by G N Wright
As soon as Lincoln’s within ear shot, I speak to him, “Call Jack and get him and all our guys to The Ring asap. Tell him it's a family emergency.” I inhale another deep drag as he stares at me, before he nods and pulls out his phone to make the call.
“Where are we going?” Asher asks as I flick the cigarette to the floor and stamp on it.
“To the South Side.” I climb inside the car and slam the door behind me.
The drive over is quiet as we all take the time to center our thoughts after what we just saw on the news. By the time we pull up at The Ring I can see most of my guys are already here, which is good, it means no more wasting time. The South Side is officially joining the war against the Donovan’s and to do that they need the truth. All of it.
“Hey man,” Jack greets me with a fist bump and then nods to Jace and Lincoln. I don’t miss his eyes popping out of his head as Asher rounds the car. He looks at him and then back at me with a confused frown, but I just ignore him and head straight into The Ring. I climb through the ropes and look down at the small crowd gathered here. My brothers and Asher join me, and I look to Ash before I speak. His face is set in a tight grimace and I know he knows what is about to go down here. He gives me the slight tip of his head, which is as good as I will get from him, so I take it.
I look back to the crowd and speak loudly, “This town is run by criminals, sick twisted murderers and rapists who have been running free for far too long. That stops now. These people took from me, took from my girl and they will pay with their life. From here on out, we are at full scale war with Elliot Donovan, and anyone associated with him.
There are a few murmurs within the crowd as I see them look between themselves and then between Asher and me.
"What the hell is the son of the enemy doing here then?” one of my guy’s spits, and I see a few others nod in wonder along with him.
Jack steps forward, “I hate to be a prick Marcus, but he’s right. Your first rule to all of us was never trust a Donovan.
He isn’t wrong, I was clouded by pain and grief when I started this crew, hurting the Donovan’s was my only endgame. I have since broadened our mindset to helping others who need it, but my main target has always been Elliot. My boys know this and to explain the trust I have in Asher, would mean revealing the truth to them all. I contemplate what to say next when Asher beats me to it
“My father is scum. The Devil. He’s hurt people. People important to me and people important to Riviera. It’s time he paid for his sins. I may have done things for him that I will never be proud of, but I’m not on his side, I’m not even on yours. The only thing that matters to me is that I get to put Elliot Donovan in a fucking grave. I will do that with or without your help.” His wicked tone silences them all.
I feel the tension rolling from Asher as he looks at me, he knows there is no love lost between us, there never has been, but he saved my girl's life. He was there for her when I couldn’t be when I chose not to be. For that I will be forever in his debt and he will forever be family.
I look back at my guys, “He’s one of us, always has been, always will be.”
Chapter 12
ELLE
The whole town has been swarming with police officers all day. They’re all calling the murder of Joseph Kavanagh a shocking and isolated incident. I don't think I could snort any harder at that. This town is built on more blood and bones than I can count and run by more criminals than the local prison. Yet apparently, the slaying of a corrupted law official is a tragedy. Fucking ridiculous. I pasted the walls of his office with enough of his crimes that they would have been able to incarcerate him for the rest of his life five times over. But apparently that isn't as newsworthy as his murder.
He was only the start of my list. I have a lot of names and not a lot of time. I really need to keep moving, but I'm also not stupid. I need to eat and rest a little, and with the police crawling all over town, what better time than now.
I drive over North Hill, pausing in the mass of trees behind the Donovan estate. So close to where I know my daughter is, yet still so far. All I want to do is push through the branches, scale the giant wall, and slay every fucker in there until the house drowns in their organs. Then set it alight and watch it fucking burn with Cassie safely back in my arms. But I can't do that. Not until all the other pieces of this game have been taken.
I drive a little more and reach a house I know better than any other. The King mansion, my home, well, my childhood home. I wonder if my parents are inside. If they ever regret the terrible things they have done. If they know how much they are going to pay for their sins.
I remember when I was a little girl my mom told me I could be anything I wanted to be. I bet she never thought I’d grow up to be an avenging angel covered in blood. I didn’t dream of this path for me either. She played her part and for that she will suffer in the darkest depths of hell. I don’t doubt the Devil has a chamber on reserve for my parents, but tonight isn’t the night I send them there.
I keep driving, looking for a place I'm sure I will be safe for the night. The Riviera mansion remains empty to this day. No one wanted to live in the house that Michael was murdered in, and then Elliot had it condemned. I think that was his last fuck you to Michael for what he did. It's all boarded up and empty, such a sad end to a house that was always filled with love and happiness. Until the night it was ruined by the curse of the Donovan’s.
I pull over into a thick wooded area and then move a few branches around to cover my car. There won't be anyone coming out this way, but it's better to be safe. Climbing the fence into the backyard where I spent many of my summers, is like climbing into the past. I remember the way like it's engraved on my very soul. Past the pool, over to the left of the rose bushes and twenty steps past the Oak tree.
Once I clear the tree, I see it. Mine and River’s treehouse in all its glory. It looks a little worse for wear since the last time I was here, but that isn’t surprising since Michael isn't here to look after it anymore. If we make it to the other side of this. I'd love to do it up and bring Cassie here. She'd love it.
Just thinking my daughter’s name causes a sharp stabbing pain in my heart. I press my hand firmly against my chest, like I could ease the pain, but it’s impossible. I can’t stop thinking about her, worrying about what they might be doing to her. Elliot and Greg have no fucking morals or sense of good, but I pray even they aren’t twisted enough to hurt a child that young. She is the only thing that is keeping me going, her and the promise of the euphoric feeling I know I’ll get when I gut them.
I push my bag fully onto my shoulders, grip the ladder at the base of the tree and begin the climb I have done hundreds of times. The steps creak more than I remember, but I suppose I’m bigger than the last time I was here. I push the door with only a little resistance and it slams open against the wooden flooring.
I push myself up into it and then close the door after me. It’s pitch black and if I didn’t have this place memorized, I would probably trip up. But stepping up here is like stepping into my childhood. It reminds me of my other life, my life before, when everything was simple and the only problem I had was waiting for my best friend to kiss me again.
I find the old lantern we used to use for our late nights here and I’m pleasantly surprised to find it still works. It lights up a thousand memories that this place still holds. I feel the cracked pieces of my heart threatening to slice through my chest and leave me bleeding out, but I fight against it. That is all I can do now. Just fight. Fight and pray that everything I do will be enough.
The treehouse is built out of beautiful recycled oak wood, the only way in is through the trapdoor in the floor, and there is a large window that overlooks the back of the Riviera property. During the day you can make out a river that's flows far deeper in the forest. But the most magical thing about this place is the deck carved on the top. Marcus and I would watch the stars anywhere we could, but this was our favorite place. It was just ours.
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I take a seat on the old sofa in the corner and cough slightly when the dust dances up around me. I waft it away and grab the plastic bag from my rucksack that contains now cold Chinese food, a donut, and a large bottle of water. Grabbing this stuff wasn’t necessary, but keeping my strength up is. I didn’t realize how exhausted and hungry I am until right now.
As I eat, I continue to recite the list of names over and over in my head, never forgetting every little thing they have done and why they deserve to die. Growing up I always thought if someone killed another human that it made them a bad person. It was a very black and white way to think about things, especially when the world we live in is painted in multiple shades of gray. I do still believe that killing someone is bad, but what if the person you kill has hurt so many others? And in taking them out you would save countless other lives? Does that still make you a bad person? I can’t help but wonder if in this sick twisted town of corruption and lies, am I the hero or the villain?
I don’t know what time I fell asleep, but by the time I wake up there is sunlight streaming through the window. I check my watch, it’s 6.32am. Usually at this time, I would be waking up in Cassie's bed, or she would be diving onto my head to drag me from sleep. I would give anything to have another day like that. I will give everything to make sure that happens again.
Standing up, I stretch out my stiff limbs and force myself into a few yoga poses to loosen myself up. I need to remain as limber as possible, it will be one of my advantages. In the daylight, the cabin brings back even more memories. I smile when I see a few polaroid’s stuck on the wall from a few summers ago. There is one of Marcus and I on the top of a Ferris wheel from a carnival we went to on vacation. We look happy and carefree, which I guess we were. I think we are about thirteen in it and you can see by my face just how much I already loved him, even back then.
There's another of a younger Taylor and me, she hasn’t changed much, just has shorter hair and bigger boobs. We are posing by Hallows Waterfall with our arms around each other and tongues out. The falls are so close to where I was taken from and I can’t help but wonder how many other girls faced the same fate.
Then there is a third one of me, Marcus, and Ash from the last summer we all spent together. Marcus is sitting on the huge log we had in my backyard, I’m in his lap and Ash is by our feet. Marcus has his arms fully around my waist and all three of us are pulling a goofy face. We look like we are having the best day ever. Just kids enjoying their childhood. I still had my innocence; Marcus still had his dad and Asher still had his pure heart. Looking at this picture, you could have never predicted the nightmare we were all about to endure.
The photos show all the people who made my life so perfect back then. All they do now is remind me of how many more people I have in my life that need me. That I care about. If anything happened to any of them because of me, I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself.
I cast my gaze further round the cabin and see a few textbooks in the corner that we were using to get us ready for Hallows Prep. There are some drawings on the wall, some board games on the shelf and even one of Marcus’ hoodies folded over the beanbag in the other corner. It’s like a time machine back to that summer, back to when we clearly thought we would come back again. I wonder if Marcus ever came back here after I left.
Thinking of Marcus being here reminds me of the secret spot we used to share. No one else ever came into the treehouse without us here and even then, Asher and Taylor only ever came up here a handful of times. Still, Marcus thought we should have a hiding place that no one else knew about.
I smile as I find the loose board and think about the amount of times Marcus and I hid stuff in here. I can't even remember when it started, but I do remember how often I would find things in here from him. From notes to chocolate and candy and even flowers he stole from the bushes at the side of the pool. We never spoke about what we left here or thanked each other. It was just one of those things we did, a thing I didn't realize how much I appreciated, missed even, until right in this moment.
I finally manage to pull the board back and my heart catches in my throat when I see a note wedged in there. It's covered in dust and a little mold. Fuck, how long ago did he put this here? I take a deep breath in as I reach in and pull it out, blowing the dust off so I can see it clearer. I unfold it and expect to find a dirty drawing or a silly poem like he used to leave for me. But that isn’t what I find at all....
Find Beth. She has the answers you need.
This isn't Marcus’s handwriting. In fact, it looks like Michael's, but I can't be sure. Did Michael leave this here before he was killed? Who did he want to find it? And more importantly, who the hell is Beth?
Chapter 13
MARCUS
It’s been a week. A fucking week since we lost Cassie, and Elle went rogue. Every day without them is like a fucking knife, right to my gut and I know everyone feels the same. We all wonder if Cassie is being kept safe and if Elle is ever going to come back to us. I’ve officially lost count of how many of Elliot's lackeys keep mysteriously disappearing before showing up dead. I know the blowback from Joseph Kavanagh’s murder means Elle has set her sight on lower targets for now, but that won’t last long. There are too many key players that she blames for everything that happened.
We have her list of targets and some of Max’s guys are tracking them. They are looking out for any unusual activity, but mostly just waiting for Elle to turn up and kill them. I can see Max regretting his choice to let Elle go every day. I know he was just doing what she wanted, what he was asked and paid to do, but deep down he cares about her as more than just a client. She is family to all of us and without her we are all a little lost.
I haven’t slept more than a handful of hours here and there and I’ve barely eaten. Every second I spend not doing everything I can to find them makes me feel like a failure, and I’m not the only one. Asher is so far gone he has no human emotion left in him, he barely had it before, but this is different. His whole persona is just void of anything. His self-control is shattered beyond repair and I fear for anyone who gets in the path of his destruction. It’s weird, because as far gone as he is, I have never felt closer to him. Like he was always meant to be here, part of us. Elle knew it from the moment she met him and now I am finally catching up.
Jace is barely sober, he has slipped back into his old ways very quickly. The first couple of days they were gone he was here, present. But every hour that ticked by without them coming home was another bit of control he lost. He’s the same Jace as the one I first met, lost, detached, and completely struggling with his emotions. I knew how to help him back then, but how can I help him now when I feel exactly the same? I could spiral just as easily as he has, but I have to keep my faith. Faith that we will find them and faith that Elle knows what she is doing.
Lincoln is more frustrated than I have ever seen him. I can see the guilt eating away at him, at what he thinks he should have prevented. He blames himself for not knowing the Donovan’s plans before they were executed and is punishing himself daily. He hasn’t taken more than a thirty-minute break all week. He hasn’t slept and only steps away from the laptop to shower, change and inhale a few protein bars before continuing whatever the fuck he’s doing on there. Lincoln has always been the most closed off of my brothers and I, but now it’s like I can see him bleeding from the inside out. He is my brother in every sense of the word and we are sharing this pain like we are connected as one.
Logan’s still here too, he refuses to leave, and I can’t say I blame him. Between Cassie being taken, Elle gone and Zack in a coma, how he is still coping is beyond me. Helen and Lily went to a safe house located near the medical facility that they are keeping Zack in, and along with Arthur, they move back and forth between the two every day. All of them are scared, on edge and desperate for Elle and Cassie to come home.
Max and his team are quiet, but they haven’t stopped either. From stakeouts to recon to even fucking flying drone
s over the Donovan mansion. Anything they can think of to try to get more information on how to get in and out without Cassie getting hurt. We still haven’t been able to come up with a solid plan, but if that doesn’t happen soon, I’ll fucking snap. Walk right in the front gates and blow the head off anyone who gets in my way. I need my girls back, for all our sakes.
We have all exhausted every little thing we can think of, and aside from doing what I wanna do and going straight in the front door, we haven’t really got anything. I can’t stand this feeling of fucking defeat. It’s the same feeling I had the night my father was killed. I knew something was off, it had been for weeks since Elle left town. Obviously, now I know why, but back then I was just a punk who thought I knew best. My dad was gone all hours of the night, and days at a time, never telling me where he went or when he was coming back. The night I walked into my home and it was dark, it wasn’t really anything new. I had become accustomed to finding the house empty, save for a few staff, what I didn’t anticipate was stumbling along his body and that of our old housekeeper, Margaret. Both of them bloodied and cold.
It’s a sight that will haunt me forever.
I did what any normal person would do, I called the police. It wasn’t long before the house was swarming with cops and paramedics, until eventually a coroner came. I was questioned a little, until Captain Baizen showed up and everyone started to filter out. He was the one who told me to pack up so I could go to emergency care. I didn’t think anything was weird about it at first. I mean of course, my dad was dead, I had no other family. My mom died giving birth to me and we had no extended family, so it was always just me and my dad. It wasn’t until I was sitting on the steps of my childhood home that Elliot Donovan pulled up. I’d never liked him; he was just a grown-up version of Asher to me. Quiet, weird and had the members of the King family under some kind of spell.
