SWNOVELS Chapter How Could You?
Even as she sat in the truck with her best friend and her favorite song playing as they cruised down the highway, with nothing but nature around her, there was a painful tightening in her chest that worsened as she thought of the past few days she spent with Nox.
She swallowed the lump in her throat, and rolled down the window to let the wind blow her tears away. Green whipped by her, cold nipped at her face; she shut her eyes against it all, allowing the soothing sounds streaming from the stereo to lull her away.
~~
The truck screeched to an abrupt stop that startled Guadalupe from her nap. She whipped her head about wildly before looking at her best friend. “Jamie, what’s wrong?”
Jamie sat rigidly in the driver’s seat, looking around warily. “We’re surrounded.” He murmured lowly, and Guadalupe felt her muscles freeze.
A few beats of silence passed before she whispered, “Would we be able to get away?”
Jamie huffed. “No.”
Guadalupe sucked in a breath, her body already quivering in fear. She pursed her lips, realizing that they were just going to sit there, waiting for death.
“Fuck that!” her inner voice screamed.
A sudden rush of adrenaline later, Guadalupe was standing in the middle of the road, screaming at the trees. “Come out you fucking cowards!”
Jamie swore under his breath, slowly unbuckling his seat belt and getting out of the truck. “Ada, get your ass back inside.”
Guadalupe whipped around, staring at Jamie in disbelief. “And wait for those sharp teeth and claws to dig into me? When-”
“When what? You could go out in a blaze of sass, adrenaline, and glory?” Jamie retorted, and Guadalupe raised her hands in exasperation. “Yes!”
Jamie rolled his head, groaning loudly. “Just get inside, you nut.” Guadalupe shuddered.
“Please don’t remind me that my father came in my mother.”
“What the- get inside!” Jamie yelled, pointing to the truck. Before Guadalupe could sass him, violent rustling came from her left. She took three quick steps backwards towards the truck as more rustling came from all around them.
“Blaze of sass and glory. Blaze of sass and glory. Blaze of sass and glory.” Guadalupe muttered to herself as the predators emerged from the foliage.
Her eyes immediately zoned in on one wolf in particular, whose golden eyes were locked on her.
“Nox?” she whispered in disbelief, staring unblinkingly as his body contorted and morphed into human form. His now-silver eyes were dark, filled with something she didn’t know.
"Guadalupe...”
“Guadalupe... Ada. Yo, wake up.”
With a deep inhale, Guadalupe awoke, blinking slowly as she took in her surroundings. Disappointment clawed at her chest as it was all familiar to her.
She was home.
She and Jamie locked eyes, and as hers filled with tears, his filled with sympathy. “I wish things were different Ada. I really do.” He took her hands in his, bringing them close to his chest.
“I’m gonna try to make things work out, okay? He misses you even more than you know.”
Guadalupe sniffled, nodding her head. She refused to let the tears fall; not until she was in her attic. She swallowed the lump in her throat and exhaled shakily. “Time to face the wolves.”
Jamie smiled at her words. “You can fight them off. You always have.”
With sadness in both their hearts, the best friends parted ways.
Guadalupe opened the front door with shaky hands.
Unsurprisingly, the house was in chaos. It all dimmed to silence the moment her father’s voice boomed: “Where the FUCK have you been?”
Her grandmother didn’t even chastise him for swearing in front of the younger ones.
“At a friend’s.” Guadalupe replied, her voice soft, but steady.
"What friend?” he asked venomously, covering the distance between them with slow, predatory steps.
“Jamie.” She replied again, staring at the anger-filled face of her father. That’s one of the only expressions he shows.
Anger. Indifference. Sadness. Ecstasy.
She suppressed the shudder that slid down her back.
“Really? Jamie?” he asked mockingly, a dark eyebrow raised. Guadalupe squared her shoulders and exhaled. “Yes. Jamie.”
Her father barked out a mocking laugh. “Don’t fucking lie to me.” Guadalupe felt a twitch in her hand. “I’m not.”
“So, Jamie wears Slipknot sweaters?” her father asked harshly, roughly grabbing the front of the black sweater she had on.
Guadalupe felt her heart going a mile a minute in her chest, but she swallowed, then spoke.
“He doesn’t; so he said it was okay for me to take it.” The lie came out so smoothly that she surprised herself. With a harsh laugh, her father released her with a shove, sending her back into the door. He turned away, taking a few steps before he paused, tilting his head at her from over his shoulder.
“You’re a real whore, you know. Just like your mother.”
Guadalupe paused, then breathed a laugh. “Excuse me?”
Her father faced her again. “Since you’re fucking deaf, I’ll say it again. You’re exactly like your mother; a fucking whore.”
Guadalupe blinked rapidly, then did something neither she, nor any of her family members expected. She laughed.
Full on, tummy-aching laughter, with tears trickling out of her eyes.
“You have some fucking nerve, don’t you Don?” Guadalupe found herself saying. “I’m a whore?” she pointed at herself, then took one step forward.
“I’ve never slept with a man in all my twenty years of living.” She stared at the man she calls her father.
“But you? Oh, you... Don; Don; Donny-boy. You’re the biggest whore out of all of us.” Even as her father took a threatening step towards her, Guadalupe stood her ground.
She exhaled through her mouth, rolling her shoulders.
“Oh, let’s see... Julie; Chantel; Sabina; Sonya; Charlie; Zemira; Melinda; Francine; Kayla; Quincy; Isabelle; Therese;”
Guadalupe paused, finally meeting the man’s eyes, so similar to her own, “Marcel; Zane; Vic-”
Her airways were suddenly constricted, cutting off her speech. His face was contorted in rage, so close to her that it sent her heart bouncing from her feet to her throat.
She couldn’t even hear all the screaming that was going on; all there was was the murderous look in her father’s eyes and the blood rushing in her ears.
Little black dots started to dance in her vision. Not moments later, everything came crashing down. Literally.
Guadalupe fell to the floor, heaving and coughing violently. She caught a glimpse of her grandfather and male cousins dragging her father away, kicking, screaming, and... crying apparently.
Guadalupe swallowed, wincing at the pain in her throat. With trembling hands, she raised herself off the ground, bracing herself against the wall behind her.
Her eyes swept over the room; over the remainder of her blood-relatives.
She could no longer consider them family. Family was too endearing of a term.
They wouldn’t look at her, but with a soft exhale, Guadalupe walked past them, her eyes taking them in. This moment is one that will never be forgotten; best to remember every minuscule detail.
She made it past the throng, and went up the stairs, already feeling her nose burning. She clenched her fists, digging her finger nails into her palms. “Not yet...”
She tugged on the string, pulling the stairs down; climbing them quickly as the first tear fell, she shut the hatch with a bang, but not before hearing her grandmother cry out: “How could you?!”
~_~_~
~Hello, hello. I can’t promise I’ll be consistent with the updates, but I’ll try my best.
I hope you’re all staying safe <3~