Evol

chapter forty-one

author's note -

@somberful i'm suggesting songs just for you ;)) <33

Ritual - Rita Ora

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Monday 29th July, 2019

Julian.

I didn't care what Brooke said.

I lit up my fifth cigarette of the night, watching it catch fire and burn before I sucked in smoke and pocketed the lighter.

I sat in Bleu's living room, the other three on the surrounding black sofas. Bleu had his own house, a few blocks away from mine, where he lived with Monika, his girlfriend. She was out tonight, so the house was empty apart from us.

Dumping my booted feet on the coffee table, I looked up at the white ceiling - everything in Bleu's house was black and white, sleek and clean.

It had been my idea to come here.

They'd all protested, wanting to go to the club, but I'd all but dragged them here, not giving a reason why. Yet, the reason was simple: I didn't want to be an hour's drive away from Brooke when she was at her house, alone, with that weasel.

Just the thought of it made me tense.

Daniel glanced in my direction from where he slouched on the couch opposite, Bleu next to him.

"What's wrong, man?" Daniel drawled, blowing a blond slash of hair out of his eyes. The breath was dark with smoke.

"Nothing," I said, and slid further down on the couch, leaning my head back.

"You've been on edge all night," Daniel continued. "I'm tired of counting down to when you'll snap. Your tantrums give me whiplash."

I grimaced, "I don't have tantrums."

The snicker came from Bleu, who was clutching at a glass of whiskey.

"You do," Carter's voice was next to me.

I leaned forward, taking another drag of the cigarette. The thick smoke filled my lungs, and I felt less on edge, more comfortable. I was virtually a chain smoker around the boys these days - I didn't like to smoke around Brooke. First, the lectures she gave me were enough to make anyone go crazy, and I didn't like the way the smoke around made her smell.

Plus, she refused to kiss me after I'd smoked. Major bummer.

"Speak," Bleu said, eyeing me. "What's going on in that dickhead brain of yours?"

Carter asked, "where's your Father these days? Is he still sending vamps?"

I stilled at the question, and took my feet off the coffee table. The clock in the kitchen behind the couch ticked slowly, but my mind was racing. I didn't want to talk about it, but it was better to pretend that was what was on my mind, and not the threat I felt by my girlfriend's best friend. Lame.

I tucked the cigarette behind my ear, and scratched my neck. "He's not been at the house."

"What?" Daniel asked.

"I've been sleeping at Brooke's some days, but whenever I go home, he's not around."

I heard Carter clear his throat, and my eyes flicked to his face. The veins in his neck were sticking out furiously, but I couldn't think why. . . He looked at me. "Where do you think he's gone?"

"Well. . .For a while I had to feed him lies about Brooke, but a couple of weeks ago he asked why she hasn't been out. I had to tell him she'd had an accident, and he wasn't happy."