Chapter 119: Back to Winslow
Noah’s POV
I did not sleep well over the night.
One of the reasons for my lack of sleep is the unwanted, but necessary trip I’m going on with my wonderful husband and his equally wonderful family members.
The second reason has to do with my nightmares. I either dreamt of a man with one eye, or I dreamt of walking in a forest alone.
Elias isn’t slightly affected by what he did because right now, he’s sitting next to me with a book in his hand.
I prayed to the Goddess that he wouldn’t talk to me, my prayer was answered, but now I’m curious about my pink dildos which are somehow missing.
I steal a glance at him, sigh, look out the window, and then look at him again.
"What do you want, Angel?" he asks, breaking the silence between us and licking his fingertip to flip the page of his book.
"Where are my toys?" I ask.
"Grown men don’t need toys" he says with boredom in his tone.
"I never claimed to be a grown man. Where are my toys, Elias" I hiss at him.
"You have toys?" Lucas asks from the passenger’s seat, turning his head towards me for the first time, and I notice the swell of his jaw.
"You were the one who hit Elias" I say accusingly and Lucas makes a face.
"Yeah, it was a ten out of ten experience, might do it again. Now tell me about your toys, please tell me they’re legos" Lucas says with excitement.
"No, they were not legos, and mind your business, dickless" Elias says and I frown at the pettiness in his tone.
"That’s not nice, you’re being a jerk" I say to him in defense of Lucas.
"Asshole is a better word" Lucas says.
"I can’t curse" I inform him.
"You should curse; it’s a pleasant experience. Ten out of ten for me" Lucas makes an okay sign with his fingers, and I make a face of displeasure at him.
"Yeah well...I want to enjoy my afterlife in the Goddess’s arms..." I say and turn my head when Elias scoffs. "Are you laughing at me?" I ask with a scowl.
"Angel, with the number of filthy things we’ve done together. You will be spending your afterlife with me in hell" he says, taking his eyes off the book to look at me for the first time.
The implication of his words and the darkness in his eyes turns my petty annoyance into nothing.
"Yeah...that’s my cue to excuse myself" Lucas says and returns to scrolling through his phone.
"You piss me off real badly; do you know that?" I ask and he shrugs without breaking eye contact.
"You broke into my wardrobe and desecrated the place with different shades of pink" he says.
"What’s wrong with pink?" I ask guardedly and he breaks eye contact for a few seconds.
"Nothing" he mumbles and I keep glaring at him.
"Where are my toys?" I return to the original question that birthed this conversation and Elias turns his attention to the book.
"Elias Deus" I say his name sternly.
"Damien’s Dobermans are grateful to you for the chew toys" he says and my jaw drops.
This...this unbelievable motherfucker.
"Those were important gifts from my mother-in-law" I say, punching his arm without thinking. It’s after my knuckles hit his arm that I realize what I’ve done and I immediately brace myself to be hit, but Elias doesn’t raise his hand at me.
"Goddess, I hate you" I hiss.
"Yes, hating the goddess is logical" Elias responds, twisting my words and making me more frustrated.
I see why Damien bullies him so much; Elias Deus is full of shit.
"Don’t talk to me, don’t look at me, don’t even breathe in my direction" I warn him, folding my arm and falling back into the seat.
I can’t believe he gave my personal belongings to the dogs his brother once threatened me with.
Damn him.
When we get home, I’ll throw his rocks across the yard and watch him meltdown.
"You can’t be mad at me forever" Elias says lazily as he flips to another page of his book.
"Watch me" I say to him, and since he already said I’m going to hell with him, I throw in a middle finger.
Elias looks at my finger for a few seconds with amusement, then he takes my hand and puts it down gently.
"I have watched you for too long, Noah. I already know you can’t be mad forever. You’re too...social for that" he says.
Unfortunately, it’s my curse.
My mind goes all over the place and works faster than I can keep up with. It’s a disadvantage that makes it hard for me to hate anyone; it also makes me want to always talk to someone.
"And no, I didn’t give the toys to the dogs. I gave them to the cook for fuel" he says and like before, my jaw drops again.
I need to take classes on how to be evil from Damien.
"Whatever" I murmur and shut my eyes.
I fall asleep for a few minutes, and when I wake up, the car is driving into Winslow.
I stiffen and my mind goes blank as my eyes watch the streets I used to parade.
"We’re going to the psychiatric hospital first, then to your home" Elias says to me but I don’t take my eyes off the view of my city.
There are still people around, but it’s clear that this place was partially razed to the ground a while ago. Some walls are still black with the smoke of the fire from that day and the places where flowers used to grow are now crawling with weeds.
"Don’t get sentimental or attached, Angel. You no longer belong here" Elias says in that wickedly flat tone and I blink away the tears building up in my eyes.
Everything used to be bright and lively, but now, it’s all dark and dull.
There are three little pups running on the sidewalk. The three of them look happy despite the state of the city, and it makes my heart ache.
"Damien and Kai are already at the hospital and they’re waiting for us" Lucas says and Elias checks his wristwatch.
I keep my eyes on the formerly magnificent buildings as we drive by. I’m holding back a whimper of pain at how rundown the whole place is.
We finally come to a stop in front of the hospital, and I flinch as Elias pulls out a silver gun.
My husband loads the weapon with ease, checks his pocket, and finally gets out of the car.
"Are you going to kill Conan?" I blurt the question nervously and he tilts his head.
The lively playfulness that was in his eyes a few minutes ago has been drained out. It’s not Elias who’s looking at me right now, it’s Death.
"Please don’t kill him" I whisper and he jerks his chin towards the building, a silent order to walk.
I follow his command by walking in with sweaty palms, shaky legs, and a racing heart.
In my head, I start to make wishes that will never come true. I wish none of the madness of the past few months had happened. I wish I was home with my dad and mom, a mom who didn’t care about me but existed nonetheless.
"Did you kill my mom?’ I ask Elias and he frowns at the question.
"She’s untouched and at your father’s house" he says roughly and I nod.
A scared worker approaches us and leads us to the room where Conan is.
"He talks crazy all the time...uh...don’t believe him" she informs us. Her hands are shaky as she opens the door to the room and I wipe my sweaty palm against my jeans.
"Ah...let the show begin. You won’t believe what this man just revealed" Damien says with darkness in his tone and I freeze at the door.
Kai is here, so is Conan, and so is Damien, but I can’t move.
I’m staring at Conan and he’s staring back at me.
The weak man slowly gets up and I take a step backwards. I thought seeing him face to face meant remembering everything.
I thought meeting him again would trigger a memory, but nothing is happening.
"My Noah..." he says softly and still...nothing happens.