I Do not own anything

Chapter 6

Jace sat on his bed, staring at the black roof. One of the girls Crissy had living nearby had her bare back pressed against his side, her head resting on his bicep. His hand was starting to fall asleep. He scowled at the dark hair next to him.

He hadn't planned to stay in his bed over night, but she didn't want him to leave either. His hand was really starting to fall asleep now. He jerked his arm out from under her and scooted away, ignoring the mumbled response from her. He grabbed the shorts on the floor and pulled them up over his narrow hip bones and tied the drawstring. He slid out of the girl's room and carefully picked his way across the floor until he got outside.

A crash and yelling burst out from the main house on their little compound. Crissy's voice was above them all as she screamed for Marshall to stop someone.

Jace smirked and took off running for the casino. He burst through the back door and was shoved to the ground as a kid elbowed him in the side and kept running. Marshall crashed out of the hall and started to pursue the other kid. When the kid disappeared from sight, Marshall returned and sent a glare down at Jace.

"You should have stopped him, Ace." Marshall helped Jace to his feet. "You're the runner, remember?"

"Hey, I didn't know what was going on." Jace glared at Marshall. The red head looked to be in a similar state of undress as the blonde. "Don't you know you shouldn't sleep with the boss? Unless you want a promotion, that is."

Marshall glared and shoved Jace inside. "Get in there. You can be of some use."

Jace was shoved down onto the couch and Crissy came in wearing a silky, short robe. Jace couldn't help himself; he never remembered her wearing that for him. He let his eyes roam up and down her body before he rested his head on his hand so he could look at her between his fingers and see through the silky material. She had nothing on underneath, and this put him in a better mood until the dots connected her in this with Marshall.

"Want me to do something for you?" Jace asked innocently.

"Yes, in fact..." Crissy's cold look matched his as she sat across from him in a chair. She delicately crossed her legs, giving him a nice view of the upper part of her thigh. "That kid that ran through here tried to stab me with this." She set a knife on the arm of overstuffed chair. "The kid also mentioned how he was told to kill the casino owner. Now, here's my question. Was he after you or me?"

"You are the casino owner now, I guess," Jace told her.

"Yes, but you made more enemies and he seemed startled to see a girl in your old bed." Crissy ignored Marshall, taking his place behind her shoulder.

"Probably more startled to see not me with you in my bed." Jace let his eyes roll up to look at Marshall. "So has she done that nifty little trick for you with her tongue—"

"Shut up," Crissy snapped. "Marshall, have one of your best and this horn dog guard the house. I'll be waiting for you." She stood up and pressed her lips to the corner of Marshall's mouth before sending an icy glare back over her shoulder to Jace.

Jace scowled as she swung her hips the whole way down the hall. He would have what he wanted in the end though. It was now just a matter of time.

~x~X~x~

Will cried; he lost all track of time; he did nothing. He didn't what was going on around him. He didn't care if he lived or died at this point. He just wanted all the pain to go away. He didn't want to know that his brother was dead or dying or that the little boy and his furry rabbit ever existed. He didn't care. He didn't want to care.

It hurt too much.

When Kris came into the house, a pretty girl with him, Will wailed even more. Kris brought back memories of how Will had protected Demi from Kris's greedy, grabbing hands.

Will let them take him away.

The whole way he mumbled and blubbered about how he hated everything.

Kris was kind and patient as he and Jean coaxed him the whole way to a new house. Kris sat him on a bed, cleaned his face, fed him a cabbage, and gave him water to drink.

Will's crying dried up a bit, but he shivered and almost couldn't eat by himself. Sweat blanketed his forehead as he prepared for what was coming. He knew it was.

Kris grabbed his shoulders and looked him straight in the eye. "Where's Demi, Will?"

The little shards of Will's world that he had been grabbing at shattered again. Wailing came from his mouth as the words fell from his lips. "He's dead! He had the flu! He's dead! I let him die! I let him die," Will cried.

Kris wrapped his skinny little arms around the sandy colored head and let Will continue to sob into his shoulder. That was all that Will thought of. The greasy haired kid he hit not that long ago was helping him hold the shattered pieces of his life.

~x~X~x~

Kris was stunned with what Will had told him. His shirt was soaked through with Will's tears. The water and food they had brought him were long gone, but Will still sat on the corner of the bed, shaking. His arms were wrapped around his body.

Kris couldn't help but remember the older protecting the little boy. Will had been strong and defiant, ready to protect Demi from anything. Ready to do anything for Demi. Now, Demi was dead. And Will was a mess.

"Will, do you want us to go and bury him?"

"No!" Will shrieked at him. "No! Let him stay in his bed with Max. Let them lay there in peace." The former Boy Scout broke out into dry sobbing again.

Kris pulled away for a moment to have Jean refill Will's cup of water again.

"Should I go and look?" Jean asked as she watched the poor boy who looked like he was trying to put himself back together like someone would pour sand into a colander.

Kris shook his head. "Will wouldn't fall apart like this if there was any hope left. Maybe you could go and see if you could get some better food we could feed him. Some meat. He hasn't eaten well in a while."

Jean nodded and walked away. The sounds of Will's crying carried out of their house. It sounded like they were killing an animal inside.

Jean found her way into the market, saying hi to the people she knew and looking for some type of meat. Fish, rats, pigeons, lizards. The selection wasn't the best. She ended up buying three rats. It was a basic meal or three for field worker wages.

That was when a couple of her friends happened to catch her. It was Nikki and Crissy.

"Jean," Crissy called and pulled her aside. "I have a question for you."

"What's that?" Jean wrung her hands together; this couldn't be good.

Nikki looked around for a moment. "Some kid tried to stab Crissy last night. Have you heard anything?"

Jean's jaw fell open. "No," she gasped.

"Well someone tried, and I was hoping you could ask around for me. While you're out that is." Crissy let her cold stare drift over the shorter girl's head. "I have a couple of theories."

"Who do you want me asking about specifically?" Jean tucked her hands into her pockets.

"Aerik Jack. He lives up above the highway. Has some beef with Ace, my ex, and might have thought to send someone after him. But he probably ended up coming after me too," Crissy explained.

"I highly doubt it's Aerik," Nikki mumbled.

"Jace wonders about that himself, because if it wasn't Aerik Jack, it might be Will Baker for the same reason. Or to get back at me for letting Ace come back undamaged."

"It wouldn't be Will Baker." Jean shook her head.

"You know something?" Nikki questioned.

Jean Nodded solemnly. "Will's a mess; I have him at my house. He can barely see straight, let alone talk. His brother died."

"Hard times," Crissy mumbled. "Poor little kid, but do you have the rabbit he had?"

"No, he said it died with his brother."

Crissy made a face. "Oh, well."

"The other idea we had would be Athene Jack, Aerik's twin. And Dwight, Jace's old friend. Athene would want me to admit that I still hang out with Crissy here, and Dwight to get back at Jace." Nikki said while casting a glare at Crissy. "I know Aerik and he wouldn't try to have you killed. His freaky bitch of a sister might though."

"You're dating Aerik, aren't you?" Jean asked. Nikki nodded. "So why are you telling me this?" Jean looked between the two older girls.

"Because you're our friend, and you hear things. I need ears everywhere. I'll send someone for you; I'm going to be discussing what I'm going to do about this. I want to know what you can find out by then, and I want to know what you think." Crissy placed a hand on Jean's shoulder. "I keep my friends close."

~x~X~x~

Aerik waited forever for Athene and Dwight to stop hanging around the garage and to stop working on their trailer constantly. He didn't want his sister going. If she wanted to move out into another house, that would be no big deal. But leaving Perdido Beach altogether? And taking Dwight with her? That was going too far.

He waited for them to leave. Dwight went out to look for a little extra gas in abandoned cars; Athene went to look for loading powders and bullets in old abandoned houses. Once they were both gone, and Nikki too—she had gone down to visit the market—Aerik snuck into the garage.

He started by draining the air in one of the tires. Just enough so that it would delay his sister from leaving, hopefully long enough for her to come to her senses. He was about to start dismantling pieces of her ATV that she was going to be pulling the trailer with, when he saw the bright red duffle bag strapped to the tent trailer. It was Dwight's.

Aerik grinned as he started to unzip the bag. He would get a closer look at what that Dwight was all about heading off with his sister in the woods.

Aerik fell backwards when he saw the Ziploc bag right on top. The Ziploc bag was full of foil wrapped squares. Each one, and there were plenty of them, held a condom. "That-"

Just then the garage door opened. Dwight came in and set a five gallon gas tank down on the floor.

"Oh, hi Aerik," the taller youth said as he started to walk over to get another gas can.

"You ass!" Aerik dropped off the edge of the trailer, one of the foil wrappers in his hand. "This was your whole plan wasn't it?" He shoved Dwight into a work bench.

"Hey man, what's the problem?" Dwight held his hands up, trying to look innocently in Aerik's eyes and failing.

Aerik shoved the wrapper at his face. Dwight's eyes grew wide as a red fire erupted under his skin from his neck to his hairline."I have no idea where that came from."

"Oh? And what about the two hundred and some others in your bag?" Aerik threw the package on the ground at Dwight's feet and shoved him squarely in the chest again, making Dwight's back dig into the heavy bench.

"That's all you wanted out of my sister. Before the FAYZ you wouldn't have given her a second glance." Aerik shoved a finger into Dwight's chest. "You just wanted someone to screw because everyone else is too smart to touch you."

"Aerik, it's not like that." Dwight tried to push himself up. "I have no idea where any of those came from. I'm not trying to sleep with Athene. I'm just-"

Aerik's fist smashed into Dwight's face. "You're an ass. I knew you were. It's not enough you shot her. Now you're trying to screw her too." Aerik's fist slammed into Dwight without mercy.

Dwight's arms came up to cover his head as Aerik shoved him to the floor. However, the beatings continued. And so did the insults.

Aerik was blinded by fury and barely realized it when he was suddenly thrown backwards and his shoulder felt like it had burst into flames. "You worthless thug, what did you hit me with?!"

Aerik's brown eyes widened when he saw Dwight's battered body sitting back against the work bench. Above him stood Athene, scales rippling her skin.

"What are you doing," she hissed.

Aerik tried to stand up but his twin kicked him back down on the ground as she advanced on him. "All he wanted to do was sleep with you. He has a huge bag of condoms in his duffle."

"Well I don't see where that concerns you." Athene grabbed the front of Aerik's shirt and pulled him to his feet. "I'm sick of this. I'm sick of your girlfriend. I'm sick of you accusing my friend of anything. I'm sick of you jumping him every time he's in a room."

Aerik looked down and saw that Athene had hit him in the shoulder again, ripping flesh with her scales. "You cut me."

"You were beating up Dwight." Athene let go of him. "No more, Aerik. I'm sick of this. All of this.

"You used your effin' scales on your own brother."

"Are you listening to me, Aerik?"

"Why should I? You never listen to me, Athene!" He started to take a step back towards the door, his whole arm burned from what looked like road rash on his arm. "You can't do this to me. You used your effing scales on me, Athene!"

"Aerik, shut up and get over it!"

"Athene, come on, I'll be fine," Dwight went to grab her shoulder. He was up, but still looking groggy.

"Stay out of this, you ass," yelled Aerik. "Just crawl back to your corner like a good dog and stay away from my sister." Aerik went to take another step at Dwight.

Athene was there in her brother's way and she shoved him back with her scaled hand. "Leave him alone and get out of my garage!" She pointed to door for him to leave.

Fire erupted under Aerik's chest where Athene's scales ripped into him again. He pressed his hand to it and pulled away to find a light smear of blood. "You bitch," he growled. "You worthless freak!"

He raised his hand to hit Athene. Dwight jumped at him and grabbed the upturned arm and used it to twist Aerik right through the door. "She said get out," he growled, his protective side shining through

Athene glared at her brother through the open door frame. "Stay out of this garage while I'm here. And stay out of my life," she hissed before she slammed the door in his face.