Throwing caution to the wind, I climbed out of the window and began my descent. It wasn’t exactly easy, and it was made more difficult by the fact that I was trying to be as quiet as I could so the brothers wouldn’t hear me from the living room. I didn’t even want to think about what they’d do if they caught me.
Every time I crushed a rose, or felt a thorn stab my fingers and scrape my legs, I cursed my plan. But I was already half way down and decided to keep going. I could now see that climbing back up to my room would be impossible, and I panicked at the idea of somehow breaking into the house after the run. My guess was that the brothers would have every window and door locked up tight.
With my thoughts focused on how I was going to get back into the house, I wasn’t prepared when one of the rungs of the trellis broke, causing me to lose my footing as I fell to the ground below. Luckily for me, and lucky for my ass as it hit the ground below, I wasn’t that far above the ground. Although the loud crashing sound, my squeal of surprise, and the tumbling of the entire trellis falling to the ground after me, made my presence very, very known.
I held my breath waiting for the door to open and three angry men storming out. I waited and just as I began to feel that my fall had gone unnoticed, a deep voice came from the shadows.
“Have you lost your goddamn mind? What in the hell do you think you’re doing?” Jay emerged from the darkness, anger painting his face.
Rye and Banks stepped into the light, though their faces were nearly black with ominous threat.
Relieved I have no broken bones or feel any real injury, a new fear kicks in.
The brothers.
“I-I uh… I wanted to go for a run.”
Jay looked from where I sat to the window above our heads and then back at me. “You climbed out of the second-story window? You could have killed yourself.”
“What did I tell you about leaving the house?” Banks asked, though it was more as a warning than a question.
“I like to jog,” I tried to explain, feeling stupid for my foolish actions. “I just wanted to go for a run and knew you wouldn’t allow—”
“So you knew not to leave the house?” Rye cut in. “You knew we would be against this?”
“Look, it’s not like I was trying to escape or run away. I just wanted to jog.”
“And you decided not only to blatantly disobey our rules, but to put yourself in danger while doing so?” Banks asked, his arms were now across his chest and his eyes narrowed.
I knew how stupid my idea seemed, and I couldn’t help but be embarrassed by the fact that I was still sitting on my ass staring up at the brothers.
The sound of a wolf howling in the distance had all three brothers turning their heads to the depths of the forest.
Rye stormed to me, squatted down, took my chin in his hand firmly and asked, “Are you afraid of us?”
Yes? No? Maybe? I didn’t know the answer to that question really.
“Right now? Yes,” I finally said.
“You should be more afraid of what’s in that forest,” Rye said, squeezing my face harder. “There are wolves, bears, and mountain lions who would hunt you down and eat every last bit of you before we’d even know you were missing.”
“And this is who we want to be in charge of our sister?” Banks asked in disgust. “She doesn’t even know how to keep herself safe.”
Banks had a point. I would be just as upset as them if I caught Kit climbing out her window to go run in the woods at night.
Jay walked up to Rye and put his hand on his brother’s shoulder. “I’ll handle her from here. Why don’t you and Banks go in and get some rest. We have a busy day tomorrow.”
Rye kept his eyes locked with mine as he stood and nodded in agreement.
Jay then directed his attention to me. “You march your ass back into that house,” he commanded. “Now.”
I wasn’t sure what Jay meant by saying he’d handle it. Even though my body stung and ached from my climb and fall, I was not going to let this man harm me without putting up a fight. Realizing I was in a position of weakness, I quickly stood and readied myself for what was to come.
“I don’t know what you think you’re going to do to me, but I’m not going to let you talk to—”
“Wrong. You will turn your ass around and get inside before I do it for you.”
The other brothers watched Jay take control, but I wasn’t sure what that meant, and it made me want to flee into the forest regardless of what animals were waiting for me in the shadows. Right now, that option felt safer than facing the beasts in front of me.