Corrupt (Devil's Night, #1)

by Penelope Douglas

I stroke his head and then slowly trail my hand down. Down the back of its head, down the back of its neck… And then I curl my fingers around i...

I squeeze my eyes shut, tears caught in my throat. The dog spasms, and then…finally… he goes limp, the life drained out of him.

She looks at me like I betrayed her.

“You killed him yourself, and I could never have done that!” “And that’s why you’ll always be weak,”

“You know why most people in the world are unhappy, Rika? Because they don’t have the courage to do the one thing that will change their lives. That animal was in misery, and you were in misery watching it. Now he’s not suffering anymore.”

“You think I’m bad? You think less of me? Well, guess what? I don’t give a fuck what you think! You’re a thirteen-year-old piece of baggage my family has

to look after who’s going to turn into nothing but an eighteen-year-old copy of your drunk mother!”

“Only you probably won’t be able to land a rich husband with that scar,”

“Go visit your dad, then!”

She looked at me just like my father always did. As if everything I do is wrong.

I’d said the same things to her that my father says to me. How could I do that?

She isn’t weak. She’s a kid.

see Rika lying over her father’s grave, curled up and tucking her hands into her chest. I stop and gaze down at her sleeping,

Kneeling down on one knee, I slide my hands underneath her body and lift her up, so small and light.

She squirms in my arms. “Michael?” she says.

“Shhh,” I soothe. “I’ve...

“I don’t want to ...

“Neither do I.”

Sitting down on the bench, I keep her in my lap as she lays her head against my chest, and I hold her close, trying to warm her or do anything to make her feel better.

“I shouldn’t have said those things to you,” I admit in a raspy voice. “Your scar isn’t ugly.”

“You never apologize,” she states. “To anybody.”

“I’m not apologizing.” I shoot back, kind of joking.

I am apologizing, actually. I feel bad, but I have a hard time ever admitting I did anything wrong. Probably because my fathe...

But she’s right. I never apologize. People take the shit I dole out, but not her. She ran away from me....

“You got a lot of guts,” I tell her. “I don’t. I’m just a coward...

But she doesn’t see what I see. She’s not in my head. I’m a coward, and I’m mean, and I feel so fucking aggravated all the time.

“I’m always afraid. I do what he tells me to do. I stand and speak, or I stay silent, and I never say no to anything he wants. I never stand up for myself.”

control. “People don’t see me, Rika,” I confide. “I only exist as a reflection of him.”

“That’s not true,” she mumbles sleepily. “You’re always the first person I notice in a room.”

My chest shakes for a moment, and I stare down at her, her words hitting me like a truck.

What is my father going to do to me, and do I care? I want that. You can’t have it. Well, what happens if I take it anyway? I want to do that. You can’t. Who’s going to stop me? Jesus, she’s right. What the fuck am I waiting for? What can he do?

Keeping her in my arms, I stand up, holding her tight as I carry her back to the car.

I don’t bother taking her home. I don’t want her to be alone.

Walking over to my bed, I lie her down on top of the comforter and pull the blanket kept down at the bottom over her.

“Why don’t you put her in a guest room?”

“I’ll sleep in one tonight. Let her have my room. She ne...

And then I look at my mother. “She should have her own r...

She sleeps over a lot since her father’s death, and given her mother’s behavior, I don’t see ...

Let her have a space here that feels...

“That’s a goo...

My mother strokes her hair. “So fragile.” “No, she isn’t,” I correct. “Don’t coddle her.”

“Do you still have those masks we used for paintball last weekend?”

“What are we going to do?” “Whatever we want,”

She corrupted me.