Tragic peace, p.1
Tragic Peace, page 1
Tragic Peace
BRITTANY WRIGHT
Dedication:
To Alyssha, my beautiful PA, thank you for pushing me to write your books or you. Thank you for falling in love six chapters in and keeping me going.
To Melanie True, thank you for pushing me to not give up, especially when I was so close to the end.
To Anne C. Ford, Thank you for joining our crew and helping us put a defining name on the WTF Crew! I can’t wait to see what we produce together!
To my Beta & ARC readers; thank you for your advice. Your kind words helped keep me going.
To Zakk Wylde and Black Label society, although they don’t know it, they 100% inspired this very fictional novel.
To the Nano Shenanigans group, thanks for always keeping it classy and inspirational!
Tragic Peace - Playlist
Loveless- Lighthouse
Loveless- Haunted
Loveless - Exile (Taylor Swift cover)
Slaves- Body On Fire
I Prevail - Bad Things
The Broken View- Something Better
Motionless In White- Masterpiece
Silent Theory - Shaking Cages
Godsmack- Under Your Scars
Black Label Society - You Made Me Want To Live
Black Label Society- A Love Unreal
Zakk Wylde - Lost Prayer
Falling in Reverse - The drug in me (reimagined)
Written By Wolves-To Tell You The Truth
Trigger Warning:
This story might have triggers that might not be safe for mental health. Any mention of treating low blood sugar is my, Brittany Wright’s (the author’s) personal knowledge and how she manages her own low blood sugar, and I (Brittany Wright) suggest you seek a doctor for any treatment of this condition. Low blood sugar can be deadly and lead to being in a coma. That being said, the techniques used for dealing with a panic attack or anxious moments are also methods that I use when I am in these situations, although these situations did not happen in real life.
This story mentions situations that include miscarriage, coma, rape, abuse, broken family, death of a loved one, being bathed while unconscious, although nothing happens, alcohol, multiple partners, poly-romance, consensual adultery, swingers, swinging with other couples, swinging with single person, multiple sexual partners, hospitals, nurses, doctors, x-rays, tests, moving, funerals, churches, guns, violence, sexual situations, swallowing, spitting, indecent exposure, exposure to new things, reckless driving.
Might also include: card games: Phase 10, Skip-Bo, Bullshit, etc.., taking shots, movie theaters, romance while in theaters, dreams coming true, too good to be true, happy ending, no cliff hanger, age-gap, asshole mom, dick head brother, narcissism, unable to make decisions, rock, paper, scissors, greed, lust, sloth, wrath, gluttony, pride, envy, food, stalking, breaking and entering, heartbreak, second chance love, crying, smiling, Karens, Chads, Erics, jobs, new job, expired dreams, new dreams, dream come true, police officers, small town drama, mechanic shops, diners, BBQ, Memphis, organized and unorganized crime, text messaging, airplane mode, waking up, falling asleep, road trips, inability to say no, lawyers, weddings, divorces, ADHD, and other things that might not be safe for your mental health.
Remember, it is okay to not be okay.
I understand if this book is not for you, but always take your mental health seriously. Take a deep breath. Everything will be okay.
The best is yet to come…
Contents
Prologue
1. Raelynn
2. Zack
3. Raelynn
4. Zack
5. Raelynn
6. Zack
7. Raelynn
8. Raelynn
9. Zack
10. Raelynn
11. Zack
12. Raelynn
13. Zack
14. Raelynn
15. Zack
16. Raelynn
17. Zack
18. Raelynn
19. Zack
20. Raelynn
21. Zack
A love untold
Take Me Away
Lover’s Brawl
Rae’s Song
22. Raelynn
23. Zack
24. Raelynn
25. Raelynn
26. Zack
Epilogue
Raelynn
Zack
Raelynn
Prologue
RAELYNN
Isacrificed so much when I sauntered away from my old life. The man I swore would have protected me throughout everything turned out to be the man that tried to starve me to death, left me to suffer while our twins disintegrated inside of me, and deserted me at the last minute, because I was comatose for too long after he assaulted me for the last time.
Leaving wasn’t consistently a choice I considered. I had to leave behind what I knew. They would release him within five years, and he vowed to come after me again. A scrap of paper wouldn’t keep me safe. I knew that. That’s why I always carried a gun, pepper spray and a taser with me. I would not be a victim again.
“Good evening Raelynn, I’m sorry to call you like this, but my name is Jerome, your grandmother’s lawyer, and executor of her estate. I’m sorry to inform you she has passed away. We need to talk about a few things involving her estate.” Jerome spoke in my ears. When we set up her life insurance policy on my 18th birthday, I didn’t expect to lose her just ten years later.
I couldn’t breathe. My chest was pounding. The world was spinning. I needed to speak.
“Raelynn, are you still there?” Jerome asked, concerned.
“Gran is gone? That’s impossible. She just left a few we–. When did this happen? I don’t understand.” Tears built up as I asked these questions. His words echoed, but I heard nothing.
I sent a text to my boss, letting her know I needed to take a leave of absence while I dealt with my Gran’s estate. I didn’t want to move back to the city that raised me. Nobody knew the truth of the rumors that essentially killed me. And when I recuperated from my coma, I swore I’d merely returned for Gran. I ostracized myself from that state. She was the only one who had never left me. Gran was my sole friend and the only family I had left.
“She passed harmoniously. They found Mrs. Haynes in her bed. We met last week to discuss her last wishes. I believe this was after she returned from visiting you in Texas. She was exceedingly enamored with you, Rae.”
“Gran left me her house?” I was astounded. I was positive she would have left that to my twin brother.
“She left you everything.” The last words he expressed sent me into a stupor. I didn’t know what I would do. That woman had my entire heart. She was there when I was born, the day I took my first steps, my first day of school, the first time I tried sushi, the first time I got bullied in school, my first haircut, manicure, my first period. She was there for it all. Gran was my absolute best friend. And now she’s gone, and she left me everything.
So why do I feel like I’m left with nothing!?
One day later:
I packed up my Jeep and made sure I had enough clothes for two weeks. I didn’t know what I had to go through to leave this town. I would not let him win. I refused. This was my grandmother. My entire life. To say goodbye to her, I had to say goodbye to my past.
As if my twin senses were tingling, I felt I needed to call and check on my twin to see how he was. Josh and I haven’t been close for a very, very long time, but I always wished him well. I called him when I was loading the car. Of course, I cried to him about Gran’s passing. I asked how he and mom were handling it. In his usual distant manner, he made it as if it were his grandmother and he was the only one affected by her loss. The only thing he was pissed about was Gran leaving me her mansion. So, I told him I would think about leaving the mansion for him to oversee while I lived in Texas. We might be joint owners, but then I said, “I’ll sign it over to you.” I wasn’t sure what I was saying. I’d take Gran over the house I grew up in.
They, whoever they are, did not pave the drive to Arkansas with good intentions. No, it was paved with assault, and everything destined to keep me down. I had unquestionably no apprehension this would be the altering occasion, which either improved my life as it is, or it would disintegrate worse than ever. I just did not know which way to go.
ZACK
A few years ago, I moved to this small town hoping to build a life for my brother and me. We all packed together, and only one of us had a wife. Two were getting out of a divorce, while the others were finding their way while growing up. My best friend, Jeff, married this beautiful woman, Alyssa. She’d always been like a big sister I never had. They had an open relationship, but I wasn’t walking into that door. No siree! Why did we move? Well, that’s because I landed this amazing deal on a mechanic shop, we were all mechanics and we all knew this was an opportunity we couldn’t let go. I get that adults rarely make huge moves together, but for us, we stuck together. We were family. Dario was in his early 30s, I was in my late 30s. We needed a change and the crime in Memphis was getting bad. A small town sounded perfect. What could go bad in a small town?
I heard the news that the great Evelina Haynes passed away. Tragic. I hope she’s at peace. Death wasn’t my forte. Of all the qualities I had, patience and grief weren’t my best. I didn’t do well with letting go. I lost my parents at a young age. I never knew my grandparents. Dario and I were raised by our uncle and aunt on my dad’s side. We knew nothing else. By the time we were old enough to know better, we were s till too dumb to care.
I was going to be a rock star! I wanted to play the guitar with some of the best rock and metal bands. Dario was the singer. He also played bass like a beast. We were quite the duo, then we met John. He was our missing piece. He played the drums. We needed a job to help keep us going while making our music. So, we had our little musical peace. Practicing whenever we could. Dario led vocals while switching between bass and guitar, Jeff was our amazing bassist, John kept our beat with the drums, and I strummed the guitar and sang backup vocals. Our band, if we ever made it: Crossroads. We met at crossroads in our lives, all went through something noxious to our psyche and made it out alive. If we went the wrong way, who knows where we would have been? Finding each other had been our saving grace.
Bradford, Arkansas, was a miniature town. Maybe fewer than 800 people in the entire population. We had a few tourists throughout the year. News spread like wildfire because everyone knew everyone. Strangers weren’t strangers for long, even if you only spoke to one person.
Moving in, we wanted to lie low until news of us died down, and were as respectful of the townspeople as possible. We genuinely opened a mechanic shop, got our things rolling, and when we had spare time, we jammed out! It was the life we loved. A few cities over, we went to a few bars and would play a few paid gigs. They weren’t life changing, but it was fun to jam out and release everything we had built up. When Mrs. Haynes passed away, the news devastated the town. I didn’t realize how important she was. The brothers and I worked together to build up a delicate flower arrangement and sent it to the family home. We signed it from our mechanic shop. It wasn’t much, but we didn’t know them that well, either…
We grew up knowing nothing and moved away to a town with nothing. We soon found that nothing quickly became our everything.
Raelynn
Where did I even begin? I never meant to fall in love with him. He was entirely the best part about the world I was walking into, but when I walked away the first time, it was supposed to be for good.
Really, I needed to move away from my past, wipe away the dreams of being a lawyer, a doctor or even a surgeon, and all dreams that never came to be–I needed to let it all go. I wanted to be a writer. My haunting past kept me from doing a lot of things I wanted to do. The scars were far worse. The scars covered me from head to toe. I had to wear specific clothes to cover up every scar. Some were impossible to cover, others were easier. I ran away when they arrested him for attempted murder. Unfortunately, upon his release, he came after me. No one was told where I moved. I ran away from him. I would visit my parents and grandparents sometimes and I always showed up randomly, so nobody could plan a party he could sneak into. Everything that I ever wanted, I never saw or thought it was possible to get. I would have thrown tantrums if I thought it would help, but I just silently let life fuck me repeatedly.
The second I hit the city limits of Bradford, Arkansas, my car overheated again, for the seventeenth time since buying this stupid Jeep. I pulled into Swanky’s Auto Shop and that was where me giving up was not an option. I used to always give in and let life do its thing. When I received the call about my Gran, I was in shock. It didn’t hit me as hard as I thought it would. She was the ideal woman and the perfect role model. She was professional, ladylike, and feminine. I never thought I needed to be perfect, ladylike, or feminine.
Until I met him. He was the perfect man. And I wanted him.
He stood about six foot seven. His hair was longer than mine, going to the middle of his back. He wore a long beard reminding me of a metal head. I wasn't certain how kissing him would be with all the whiskers in the way, but his lips, gosh, his lips were so luscious. His body was one of a bodybuilder, or one adorned by the gods. And the way he played the guitar, piano and every other instrument melted my heart into pieces. And then when he sang, he stole my soul. The lyrics he wrote were all it took to add the ultimate piece to the pie that would make sure he was the one for me. Whatever he was, whoever he was, he had me and I him. He hadn’t noticed me yet, and I hadn't approached him yet. I wasn’t sure if this would be a happily ever after, or if this would be a never going to happen situation. My social anxiety never helped. I was tired of being ruined. I was exasperated at being cautious. I was drained of surviving in the shadows. And he made me want to live.
I wasn’t sure what I was doing, but I would do it whole-heartedly. I stepped up to his station; he made eye-contact with me. His eyes were the most golden hazel. He was surely a god to be sought. Men like him didn’t exist, especially in this town. You were a country boy, or you weren’t. That was it. There weren’t guys that looked like they belonged to a biker group or metal band in my small town. It was Bradford, Arkansas. It should have been Podunkville, USA. Because there were precisely about 700 people in our town. Simply sneeze and you’re three towns over. We didn’t have a Walmart, UPS, or anything that was convenient, and occasionally had to travel to Searcy or Little Rock to get everything useful done. There was the prominent Baptist church. You couldn’t live in the bible belt without that. Plus, the post office, a high school and the two or three auto shops and what brings me here, this specific auto and repair shop, because I needed to get my Jeep serviced, because the piece of shit lemon needed to have its transmission looked at, or something. Who knew? It was a few dips of water and wedges of lemon short from being a whole jug of lemonade.
He was playing his guitar when I came to the shop. They were rocking out and playing some magnificent metalish rock music. The country folk around here wouldn’t appreciate that, but I did. It spoke to my heart. He captured my soul as if he were the only one in the room. The rest of the room disappeared with music, and his version of a Siren’s song captivated me.
“Welcome to Swanky’s Auto and Repair. My name is Zack. How can I help you?”
About three seconds after he said that, he looked up at me and put his guitar away. He knew I needed his help. I didn’t want to be in this town much longer than I needed to be. I wanted to go back home to Texas, where I was happy. He wasn’t here when I left seven years ago.
“Yes, my name is Raelynn and I need to have my car looked at. I’m in town for a funeral and I’m not sure what’s wrong with it. However, there’s two unusual lights on and this car has been in the shop longer than I've had it.” I babbled on and on. He scribbled a few things down.
“Nice to meet you, Rae-Lynn. Are you from here?” he asked humorously.
“Yes, and no. It’s Raelynn. Not Rae. Lynn. There’s no pause. One name.” I corrected him and articulated the name perfectly, this time not using the southern accent that helped me get what I wanted in the northern states.
“My apologies, Raelynn. I’m Zack. Do you have a ride from here to get you where you need to go, or would you need one of my guys to give you a ride?” He was professional. It never shocked me when small town men were gentlemen. It was when they were opening doors in the northern states it threw me for a spin. “We have John, Dario, and Jeff. You can take your pick if you’d like to get back to your house or hotel or wherever you’re staying.”
“I’m going to walk the blocks. Lucky for us, it’s a small town and I’m staying with my mom at my Gran’s house. It’s only a few blocks from here. I just need to grab my phone, charger, and everything else should be good unless we need to scrap it for the metal and report it stolen.” I was joking toward the end, but I was sick of this damn Jeep.
“Have it your way, Raelynn. I just need you to write your name, phone number, and address on this form for me, and when we’re done, I’ll swing by and pick you up.”
“What do you mean, pick me up?”
“You’ll see, Raelynn. You’ll see.”
I was probably a mirror image of a doe in headlights because all the guys busted out laughing.
“I meant, when your Jeep is ready, I will come by and pick you up so that you can drive it and make sure it will get you back to wherever you want to go. But…” He paused.
“But, what?” I asked.
