Into The Rabbit Hole

by Khardine Gray

  They talked for hours and ate all the treats in the house. Kelly went out to get more, deciding that the occasion and the day warranted more chocolate.

  That left Chloe and Taylor to talk.

  “I can’t stop looking at your ring.” Taylor giggled, the ends of her hair bobbled in her high ponytail as she moved.

  “Me, neither.” Chloe laughed, too.

  They sat together in the kitchen, finishing the last of the Tootsie Rolls.

  “I’m so proud of you guys. I really am.”

  “Oh, Taylor, you’re the sweetest.” Chloe straightened up against the chair. “It’s still sinking in.”

  “I’ll bet. Have you thought about when you want to get married?” Her green eyes glistened with excitement.

  “Wade wants to get married soon.” Chloe widened her eyes. “I was thinking something along the lines of next year, like next summer. But then he said why waste this summer, and suggested in a month’s time, or two at a stretch.” She tried to do Wade’s voice, similar to how Wes did it. Taylor laughed.

  “That boy is crazy in love with you.” Taylor continued laughing. “I love weddings and think if you guys decide to get hitched in a month or two, we all could definitely pull it off.”

  “A month or two, Taylor?” Chloe shook her head. It was absurd. No one could pull that off. Unless they decided on a quick get together in Vegas.

  “Well yes, my mom is a very powerful woman. People will fall at her feet to please her. It sounds terrible, but it’s true. If she says she wants a wedding in a month or two, believe me, it’ll happen. Plus, you have all the books you could ever need right here in my room.” Taylor raised an eyebrow.

  Immediately Chloe felt bad and insensitive. Just months ago Taylor had been just like her, planning her wedding because she found the ring certificate in Richard’s house. Although Chloe hadn’t been babbling all over the place and getting lost in the excitement, she felt insensitive for not thinking about Taylor.

  She’d momentarily forgot the last few months, probably because Taylor was now with Wes and they seemed perfect together.

  “I’m sorry I—”

  “Don’t,” Taylor interrupted, holding her hand up and smiling. She shook her head. “No apologies needed at all, because God knows what happened with Richard was for the best. I hated the scandal with his wife, and that’s all I feel bad for. Of course he really hurt me by what he did, but I was living in some kind of deluded fantasy and it was because I didn’t know better. I didn’t know that my better was a guy I’d known all my life and was best friends with my best friend. So, don’t say sorry.” She chuckled. It was good to hear her talk about Wes that way.

  “I’m happy for you and Wes. I know he feels the same way about you.”

  That made her smile widen. “Really?”

  “Oh yes, Taylor.”

  “I love that, and as for you, missy, I couldn’t be more thrilled at your news. I get to be related to you now, for real.”

  They both squealed in delight.

  “That’s the best part,” Chloe intoned. “Taylor, my sister-in-law.”

  “I love it, I do. Aww look at us. We needed this. We needed something good during this time.” Her expression toned down and receded into a blank look.

  Chloe had heard that a lot had happened in the mere week they’d been away.

  As much as she and Wade had tried to keep away from the news, they’d both been shocked when they heard about Ben’s last two accusations, which were apparently true. There was an oil rig incident that killed over a hundred men, and Ben was also responsible for the death of Rachel Dean, who was Aaron’s mother.

  Wade had called Regina and she confirmed it all. Confirmed that everything they’d heard was true.

  She could hardly feel comfortable calling Aaron a psycho now, knowing that Ben, a man who wore a simple face, who was a revered public figure, had done so much wrong.

  Thankfully the public’s eye seemed to have turned on him and people seemed more sympathetic towards the rest of the Vanderville family. That was reinforced by Ben and Regina’s divorce being finalized this morning. That was in the news today, both mainstream and celeb gossip.

  Chloe hated it all. She’d never thought it was such a burden to be part of a well-known family, but she could see it now. That aside, serious things were happening as the truth revealed itself, and she was wondering what danger awaited them. What had she come back to?

  The ring on her finger was a dream of something her heart desired so much. But outside of the love, all of what was happening scared her.

  “Are you okay?” she asked Taylor.

  “No. I’m not. My dad, Ben, is going to prison tomorrow. I saw him yesterday, just to say goodbye, but I could barely look at him.”

  The pain in her eyes gripped Chloe.

  “Out of everything that was revealed, out of all those horrible things he did, what got me the most was hearing about the woman he killed.”

  Chloe sighed. “Me, too.” Her voice was barely above a whisper. That story got her, too. She couldn’t imagine it. When she thought of Ben, she remembered the uneasy feeling she always felt, but she never imagined he was capable of any of this. Wade had had a hard time accepting it, and she knew he tried to be happy for her while they were in Hawaii.

  “He said that when the truth came out I’d hate him, and I do. He was right. But just like I thought, a part of me still loves him.” Her brows knitted in disdain.

  “He’s your father.”

  “But that’s just it, he isn’t. My mom told me that whole story about how she ended up marrying him and what she and Brian went through. All of that misery and depression was because of Ben. My actual father had to watch me grow up from the shadows because my mom was scared about what would happen if anyone knew I wasn’t a Vanderville.”

  Chloe reached over and took Taylor’s hand. “It’s awful. All of it. It’s just terrible, and I can’t imagine what you must feel right now. But know that I’m here. Always here for you.” It was the best she could offer, her support.

  “I know. It’s…” Her voice trailed off and she squinted her eyes and started rubbing them. “Sorry, my eyes are burning. It must be that new mascara.”

  Chloe was about to answer, but her eyes started burning too, and her nose. She looked over to the kitchen door that led outside and saw some green mist coming from under it.

  Green mist!

  Wade mentioned something about that. Yes, she remembered now. It was when he told her and Wes what had happened on the night Merissa died.

  “Taylor we…” Chloe couldn’t talk. She was finding it hard to move her mouth and she could barely see Taylor, who had just slumped down in her chair and dropped to the ground.

  “Help,” Chloe cried. She was getting weaker with each movement, and the kitchen was now filled with the mist. Her body went limp and trying to stand only resulted in her flopping down to the ground, too.

  Footsteps sounded around her, echoing through her ears, and she swore she saw Richard standing over her with a white mask on before darkness filled her mind and engulfed everything around her.

  Chapter 12

  Wade

  “Thanks for coming by to see me,” his father said.

  Wade looked around at all the boxes and white sheets covering everything in the living room. Everything was packed away, as if they were moving house. There were no maids, no grounds men. Just himself and his father.

  A house that used to have so much life was now being emptied.

  “I came to say goodbye,” Wade said. He returned his gaze back to his father and found it difficult to look at him. Really difficult. As he did, he couldn’t help but imagine his father killing that woman. All that time he’d been away with Chloe he tried not to think about what was happening here. He knew the moment he did, it would drain him out.

  Now that he was back and facing his father, he actually felt worse than he could have thought. So much worse.

  His worst
nightmare was to become this man. To be so power hungry that he killed for it and did all manner of immoral things to ensure his wealth.

  “I’m sorry, son,” his father said.

  Wade shook his head. “I never thought that you were capable of such terrible things.”

  “There’s nothing I can say to make this better,” he stated, shaking his head.

  And there was nothing further Wade wanted to say to him. Nothing could make anything better, and asking more questions would only lead to further distress. Wade only came on account of his father being there for him after he was arrested. That was all. No special goodbyes needed to be said on his end. Nothing that would signify that he missed him or would be sad to see such an end to him.

  “Goodbye, Dad.” That was goodbye forever. For him, this was where they parted. He’d thought about it before coming here and decided that this was going to be his cutoff point, where he said goodbye forever. It was a shame, but this was what he needed.

  The solemn look in his father’s face showed that he seemed to understand Wade’s meaning.

  “Goodbye, son, and congratulations on your engagement.”

  “Thanks.” Wade politely nodded, turned away from him, and walked out.

  That was it. He knew his father would be picked up later today and taken to jail, where he would be questioned fully and charged because of his confession.

  The news today had been all over his parents’ divorce, so he figured there was nothing new. It was well played, Aaron had played the game well and built up the information he released until he finalized it with the news of what truly happened to his mother.

  This next part felt like they were waiting to be thrown into an arena. Gladiator-style, where they’d have to fight for their lives as Aaron and Zeek toyed with them.

  Wade got back to the house and, since Chloe wasn’t there, he decided to work on his bike and give it a good servicing. It didn’t need it, he was just trying to find something to distract himself with.

  An hour into it he’d decided on ordering a new wheel and different lights to jazz it up a little. On his way out he saw Wes pulling up onto the drive in his Range Rover with a worried look on his face.

  Wes jumped out and rushed up to him. “Wade, have you seen Taylor?”

  “She’s supposed to be with Chloe at the beach house.” Chloe specifically said they were all going to hang out there today.

  “No. I’ve been there twice. Kelly was there and she said she left Chloe and Taylor there earlier when she went food shopping. I can’t find them anywhere and neither of them are answering their phones.” Wes looked panicked.

  Wade whipped out his phone and called Chloe first. There was no answer. Her phone just went to its voicemail. He called Taylor and the same thing happened to her phone, too.

  He spoke to Chloe at around three, just before he went to see his father, and it was nearly six now.

  “Did you go to Runway?”

  “I’ve been everywhere. Runway, the usual hang outs, the salon, spa, everywhere. Kelly said they had no plans to do anything and, if they did, they would have let her know because they were waiting for her to come back.”

  That made his nerves prickle and his stomach harden as the knots of fear began to form.

  Shit, where could they have gone? Wade turned to rush into the house so he could retrieve Chloe’s address book. He was thinking he would call a few of her other friends and see if they’d seen them.

  But the white envelope on his doorstep stopped him in his tracks. Wes was behind him and he nearly collided into Wade.

  Wade bent down and picked up the envelope. Hoping. He hoped against hope that the sick feeling that gurgled within him wasn’t right. He prayed this wouldn’t be another drawing.

  However, it was. And it was exactly what he feared. It was a drawing of Chloe and Taylor lying on the floor. Their bodies lifeless as it was surrounded by a pool of blood. That part had been colored in red. He dropped it and shrieked.

  “No, please. Not them,” he cried, feeling like his world was about to rip in half.

  Wes came up to him and picked up the paper. The blood drained from his face, literally drained from his face.

  “Look, Wade, there’s a number on the back. A phone number, and it says call me if you want to see them again.”

  Wade took the paper from him and read it, but he saw something else. After the phone number was the letter Z.

  Zeek.

  This was Zeek. Wade could have kicked himself. Zeek had been here. Right here in the last two hours and Wade hadn’t seen him.

  He took out his phone and dialed the number. Zeek answered after a few rings.

  “Jesus, Wade.” Zeek’s voice came alive into the phone with a sickening excitement that made Wade cringe. “I was wondering what could be taking you so damn long. I was beginning to think you didn’t care.”

  “Bastard, don’t fuck with me. Where are they?”

  “Feisty, feisty. That’s not how this works, my friend. You don’t demand.”

  “Zeek, I don’t care who you are. You’re dead when I see you,” Wade snarled.

  Wes had to grip his arm to calm him down. “Don’t make him angry.”

  “Listen to your friend, Wade; this guy is the most sensible of all of you. Even I have to give him credit for helping you get out of prison; not even I thought of that bike of yours.”

  “Get to the fucking point, man. Where’s Taylor and Chloe? Where are they?”

  “With me, living their last few hours. But if you can get to them they may live. Depends on how I’m feeling.”

  “Where are they?”

  “Here’s how this works. Since you love games so much, let’s play a little one. We’ll call it Adrenaline.” What a joke. He was teasing him with his own ideas. Wade had christened Adrenaline. “Come and find me. Your first task when you get here is to transfer one billion dollars to me, and then…” Zeek started laughing like a maniac, as if he’d just heard something that was so funny he couldn’t stop laughing. “You may attempt to disable the bombs Taylor or Chloe have attached to them, set to go off in two hours.”

  Wade gasped, covering his mouth. “You sick bastard. Why? Why have you taken them? Where do I know you from, Zeek? It’s not high school so don’t bullshit me.”

  “Summer camp. I was the fat kid. The fat kid you made consistent fun of. The fat kid you humiliated to no end with your goony rich friends. You teased me for my weight and because I was poor. You caused me to spend most of my sophomore year having therapy because I was so depressed,” Zeek said in a cool, collective voice.

  From the minute he’d said summer camp, Wade remembered him, he remembered everything. That was why he hadn’t recognized Zeek. It was because he’d lost a substantial amount of weight. Practically to the point where he was unrecognizable.

  Wade was terrible when he was younger. Summer camp days definitely saw the height of himself, where he was downright mean, callous, and had a nasty streak.

  When Wade thought of himself back then, he was compelled to apologize, but then he thought of all Zeek had done. He killed Merissa.

  Could some terrible teasing as teenagers be comparable to that? Hardly.

  “You’re dead, Zeek. When I see you, you’re dead, and you’re going to wish this was fucking summer camp.”

  Wes grasped onto his arm and shook his head, his eyes pleading with him to calm down, but he couldn’t. How could he? The man who killed Merissa had his sister and his fiancée.

  Zeek could kill them if he wanted. Just the thought weakened him, and he had that soul-crushing feeling again.

  “All talk, Wade, that’s you. Remember who has the upper hand here. Anyway, I’ll send you the address. You might want to wear a hat. Oh, and no cops. Actually, bring them along. It’ll be more fun.”

  Wade went to answer but Zeek hung up the phone. Then in an instant his phone pinged as a message came through. It was the address.

  Mount San Antonio. The Cheyenne trek
section of the mountain. That’s where they were. It was where the old mines were located. Most of that area had restricted access because it was dangerous. Extremely dangerous and off limits.

  He held the phone down to show Wes, and he immediately moved.

  “Where are you going?” Wade asked.

  “Where do you think I’m going? I heard everything. I’m going.” His eyes were blazing with rage and fear mixed together.

  “Wes. You can go to the police station or something, but you can’t come with me.” Wade looked at Wes and no longer saw that scrawny kid that used to irritate the hell out of him. The man who stood tall before him was a great friend to Chloe and clearly in love with Taylor. Wade would recognize the look of love anywhere, and Wes had it written all over his face. But this wasn’t his call. Wes could get himself killed, and Wade couldn’t have more blood on his hands.

  “I’m not asking you, Wade. Now A—it’s a trap, but you didn’t think of that, did you?” Wes looked at him pointedly.

  No, Wade didn’t think of that at all.

  Wes cleared his throat before he continued. “And B—you need me if you want to take this guy down and get the girls back. So you coming?” Wes motioned towards the road.

  “Okay, let’s do this. I’m taking my bike,” Wade replied.

  Strength. That was what he needed. Strength. One last ounce of strength to get through this.

  It was a necessity that the situation demanded. Allowing Chloe and Taylor to die was out of the question.

  Regina

  Brian handed Regina her champagne glass and held his high to toast. “To us.” He smiled.

  She held hers high, too. “To us.” She chuckled as he brought his glass to hers, clinking it as it met hers.

  The cool breeze of the oncoming evening rushed over her skin, lifting her hair up behind her. They sat in their garden enjoying it, and enjoying each other’s company.

  “What do you want to do first? You’re a free woman now.” His eyes sparkled.

  “Just be with you, Brian.” She nodded. She couldn’t believe her marriage to Ben was finally over. She was free, free of that name, no longer Regina Vanderville. “That’s all I ever wanted.” She’d had a whole day of freedom, right from when the judge announced it this morning.