by Ivy Knight
"You are beautiful, Summer. Intelligent, brave, sexy, cunning, strong and most of all, just plain old beautiful. I just know that one day, there will be something more to us and I can't wait for that day."
"For me, please don't keep your hopes up. I don't even know if I'll live to see the next minute let alone day, so I'm begging you, try to move on," I had to forcefully pull those words out of my mouth.
It hurts knowing that a guy like him could've been mine if circumstances were different, but they're not.
Pushing him away is the only thing I know how to do and what I'm good at. I can't be selfish with him. Even if he doesn't realize it, I do. He deserves someone better. He shouldn't have to wait on some fucked up being like me.
My whole body is practically full of scars no matter how many times I try to get rid of them. I can't fall asleep without someone by my side, I can't eat more than half the shit on this planet, I'm most likely never going to have a proper job, or go to college and I'm probably going to spend the rest of my life thinking of ways to outrun the FBI if I'm ever convicted for all the crimes I've committed.
What does this guy even see in me? He's crazy.
His brown eyes look into mine, "All I wanna do is kiss you."
"Then, why don't you?" I question looking up, and staring at the dimples on his face. His pupils surrounded by light streaks, they dilate.
"Because I'm going to wait for the perfect moment," he says. His head starts to close in the distance. Slowly, but surely, he lands a small kiss on my forehead. "Until then, I'll leave you with that."
"So, this is goodbye?" I question, halfheartedly.
"Just until the new beginning," he flashes a small smile.
"I'll miss you," I admit.
"More than you'll know, but before you go," he pulls out a folded piece of paper from his pocket. "My Canadian address and phone number."
I sigh, taking it into my hand. I want to look at it, and memorize the address just in case I ever lost the paper, but I stop myself from doing so. The emotions would only build further and I can't let them, so I keep the paper crumpled inside of my fist.
"Goodbye, Jayce."
"Goodbye, Summer."
Without hesitation, I bolt out of the room. I knew that if I stayed even another second, I would cave in to the point where I would let everything go. I would let Jayce hold me and take me away from everything.
But that's something I refuse to do. I haven't felt all this pain for it to go unused. Alice isn't going through hell so that I can run away from my goals. I have to finish what I started, but I'm reaching the point where the smallest things turn out to toll me the most.
I exit the house with endless tears dripping. There's nothing I can do to make them stop. I take a seat on the driver's side and take a deep breath.
"FUCK!" I punch the steering wheel. Then I feel it, the uneasiness. I need to calm down. My body starts to crave the addiction that I haven't fed in over months.
I start the ignition. Immediately, I drive without looking back. The gate opens and as I exit, my eyes fill with more tears. I have left the one thing that meant to me the most.
He is no longer my concern. He is free of me, but even he doesn't realize, that I will never be free of him. He will never truly leave my heart.
I drive until I spot a gas station where I park. I look through the various compartments for any cash and to my luck, I find a fifty-dollar bill.
I fold it into my hand as I pull on my hood and exit the car. I enter the store. It was empty and quiet. I walk over to the cashier who is busy on his phone.
I tap the counter.
"Two packs of Camel, light and a lighter."
He looks at me skeptically, but doesn't ask for an ID. Instead, he gets up and takes the two packs of cigarettes off the shelf behind him.
He scans the barcode and says, "Fifteen sixty."
I throw the fifty-dollar bill on the counter. He takes it and hands me back the change. I shove everything in my hoodie's pocket and turn around to exit. On my way to the door, three men walk in before I can exit.
"Where are you going, Sweetheart?" one of the men blocks the door. My head down, the first thing I notice are his warn down combat boots.
I lift my head enough so that I can see him, but he couldn't see me. My face displays its meanest glare at the familiar face.
His sinister smile is one I can never get rid of from my mind. August, one of The Black Knight's most loyal member and Nick's best friend. The things he did are things I could never put into words. They were just too... too inhumane.
"What do you want?"
"Just a little information is all. April Salvatore, right?" I clench my jaw in anger. April is the last person I wanted to be right now.
"Cat got your tongue?" another one of the men, taunts. He, on the other hand, is someone I have never seen him before.
"Who do you work for?" I query, acting like I don't know who they are.
"Nicholas Black."
"And you followed me?"
"From the airport to the school, from the school to the highway, from the highway to the house, and from the house to this gas station. We take our job very seriously."
"And let me guess, your job is to either kill me or bring me with you?"
"You're smart, no wonder he's so intrigued. Maybe he'll let us have some fun before he keeps you for himself."
"Oh, I don't doubt it, but you're missing one, small detail. You still have to bring me to him," I feel the one behind me inches away, so I elbow him in the stomach and turn around punching him in the gut.
August pulls me back, but I pull my other arm out of his grasp and use it to grab a chunk of his hair. He let's go of me and I knee him in the groin.
He yells in pain falling to his knees. Another one of the guys, kicks the back of my knee and I fall. I turn my head and luckily dodge a strong blow to my stomach as I roll over to the side.
I grab a plastic fork off the shelf and stab the guy who was about to punch me again. I break the piece of plastic making sure that the man would have a hard time getting that out of his arm. Climbing back onto my feet, I take his head in my hold and twist it, snapping his neck. Once he's down, I turn around, but not in time.
August slides a knife through the skin of my right arm and I groan in pain, grabbing the spot.
"We'll meet again," his fist meets the side of my mouth. My head falls back, but I steady myself by stumbling back a few feet.
My eyes open wide to get them to focus on the white flooring. It takes me a few seconds to regain my sight. The taste of crimson blood fills my mouth and so I spit it out.
I look at my arm, my hoodie's arm drenched in blood and drips through the fingers of my left hand as I try to lessen the bleeding. I look up to find August, but he's already gone.
My eyes travel around the chaos that the store is left in, three numb bodies and a fucked up me.
When did they even kill the cashier?
The whole store is a bloody mess in the most literal sense, and I know I can't leave it like that. There are surveillance cameras everywhere which probably caught my face. Leaving this as is, is too much of a risk.
So, I walk over to one of the bodies and rip off a part of his shirt. Securing the rag around my arm, I scout for some oil.
Finding some vegetable oil, I drench the whole place with it. Once I'm done, I stand at the door with a lighter in my left hand. I flick it on and drop it. I watch as the flames travel alongside the floor and grow filling the inside of the store.
I turn around and make my way to the car. I reach into my pocket, but groan when my hand comes out empty. I look at the black smoke now covering the area.
I can't believe I left my keys in there to burn.
Sighing, I decide to take the rest of the journey by foot. It was only a matter of time before someone passes by and notices the fire. I can't be here when the police arrives. If I'm popular amongst the gangs, there's no doubt in my mind that I've picked up the police's attention a
s well.
With my hood still on, I make my way down the empty sidewalk. This is a quiet area with not many people or houses around, so I just walk with my head down.
I don't know where I'm going, all I know is where I'm not going, home. Funny how I call Kai's house my home when that is the furthest thing from it. I felt more at home in Jayce's arms than I ever did sleeping in the king-sized bed in Kai's house.
Jayce, Jayce, Jayce, that's all I can think about.
Eventually, I can force my mind to accept reality, but my heart has its own desires. But my heart's desires are ones that I cannot fulfill.
My arm starts to weigh me down. I don't know how long I've been walking for. I angle my head to look at my arm and my eyes spot the rag now drenched in blood. I roll my shoulder, but immediately regret my actions. Biting down on my bottom lip, I close my eyes and breathe deeply trying to release the pain.
Opening my eyes, the first thing I realize is that I don't know where I am. This part of Chicago is unknown to me. I spin around to find anyone who could let me in on where I am, but I'm left by myself. Just when I'm about to give up, my ears catch onto a sound.
It's a gentle swoosh in the distance like water clashing with rocks drenching a sandy beach. My feet automatically follow the sound until I step onto an empty beach covered in slushy snow.
The strong wind blows my hood off. My hair flies in the air as I walk closer to the ocean. My body starts to tremble under the negative temperature and the thoughts of my past.
Seventeen years in hell. Seventeen years with nothing but constant pain and fear, and of what? People.
The person I most fear, is myself.
My converse wet with the salty water as I keep stepping into the ocean. My right-hand clenches to the point where my fist turns white, I refused to let go of the last thing I was given by Jayce. One step after the other, I don't stop. I let the water numb my body inch after inch as it slowly devours me.
Everything I've ever done, everyone I've ever killed, every person I inflicted pain upon and every person that caused me pain and happiness runs through my mind.
My father, Xavier, a calm and deceitful man.
My oldest brother, Vincent, a perfectionist with no limits.
My second brother, Anthony, a protective and caring man.
My youngest brother, Dean, a comedian who has a way with words like no one else.
Nick, a merciless being who will do anything to gain power and money.
Brody, a liar.
My adoptive parents, Michael and Melissa White, outstanding and loving human beings.
My stepsister, Alice, a corky girl who always saw the best in the worst of people.
Kai, a heartless and cunning man.
Alessio, a leader with a heart of gold.
Jayce, a guy who I will never truly know, but love with all my heart.
My mother, Hope, a woman who I never met, yet inspired me like no one else has.
Only a handful of people, yet a billion memories.
The water now up to my neck, I can feel my arm burning from the sea salt. Letting go of everything, I breathe out submerging under the water and when I'm under, I breathe in.
Chapter 34 – Kai’s POV
"Drive faster," Alec instructs Josh. It's been over an hour since I last saw Summer drive away with my car.
It's a shame, really to see a girl like her. She's motivated, yet held back by the complexity of her own emotions. That's what they do to you - emotions. They hold the best side of you back. You'd think a girl who's been tortured, raped and molted, that she'd know that by now. And I think she does, but she doesn't want to accept it.
The first night I saw her with Jayce, I knew he was going to ruin her. He was going to ruin her for me and I couldn't let that happen. I warned her to stay away from him, but she didn't listen. She let him into her heart and now even she doesn't know that he is her poison. The life that she lives, doesn't let you have relations with others.
Nick is after her. Rumors have been flying around like crazy about his next target and who it might be. Most have said it's April. I know he will come for her sooner or later, but I just don't know when.
It's been months since I've been hoping that maybe she'll realize that Jayce isn't good for the situation she's in right now. That maybe she'll let him go. Her insensibility is astonishing. She didn't let him go, so I had to do something myself.
I sent my men to deal with him, but one thing Summer doesn't know that I do, is that he's moving back to Canada. Even after knowing that he's taking care of all of this on his own, I still had to send my men in.
She did exactly what I wanted her to do.
This fight was anticipated and so were Summer's actions. I wanted her to see Jayce, I wanted her to be mad and I want her to crumble until all her emotions until they are replaced by nothing but anger.
Jayce is a vulnerability for her and she never understood that. Maybe she never will, but he had to be dealt with. Everyone knows her as April now. Not a man on this continent doesn't say the word April and not think of a flawless killer.
"There's something you need to know," Josh, one of my trusted men says.
"What is it?" I question.
"Someone broke into the house, it's unclear of who. I got a security alert on my phone and immediately went over with Brody and Zack, but there was no one in the house. The security was found dead. Brody and Zack are still investigating the house to see if anything is missing, I had to leave before we could start."
"This isn't good. Alec?"
"Mm-hm?"
"Have you talked to Amelia and Dakota recently?"
"No, I haven't for the last two days."
"Then get in contact now. Something isn't adding up," I announce. Who would break into our house? We have maximum security and no rookie could get in easily. Whoever it was, is more than experienced.
Josh pulls up in front of the house. I climb out of the car and look at the new security now on watch outside the iron gates.
"We dealt with the bodies," Josh mentions reading my mind.
"Good," I turn around and walk inside of the house.
Nothing seems out of place making me question whether someone even broke in or not.
"Cole, go into the computer room and go through every surveillance footage in the city. Do a facial recognition search, track Summer's phone; just do whatever that needs to be done to find her exact placement at this moment," Cole nods in response and heads to the computer room.
"Any word?" I ask Alec who comes up behind me.
"They aren't picking up, both of them," he replies.
"Kai, you need to see this," Brody, our newest and best drug dealer, calls from the stairs. I head up his way in response.
Alec follows.
When I'm at the top, I follow Brody to where he takes us.
"Are Nick's men still in town?"
"We've been keeping an eye on them, but nothing suspicious has come up other than the rumours about Nick's next target and after seeing this, I don't doubt them," Brody opens Summer's room.
It has completely turned upside down. The floor is covered with bottles of broken cosmetic products, her clothes and bedsheets. The mattress displaced on the bed frame is ripped in shreds and I feel reality sink in.
I walk into her bathroom which looks just as bad as her room, the mirror is even shattered into tiny pieces along the floor.
This is Nick's doing and there's no doubt about it.
I exit her room and make my way into the computer room. I walk into Cole typing furiously on the computer. His forehead is wrinkled in stress and his eyes are glued to the screen.
"What is it?"
"Someone's blocking me," he says not taking his eyes of the screen.
"What do you mean?"
"That someone is blocking me. Kai, it's quite self-explanatory," he responds, annoyed. "I was downloading the surveillance footage of the street because the facial recognition caught Summer. Then, out of nowhe
re, everything just locked me out. The surveillance is still there, I just need to get through this barrier. Whoever is on the other side, is good at this."
"You're better, Cole. Did you at least catch the street's name?"
"Yeah, Hastings. It's almost forty minutes away from here and in a deserted area. Most of the rich people live there," he acknowledges.
"It's Jayce's house, they're going there. Look up his address," I order. Cole does exactly as I say and searches his address. In less than ten seconds, Jayce's address pops up on the screen.
I take a mental note of it.
"You keep working on getting through the person and check if any of our files are missing. I'm gonna go get her."
"I'm coming with you," Alec stands in the doorway. I nod knowingly. I'm probably the last person Summer wants to see right now, having Alec with me might ease her a little.
Walking down to the underground parking, I grab the keys to my second car.
I unlock the door and hop in. Once Alec is sat, I start driving. Pulling out my phone, I open up my gang’s alert page and send out a message stating I want everyone in Chicago to be out looking for April.
"Alec, keep calling Amelia and Dakota and if they don't pick up, send in Haze and his crew to LA to retrieve them. We should've heard something from them by now," I order. This whole thing is happening too fast. Nothing is making sense, why is Nick doing this right now?
I have majority of the states – almost as many as him – under my control, I get that, but why attack now? Why not before or after? Why is this the perfect time to attack us?
...♗...
I haven't gotten any replies from my men, meaning that another hour has passed and Summer still hasn't been found.
I stop in front of Jayce's house. Rolling down the window, the security approaches us.
"I'm here to see Jayce Bailey," I make known.
The man turns around and walks into his shed. I watch as he picks up a phone and puts it to his right ear. A few seconds later, his lips part to speak and his next action is lifting his hand and pressing a button. I watch as the iron gates split to let us in.
I drive in just as the front doors open and Jayce walks out. Parking the car, Alec and I both exit.
