to protect, the mother I had swallowed my own pride for, and realized she was completely gone. She was blind, deaf, and entirely drunk on Calvin Rhodes’s money.
She wouldn't save me. She wouldn't save herself.
Before I could answer, the kitchen door swung softly open.
Calvin stepped into the room. He had his hands resting casually in his trouser pockets, his grey hair gleaming under the overhead lights. His expression was calm, gentle, and utterly terrifying.
“Everything alright in here?” he asked softly, looking between my pale face and her trembling hands.
Mom instantly let go of my arms and smoothed her silk blouse, forcing a breathless, cheerful laugh. “Oh, perfectly fine, darling. Just... minor pre-wedding jitters. Thea was just feeling a bit overwhelmed by how fast everything is moving.”
Calvin walked forward with slow, measured steps. He stopped right in front of me. Slowly, he reached out, his warm, heavy hand resting gently on my shoulder.
A hard, violent shudder ran straight down my spine. The urge to scream, to yank myself away from his touch, roared in my throat, but my boots felt glued to the floor.
Calvin leaned down slightly, his grey eyes locking onto mine with an unreadable, suffocating weight.
“Emmett can be quite intense, Thea,” Calvin murmured, his voice silky smooth, carrying a strange, dark vibration that made the hair on my arms stand straight up. “He has a very rough exterior. But once we are all under one roof, I assure you... I have ways of making him behave.”
His fingers tightened on my shoulder just enough to bruise before he released me.
“Now,” Calvin smiled, turning back toward the dining room. “Shall we finish our wine?”
“Of course, sweetheart,” she chirped, eagerly following him out.
I stood completely alone in the bright kitchen, the air turning thin and freezing around me.
I have bodies to bury.
Calvin Rhodes is the one everyone should be more afraid of.
I wasn't safe. Not in this house. Not in this family.
If I stayed here tonight, the front door would lock, and the monsters would be inside with me.
