♤PACTS♤

Chapter 18 - Lonely walks with alcoholics

Danny Torent's POV

With two beers in hand, I make my way up the stairs. I was cloaked in the shadows as I walked closer to the only room in the tower. The sound of objects breaking had me rethinking my strategy, but I remember Carlos parting words.

"Give her a reason to trust you."

I open the door a crack and throw a knife of my own.

It must have caught Rae Jean but not me by surprise because as I opened the door fully, I met her holding the knife with a dangerous smile and an evil glint in her eye.

"Let's go for a walk," I said more like a demand.

I would have requested, but that would waste more time, and time was not on our side.

She glared at me but didn't argue. I stepped to the side as she marched past me on the shattered glass and down the spiral steps of the tower. I made sure to lock the door after us as we walked out.

If Penny was here, she would have made a joke about Rae Jean being a wannabe Rapunzel.

She pulled her hood over her head and took the bear bottle from me with a grunt. She took sips while we walked through the night. The cool weather engulfed us with open arms as guards walked past us.

I had a feeling where I was leading her would make her put a knife between my eyes, but it was worth a shot. I was never one to back down from a fight, but that doesn't mean I'm entirely stupid.

We headed to the bridge I stood with Carlos earlier as we watched her kill her Caporegimes. The place looked as if no one had ever come here, and the bloodbath that was there earlier was nowhere to be found.

"Why did you bring me here?" Her voice is hoarse from all the crying and shouting she had been doing in her office.

We all need that little push from someone. Sometimes it may be from the person that you least expect it.

"When I was younger, I used to love to stare at my mom's bright red hair while she cooked. Since my dad wasn't around most of the time, she was my rock, but the day she upped and left. I felt kind of hollow inside." I tell her solemnly as I get a faraway look in my eyes.

I could still feel the way I felt that day, but I numb it down because not only do I know that I have grown out of that stage, but some feelings are meant to be dead as soon as they are made.

"Again, why are you telling me this?" She eyes me, and I see her reaching for her hood.

I dropped the beer bottle in my hand and pulled her closer. I held her hands in a tight grip as I whispered on her lips.

"You know, I thought this trip would be a way for me to understand why you think you can manipulate just about anyone you meet. You were already going to help me find my mother even if the French weren't involved. You may not show it very well, but I know that you are hurting-"

She cut me off while struggling from my grip, "You take me as a fool if you think that I would accept the nonsense that you are spitting out from your mouth." She growled as she glared death at me.

I rolled my eyes but decided to keep my voice low, "You will need to open up eventually and heal, but I'm not going to force you." I let go of her, and it was then that I noticed that we were both surrounded by broken beer bottles and alcohol.

She leaned against the railing, and a small laugh escaped her mouth. It started as giggles, which turned to loud maniac laughter and then the dam broke. Her sobs filled the night.

Many people don't know that kids turn out the way they are because of the kind of people that raised them.

She rested on the rails, her elbows kept her put as she used her palms to cover her face. She shook violently and cried; this took me exactly to the moments when I was in the background as I watched Peyton, Lola and Charlie.