The knife grazes my cheek on purpose as he brings it up to cut the rope tying my right hand to the rusty railing of the headboard. I act like I like the feeling of the knife on my face as I hope it throws him off.
I feel the freedom as the rope is cut, letting my arm fall. Unfortunately, my arm is asleep. I can’t move it. It falls limply onto the bed. I try to move it, but it just won’t move right.
“Give me your hand,” the sweaty man commands me.
I try very hard, but I can’t move it. I move my head back and forth, trying to get him to take the gag out of my mouth.
“I’ve broken you,” he cries, then tears stream down his chubby, red cheeks.
I shake my head no, hoping he’ll let me go. Suddenly he changes again.
“You, stupid piece of shit! Of course you broke her,” he says to himself as he turns away from me. “You can’t do anything right. Now you have no choice but to kill her. They can’t find her like this, or you’ll go to prison. You can’t go there, they’ll rape you. You’re far too tender to go there, Darren.” His voice is high pitched. It’s as if he’s impersonating a woman.
He stops talking to himself and turns to look back at me. His eyes are almost black instead of the drab brown they’ve been.
The knife is still in his hand. I try to move my arm, and it moves a little bit. I move it to my side in an attempt to protect myself. This only infuriates him.
His voice flat, he says, “You’re dead.”
I feel a pain in my ribs almost immediately. My face is slapped repeatedly. Then my other arm is cut down as are my legs. They are all of no use to me. I close my eyes, trying to picture myself as the big, black bird.
A stabbing pain hits me in my shoulder. I can’t concentrate any more. He’s on top of me, slapping me hard. I can’t feel a thing anymore. I see only blackness.
“Wake up, bitch. I’m not done with you, wake up,” I hear him screaming at me, as I drift away.
“Alyssa, Alyssa is that you?”
I’m lying on something hard and cold. It’s cold in this place. I’m so cold. “Alyssa! Thank, Our Creator, Alyssa! I found you.” I hear Eden yell. “Doctor, you have to save her. I can’t lose her. Please tell me you can save her.”
“She’s lost a lot of blood, Eden. It looks like she has some broken ribs, and most likely a punctured lung. There’s a knife wound on her side. The ambulance will be here soon. We’ll get her to the hospital, and get started on her as soon as we can,” I can hear the other voice say.
“You have to help her, she can’t die. Not yet, not yet! Please Alyssa, stay with me. Don’t give up, keep breathing. I know it hurts, but keep breathing, baby, please,” the velvet voice cries as he rocks me back and forth, gently and slowly.
I can taste blood in my mouth. I feel something thick coming up my throat. I’m choking! Help I’m choking! I can’t breathe! I can’t take a breath!
“Eden, she’s not going to make it.”
“No! Don’t say that! No!”
Then I hear humming.
***
A loud knock at our bedroom door startles both of us awake as we sit up quickly. “What? Who is it?” Eden says, loudly.
“It’s your father, open the door,” Lyle calls out to Eden.
Eden looks over at me. “Are you okay?”
I nod my head yes. He gets up and grabs my silk robe off the chair, tossing it to me. I wrap it around me to cover up my skimpy nightgown. He strides over to the door, adjusting his T-shirt and pajama bottoms, then running his hands through his messy dark locks.
“Yes, Papa?” Eden asks, as he opens the door.
Lyle comes into the room, going to the window and checking to be sure it’s locked. “What’s going on, Papa?” I ask.
Lyle turns to Eden, and hands him a piece of paper. He reads it quickly. “Damn! How in the hell did he do that?” Eden asks his father.
“It gets better son,” Lyle tells him. “It was taped to your bedroom door this morning.”
Eden’s usually tan face goes pale. “How? How could he get through this gate too, into this house?”
Lyle shrugs his shoulders. “We can’t keep hiding from this man, Eden. We have to draw him out.”
“That would mean using bait, and you know the only bait that will draw him out. I won’t do that,” Eden argues.
I interrupt their arguing. “Can I see the note?”
He hesitates. “It’s not a good idea, Alyssa.”
“I had the dream, Eden. He takes me away somewhere after he’s drugged me with morphine. He ties me up, rapes, and beats me, then leaves me on the street somewhere. You find me, but it’s too late. I choke to death on my own blood. I think after what I’ve seen and felt, because it felt real, I can take whatever that note says,” I say, as I hold my hand out.
He looks at his father. Lyle nods his head yes, and then he hands the note to me.
Mrs. Fontaine
It was nice to see you again. That little bikini you had on last night left little to my imagination. Too bad that blonde bitch was there or you and I could’ve had a real good time.
Don’t worry though, I will get you alone. You and I have some things we need to talk about, like what color panties you like. I bet you like blue ones.
Keep playing hide and seek with me, I like it. This is a nice house. How nice of your parents to set you up in a nice bedroom right at the top of the stairs, the first one on the right. I left you a present.
See you soon
My blood runs cold as I read each word, slowly. “Eden, it says he left a present. What do you think it is, and where do you think it is?”
Lyle walks towards the bathroom, and says, “Just stay right there, Alyssa. I’ll search your room to see what he could’ve left in here, if he was ever really in here at all.”
Eden begins to open the closet, checking it over. “Nothing out of the ordinary in there.”
“Nothing in here,” Lyle says.
Eden begins to open the drawers on the dresser. He opens the top drawer, moves things around, and then closes it. He opens the second drawer and stops. I can tell by how his face pales a little he’s found something.
“Papa, he was in here.”
Lyle walks over to look. “Oh my! Jesus, that man’s sick.”
“What? What is it?” I ask, softly.
Eden turns to look at me. “No Alyssa, you can’t see this,” he tells me, and then he shuts the drawer.
“It’s that bad?”
They both nod their heads. “I have to go call the police. Don’t touch it, try not to touch anything, but get dressed and come downstairs,” Lyle commands.
I call Laura and ask her to get Kyle and meet us downstairs. After we dress, Eden and I go down to the living room to find not only are Kyle and Laura there, but our parents and two police officers as well.
My father stands up. “Okay officers, let me take you up to the bedroom, so you can get started. The second drawer of the dresser, right Lyle?” my father confirms.
Lyle nods yes. “Eden, go with them too,” Lyle directs Eden
I go sit next to Laura. “Sorry about all this Laura. I didn’t think he’d find us so quickly.”
“It had to be someone who was here yesterday. There was the kitchen staff. The maid, Terri, the driver who brought Kyle and Laura here, and the person who delivered the clothes,” Lyle explains.
“Linda?” I ask. “You think Linda could have something to do with this?”
“Any of them could, dear,” my mother says, “How can we ever figure out who would’ve helped him?”
The conversation is making me uncomfortable. Linda being a suspect is flying through my brain at great speeds, and I send the thought to my mate.
“Mom, can we go make something to eat?” I ask.
She looks at me, then at Lyle. “I think that’ll be fine. Kyle stay with them, okay?” Lyle says.
“Yes, sir,” Kyle answers him.
I go to the fridge and pull out a carton
of eggs. Kyle sits on one of the stools at the breakfast bar as Laura helps me. “So what did the note say exactly, Ally?” Kyle asks.
“I still have it,” I tell him as I pull it out of my pocket, and hand it to him. “Eden told me to give it to you. Read it.”
Laura looks at me with confusion. “Why would he do that?” she asks as she goes over to read it with him. I don’t answer her. “This is really scary, Al. He was out there with us somewhere, hiding in the dark.”
Kyle looks up at me. “He was in your room. I can’t believe he was in the house, and no one noticed.”
“Eden’s father thinks the best thing to do is to try to bring him out of hiding,” I tell them, as I scramble the eggs.
“While that is probably the smartest thing to do, you do have to realize you would be put in danger, Ally,” Kyle tells me.
I nod. “What else can be done?”
“I don’t know, but after what Lyle said about the bird in the drawer I know this guy is a complete psycho,” Kyle tells me.
“What did Lyle say was in the drawer?” I ask, praying I heard him wrong.
“You know a black bird with a piece of string wrapped around its neck that he must have used to choke it to death,” Kyle tells me.
The blood goes out of my face. I stumble a little. Kyle jumps up, grabbing me, then taking me to sit in a chair at the dining table. Crap! A black bird he choked to death. Not only does he want to kill me, he knows what I am.
I look up at Kyle, and send to him, ‘He knows what I am!’
His arms close around me as I fall, and things go black.
Chapter 50
Kyle
“Ally, are you going to faint?” I ask as I sit Ally down.
Laura gets a wet towel and holds it to her forehead. “Ally, you okay? You turned so pale,” she says.
‘He knows I’m a bird,’ she sends to me. ‘This is bad! This is really bad. He has to be stopped. He’ll tell people. What are we going to do?’
“Eden didn’t tell you about the bird?” I ask, knowing damn well he didn’t but I’m trying to talk out loud so Laura doesn’t get confused at how I know certain things that have gone unsaid. “Shit! He’s going to be so mad at me, for running my mouth.”
“No, I needed to know that. He would’ve told me anyway. Don’t worry,” Ally says as she looks at me, then Laura.
“I’ll finish making breakfast, Al. Just sit there and chill. Kyle get her a glass of juice, please,” Laura orders.
I bring Ally back a glass of apple juice, then sit down next to her, putting my arm around her shoulders. Her head drops onto my shoulder. My mind is spinning out of control. I have so much to do, and Laura’s not knowing about what we are is a pain in the ass.
I know she could handle the secret but I have to get Eden and Ally to agree.
I kiss the side of her head, like I used to do all the time. “Everything’ll be alright, Ally. You have a lot of people around you who love you. We won’t let this freak get you.”
Her hand takes mine, and she holds it in her lap as she sends me, ‘I feel safe with you here.’
My arm tightens around her shoulders, and I hug her to my chest. ‘You’re safe with me here, baby,’ I send back.
Laura brings us each a plate, setting them down in front of us, then gets hers and comes to sit on the other side of Ally. “Eat up Al, you need to keep your strength up,” she tells her, with a smile.
Ally grins at her and leans over to kiss her cheek. “I love you, Laura. You’re going to be such a good mother someday.”
Eden comes into the kitchen, sees us all piled in close to each other and smiles. I’m happy to see he isn’t unhappy with me being so close to Ally. She’s tucked into my side with my arm wrapped around her.
“I see you’re being well taken care of Alyssa,” he says, as he grabs a plate.
Laura jumps up. “Go sit Eden, I got it,” she commands him, as she pushes at him to sit down across from us.
He’s still smiling at Ally. I’m not sure if my close proximity to her is making him uncomfortable or if he’s actually happy I’m watching over her so closely. Laura puts his plate and juice in front of him, then returns to her seat next to Ally.
“The police are watching the surveillance video right now. So shortly we’ll know how he got into the house,” Eden tells us. “Laura, I wanted to thank you for saving my wife’s life last night. If you hadn’t been with her or if you had decided to come into the house for even a minute, he would’ve had her.”
Laura looks up at him. “Do you really think so?” she asks in disbelief.
“I’m very sure of it, and so are the police,” he tells her. “I can’t begin to thank you enough.”
“Eden, I’m really sorry,” I say. “I had no idea she didn’t know, but I brought up the bird in the drawer.”
Eden gets a surprised look on his face. “How did she take it?”
“Not real well,” I tell him as I give her a gentle squeeze. “She just about passed out.”
Eden looks at her. “I bet she did. You okay now, Alyssa?”
She nods. “It’s better I know that anyway.”
Eden smiles at her, and I can feel the rate of her heartbeats increase. “I know. I was going to tell you sometime in the near future,” he says with a soft tone to his voice, which makes Ally all melty inside.
God! Knowing what she feels is so damn weird!
I release her from my tight hold, and move my chair over, so our legs no longer touch. I really don’t want to feel her every feeling. It seems like we’re getting more and more telepathy with one another.
I’m not sure I like it.
Laura and I take the dishes from the table as we’ve all finished eating and put them in the dishwasher. Eden takes Ally by the hand, pulling her up to him. They lean their foreheads together, sending things back and forth to each other no doubt.
Ally’s Mom comes in. Her face gets a strange look as she looks at Ally, then back at me, and says, “I’ll get the rest of this cleaned up. You two are guests for goodness sake.”
Eden helps Ally out of the dog house. “She got the news about the bird in the drawer and got a little shaky. So Laura was kind enough to make breakfast for us.”
Her mother gives her a hug. “Oh, it upset you that much?”
Ally looks around the room at us all, and says, “It shocked me at first but I know everything’ll be fine. I have faith. I’m not going to let this guy get into my head. No matter how hard he tries.”
‘That a girl, Al,’ I send her.
She smiles back at me. ‘Thanks, Kyle. I’m so glad I have you,’ she sends me.
Eden looks at her, and in that instant she shuts me out. “How far you’ve come in such a short amount of time,” he tells her.
“I guess it’s just the fact he did such terrible things to his daughter, and what he’ll do to me. If he’s able to get to me that has me thinking I can’t be afraid of him,” Ally says as she threads her fingers through Eden’s. Something she used to do with me. “I have to stop him from doing this to anyone else ever again. I can’t be another victim. I have to be his ending. Our dreams have let me know I have no choice in the fact. He has to be stopped, or it will be the end of us.”
Eden’s face drops as we realize she just said something she shouldn’t have. Laura catches it, quickly. “Our dreams? What does that mean, Ally?” she asks.
Ally’s eyes look frantically at Eden for an answer. Unfortunately, he just looks back at her with a blank face.
Okay, no help there.
I look at Ally’s mom to find she has the same blank expression.
Okay, then I have to come up with some explanation.
My arm slides around Laura’s shoulders as I pull her tight to my chest. “It just means, you know, the stress of this situation must have them dreaming about it. Almost like Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, only it’s before the actual horrible thing happens,” I offer as an explanation for my Ally’s overactive mo
uth.
“Let’s go see if they’ve finished watching the surveillance video yet,” Eden says, changing the subject as he takes Ally, and leaves the kitchen.
Laura and I follow them, I hold her close to me, and she whispers to me, “Maybe they’re too close, ya know?”
Yeah! No kidding! What would she think if she knew how close Ally is to me?
Eden’s father, Lyle, is coming back into the large living room. He must’ve walked the police officers out. Lyle turns to us and I can tell by his expression they know who helped Stiles.
“That was very productive,” Eden’s father says as he takes a seat on the large sofa next to his wife, Sierra. “We found out who let him in. It was a member of the kitchen staff, a young man named Brady Mathews. He’s been with us for about two years. I know him very well. I can’t imagine what he was thinking. We’ll soon find out though, because the officers are going to the mansion to get him right now. I’m praying they can get the information from him as to where Stiles is.”
Ally looks at Lyle with curiosity and asks, “So there’s no way Linda had anything to do with it at all?”
Eden’s eyes go wide, and he drops her hand. “Linda?”
Ally looks at us all, then says, “They said she could be a suspect, Eden.”
Eden looks at his parents. “Papa, you told her this?”
Lyle shrugs his shoulders, and says, “I said it could’ve been anyone who was here yesterday. That’s all, son.”
Eden turns back to Ally, a bit of a glare in his eyes. “Alyssa, why would you even think such a thing about her?” His question seems to physically hurt her. Her eyes drop to the floor, and she wrings her hands.
Her demeanor makes me feel she’s lost something of herself she had found just before I left her in New Orleans. It brings out my protective side. I leave Laura’s side to walk over and place my arm around her shoulders. “Eden, I’m sure you have to understand all people who’ve been in this house yesterday had to be in question in everyone’s minds.”
Ally sends me a scene. Eden and a lady with brown hair kissing by his swimming pool. I wince at how intense it looks. I look up at Eden, and he knows she shared it with me, by the look in his eyes. He’s hurt.
Quartet Complete Series: Billionaire Romance Box Set (An Alpha Billionaire Romance) Page 96
