Bad Company (Seven Deadly Sins #1) ✅ Completed

Chapter Twenty: Down Memory Lane

She was yelling at Dante, saying things his five year old brain couldn’t quite understand yet. But he didn’t have to really understand everything she was saying because she was also crying at the same time she was yelling, so he knew whatever it was, it was bad.

Dante didn’t say anything to her. He didn’t yell back or tell her to stop, he didn’t even laugh in case she was trying to be funny or something. He just looked at her like she was some kind of weird bug that had followed him into the store. After a minute, he’d just shaken his head and turned away from her, and that’s when he’d spotted Chase up at the railing.  He’d felt a stunned sort of fear grip him as Dante’s eyes met his, then the normally crabby stock boy smiled and gave him a big wink, like it was all a big game.

That was when the girl pulled a large knife from inside her jacket. She was so angry, Chase didn’t really know what was going on but he knew it was going to be bad.

Why hadn’t Dante turned around? Didn’t he see the danger right behind him? Didn’t he know the girl from church was crazy, and she was going to hurt him with that big knife?

It was just like one of the movies his dad liked to watchwhenever he was supposed to be in bed, but sometimes snuck down the back stairs to watch from behind the couch. The girl yelled really loud and came at Dante with the knife high above her head. She stabbed him in the back so hard that Chase could hear the sound all the way up on the next floor.

Dante stumbled forward and she yelled again, coming around and stabbing him over and over again. Chase hadn’t seen more than the very first attack however, because right at that moment he’d fainted. Thankfully, though he would not have known this, he was saved the horror of watching the girl shriek as something swallowed her up whole, her soul part of Celeste’s collection. He also missed Dante getting up, and fixing the hole in his clothes along with the stab wounds in his body.  

When Chase had finally come around, his mom was staring down at him worriedly. She’d looked so relieved when he blinked his eyes a few times and asked why her face looked so red. He was lying on a small couch in a back room, while Ms. Devillier and Dante were both standing in the doorway staring at him. When he saw Dante, he couldn’t help but stare in wide-eyed fear. He didn’t look bloody or hurt or anything. He looked exactly like he had when Chase had seen him walk in the door and he winked up at him.

“Baby, are you feeling alright?” his mom asked, concerned etched across her face.

He looked at his mom, his face pale and confused. “There was a crazy girl in the store. The one from church.” Hadn’t they’d seen her? She was the one with the big knife.  

“What girl from church, sweetie?” his mom asked, looking even more worried than before.

“The one who takes us around in youth group…she had a big knife. She hurt Dante with it.”

His mom looked over at the Ms. Devillier and Dante. Neither one of them said anything, Dante just shrugged as if he didn’t understand why Chase was saying those things.

His mom turned back around and looked at him, putting her hand on his forehead like she was taking his temperature. “Honey, Dante’s fine…”

“But mom, she stuck him in the back with the knife. I saw her do it!” He tried telling her what he’d seen. He knew he hadn’t been dreaming – how could he? He’d just been playing when they both walked in.

Ms. Devillier spoke up now, making him tremble a little. “Kim Crawford! I done told you about bringing that boy inside my shop. You know my store ain’t no place to be bringing children. You’re lucky that daft boy of yours didn’t faint at the top of the stairs. What if he’d fallen and cracked his skull open right on my shop floor? You take that boy and his nonsense back to your house. I don’t want it in mine.”

His mother had helped him off the couch, and they’d walked out right then. His mother hadn’t even said goodbye to Ms. Devillier. Chase had walked out, but before getting into the backseat of the car he looked back at the store. Dante was standing in the doorway. He’d waved once and winked at him before going back inside.

It was the same wink he’d given him just a little while earlier. 

Ever since that day Chase had done everything in his power to stay as far away from Dante Kane as possible. He’d never had much trouble with it either. But now he was trying to mess with whatever he had going on with Eliza; the girl who was quickly taking up all the mental space in his brain.

Well, Chase wasn’t a little kid anymore. If Dante wanted to play games, then that was fine with him. He would play, because nothing was going to get between him and Eliza – not Dante, not her aunt, not anyone.

Before heading to his dad's store, Chase decided to make a quick detour along the way. He was already late for work, what could a few more minutes cost him?