I didn't even wait for the car to settle into the garage properly before I leapt out of it, dashing towards the front door of my house as fast as I could.

The sound of music coming from the living room floated into my ears as soon as I burst through it. Instantly, I began to head in the direction while calling, "Annie? Ann, that you?"

A shriek rang through the air when I threw the living room door fully open. It turned out that was courtesy of Annie, because I'd nearly hit her with it.

At the moment , I didn't give that much thought as I panted out, "A- Ann..."

Getting herself together, she walked towards me and replied, "Angelo, what's going on? I got your message-"

"Y- yeah... Was at... Dy- Dylan-"

"Ok before you say anything else, you need to seat down. There's no way I'm going to be able to understand what you're saying with you speaking in this state."

As much as my mouth longed to let out the words I'd kept caged in for far too long, I let Annie lead me to the couch.

After I had sat down, she said, "Hold on, lemme get you a glass of water."

"N- no." I shook my head. "I'm f- fine."

"Are you sure?"

Sucking in a large breath, I nodded.

She looked at me silently for a few seconds, then sat down. "Alright then. Whenever you're ready, you can talk to me."

I nodded. I waited for a bit, till I was sure I could speak clearly, then started.

"So, I went over to Dylan's house-"

Her eyes widened. "Wait, Dylan? Like your former-friend-turned-to-heartless-bully Dylan?"

"Yes-"

"Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Yes, but-"

"Did he hurt you again? Because I swear-"

I groaned. "Could you please save your comments till after I've already said all that I want to?"

"But-"

The look on my face must have aptly reflected the irritation building inside of me, because Annie fell quiet and nodded.

"Thank you. So anyways, I went over to Dylan's place 'cause Aimee asked me to accompany her to a study session she has set with him. Well, it's more like she tricked me into- but that's not the point."

"While I was over at his place, I entered his room 'cause I needed to use the bathroom. There were all these pictures in there, but then there was one that caught my eyes, because it was the only one with someone in it who I didn't already know." After sucking in another deep breath, I breathed, "Dylan's uncle, Ben."

I'd admit, I was thrown off a bit when Annie didn't give any reaction to that name. Only till I remembered that she didn't actually know who that was though.

I must have been silent for a bit too long, because Annie gently prompted, "Okay..."

I felt my stomach drop a little more when I heard those words. The fact she was prompting me to say the words that would only lead her to more pain is a perfect example of the universe's cruelty at work.

And still, despite knowing this, I told her, "Ann, Dylan's uncle... he- he was the one who poisoned Max."

For an eternity, Annie said nothing. Then, her brows rose. "What?"

"Dylan's uncle, Ben, he was the waiter who served Max the poisoned glass of wine."

"I- I see. And you're sure about this?"

Grimly, I nodded. "His face..." The waiter's frightened face flashed before my eyes. "I'm sure."

Annie fell silent again, her face set in an unreadable mask as she chewed on her bottom lip.

The silence in the room seemed to thicken with every passing second, until it became near suffocating. I found myself wishing I could somehow reach into Annie's mind and look through the multitudes of thoughts that were most likely zipping through it.

But since I obviously couldn't, I settled for the next best thing: breaking the silence myself.

"Ob- obviously, he wasn't in the plot alone. After all, what reason does he have to target Max? He most likely was put up to it by someone, and I think- no, I know who. Lucas."

Another bout of silence followed those words. Then, Annie looked up at me and finally spoke. "I agree."

I didn't say anything for a bit. Subsequently, I choked out, "Se- seriously?"

Firmly, she nodded. "There's no doubt in my mind."

"W- wow."

For some reason, I found myself chuckling at that. Maybe because that reply was definitely not what I had been expecting to come out of her mouth.

A few moments later, my little chuckles had grown into giggles and seemed well on the way to progressing into full-blown manic laughter.

Furrowing her brow, Annie asked, "What's so funny?"

"N- nothing, it's just... this is great! Since we're on the same page, we can both make sure that bastard pays for what he did!"

Annie's face fell. "Angelo, it's not that easy-"

"But why not? You're a member of one of the five great families in The Society, right? In fact, you're the heir to it now! You can make sure that Lucas gets what he deserves!"

"I wish it were that easy, but that's just not how The Society works." She sighed. "It may have been that easy if I weren't accusing another member of one of the families. As it is now if I come out with this claim not only would I be accusing a member, I would also be accusing the head of one of of these families."

"Yes, I may have some leverage seeing as I'm a member of one of the families as well, but ultimately in order to take any proper action against Lucas, I either need the support of three of the other leaders, or unquestionable proof that Lucas is indeed guilty. I can't just accuse him based on my own thoughts, no matter how right I may feel they are."

"Oh." I deflated, but brightened up again the instant a certain thought struck me. "We need proof, right? Then if we can find Dylan's uncle, we could get him to admit who paid him off, and then maybe we can trace it back to Lucas!"

"That might have worked... if not for the fact that Dylan's uncle is dead."

My stomach dropped. "Wh- what?"

"Tony told me that me that Lucas had the waiter who served Max the poisoned wine shot before he could be properly interrogated."

Heat rushed over my skin as my fists clenched. "Of course he did, that way he can keep his tracks covered! How can anyone not see that?"

"Well of course I can, but Lucas could argue that it was within his right to have the waiter killed. After all, he was the host of the dinner party. He's the one who has to bear the brunt of the responsibility for any problem that arose during it."

The beast wanted to keep lashing out, but my rational side knew that wouldn't help me get the answers I sought. So, grudgingly, I settled back into the couch and gruffly said, "Fine, so that's out of play. What about the convincing three other leaders route? How well do you think we can pull that off?"

Annie hesitated for a bit before replying, "Well... to be honest, I can't say. The thing about The Society is despite all the fancy dinner parties and meetings that may be held, at least most members only have one goal in their mind: to further their own personal agenda as much as possible. So..."

Her voice trailed off then, but the message she was hinting at showed clearly in her eyes.

"So basically, if Lucas can offer at least one of them something they view as worthwhile, we'd be given no chance to get justice for Max?"

Her silence was all the answer I needed.

A quick bark of laughter left my lips. "Great. Just fucking great!"

Annie's eyes met mine as she stammered, "B- but of course, it's not that simple! The heir to a major family died at his dinner party, there's no way Lucas would be let off scot-free! As much of a bitch as she might be to me, my mother adored Max. She wouldn't rest until Lucas gets punished!"

"Yeah, but would the punishment Lucas get be what he deserves, or some shitty compromise designated just so no one can complain? 'Cause if he doesn't get sentenced to death, then it's not justice!"

My eyes remained hardset in the wake of my words, even as I watched Annie's eyes widen. Because as terrible as those words might sound, I meant them with every fucking fiber of my being.

"I can't promise that would happen... but I can't say that it won't. Honestly, it's up to chance."

"Fine," I spat. "In the meantime, what should we do-"

"You don't have to do anything. Honestly, I wish you wouldn't bother yourself with this. You're graduating this year, aren't you? You should be studying, searching for colleges, doing normal things-"

"Normal things?" I barked a laugh. "Aren't those for people who were born into a normal life?"

"No, they're for people who choose to have normal lives! Look, I know you want to help, but honestly, you're too young to have to deal with all this."

I stiffened. "I'm too young? Wh- what the fuck is that meant to mean?"

"It means-" She took a deep breath. "It means that you shouldn't have to deal with any of this, or a lot of things you've gone through, at such a young age. No one should. And although you can't change what has already happened, you can stop it from influencing your life more than it already has-"

"But that's just it, it's already influenced my life! I have to do something-"

"For fucks sake Angelo, do I have to spell it out for you? You can't do anything, okay!"

It's weird, but as I stared at Annie after she let out those words, I half expected- no, I hoped that I would wake up in my bed any moment from then. It would have been a lot easier to process that moment as events conjured by my mind, rather than the bitterness of reality.

Sadly, the only thing that faded away then were the chains that were holding back the beast inside me.

I nodded. "I see now. You're saying I'm helpless, right?"

Annie nodded, albeit slowly.

"So what about you then? Are you helpless?"

"Well, yes. There's nothing I can do, after all."

I gave a dry laugh. "Really? Is that a fact? Or is that just what you tell yourself so you have an excuse to mope around all day and not do anything to avenge your brother's murder?"

Annie's eyes widened, but I was nowhere near done with her.

Staring her dead in the eye, I hissed, "I just want to let you know now that if Lucas gets away with this, it would be on your head. Because you chose to sit around feeling sorry for yourself rather than trying to get your brother the justice he deserved. Then again, maybe you just don't care enough to put yourself through the amount of stress that will entail."

Tears had already begun to well in her eyes even before I was done, but I still went on. In fact, knowing my words were piercing her just as hers had pierced me gave me a sense of satisfaction at the time.

After I was done, I shot her one last look of disgust before I got up and stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind me.
. . .

Do you think Angelo is overreacting? What are your thoughts on this chapter? Leave your thoughts in the comments, and please don't forget to vote if you enjoyed this chapter!

Till next time!