Here Be Dragons (Completed)

Inability

The room exploded into chaos, the previous uneasy minutes already forgotten, as almost every one of the boys started yelling in protest to Owen's proclamation. I was surprised to see Kota and Silas in on the argument as well as they all tried to get their names into the metaphorical "dibs" hat. Only North seemed to keep himself out of the frenzy, glaring over at me like it was my fault for the insanity swirling through the room. Yeah, like I'd chosen to be here! I could think of numerous things I'd rather be doing then being passed around this lot like some sort of toy.

"Oi!" Gabriel bellowed, the sound blaring in my ear since he was still holding my back against him. I moved away from him quickly, appalled that I had stayed tucked into his body for as long as I had. "You're ruining my birthday, you assholes!" He continued hotly. "Now, get lost and fuck all your dibs to hell. She's my present and I'm not giving her to any of you dicks." 

The voices quieted and they all looked a little sheepish as they realized the absurdity of their argument. North rolled his eyes and stalked towards the door. "Someone help me in the kitchen." He grunted before disappearing into the hall. 

"Not Sean!" They all yelled at once as Sean held his hands up in surrender.

"I wasn't even offering!" He cried defensively as they all exchanged smiles and snickers. Well except for Owen, he just shook his head at the antics of the others. 

If I wasn't so terrified for my life, I would have found their interactions comical. They had this camaraderie that made a long forgotten and buried place in my heart ache and it scared me more than the threat of death currently hanging over my head. They were all insane and belonged in a mental hospital, and yet they appeared to be friends, closer even, like brothers. Granted, I didn't have much experience in normal familial interactions, but the way they acted seemed about right. Well except for the crazy part, I'm sure most family didn't fight over who got to cut off the fingers and toes of their abduction victims. Be that as it may, watching them together made me feel oddly lonely. I hadn't felt that emotion in a very long time, maybe not since the days before I killed my step mother.  

Thankfully, the thoughts and feelings were shoved out of my mind as the group of boys started moving towards the door. Owen and Kota hesitated at the threshold, looking back at me with a mix of worry and anxiety and Gabriel sighed from beside me.

"I'm fine, guys, for real." He said, his voice softening to convey his seriousness. "We will be just fine, won't we?" He directed the question at me and gave me a questioning glance. Did he expect me to answer? The silence stretched so I gave him a nod which seemed to satisfy him. Owen and Kota looked less than convinced but accepted Gabriel's insistence. 

Owen spared me one last glare that threatened pain and anguish should I step out of line and this time I didn't stop myself from sticking my tongue out at him like a five year old. He huffed an annoyed sigh, though I saw the tick in his jaw that he couldn't hide before he stormed out of the room. God, he was fun to rile up, though I was sure it would eventually come back to bite me in the ass painfully.

Luke was still in the room sitting on top of the desk swinging his legs precariously and his apparent gentleness was so out of place. The others seemed so much harsher than Luke and I wondered how he survived here with them. Sure, they had spared my life so far, but there was nothing in me that trusted them to keep me alive. I recognized a killer when I saw one and they were all killers. Takes one to know one, right?

As if to reinforce my thinking, Kota poked his head back into the room and held my gaze with his. His eyes were hard and cold, a look I hadn't seen before but one I didn't take lightly. "If you cause either of them bodily harm, I will kill you more slowly and painfully than you can possibly imagine." He threatened, his voice dead and void of emotion.