by King Ellie
“We will. We will find her baby, and we’ll bring her back.” He reassured her.
Arabella gave a weak smile and nodded as she wiped a tear from her eye.
“All she ever wanted was a home.”
“I know baby, I know. We’ll make sure she has that.” He said to her and then looked at his uncle.
Aides stared into Alcide’s gray eyes, not knowing what to say. For the first time in his entire existence, he felt helpless. He felt useless because he couldn’t even find the one person he had been waiting for. He felt the rage building inside of him knowing that the moment he captured whoever had her, they would die. He would make sure that they paid for taking what belonged to him and him only. He would make everyone pay for touching a hair on her head, and he knew that he would enjoy personally taking that siren’s soul down to hell and watching as the furies ripped through her damned, wretched soul. His wicked smile returned as he thought of what would inevitably happen.
“Good riddance to those who stand in my way.” He said as he started the car again,
“No one takes from Aides and lives to tell about it.”
****
Scarlett’s eyes fluttered open, and she looked around. She was still in that damn box of a room. She felt like a guinea pig in a glass box as she looked at all the people who worked here as they walked by her. She watched as Dr. Lana walked towards her. Scarlett shut her eyes and shook her head, not sure if she was hallucinating, but when she opened them again, Lana was still coming her way. She groaned. How the hell did she end up here?
She watched as Lana smiled at the orderly standing in front of her little cage and got the order to open her door. As soon as the door was opened, she watched as Lana brought her head back and then forward as she head-butted the guy. The guy dropped instantly, and Scarlett watched wide-eyed. How was it that Lana could knock out such a big man? He had to be at least 6 feet and over 200 pounds of muscle. She didn’t move fast enough as Lana got to her and grabbed her by the front of the strait jacket.
“What do you want from me?!” Scarlett screamed.
Lana smirked,
“I’ve been watching you, and I think you’re essential to my plan.” Lana pulled Scarlett up by the front of the strait jacket. “Now, try to scream or do something stupid…then I’ll kill you.”
Scarlett groaned. Why did everyone want to kill her?
CHAPTER 2
Scarlett didn’t dare breathe until they were outside and was in the trunk of Lana’s car with her arms still strapped up. Why did everything have to be so damn complicated for her? She wanted to just scream and go crazy, but she knew that no one was going to help her out. She needed to calm down if she was going to get away from Lana. She should’ve known from seeing that demon two years ago lurking behind Lana that something was up, but she was too scared. Now…now was a different time for her. She had grown tired of everyone wanting to kill her, and she swore the next person that tried to kill her would regret it.
She inhaled and then exhaled, trying to calm herself down. She had to get out of the strait jacket or else she couldn’t lose it. She had to think back to when her brother Tristan put her in a strait jacket and told her to get out of it. At that time, she thought he was insane, but she wondered if he knew this moment was going to happen. She shut her eyes and righted herself in the trunk laying on her side. She did the steps that she learned, first inhaling, then tightening up her body, causing the jacket to loosen.
She did this for a bit then when the jacket was secured, she loosened her body and exhaled, making her upper body small as possible, and the jacket started to feel looser. She didn’t want to stop to take a break knowing if she wasn’t done by the time the car stopped, then it was hopeless. She brought her strong arm up and over her head, keeping her weaker arm down. When she did that, she pulled, and her arms were free. She almost teared up, and she turned laying on her belly carefully since she barely had any space in the trunk. She reached behind her and slowly unbuckled the first two straps as she did, the car suddenly stopped.
Scarlett quickly turned to her back, and she gritted her teeth, knowing the next movement was going to hurt her. Luckily for her, when she moved, she felt a screwdriver.
“Who the hell leaves this hanging around?” Scarlett asked herself.
She didn’t move and steadied her breathing as she heard the click of the trunk. She didn’t do anything as the sun almost blinded her. She didn’t know it was daytime outside since Lana got her in the trunk in the underground parking lot.
****
Lana opened the trunk and looked down at Scarlett as her eyes fluttered due to the strong sun. She hoped she didn’t make a mistake as she stopped to get her clothes. She didn’t need people seeing the strait jacket, so she decided to get her a hoodie big enough to be a dress on Scarlett’s short self. Lana looked left and right, not realizing it was a mistake to take her eyes off of Scarlett. Lana grunted as she felt the pain in her lower abdomen faster than she saw it. She turned and looked down at the screwdriver that Scarlett, who somehow got free, had plunged into her abdomen.
Scarlett held on to the screwdriver as she removed it from Lana’s body and plunged it in one more time then she got up on her knees making her eye level with Lana as she drew her head back and then headbutted Lana just as she did to the orderly not too long ago. As Lana fell, Scarlett scrambled out of the trunk and slipped out of the strait jacket. She looked around the parking lot, not seeing anyone coming out. She had to make a run for it before Lana got back up. She looked down and saw keys. She grabbed the keys and the hoodie, she turned to walk away, but she knew better. She mustered up some strength and went to Lana, pulling her limp, unconscious, bleeding body into the trunk. She finally got her feet in the trunk and shut it just as a little boy was looking at her in horror.
He tapped his mother to look over at Scarlett, then the mother took one look at Scarlett and had disgust written all over her face. Scarlett rolled her eyes and flipped her off. She smirked when the mother pulled her son further away. Scarlett ran to the driver’s side of the car and slipped the key in. She had to leave wherever she was before she got caught. She looked down at the GPS that informed her that she was in San Francisco still. She had to get to her sister and ask Alcide to find Aides for her.
****
Scarlett didn’t care that she was tired as ever, but she refused to even stop for anything. When she reached Los Angeles, she wanted to cry. She knew that she didn’t want to show up with Lana’s body or car. She kept driving until she reached a place that had a cliff. She stopped the car and got out, by now the sun was setting. To everyone else, this was serene but for her…she needed to get to her sister’s house before someone else took her.
Scarlett quickly removed the now bloodied hospital gown that she had on and tossed it back in the car. She grabbed the plastic bag and pulled out the black hoodie. She slipped it on and shook her head at how much it swallowed her. She looked around for a rock or anything. After a couple of minutes of perusing, she found one big enough and she made her way back to the car. She didn’t even want to check on Lana in the trunk as she started the car. She replaced her foot with the big rock and jumped out of the car, barely making it.
She watched as the car drove over the cliff as she breathed heavily. She didn’t bother looking back as she stood up and started to walk away. Scarlett was barefoot, and she felt everything under the soles of her feet cringing but knowing she had to go. A few minutes after, the car exploded behind her, causing her to chuckle.
“This would’ve been so cool if I was in an action movie, but unfortunately, I’m living this.” She ran her hand through her long black tresses. She kissed her teeth as she tucked her hair inside, and she pulled the hoodie over her head. She knew to everyone else, she looked like a bum, and she preferred that over anyone getting curious about her.
Scarlett must’ve been walking for at least a good hour as she finally arrived at Alcide’s estate. She noticed that the l
ights were off, but she didn’t care as she removed her hoodie so that the guard could let her in. The guard looked her over recognizing her but not commenting on her attire. She didn’t bother speaking to him as he remained mute, letting her go towards the main entrance of the house. She put her eye in the sensor, and then the door unlocked. As she walked in, the lights illuminated as she walked towards the liquor cabinet.
She needed a drink more than anything else right now. Everything was sore. She could barely feel her feet, nor did she notice the bloody footprints she left behind her. She almost cried when she saw the bottle of bourbon. She grabbed the bottle instead of a glass and opened it, chugging some. Her throat burned, but she continued until she felt satisfied. Scarlett shook her head and took the bottle with her as she made her way towards a phone.
She sat down on the plush couch as she dialed her sister. On the third ring, Arabella picked up,
“Hello?”
“I never thought I’d hear your voice again.” Scarlett said, smiling for the first time since she left her sister at the greyhound station.
“Scarlett!” Arabella shrieked. “Where are you? Where are you right now? Why is Alcide’s office number showing up?”
“I’m at your house. Where are you? I need to speak to Alcide right now.”
Scarlett heard muffled sounds in the background not really making out any voices as Arabella answered question after question to whoever was there with her.
“Scarlett… Stay put. We’ll be there in less than 45 minutes. We’re taking the private jet. Don’t you dare move Scar.”
Scarlett almost chuckled at the nickname, but the bourbon was now hitting her system. She looked down at the bottle, and it was empty. Had she drunk that herself? She answered her sister before passing out. Not from the liquor, but exhaustion finally hit.
“I promise I won’t.” Her world became dark as her lids shut.
CHAPTER 3
Scarlett sighed as she looked in the mirror. She didn’t want to go to school today. Everyone thought she was weird because she saw things that others didn’t. She tried to explain it to her mother, but her mother told her that if she spoke about it again, then she would be sent somewhere where no one would care for her. Scarlett stared at her reflection as she sat at her white vanity. She looked at her hair which was braided into two big cornrows, her high cheekbones stood out much more than they did when she was younger. She didn’t directly look into her own eyes, she tried to dodge her own reflection as though she was scared to look at herself.
She stood up and looked over her body. She didn’t want this. She didn’t need this kind of attention with her body starting to fill in overnight. She wasn’t even sure when it began, but it had. Her breasts were fuller than the average 14-year-old, and her hips seemed to threaten to appear. She wanted to cry the moment she realized that the boys in her neighborhood and school were looking at her differently. She didn’t like not one bit. Where was Tristan when she needed his advice? He was off being a young adult, and she hated that because he wasn’t around as much as she wanted him to be.
Scarlett heard a noise behind her and looked up through her mirror to see what it was. She stared into eyes that she recognized from the many times he visited her. She smiled and calmed down, sitting back down.
“I didn’t call for you.” She said with a frown forming on her face.
“I know. I was checking on you.” He said.
He didn’t appear to her as the older man that he was. He appeared to her as someone that was a bit older than her. Someone she wouldn’t fear. He knew that she didn’t remember the time in the woods when he first met her. He made her forget because he didn’t want her to tell her mother, but now, he knew she wouldn’t tell her mother.
“Are you okay?” He asked her. “You seem a bit on edge.”
Scarlett sighed,
“I don’t feel comfortable. I don’t like this at all.”
“Like what sweetheart?” He inquired.
Scarlett chuckled,
“You’re such an old soul, I love it. I don’t want people looking at me.”
“You mean little boys looking at your body?”
Scarlett hung her head and nodded.
“Oh, Scar… look at me.” He said as he waited for her to turn around.
Scarlett turned around and faced him, she looked at him. He didn’t change his looks, per se. He just looked younger. He still had his long black tresses that were braided back into a French braid exposing his sharp facial structures. His dark, full eyebrows brought out the hue of hazel in his gray eyes. He smiled at Scarlett, causing her to smile back and bring a sparkle to her eyes.
“No one is going to make fun of you or look at you in a way they shouldn’t, I’ll protect you just like how Tristan protects you.”
Before Scarlett could say anything, suddenly her mother opened her room door. Scarlett was a spitting image of her mother, Rai. Her mother was tall and built like she just stepped off the runway. Her long black tresses clashed with her caramel skin and angry gray eyes. She was simply beautiful until she opened her venomous mouth to lash out at Scarlett.
Scarlett looked at her mother as she stared back at her.
“Did you hear me, Scarlett?”
Scarlett visibly swallowed and cleared her throat,
“I’m sorry. What did you say, mom?”
“I said, who the hell were you speaking to in here?” Rai asked as she looked around.
“Umm…” Scarlett said as she turned back to look at her bed. Her friend was now gone and nowhere to be found. She frowned, “no one, mom.”
Her mother made a sound and shook her head in disapproval.
“One of these days, I’m going to get you committed. Let’s go before you’re late for school and this time Scarlett, no fires!”
Scarlett rapidly blinked. She hadn’t started that fire, and her mother seemed to never believe her.
“I didn’t…” Before she could finish the sentence, her mother walked out, turning her back on Scarlett.
A single tear slipped out of her eye, and Scarlett angrily wiped it away as she reached for her hoodie wanting to cover up even though it was still warm out. She hated being the center of attention.
****
Scarlett woke up, feeling a familiar touch linger on her cheek. She opened her eyes, and those same hazel-gray eyes stared back into her eyes. Without thinking about anything else, she sat up quickly and wrapped her arms around Aides’ neck. Aides wasn’t surprised by her hugging him, it wasn’t the first time she hugged him. He rubbed her back as he heard the first sob escape her lips. He soothed her and shushed her as she cried even louder.
“She tried to kill me! She tried… Oh, God! I almost died.” Scarlett couldn’t control her feelings as dread filled her. The realization of death was now in full affect.
Aides didn’t say anything although Scarlett was literally choking him. He listened to her babbling mess of words and made out only a few things. He admitted to himself that he had missed her. When her mother Rai took and hid her from him, it took him eight long years to find her plus two more to be able to finally speak to her. He needed to know what Rai used to hide Scarlett from him.
He didn’t know when but somehow throughout his years of visiting her, they became good friends. She had become someone that he could trust and tell all his frustrations too. He even let himself grow up with her until her 16th birthday when she disappeared, and he couldn’t find her.
“There, there, sweetheart. I can’t talk to you if you don’t stop crying.” He soothingly said.
Scarlett sniffled,
“Okay.” She said as she moved out of the comfort of his body. Scarlett wiped the tears from her face and finally looked up into Aides’ eyes.
“She tried to kill me.”
“Who tried to kill you?” Aides asked carefully. He forgot all about Arabella and Alcide as his true form came into display.
“Was it Rai?” His voice boomed through the room.
The satin sheets caught on fire as the flames started spreading around.
“Hades!” Alcide yelled his name. “Put out the damn fire!”
Aides rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers. He was still in his flaming glory, but he made sure the flames didn’t spread on the bed again. He knew that Scarlett wasn’t afraid of him, he had shown her how the flames wrap around him like it’s a part of his skin.
“Talk to me.” Aides said after he took a moment.
“The doctor… Dr. Pearce. She came to the place that I was kept in, and she took me. She put me in her trunk, and she said she had a plan for me…”
“Then what?”
“I got out.”
“How?”
“I killed her.” Scarlett emotionally responded.
****
The room was so silent that Scarlett wasn’t sure if anyone was breathing, but then Aides broke that silence with his boisterous laugh. He laughed so hard that Scarlett, Arabella, and Alcide thought he was going nuts. Scarlett looked at him with a confused expression, did he not believe her? For some reason, this made Scarlett angry. How could he not believe her? She can rescue herself at least once in her miserable life. Eyes went wide when she shoved him hard, and Aides stopped laughing, he barely moved from the impact of her shoving him. Alcide and Arabella went to make a move to protect Scarlett, but Aides threw his head back and laughed even harder.
They didn’t understand why he found this amusing. Scarlett’s temper seemed to go south.
“Are you laughing at me?” She asked him angrily.
She shoved him again and got closer to him until they were eye to eye. Aides laughing came to a halt when he felt her breath lightly blow some of his hair back. He focused on their positioning. Scarlett was now straddling his lap as she grabbed him by his black dress shirt. His eyes went to hers and couldn’t look away as she angrily stared at him, and he stared back at her.
His body betrayed him as lust built up inside of him. He never looked at her in that way. He had grown to like her as a friend, if he could call it that. He never looked at her past that but the way she grabbed him, shoved him, angrily stared into his eyes and didn’t show an ounce of fear drove his libido to go into overdrive. He tried to move his face back but he couldn’t. something Something kept him there. His hands went to her waist to hoist her off him, but the feel of the curve of her waist dipping into her hips made him grab on even tighter.
