When Good Things End - A Novel Series

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I could hear my ears ringing as Laurent's demeanor changed. Blood dripped down from my earlobe as I pulled the knife out of the wall. I had half the mind to throw it back as the shadows of the trees shifted to reveal a lurker.

"It's just a nick. Don't pee your pants about it," Crete laughed, making my skin prick in disgust.

"Hey Laurent," I said, gripping the handle of the knife until my wrist started to hurt. "Remember the night of the wedding when I told you I saw a raccoon? That's the same rodent."

Laurent smiled as Crete bared his teeth, glaring at me as he twisted another small knife around his fingers. "You were dumb enough to not tell anyone else. Don't you know how much blood you would have saved yourself?" Crete asked as his smile grew.

Did he think I was scared of him this time?

"Get lost, Crete. I've already seen enough of your ugly face, so leave me alone," I said through clenched teeth as I shifted, getting ready to dart upright.

I can fight back, I don't need to be scared.

Crete twitched his hands, clenching. It looks like I hit a nerve. "I'm going to kill you, little brat," he shouted, sprinting from under the shadows and hurling at me.

I didn't even flinch as Crete was suddenly thrown backward and into the weeds, as Laurent took a stand in front of me. I stood up as Crete scrambled back up and pulled out a dagger.

"Fu-"

"Alright, I'm not going to bother asking for your last words," Laurent said, an iron grip on Crete's throat as he twisted the knife from his hand.

"Hand me that rope over there," Laurent said as he flipped Crete around, pinning his hands behind his back. I found the rope and used it to tie up Crete's hands and feet as Laurent pushed his face into the ground to muffle his strings of curses.

He's stupid for coming back. What's going to happen to him now? What are the others going to do to him?

"I told you to leave! You should have just stayed away," I said, tightening the ropes and angrily wiping my face.

I could feel my ears curdle as he swore at me, spitting out every single curse word he knew at me. Laurent left him tied up on the ground and took the bag Grace gave us and shoved it in his mouth mid-sentence to shut him up.

I don't know if want to kick Crete or cry for him to get lost.

"What do you want to do with him?" Laurent asked as I just stood over Crete, the knife still in my hand and blood still dripping down the side of my neck.

Who am I even looking at? It's the same gray eyes from my childhood but they changed. Crete's nose was bleeding, and his clothes were smeared with strange drag marks.

"I have a basement at my house; he can stay there until I see if Leo has a jail cell set up for him. Please don't drag him," I added as Laurent took a hold of the rope around his feet.

We ended up walking silently back to my house. Laurent threw Crete over his shoulder while I ghosted behind him. I didn't want to scare Alice or anyone else, so I had Laurent take detours around the village so no one would spot us carrying a tied-up Crete around.

Laurent shut the basement door after making sure there was nothing inside, pulling a chair to lean against it. Is it okay to leave him alone?

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm okay," I said, dazed as I waited.

"The blood stains were strange," Laurent stated as if reading my mind.