At some point Zack's small attention span got the best of him, and he decided to leave. I however had fallen down the rabbit hole of theories. Trying to see if I could find each piece to the puzzle. However I ended up with more questions than answers.
Should we be expecting more gang attacks? Was there some being manipulating this entire thing? And why save the gang members in the first place? Was it to display its power? Or was It just a mission gone wrong?
"Ahh this it's like being up stream without a paddle!" I groaned.
I flopped back on the couch and closed my eyes. My brain was fried at this point.
Then I heard the click of the door unlocking. I sat up and looked at the door. Keeping a skeptical eye. Either that was Lux, or some demon.
But my nerves calmed themselves as I saw my sisters raven locks. She had a big smile on her face as she stepped inside.
"Hey Lux." I called out.
She looked over to me, and her smile quickly faded.
"Stryder! What happened to your face!" she shrieked.
Her eyes got wide and she dropped her bag. Quickly dashing over to me. She skidded to a stop next to me and scanned over my body. Rapidly asking question after question.
However, I kind of just got lost looking at her. She reminded me so much of mom. I remember when mom used to clean up my scraps and bruises. She used to call me a wild child. I couldn't help but smile at the memory.
"My bad, sis.." I said softly.
"What happened!" She demanded.
I explained to her what happened with the gang and Zack, minus the molotov fire and the angel. I Just told her we beat them up and they ran off. Needless to say, Lux wasn't pleased.
She looked me over and fixed me up some more. She was going to college to be a doctor, so she knew a thing or two about how to fix me up the right way (apparently I had done a crappy job.)
"Lucky I wasn't there. I'd bust a cap in the-"
"We can handle ourselves Lux."
"I know, I know, but they're messing with my boys! I got my pistol under my bed, Stryder. Remember that."
Before I could reply, we were both stopped by uncontrollable laughter coming from behind us. We both turned to see our dad, surprisingly looking pretty sober.
My dad was tall and a bit chubby. There was barely any hair left on his head, and he had the look of a man who had just woke up from a nap. For the first time in awhile, I saw him laughing and smiling. It kind of put me at ease to see him smiling. It had been so long.
"Oh, look at the old cursed child getting into fights again," he chimed cheerfully.
"Shut it Dad. You're drunk!" Lux fired back at him.
"Still taking up for that piece of trash? What one thing has he done for this house? I pay the damn bills around here."
"I said shut up! You're drunk," Lux yelled again.
"I'm perfectly sober. Don't make up lies so that cursed boy will feel better. He's destined to ruin lives. He's nothing but dead weight and it's about time someone told him the truth. That's why Serena's dead! Because of that thing over there!"
I couldn't take it anymore. It felt like there was a fire building up inside me, growing more wild with each word that came out of his mouth. I was done holding back the flames within me. I wanted to let it out.
"I don't need you to believe in me, all right! I know I'm useless! I know I'm good for nothing! And I know I killed Mom that night! But-but!" I could barely keep talking. My heart was racing and my hands were in fists, trying to keep my shaking body still, but I managed to push the words out. "But I will make it up to her!"
All he did was laugh at me again, even harder than before. "Boy, you're trash, always have been and always will be."
Before I could even process what he said, Lux ran up and punched my dad in the face. He stumbled back and fell against the counter. Lux stared at Dad and he stared back at her, rubbing his face in disbelief, leaning against the sink. We all just stood there in silence. I could see the shock and confusion in her eyes as she looked down at her fist. I wanted to say something, anything, but the words just wouldn't come out.
"You see, what'd I tell you. You always start trouble." He groaned.
He pushed off the counter and glared daggers at me. Trudging off to his room.
I stayed still, letting his words really hit me. He was right. He was always right about me. I am cursed.
"I'm, I'm so sorry," I muttered.
I tried my best to hold back my tears. I didn't want Lux to pity me. This was all my fault after all. I could barely think straight. My heart left like it was gonna explode.
Before Lux could say anything. I darted toward the window. It was difficult, but I managed to fling it open and jumped onto our fire escape.
"Wait Stryder!" I heard Lux yell.
But I just scaled down the steps. And once I touched the ground I ran. I didn't know where I was going. I didn't care either. I just needed to get away. I kept running and running until I couldn't run anymore, and found myself in some type of park. I didn't even notice, but the clouds were filling the sky. It was gonna rain, and I was too tired to go anywhere else.
I felt so weak on the inside, like I was crumbling away piece by piece.
"Everything is my fault," I muttered to myself.
I was the reason Dad started drinking. I was the reason Lux couldn't enjoy her college years. I was the reason Alexis couldn't be happy with Zack. I was the reason everyone's lives were miserable! All I wanted was to see people smile. I should just disappear. If I wasn't around, everyone could be so much happier...