Naked and Raw Truth

Scarlett's POV

I put on some calm ambient music and watched Vivian. The medication caused her to pass out so completely that I doubted she’d even be dreaming. So I got up quietly, careful not to wake her, took a deep breath, and left the room, leaving my phone behind to keep playing the soothing music while she slept.

As I came out of the room I left Vivian, I heard voices coming from another room nearby and walked toward it. Once I entered the room I saw Oliver and John lying on the bed, Roman and Gabriel stood nearby, and Klaus and Liam were standing on the furthest side. They must have been talking about what happened. Everyone turned to look at me at the same time.

"She's going to need a lot of therapy," I said, taking a deep breath to keep the anger I felt from showing. It wasn’t needed right now. "Is he dead?" I asked in a cold clipped tone.

"Yes," Oliver replied. "John wants to be his replacement."

I immediately looked at John and saw him shrink. I tilted my head a little and noticed that everyone around me shuddered.

"Sca..." John started speaking, but his voice was unstable. He avoided eye contact more than once, but all I wanted was for him to continue his explanation. "I... I can do better... I know it's risky, but think about it! I have the knowledge, you know who I am! I will never allow the things that Bullet did, happen again!"

"Are you going to abandon Vivian?" My voice was ice cold and my question caught everyone off guard. "Don’t you think that I knew, all this time, that she was saving herself for the right person? That I knew that the right person she was waiting for, was you... You were just too cowardly to ever commit to her." I told him icily.

“You don't want to argue with me; I'll use everything I know about you, against you, no matter how much it hurts, especially if it's to prevent a very good friend to get hurt.

"If you go back... I can assure you that you'll never see Vivian again… And that’s not a threat, it's a certainty!” I scowled him.

John looked away and lowered his head; I could see him biting his lip and his face turning red.

"What do you have to say for yourself John?! You ran away and hid... And that, after Bullet took her virginity! What's it like to be a coward?" I asked him.

The others were looking at me with horrified expressions on their faces; I knew that John was injured. He took a few bullets and him being here was a miracle. But it didn’t excuse what he did.

John turned his face away, unable to look me in the eye.

"Are you going to run away again? Or are you going to stay by her side and help her recover and get through this? It's your decision... But remember, your word is worth its weight in gold and remember our oath." I saw, from the corner of my eye, that Cris wanted to say something, but I adjusted my posture, and she closed her mouth, opting to rather not say anything..

John started trembling as tears ran down his face. Yes, it hurt to do this to him, but as far as I was concerned, he was never returning to the pack.

"She... She doesn't want me..." John whispered. "I tried to get close to her, but she just kept pushing me away..."

"I doubt she was comfortable with Gabriel touching her." I said. "Even so, is that enough for you to give up?" I asked him.

John finally raised his head and looked at me. He was clearly angry. Finally reacting.

"I CAN'T CHANGE WHAT HAPPENED!" John yelled, standing up and looking me in the eye.

"And do you think you'll change anything if you go back to the pack?" I asked, keeping my voice steady, but I saw John tremble again, this time with anger and hatred.

"YES! I won't let this happen to anyone else ever again!" He retorted.

"I'm sure Oliver and Roman have some other people in mind to run the pack..."

John twisted his mouth sardonically at the suggestion.

"But… if you feel that you want to return to the pack so badly, Vivian should be awake in a few hours; You will not be leaving this apartment unless you’ve gone to talk to her, your great idea..." I stepped aside, but John looked at the door and sat back on the bed, I could see the blood staining the bandages.

"Shar... I..." John’s voice became soft again, and I approached him, gently taking his face between my hands, forcing him to look at me.

"John, I know... I understand your reasoning..." I said in a voice, which was slightly less harsh. "But you're wrong. Your place is here, by her side, she's going to need you. Now, more than ever. Even more than she will need Cris and myself." I told him.

"If I had claimed her, if I hadn't..." John said, and I saw his tears run down his face, once more.

"You can't change the past, John. Even if she was with you, Bullet would still have taken her. Not only that, but he would have imprisoned you and forced you watch him rape her and then forced her to watch them torture you." My voice was soft and gentle, despite the heavy meaning of my words.

John closed his eyes, the full extent of his exhaustion taking over his features. I wiped the tears from his face.

"For now, I need you to rest and forget about this stupid idea in your head of going back to the pack." I said. He nodded once after which I helped him to lie down again.

I turned to the doctor; John's bandages needed to be changed. As I moved away, he grabbed my hand, opening his eyes, and looking at me.

"Do you really think that she could find it in her heart to forgive me?" John asked anxiously.

"Yes. I do indeed really think she would. I won't say that it will be easy... She will repeat everything I just told you, and it will hurt you even more than the words spoken by me... But yes, I believe that, in the end, everything will work out fine." I replied. John then closed his eyes looking a little more relaxed and appeared to have a slight smile in his expression.

The doctor then approached the bed. The rest of us stood and left the room to enable John to get in some much needed rest.

"Scarlett, If that’s the way that you treat your friends, I most definitely don’t ever want to be your enemy. You must be completely ruthless with them." Gabriel commented, trying to lighten the mood.

I let out a chuckle.

"He was about to make a mistake, and I wasn't going to allow it to happen." I said and shrugged.

"But did you have to talk to him like that?" Cris asked, Her voice tinged with a hint of fear.

"Weren't you already discussing it before I entered the room?" I asked, and they both confirmed. "It didn't work, did it?... But what I said worked. It might have hurt, but it worked, and if it hadn't done it, I was going to lock him up here or in my apartment until he gave up the idea." As soon as I passed by Vivian's door, I opened the door a crack to check in on her. She was still peacefully sleeping.

We continued walking until we reached the living room. Oliver, Roman, and Gabriel were already there and, at least, they were in better conditions than John.

"Do you want to know what happened?" Oliver asked.

"No. For now it's enough for me to know that Bullet is dead..." I replied as Jasmine appeared in the living room, announcing that lunch was ready.

“I would however like to know how much this operation cost me." I added and made my way toward the dining room.

"Don't worry Scarlett. In the end, we came out on top. I really have someone to place at Black Fang as their new leader. So I'm already gaining from this." Oliver replied. "I've been eyeing her for a while, as well as a few other people... Bullet's death is a blessing. Many pack members were very dissatisfied with the way he was running the pack."

I soon saw the table set and sat down, Oliver sat next to me, and I started serving him.

"I figured." I said and smiled. "Are you finishing the cleanup?"

"Yes, in a little while I should receive the report... But what worries me is that Strip is on the run... When he saw that Bullet had fallen, he ran, and we haven't been able to find him yet." Oliver explained.

"I understand. I imagine Bullet died in the middle of the conflict... So when you catch Strip and he doesn't die right away, it would be interesting to suggest some tortures." I finished serving Oliver's plate and put it in front of him.

Once I was done serving Oliver, I started serving myself.

"From what Gabriel said, you have a creative mind." Oliver indirectly agreed.

"What can I say, I've watched a lot of Saw." I smiled and shrugged.

"If you wanted to pursue a career in that world, you'd definitely go far." Oliver commented as he started eating.

"I know, but I prefer to continue with my dresses." I let out a chuckle.

"Now I understand why you two became friends," Roman commented.

Oliver and I looked at each other and then simultaneously burst into laughter, but he soon complained about the pain the laughter was causing him.

"Outside of movies and series, I've also heard many reports and experienced some things myself," I explained calmly. "You know the reputation the Black Fang pack has... Bullet’s been leading the pack for many years now, with Strip as his second-in-command. The way we survived there was by helping each other. That's how I managed to stay a virgin, just by avoiding Bullet and other predators who were just like him... Basically, that's the life of most girls in that community."

"Boys too, anyone who didn't want to work in the drug trade, ended up paying fines... Usually a minimum wage... Which made it almost impossible to work outside. That's why many people have either regular debts or life debts with them. Jobs were already so hard to find within the pack, and paying a salary directly for protection... Sometimes there was only one person working, per family... The others ended up joining the drug trade, so that they didn’t have to pay the fines," Cristine said.

"So, when I agreed to the contract, I also had to ensure that I had a way to stay safe, in case we ever ran into any complications," I commented, referring to the auction contract. "We learned to defend ourselves."

"But you’ve always been weird. You don't have joints... That's it! You're a mutant," Cristine added. "Have you guys seen her contortionist skills yet?" She shuddered. "It's bizarre, like those horror movies where a person is possessed."

Just to play a prank on Cristine, I placed my hand under the table, adjusted my bones into twisted positions, then picked up a piece of cheese and brought it to my mouth.

"It's just a little hand." I imitated the meme from the movie "Scary Movie."

Cristine suddenly let out a little scream. I shook out my hand and soon my fingers returned to normal.

Oliver had seen me do similar things before, but it was the first time that I showed more of my contortionist abilities.

"See! See!" Cristine yelled exasperatedly,wWhile the rest of the group started laughing.

The mood had improved a lot. Which was great after all the stress and happenings of earlier in the day. It was nice to hear everyone laughing instead of feeling morbid.