by J. L. Beck
I run down the sidewalk, my shoes pounding on the pavement, and the tears running down my face uncontrollably. Pushing my legs as far as I can, I only slow when I become lightheaded. Needing to catch my breath after running through the neighborhood for I don’t know how long. My chest aches, my lungs burn, and a killer headache has formed right behind my eyes.
I stop and look around, taking in my surroundings, and I realize that I have no idea where I am. Reaching into my back pocket I pull out my phone and find the contact info for the only person I can think of right now.
Caroline answers after the third ring. “Harlow, what’s up?” Her voice is cheery, as usual. Completely oblivious to my despair.
“Caroline,” I sigh with relief, “can you come and pick me up?”
“Of course, are you okay?” She loses her cheery tone, concern replacing it.
“Yes, no, god, I don’t know. I’m at…” I look around me, trying to find a street sign. “McKinley Road,” I say when I finally find one.
“I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
Ending the call, I sit down on the curb and let my head fall into my hands. I vow to myself never to be dumb enough to fall for their tricks or antics again. By the time Caroline’s car pulls up, there must be a puddle of tears in front of me, because I haven't stopped crying since I got off the phone with her. She jumps out of the car and runs around to where I’m sitting.
“Oh my god, what happened?” She kneels down next to me, her arms circle around me. “Please, tell me. What’s wrong?”
“It was all a lie… Sullivan and his brothers played me,” I say in between sobs. “I loved them and…”
“Oh, Harlow, I’m so fucking sorry. Come on, girl, let’s get you home.”
“No, I don’t want to go home. I need to talk to Shelby. Can you take me to the gallery downtown?”
I need to apologize to my friend, she warned me about the Bishops, and I didn’t listen. She’s been the only constant in my life, the only one who always stood by me. She is the only one I can trust, and I’ve been neglecting her. I need her, now more than ever.
“Of course, come on,” she ushers me into the passenger seat, and even buckles me up when I don’t move to do so myself.
“Are you going to tell me what happened?” Caroline asks half way through town.
“I…I don’t even know. Everything was fine one minute and then it wasn’t.” Which is the truth. One minute it was pure bliss and the next, utter horror.
She doesn’t ask me any more questions and I’m more than grateful for the silence. I don’t think I could answer anymore of her questions anyway.
“Thank you, Caroline,” I gaze over at her once we’ve stopped in front of the art gallery. “I mean it, thank you. You’ve been a great friend.”
“Any time, Harlow. Call me if you need anything.” We hug before I exit the car. My face is still red, and my eyes are still swollen from crying but I’m past being self-conscious.
Taking a deep breath, I push the gallery’s doors open, a bell rings above my head and I walk into the clean space. Modern looking sculptures are sitting on hip high pedestals in the center of the space and pictures of all sizes are decorating every wall in the room.
A petite woman walks into the showroom greeting me with a wide smile. She is wearing a skin tight pencil skirt, a matching crop top, and four-inch high heels that look like they could break some ankles.
“Hi, can I help you?”
“Yeah, I’m looking for Shelby. I’m sorry to show up here, I know she is working but this is kind of an emergency.”
“Who?” The woman looks genuinely confused, her eyebrows drawing together.
“Shelby,” I say louder, she must have not heard me clearly.
“Doesn't ring a bell. Is she one of our artists?”
“Oh…ah, maybe… maybe, I’m at the wrong gallery, I’m sorry,” I say embarrassed, before turning on my heels.
“This is the only gallery in town, miss.”
I freeze with my hand hovering inches away from the doorknob. My mind goes blank and then this feeling of utter dread creeps its way up my spine and settles into the base of my skull.
Nothing makes sense, everything I thought I knew is wrong. My life built with building blocks of lies and deceit and like a Jenga tower someone pulled the one piece that has it all crashing down.
I feel like I’m trapped in this moment, my mind frozen in time. My thoughts hovering somewhere in between disbelief and unbelievable despair.
“Are you okay, miss?”
No… no, I’m not okay and I don’t know if I ever will be.
I walk back outside and down the sidewalk. I know there are people walking down the side of the road like me, cars driving on the road, I know they are there, but I don’t see them clearly. Everything around me is a blur. My mind overwhelmed with everything that has happened today.
My body’s numb, my emotions in disarray. I feel like I’m not even here, like I’m only a shadow of myself, a ghost who isn’t part of the world at all.
Putting one foot in front of the other, at least I think that’s what I’m doing. I look up, the scenery changing around me, the ground beneath me suddenly seems different. Sounds piercing through the fog surrounding my brain. Someone is screaming, but I can’t make out what is being said. Then something catches my eye. I look up to see two bright lights heading straight for me. But I’m not fast enough, there is no time…
◆◆◆
Darkness.
Nothing but darkness.
I’m not sure where I am. But wherever it is all I know is darkness. This place has no end, no beginning, no up, down, right or wrong.
There is no love or hate, no pain, but also no happiness.
I try to remember how I got here, or where I’m from but my mind is nothing but a wasteland.
All I am and all I know is darkness.
Until one day, when there was more.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
A steady rhythm calling me from somewhere unknown. The sound seems close and a million miles away all at once. For a long time, that’s all there is.
“It’s been ten days,” a woman’s voice suddenly breaks through.
“Mrs. Lockwood, these things take time. Harlow suffered a major brain injury. It will take time for her to recover. I can assure you that she is in the very best hands here at the clinic.”
“She better be, considering what we are paying you,” another man’s voices meets my ears. It’s deep, scary even and I make a mental note not to mess with that man.
After that, I hear the opening and closing of a door, followed by chairs moving around.
“You heard the man, love, let’s go home, there is nothing we can do for her right now.”
Suddenly, I have the overwhelming urge to open my eyes, I want them to see that I’m here, that I’m awake. I don’t want to be left alone in the darkness again. Willing my eyes to open, it takes every ounce of strength I have. I feel like my eyelids have turned into lead and my strength has diminished to one percent.
Still, by some miracle my eyes slowly blink open. The bright yellow light coming from the ceiling overhead blinding me momentarily, but I keep squinting and blinking until I can make out the room and its contents.
“Oh my God! She’s waking up!” The woman’s high pitch voice hurts my ears a little but her hands covering mine are soft and warm and make up for the pain. “Oh, Harlow, you’re okay. Everything is going to be fine now, I promise.”
I blink, confused, then I look down at her hand and pull mine out of her grasp.
I look up into her big tear-filled blue eyes, horror, and shock reflect back at me and I ask the only question that I can, “Who are you?”
To be Continued…
Next in this Series
When Rivals Lose
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About The Authors
Born and raised in Germany, Cassandra moved to the United States when she was eighteen. She’s now a stay-at-home-mom to three boys, and happily married. With a love for reading, that love slowly transpired into writing she put fingers to keyboard and started writing about the dark side of romance.
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J.L. Beck is a USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR, she has written over fifty different romance novels. She started her journey of writing back in 2014 and hasn't slowed down a second since then.
She's captivated by real romance, and loves reading about strong "ALPHA" males, as well as sassy heroines that know or may not know what they want. She is best known for delivering a happily ever after but has ended things on a cliffhanger a time or two.
When she's not typing away at her next book you can find her being a mom to her two adorable kiddos and wife to her high school sweetheart.
She's obsessed with Starbucks, social media, and is definitely more of a dog person than cat.
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