Reminiscence {Book Two of the Vengeance Trilogy}

Chapter Twenty Three: Drowning

After calming Peter down, reassuring him that I wasn't going to let anything happen to either one of us, I looked at Collin for answers, but just by looking at his expression, I knew that he was coming up blank. God damn it, do I really have to do all of the work around here, I thought to myself. I glanced over at Mel, seeing as her boyfriend was busy getting cold feet. Her glance switched between Collin and I, finally letting out a frustrated sigh and walking between the two of us.

"Okay, uh, we need to get Caroline out of here and we need to tell Elliot what's going on," she said, looking over at Collin who seemed to be in a blank daze. "That last part is your cue, curly."

"Oh, right, sorry, I zoned out there for a second," he said. Mel rolled her eyes and then turned to Peter and me.

"You two, come with me. You're going to help me get Caroline out of the house. Keep your cool while we're up there. It is essential that we stay calm in front of her. Curly, tell Elliot that we're taking Caroline to the park not too far away from us. Let's go," Mel commanded and Peter and I quickly dashed up the walkway with Mel. Peter grabbed my hand and stayed close to me. I couldn't tell if it was because Tom wanted us both dead or because the last time he saw Caroline try to make moves on him. Either way, I gave his hand a light squeeze, keeping it from trembling any longer. Once we were on the porch, Mel frantically knocked on the door.

"Where are the grandparents?" I asked.

"Out in Mullingar visiting friends for the weekend."

"Well, that certainly makes one thing a little bit easier," I muttered. "Collin kind of froze up a bit back there. Do you know what's up with that?" I asked. Mel looked straight ahead at the door, taking a prolonged deep breath.

"Having Emmet make the decisions in the pack has done more bad than good. The guy has gone absolutely mad with power. I mean, he was kind of an asshole to begin with, but when you left, it got much worse. Any time Collin suggests a plan, Emmet shoots it down. Now, when Collin is put on the spot, he kind of freezes up, just like he did back there," she explained in a low voice, but something told me that she knew Collin could hear every word. Maybe it was because I was used to Emmet being a dick, but I never knew that it had gotten that bad.

"Mel, since when do you—" Caroline's voice carried as she opened the door, but she stopped as soon as she saw Peter and I standing there. "Oh! Hi guys, what are you doing here?"

"They're coming out with us tonight. Grab your stuff and let's go," Mel said sternly.

"Why the rush? I thought we were going to hang out here and then head over to The Lion's Den?" Caroline asked. Every time I had seen her, she always dressed down; jeans, sweaters, t-shirts, beat up sneakers. The whole girl-next-door getup. Now, her makeup was done in dark silver and replaced her simple clothes with a tight mauve club dress and heels. Her hair was pinned up and curled as if she had taken hours to make sure it looked absolutely perfect.

"They charge a cover after eleven and I'm not paying extra to go drink and dance to shitty music," Mel said, then walking back towards the sidewalk, leaving the three of us standing at the door. Caroline rolled her eyes and let out a small scoff.

"I swear, sometimes she nags more than my Nan does," she groaned as she threw a leather jacket over her shoulders and grabbed a purse sitting by the front door. Caroline quickly shut and locked the door behind her, then proceeded to follow in Mel's footsteps. Peter glanced up at me and when I looked back at him, I could still see fear glistening in his eyes. I gave his hand a light squeeze, silently reassuring him that everything would be okay.

"We should join the others," I told him and together we made our way down to the sidewalk hand in hand. I didn't know exactly what was to come next, but I knew that I didn't want to let go of his hand.