You Loved Me At My Darkest

by Evie Harper

  I decide to go and knock on the door to the room. Slowly, I turn my door handle and look down the hall once again. This time it’s empty. I take four big steps and gently knock twice. I hear rustling then the door opens. Long wavy blonde hair and grey, red rimmed eyes greet me, Megan.

  Her eyes widen when she sees me. She pushes her door, and it opens all the way for me to enter. “Oh, gosh, Lily, you’re finally here.” Guilt crosses her features. “Sorry, I mean, we didn’t know when you were arriving. There’s been a lot of talk about you coming, but we didn’t know when that would be.” She gives me a small, sad smile and says, “I’m sorry you’re here.” Her grief-stricken face clearly shows her struggle to stay composed.

  I move and bring her in for a hug. Her sobs start immediately. “I’m so sorry about Adanya.”

  She nods and I rub circles on her back over her red flowing dress. Megan calms, and we break from the embrace. A shaky smile graces her face, but nonetheless, this time it’s a real one.

  “Come on. Let’s go and see the other girls. In this life, there isn’t much to be thankful for, but I know the girls will want to know you are safe and well, as safe as you can be in all this anyway.” She clasps my hand, and we walk to the next door across from mine.

  “Emily, come to the lounge,” Megan shouts. Then without waiting for a response, Megan moves me on to the next door. I want to stay put and wait for Emily, but I keep moving with Megan to the next door, “Xiūxí shì Cho” she does this to one more door, before pulling me down the stairs to the open lounge room.

  First thing I notice is how Megan relaxes into the lounge as if anyone would in their own home.

  Footsteps coming down the stairs have me whipping my head around. Cho is first off the stairs, dressed in shorts and a white top with her black short hair and her blue eyes sparkling.

  Natalia is right behind her in a white floor-length summer dress, her red hair tied up in a bun on her head.

  They both come right to me with smiles on their faces and embrace me in a warm hug. I smile back at them, happy to see they are healthy and alive.

  Cho speaks first, "Nin hao."

  “Hello, Cho,” I reply with smile. I notice Cho has red-rimmed eyes. She moves back to the lounge.

  “Lily, hola,” Natalie says with a small smile. I can see tracks down her face as if her tears have washed away her makeup. She takes a seat on the lounge next to Megan.

  I look up and see Emily descending the stairs. Watching her walk to me, it’s like seeing and meeting her for the first time. I see it now: Jake’s brown eyes, dark brown hair, and sharp jaw. Standing in front of me, Emily looks confident, composed and not at all teary.

  Desensitised

  Emily spoke of women disappearing before. It’s easy to see she numbs herself to the emotions this life brings, and I completely understand why she would do that. I did it.

  “How are you, Lily?” She clutches one of my hands and wraps her other around, encasing my hand in her warm grip. Your brother’s here. I want to scream it to the rooftops.

  “I’m doing okay.”

  Emily nods, understanding there’s not much else I could say. “Your sister, how is she?” My chest collapses at the mention of Sash. I have to force myself to breathe. A few tears escape my eyes and I see Emily’s face fall.

  I shake my head. Emily squeezes my hand and softly says, “I’m sorry.” It’s probably the only time I’ve seen emotion on her face. She understands the bond between siblings. Wait until she finds out how much Jake has done for her.

  Emily lets go of my hand, walks to the lounge and sits; she has returned to her composed, expressionless demeanour. I wonder if Jake knows how alike he and his sister are.

  “So, what do you girls do for fun around here?” I ask, and everyone laughs, except for Emily.

  Megan answers me, “Cho and Emily love to be in the kitchen. They are amazing cooks. Natalia and I like to walk outside. There are paths we can take. If we’re lucky, Marco lets a guard take us just outside the fence. It’s truly beautiful out there.” I imagine it would be; it’s untouched land.

  “Oh,” Megan says and jumps up from the lounge, “we have every board game you could ever think of.” She opens a long drawer at the bottom of the TV unit, and she’s right; there are hundreds of games in there. “Want to play one?” she asks enthusiastically. There is no way I can say no to her grinning face.

  “Yep, let’s play one.” Megan pulls out Monopoly. “This is my favourite. Plus it takes a while to play so it passes the time quicker,” she shrugs, smiling.

  We all play Monopoly for a while. About an hour or two later, Cho jumps up and down laughing; she’s reached a million dollars first. Emily, who through the majority of the game doesn’t say a word or show one moment of emotion, is also staring up at Cho, smiling, openly content her friend is happy.

  Just as we decide to play again, Marco walks into the room. He’s visibly irritated. Searching the room, he doesn’t bother to look at us until he fails to find what he’s searching for. Looking down at us, his mood suddenly changes and he smiles at us all.

  It’s creepy and scary how unhinged this man is. “Ah, my collection pieces, all together and having fun. This gives me great pleasure, all my pieces together.”

  I bite my tongue, begging my mouth to keep itself shut.

  Again, his mood shifts into another gear and he stares straight at me. “Lily, where is Jake?” he demands, all politeness gone.

  So Jake is missing. Should Marco know that already? “I have no idea. He left with Davis earlier for a tour of the property, and I haven’t seen either of them since.” The hairs on my neck stand up. Is this the tense moment Jake was talking about? Damn, I’m not sure.

  “Okay,” he says distractedly and takes the stairs to the bedrooms.

  “Who is Marco searching for? I’ve never heard of one of the guards by that name before?” Emily asks.

  “My guard, he came with me from the other house,” I tell her, but I’m distracted, trying to listen out for the sounds which will let me know it will be time to go and hide.

  Marco’s steps thunder down the stairs and he marches back through the lounge room, yelling on his two-way radio, “I don’t fucking care. Get more guards out there. Something isn’t right. They should have been back ages ago. Move, now!”

  We all look around at each other. Emily is the first to speak. “Something’s wrong.” Yep, this is definitely the tense moment Jake warned me about.

  I whisper to the girls, “We all need to get upstairs and into a room, now,” I demand.

  They look at me with confused expressions, but at this point, we all hear doors open and close, heavy boots running, then four heavily armed guards dressed in army green gear enter the lounge room with Marco right behind them. Shit! I need to move the girls.

  Marco is still yelling into his radio, “Well fucking find out. Where the fuck are Jim and Pete?”

  Silence, then someone speaks through the radio. “I don’t know. Trent went to look for Davis and Jake, then when he didn’t come back, they went to see what was going—”

  A loud bang is heard followed by a masculine humph through the radio. A smacking noise comes through as if the two-way dropped to the ground.

  I grab my chest trying to slow my heart from the fright. In the quiet that follows, static air crackling through the radio is the only sound.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Time to die.

  "Stevens?" Marco calls through his radio. No one replies. "Fuuuuck," Marco shouts. "Ken, you there? You hear that? What the fuck is going on?" Nothing, just more silence. "Ahhh! Goddammit, is anyone there?" Marco roars down the radio. When there is no response, he throws the two-way to the wall, and it smashes into pieces.

  He turns to his guards and says, "Some bastards have found us and they have taken out all the fenced guards. Do not let them in this fucking house. Do not let them anywhere near my collection."

  My heart soars. Jake is on his way. />
  "Kill these motherfuckers. Do you all understand?" he growls at them.

  The guards nod and start moving within the house, taking up residence at different windows, cocking their guns and notifying when they are in place.

  Marco storms down the hallway and there is a long silence. He returns, holding a shotgun. My palms sweat instantly seeing this heartless man wield a gun. Please be careful, Jake. My heart is beating rapidly. Suddenly, the situation is becoming very real, and the thought of losing someone else I love is unbearable.

  I observe my surroundings and realise all of us women are now standing on the Monopoly board, huddled together, holding on to one another. Fear’s apparent on each of their faces. Then I remember they don't know these men are coming to save them.

  "All of you," Marco growls at us, "stay here. Do not move. I am not losing another fucking pay cheque this week." He then leaves the room.

  "Prick," I mutter.

  Megan’s chuckle at my comment gets all our attention, until Natalia whispers, "What do you think is going on?"

  I open my mouth, but Emily beats me to it. "Someone is infiltrating Marco's house. I can't believe it," her voice awed. "All these years here, not one single time did anyone even get close, and now there are people just outside those doors. I think we need to prepare ourselves for what they want. They could want revenge on Marco or they could want us. Either way, we need a plan."

  Emily's bravado and leadership surprises me. I'm starting to see why she has lasted so long in this empire. Courage and quick thinking, she's a fighter, just a silent fighter. She fights to last through her time, not to fight every battle that comes at her.

  I decide it's time to tell them they are being saved, and I know who the men outside are. "Those men—"

  Suddenly, all hell breaks loose. Guns firing, glass shattering everywhere; the sounds are deafening. I cover my ears and drop to the ground on my knees. I curl into my body to try and protect myself.

  Cho and Megan’s screams cut through the gunshots. I glance up and they're covering their heads and crawling around panicked and scared.

  Emily is crawling toward them. Natalia is beside me frozen with her hands to her ears, completely still.

  I search around for a safe place. We need to move out of the open space. I pass my gaze over the lounge room and look into the dining room. I then spot what we need: the thick wooden dining table with the big wooden chairs for protection. Under there, that's where we need to go.

  I poke Natalia to get her attention. She glances at me with utter fear on her face. I point to the table and shout, "Hide under the table." She nods and heads straight for the table.

  I yell to Emily, but she doesn't hear me over the guns going off. I crawl closer and scream again, "Emily!"

  She finally catches my voice and looks over to me. Her arms are around Megan and Cho trying to protect them. At that moment, she earns all of my respect. There is no doubt in my mind: she is a fighter. I point to the table and Emily nods in understanding. She starts pulling the girls to get their attention. Finally, they look up, and she points to the table. They all start moving.

  We're all under the table with the chairs pulled in, sitting on our knees, jumping scared as more gunshots go off. Cho is rocking back and forth. I'm trying to calm her by rubbing her arms, which seems to be working. Natalia and Megan are calming down with Emily's help. A silent message passes between Emily and me. We are the strongest here right now, and we need to think about what we should do next.

  Abruptly, the gun fire and shouting stops. Cho is whimpering and I'm trying to quieten her. "Shh, shh, please, Cho, try and calm down," I whisper into her ear, having no idea if she even understands me. Thankfully, she must. She puts her head up and nods to me, tears cascading down her face, but no sound is coming from her lips.

  We all freeze when we hear heavy footsteps walk through the dining room. The two steel-capped boots stop right next to the table, and a man's raspy voice says, "Clear." He then moves away from the table.

  We all sag at the same time just to freeze again as another set of boots passes the table. All we can hear is glass crunching under their boots. Then he speaks, "Blackbear, this is Redwolf. First floor is clear. We're moving upstairs, over."

  The boots move away and out of the dining room. Dammit, why didn't I find out from Jake what his team members’ names are? I have no idea if the good guys just passed us.

  I glance around the girls for help with what those names might mean, but all of them seem just as confused as I am, except Emily. Her hand over her mouth and her eyes wide, tears spilling down her face, she lets out a loud gut-wrenching sob, one that sounds like she’s held it in forever.

  "Emily," I whisper, but just then there are more gunshots, this time from upstairs.

  Abruptly, a chair is yanked back and thrown across the floor. Marco kneels and stares at us with murder in his eyes. He scans over all of us then narrows his murderous stare at me.

  His lip curls up in a sneer. He grabs my wrist and starts pulling me out from under the table. I try to whip my hand back and forth to loosen his grip, but his fingers are tight and punishing.

  Emily grabs for me, but as Marco stands, he whips me straight out from under the table in no time, and all I feel is a whisper of Emily's fingertips on my legs.

  He screams at the table, "The rest of you fucking stay there. Do not move while I deal with this motherfucking traitor."

  So he figured out Jake is behind this.

  He lets go of my wrist, and his hand instantly grips my hair hard and rough. A whimper leaves my mouth at the pain.

  My hands immediately go to my hair, trying to push down what little hair he's not pulling to ease the stinging.

  Marco walks me back toward the lounge room, and we stop. He waves his gun around as he snarls in my ear, "Shouldn't be long now. One of those fuckers will be along soon, I'm sure."

  Ideas of how to get Marco off me race through my mind. For me to exist, I need you alive and in my arms. Jake’s words float through my mind. However, I'm at a loss of how I can protect myself right now.

  I decide to take a chance. I bring my knee up. Then with a grunt, I push my heel back and kick Marco hard in his thigh. He roars and throws me against the wall. Hitting it hard, I fall to the ground. I hiss when glass slices into my hands and stomach. Marco has me up before I can even see how much glass is imbedded in me.

  He wraps his arms around my shoulders, holding me to his chest, his fingers digging into my skin with a punishing grip. He walks us backwards until I feel him stop right before a half-shattered glass window.

  After a moment, the sound of glass crunching under boots gets my attention. A man in khaki camouflage clothes turns sharply into the room, gun aimed and ready to shoot. If it weren't for the yellow band tied to his left bicep, I would think he was one of Marco’s guards.

  Marco pulls me in tighter to his front and presses his gun to my temple. My eyes close tightly, praying he doesn’t shoot me. Fear driving my actions now, I try to move away from it, but he just presses it into my head harder. Whimpers expel from my mouth from the pain.

  My eyes open as the man with the yellow band speaks low and calmly, "Downstairs lounge room, assailant and victim." He doesn’t move a muscle while speaking.

  Marco lets out a sickening crazy laugh behind me. "Yeah, bring that traitor to face me. Fucking asshole better be ready to lose his pussy. He will learn what happens when he chooses cunt over loyalty." Oh, God.

  Another man comes into view wearing the same green camouflage with a yellow band, his gun also aimed at me and Marco.

  He speaks loud and clear into the room, "Nightfire and Redwolf in position. Blackbear move in.”

  Marco tightens his hold on me as Jake steps into the room. Wearing the same gear as his team, Jake walks in aiming his gun. Shock colours his expression when he sees it's me being held by Marco.

  He lowers his gun immediately and demands, "Let her go, Marco, now," his voice low and gutt
ural.

  I cry out as Marco pushes the gun impossibly harder into my temple. Tears fall silently down my face, and I watch fear take root in Jake’s eyes.

  "You're trying to steal my collection from me. It’s only fair I get to take what you want!" Marco shouts at Jake.

  Jake moves into the middle of the room. He calmly holsters his gun. His eyes bore into Marco; I see hate and anger in his beautiful brown eyes.

  Jake’s eyes shift back to me. He does a sweep of my body and freezes at what I’m sure is my blood dripping down my fingers. His eyes dart back to mine. The fear is still there but rage is now dominating his features. His eyes shift back to Marco, and this time, there's fire there; he's ready to give this man his justice.

  "Give it up, Marco. You’re cornered," Jake growls. He’s right, two men have their guns aimed at him; even if he kills me, Marco isn't getting out of this room alive.

  "Who said I'm going anywhere. I've been playing this game a long time, Jake. I know when I've been outplayed, but I won't be going out alone."

  Marco clicks the safety from his gun. At this point, I'm unable to stop the sobs even if I tried. I'm shaking violently, my voice trying to say no but the words get stuck in my throat. My mouth is filling with saliva, and I know what that means; I'm about to vomit any minute. Terror has set up home in my mind and body.

  I close my eyes and think at least I will get to see Sasha. I will get to be with my family now. I open them again to look at Jake and say my goodbyes. He's staring right into my eyes, and I see his lips lift up and he tilts his head to the right. I'm confused and pissed. I tilt my head to match his wondering what the hell is so funny right now. My eyes narrow at him telling him this is not the freaking time to smile!

  Jake's lips mouth ‘now' but no sound comes out.

  The room is completely silent as I feel a hard thump to my back and warm liquid bursts on my face and hair. My eyes go wide, and the gun Marco is holding falls to the ground.

  I look over my shoulder as Marco starts to fall on top of me and find half his head is missing. I start shrieking and try to get out from under his falling body.