Arianna slowly opens her eyes and watches me. I lower myself and kiss her forehead while the person asks me if I’m Blake.
“Yes.”
The call is from the main hospital near my parents’ house.
“There has been an accident. We have you as the emergency contact for your parents.”
“Is my mom okay?” I ask assuming it’s about her.
“I’m sorry,” she says in an apologetic tone. I was just given the emergency contact number to notify you and—.”
“I’m actually a few hours away. Have you already called my brother?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I’m on my way. He will give me updates once he gets there.”
I hang up and rush to get dressed while I tell Arianna what happened.
“I’m coming with you.”
“Are you sure?” I ask, knowing that I don’t like the idea of her being near him at all.
“I’m going to be there for you, Blake.”
I wake up Jones asking to borrow the rental car and insist that he stays and rests, that we will call him once we know what is going on.
On the way, I get a text from Owen. “How far away are you?”
“Two hours. What is going on?”
When he doesn’t reply, I call him but there is no answer.
He texts me back. “We will talk when you get here.”
My stomach is in knots.
I speed up and Arianna rests her hand on my leg, letting me know that she is here for support.
We get to the hospital in an hour and a half. I’m thankful for not being stopped for speeding.
I rush to the information desk and they direct me to the ICU. Owen is waiting outside of that area and he is crying. My hands start to shake and Arianna notices it, slipping her hand into mine.
“What happened?” I ask.
“Dad is in surgery now. When the ambulance got there he was mumbling something about mom driving and that she tried to kill him in the accident.”
“What the hell? Why would he say that? Son of a— Where is mom? How is she?”
Owen starts to tremble. “I don’t know. She was already in surgery when I got here. I haven’t been able to get any updates.”
“Where is Molly?” Arianna asks Owen.
I panic. “Oh, God. Molly!”
“She is home,” says Owen and I feel like I can breathe again. “She is with the babysitter. I called and asked her to stay until the morning.”
We sit here and wait for what seems like the longest hours
One of the doctors walks toward us.
“Are you Blake and Owen Crawford?” he asks.
We both stand up, and so does Arianna. She slips her hand into mine. “Yes,” I say. “I’m Blake.”
He sighs and looks down for a split second before looking back up.
“I was one of the surgeons taking care of your mother. She had lost a lot of blood by the time she got here…”
I interrupt him. I can feel that something isn’t right. “Just tell us,” I say.
He looks from me to Owen. “I’m sorry,” he says, “we did all we could.”
Owen turns around and punches the wall. Several people walking by watch him, but keep going. He falls to the floor, leans against the wall, and cries harder than I’ve ever seen him cry.
My whole body goes numb. In shock, I move my hand away from Arianna’s and turn around. I sit on the chair nearby and lower my head, hiding my face behind my hands. I feel Arianna sit next to me. I hear her sob, but she doesn’t say anything. After a while, I feel her arms around me.
A million questions run through my head… Why?… Why would she do this? Why would she put herself at risk? Is this even the truth behind what happened?
For a split second, I feel like I need a drink. I glance to my side and meet Arianna’s concerned gaze.
“She died feeling guilty for not protecting us when we were little.” I don’t even know why I bring this up. “It’s not like she could have done anything against my dad. She was trapped. From the moment he walked into her life, she was trapped.”
“Oh. God. Blake, I’m so sorry,” Arianna says while crying.
I feel even worse, if that is possible. I know Arianna thought mom should have done whatever it took to protect us.
I glance at her and her head is down. She is sobbing.
“Look at me,” I ask her.
She looks at me, waiting to hear what I have to say.
I feel like I should say something, anything, to let her know that it’s okay for her to feel the way she did about mom not protecting us, but I feel that whatever I say will just make things worse.
“I love you,” I finally say before I take a deep breath, sit back and close my eyes as I rest my head against the wall.
“I love you, too.” She says in between sobs.
It’s almost an hour before a different doctor comes out and says we can see dad if we’d like.
Owen starts to walk that way and I just sit, watching him go. Once he realizes he is not being followed, he looks back.
“Are you coming?” he asks.
I stand up and look over at Arianna, then back at Owen and shake my head.
“We’ll be at the house with Molly if you need anything.”
“Okay. I will let you know how he is doing.”
I shake my head. “I don’t want to know.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
The next time I see him is at mom’s funeral. I’m surprised he was able to get out of the hospital so soon. I was hoping he wouldn’t be here. The car accident left him unable to walk, so he is in a wheelchair, being pushed around by Owen. Molly is next to them with the babysitter.
Arianna avoids looking in his direction, which is the smart thing to do, but I can’t. I stand here and watch that smug look on his face as he plays the victim in front of everyone. When Molly looks up at me and tries to come in my direction, he stops her. She is already upset because of mom, but whatever he says, makes her even more upset. Owen ends up picking her up and takes her away for a few minutes.
We are about to leave when Owen approaches me.
“Dad wants to talk to you.”
“I have nothing to say to him.”
Owen nods “I know. Just hear whatever it is so he will stop annoying the hell out of me.”
I look at Arianna, “Can you wait for me in the car?”
“I can go with you,” she says. “I’ll be okay.”
I shake my head. “I don’t want him anywhere near you.”
She agrees and Owen walks her to the car while I go see dad.
Once I approach him, I see him ask the babysitter to take Molly away.
“What?” I ask.
“I didn’t raise you to be like this, son.”
I tilt my head to the side. “You didn’t raise me at all!”
“Blake, like it or not, I’m your father. Family sticks together.”
“Your definition of family and being a parent is very disturbing,” I laugh. “I feel sorry for you. You’ll end up alone and, I hate to say this, but you deserve it.”
I turn around to leave then I stop and face him once again. All I can think about is Molly and the future she will have if he raises her alone.
“In light of us being ‘family’,” I say sarcastically, “I’m willing to forget those papers your signed, but I want custody of Molly.”
“You can’t be serious. I know you, Blake. You wouldn’t hurt a fly and I know you won’t do anything with those papers.”
“You said it yourself, we are family. I’m as capable of doing this as you are of doing everything you have done your entire life. Arianna and I are leaving town tonight. You have until then to decide.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
FOUR YEARS LATER
ARIANNA
A lot has changed since the last time we were here at the island. After we left, Owen gave us the idea of building a new home surrounding the tree house, and leav
ing the old one for guests. That is exactly what we did.
Blake and I know that Owen still sees his dad, but we refuse to know anything about him, besides the fact that Jones allowed him to keep working for the company and assured us that he is no longer able to use black magic. We didn’t want to know how or why. Blake and I decided to be done with anything related to it.
We now only come to the island once a year, but it’s time spent with the people we love and creating great new memories.
Blake and I lay on the sand, staring at the water. A lot of evil happened on this island, but today, the good moments far outweigh the bad ones. It’s the good moments that I choose to focus on… the moment when I first saw Blake, the moment when we met, the many happy moments we’ve had recently.
I close my eyes and enjoy the heat against my skin and the sound of the waves crashing.
“Arianna, look.”
I open my eyes and look in the direction Blake is looking. He watches our three-year-old daughter with nothing but love in his eyes. She is running around on the sand and trying not to fall. She laughs when she almost does and is proud of herself for not falling.
Once she gets closer to the water, Blake gets up and goes after her. She laughs when she sees him approaching her and runs toward the water.
She has been in the ocean before and she loves it. It actually scares us how she has no fear.
I get up to join them, when I see the wave coming. It’s a small wave, but enough to knock her down. I move fast, but the wave reaches her and as I assumed, she falls back.
And then, she moves at a speed that shocks me and I see the pink color submerge from the water, where her legs should be.
Blake looks shocked, but moves fast and goes after her.
But she is so fast. She takes off into the water as if this is where she belongs.
For the first time, I wish I could still turn back into a mermaid. I know I can’t, so I just follow them into the water.
Blake and I swim after her and it is as if she knows exactly where to go. We swim and swim into the deep ocean, until she reaches the kingdom where I came from. She looks back at Blake and I, and smiles before she moves forward.
I see Lyra stopping her and they stay where they are, waiting for Blake and me to reach them.
We are so close.
I can feel in my heart when Blake is in trouble. I reach him and he is no longer moving.
I grab him, but I know it’s too late. I close my eyes and let his body drag me along with him to the bottom of the ocean.
“Arianna!”
I jump awake and look frantically around.
“Another crazy pregnancy dream?” Blake asks.
I nod and he kisses my stomach, then he looks up at me. “She is safe, Arianna. We all are. Besides, look at Jones and Carol. They refuse to leave her alone even for a second.”
I look to the side and see Jones, Carol, and our three year old daughter, Maya, playing on the sand with Molly.
I close my eyes once again. I feel the warmth of the sun against my skin and the warmth of Blake’s body next to mine. I hear the sound of waves and the sound of Maya and Molly’s laughter.
Everything is perfect.
THE END
MORE TITLES BY DANIELE LANZAROTTA
IMPRINTED SOULS SERIES
Imprinted Souls
Bloodlust
Divine Ashes
Blood Bound
Shattered Souls
THE REAWAKENING SERIES
(Imprinted Souls Spin-off)
Venom
Blood Ties (coming soon)
ACADEMY OF THE FALLEN SERIES
Wide Awake
Nephilim
Sins of the Fallen
Forsaken
Turn the page for a sneak preview of
WIDE AWAKE
Academy of the Fallen I
by Daniele Lanzarotta
The complete Academy of the Fallen series is now available at
www.danielelanzarotta.com
Amazon, Nook and iBookstore
ONE
My life had been pretty normal until that point. I went to a private high school in LA, where I lived with my adoptive parents. I did pretty decent at school, especially for someone who didn’t try very hard. I had awesome friends, and an okay boyfriend, I mean, I thought he was great at the time, but a lot of people saw him as a jerk, but whatever… Boy! Was I wrong?
That day, I woke up and then spent probably the next half hour scanning through my closet. On a normal day, we would wear the school’s uniform, but the school principal gave us a free pass that day, since we had a field trip. As long as we were dressed in what he considered decent, which was code for boring, we didn’t have to wear the school’s uniform.
I went downstairs, grabbed something to eat and walked out the door, getting in my Audi R8, that I had just got for my birthday. It took me forever to talk Kelly and Andrew, my adoptive parents, into getting me that car. They had the illusion that I was going to drive some kind of SUV!
Andrew and Kelly were great. They pulled me out of foster care when I was about to turn four years old, so they were like my real parents; the only parents I knew, but when it came to safety, they were a little over-protective.
So… school field trip! Who would have thought that would mess up my so-called normal life?
***
We weren’t at that silly museum but for a couple of hours. And then, my boyfriend Justin pulls me aside from the class because he wanted to talk. Like he couldn’t talk at any other time of the day, right?
So I followed him into one of the rooms along the hallway and just as soon as I got the hint that he was trying to break-up with me, I turned things around on him.
“Yeah, I wanted to talk to you too,” I said.
And then I jumped right into what I wanted to say before he could break-up with me first.
“This isn’t working out, Justin.”
He seemed surprised at first and then he just looked totally pissed-off.
“Well, glad you agree, because I have been kinda dating your friend Ashley too.”
Okay, minus one on my awesome friends list. Lucky me, I could put on an act. Not showing any reaction I looked into his eyes and said, “Good. You two are perfect together.”
Justin turned around and stormed out of the door. What did he expect me to do? Cry and beg him to stay?
Needing a moment to get myself together, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I was good at putting on an act, but that didn’t mean that wasn’t hurtful. Okay, I had only been dating Justin for about a month, but Ashley had been my friend for a long time.
Point was… that tough act, was just that, an act. Yes, I was just 16, but I had already learned how to hurt people before they could hurt me. That was my own defense mechanism. I would break-up with boyfriends, (not that I had many until now, I mean, I was only 16) as soon as I thought they were about to break-up with me. I would end a friendship as soon as I saw a friend get closer to someone else. It just made things easier.
Ashley kinda caught me off-guard though. Ugh, I hated when that happened. I was furious and I really hoped that my two other friends, Jess and Emily didn’t know about it.
Right away I knew I would have to get to them before Ashley did. Ashley could have Justin all to herself, but I wasn’t going to sit and watch her take my two best friends too.
Unfortunately, me knowing that I needed to find Emily and Jess as soon as possible, wasn’t enough to make me rush out of there. I ended up hanging out in that room for a while. Not because I found anything interesting in that room, on the contrary, it was all a bunch of junk… but I used my time alone to check my text messages and totally lost track of time.
I took another deep breath and just when I was getting ready to walk out of that room and go try to find the rest of the class, I heard a noise from the room next to the one I was in. I was afraid that whoever that was had heard Justin and me earlier, and would go on
to spread rumors around the school. I instantly thought that rumors were the last thing I needed, although that was inevitable. Still, I couldn’t help myself from going into that room to find out who that was and how much he or she had heard.
I walked in there and at first I didn’t see anyone. I heard someone sobbing, but that was it. I took a look around and in the back of that room, behind this awful old looking desk there was a girl hiding.
“Umm, hey. Are you okay?”
The girl turned around and it was clear that she was looking scared. I assumed she was probably lost. She looked younger than me…. probably about twelve years old, and I felt sorry for the girl, because whoever shopped for her clothes was in deep need of a visit to the mall, or maybe some fashion magazines.
The girl didn’t say anything.
“I’m Kayla. What is your name?”
“Carolyn,” she said, still sobbing.
I was trying to rush; I really had to catch up with the rest of my class…
“Are you lost, Carolyn?” I asked.
She nodded.
I looked out in the hallway, and saw a tour guide.
I turned back around to face her and let her know someone who could help her was on the way, but the girl was gone.
“Okay then…”
The tour guide approached me.
“Need help finding something?” he asked.
I told him about the girl and he said he would take a look around. There had been a couple of other schools there that day. Then he used his walkie-talkie to find out where my class was.
So, I had missed the entire field trip. Not that I really cared…
Outside, everyone was already getting into the school bus. I saw Justin and Ashley, all over each other, but what I was pleased to see were Jess and Emily as far away from them as they could have possibly been, and they both looked disgusted.
I noticed that a couple of people stopped what they were doing when they saw me walking out of the museum. It was one of those moments when you feel as if everyone is watching your every move. They were probably trying to catch my reaction in seeing Justin and Ashley together, but I just lifted my head up, smiled, and walked toward Jess and Emily.
Unbreakable (A Mermaid's Curse Book 3) Page 11
