by Ann, Bry
“Arghh!” she slams her heel back down to her side. “I hate that man. We have to get her.”
Rain rounds on me.
“And, uh, who are you two?”
She glances between me and Frances. Her eyes widen slightly at the sight of Frances, but they linger on me. The smallest of smiles plays on her lips, but it’s sad.
“Who are you?”
“Uh, Guy?”
“Are you sure?” She smirks. “You’re exactly Kiki’s type. Where’d you meet her?”
I’m her type? I mean, I know Kiki kinda crushes on me sometimes, but all for fun. Right? I can’t help the pleasure it brings me that Kiki would find me attractive.
“I—uh…”
Frances snorts. “Yeah, kid, where’d you meet her?”
“Sorta met her on an island.”
Rain’s jaw drops. “You were on the island?! Did you keep her safe? Thank you. Thank you so much. Kiki is insane. I hated that plan from day one.”
“You should take advice from the hot chick, Guy.”
“Ha ha. Rain, where does Anthony live?”
“I can take you—" Ring! Ring! Ring!
Rain rolls her eyes and glances at her phone. Immediately, her face curls into a scowl so ugly I wouldn’t even think her capable of it.
“What the hell does he want?” She swings the phone to her ear. “What, Ajax?”
In an instant, all the blood drains from Rain’s face.
“Ajax!” she shrieks, gaining my attention. “Ajax, Ajax, breathe. Where are you? Ajax!”
Tears stream down Rain’s terrified face as she listens to whatever Ajax is saying.
“Don’t die, Ajax,” she whispers before hanging up.
“Die? The fuck? What happened?”
Rain turns to face us, both me and Frances, face hard yet tear stained.
“Anthony stabbed Ajax. Hop in the car right now. Anthony lives in this neighborhood. I’ll take you straight there.”
With that, Rain storms ahead, heels clicking.
“Well, boys, are you coming?”
“She and Marley would get along,” Frances mutters.
“Yes, and we both know how Marley loves to be kept waiting.”
“Is this about Marley or your girl?” Frances says on the way to my car.
“My girl.”
Frances smiles, slaps the hood, and hops in.
* * *
“Let’s go.” Rain hops out of the car and points at me. “Btw, island boy, I’m not Kiki. Don’t tell me to wait in the car.”
Frances smirks and jogs on ahead of her. I follow, but my mind is busy with other things. Namely, Kiki and how little she is. How scared and fragile, but only some of the time. Other times she’s brave, when she really has to be.
Frances kicks the front door in, not giving one fuck if we’re heard. Rain runs into the house first. Meanwhile, I stay behind. I watch their back. I observe for signs of Kiki.
“Ajax, oh my God!”
Frances ignores Rain and runs through the house, gun raised. I have his back even though I really don’t like the shrill sound of Rain’s voice behind me.
“Go,” Frances huffs. “I know you wanna go with the girl. If you don’t think I can handle this piece of shit, go back to your island.”
Of course, the cocky son of a bitch.
“Thanks, man. If you need me…”
“Kid,” he growls. “Get.”
“Call me when you find Kiki!” I shout, running back after Rain. This is what Kiki would want. Every inch of me is itching to go find Kiki myself, but I know Frances is more than capable and what she would want, more than anything, is for me to protect her friend while Frances saves her.
Well, she’d prefer if I save her. Frances scares her, but we’re making do before anything truly bad happens.
“Rain?”
“Ajax, please. Ajax!”
“I—get Kiki. Rain…” Ajax slurs.
“Ajax!”
“Hey, hey, what do we have here?”
I slide to the floor by Rain. Her hands are running up and down Ajax’s large body frantically.
“Rain, let me help him.”
Her hands don’t stop.
“Rain.” I grab her wrists. She freezes before relaxing.
“Don’t touch her,” Ajax pants. “She don’t like it.”
“Oh, tesoro, I rode in the car with them. It seems knowing there’s a man bleeding out mutes my terror.” (darling)
He coughs. “Just a man?”
Rain scowls and opens her mouth to speak, but I cut her off.
“As much as I love some good sexual tension, he’s bleeding and I gotta see how bad it is. Move, Rain.”
She scrambles to the side. As soon as she’s out of the way, I inspect the wounds. God, this dude is a fucking giant. Jesus fuckin’ Christ.
“Okay, man, none of these are deep, thankfully. You must be in a lotta pain, though. There are a lot of stab wounds here.”
Ajax glares at me. “Yeah, no shit.” He sucks in a breath. “You need to get Kiki.”
His eyes flutter from blood loss, making Rain stiffen. He’s definitely going to bleed out if we leave him here, so he needs help soon.
“Put pressure on his wounds. He’ll live, but we need to get him to the hospital. But first—”
Frances cuts me off. “Kiki’s not here, but Guy, you have to see this.”
My heart nearly stops. I leap to my feet and jog over, only stopping when I hear heels behind me.
“Rain, call 911. Get Ajax to the hospital.”
“I—Kiki…” She’s torn between two people she obviously cares about. Even if I don’t quite understand why she gives a shit about the man who held her captive. Not my business.
I swallow. “Isn’t here. Ajax is. Take care of him, Rain.”
“You have five minutes.”
I wince. “I don’t do well with timers. I’ll be out as soon as I can. Call an ambulance.”
I sprint after Frances. He jogs so we’re quite a bit away from Rain. That’s bad. Real bad. If Frances is giving a shit how news affects someone, it’s not good. I’m trying not to panic. I’m usually really good at staying levelheaded. I’m not quick to anger or fear. Side effect of my life, I guess. My calm, however, is quickly, very quickly, disappearing with each step we take.
“Stop, Guy.” Frances’s dark eyes drill into me. I feel sick when I realize there’s concern in them.
“You’re not gonna like this, kid.”
“I haven’t liked anything that has happened so far, Frances.”
“You’re pissed.” He cocks his head.
“Yeah, well, I know it’s rare.” I run a hand over my head. “But Kiki’s… scared. I don’t like this. Now, just shut up and tell me what you came here to tell me.”
I force myself to stand taller, even though inside I feel like there’s a fire brewing in my gut.
“Not tell, show.”
My heart plummets. “Show?” I choke.
“Just, brace yourself, kid.”
France sighs and leads me into the next room. I follow, reluctantly.
“We’ll find her,” Frances mutters before he moves out of the way for me to see.
Instantly, the blood drains from my face. “What the fuck is this?” When Frances doesn’t respond, I roar, “What the fuck is this?!”
“Guy, just—” In an instant, I’m on him. Before I can be rational, my hand is fisting his fancy black button down and I’m thrusting him against the wall.
“Don’t tell me what to feel, old man,” I growl. My head is throbbing and my heart is beating way too fast.
Was this their bedroom? Bedroom. Ha!
This isn’t a fucking bedroom. This is a torture chamber. No wonder you came to the island, Kiki.
This room has hardwood floors with a normal bed, normal shutters, a normal bathroom.
You know what’s not normal?
The handcuffs on the side of the bedpost.
The smal
l streaks of blood coating the floor.
The lock on the outside of the bathroom door.
“Guy, let me go. You have two seconds. One…”
“How could someone do this to her?” I whisper. “She’s so fragile.”
“She’s stronger than she looks, I’m sure.”
He slowly peels my fingers from his shirt. I let him. Then he rights himself.
“How the fuck are people so evil?” I choke.
“Guy…” Frances sighs.
Sirens blare outside. They get louder and louder, but my world seems to be quieting.
“I have to find her.”
“I know.”
I turn to face him. “You gonna help me?”
He rolls his eyes. “You don’t deserve it, but you’re fucked without me. I’ll go back to the house and put out feelers.”
I hear EMTs enter the house. I hear Rain being frantic, but I can’t leave this room. I feel closer to her here.
“What can you tell me about Kiki that will help Boss and Lacey locate her?”
“Um, long brown hair, usually in a braid. Blue eyes. Pretty, I guess.” Frances’s lips twitch because he knows, yeah, she’s stunning. “Kind, gentle, uh, scared.”
“Scared?”
“Yeah, she’s scared of everything.”
“Anything that stands out to you?”
“Waves, snakes…”
“So, girl shit.”
“I doubt Marley is scared of snakes.”
“She’s not normal.”
I glance back at the handcuffs. Ducking down, I take them between my fingers.
“Kiki would pretend to be strong, but she’s not. And that’s okay. It’s okay not to be a badass who wants revenge and handles pain like it’s nothing,” I growl.
“Kid, I know,” Frances says softly. “I’m gonna go. I’ll call you as soon as I know something. Don’t do anything dangerous or rash without me.”
“Sure.”
“Kid.” Frances sets a hand on my shoulder. “This room will bring you nothing but misery. Go out, see Rain, and plan. You’re smart. You’re a solid fighter and can speak several languages. Stop being the coward who hides out on an island and start thinking like the kid you used to be.”
That kid was fucking weak, but I don’t respond. The truth won’t save Kiki. Only a false reality will.
I’m willing to do anything to save her, including becoming the person that scares me most.
Myself. At my full potential.
Kiki
“If you don’t shut up back there,” Anthony growls as he incessantly taps his hand on the steering wheel. He may be a sociopath, but he’s worried about Ajax. They’ve been attached at the hip their whole lives. He’s the one person Anthony could go to with anything.
And Anthony stabbed him. Over and over again.
The bile rises in my throat once again. Anthony knows every one of my expressions, though. Sadly, he probably knows me better than anyone.
“Vomit in my car and you’ll live to regret it, wife.”
“I—” desperately don’t want to go to our vacation home. That leaves a hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach. No one will ever find me there. There’s nothing but trees for miles and miles. Trees, me, and Anthony.
“Anthony, you don’t have to—”
“Shut up,” he hisses, banging his fist on the steering wheel. “Just shut up! It’s your fault Ajax had to die.”
“He’s not dead,” I choke. I hate Ajax. Hate him. But he’s not evil. He’s tried to stop Anthony on more than one occasion, he saved Rain, and, at the end of the day, he’s just a giant, lost man who desperately wants to find his home. I hate him, but… not really. It’s hard to hate Ajax. He’s just as lost as the rest of us. Just with more muscles.
Anthony’s lips pull tight as his face goes blank. “He’s dead. I killed him.”
“No, I-I refuse to believe that. He’s got muscles to protect him.”
“You’re looking at his muscles?” he growls.
Shit! “No, but he—I know that he works out. You both do,” I add quickly. “Muscles and fat can provide a barrier for the… stab wounds.”
The anger dissolves from his face. “You are such a nerd, Katrina, but you’re my nerd.”
Gag. “Mmm,” is all I can manage.
“We’re almost there. Try and get some sleep. I’ll be keeping you occupied once we arrive, honey.”
“I'm sorry I ran, babe. It’s not what you think.” Anything to get out of punishing sex with my husband. “I didn’t run ‘cause I didn’t want to be with you. I-I…”
“I can’t wait to hear this,” Anthony drawls.
“I… was pregnant. I lost the baby before I could tell you. I was sad. I never meant—”
The car jerks, pulling to the side of the road.
“What?” Anthony roars. What am I saying? Oh my God, he’s gonna kill me. What is wrong with me? Why did I say that? Why, why, why? I'm deranged.
No, I'm scared. I'm scared. And I'm not criticizing myself for that.
“You were carrying my baby?! Why the fuck did you lose it? What is wrong with you?!”
That’s a complicated question. Technically, yeah, I had my tubes tied. Again, extremist. I can’t risk Anthony ever getting his hands on a baby. I’ll happily go the adoption route and never set my blue eyes on a little bundle of joy if it means Anthony never hurts a child—my child.
So yeah, there is something wrong with me. But that happened far before this supposed pregnancy scare.
“I-I don’t know,” I squeak. “I-I wanted her to live. I didn’t want to tell you until I had the official blood test. The baby passed the day I was going to tell you. I had it all planned out, balloons and all. I was so distraught, I-I ran, ‘cause seeing you reminded me of him… or her. I'm so sorry for hurting you, Anthony,” I sob.
The tears are real. They just aren’t for this mythical baby and damn sure not for “hurting” Anthony.
Anthony’s eyes flare and his hand runs frantically through his hair. I know him too well by now not to know what his dilemma is. He’s wondering whether to blame me for this or to use this as a “come together as a couple” moment.
I don’t even know which one I prefer, to be honest.
“You should have told me,” Anthony says slowly.
“I wanted it to be special. I wanted to be sure.” The lies keep coming.
“How do you know you lost it?”
“I bled,” I say flatly. Real or not, just the thought of that makes my blood run cold and my heart beat faster.
“At least you suffered with our child,” Anthony mutters, almost to himself. Of course he’d say that. Everything is my fault to some degree.
I say nothing.
When Anthony turns to face me again, I know I'm not getting a beating for this. He looks almost soft. It’s fake and self-motivated, of course, but this means “we’re coming together as a couple”.
“We’ll deal with this. We can have another.” My stomach sinks. We can’t, but that means sex. Lots and lots of sex. “But, Katrina, if you run from me again. I will kill you.”
“I know.” I cringe at his harsh words, even though I'm used to hearing them.
Without a word, Anthony pulls back on the road. We’re silent all the way. As we breach the trees, my mind drifts to the island and the little bit of refuge I found there. And most importantly, the charming man who quite literally left his home to help me. Not only help me, but soothe and charm me.
He’ll never find me here. I'm Anthony’s. At least I can say I tried. I tried with everything I have. I may not have gotten away, but at least I have another memory I can hold onto when times get tough.
The thing is, I wish Guy was more than a memory.
* * *
“Katrina!” Anthony’s voice is deep and low. God, he can’t still be angry after how many times he’s fucked me. I feel hollow and empty. Sore, too, maybe, but that’s nothing compared to how I feel inside. Hollowe
d out. Ripped apart. Spread open and torn so I can no longer find all the different pieces of myself.
“Yes, Anthony?” I whisper, wrapping the robe tighter around my sore body as I go to the cabin’s living room, where Anthony settled thirty minutes ago.
“Who’s approaching our cabin, Katrina?”
His eyes are black. So black I can’t even think about what he said, only how he looked as he said it.
“I-I don’t know what you mean. Anthony, I swear!” I scream as he approaches me. “Anthony, I don’t. I don’t!”
It’s too late. His fist flies out and swings across my cheek. The force of it makes me fly backwards into the glass table. It’s so flimsy, I break the glass and land in the center. My head swims as pain assaults my body.
“Fuck!” Anthony roars. “Katrina, fuck, get up, babe. Baby, get up.”
I feel the pain melt away. I'm going into shock. I have to be. Anthony’s scared, meaning he hurt me. He hurt me more than he meant to.
“Katrina?”
BANG!
The front door to our cabin comes right off the hinges, falling straight to the floor. I don’t see who it is because my vision is swimming.
There’s screaming. More voices. A gunshot, I think, but I just wanna sleep. My eyes flutter and peace starts to settle over me.
“Kiki!” Guy?! “Frances! Frances!” that same voice screams.
I'm losing it. I hear one more set of footsteps enter and a pair of heels.
“Kiki!” Rain?!
Okay, I’ve lost my mind.
“Frances, handle him.”
Cold hands land on my face first. I cringe, inching away from them. Too cold. Don’t touch me.
“Kiki, oh my God. Oh my God.”
“Stop,” I whisper. “Loud.”
“I'm sorry,” Rain chokes. Maybe it’s Rain. Maybe it’s just an angel in my head. Don’t know, don’t care.
“Kiki.” I know that voice, but I don’t know that murderous tone. It sounds like Guy, but doesn’t. “I have to move you. I—shit! I'm gonna fucking kill him. Keeks, this is gonna hurt.”
“Keeks.” I smile. “Guy says that.”
“I'm here, Kiki. I'm here. I don’t want to hurt you.”
