Page 2 of Bane's Beginning

When my brother walked in with the nurse and told me that my parents didn’t make it, though I already knew, something inside of me broke. I was no longer the girl who talked too much, hung out with her friends too much, and had her whole life ahead of her. I was now Thea Blake, the girl who saw her parents die, and it haunted me.

When the police asked if I remembered anything from the accident, I didn’t know what to do. All I saw was the pained expression my brother had on his face as he stood in the corner of my hospital room, looking over at me. My brother was older than me by eight years and spent most of his time away at college. I had always looked up to him and his ability to make all of my problems go away, but as I looked up at him and saw tears in his eyes for the first time in my entire life, I knew I couldn’t put him through any more pain, so I lied and told them no. But, I remembered everything, and I always hung on to my mother’slast words to me that my brother would protect me and keep me safe.

That was my whole reason for being in New Mexico. I had tried staying in California to finish out my last year in school, but I couldn’t do it anymore. I burned all my bridges and I couldn’t look back.

It all started a few weeks ago when I figured out that my ex, Marcus, was banging my so-called best friend Bridgette. We had all been living together in Chase, her brother and my other best friend's, beach house. I had been in bed sick and throwing up all morning, reeling from the night before, and when I woke up to Chase beside me in my bed instead of Marcus, I immediately got up to call him, only for him not to answer.

Bridgette was a socialite on campus. That girl knew how to party and make conversation with everyone, which is how we became friends. She came up to me at a party once while we were studying abroad freshman year and we hit it off. She had money and liked to party, and I had many demons I wanted to keep buried. Every time Marcus was up to no good, she could track him down within minutes. I gave her a call and she didn’t answer either, so I decided to check our friend tracking app we downloaded after too many nights of one of us blacking out and disappearing.

When the app loaded, I saw that it said they were together at a hotel not too far away, and I lost it. How could they be so stupid to keep their locations on? I leaned over the bed and shook Chase awake and his eyes shot open.

“What the fuck, T,” Chase spit out.

“Did you know that they were banging?” I shot back at him.

“Who? What the fuck are you talking about? Should you even be up right now?” he said, looking at my stomach.

“Who the fuck do you think? Marcus and your fucking back-stabbing sister.”

“Shit,” he whispered.

“I knew something was fishy. God, I can’t believe I’ve been so stupid. Did you know?”

“Of course, I didn’t fucking know,” he said, getting out of bed.

Chase was a tall man, standing around 6’5”. His height and muscle size would be considered intimidating if it weren’t for his playboy mentality. He always looked like he stepped off of the cover of GQ. Though he looked like a spoiled frat boy, he was far from that type, which is how we had become best friends. His brown eyes held a darkness and behind his well-chiseled chest, there were the remaining pieces of a broken heart.

“After everything,” I trailed off.

I ran out of the room and went straight for Marcus’. The smell of Luna Rossa Eau Sport was overpowering. The smell that once turned me on made me almost gag. Seeing a bottle of Jack on the nightstand by the bed, I grabbed it and took a swig. I began pouring it all over my cheating ex’s bed. How many other women had he had in it since we got together two years ago? Too fucking many to count, and I had forgiven him every time.

I was a masochist in my own right, but the thought of my very own best friend, the one who I had once protected with mylife and spent three months in pure hell for, being one of them, made tears pool in my eyes. Something I hadn’t done in years.

I grabbed a lighter and a sock off the floor and lit the sock on fire, quickly throwing it onto the alcohol-soaked bed.

What the fuck is wrong with me?

I thought to myself as I watched the bed slowly ignite with flames. I hated crying. I hated feeling helpless and there I was doing whatever I could to make the pain stop. I wasn’t crying for the end of my relationship, I was crying because I had lost control.

Two days ago, he had convinced me I was making the right choice by going to the clinic, that it would save our relationship and help us focus on our future together. I believed him, but now everything has changed. I had spent all day going through the pain and mental torture alone while he was out banging one of the very few people that I had cared about. It wasn’t like I loved Marcus, but I had gotten used to him. I did care for Bridgette, though, and the sense of betrayal made my ears ring with pain.

I had spent the last two years wrapped up in Marcus and his shitty excuses, but this was the last straw.

Never again.

“Thea! Holy shit. Get the fuck back,” I heard Chase cry out as he pulled me from the flames.

“What the fuck are you thinking? Have you lost your fucking mind?” He said, as he used the fire extinguisher we keep by the stove to let out the fire.

“This isn’t healthy, T.” He pulled me in for a hug. “I love you, you’re my best friend, but this,” he gestured to the charred bed, “Isn’t healthy. You set my fucking house on fire.”

It wasn’t his house that I set on fire. Just my cheating-asshole-of-an-ex’s bed.

“Here,” I said, grabbing my phone and sending him the rest of the money I had for rent that summer.

Fuck.

“Use that to pay for the damages. I’m sorry, Chase. It was just too much. I wasn’t trying to disrespect you or your house. I just wasn’t thinking.”