Weeping Angel: Malvada (Book 1 of the Weeping Angel Series)

Chapter XXXII

Josh was shaking now, his knuckles turning white from how hard he was clenching his fists. His hunched form releases an acid-like hostility - burning and slicing, his narrowed, icy eyes looking like they would kill from just one glance.

His lethal stare pierced through Mason's soul, and he speaks in a low, menacing voice that sends chills down my spine. "If that's what I am, a deadbeat, fine. But don't forget that you're a fucking murderer of two people. You're a shame to the human race, Mason. To your parents, us, and now Rose."

What the hell is happening?!

Mason's eyes widened before the whites in his stormy brown eyes turned an evil shade of black, his death glare strong enough to tear anyone's heart apart. I saw nothing but cold-blooded hatred on his face as he lifts his arm and brings his elbow back, punching Josh right in his face.

That was the breaking point of my patience.

The boys always found some reason to fight over me, someone unworthy of their time and effort. Why did they have to start stupid fights out of nowhere in the first place? Mason seemed to have left his brain at home, but Josh didn't even try to make things better. Not once have they ever tried to sit down and talk things out to understand each other. Instead, they'd raise their voices and yell at each other to prove a stupid point, and where the hell did that lead them?

The fact they had no mercy to bicker in the hospital like they own the place stunned me. Did they forget why they're here? Do they know the kind of stress I'm going through with my sister, mom, and the statue? Did they not realize I was trying to protect them from the truth even though my parents might as well tell them everything?

No. They didn't. They think fighting over me like two ravenous dogs arguing over a piece of meat is a fan-fucking-tastic idea.

I wasn't their meat. I wasn't some prize they'd fight just to win me and prove the other person wrong. I wasn't an object they could use to try to get me to hate the other person.

Just because the boys weren't drawing much attention from the hospital staff didn't give them the right to spit hateful words at each other. I don't even want to think of what could happen if one of the nurses or doctors witnessed the mess in the waiting room.

I need to put an end to this.

I take a step forward to stop things from getting worse, but I feel a hand wrap around my wrist, pulling me back.

"The hell are you doing?" Ethan hisses in my ear.

I whip my head to glare at him. "The hell do you think I'm doing?"

Ethan firmly shakes his head at me. "Don't. You'll just make things worse. They never ended an argument before, always leaving some words unsaid because we pulled them away. Let them clear their bullshit this time."

I blink at him. Was he for real?

"That's the dumbest thing you could ever say. This is exactly why their hate has been growing instead of dissipating. I can't believe you, Ethan," I snarl, shaking my head in disbelief and disappointment.

I wiggle out of Ethan's grip and take a big step forward, but Gabby yanks me by the arm and pulls me back. I snap my head to glare at her, and she glares back. "Don't you think we tried to end their bickering?

"I bet you guys did, but by giving up on your best friends, you showed just how much you care," I say and turn around to see Josh had already punched Mason, both boys fuming in rage.

Small bruises were forming on their faces, but they didn't care. They kept provoking each other, daring each other to hit back if they had the balls to do so. Just as Mason could punch Josh again, I rush between them and grab Mason's arm and shout, "Stop it!" I swat his arm away, and it falls to his side, but his hard-rimmed eyes don't move from Josh's face, glaring at him ferociously.

Josh snarls, "That's all you got? You're such a p-"

I swivel my head around to glare at him, my cold green eyes burning hole through his head. "Enough," I assert, and he breaks eye contact with Mason, the storm in his blue eyes slightly calming down, but the anger is still there.

For the first time, neither boys melted my heart. I hold my guard, staring the two boys down who were visibly shaking and breathing heavily.

"Both of you, stop!. What the hell is your problem?" I shout, the bark of my voice surprising me. I could shut my mouth right here before I say anything I would regret later, but I just don't have it in me to stop.

Mason scoffs loudly, "As if you don't know."

I whip my head around, my green eyes throwing daggers at him. The unchecked, unaltered words slip out of my mouth before I had the chance to think. "No, I don't know why the hell you guys sense the tiniest sliver of tension and fight each other like freaks."

"No, Rose, it's not you, it's-"

I turn around and cut him off with just one hard look. "It is me, Josh. I'm somehow always getting dragged into your fights, and it makes me feel horrible to know you're fighting because of me!"

Gabby and Ethan are standing off to the side, unsure of what to say or do, but I didn't care. I didn't need backup or anyone defending me and then tackling each other to the ground like animals.

Josh studies me with hooded eyes, guilt flickering in them, but I ignore him and continue, "We all are anything but together, Josh. We're barely a team! We're supposed to be on the same side, but here we are, doing the exact opposite."

A voice in my head was urging me to shut up, that I've made my point, so I should drop it, but this was an explosion in progress with no reverse gear. I've stayed silent enough.

"This, this right here?" I gesture the space between Mason and Josh. "It's like how my parents are, always fighting over me."

Mason sighs, looking at me with an apology in his brown eyes, the anger dissipating off him. "Emma, I didn't mean it like that, I just-"

I hold up my palm in front of him. "This is the second time you 'didn't mean it like that,' Mason."

"Mason just doesn't care, Rose," Josh says, his deep voice hard. "That's why I-"

Mason snaps his gaze to glare at him. "You're the problem here, so shut the hell up and let us talk-"

"ENOUGH!" I raise my voice, my face becoming rigid, jaw clamped tight, my teeth grinding together. I could spend an entire day talking some sense into both boys, and they still wouldn't get it.

Once again, they were arguing over me, and I was losing my senses.

I glare at both of them. "I can't believe you two. Even after what I just said?" I shake my head, balling my hands into fists. "How many times do I need to repeat myself when I say you two won't even care to think just twice and just start fighting whenever you're feeling it?"

Gabby and Ethan were looking at me with pride in their eyes, which only fueled my anger. It's about damn time someone knocked some sense into them.

Mason and Josh were staring at me with wide eyes, and I continue to yell, "You don't even have to think about me, but at least think about other people, or where you are! This is a fucking hospital, you guys. Instead of trying to talk things out, you make things worse! If it makes you feel better, you're making me feel like shit because I'm the reason you're fighting, and I hate that. I hate that I'm making your already strained relationship worse just by being in your lives! If this continues, then one of us needs to get the fuck out of here before I lose it. I've had enough!"

My voice cracks at the last sentence, but I swallow the tears that were threatening to escape my watery eyes. I turn away and start walking out of the waiting room, needing to get far away from them before I break down.

Ignoring the apologies they were throwing at me as well as calling after me, I started running. With each step I took, I realized I might have gone too far and probably the subject of their silence and how I lost it in front of everyone.

I stop running when I reach Clarice's room, and that's when I'm unable to contain my tears. I plop down on one of the chairs, and the sobs escape my throat, echoing through the hallway.