by S. M. Soto
“What are you doing here?”
The smile slowly slides off her face, and she frowns. The look is more like Mackenzie, and it puts me at ease for only a few seconds.
“You have to save them.”
My heart lurches, and my brows dip, the muscles in my stomach clenching.
“Save who? Where’s Ava?”
Mackenzie leans toward me, cupping the side of my face, and in doing so, the moon illuminates the side of her face like liquid pearl, exposing her features clearly. I jerk back as she stares at me. I know immediately why everything about her feels so off. Why her touch feels different and her eyes, the way she’s taking me in, it’s not with the usual love. It’s something else. She’s looking at me like a friend would, like someone she doesn’t know.
That pit in my stomach grows, and I shake my head, trying to make sense of what I’m seeing. The face I’m staring into is almost identical to Mackenzie’s, but it’s not, and the realization is a punch to the gut. As if understanding I’ve finally figured out who she is, the woman before me, who looks so much like her sister, gives me a sad smile.
“Thank you,” she whispers, her hand still resting on my cheek. My heart is pounding as I try to process what I’m seeing.
This can’t be real. All this time that Mackenzie said she sees and talks to her sister, I thought it was her grieving process. The way her mind deals with the crippling loss. But this…no, this can’t be real. I close my eyes and shake my head, trying to get a clear mind. When I open them, she’s still there, staring.
“We don’t have much time. You have to save her. You have to save them both. You’re all they have left.”
My brows dip. “What are…what are you talking about?”
“Mackenzie and Ava. Save them.” There’s more urgency in her tone when she says it. “Hurry…” The word fades off into an echoing whisper.
I jolt awake with a start, sweat clinging to my skin. I glance at the clock on the end table and see how early it is. 3:30 a.m. As I push myself upright against the headboard, a wave of uncertainty slams into me, as I remember the dream I just had.
A tremor wracks through my frame. Did I imagine it? Was it real?
Not willing to risk it, I hop out of bed, with an urgency like no other. I call Dan, waiting for him to pick up, and when he doesn’t, I know something is wrong. He always answers, no matter what time of night it is. If he were out there protecting Mackenzie like he should be, he would’ve answered.
Something’s wrong.
Gathering my wallet and keys, I fly out of the penthouse, following Madison’s advice.
A shiver works its way through my body from a cold draft, rousing me from sleep. I stir on the couch, the TV playing in the background, as I blink the sleep away. I stiffen almost immediately when I realize the couch is empty.
Where’s Ava?
We fell asleep on the couch, watching her favorite movie. Would she have gotten up and climbed into her own bed? She might’ve. It’s certainly more comfortable there.
I push into a sitting position, darting my gaze around the living room and the darkened hallway. It’s dead silent.
Maybe she did go to bed.
There’s a soft thump back near the sliding glass doors leading into the backyard, and I freeze. My brows furrow, and a strange sensation travels down my spine.
“Ava?” I call out, my voice bouncing off the walls.
No response.
Pushing up from the couch, I lick my suddenly dry lips and make my way toward the back doors. It’s pitch-black in the house. I usually keep the nightlights on for Ava, in case she gets up in the middle of the night, so she won’t get scared, especially being in such a big house with just the two of us, but they’re suddenly all gone.
Did I forget to plug them back in?
Shit. I could’ve sworn they were plugged in when we got home, but I might’ve been imagining it. Our trip from Brazil has fried my brain and jet lag has thoroughly screwed with our sleep schedule.
I pause mid-step when I hear another sound. This time closer, it sounds a lot like a whine or a whimper. My heart lurches, and I resume my stride, picking up the pace. Something doesn’t feel right. I feel it in the tightness in my gut and the way the hairs at the back of my neck are standing at attention. I slap blindly at the wall for the light switch. A shadow passes somewhere in the room. When I find the switch and the room brightens, I gasp at the sight before me.
My heart drops into my stomach, and bile rises up my throat.
“No, no, no, no,” I whisper, my bottom lip trembling.
Ava stares up at me, tears streaking down her little face, fear written in her eyes. Behind her, with his arm clamped around her neck, keeping her in place is Zach. Dressed head to toe in black, he has a silver section of tape over her mouth to keep her quiet.
The look in his eyes has me gasping for much-needed breath. There’s no remorse. No life, no nothing. There’s just an endless pool of darkness there. A man pushed way past his breaking point. A man with absolutely nothing to lose.
“Z-zach,” I stammer, taking a careful step forward. “What are you doing?”
“Scared, baby?” another voice whispers from behind me. I feel a warm hand glide around my hip, jerking me back into the warm body. A sick, twisted sensation churns in my gut, and tears swim in my eyes. I glance behind me, confirming what I already fear. Trent is plastered to my back, that same numb, cold-like expression on his face as well.
“What are you doing?” I try to keep the fear from my voice, but I fail miserably.
“Oh, I think you know.” Trent grinds his front into my backside, and I let out a small cry of fear. I cut a quick glance at Ava who’s crying again.
I need to stay calm. I can’t let her see how afraid I am.
“God,” Trent groans, his hand trailing down the side of my neck, leaving goosebumps in its wake. He buries his face into my neck, poising his lips near my ear. “You look just like her. Without all the shit in your hair, you look so much like her, it’s actually creepy.”
My eyes slam shut. This can’t be happening. Not now. Not with Ava here. Especially not after the best week of our lives. My chest rattles with fear.
I need to protect her at all costs.
“Please, whatever it is you’re thinking about doing, stop this. Please.” I try to take a hurried step forward, but Trent yanks me back into his unrelenting hold.
Zach jerks back, yanking Ava with him, in response to my quick attempt. She sobs beneath the tape, her little face crumpling. My heart shatters, my chest squeezing as if in a vise, as I try to figure out what to do to keep her safe.
“How did you get in here?”
I dart my gaze around quickly, trying to find any signs of a break-in, but there are none. Everything looks as clean as I left it when I unpacked our bags earlier. Where are Dan and the security? If Zach and Trent got in here, what did they do to Dan and the guards?
“Made a key. Baz should really be more careful where he leaves that damn thing lying around, shouldn’t he?” My stomach twists, and my mind is spinning with possible solutions, none of which will work without getting Ava hurt. “Really makes you wonder, doesn’t it? He knows what we’re capable of. Why would he leave that lying around, unless he wanted me to find it? Unless…this was part of our plan the entire time.”
All the blood drains from my face.
NO.
There’s no way.
Baz wouldn’t do that to us.
He wouldn’t do that to Ava. He loves her.
He would never hurt us.
If that was so, why would he be so careless, and why has he been so secretive lately?
I shake my head, already internally denying it. I refuse to let Zach get in my head. That’s exactly what he wants. He wants me to doubt Baz. I’ve been there and done that already, and Baz showed me the truth. I need to trust that.
My throat constricts, and I shake my head. “I-I don’t care about any of that. Please,
just…just let her go.”
I catch Ava’s eyes, trying to relay the message, without words, that everything is going to be okay. She’s going to be safe. We’re going to get out of this in one piece. As I relay the message, I try to get myself to believe the words, too.
They both laugh. It’s an eerie sound. “No. No, I don’t think I will.”
“She’s innocent, Zach. Don’t drag her into this.”
“Innocent?” Zach scoffs, tightening his arm around her. Her eyes widen, the color draining from her face, as fear encapsulates her entire little body.
“Please. I-I won’t fight you. I promise. Just…please don’t hurt her. I don’t want her to see this.”
Zach pauses and so does Trent, a silent conversation passing between them. “All right.” Zach chuckles. The sound is evil, and it rains nails down my back. “You said it.”
He reaches for something in his back pocket, and before I can stop him, a syringe is sticking out of Ava’s arm, and I scream.
“No! What did you do?” I run toward Zach, catching Ava, as she drops to the floor. I cradle her, checking her pulse and heartbeat, praying she’s okay.
“You said you didn’t want her to see what would come next. I kept my word.”
“You’re a monster,” I seethe, glaring up at him, tears spilling down my cheeks.
“You haven’t seen anything yet.”
“What are you doing?” The voice is sharp and deep. It’s the voice that hasn’t left my nightmares since the night of the accident. The night he tried to kill me. With a slow ease, that’s so at odds with the murderous gleam in his eyes, Vincent steps into the living room, tainting the very air surrounding us. I look up, shocked to see his face clouded with red-hot anger. Zach shrugs, brushing him off, not looking all that surprised to see him here.
This was all a part of their plan. There’s no other way.
“I came prepared for anything.”
Without another word, Vincent takes Ava from my arms and carries her out of the dining room, leaving me with Zach and Trent. I try to run after him but scream out in pain when a fist curls in my hair, yanking me back. I swing at Zach, fighting him off at every turn. Baring my claws, I scratch at him. I feel his broken skin under my nails, the metallic smell of his blood, and I hear his hiss of pain.
“You fucking bitch!” he grits, reeling his fist back. The blow to my face dazes me. Pain explodes in my nose, stealing my vision, and I fall to the floor. Spots dancing before me, the blackness threatening to suck me under. Out of the corner of my eye, I spot Vincent coming back into the room, and I let out a cry, worried he did something to Ava.
Is she hurt? Is she still alive?
I need to get to her.
I need to save her.
My arms make a weak attempt to push myself up off the floor, but I stumble, and Zach laughs at my efforts. “You’re just as weak and worthless as she was.”
“Stop it,” I cry out, as he hauls me up to my feet.
“I’m going to finish what should’ve been done years ago.”
“Why?” I sob.
“Because she ruined us,” he growls, getting into my face, his face seething with rage. “She tried to hurt my brother. She was going to be our downfall—our ruin. So, she had to go,” Zach hisses in my ear. “She was smart, though. She caught on. See, Trent didn’t even know you existed until I put the thought in his head.” I shoot a quick glance at Trent who is frozen, staring at Zach like this is news to him. “I knew it would rile your sister up. She was so paranoid. So fucking angry all the damn time. But then, she kept pushing and threatening. I figured it would be fun to hurt you to get to her. You were her kryptonite.”
“You’re sick,” I choke.
I hate myself for the way I treated her back then, always thinking she was angry with me and hated me, but really, she was trying to protect me in her own way, all while dealing with the crippling loss of giving up her child. She thought pushing me away was the best way to do that.
Suddenly, I’m pushed out of Zach’s arms, and he’s shoved back. My relief is short-lived when Vincent’s hand wraps around my throat. He slams me into the wall, squeezing and cutting off my air supply. I try to suck in air, but it’s impossible. His hand is clamped around my neck like a vise. My feet kick out wildly, trying to gain traction.
His eyes look tortured, something shining in them. It’s anger and something else I can’t quite put my finger on. He gets up in my face, his nostrils flaring with each intake of breath, as he works to control his anger.
“She’s mine, isn’t she?”
I realize much too late why he would ask that question. My brain is struggling to keep up because of the lack of oxygen. Black spots dance before me, and I can feel my consciousness slipping. My eyes bulge, and I kick and jerk against his hold, clawing at him, gasping for breath. He must realize this because he loosens his grip, just enough to allow me to breathe, but not enough to allow me to get away.
I sputter and crouch against his hold on me as I try to catch my breath. I’m living my one true nightmare. Ever since I learned the truth about Ava and Madison, I tried to work out who Ava’s father could be. It was there in the back of my mind, the possibility. I just hoped it wouldn’t be true.
I shake my head, lying to him, anything to get him to turn away and forget her. Forget us. I need to get her out of here alive.
“Vincent…please.” My voice is weak as I plead with him. Setting my hand out between us placatingly, I rest it on his firm chest. His heart is pounding against his rib cage. “She’s just a little girl. Let her go, please. This is between us.”
“But it’s not, though, is it?” he says, his eyes narrowing. “Swear on your sister’s life that she isn’t mine, Mackenzie. Tell. Me!” he yells in my face, and I let out a cry of fear. I flinch away from him, my body trembling uncontrollably. “Tell me the fucking truth!” I jump at his booming voice. My gaze darts around as I try to find a solution, a way to protect myself long enough to get to Ava and get her out of here safely. There isn’t one.
Where the hell is Baz?
“She’s…she’s…”
“She’s mine!”
He lets go of me, storming away, back toward the hallway. I scramble after him, realizing he’s heading back toward her room, gait intent. He must have left her in there, so she wouldn’t see, just as I asked them to.
I yank on his arm, trying to halt his progression, but he tosses me aside like I’m a rag doll. My body smacks against the floor, pain slithering through my hip bone, but I scramble to my feet, chasing after him. I finally manage to get in front of him and try to halt him from going anywhere near Ava.
“Don’t do this!” I cry, my hands on his chest. “Please, she’s all I have left of her!”
Vincent stumbles at the admission. “How dare she…” he hisses. “How dare she fucking keep my goddamn kid from me? There was never any foreign exchange program, was there? I always wondered why she came back with a fucking bone to pick. She was so fucking angry.”
“Wouldn’t you be? You hurt her!”
“I didn’t mean to!” he yells, swiping a frustrated hand through his hair. “We were drunk. Just two stupid fucking kids. You think I wanted to hurt her? I fucking loved her!”
I jerk back at the admission, my stomach roiling. “Loved her? That’s not love, Vincent. You killed her.”
“No, I didn’t,” he grits.
My brows tug down. “What are you saying? That night in the car, you tried to kill me! You told me you killed her. You said it was you and Baz! Why would you lie?”
“I’m saying, that’s not the whole fucking story. I didn’t physically kill her, but I might as well have. I think we’ve established I lied about a lot of things that night.”
My stomach cramps.
“Then tell me. I’m tired of all the lies. Fucking tell me!” I yell, my voice echoing around us. I feel a presence close in behind me. Slowly, I turn, spotting Zach, a deathly still look on his face.
“It wasn’t any of them. It was me.”
Nine Years Ago
I can feel them closing in on me, trying to scare me. It won’t work. I’ve been through hell this last year. I’ve had my heart ripped out. I’ve had everything I’ve ever loved taken from me.
Giving away your child unwillingly leaves a taint. You can’t breathe, think, or live, without thinking about your child. I hate Vincent for doing this to me. For giving me no other choice. And my parents, they are the main culprits. The ones I can’t even stand to look at day in and day out.
I wanted to die in that hospital bed. I wanted to run away with her and never ever look back. And I realize now, that’s exactly what I should’ve done.
“You’re going to pay, Vincent. I promise you. I’ll spend my last breath making you pay for what you’ve done to me.” I’m so focused on Vincent, as I spout the words, that I don’t see Zach coming. His shove catches me off guard, and I lose my footing, stumbling. I smack the ground with a harsh thud, my head colliding with something sharp and hard. It’s enough to daze me. I lie there on the dirt, blackness stealing over my vision and pain snaking its way through my skull, as there’s a scuffle and yelling in the background.
“She’s the reason we’re falling apart!” Zach snaps, getting into Vincent’s face. Vince shoves him back.
“Fuck off. She’s a means to an end. You’re giving her too much credit.”
“Prove it then,” Zach challenges.
Fear digs its talons into my chest and rips me open violently when Vincent spares me a cold glance, then backs away, his body hard as a rock, giving Zach free rein. I let out a pained sob, when Zach turns, stomping toward me, and I realize what he’s going to do. I try to fight him off, but my limbs are suddenly weak, and the back of my head feels damp. My movements are slow, and my body feels as if it’s been drained of strength.
Zach tears at my clothes, and my sobs ring around us, intermingling with the reckless sway of branches and the stream nearby. As pain rips through my body, I keep my gaze fixed on Vincent, tears leaking down my cheeks. He tries so hard to remain calm, but I see it, the pain in his eyes. The anger brewing in his body, as he watches his friend defile me in order to prove a point.
