Sinners 01 - Branded Read Online Free PDF Page B

yourself?”
    “My bedroom was eight floors up in a High Society building. I think it’s reasonable
     to conclude that a naked boy with broken legs would’ve been caught… but I bet your
     report didn’t give you those details,” I say, holding my voice steady for once.
    He shakes his head, tucks in his T-shirt, and fixes his belt. “There’s no such thing
     as reasonable. Go to sleep,” he says before leaving my room.
    I’ve been trying!
    In the darkness, my throat constricts and my muscles lock in place. I can’t see a
     thing, but I hear everything—the drip, drip, dripping from the bathroom and the tap, tap, tapping as rain hits my window. Screams from outside bounce off my walls and then moaning
     from the hallway joins in. I shake my head, pry open my throat, and take a breath.
     Propelling myself off my mattress, I stand at Cole’s door with my hands at my side.
     It seems weak, but I hate being in the dark. I give in and knock.
    “Now what?” he asks.
    “I can’t sleep,” I say.
    “And that’s my problem how?”
    “It’s not.” I bite my lip. “Would it be all right if I kept my light on?”
    “Whatever,” he says.
    I draw my knees up to my chin, wrap my arms around my small frame, and start to count
     the cement blocks that make up my walls. My imagination runs wild with every noise
     in the building and the screams from outside. I hope this nightmare ends soon.
     
    *   *   *
     
    A screaming siren jolts me awake. Did I fall asleep? I leap to my feet and look outside, accidentally knocking over the paper bag on the
     windowsill. It clatters to the cold floor. I unfold the top and pull out a roll that’s
     hard as cement.
    Disgusting.
    I throw it and begin to shake. Biting my tongue, I try to bury myself in the corner.
     I have nothing but these walls to protect me, and no one but myself to watch my back.
     I’ll never be able to fight my way out because what lives outside is worse than what
     is in here.
    A shower will help clear my mind.
    I turn on the faucet for a long while only to discover ice-cold water rushing out.
     The water never warms and I begin to understand. The commander thinks he can wash
     away my soul by freezing me to death in the shower. He thinks he can destroy me by
     stripping away my possessions. But he can’t and I won’t let him take my memories,
     my ambition, and my pride.
    He thinks I’m so easily broken.
    The commander doesn’t know anything about me, what I grew up with, what I endured—the
     father I lost, the mother I hate, the brother who walked out of my life, and the stepfather
     I was forced to accept. He thinks since I was rich, making me poor will cause me to
     give up. What he doesn’t understand is that, after my father passed away, I grew up
     behind walls of hatred. I had nothing yet everything at the same time. I owned expensive
     clothes, enjoyed good schooling, and lived in a nice home. But my body was just a
     shell protecting an empty, desperate heart. My life was a colorful façade.
    I had so much time to sit and think. I spent the majority of my life between four
     walls. I was abandoned, neglected, starved, betrayed, and abused. I’ve already been
     treated like the scum of the earth, so the Hole is nothing new. He wants to erase
     every sign of my existence on this earth, but I won’t let that happen. He can strip
     me naked, but he’ll never reach my soul.
    It’s personal, completely personal.
    I squeeze the excess water from my hair and slip back into my old scrubs. I tiptoe
     back to my mat only to find it occupied by Zeus.
    Great! How did that happen?
    I don’t want him in my room, but I’m unsure of what to do. When he looks at me, his
     brown eyes widen, his tail whips back and forth, and his ears stand at attention.
     I wonder what he thinks of me. I don’t know why I care, but I do.
    He releases his gaze and drops his head. I comb my fingers through my hair and remain
     standing.
    Cole steps inside my room through