Inferno

~56~ So Mad

Emma's POV

The sounds coming from outside are awful. I can hear dad and Wes yelling at the boys but I can't hear what they are saying. I don't want to know. I also don't want to hear them get spanked...but I do.

I hear Trace and Wes go into Luke's room, and as soon as it starts it's hard to stomach. He starts crying loudly after the third lick.

A couple minutes later I hear dad and Luke go into dad's room. That spanking doesn't sound as bad, but I swear that I even hear Luke crying. It's hard to tell, though, from the screaming and crying coming from Luke's room. Trace has been such a jerk, but even I'm feeling bad for him.

Suddenly I hear dad knocking on Luke's door, and then a second later I hear dad telling Wes to quit. He does immediately. I'm glad....Trace is hurting. Badly.

Another minute later, I hear a knock on my door. "Can I come in?" Luke asks quietly.

I don't say anything, I just look at him. I never get mad at Luke. But I am. I'm really, really mad.

He sighs as he grabs my wrist gently and pulls me up to standing. He hugs me so tightly, I'm having trouble breathing.

"Ow" I say quietly.

He let's me go and looks hard into my eyes. I'm shocked when I see his eyes fill with tears. He looks down at the ground and his lip is starting to quiver. He takes a deep breath and tries to calm himself down. He is desperately trying not to cry.

He then bites his lip and blinks his eyes several times. Once he's under control, he looks back up.

"Please forgive me. I'm so sorry. You did nothing wrong, and we were being horrible. I'll try to smooth things over with Levi on Monday" he says, grabbing my hands and kissing my cheek.

I still say nothing. I've never been so upset with him.

He sighs. "Emmy, please. Please forgive me. I promise, this will never happen again" he says, tears coming back into his eyes.

I just nod. Like mom told me once...I'm allowed to be mad. I'm allowed to be hurt.

"Think Trace is still alive?" He asks, concerned.

I just nod. I don't want to talk to Luke. I want him to leave.

"How long are you going to be mad, Em? You never get mad at me" he says, immediately upset. We honestly never get mad at each other.

"I don't know" I say quietly.

"Please forgive me" he says, as a single tear falls down his cheek. He wipes it away quickly.

I go and sit on my bed, and put my headphones back in my ears. I'm hoping he will just get the hint and leave. He doesn't. He sits on my bed and rests his head on my thigh.

We stay like that for about 15 minutes. I just let him stay. I'm sure he doesn't want to see dad, and Trace is still in his room. I can still hear Trace crying quietly.

Hearing Trace cry is weird. He's such a big, strong, popular guy. It's weird hearing him sob like a child.

A few minutes later we hear Wes and Trace talking quietly. I can't make out what they're saying. Suddenly, unfortunately for me, I hear a knock a few minutes later.

It's Dad, Wes, and Trace. They come in and shut the door.

Trace's eyes are red and swollen. He just stares at the floor, not even looking at me.

"I'm so sorry, Emmy" he says, starting to cry again.

I don't say anything. What do I say? It's ok? It's not ok.