Bad Intentions

Sixty-Seven

Jace

It felt as if my head had just hit my pillow when the sound of my alarm rang clear in my silent room. I groaned and slammed my hand against the alarm clock silencing it and probably for good. Sitting up, I felt a sharp pain radiating from my side.

"Fuck." I winced in pain. I carefully pushed the comforter off my lower body and slid out of bed with my hand wrapped around my left side. With each step I was careful not to overstretch to cause anymore pain. This was enough.

Walking into the bathroom, I lifted my shirt up slowly to reveal a well developed bruise stretching from the waist down to my hip. Purple, black and blue were the colors that were filled in that area. The bottom my shirt brushed against my raw skin causing me to hiss in pain.

"Dude, can I borrow your hair gel?" I heard Sam's voice announce as he entered the bathroom. "I'm trying thi-" He stopped mid sentence just as I quickly dropped the hem of shirt hoping that he did not see the horrific sight. I should have locked the door.

I reached over to the counter, careful to control my facial expression as pain radiated up the left side of my body. Grabbing the container, I handed it to him. His eyes were wide. "Don't waste it. A little goes a long way." I told him in a steady voice.

"Are you hurt?" He asked in small voice concern etched on his face. Shit, he saw.

I gave him a small smile. "Nah. One of the guys at the boxing gym got me good during a practice match. It doesn't even hurt."

His eyes studied me for a moment before his lips broke into a grin. I internally sighed. He believed it. I knew as Sam gets older it will be harder and harder to fully convince him differently of any situation.

"Come on, you're Jace Emerson. You can't get knocked down like that." He said trying to boost my confidence. I chuckled softly.

"And you're Sam Emerson. If you don't hurry you will be late for school and I can't protect you from the wrath of mom." I told him ushering him out of the bathroom.

His face was contoured in fear. My mom held that kind of power. "Would you take me one day to the boxing gym?"  He asked hopefully.

I smiled at the question. "And here I thought you were too old to hang out with your big bro." I teased.

Sam waved his hand dismissively. "I don't want to hang out with you. I want to try boxing."

I ruffled his hair playfully. "Uh-huh, sure."

"You're annoying." He huffed, a tinge of red made it to his cheeks out of embarrassment.

"I'll take you." He perked up in that moment. "But you have to make sure to you are up to date on all your assignments."

"Yes!" He cheered in excitement. "You got it!" Sam ran out of my room excited as ever. I heard him tell mom about our agreement. I shook my head, but couldn't help the smile that landed on lips. I would do anything for that kid.

Grabbing the back of my shirt, I slipped it off my body as I turned on the shower allowing the water to warm up. Hopefully, a hot shower would help ease the ache in my muscles. I glanced once more into the mirror to see the horrible bruise, a sigh left my lips at the sight.

It's getting worse. Almost everyday it something new. A  new bruise, a new cut, a new part of my soul getting ripped away. Dominic has been hell bent on his mission of achieving as much power as he can. He was preparing for his take over. He would create the mess and we were always the ones left to clean it up. Never much words, just fists. Our fists would say all he wanted to and sometime guns. I had one, I never use it or bring it home, but it was there.