The Darkest Of Light

by Sandy Alvarez

  I can tell Leyna is trying to play the situation off as if it’s no big deal. Her words don’t match her body language or the catch in her voice. I have a sneaky suspicion her radar is way off. I have no doubt things will play out in her favor in the end. Not wanting to push the issue, I decide to change the subject, "I’m starving, how about I order some pizza? Or do you want something else?"

  "No, pizza sounds great, I’m surprised they still deliver in this weather, the snow is really coming down out there." Standing up from couch, I make my way into the kitchen, "Well, fingers crossed they will, and I’ll order two since Reid should be here any minute." Glancing at my watch I see it’s getting a little late. I figured he would have been here by now.

  Making my way back into the living room, I grab the remote control for the TV off the end table, "Want to watch a movie?" I ask Leyna.

  "Yeah, something funny though," She adds.

  I’m scrolling through movie choices when the doorbell rings. "No way is that our pizza. I just ordered five minutes ago," I say out loud.

  "Maybe it’s Reid. Wasn’t he supposed to be here?" Leyna asks.

  "Yeah, but he has a key. Maybe he forgot it," I mumble to myself as I walk over to the front door to let him in. Punching in the code disarming the alarm, I flip the locks and open the door, "Did you forget your key?" I ask expecting to see Reid. Only that’s not who greets me.

  "Hello, Alba."

  I’m stunned, and it takes me a moment to respond, "Professor Green? What in the world are you doing here?" I ask, still confused by his presence. "And how did you know where I live? This is a little inappropriate, don’t you think?"

  I begin to feel very uneasy when he just stands there looking at me with a scowl not answering any of my questions. Something is telling me I need to get away from him. He looks almost wild with his clothes looking a bit disheveled and unshaven face. Nothing like his usual polished self.

  When I go to slam the door in his face, he quickly counters my move by forcibly shoving his way into my house. This move causes the door to slam into my face and knocking me to the floor.

  Thankfully, I land on my butt. Feeling a sharp radiating pain in my nose and wetness seeping down my face, I bring my hand up to cup my face and I use the sleeve of my sweater trying to control the bleeding.

  "Alba, what’s going on?" I hear Leyna asked as she walks in the room. "Oh my god," she gasps running over to help me off the floor.

  Once I am back on my feet we both turn our attention back to my former teacher, who has already closed the front door. I notice through my blurry vision he is holding a gun and has it pointed straight at us.

  Leyna is the first to speak, "Who the hell are you?" She takes it upon herself to step in front of me, knowing she is doing it to protect me and my baby.

  Training his gun directly at Leyna, Professor Green finally opens his mouth, "Shut the fuck up bitch," he seethes, "What I want is what was supposed to have been mine. I want what I was promised." This guy is crazy. I have no idea what the hell he is talking about.

  "You need to leave," I demand, finally finding my voice, "My boyfriend will be home any minute."

  Barking out a menacing laugh, Professor Green delivers a gut wrenching blow, "Your biker trash of a boyfriend is miles away, and that other one is lying on the side of the road dead. I took care of him on my way here."

  I realize he’s talking about Reid. That’s why he never showed up. The professor’s confession has me doubling over. I feel like I can’t breathe. Reid is out there somewhere dying or already dead because of me. Feeling rage build up inside me, I let my anger take over. Standing up to my full height, I dart around Leyna and charge. Momentarily, he is stunned when I rush him and land a solid punch to his cheek.

  "Alba, no!" Leyna shouts, but it’s too late. The professor quickly regains his composure and then swiftly backhands me across my face. Luckily, Leyna is there to catch me this time before I fall.

  "You stupid, fucking whore!" Walking over to us, Leyna once again places herself between me and the Professor. Giving her a shove, he orders us into the kitchen. "Move! Both of you get in there and sit."

  Leyna and I make our way into the kitchen with our hands clasped together. Glancing back, we both keep our weary eyes on the ticking time bomb walking behind us. I keep thinking back to what he said moments ago, something about him wanting what was supposed to be his.

  "Sit!" He shouts from behind us, and we both scramble to the kitchen table choosing to sit at the end furthest away from the man who is currently pacing back and forth in front of us. I can hear him mumbling to himself, but I’m unable to make out his words. It’s like he’s in his own little world right now.

  Leyna and I continue to watch him for several moments when without warning I feel a gush of wetness between my legs. Feeling my heart rate pick up, I look down and notice the puddle under my seat. This can’t be happening right now. I give Leyna’s hand a tight squeeze gaining her attention. When she cuts her eyes to me, I motion my gaze to the floor beneath me. Not wanting to alert Professor Green we stay silent.

  Suddenly, my first contraction hits. It’s not bad, but a bit more uncomfortable than one of those Braxton Hicks contractions. Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath and breathe through it. When I open my eyes, I realize the professor is quiet and his attention is on me. The way he is staring at me and not saying a word unnerves me and causes my skin to crawl. His eyes are boring into me. It’s as if he’s trying to figure me out.

  "What do you want?" I ask, refusing to break eye contact. I’m scared out of my mind, but I don’t want him to know that. I don’t want him to feel like he has that kind of power over me. Maybe if I can get him talking it will buy us some time. I only pray Gabriel figures out something is up sooner rather than later. He calls me pretty frequently, and when I don’t answer he might send someone out. Time is not on my side though. It’s been about ten minutes since my water broke. I don’t know how much time I have.

  "I want what I was promised. Those bikers gave me their word. I paid for you. I want what’s mine," he declares.

  "What do you mean you paid for her?" This coming from Leyna.

  "Los Demonios. As soon as I saw your picture and they told me you were pure, I knew I had to have you. But then your filthy bikers ruined everything. And you gave yourself to one of them. You gave away what was mine you fucking whore," he seethes. At the mention of Los Demonios everything starts clicking. My professor is the man who had bought me?

  "The flowers, the notes…all that…was you?" I ask already knowing his answer.

  "Yes, it was me. I got a teaching job at your school, so I could be close to you. Waiting for the right time to make you mine. That’s until I learned you were having a biker’s baby. You were a bad girl, Alba, giving away what was mine. But don’t worry, as soon as we get rid of that little problem," he swings the gun towards my swollen belly and points, "you will be mine."

  I place my arms around my belly at the mention of getting rid of the problem. He’s talking about my baby. He’s the one who wrote those vile words on the wall of my old apartment. I’ll die before I let him hurt my baby.

  With bloodshot eyes and an evil grin, Professor Green begins striding in my direction. Standing abruptly from my chair, I backup a few feet, "What are you doing?" I ask, this time there is no hiding the tremble in my voice. Not answering my question, he continues forward.

  With his back turned away from Leyna and his full attention trained on me, I notice her taking advantage of his distraction. Leyna quickly stands up from the table and runs to the kitchen counter. She goes straight for the drawer with the knives. Professor Green is so fixated on me he doesn’t notice.

  I take two more steps back until my back is pressed against the wall. With my arms still clutched around my belly protectively, I am now face to face with the very man who wants to take my baby from me. He’s so close I can smell the stench of sour coffee on his breath. Leaning closer into me, he picks up a lo
ck of my hair, bringing it to his nose and inhales, "Mmm," he hums.

  Without warning a roar rips through his mouth and he stumbles backwards, away from me. Behind him is Leyna holding a bloody knife, and I realize she has stabbed him.

  Not missing a beat, Leyna grabs my hand and we both start to make a run for it. Just as we are about to round the corner of the kitchen, a shot rings out, and I feel my arm being jerked.

  I stumble a bit as Leyna falls to the floor and I see blood seeping from her stomach. Falling to my knees beside her, I scream out her name. Seeing blood gushing from the wound in her stomach, I place my hand over it in an attempt to stop the bleeding. It only takes seconds before I am covered in her blood.

  Noticing the knife lying beside her body, I go to reach for it, but I’m violently jerked back. I let out a yelp at the pain radiating through my shoulder as Professor Green wraps his hand around my arm and proceeds to drag me across the floor back into the kitchen.

  Letting me go, he goes to step over me, and when he does I use all the strength I have and kick. This causes him to lose his balance and tumble to the floor knocking his gun from his hands. Scrambling to my hands and knees, I shuffle towards the weapon ignoring the pain in my wrist and the tightening in my belly as another contraction hits.

  Just as I grab the gun, I feel a hand wrap around my ankle. When I am tugged backwards I fall from my hands and knees and onto my belly and the pain causes a blood curdling scream to rip from my body. Flipping me on my back, the professor straddles my legs and begins wrestling me for the weapon.

  Rearing back with a closed fist, I prepare myself for the blow. Seconds later his fist slams down on the side of my head and I instantly see little black spots. He uses my dazed state to wrap his hand around the gun still in my grasp. I continue to put up a fight even as I feel myself slipping away.

  The last thing I remember before darkness takes me is the sounds of another gunshot echoing in my ears.

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Gabriel

  As soon as I hear Reid’s voice croak out ‘He’s here’, my heart sinks to the pit of my stomach and my foot presses the gas pedal to the floor. Time comes to a standstill. My only thought—save Alba and my sister.

  "Reid, where are you?" I hear Logan ask. And for what feels like minutes we hear dead silence on the line.

  "Reid, tell us where you are," Logan barks into the phone frantically just as we catch a glimpse of a blue truck off on the side of the road.

  "Shit, stop the truck," Logan yells. I slam the brakes causing the ass end of the truck to fishtail slightly before coming to a stop.

  "Get your ass to Alba," Logan yells and jumps out. I don’t wait. I lay in on the gas again, spinning tires as they try to get traction on the snow slick roads.

  Spotting my mailbox ahead, I make a hard left barreling down the driveway only to be met with a white SUV sitting sideways right in my path. I don’t have enough time to slow down before slamming right into the side of it.

  Coming to a stop, I waste no time flinging the door of the truck open and jumping out just as a single gunshot echoes in the air. Breaking into a full-on sprint, I run towards the house.

  Reaching the porch, I ram the front door with my shoulder causing the door to splinter from its hinges.

  The first person I see is Leyna laying in the fetal position right at the kitchen entrance, with blood pooled at her side. Rushing to her I drop to my knees, quickly checking for a pulse. As soon as my finger grazes her neck she flinches and opens her eyes. Quickly looking her over I find her wound. A gunshot to the abdomen. Yanking off my jacket along with my cut I rip my shirt off my body and apply pressure, causing her to flinch and groan in pain.

  "Leyna, I need you to hold pressure to your stomach. I’ve got to find Alba. Can you do this for me?" I calmly say to her. Slowly nodding her head, she replaces my hand with hers and holds the shirt. "I promise I’ll be right back," I assure her.

  Getting up I make my way fully into the kitchen. I’m not ready to see my woman on the kitchen floor pinned under the body of a man. Blood still spreading across the wood floor. Rushing over I grab hold of the guy’s shirt, yanking hard enough that the force sends him thudding against the kitchen floor.

  Dropping to my knees I hover over Alba’s body, swing my arm around, point my gun at the guy ready to pull the trigger before taking in the fact the guy isn’t moving. His limp, lifeless body is just lying there, with the look of death in his empty eyes.

  Placing my weapon on the floor beside me, I scoop Alba into my arms, "Cariño Sweetheart, open your eyes for me," I urge her as I desperately run my hands and eyes over her body to see if the blood covering her belongs to her or the dead man on the kitchen floor. A moan escapes her lips just as she begins to open her eyes. When her beautiful blue ones meet mine, I lean down and kiss her forehead, "Alba, you hurt anywhere?" I ask her.

  Immediately she grabs her stomach, "I don’t think so, but my water broke earlier," Peering over my shoulder she gasps, "Gabriel, your sister…"

  Tires crunching gravel, then heavy feet pounding into my home have me clasping my gun from the floor beside me and aiming it toward the direction of my front door. As I’m ready to pull the trigger, Prez along with Doc come rushing into view. Relief washes over me. They take in the scene for a brief moment and after noticing I have Alba, Doc rushes to my sister’s side on the floor.

  "Gabriel, any of that blood Alba’s?" he quickly asks as he starts to examine Leyna.

  "No, but she said her water broke awhile ago," I tell him.

  "Alba, honey, have you started having any contractions?" he addresses her directly and I look to her for her answer.

  "Umm, yes, but they haven’t been close together," she lets him know just as her grip tightens on my arm and she hold her breath.

  "Babe, you having one now?" I brush the hair from her forehead with my hand. All she can give me at the moment is a nod as she tries to breathe through what looks to be an intense contraction.

  Prez walks over to Green to confirm whether or not he’s dead. Once checking for a pulse, he looks at me and shakes his head. Good. My only regret is that I’m not the one who pulled the trigger.

  Kneeling, Prez gets eye level with me on the floor, "Listen, Logan got in touch with us, he said he called 911 and is waiting on an ambulance to arrive and pick up Reid. He told me Reid doesn’t look good, brother," his voice breaks with emotions before clearing his throat.

  Alba doesn’t take the news well and starts to weep again.

  "Stay strong, sweetheart. It’ll all work out," Prez says to her then stands. Walking by Doc he puts his hand on his shoulder before walking over to the kitchen window, most likely to compose himself.

  "You’re going to be alright, sweetie," I hear Doc calmly say to my sister as he pulls his phone from his coat pocket. He taps the screen then puts the phone to his ear as he lays my sister onto her back, "Need an ambulance out here at 204 Sky Rd. Two victims, one with a gunshot to the lower left abdominal area," I watch as Doc gently rolls her onto her side, her face grimacing in pain at the movement, "exit wound lower left kidney region on her backside. Other victim is a 19-year-old female, 36 weeks pregnant. No evident signs of trauma, but her water has broken, and she is experiencing contractions," he tells the dispatcher over the phone. After telling them he needed both hands to apply pressure to my sister’s wound, he taps end to disconnect the call then drops his phone to the floor to give all his attention to Leyna.

  Alba starts to cry harder. Pulling her tighter into my body, I try to calm her with my touch.

  "She got shot trying to protect me. She stabbed him with a kitchen knife and then he shot her," she sobs, "I’m sorry. I should have never opened the door," She starts to violently shake. Her adrenaline is wearing off and the shock from the whole ordeal is starting to set in, "I shot a man. Oh my god, I killed someone, didn’t I? Gabriel, I’m..." another contraction cuts her off.

  "Breathe through it, Cariño Sweetheart," I e
ncourage her. With all that’s going on, there is no way I’m going to get her to calm down enough to concentrate. The fact that she shot the fucker to protect herself and our baby fills me with pride. She fought to stay alive. She fought for our son. My sister fought for her family. I spin around and position myself behind her. I spread my legs, settling her between them to support her back to my front.

  "I need you to focus right now, baby. The ambulance is on its way and Doc has control of Leyna. Focus on the baby right now." Knowing that it’s something Bella has done to calm her sister in the past I soothe her by stroking her hair, which I notice helps her immediately.

  Looking off to my side, "How much longer, Doc? Did they give you an ETA?"

  "We should hear those sirens any moment. Luckily the weather has let up, so it will make it easier to get here. Although, getting their trucks around the wreckage in the driveway will cause them to go through the grass so let’s hope those heavy rigs don’t get stuck in the wet ground out there."

  Fuck, I forgot all about that SUV and Logan’s truck. I’ll carry them out if I have to.

  Another twelve or so minutes go by and Alba makes it through another contraction. I look over at my sister. Her eyes are closed, and her face is very pale. "Doc, how’s she doing?" I ask through a lump in my throat.

  "She’s going to be fine," he says, but his words are to ease both my sister and Alba. The look he gives me though says she needs help, and fast. The sound of sirens finally fills the air. As all the first responders pull into the front yard I hear footsteps approaching.