Broken and Powerful

Chapter 18

JEDA POV

The shower washed the blood off my skin and clothes, turning the water a light pink. A few minutes ago I heard the door to Stefano's room open but haven't heard anything else.

Surprisingly, I wasn't beating myself down as much as I thought I would.

Maybe I was in shock.

I just killed a man.

A horrible man, but he was still a person.

Earlier, when I snapped out of my stunned state to the sound of shouts coming from outside, I saw clearly what was happening. Just in my view, I could see Stefano and Richard beating Francis to a near pulp and anger filled me.

At first, I thought it was because it was wrong and he didn't deserve to die, no matter how bad of things he did to me.

But after a few minutes and making eye contact with Stefano, I knew why I was angry.

I wanted to do it myself.

I rushed into Stefano's room, not sure of what I was looking for until my eyes landed on the silver gleam of the pistol laying on his desk. It was as if it were calling for me to use it.

Looking back, I didn't even think as I grabbed the gun and ran downstairs until I could see him on the ground from the front door.

The feeling of the gun firing in my hands felt natural even after hearing his screams in pain. There wasn't a second of guilt in me. It was as if I had done it a thousand times before and it no longer fazed me.

But I had never taken a life. Never even considered it besides Jerad, but those were just fleeting thoughts most of the time.

I killed him with no remorse.

It was an easy death with a single shot to the head, no prolonged pain other than two shots in his leg.

He was in pain for maybe 10 minutes.

I was in pain for three years.

I lifted my head and brushed the hair out of my face as I looked up at the white ceiling.

Did that make me as bad as them?

Maybe he had a family or someone who relied on him, and I just took that away from them.

What if I was exactly like Stefano and this was my villain story in the making?

I was snapped out of my thoughts by a soft knock on the door. Unable to determine if it was from Stefano's room or mine, I turned the shower off and slide the glass door open.

"Yeah?" I ask out while wrapping a fluffy navy blue towel around my body.

"It's me," Richard says from my door. I look over at it questioningly for a second, waiting for him to tell me what he wanted but he remained silent. My eyes moved to the counter for a second where the pistol was sitting.

After Stefano said I could keep it, I wasn't sure where to put it so I just brought it in here while I cleaned up.

Moving to the door, I tightened my grip on the towel as I unlocked the door and opened it. Richard was standing by my bed with his back turned to me while setting a black garbage bag down on the floor.

"What's that?" I ask and he suddenly turns around startled. Guess he didn't hear the door open.

"Oh, it's," he hesitates as he focuses on me. Realizing I was just in a towel I avoid eye contact with him and look at the bag he brought into the room. "Oh, uhm. This is stuff we brought from Jerad's house this morning that we thought you might need."