Library

Brother

Beast

"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."Mother's voice grows louder in my head with each step I take. "You are weak. Kill the whore before she corrupts your soul."

"Did you hear what I said?"

My attention turns to Summer. Her brown eyes soften as she gazes up at me. After vomiting, her skin looks even more dull, almost gray in appearance. The bags under her eyes are heavier and she's starting to sweat.

"She is sick with her sin. Let the Lord judge her and cast her into the pits of hell."

Stopping on the sidewalk I shut my eyes and try to force her words out of my head. I try counting, but it isn't helping.

"Rip her flesh from her body and force her to swallow it. She lives in the flesh she shall die by it."The haze starts to cloud my thoughts. The Beast is hungry, and it wants to be fed. I need to kill something.

"Tell that bitch to shut the fuck up."

My eyes pop open. I expect those words to come from my Priest voice, but it doesn't. Summer is smiling at me, her hands on her hips as she watches me.

"What?" I ask.

"I said, tell that bitch to shut the fuck up. She's interrupting our conversation."

Just like that, the clawing need for blood dissipates.

"Better?" She asks with a smile.

I nod, unable to speak.

"Good. As I was saying," she turns, and we continue to walk. "How many of these menu things do you have?"

For the first time in forever, my head is silent. There are no voices of my mother or Priest. There is only Summer.

"Only eight tonight."

She dips her chin to her chest as if she's verifying if this information is true or not.

"How many have you done so far?"

"I have only two left for the night."

"How do you determine who needs to die?"

We were told not to share this part of our lives with the outside world. Up until this point, I've never broken a Church rule. I've never had a reason to. However, whenever she asks me anything, I can't help but tell her the truth. Is this what my brother's feel when they are with the women at the Nunnery?

"Bishops assign us the jobs. They are the ones that decipher who need to be eradicated. Our job is to follow through with the kill."

"Do you ever question it?" She stops in the middle of the sidewalk to turn and look at me.

"I mean, if I know one thing, whenever man is involved with anything something is likely to be tainted. How do you know for sure that the people you're killing actually committed the crimes?"

Before answering her question, I give it a good thought. Lucien asked this once when we were still young boys. Priest told us that he'd thought of it too. He said that when he was younger, he made a kill that he regretted. Something about a woman hiding children. Its why he always taught us to do our own research.

Everyone on my menu tonight has been verified, except one—my last kill for the night.

"I know," I explain to her.

She seems to mull over my answer for a moment, before nodding. We go back to walking, a lot slower than I'd prefer. Her gait is shorter than mine, she's out of shape, plus those shoes are preventing her from walking faster.

"You need shoes," I observe out loud.

Her laughter has my eyes cutting down at her. I like the way her face changes when she laughs. Even the sound of the high pitch noise is soothing.

"What? You're not a fan of the stripper heels?" She asks and her teeth chatter. It's a brisk fall night, but with my hoodie on she shouldn't be shivering the way she is.

"Don't be stupid, Boy. You know what's wrong with her."My mother's voice taunts. I ignore her.

"Come on."

Placing a hand on Summer's shoulder, I steer her down a different street. We walk three blocks out of the way to get to one of those fancy boutiques that sells shoes. She stops in front of the glass doors.

"Gabriel, you're not seriously about to buy me shoes from here?"

I don't answer. Instead, I head toward the door.

"It's nearly eleven o'clock. The sign on the door says they close at ten."

Looking through the glass doors I spot a woman inside moving around the store.

I tap on the glass, and she looks up at me. Her face pulls down into a frown.

"I hate to break this to you," Summer says getting my attention. She folds her skinny arms over her chest. "But even if she does decide to open back up for you, they're not going to allow me to go in there."

"Why?"

She looks down at herself and then back up to me as if it's obvious. It's not. I try to study her face in hopes that her emotions will give away why they won't allow her inside this store.

She rolls her eyes and sighs. "Never mind."

I knock on the glass once more causing the woman inside to roll her eyes. However, she walks over to the door and unlocks it.

"I'm sorry, but we're closed," the woman says.

"We will be quick, and I'm paying in cash," I tell her.

The woman hesitates for a moment, but then she steps back allowing us inside. I hold out a hand for Summer to enter first. She shakes her head but walks in. I follow behind her.

"Just so you both know, I'm not here alone and there are cameras."

Neither Summer nor I comment.

"What are you looking for?" The saleswoman directs her question to Summer.

I wait for her to tell the woman she needs help finding shoes, but she doesn't speak. Instead, she tugs at the hem of my sweater and touches her fuzzy hair. She's nervous. I pull the word from my rolodex of emotions.

"She needs shoes." I tell the woman in the black pants suit.

The sales lady looks Summer up and down, her lips curl up and her brow pinches.

"Maybe she would prefer something at a different store. I don't think we have her type of shoes here."

Summer's shoulders drop and she turns to leave. I hold out a hand barring her exit.

"She needs shoes," I say once again to the saleswoman. I don't like having to repeat myself.

The dark-skinned girl rolls her eyes before turning on her heels and walking away. I look to Summer and tilt my head in the direction of the salesclerk. She too rolls her eyes but follows the sales lady.

"What kind of shoes are you looking for?" The woman's voice tells me she isn't happy to be helping Summer.

Her stance is closed off and she looks more annoyed than anything. I still don't know why. It angers me that I can't read emotions and situations as easily as my brothers. Why would she not want to help after letting us in?

"Something comfortable and less pointy," I tell the lady when Summer doesn't reply.

She sneers and picks up a pair of black and white cloth tennis shoes. "How about these?"

Summer's eyes widen. "Um, maybe we should—"

"Those work—" Summer and I speak at the same time.

Both the women turn to stare at me with open mouths. I again feel as if I'm missing something. I hate this feeling. For the first time tonight, I wish my brothers were here to guide me.

"Gabe," Summer says.

"These shoes are $1600," the sales lady interrupts what Summer was about to say.

I wait for the problem to be announced. However, neither woman says anything else.

"Do you need to try them on?" I ask Summer.

She shakes her head but turns to the woman. "Size eight, please."

The saleswoman looks a bit stunned, but I do notice she's happier now. She's even smiling as she grabs the shoes for Summer and hands them to her.

"Can I get you anything else?"

I look to Summer to see if she needs anything else.

"No thank you," she glares at me before sitting down to put on her new shoes.

I follow the woman to the counter. Placing my bag on the register, I pull out two stacks of bound twenty-dollar bills and hand them to the lady. As she goes to ring up the box the shoes were in, I spot a collection of silk scarves behind her. One catches my eye.

"Add that to my order," I say pointing to the dark gray and black scarf.

The woman turns to see what I'm pointing to.

"That's one of our top sellers." She grabs my added item bringing my total to $2200. I give her the extra stack of twenties and she hands me the scarf. I forgo a bag.

"What do you want me to do with these shoes?" Summer asks coming to stand beside me.

"I'll toss them in the trash for you," The clerk says, trying to hand me my change back.

I don't miss the pointed look Summer gives her. I take the shoes from her and place them in my bag.

"Keep the change," I tell the sales lady before turning away.

We head for the door. As soon as we step outside, I stop her and hold out the scarf. She looks down at it but turns away instead of taking it. I expected to see her smile the way I like. Why does she not smile?

"You shouldn't have bought me all this stuff. That was too much money to waste on someone you're only going to kill."

I don't like being reminded of what I have to do. I'd grown fond of her not fighting me about it anymore, but now it seems she remembers who and what I am.

I know that she was only pretending to be nice and normal to make me not want to kill her. Yet, I still enjoyed the game she was playing. Balling the scarf up in my hand, I turn away from her.

"Let's go," I demand.

Before I take a step away from the building, I spot a familiar face coming around the corner. Even though I know that Hawk won't be able to get a good look at her, there is still sufficient enough streetlights for him to recognize her shadow. I shove Summer back against the shop door and walk forward to meet Hawk.

"Hawk," I call his name.

He easily turns to find me.

"Hey, Beast. How's it going?"

Looking over my shoulder, I spot Summer still standing beside the shop door. At least she didn't try to run. However, her attention is on us.

"Good," I reply to Hawk.

"How's your night going?"

"Decent."

"Okay. Do you want to go grab some dinner? I was heading to Red's, but I can…"

"No."

Hawk takes a step back. His gaze roams over me and then suddenly, he looks over my shoulder. I don't have to turn to see what he's looking at. I shift to my left, cutting off his view of Summer.

"Maybe we can catch up tomorrow morning before I check in. You can let the others know."

A smile appears on his face. This seems to appease my brother and it gets his attention back on me.

"Absolutely. I think Seth will be around. We can all catch up."

Tilting my chin to my chest briefly, I tell him. "Good. See you tomorrow, brother."

"Alright. I'll see tomorrow."

I wait until Hawk walks away, following his well-known route to one of Albany's houses.

"Who was that?"

Summer is standing beside me watching Hawk.

"My brother."

She turns to me, and her mouth falls open. "That fine ass specimen is your brother?"

Every muscle in my body tightens. I don't like her describing Hawk in that way. It makes me want to grab my brother and smash his head against the concrete.

"The good book says brother will deliver up brother to death. Send him to the pits of hell,"Mother sneers in my head.

"Damn," Summer's voice draws my attention away from my dark thoughts. "Your mother might have been a bitch, but she pushed out some good-looking boys."

I don't correct her on how Hawk and I are related. My thoughts seem to linger on something else she referenced. It's the second time she has mentioned finding me attractive. I chalked the first time up to her panic attack.

I've always known my brothers were desirable. They often tell me of their run ins with outside women and the women of the Nunnery.

However, I don't get to have those experiences. Most women I encounter on my times outside of the Church are afraid of me. Just like mother said they would be.

"Because you're an abomination. A stain upon the earth. My sin in human form."

Summer doesn't think so.The thought comes quickly causing the haze from earlier to ease.

"Shouldn't we be going?" Her voice continues to soothe the anger that was once brewing inside of me.

"Yes."

Before I take a step, she grabs my arm.

"Give me the scarf."

I cock a brow at her. She rolls her eyes.

"No need to let it go to waste."

Her lips lift on the sides into the smile that I enjoy seeing. I hold out the scarf toward her. She takes it from me and runs her hand over the fabric. She then wraps it around her head, tying it in a ball at the front.

"Now I don't look too much like somebody's southern Grandma."

I have no idea what she's talking about, so I don't say anything. We set back off to our next destination.

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