Forbidden Games (Forbidden Ties Series Book 2) (4 page)

              I remember my grandmother telling me an old tale about the Rule of Three. She said that tragedy loves company. It finds itself in the wake of the dead, the shadow of dishonor, and the pit of sorrow. Two weeks after the events that took place with Angie, I felt as though I knew this pain all too well.

              There wasn’t a word profound enough to describe how much I missed my mother. I wanted her to pull me out of my dark room, hold me and tell me that my future was bright. She had a way of explaining life’s most difficult situations in a way that left me speechless. There was no arguing when words couldn’t form in my mouth and she knew how to bring me there.

“You’ll be okay,” my mother said from her deathbed. Her hair was gone, he skin was pallid, and her eyes were sunken. Tubes races around the room filling her with meds so that she couldn’t feel pain. Still, I found her as stunning as she was before she became sick. “When you least expect it, someone will come along and make you feel in a way that you’d never thought possible.”

“How do you know?” I sobbed.

“Because that was how I felt when you were born,” she smiled. “Love never dies, it just continues through us.”

This was something that I could never forget. As I buried myself in the covers of the bed and my depression, I heard them echo through my head.

The second tragedy was Angie’s will to kill my spirit. Secretly, I felt sorry for her, because she was also the cause for the third tragedy. Her parents admitted to the police that she had been very mentally ill. They were advised to take her out of the academy and sent for treatment, however, they were too ashamed. I understood though because even when my mother became ill, I had a difficult time coping with the truth. In Angie’s situation, her sickness could be covered with pills that worked when she took them and make up to hide her self-inflicted scars.

She had met Kyle at group therapy sessions. They were supposed to help each other through school, but as it turned out, their unstable relationship exploded. They had a list of people that they wanted to destroy. Cade was on the top of the list and crossed out with my name in its place. Somehow, I suppose, it was easier for her to hate me than him.

Beyond tragedy, my grandmother also spoke of the good rule of three. In this, three good things would follow the tragedy. It’s a secret that most people never speak of because they tend to focus so much on the darkness that the light is forgotten.

For me, all three of the good fortunes were comprise of those closest to me. The first were my uncle and aunt who give me a new home in Mayville. The second were my friends, Penny and Jill, who sent me positive messages every week after my reclusion. I never wrote back, but they knew that I was reading.

Penny text me:

Everyone is freaking out about what happened. I’m so sorry that I acted like a brat about you getting nominated for homecoming queen. I feel terrible. We love you, feel better.

Then Jill:

I know it has only been two days, but we miss you. Hope you are doing well.

Finally, both of them sent the same one at the same time.

We’d love to see you soon. Please call when you’re doing better!

I had every intention of inviting them over. However, I wasn’t ready. The police had come twice to ask me questions about the incident. Kyle and Angie’s parents sent lawyers to pay me off. I didn’t want money or retribution. Their children were dead and I felt bad enough over this.

Suddenly, there was a knock on my door. I wished it were Cade, but he hadn’t been coming around much after the incident. I understood since I had been so depressed that I didn’t speak for nearly a week. My actions probably seemed cold and distant. Uncle Tim put himself in charge of bringing me breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I spoke with him some, but he understood that I wanted to keep my conversations short.

“Hey,” he said as he opened my door. “I brought you some comfort food. This time it’s chicken noodle, macaroni and cheese, and a vegetable panini. Don’t worry, this soup was made from scratch and has tofu instead of chicken.”

“Thank you,” I smiled small as I sat up in my bed. He sat the tray on the side of the bed.

“Feeling any better?” he asked.

“A little,” I replied.

“That’s good,” he said nodding his head. “One step at a time.”

“It smells amazing,” I said glancing at the dinner.

“Tastes even better. Okay, I’ll let you go,” Tim grinned and then he started for the door. “Oh, Mairead, I brought you a visitor.”

“Who?” I asked as Tim walked out of the room. The door was still open, and a moment went by before Cade stepped through it.

“Hey, baby,” he smiled looking more handsome than ever. “I’ve missed you.”

“Wait,” I was shocked. “Does he
know
?”

“He does,” Cade said nodding his head. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

“
How
?” my spirits already felt lifted, except that it seemed for the wrong reasons.

“I told them,” he explained as he sat on the bed with me.

“Why did you do that?”

“Alice went to the school to empty out your locker in case you needed things to study with.”

“Oh, crap! There was a note in there that Angie wrote!”

“I know, but then I had t explain the truth to them.”

“So how did they take it?”

“They grounded me and forbid me to see you. I even heard them talking about sending me off to boarding school for next semester.”

“How did Tim and your mom come around?”

“They felt terrible for you and knew that I might be able to get you out of here. Plus, I told them the honest truth about how I feel.”

“Which was what?” I asked with worry.

“That I’m in love with you,” Cade said, as he looked me in the eyes. “I love you, Mairead.”

My heart stopped. Tears formed in the corners of my eyes and trickled down my cheeks. It was as though all of my worry, fear, and regret had been expunged by his words.

“I love you, too,” I whispered. Then we met in the middle with our lips joined. As Cade’s arms moved around me, I could see that the light I had been waiting for had come for me in my dark corner. With the tragedy in the past, the world was waiting for us and it seemed brighter than ever.

The End.

About the Author

Lauren Branford has traveled the world, meeting people from all walks of life. For Miss Branford, writing is more than expressive, it is liberating. Scribing subjects on matters that society has deemed racy and prohibited are the most delicious treats from her library.
Lauren Branford currently holds residence in California.

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              Sebastian’s body was perfectly golden as he laid by the pool on a hot August afternoon. Six feet tall with auburn hair and the greenest eyes this girl had ever seen, Sebastian was more than a hunk; he was a dream. I hadn’t seen him lifting weights or even exercising since the day I arrived at the estate in June, days after my eighteenth birthday. However, he had one of the finest forms that I had seen on a man. Chiseled abdominals lined in a perfect set underneath his full, smooth pectorals. Sebastian was nearly ten years older than me and I found him all of the man that I ever wanted.

              “Audrey, is it?” Sebastian asked when we were first introduced. “What a classic and beautiful name.”

              I blushed and twisted my leg in the same way an impish girl might do at the sight of a beautiful man. That is, however, how he made me feel: small and curious.

I sat near the top of the hill, between the trees and watched him sunbathe each afternoon. Sebastian always made sure to lay in such a way that none of his limbs were touching. I assumed that that was for one of two reasons: either he wanted sun to flow evenly between the gaps of his arms and torso or he knew how delicious he looked in that position. Whichever the reason, he had my attention.

No matter how delectable I found Sebastian, he was forbidden fruit. My father and his mother married just over a week ago in a vapid ceremony. The party was on my father’s country estate and littered the elderly who’s-who of the city. They bored me with their endless drivel over how badly they needed to acquire property in the “lovely countryside”.

The silent theme of the night appeared to be about who had the most diamonds. They sparkled off of every beautiful hand and neck that graced the soirée. However, my eyes were looking at something that I found even shinier.

Forever near the bar in a black tuxedo with his hair perfectly parted, was my new stepbrother. Girls flocked from every corner to pay him with their attention. I, on the other hand, knew to keep my distance. It didn’t matter that Sebastian’s pearly white teeth seemed to gleam at me every time our eyes met from across the room; the wedding had sealed our fate that night. We were siblings now and no matter how fond of him I was of him, my Eve had to stay far away from his apple.

              The wedding took place the summer after I graduated from boarding school. My father rewarded my certificate with one hundred thousand dollars to use to travel the world over the next year. The only stipulation was that I had to stay with him for three months and attend his wedding.

My father’s ultimate goal was to get me to be close to my new stepmother, Lydia. By the time of the wedding, my opinion of her hadn’t fully developed. Upon our first meeting, when the two of them picked me up from the airport, Lydia seemed to keep her distance. Then again, so did I. It is my belief that both of us were afraid that the other could hold more power over my father.

However, after seeing that Lydia was merely a peppy three hundred dollar dye-job brunette with a curvy body, I wasn’t afraid. She also seemed to enjoy that I was a classic, average built brunette. Something about my appearance must have eased her wariness because before we sat in the car, she gave me a full bosom hug.

Though we hadn’t spent any one-on-one time together since my visit began two months ago, I did find a reason to be suddenly glad that Lydia was in my life. As soon as we arrived back from the long trip to the airport, I met Sebastian. He was walking in the mansion from a night swim with only a towel wrapped around his waist. My eyes fixated upon the twin lines that curved at the top of his hipbone, leading down to wonders that I could only let myself imagine. After discovering that Sebastian would soon by my father’s son, I was instantly on end.

I couldn’t help but watch his perfectly formed body basking in the summer sun. He was forbidden fruit; naturally, all I wanted was to have a taste. Sebastian was the one thing that I desired the most from my stay, and I wasn’t one to give up on my desires.

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