CHAPTER 40: Framed for Nothing
I screamed as the Peashooter landed on me before I could react.
"Aahh! Please, get off me this instant! Like, honest to God, I don't know what the heck I did to you to get you this pissed! Like, Christ Jesus!"
The Peashooter then started throwing punches at me, filling me up with mountains of pain. After what seemed like forever, Peater had yelled, "Father, stop! She's harmless! Can't you see what you're doing?"
The Peashooter stopped punching me, and tossed me a mirror as he backed away in fear. I looked at myself in the mirror, and I almost screamed as I saw that my face was all black and purple. Not a trace of blue was left to be seen. The mirror seemed to crack before my eyes as tears spilled down my cheeks.
"Happy now, Maccabaeus traitor?" the Peashooter spat as he smiled, glad to see me suffering.
"Father! Look what . . . look what you've done!"
"Shut your piehole, Peater. Elias has done the right thing." I turned around, and I saw Mar staring at the Peashooter, an evil grin on her face.
"H-how . . . how the heck did you get in here?!" I sputtered.
"I have my ways, child." Mar replied calmly as her eyes turned red.
Then I felt a moment of blankness.
"Elyssia, are you all right?"
. . .
"Shut the hell up, freako! You think I wanna listen to a stupid boy like you?!"
. . .
"Serves you right! You son of a bitch and a bitchass!"
Next thing I knew, I was being slapped in the face, which knocked me out of my trance.
"What the hell is the matter with you?" Peater yelled as he pulled me away from Elias, who I was apparently punching and kicking.
My breathing slowed down, and I realized what I had done. Elias was bleeding, and he was coughing up blood.
"Got anything to say on that?" Peater quipped.
"I . . . I . . ." I stammered as I looked down at the floor.
"Your ex-boyfriend is right, Lyssie. How could you be so evil?" Mar snickered as she played with a lock of her black hair.
I retreated to a corner and started sobbing as I remembered that Mar was behind all of this. Me! Being blamed for something I didn't mean! Peater frowned, and put a leaf on my head.
"Come on, Elyssia. You know what you did." he scolded me.
"I-it wasn't me! It was . . . it was . . . Mar! Her eyes turned red, I looked at them . . ." I cried, my hiccoughs nearly drowning out my voice.
Peater lifted my face, and sighed.
"I believe you." he whispered.
I coughed a little, and looked at Elias, who was preparing to knock Mar out.
"Nada, nada, boo-hoo! Try and catch me!" Mar mocked, blowing a raspberry a second later.
Elias found a rock and tossed it at Mar, who couldn't duck in time.
"Tie her up, and put a blindfold on her, Father." Peater instructed.
After Mar was blindfolded and bound to what looked like a scratching post, Elias started his story.
"I . . . don't like the Maccabaeus family, because of what they did to my family. They attacked us every night, and along with the zombies. More and more of us were wiped out, until the attacks mysteriously stopped. They used our defining trait ― or, if you'd rather, flaw ― to stop us ― falling for someone too quickly. We fell in love with members of their family, who only ended up killing us in the end. Strangely enough, the attacks stopped in 1999 . . ." I frowned.
"Who told this to you?" I asked.
"Only Gramps himself, that's who." Elias answered.
"Are you sure that nothing rash happened? No . . . arguments, no tiffs?"
"Uhh . . . umm . . . I . . ."
After I asked my question, Elias started showing signs of nervousness. Sweat was appearing on his forehead, and his leaves were shaking.
Sure signs of a liar.
"Father, tell her the truth. She has a right to know." Peater whispered. Elias stopped his stuttering and sighed.
"Well . . . my gramps had a few problems with a bully at school. Trench, he was called. One day, Trench killed my grandfather's sister, which got Gramps angry. Trench was a Maccabaeus, so Gramps blamed his family's suffering on your girl's family." he explained.
"Wait! Isn't there supposed to be a real perpetrator?" I asked.
"Uh . . . to be honest, I don't know who the family was." Elias answered simply.
Then he narrowed his eyes at his son.
"You've been sporting with this crazy, off-the-hook girl?!" he sputtered.
"Her name is not girl, father. It's Elyssia." Peater intoned.
"And sure as hell, she is not crazy!"
Elias growled, and straightened up. "You idiot! Do you even know her?! L-look at this!" Elias yelled as he turned my right leaf over, exposing the dreaded tattoo.
"You know what this means? This girl ought to have a swastika tattooed on her face for all of Ontario to see!"
Peater gulped and glanced at me worriedly.
Trouble was once again rearing its ugly head in my face, taking pleasure in my toil and tears.