Chapter 7 “Twisted”

Chapter 7 “Twisted”

Robert Hart sat in his office listening to the intercom he had on his desk. It was connected to a bug he’d left in his mother’s sunroom.

He’d found out the most interesting things over the last couple of years by planting microphones and cameras in various places throughout the estate. He had even hired private detectives to take pictures of Malcolm and his various girlfriends while he was in California.

His smile was conceited as he leaned back in his chair. He’d left those photos in places Lily would find them, hoping she would finally get mad enough to pack up and leave. Now it looked like he’d finally gotten his way. And with Lily abandoning her children like that… there was no way his mother would keep her in the will.

His smile widened, listening to his mother give his brother Malcolm a verbal thrashing. Hitting a button on his laptop, he decided to enjoy the show as the sunroom popped up on the screen.

“This is all your doing Malcolm! This is the first time you’ve been home in almost two years and what do you do? You bring some floozy back with you just to rub it in Lily’s face. You should have more consideration for the mother of your children… not to mention your own mother!” Isabel Hart snapped.

“Now mother, Felicia is not a floozy.” Malcolm put his arm around Felicia’s shoulder to comfort her, though now that he knew his ex-wife wasn’t here to witness it… it took all the fun out of having her here with him.

“Well, I think it best if you send her home,” Isabel glared at the girl. “I will have someone meet you at the gate in two hours. You are dismissed.” She hit the button on her wheelchair and spun the high-powered chair around, leaving them there.

Malcolm rolled his eyes knowing there was no talking to his mother when she set her mind to something. Standing up, he offered his hand to Felicia, helping her rise. “I’m sorry Felicia. I’ll give you the money for the plane ticket and meet you back in California in a week.”

Felicia pouted but decided to play along because she knew he would be back with her and that the old bat wouldn’t be alive much longer if she lost her temper like that often. Surely, she would have another heart attack soon. Then maybe Malcolm would come here to live and bring her with him now that his x-wife wasn’t living here.

Robert closed his laptop feeling very satisfied with himself. Maybe he’d just killed two birds with one stone.

*****

Less than an hour later, Felicia was sitting in a golf cart with her luggage behind her and Malcolm at the wheel. At first she’d been confused when Malcolm had told her they would have to drive one of these things to the bottom of the mountain.

She shrugged no longer caring. The cart was actually pretty fast and the road down the mountain was very smooth and filled with the most beautiful scenery. It was a shame they’d taken a helicopter in because she’d missed all of this. They had already been driving for almost an hour and she figured they were probably only about half way down the mountain.

Her eyes widened when one of the tires popped loud enough to sound like a gun shot and the cart started to shake on its rim.

“What the hell else can go wrong?” Malcolm grumbled as he climbed out then hissed sharply seeing a huge hole ripped out of the right front wheel. Looking out toward the woods, he strained to see anyone… but nothing prepared him for what was coming toward them.

“Felicia run!” Malcolm yelled right as he spun around to do the same thing.

“Heh?” Felicia glanced up from her seat just in time for another pop to sound and Malcolm’s back exploded, sending a spray of blood all over her neck and face. At first, all she could do was scream.

Climbing out of the cart, she tripped over her own feet but gained leverage quickly. She started running as fast as she could toward the bottom of the mountain where a car was supposed to be waiting to take her to the airport.

“Please… please don’t!” Felicia tripped again, skinning her knees but shot back to her feet when another bullet hit the dirt right beside her. “I just wanna go home!” she cried out as one of the bullets slammed into her calf muscle.

Looking over her shoulder as she ran, Felicia screamed as pure stubbornness kept her on her feet. She thought he’d stopped chasing her when she didn’t hear anything but the wind in her ears for what seemed like minutes. Her knee gave way when she heard another pop and she fell to the ground not feeling any pain.

Pulling her legs up closer, her lips trembled seeing her leg was barely attached from the knee down.

“Oh god… why are you doing this?” she sobbed as she heard the footsteps getting closer. “Just let me go home… I won’t tell… please. I didn’t do anything wrong.” Looking up and seeing just who the shooter was, she started to crawl away from him but felt a rope go around her neck, cutting off her air.

Clawing at the rope, her lips parted to ask why but her breath slowly ran out as he dragged her back toward the golf cart.

*****

Shae left Ashton sulking out by the pool. She had no idea what was wrong with Ashton but he seemed so mad. He wouldn’t even talk to her, or anyone else for that matter and he just kept staring up at the windows as if he was waiting on something. Now he was pretending to be asleep, though she knew he wasn’t.

As she walked back into the lobby she saw Hunter waving her over. “Hey Hunter,” she tried to smile but the day had really been a downer. “Did you hear?”

“That their mother left… yeah,” Hunter shrugged. “It’s not like she ever showed them any attention anyway.”

“I don’t think Angel feels that way… not really,” Shae frowned. “Have you seen her?”

“I know where she is,” Hunter said with a strange note in his voice. “She’s busy right now.”

Shae’s eyebrows furrowed wondering at his odd behavior but she let it drop. Were Angel and Tristian still together somewhere? “Have you seen Tristian?”

“No,” Hunter kept his eyes on the doorway as if expecting someone.

“Okay, this really sucks… we need to get everyone together and do something really fun like we used to,” Shae suggested. “Tristian and Angel need to be cheered up.”

“A bonfire out at the pond,” His lips lifted in a slow smile. “Can you spread the word? We’ve already set the fire pit up down there because it was on the list for one day this week.”

“Sure, I’m on it,” Shae smiled finally feeling a thrill of excitement go through her. Bonfires at Sanctuary had always been one of her all-time favorite things.

Hunter watched her leave then set about calling all the rooms and leaving messages on the answering machines just in case she didn’t get to everyone.

*****

Around eight o’clock, Robert Hart turned the pictures of his father over on his desk when there was a knock on his office door. He watched as his wife Dianne slipped in with a bottle of wine in her hand. Seeing the yellowed label he tilted his head, “Where’d you get that?”

“It was sitting in front of our bedroom door, and look… there’s a note,” Dianne smiled having already read it.

He reached out for the bottle seeing the tag hanging loosely from a gold rubber band. “To my son, the only one who has made me proud,” he read out loud as his eyes grew wider in victory. “It’s got to be from mother and from the looks of it… this bottle of wine is probably the oldest one she owns.”

“So what’s the celebration?” Dianne clapped her hands in front of her knowing Robert had been trying for years to get back into his mother’s good graces.

“It looks like mother has finally realized just who the good son really is… and I must say that it’s about time.” His eyes followed Dianne's sultry movements as she reached for the glasses he had on his own little private bar.

Standing up and stepping behind her, Robert pulled her against him with a hard jerk. “Are you ready to be the next Mrs. Hart to own Sanctuary?”

Dianne giggled pushing her ass against his groin. “I think this deserves the toast your mommy left for us,” she turned in his arms holding the two wine glasses out. “Would you do the honors, Mr. Hart?”

Robert grabbed the bottle feeling himself strain inside his pants. Nothing aroused him more than sealing a well-planned-out deal. Popping the cork with ease, he tilted it up, splashing wine into the glasses and on her breasts. Wrapping his arm around hers, they both raised the glasses in toast.

“To finally getting everything we deserve,” he tipped his glass back and downed the red liquid at the same time Dianne did. ”To Sanctuary.” Throwing the glasses down on the floor, he pushed her against the desk, lifting her skirt. “Now for my real reward.”

Dianne smiled in delight seeing her husband so eager. Laughing, she leaned back, falling across the desk, losing her breath as he started fumbling with her panties. Trying to suck air into her lungs, she realized she couldn’t breathe and started pushing against him as panic set in. Seeing his eyes widen as he too began gasping for breath, Dianne grabbed his shoulders as they both slid off onto the floor.

Lying there unable to move, Robert slowly managed to turn his head seeing the wine glass rolling back and forth with a couple drops left in it… then his sight went dim.

*****

Ray stabbed the ground with the last Tiki-torch then lit the flame. Seeing Tristian pouring the gas on the bonfire, he ripped the torch back out of the ground and headed toward it. Putting his hand on Angel’s shoulder he asked, “Want to do the honors?”

Angel turned around seeing Ray standing there with the torch. For a moment she was speechless as she watched the flame reflect in his dark eyes. Remembering what he had just asked, she nodded. “So, you’re finally gonna let me play with fire?” she joked… kind of.

Truth was… Ray had never let her start a bonfire… or any other kind of fire though she had always wanted to.

Ray kept his hand on the torch, “Only if we do it together.” He held the Tiki-torch up high, taking her hand and putting it near the bottom of the stick. Together, they lowered the top until it was close enough to the wood to ignite.

It blazed to life with a huge ‘whoosh’ making Angel flinch and step back into Ray. She blushed when his arm went around her to steady her.

Ray kept his arm around her as he lowered his lips to whisper in her ear, “You have finally grown up little Angel… all of this is for you.”

Angel felt like his words were magical… she had always thought so. She looked out at the fire then tensed up seeing Ash through the flames. He was just standing there staring straight at her and Ray. Knowing what it looked like, she stepped away from Ray but soothed it over by turning on him with a smile. “So, does this mean I can finally climb the tree that hangs out over the pond?”

“Only if you want me to spank you,” Ray warned, remembering that he had threatened to do it the day she had fallen from the same tree. Instead, he had taken his anger out on the two idiots that had let her do it.

Angel swallowed wondering if he knew how ominous his voice had just sounded. Lucky for her, Shae and Tristian came over… claiming her hands and pulling her back toward the tables.

“I brought both of you bathing suits,” Tristian fished in the small bag on the picnic table, coming up with two bikinis. “I knew you would want to swim.”

“Who says I wanted to wear anything while doing it?” Shae’s eyes lit up playfully but she grabbed them anyway, sticking them back in the bag. “But if you don’t want to skinny dip….” she left the offer hanging.

Tristian saw Angel’s blush and suddenly wished Shae would just shut up. “You guys go change.” He looked around at the darkness of the tree line, “On second thought… maybe I should follow you and stand guard.”

“Why don’t you go help Shae change and I’ll protect your sister from peeping-toms,” Ashton said from right behind Tristian. He took a determined step closer when Tristian turned and glared at him.

“I was including you in with those peeping-toms,” Tristian snapped blocking Ashton's way. Seeing Jason and Mandy nearby, he called them over. “Hey Jason, didn’t you say you were bringing a deck of cards?”

“Yeah,” Jason motioned to Mandy as she set her bag on the table and started pulling things out of it. “We have cards, dice, and girls. Yep, everything’s here.”

“I think we can handle getting dressed all by ourselves,” Angel informed them, grabbing the bag as she linked her arm around Shae’s and headed toward the surrounding trees. She almost recanted the statement when she noticed how dark the wooded area was. Slowing her steps, they found a little nook where they couldn’t see the ongoing party.

Hunter leaned against the bark of a tree as he watched Angel and Shae make their way toward him. He knew they couldn’t see him but his night vision was perfect as he completely ignored Shae and watched Angel's every movement.

Shae slowly changed wanting a minute to talk in private with her friend. “Angel? Are you happy with Ashton?” It was a blunt question but she felt like something was missing between them.

Angel bit her bottom lip as she shoved her bra in the bag and held the bathing suit up trying to decipher all the strings. Ok, maybe she was stalling. For once it might feel good to talk about at least some of her feelings and she did love Shae. “When I moved to California… for the first year, all I did was cry.”

“Oh God, Angel. I didn’t know that.” Shae turned around and tied Angel's top for her. “Why didn’t you tell me… or Tristian?”

“Because I didn’t want anyone to know,” Angel admitted. “Then I met Ashton and suddenly, he was just always there. I’m happy with him while we are in California,” she finally answered Shae’s original question.

“But you’re not happy with him while you’re here,” Shae read between the lines. “You’re not in love with him and you haven’t even slept together.” She shook her head thinking about the way Tristian had started acting so standoffish the moment Angel had come back to sanctuary. Maybe if Angel was sleeping with someone… Tristian wouldn’t obsess over her so much.

Angel slipped her clothes back on over her bathing suit. This conversation was making her nervous. “Honestly… I’ve never even thought about sleeping with him.”

“Maybe that’s where you’re going wrong,” Shae said as she picked the bag up. “You’re eighteen not eight. It’s high time you made love to somebody. After that… it will make it easier for you to fall in love. I don’t think I really loved your brother until after we made love.” She reached up and touched her ear feeling the joint she had stuck there earlier in the day. “I have something that will help.”

“Oh no,” Angel shook her head. “I’m not getting stoned again. I did that one time last year and didn’t like it. It makes me stupid then puts me to sleep.”

Shae shrugged then smiled mischievously, “Fine, no pot. The last thing we need is for you to go to sleep. But I think the twins were bringing something yummy.” She had a feeling the alcohol would be even better anyway. “Let's go find out.”

Hunter didn’t move a muscle for several minutes after they left.

*****

Stacey spread her small blanket out on one of the picnic tables near the pond and hopped up on it, looking out across the water. She smirked remembering skinny-dipping in the clear water only a couple of weeks ago with the twins then sighed wondering if her little fantasy would ever be fulfilled. If they would ever quit fighting over her… then she could have them both at the same time.

She grabbed a hold of the sides when the table suddenly lifted off the ground. Stacy laughed out loud when she turned to see Devin flexing his muscles as he lifted his end. Turning to the other side, she winked seeing Damien lifting the other end.

“Just sit tight little princess while we move you closer to the other tables,” Damien showed her his biceps as he made a show of walking the table across the grass to slide it against the others.

The twins grabbed the cooler they’d brought, hoisting it up on the table next to her and flipped the top open revealing their secret recipe. “Our famous party juice,” Devin grinned.

They gave each other a sly grin knowing earlier they had made a pact. The plan was to get Stacey so drunk that she wouldn’t care when they finally took her at the same time. After that… they planned on dumping her for playing them against each other for so long.

Stacey glanced into the cooler seeing all the fruit floating around in the reddish liquid. “My, my, you boys have been bad… haven’t you?” she smiled happily when they set plastic cups and spoons right beside the cooler.

Tiffany placed her boom box down beside the cooler making an irritated face at Stacey. The girl really got on her nerves… always expecting Devin and Damien to fight over her.

Shae came out of the woods noticing the cooler. “See Angel? Told you they were bringing something yummy.”

Angel looked down in the cooler seeing all the fruit. Grabbing one of the cups, she dipped it in and held it against the side, draining the drink out of it and leaving only fruit. Taking a plastic spoon, she tasted a grape finding it sweet and hot at the same time.

Backing back out of the crowd that had gathered, Angel sat down on the edge of the last picnic table and started eating, feeling it burn slightly as it went down.

Shae hopped up beside her with a cup of her own. “Hey, Paris!” Shae waved seeing Paris and Markus coming out of the trail. She plucked the joint from behind her ear and held it up. “Got a light?” She grinned.

Angel started eating her fruit faster as they lit the joint. When Markus tried to pass it to her, she popped a grape into her mouth shaking her head, “I already have a buzz… but thanks anyway.”

Markus took her almost empty cup and refilled it within seconds. “You do know that the fruit soaks up most of the alcohol in party juice and is actually more potent then the liquid, don’t you?”

Angel held the cup in front of her, toasting it at him. “See, told ya I already had a buzz.”

Paris started unpacking her bag. “And for the rest of us who will have the munchies later,” she held up the chips and finger foods.

Hunter caught Tristian’s attention and gave him the nod, letting him know he could cut Ashton loose at any time. He then approached Angel, leaning against the edge of the table and slipping his arm around her shoulder.

“I want a taste,” he said playfully.

Tristian folded his cards, standing up from the game. “I think I’m gonna go see what Shae’s doing before the bad influences rub off,” he nodded in her direction so Ashton would look and see Angel feeding Hunter a cherry with her finger. It looked so seductive it even made him want to growl so he knew it would work for Ashton.

Ashton stood up so fast he almost knocked the table over but Tristian and Jason quickly steadied it. Mandy lowered her eyelashes with an evil little smile seeing what all the fuss was about. Maybe this time Angel would get what was coming to her. “It looks like Angel traded you in for an Indian lover… poor Ashton.”

Jason rolled his eyes, “Shut up Mandy.”

Hunter chewed the cherry slowly, “Cherries, always were my favorite.”

“What the hell is going on?” Ashton strode up to stand right in front of them, glaring at Hunter when he didn’t remove his arm from around Angel.

“I was just tasting Angel’s cherry,” Hunter said with a roguish smirk.

“I’ll give you a cherry,” Ashton said as he knocked Angel's cup out of her hand then drew back his fist to hit Hunter.

“No!” Angel cried, trying to get between them but was jerked out of the way by Tristian as everyone scattered to give the boys room. “Tristian, stop them!”

“Not on your life,” Tristian growled in her ear as Hunter blocked the punch and hit Ashton so hard the man almost turned full circle. He cocked an eyebrow when Ashton refused to fall.

“You’re not fighting a girl this time, pretty boy,” Hunter taunted him as he took a threatening step closer. “Come on… let us see how you do against a man.” He wanted to kill Ashton but he was taking it as easy as he could because he didn’t want Angel to see his dark side… only Ashton's.

Ashton's eyes narrowed suspiciously as he threw another punch right at Hunter's face but the Indian sidestepped and grabbed his arm, bringing it up behind him and twisting it at an awkward angle.

Hunter swung Ashton around to face Angel, grabbing his hair and pulling his head back so he would have to look at her. “Haven’t you forgotten to tell Angel a couple things about yourself?”

“You’re bent! You know that!” Ashton struggled but Hunter's hold was like steel. “Angel!” He growled, giving into to the frustration. “Tell your fucking lover to let go of me!”

Hunter slammed Ashton's face into the picnic table then lifted him back up to face Angel again. “Let’s try it again… nicer this time. Tell Angel why you’re not worthy of her,” his voice grew dark and dangerous. “Did you really think we would let someone like you anywhere near Angel?”

Ashton spit the blood out of his mouth right at Angel's feet. “Fuck all of you!”

Angel shook her head cringing at the blood now coming out of Ashton's nose, “Hunter, I don’t wanna know… just please stop hurting him like that.”

Hunter sighed but didn’t let go, “He needs to confess to you.” He made Ashton's head bob up and down as he added, “Confession is good for the soul… right Ash?”

Ashton knew the cat was out of the bag and that if he didn’t tell Angel what really happened, then the jerk holding him would make it sound even worse. Maybe he could still salvage his reputation and make Angel feel sorry for him at the same time.

Letting tears fill his eyes, Ashton gave her a pleading look, “Angel… they have it all wrong. I had dated her for almost two years and found out she was cheating on me.”

“Poor baby,” Hunter mocked. “Now tell her what you did.”

“She was a slut!” Ashton jerked trying to break free. To his surprise, Hunter let go and pushed him to the ground.

“If you won’t tell her all of it… then I will,” Hunter warned using all of his self-control not to pull out his knife and simply slit the man’s throat. If he didn’t have an audience, he would cut the man’s dick off and shove it in his mouth, then stitch his lips shut. Ashton Fox had gotten lucky.

“We had an argument!” Ashton swiped at the blood on his face. “She wasn’t sorry at all.”

Tristian let go of Angel but pushed her behind him as he stepped forward, “And that gives you the right to beat the hell out of her, then rape her and put her in the hospital for two weeks?” The thought of how many times this man must have been alone with his sister made him see red.

Giving it everything he had, Tristian kicked Ashton right in the face, laying the man out cold.

Hunter breathed in and out through his teeth, glad someone else had done it because if it had been left up to him… the man would be screaming bloody murder right now. He glanced at Angel seeing the horror in her eyes at what her brother had just done and what she had just heard about Ashton.

Tristian raised his foot ready to plant it in the back of Ashton's head but was pulled backwards. He blinked feeling strong hands on his shoulders holding him back.

“Why don’t you let us take him back to Sanctuary?” Damien suggested. “I think the girls have seen enough for one night.”

Tristian jerked his head to the side seeing tears running down Angel's cheeks. She wasn’t looking at him but at Ashton's prone form. He didn’t understand… she didn’t understand. The prick deserved to die… all of them deserved to die.

Jerking away from Damien he growled, “If you want me to stop… then you might want to get him out of my sight.”

Devin and Damien came around them, lifting Ashton and started up the trail with him. Stacey took off after them though she stayed several paces behind the twins.

“It’s never a good party until there’s a fight,” Markus said very loudly to break the tension as he took another toke off the joint and passed it to Paris. Seeing everyone looking like they were caught in the headlights, he turned the music up and grabbed Paris’s hand. “Come swimming with me.” He picked her up in his arms bridal style making her giggle as they took off toward the water.

Tiffany glanced toward the path then made up her mind to follow the twins. Maybe she would have a chance to get Devin away from the other two after they did whatever they were going to do with Angel’s boyfriend… or ex- boyfriend.

Shae watched as Tristian turned his head away from his sister as if he was suddenly sorry for hitting Ashton in front of her. Thinking she could help, she reached out and touched his arm as if to console him but jerked back when he flinched and glared down at her. She could still see the raw anger in his eyes.

“I’m sorry Angel… but it had to be done,” Tristian said without looking at her then walked away from everyone.

Shae watched him start in the opposite direction from sanctuary. He had picked the trail that led around the huge pond. Without saying anything to anyone, she started after him.

One thing slipped into her mind as she walked, keeping her distance behind Tristian. If the guys knew that about Ashton… then why was she left to baby-sit him all day? Was Tristian so focused on his sister that he didn’t care if his girlfriend got hurt?

Jason dipped another cup of fruit out of the cooler and held it out to Angel. “Here, this will help. And don’t be so hard on your brother. If I had found out Markus was a rapist and dating Paris… I would have done worse than that.”

Angel took the cup seeing all the cherries and looked at Hunter somehow knowing he had started the fight on purpose.

Hearing laughter out in the water, Jason grabbed Mandy’s hand, “Speaking of sisters, let's go make sure mine’s not so stoned that she forgets how to swim.”

For once Mandy was smart enough to keep her mouth shut.

Hunter kept his eyes locked on Angel’s, refusing to be ashamed in any way. He sighed when she looked back down at her cup then started eating the fruit in little fast jerky motions. He sat down on the edge of the picnic table, keeping the distance between them. He could tell she was pissed but he wondered what pissed her off the most.

“How long have you guys known about Ashton?” Angel asked between bites.

“So, you’re mad because we didn’t tell you?” Hunter confirmed his real suspicion then gave her a reason. “We didn’t find out until after you went to bed last night.”

“I’m mad for many reasons right now,” Angel snapped even though she felt more like crying.

“You didn’t love him Angel and we all know it,” Hunter snapped back. “We had to do something to protect you.”

“Did you have to slam his face into the picnic table right in front of me?” Angel yelled throwing her empty cup down and standing up. Feeling the alcohol make her sway just a little, she frowned and jerked her shirt and skirt off.

“I’m going swimming… so just take your secrets and leave me alone.” She took off running for the water knowing she could out swim any of them.

Hunter gritted his teeth figuring if he followed her he would only make her angrier. Besides, he was fully dressed and by the time he took his clothes off she would be long gone.

Angel swam until she reached the little island that was just past the middle of the pond. Climbing out onto the sandy beach that was no bigger than fifteen feet across, she sat down hugging her arms around her knees. Ashton was a very, very bad guy.

Remembering all the kind things Ashton had done for her… and with her… then seeing the vision of the way his eyes had watered as he looked up at her for help finally kicked in and Angel