Teaching Sin

The heat was stifling.

I gripped the edge of my shirt and twisted it between my fingers. Next to me Draven Sanders trumped his fingers on the steering wheel to a song playing softly on the radio.

I was nervous. So, fucking nervous.

Today not only marked the day of my freedom, but also of my new life. Not that I thought for one second my life would get any better than it had been since I was released.

“You’ll love your new home,” Draven said softly. “Our house is on the cliff, and we have our own stretch of private beach. There are also a few horses.”

I said nothing.

My eyes were focused on the various shops we passed. I really had nothing to say. I was happy, sort ofwhere I had lived for the past two years. It was away from my father and his friends and away from all the media that had followed me around when word got out that I killed a man.

“You have two half-sisters and a half-brother,” Draven continued. “Lucy just turned four, and Ellie is three years younger than you. Damian is two years older.” He slowed the car at a stop.

I could feel his eyes burning into me.

“Your mother is going to be happy to see you.”

I scoffed.

She left without a goodbye. For years I’ve kept on dreaming of her returning, but she never did. My mother walked out on me, she left me in the hands of monsters.

If she was really as happy as he said she was, why wasn’t she with him? Why hadn’t she visited me in the hospital?

“She doesn’t know that you’re going to live with us, yet.”

Now that caught my attention. I turned my head to watch him.

His attention was focused on the road.

My lips twitch, but I didn’t smile. I couldn’t wait to see her face! Excitement filled me. Excitement was better than the nerves. But it quickly faded as the doubts started to fill my mind.

What if they hated me? What if they thought I was sick like father told everyone. What if they send me back?

My mind blanked when he pulled up in front of a big black gate.

He pressed a button on a remote control and a second later the gate opened. I leaned out the window and stared up at the canopy of trees above us as he drove down the lane. The tree branches grew thinner until it cleared. There was a big yard with colourful flowers planted all around it and dark green grass that was cut short.

Unlike the grass at Jack’s house.

My eyes darted to the house. It was a simple white two-story house with a big front porch. Wooden fences, similar to those I had seen around our neighbourhood, separated the front yard from the back.

Draven parked the car in front of two steel garage doors.

Getting out of the car, glanced around.

I recoiled when Draven reached out.

His eyes briefly caught mine before darting away again. Clearing his throat, he pointed to the house.

I silently followed behind him.

He opened the door and stepped aside for me to enter first.

I stepped into the house and gasped. The walls were painted a cream colour and the floor was covered with gray tiles. I briefly glanced at the decoration, but my attention was instantly caught by the little girl who seemed to appear out of nowhere.

Her blond hair was tied into two pig tails. The pink dress she wore was covered in glitter and so were her shoes. She smiled showing off her two missing front teeth.

“Lucy,” Draven said from behind me. “This is your sister, Sydney.”

Lucy gave me a small wave.

This time I allowed my lips to pull up into a smile. However, my smile faded when someone else appeared behind her. I studied him as he studied me. The boy was a carbon copy of his father.

“This is Damian.”

Damian tried to smile, but it looked more like a grimace. “Hi.”

Silence fell between us. It was awkward. Lucy walked up to me and grabbed my hand. I stiffened but didn’t pull away.

“I show you your room,” she said.

With a tug on my hand, she started leading me up the stairs. Like the foyer, the hall upstairs was decorated with senseless things. Some photos hung on the walls, but I didn’t stop to look. Lucy led me down the hall to the left. We walked to the end and stopped in front of an open door.

“This your room.”

It was bigger than the room I had shared at the hospital and completely bare. I knew for a fact that Draven had known about my release for months. Why hadn’t he gotten things for my room?

Walking over to the window, I glanced outside. I had a view of part of the backyard and the waves a few feet away.

“I wasn’t sure what you’d like so I thought you’d like to choose for yourself. Just make a list of things you need, and we’ll go shopping for it,” Draven said from the doorway.

I nodded.

The white walls needed to change as soon as possible. I was tired of staring at white walls. I could paint the walls purple and get purple bedding or maybe another dark colour. No, not dark, maybe something bright and colourful.

“I made you ’thing,” Lucy mumbled.

She raced out of the room and returned a few minutes later completely breathless. Lucy gave me a big smile as she handed me a pink card. It was covered in so much glitter that some actually fell onto the floor as she walked. I smiled when I took it from her.

More glitter fell out when I opened it. It made tears fill my eyes. I dropped to my knees and wrapped my arms around her small body.

She smelled like strawberries.

With my lips against her ear, I spoke; “Thank you,” I whispered.

She pressed a kiss against my cheek before wrapping her arms around my neck.

Draven showed me around the rest of the house with Lucy tugging along with us. The house was big, but it didn’t feel like a home. I had to share a bathroom with Damien and Ellie. Ellie wasn’t home from school and there was no sign of my mother.

The backyard had a big swimming pool near the side of the house, and a barbecue area. There were a few big trees along the fences. I liked the way the leaves looked. The urge to draw it was strong.

There was a pathway through plants and rocks that led down to the private beach Draven had talked about.

I closed my eyes and sucked in a deep breath. Fresh air. I wasn’t going to be locked up ever again. I wasn’t going to be forced to take medicine I didn’t need. I was free.

I glanced around to make sure no one else was around and then slipped off my shoes. Leaving it on the sand, I walked closer to the waves. A squeal fell from my lips when the cold water rushed over my feet. I’ve only ever seen the beach in movies. It was breathtaking in real life.

A giggle fell from my lips when the water splashed against my legs, wetting my pants in the process too.

I was free!

Throwing my arms in the air, I spun around and around. I waddled deeper into the water without even realizing it. I didn’t care that my clothes were soaking wet.

My laughter instantly died down when I stepped on something sharp.

I stumbled backward and lost my balance. Water covered my head and entered my mouth and nose. I choked as more water filled my mouth. For a second, I was able to breathe again. I thought I was going to be okay, but a big wave pushed me under again.

Fear and panic filled me.

It became harder to breathe.

I was losing air fast.

Black spots appeared in my line of vision. Just as I was about to give into the darkness that was pulling me under, air filled my lungs. I reached up and moved the hair from my face as I blinked away the water. An arm was wrapped around my waist, holding me tightly against a firm body. I clung to the person as I coughed.

My throat and chest hurt, but I could breathe again.

We were out of the water in seconds. My ass and legs came into contact with the warm sand first and then my upper body as the person lowered me. I heard him suck in a breath and then slowly blow it out.

“Why the hell would you go into the water if you can’t swim?”

Definitely a man, a very angry man. His voice was slightly accented but deep. It made shivers race down my spine. Despite the heat in the air goose bumps covered my body.

He shifted, and then I felt him lean over me. His body blocked out the sharp glare of the sun. I slowly opened my eyes and blinked.

They burned.

“Are you okay?” he asked softly.

I tensed when he reached out and moved wet strands of hair from my face that I had missed. The man sat back but kept close to me. I found the strength to push myself up into a sitting position. With the sun in front of him, I got a look of my saviour.

He was muscled. That was easy to tell from the way his shirt clung to his broad shoulders and chest. His tanned skin was dripping with water, and his lips were pressed into a flat line of disapproval.

I finally found the courage to look him in the eyes. He had the most beautiful pair of eyes I’d ever seen. It was hard to make out the exact colour.

He was beautiful.

“You’re Sydney?” he asked softly.

I nodded and glanced away from him. His eyes were intense. It felt like he could see right through me.

But that wasn’t really what scared me.

He had an air of authority that clung to him.

“Are you okay?”

I looked back at him. He was silently waiting for my response. I managed another nod, and that’s when my lips began to quiver. My teeth were chattering too, I realized. Tears filled my eyes and threatened to spill over.

He muttered something under his breath and reached for me. The action was so unexpected that it made me freeze. He placed me on his lap and wrapped his arms around me. One hand guided my face to the crook of his neck and his other rubbed my back.

“It’s okay,” he said softly. “You’re okay.”

But I wasn’t okay.