Page 105 of Unhinged Kallie

“Troy! Wake up, Troy! Don’t you dare leave me! I didn’t mean it! Troy!”

Pushing past Alex, I ran down the stairs toward the field and got to the edge just as Talon began to wail. The pain in her voice rocked me and felt like a stab to my heart. I knew without anyone saying anything that he was dead. The look on the paramedic’s faces said it all. Them loading him on a stretcher didn’t mean anything. It was what they weren’t doing that told the story.

“Let me go! No, I have to go with him. He’s my brother! Troy! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean what I said!” Talon wailed as the football captain tried to get her to let go of Troy’s hand.

Bo was quicker than I was, and he reached Talon, who’d resorted to punching at the captain. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her away. Tears ran down my cheeks as I watched them take my cousin off the field.

The initial shock was wearing off, and images of my mother’s funeral were storming to the surface. The engulfing sense of loss and sadness quickly took its place. The memory of my dad sitting alone as he stared at a picture of my mom filled me, and I felt like it had just happened. Gripping my stomach, I doubled over, trying to ward off the devastating feelings that would consume me if I couldn’t stop them.

Pulling out my phone, my hands shook as I dialed my dad.

“Kallie, what is it? What’s wrong,” he asked. “Is that Talon screaming?”

“Dad, it’s Troy,” I said before the weight of the past and present colliding became too much, and I dropped to my knees. “I didn’t mean it. I never wanted him to die,” I said as guilt poked at me.

How many times had I wished he would just go away? Leave forever or die? The jealousy ran so deep that I never fully understood him until recently. All that time was lost.

“I’m on my way,” I heard my dad say, and then let myself be pulled into Alex’s hug as she wrapped her arm around my shoulder.

Did a serial killer weep? The answer was yes.

Chapter Forty

CARTER

Way too many people had already died in my twenty-one years. I was up to four family members, and the irrational fear that this was somehow my fault pricked the back of my brain. I considered it childhood trauma that I should really one day deal with..

I knew I wasn’t a jinx. It was ridiculous to feel that way for a single moment, yet the feeling plagued me. I was only two when my parents went out for a date night, and a drunk driver hit them. The man who killed Kirby and Troy’s heart condition had nothing to do with me.

Troy playing football created the perfect storm for his heart to stop. The doctor said it could’ve happened any time, but being tackled constantly was like playing Russian roulette.

Shattered was the only way to describe Aspen and Talon. Abel was hitting the alcohol hard and screaming things that didn’t make sense to me, but Cain was watching over him. Bo was staying with Aspen and Talon for now, and Kallie was curled up next to me as we stared at the bonfire I’d made. She couldn’t take everyone crying or yelling anymore, so I brought her out where it was quiet.

“How are you,” I asked, kissing the top of her head.

“I’m angry.” Her eyes lifted to mine, and behind the deep-rooted sadness was a staggering rage. “How are you handling this so well? I kill people. I should be fine, but you’re the one who looks unaffected while I’m a wreck.”

“I don’t know. I liked Troy, and we always got along. He was family, but we weren’t close like him and Bo. Honestly, I think I’m in shock and terrified to think too hard about it because my mind runs down the rabbit hole, and all I can picture is losing you, and I can’t.” I pulled her tighter into my side, and she wrapped her arm around my waist.

“Yeah, I’ve had that happen.” Pushing away from me, Kallie stood up. “Will you come with me to my mom’s grave?”

“You don’t need to ask me that. The answer is always yes.” I stood and wrapped my arm around her shoulders. My heart raced if she got more than ten feet away from me. I could still hear her panicked voice and feel the terror that had ripped though my body. I made it here in record time and was shocked not to get pulled over.

We stood quietly when we reached the grave as the leaves rustled in the nearby trees, and a dog from a neighboring farm barked at some yippy coyotes. It was an eerie night, and if you could feel death in the air, I felt it.

“I need to find him,” Kallie said, startling me.

“Find who?”

“Darryl Burton.”

“The guy that killed your mother,” I asked, and although I shouldn’t be shocked, I was.

“Yes.” She pulled away and began to pace. “It’s been long enough. My dad has had since Christmas to find him and still hasn’t. He says he has a new lead, but we never discussed it.”

“Okay, then why not just leave him to your dad?”

She stopped pacing and stared at me like I’d sprouted horns. “Because he hasn’t found him yet, and I think I can. I’ve been practicing my skills, honing my abilities, and I have a superpower my dad doesn’t have.”