Oasis in Ohio

Chapter Eighteen

A loud crack echoed in an eerie way through the tunnel as the pipe made contact with Michael's jaw. His jaw was almost 100% broken. It hung at an odd angle, barely looking attached.

Shivering as the sound of his jaw cracking played over and over in my head, I watched as Michael stumbled to the floor. With a thud Michael was quickly on his back, mostly limb with blood pooling from his mouth in a dark scarlet puddle.

I knew that I most likely just killed someone but I felt numb inside and out. You could've poked me with a sword and I wouldn't have felt anything. My hand, still gripping the pipe, hung limp against my side.

 "Son of a bitch! Michael!" Sylvia called out, rushing forward with Kevin at her side.

Every part of me screamed Run! Move! GO!, but I couldn't. I was stuck, the eerie crack filling my head as I watched Sylvia and Kevin try to help Michael.

Finally Sylvia got up. In the dim light I could see that her cheeks were soaked from tears, all of the dirt on her face turning to mud.

Fuck. What just happened?

Sylvia stared daggers into my body, I could tell she wanted to kill me. I may not of killed Michael just then but I had made the stupid choice to rush a gang.

My breathing turned harsh and came fast, it felt like my lungs were filling up with water. That damn ocean of calm. Maybe if I had resisted it Bella would, almost without a doubt, be 100% safe.

 "You little shit! If he dies you're never seeing the light of day again!" Sylvia stated, stalking towards me.

Quickly backing up away from her grasp, I tightened my grasp on the pipe. Absolutely terrified of what I had just started.

With a gulp and a deep breath I pushed my fears and anxieties down and pushed false confidence up. My breath became calm but shaky as I stepped into line with my dad.

He stretched his arm across me chest and said, "Alright, back up. You aren't touching my son, daughter, or wife."

 Sylvia's eyes snapped up to him, seemingly seeing him for the first time. "Oh no, he got away once, fucked Michael's jaw up, and now you want me to back away?! Fuck no I'm not." 

I didn't listen to any of this, I kept looking at Michael thinking about how stupid I was for making the first move and breaking his jaw to the point that he went unconscious. The sound of his jaw breaking because of me would haunt me for the rest of my days. Kevin was still knelt beside Michael, pressing his hand against his jaw in an attempt to stop the bleeding. It took more effort than I thought to take my eyes of the gruesome scene that I had caused.

"You aren't touching Xavier. Now can you please step away from my family so no one else has to get hurt." Dad said, looking down at me, putting bite in his last words to show to me he didn't like my outburst.

I gave him a sly smile in response and looked away towards Bella, who was wrapped up in Mom's arms, as far away from the scene as possible without losing us in the dark.

Sylvia started laughed, choked sobs finding their way through from time to time. "I ain't leaving without a fight old man- especially not now after that rat you're protecting knocked Michael unconscious." 

"Yes, I agree, that wasn't the best move," Another nick towards my outburst. "and I don't know the history between you three and Xavier and Bella, but I don't want any more harm to be done."

I started uncontrollably tuning out at this point. All I know was that everything started to feel muddy and I can only really understand about 45% of what was going on around me. My dad and Sylvia were verbally hashing it out, my mom was holding Bella in the darkness behind us, and that I was prone to making very bad choices. I also kept wondering were that sudden strength that could've knocked Michael out like that. 

Probably just an adrenaline rush, I kept telling myself. Nothing to be worried about.

A clash of lighting and booming thunder outside brought me away from my thoughts. Actually, how intense the lighting and thunder were enough to make us all stop and notice that the tunnel had around half an inch of water in it and more coming.

"Shit." That seemed to be Sylvia's favorite word. "Kevin," she called back, making him look up. "we better get moving or else this tunnel will flood before we get through."  

Kevin looked back down at Michael before looking back up at Sylvia. A silent argument filled the air between and the rest of us could only stand in awkward silence. I looked back and fourth between their faces catching some of Sylvia's scowls, Kevin turning his head to the side like a puppy with eyebrows raised in question, then Sylvia responding with crossed arms and a straight face, before she softened, sighed, and turned to face us. 

Dropping her arms back to her sides she mumbled, "If you help Michael and let us pass through the tunnel with you I...."

"Um, you mumbled a bit too much at the end there." My dad politely said with an awkward smirk.

Another frustrated sigh from Sylvia with an amused Kevin behind her.

"...I promise I won't pummel your children into plump."

I felt my jaw hang open in shock. They were actually willing to travel with us, specifically me, through the tunnel and all we had to do was help Michael.

I looked up to my dad and saw him sharing a look with my mom before he looked down at me and said, "Go be with Bella for a second, alright? We'll figure this out."

I gave him a nod, my lips in a straight line and headed over to Bella while my mom walked over to take my spot. 

Once I got to Bella she immediately said, "Xavy? What's happening?"

"Honestly," I said, casing a glance back at our parents and Sylvia, "I don't know."

~I'm back!
I am finally back after forever and this time, I have everything figured out and I won't be leaving like that again. I am so happy to be writing this book again and now that my mental space is better (ish) I will be picking up where I left off. The Coven Traitor's sequel will still be after I finish Oasis In Ohio, and the new schedule for updating with be 1-2 longer chapters a week. And like always, Thank you for reading, enjoy the story :)~