Hope of the Future

by Ariana Browning

  “What do you mean? He’s been dead that long?”

  Ronin stared at Hope. His face was haunted. She glanced at Cayla, worried over how she’d react. This wasn’t going to go over well.

  Ronin cleared his throat. “I can’t tell because you can’t see his face. It’s been destroyed. Someone wanted answers from him. They didn’t care how much damage they did.”

  Cayla sucked in a breath and sank to her knees. She dry gagged a few times. The two of them left her alone and after a few minutes, Hope helped her stand back up. “He was like a father figure to me.”

  “I’m sorry,” Hope whispered.

  Ronin was shocked to see her soft side. They connected for a moment too long. Hope shifted and turned away, breaking the moment to go poke around the room. Ronin cleared his throat. Cayla gave him a half grin, but her sorrow was too much and it faded.

  “Who do you think did it?” Ronin asked.

  Cayla nodded in Hope’s direction. “Who do you think, Ronin?”

  Hope stopped her poking around and turned to them with an old book in her hand. “She’s trying to say it’s the ones who are hunting me. They beat him because he knows Cayla. They wanted the information he had. Proving to be an uncooperative man, they didn’t appreciate it.”

  “Enough, Hope,” Cayla admonished, her grief written all over her face. “He gets the point.”

  “Apologies.” Putting the book down, she wandered back over to the two of them. “So what now?”

  “Hope! May I have a moment?”

  Hope shrugged. “Sorry.”

  Cayla shook her head and went back to talking to Ronin. “Although described in more detail than needed, Hope’s right. The men would’ve wanted information on her. How would they have found Mark? That is what scares me, Ronin. They know things they have no business knowing. How would they have found out he was our connection? Or where he lived? Nobody knew.”

  Ronin watched Hope picking through things again. “What are you looking for?”

  “Don’t know. Just looking,” Hope said.

  Ronin shook his head and returned his attention to Cayla. “That man didn’t look to be dead long. They may still be around, or coming back. We should get out of here.”

  “No.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “He had papers for all of us. He had things we needed—”

  “Okay. But don’t you think the people that came here would’ve taken them? Don’t you think they found them?”

  Cayla shook her head. “No. No, I don’t.” She glanced around the cellar, at Hope standing off to the side, then back to Ronin. “He wouldn’t have made it so easy to find the documents.”

  “Or they haven’t come back to look through the house yet and are about to.” Hope offered and earned herself a glare from the two of them.

  “Not helpful,” Ronin told her.

  “No, but it’s the truth and you know it.”

  “You don’t have to have the attitude with it.”

  “Yes, Mr. Almighty. I’ll be outside,” Hope headed to the cellar doors.

  “Please don’t go far,” Cayla said.

  “Right outside the door.” Hope assured her, her voice fading as she left view.

  Cayla sighed. “Ignore her when she’s like that, Ronin. She gets extra snippy when she opens up. Defensive technique.”

  Ronin nodded. So he had noticed. “I won’t allow her to be rude. Not when you lost your friend.”

  Cayla grinned. “Good luck with that one. She’s right though. If they haven’t torn through here, he might’ve told them where to head and led them astray, but when they don’t find what they’re after, they’ll come back. Unless they are as we speak.”

  “We need to get out of here.”

  “Once we find the papers,” Cayla said in a tone that left no room for argument.

  “Where are they?”

  Cayla turned in a complete circle, murmuring to herself, tapping her fingers on her lips. She grabbed the book Hope paged through that sat next to Mark’s bed, and avoided looking into the corner. The book was Alice in Wonderland. Mark’s favorite story. He wrote a scripture on the underside of the cover. When Cayla read it, she nodded to herself. “They aren’t in here.”

  “Where?” Ronin asked.

  “Come with me.” Cayla led him outside to where Hope stood picking bark off a tree. “Hope, come with us. We need to go find our papers. I’m not leaving you here alone.”

  “You know where this dude hid them?”

  “When I get there,” Cayla informed her. “He told me about a tree he had. He’d mentioned it a few times and how large it was. Said you could hide secrets inside the branches and nobody would be the wiser. I’m guessing that’s where we’ll find our documents.”

  Hope scrunched her nose. “You can hide secrets inside branches? How do you know that’s where it is anyway?”

  Cayla shoved the book at her and Hope read the passage aloud. “To Cayla. Remember when you need to find yourself, all you need to do is look to the tree that holds all the secrets of the land. Don’t be afraid to fall through the rabbit hole.”

  Hope shrugged and gave the book back. “Not sure what that means.”

  Cayla laughed. “Mark told me he could walk from his back door, straight to the tree. So we go to the back door and walk . . . until we find the tree that holds the secrets.”

  Hope and Ronin exchanged glances. “Sounds like a plan,” Ronin finished before Hope could interject anymore of her support.

  All three of them found the willow tree Mark placed twelve birdhouses on. Hope climbed up and impressed Ronin with her climbing skills. She kept jerking one down after another. When one of the birdhouses smashed the ground a little too close to Cayla, she told Hope to watch where she dropped them.

  “Then step back,” Hope said from above, having none of it. Ronin stared at the stubborn woman and for a moment had the urge to discipline that snotty attitude. He adjusted his stance and glanced around them. He hoped they made it out of this place before anyone showed.

  Another couple of boxes shattered against the ground, and each time, there was nothing in them. Hope shouted a few choices words from above them and then made her way back down.

  “I don’t understand where it could be if they aren’t in those boxes.” Cayla said.

  “Or perhaps you’ve got the right idea, but you’re looking at the wrong tree.” A new voice muttered from behind them as the phreeee of electrical guns charged.

  Men dressed all in black appeared in a group and surrounded them. The one who spoke stepped forward and Hope moved around Cayla. The crowbar she used on the birdhouses fell from Hope’s hand. Ronin looked her way.

  “Hello, Hope.”

  “Kaden,” Hope managed to say, taking a step back when he took a step forward.

  Hope bumped past Ronin’s arm. He stepped forward to block both Cayla and Hope from the new men. He had never seen Hope appear so ashen. It wasn’t too hard to figure out who the new men were.

  “What are you talking about, the wrong tree?” Ronin asked, buying time. He needed to figure out a way to get Hope out of here.

  Cayla grabbed his arm, keeping him from moving away from them.

  Kaden held up a pocket folder with a bunch of documents. “These old things were hiding behind the painting of the willow tree in the old man’s living room, right above the fireplace. Important, aren’t they?” he said with a smirk that Ronin wanted to remove from his face.

  “How did you find those?” Cayla asked.

  Kaden laughed. “After he made us run a fucking goose chase, hunting for some godforsaken tree all over the place, we noticed this tree here was the same as the painting in that living room. Went into living room, smashed the frame. Jackpot, sure as shit.” He waved the folder in the air.

  Gaining her courage once more, Hope shouted from behind them, “You’re an asshole and a disgusting little worm who should’ve died a long time ago.” Hope turned toward Ronin. He saw her underl
ying fear.

  Turning back to the men, he said, “If you think you’re gonna touch her, I will kill you.”

  “Impressive. She’s still doing it. Finding people who think she’s special. She’s nothing but a whore. She’ll fuck every one of my men if it will get her out of here—”

  Hope cut him off, “I wouldn’t touch you, so you got so rejected and butt hurt. You vowed to make sure and kill me. Sucks that slitting my throat didn’t work hmm? Poor guy. Guess I’m not so easy to kill.”

  Cayla sucked in a breath. She stepped back to stand next to Hope, having finally figured out who Kaden was.

  Kaden threw the papers over to another man who proceeded to light them on fire. Kaden stepped forward and raised his gun. Ronin blocked him. “Get out of my way mister thinks-he-is-her-guardian. The energy bolts will go straight through you or don’t you realize that? You don’t have steel armor my man.” Kaden looked past Ronin. “I promise you, Hope, you won’t make it out this time.”

  “You’re just mad I didn’t want you.”

  “Maybe after I sell you to the highest bidder who will take you apart bit by fucking bit so they can study you, you’ll finally die. I will enjoy watching.”

  Hope shivered and stepped away from Cayla. She felt no love or trust from anyone at that point. She looked around.

  Kaden said, “I’ll kill them both.”

  Hope’s stomach fell. Cayla’s gaze mimicked Hope’s thoughts.

  Ronin turned her way and a moment of hesitation hit. She didn’t want to leave him. It pained her more than it should. She didn’t want to leave either of them. “Do it,” Ronin said.

  Hope glared at him. More aggravated with herself than him. She shook her head as if to say, I wasn’t worried. Kaden grinned, daring her to run. “Do you think I care what happens to them?”

  “Yet you’re still here,” Kaden said.

  In the split second it took to figure out he was distracting her so his man could come up in the rear, Hope spun around. The man loomed over her and she struck him, using her body weight and momentum to catch him off balance. He stumbled and she bolted.

  Hope fled through the forest. She leapt over fallen trees. Ducked under branches that hung over her path. The man she had thrown off to the side pursued her.

  Ronin and Cayla both screamed at her not to stop before both of their voices were cut off.

  The men that were with Kaden were shouting. Kaden’s voice rose above the rest, “Get after her!”

  Hope crashed through branches and bushes. Branches slashed her cheeks, leaves slapped her in the face as if punishing her for leaving Ronin and Cayla, as if it didn’t already hurt her enough to abandon them. She blazed through the non-existing path to freedom. The grunts and grumbles of the men were hot on her trail.

  Kaden had employed Hunters. The men closed in on her and closed fast.

  Kaden approached Ronin and Cayla. They were being tied to two chairs, which were placed back to back. One of his men finished tying them up in the living room of the small cabin. Men poured gasoline all over the floorboards, and then made a line to the front door.

  When he stopped next to them, Kaden slid the back of his finger along Cayla’s cheek. She jerked her face away from his touch and cussed him out. He laughed.

  “This is going to be one profitable time. I’ll enjoy killing the two of you. You’ve been a thorn in my side helping Hope remain under radar. Well, now she isn’t and now she’ll get what’s coming to her. As will I.”

  “You’re a bastard,” Cayla said. “You can’t do that to her. How could someone be so cruel to another human being?”

  Kaden snorted and made his way over to the front of the cabin. Turning around in the doorway, he lit an electric match. “That girl? Has been responsible for many people dying. I’d think twice about saying I’m cruel. She left you both to die. What’s that make her?”

  Cayla screamed at him as he dropped the match. Ronin yelled, “You will pay for this!”

  Kaden made his way to the car and turned at the commotion that came from the side. Hope struggled against the grip of a few men, wrists bound with e-cuffs that surged with every jerk she made. She stopped when they moved her in front of the cabin and she noticed the flames leaping out of the open door.

  “No,” she screamed and kicked at the men, thrashed and cursed until the butt of Kaden’s gun struck her.

  “Take her to the car. Let’s get out of here.”

  The Hunters nodded and carried Hope’s limp form to the vehicle. The rest of Kaden’s men filed into the other vehicles parked out of sight. They threw a torch into the one Cayla and Ronin had used.

  TWENTY SIX

  HOPE PEELED HER EYES open and winced against the dull ache that pulsed near the base of her neck. A brain-splitting headache welcomed her awakening too. She raised her head against the protests in her body. Pain shot through her spine like ice water.

  She blinked a few times to adjust her eyes to the darkness, finding herself bound to a chair in the center of a tiny room. All around her a cool draft drifted in and out of the thin spaces between the walls and ceiling of the small old shack she was prisoner in.

  Hope winced. She tried to adjust the position she sat in. Her legs tingled as she woke them from slumber. If her body felt this sore, she must have been in this place for a long time.

  Nothing but an old dirty cot sat to one side of the room. She tried to turn and see out of the window behind her, but the glass was dirty and grimy from years of neglect. It was impossible to find out anything save for it being nighttime.

  Hope stretched her neck this way and that to ease the soreness that lay at the base, but it hurt and did nothing to ease her suffering. Then she tried stiffening and relaxing all of her muscles to keep them awake. Since someone bolted the chair to the floor, trying to move the damned thing was impossible.

  The door unlocked and in strolled Kaden, smug as a slug. Hope slipped into a déjà vu moment of the past. He held something in his hand. It reminded her of far too many times she had to deal with him. She shook her head, trying to clear the memory. Only to regret the move when the pain reawakened.

  “I’d take it easy,” Kaden said.

  “Your concern charms me.”

  Kaden dragged the cot over, scraping along the floor, so he could sit on the edge, and held the cup up to her mouth. “Drink it while I’m being generous or I won’t offer anymore.”

  Hope glared at him, but took the liquid. Not cold and refreshing, but it was tolerable and water, which made it a close second.

  “How long until you pass me off?”

  Kaden laughed. “I’ve already got someone. Don’t you worry that pretty little head. You won’t be here much longer.”

  “Goody. Well hey, at least I won’t have to deal with you much longer.”

  Kaden stood up, studied the room, then struck her. The jarring made the pain in her head increase. Hope glared at him. Kaden raised his hand, threatening to hit again if she retorted. She remained quiet. He chuckled and left the room.

  Against every protest, Hope thrashed in her chair, trying her hardest to find give in her restraints. There wasn’t any, but she earned more pain and scars to boot.

  “I am seriously starting to hate this world.”

  Off and on throughout the night, she tried to sleep, but every time she drifted off, she would jerk back awake, sure Kaden was creeping into the room. Only to find it was someone moving outside the door. Other times she felt like something was at the window, but again, there was nothing more than her imagination. Sleep finally took hold, but Kaden came in and woke her up.

  Hope jerked up so fast the pain blinded her. She ground her teeth and adjusted her body, sending pain scurrying through her veins and springing her limbs back to life, filling them with pain. When she tried to swallow, nothing but desert greeted her throat and it brought tears to her eyes. Kaden stood there grinning at her. She wanted to wipe the look of his face.

  “Doesn’t look like you’v
e had a good night. You look human for once, and exhausted. Poor Hope. I don’t feel sorry for you. I could make it better if you want.”

  “There is nothing on this planet that will make me give you what you want.”

  Kaden shook his head and closed the distance between them. He grabbed her by the hair and tugged her head back. “If you weren’t such a bitch, you might have friends.”

  Hope’s eyes watered with the pain. “Because I want them?”

  Kaden snorted in her ear. “It’s good you said that since I killed your last two. It was worth it. And damn if it didn’t feel good killing Gideon.”

  Hope fought the urge to cry. She refused to let him see how much he got to her. “One would think you did it because you want me all to yourself.”

  With the harsh tug he did on her head, she cried out. The pain at the base of her neck was killing her and it struck her as odd. She shouldn’t have been in that much pain from him hitting her with a gun.

  “Maybe I am, huh? After all, why would I be so interested in selling that fine little bod off to the highest bidder? It’s because I love you so much.” He kissed her and shoved her head forward.

  “You’re such a bastard. Couldn’t have a soul if you tried. Why don’t you kill yourself and save the world from having to deal with you?”

  Kaden laughed behind her. “You have no idea who I am. The greatest part? You never cared to.”

  “Cry me a river.”

  Kaden moved around the chair. “Hope, you don’t get it, do you? I tried to be a friend to you and you showed you wanted nothing to do with it. I quit.”

  “No, you didn’t. You wanted the same thing from me that everyone else did. And how is it being friends if you try to kill me for becoming pregnant? Remember that at all? You wanted me dead because I had a child inside of me. That’s not a friend.”

  Kaden’s eyebrows bobbed in agreement. “People don’t need false hope. It wasn’t personal. You’re stupid if you took it personal.”

  Hope thrashed against her ropes and cursed at the pain. “Bullshit! It was one hundred fucking percent personal. You wanted me dead. You wanted the child and me dead. That’s it.”