by Bry Ann
I will never forget the day Logan’s reality became mine as well. I was heading back from school in my usual numb, oblivious state. Logan and my family, I’ll give them credit for that, went out of their way to make sure no one knew I was Logan Prescott’s sister. I kept my last name because it’s not like it's that unique and I wasn’t trying to use an alias and go undercover or anything. I just didn’t want guaranteed popularity, because girls wanted to sleep with my brother. I also didn’t look like Logan enough to be recognized. Well, I mean I have similar traits, but I am not nearly attractive enough in other people’s eyes to Logan Prescott’s little sister. It worked for me.
Anyway, I was heading back from school when everything changed. Some girl with red hair and big blue eyes came running at me screaming with her iPhone in hand. I panicked. I tried to run away and that’s when the reality of my situation crashed into me.
“You are Logan Prescott’s sister!!!” she screamed as she chased me down the street. Then other people started to chase me. Cameras. I panicked. I ran into a restaurant where a few people followed, but most waited outside knowing I couldn’t stay in the restaurant forever. A quickly weaved in between the tables as I rushed passed everyone, leaving their stunned faces behind me. Why were all these people chasing me? I’m just his sister, I’m not Logan himself. It made no sense! Finally, I got myself safely locked in the private restroom. A few people knocked, but to my relief most people left. I knew there were still cameras outside though. Apparently, there was some rumor or something, and they wanted me to confirm or deny it. I had never been faced with this reality before, but Logan was also at a level of fame he had never been at before. I immediately pulled out my phone and texted Logan.
Me: Logan, 9-1-1. I'm trapped inside that restaurant by my school off third. It’s surrounded by cameras. I’m freaking out. What do I do?
Logan responded so fast that I knew he was expecting my text to some degree, and/or he had his phone in his hand already.
Logan: Stay in the bathroom. I’m coming.
Me: You? There are so many cameras Logan.
Logan: Don’t worry about it. I have a team.
I leaned against the door and slid down to sit on my butt. I tucked my head in my knees and fiddled with the bottom of my jeans as I waited for Logan. I heard muffled voices outside, and once in a while someone would knock on the door, but the second someone so much as tapped on my door the restaurant manager would come over and tell them to stay away. Thank God for him.
I think it took a half hour for Logan to reach the restaurant.
“Dana, it’s me. Let me in,” a hurried voice said.
I had never been more relieved to hear Logan’s voice. I quickly peeled myself off the floor and opened the door. The second I opened to door Logan hurried in and shut it quickly behind him. Logan looked tired, stressed and worried… and way beyond his seventeen years.
“You okay?” he said holding my shoulders and searching me up and down, trying to see if I was injured in any way.
“Yeah, yeah I’m okay. No one hurt me. I just… why are they chasing me?”
“Let’s get you home and cleaned up. We can talk about everything then. Sound fair?”
I nodded, trying not to choke on my own air at the thought of going back out there. He grabbed my hand and gave my shoulder a supportive squeeze.
“I know it’s scary. I get scared too.”
“You do?” I asked in awe. Logan just seemed so unfazed by everything. Everything fazed me.
In response to his question Logan turned around and leaned down to meet my hesitant gaze.
“Of course, I get scared Day. We all do. I am just used to it by now, but the first time a guy with a camera ran after me I wanted to cry in a bathroom too.”
“You did?” I asked giggling.
“Yep,” he smiled and squeezed my hand. “Let’s go.”
Logan gave my arm a gentle pull and soon we were out in the main area of the restaurant. No one with a camera was in there, and immediately a security guard came to stand by our side as we headed for the double doors.
“Did you tell the manager of this place to make sure no one bothered me?” I asked as Logan pulled me out.
“Yeah, I may or not have called personally and told him that my little sister was hiding in his restaurant and he would be well compensated if he made sure no one bothered her until I got there.”
He didn’t even turn around as he spoke. That was Logan. He just handled shit. I would have been more touched by it if I hadn’t been suddenly dragged out of the restaurant and into a crowd of screaming people. I instantly tucked my head into Logan’s side and heard Logan shout something to his bodyguard. It took me a few seconds to realize that after whatever Logan shouted at the bodyguard, the bodyguard was no longer near him and was now protectively blocking me. That made me smile in spite of my fear. It took less than ten more seconds before Logan's bodyguard was pushing me into Logan’s new gray car with silver rims. I was sitting in the car next to Logan, and the bodyguard was shutting the door. Right before the door slammed shut I heard someone shout, “Is it true you tried to kill yourself?” I instantly stiffened and my blood ran cold. I couldn’t process what was going on around me. They all knew about me. They all knew about my suicide attempt. I was going to be a joke. I couldn't do this. My head kept whirling and whirling until I felt a cold glass of water splash on my face and I realized I was sitting in on a cushy couch in our all white and gold living room. Logan was crouched in front of me with his brows furrowed and his jaw pinched tight.
“How did I get here?” I croaked out. “We… we drove… they know.”
My head was still spinning.
“You had a panic attack,” Logan said softly. “A bad one. I’m not surprised you don’t remember coming home.”
“Oh,” I instantly tensed as my parents entered the room, “sorry about that.”
Logan’s jaw clenched tighter especially when I stood up.
“I should probably get my room cleaned up and stuff. It’s been a, you know, long day,” I said as I tried to shuffle out of the room. I was amazed at how heavy my body felt. I must have really had a bad panic attack.
“Dana, we should talk!” Logan called as I exited the room, but it was too late. I was already in my room with the door shut and securely locked. Logan knew better than to come in there now. I silently cried in my pillow for hours and didn’t even bother waking up for school the next day. It was Friday anyway, and I knew no one would care. I stayed in my room for two full days in a completely numb, dead, catatonic state. I thought I’d known numbness until this moment. I realized then that I never truly had. This was numb. I felt dead inside.
It was on that second day that Logan picked my lock and entered my room. I was on my side facing the wall like I’d been virtually the last two days. I don’t know why I was so upset or what the world knowing about my suicide attempt triggered, but it triggered something I wasn’t able to pull myself out of.
Logan sat on the bed next to me and placed his hand over the comforter on my hip.
“Dana?” he asked quietly. “You there?”
I nodded, feeling my face scrape against the sheets.
“I’m gonna get you help. Okay Dana? Hang in there. I’m gonna make this go away.”
Something about his words broke through the numbness. I turned around and tucked my head into his leg and cried. I just kept crying until I couldn’t breathe. Then I would spend a second catching my breath and start crying again. Logan stayed with me the whole time but didn’t say much. It wasn’t until I finally stopped crying that I realized how tense Logan’s body was.
“You okay?” I finally asked when I stopped crying. I gently pushed myself up to seated. I know I had snot stuck on my face and my eyes were red and puffy, but it was Logan. He didn’t care.
“I’m fine Day. Don’t worry about me. You hear?”
“Yeah. I love you. Thank you… for caring.”
Logan’s shoul
ders fell. “I’m so sorry. This is my fault. I will make this better. You can count on that.”
“This isn’t your fault Logan.”
He gave sardonic smile and stood up.
“Can I get you anything?”
“I’ll get it.”
“I got it. What do you want?”
“Just a water please.”
“You haven’t eaten in two days.”
“Then an apple too.”
“Dana,” Logan scolded.
“Well geez. Just get me whatever then if you’re gonna be picky about it!”
Finally, Logan smiled.
“That was always the plan Day,” he winked.
My jaw dropped for a second, but then I smiled briefly and rolled my eyes. He may have been seventeen, but after seeing the way he’d taken control of this whole situation, and the way he dealt with the press two days ago, there was no doubt in my head Logan was already a man. I assume long before he was seventeen.
Present Day: Chapter 4:
Gunner was so clearly uneasy with being here at this place that had caused him so much pain. I saw it from the moment we arrived, but now that I was out of my annoyingly over emotional state I could see it even clearer. Gunner has always been one of the most self-assured people I knew, moving with complete and utter confidence and authority through life. His very presence felt threatening, and if I didn’t know so thoroughly he wouldn’t hurt me I would have never felt safe around him.
However, his movements here were more hesitant. He looked at his surroundings like there was an imminent threat around every corner. Not only that, but his fists were clenched tight at his sides most of the time, and I had a feeling if I wasn’t here his anger would be a lot worse and his pain more evident. It saddened me to know he was holding in so much. Gunner always was careful to not act like a rage filled drug lord around me, which in some ways I was grateful for, but it always left me wondering who he really was. Was he this ruthless drug lord with a small soft spot for weak and/or respectable women? Or was he just a tough man haunted by a terrible past? This was the only thing that unnerved me about Gunner, the not knowing.
“Gunner…”
I silently approached him as I watched him try to sneakily stuff guns in his bag. As if I wouldn’t see or was not fully aware that he carried guns with him everywhere he went. Please.
“Dana, why don’t you go get everything ready. We are leaving in a minute.”
“I see you packing guns. You don’t need to send me away. I already saw you. I’m right here.”
Annoyed, Gunner instantly dropped the bag and turned to face me. His temper was already on edge, and I could see something about what I said triggered him. His neck was bound tight and he had a vein that was pulsing as he fought for control.
“Dana, just listen to me for God sakes! When I send you away it’s for a fucking reason so just… go do something. Something else.”
“What’s wrong with you? Why are you so scared? You’re different…”
“No!” he snapped. “It’s just not as easy to put on a nice little show for you when you are around 24/7!”
With that he stuck a gun in his belt and threw the bag over his shoulder. I shot back. Those words were so painful. He couldn’t have said anything more hurtful, and in that moment, I wondered if my friendship with Gunner was ever a good thing. I instantly turned around, so he didn’t see the look on my face.
“Right, that makes sense,” I said meekly in response. “I didn’t think about that.”
I started to walk off, but the worst part was I had nowhere to go. The bedroom was Gunner’s and he made that abundantly clear, and the living space was the only other room. So, I just walked over to the couch that faced away from where Gunner was and took a seat.
“How long until I am back with Logan and everyone?” I asked quietly.
I heard Gunner shifting something around. “As soon as I can.”
“Just let me go back now!” I snapped suddenly, standing up. “I really don’t want to be here anymore.”
“We should leave,” he said ignoring my outburst. “It’s around noon, the busiest part of the day and the easiest to get around.”
“How about I just go grab my bag and go straight home? I won’t dilly dally. I’ll go straight there. I promise.”
“No.”
“That’s it. Just no?”
“We are leaving.”
With that Gunner opened the front door and walked out. I took a look around the cabin and realized I had to follow him. Despite everything, I trusted his judgement and I still felt safer with him around. He may hate me and find me annoying, but I knew he’d never let anything happen to me. He’d already proved it.
I grabbed my bag, the same one as yesterday, and stomped my feet like a twelve-year-old all the way out the door.
Once I was outside surrounded by pine trees I looked around and saw Gunner leaning against one of them with his arms crossed over his chest.
“I’m impressed. I thought for sure I’d have to come get you.”
“Yeah well, my friend is PMSing, so I thought I better not piss him off further.”
Gunner busted out laughing and shot me a smile. In his eyes was an apology, and because I apparently love to have my heart screwed with I instantly forgave him.
“What’s the plan?” I asked as we both drudged forward towards town. “I mean you practically kidnapped me, so I wasn’t seen with you so….”
“We will continue walking to town like this,” I was several feet behind him, “when we get to town you will walk on the opposite side of the street. I’ll follow you to the hotel but stand in a location that is inconspicuous. My eye will be on you the entire time.”
It took us about twenty minutes to get into town, mainly because of me. I was slow, and Gunner made sure to keep pace with me, only staying a few feet ahead of me at all times. To my defense, I wasn’t exactly in hiking clothes!
Once we got to town I immediately did as Gunner asked. I went to the left he went to the right. I tried not to look at him. I knew he’d keep an eye on me, and if I could avoid being some kind of target, if I wasn’t already one, I was going to do that. For there being no active threat Gunner was sure acting like there was. I knew there was something he wasn’t telling me, but he never kept secrets from me for long. They always came out one way or another.
We made our way down the street and the second I saw the grocery store I looked over at Gunner desperately. Feed me. My desperation for food broke through his tense demeanor and he started laughing. He shot me a nod and made his way across the street. We both went in and shopped separate and then went back to our spots on the street. Gunner got a protein bar and some beef jerky, of course. I got a candy bar and a tub of pre-cut apples. Random. Balance?
It took us forever to get to the hotel, but I was so distracted by the apple slices I was stuffing in my mouth that I didn’t even really notice how long we had been walking. It wasn’t until I saw the familiar tan building that I snapped out of my trance and looked over at Gunner inconspicuously. He shot me a nod letting me know to go in. For some reason the second I pushed open the double doors I felt uneasy. I don’t know why. There was no active threat, no one was following me, Gunner was right outside, but for some reason I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck standing up. Usually I listened to my gut, but I didn’t want Gunner to think I was paranoid, so I kept trudging forward. I went up the elevator and pulled my key card out of my purse. When I finally got to the fourth floor I slid the key in the slot and waited for the green light. It flashed green three times and I opened the door, walked down the narrow hallway and into the small bedroom where I kept my bag.
As soon as I rounded the corner a hand clamped over my mouth. I tried to scream but all the sound was drowned out by the size of the hand holding me. I knew this wasn’t Gunner. The terror coursing through my veins was way more prominent this time. I lifted my legs and tried to kick around, but the man behind me effortles
sly grabbed my wrists and jerked me around to still me. Then he pushed me onto the bed where I caught myself with my hands. I scrambled to sit up and see who was around me. My body was shaking so furiously that I kept sliding on the covers.
“Stay seated,” a voice warned. “Or you will die.”
My blood ran cold. I one hundred percent believed this ominous voice. I finally was at the edge of the bed and able to turn around. Around me were four men. All armed, tall and pierced. Except for one. I saw a tattoo on his calf. I still hadn’t been able to make eye contact with any of them. I kept my eyes down looking at me feet while my body continued to shake. What are they going to do to me? Help. I had never known terror like this. There were four of them. As if he had read my mind one of the older men began to speak. I was able to make eye contact with him and only him. I was met with a pair of narrow gray eyes, lightly gray hair and several piercings.
“Gunner will come up here in a minute. No need to fret. It will take him all of five or so minutes to realize something is wrong.”
“I’m slow.” I squeaked out. “He won’t know. What do you want with him?”
The man let out a crooked smile.
“You will see pet.”
“Don’t call me that,” my voice said, shaking.
The man let out a deep laugh but said nothing further. I wanted to look at the other men. I was completely physically able to do that. I mean I was just sitting at the edge of the bed with my feet on the floor, my hands in my lap and my head down. I couldn’t look though. If I looked and saw how scary they were I wouldn’t fight, and I needed to fight! I knew I was surrounded by men. I saw their feet around me, but I couldn’t just sit there and wait for them to play out whatever sick plan they had in their mind. They were patient, I knew that from what Gunner had told me, so they would wait for Gunner and I wouldn’t let Gunner get hurt because of my stupidity. Sam had already gotten hurt because of me. It was this thought that motivated me.
