Shear Love - Tiaras and Treats

“Boy, what are you doing? Where are your parents?”

“Don’t got any and I ain't no little boy,” I replied angrily. I would have ignored him, but his voice was so authoritative that I felt that I had to answer him but I didn’t have to be polite about it.

“You here alone?”

“Yes,” I say, immediately thinking that I shouldn’t have revealed just how vulnerable I was.

“Come on boy. We can’t leave you in this hellhole. It’s about to be crawling with cops.”

“Cops? Cops would be bad,” I say already walking toward him, taking a chance that these guys aren’t as bad as they seem. Sure, they could have been luring a witness to their death, but I didn’t get that vibe from them.

“I assumed. I’m Gear and this is Piston. We are enforcers for the Endless Knights,” he said before continuing to walk.

“Endless Knights?” I questioned.

“A motorcycle club.” I had heard motorcycle clubs were bad news, but I was inexplicably drawn to these guys.

As I walked by the open door to the neighboring room, I saw the massacre within. At least three bodies and so much blood. Everywhere. I didn’t even flinch. It should have scared me; I should have done something about what I’d seen and I certainly shouldn’t have been following the men blindly. Instead, all I could think was that they must have gotten what they deserved. I should have been scared that these men were going to hurt me, but instead I felt the exact opposite.

I walked out of that motel for the first time feeling like I belonged. It’s fucked up, but murder and other crimes don’t bother me. Shaking my head, I turn into the parking lot of the last place on Earth I’d ever thought I'd work. My booming hair salon. Sure, it’s a money laundering front for the club, but I still had to work hard in school just to get the damn business license, so I thought I might as well make the most of it. I don’t cut a lot of hair these days, but we’ve built up a high-end clientele that love the girls I employ. Salon Cheveux Emmêlés has been rated best of the best for twelve years in a row. Even though it’s a front, I am oddly proud of those awards.

None of this would have been possible without Gear. Because of him, the Endless Knights took me in. They fed me, clothed me, and sent me to school. They made me into the detached killer with a surprising penchant for numbers that am I today. I will forever be grateful that they found me. I'll be forever loyal to them, but I am thirty-six years old and growing listless. For years, I have watched my brothers find the other half of their soul and get married, not realizing until very recently that the love of a good woman is what has been missing in my life.

Now, there’s something in the air. Something is coming. I can feel it.Chapter TwoRachelle DietrichFuck this, I think as my father, Steven, yells at me for the third time today. I’ve already told him I wouldn’t do it, so why is he still going on about this?

“You’ll marry him or so help me God,” he growls as I stare at him. I know better than to actually say anything, but for some reason I can’t keep it in.

“Like hell I will,” I shout back. “This isn’t the 1800s. You can’t tell me who to marry," I retort.

“I think I just did," he replies curtly.

“But,” I protest, but he cuts me off.

“Shut up, girl,” he demands, spittle flying from his mouth. I never realized how evil he looked before this very moment. Normally, he is a loving, albeit overprotective father, but I’ve never seen this side of him. “You really aren’t getting it, Rachelle. He wants you. He won’t take no for an answer. I gave you to him. He’ll kill us all and still take you. Do the right thing.” My mother died in childbirth or so he says. It was just us for ten years. He was a great dad. Came to all my recitals, plays, everything. He met my stepmother, Gerlinde, when I was ten. She was eighteen and perky enough to snare my dad. Her being only eight years older than me didn't bother me. What bothered me about her was the fact that she pretended to like me when my dad was around but when he wasn't she tortured me. Before she came along everything was nice and normal. Then we moved to Goran and she had three baby boys right in a row. My brothers are still young and I love them, but their mother makes me sick. My dad knows I'd do anything for them.

“I hate you," I seethe. I didn't use to, but he's changed over the last eight years and not for the better.