Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

  “Kara, would you go with me to Brian’s funeral?” I asked as I sat down at the kitchen table to eat breakfast the next morning. She looked up from her bowl of cereal for a moment, and then shifted her eyes back to her food as she ate a spoonful of it, a thoughtful look etched upon her face.

  “Sure,” she answered. “When is it? Do you know where it’s going to be?”

  “Thanks Kara,” I said gratefully. “It’s at 2p.m. this afternoon, and I can direct you on how to get to it.”

  “Get to what?” wondered Alaric, coming into the loft carrying a newspaper under his arm and a couple Starbucks coffees in his hands.

  “To Brian’s funeral,” I supplied, hesitantly, remembering his previous stand on the matter.

  “Hold on one sec Britt,” he ordered authoritatively as he set the coffees down on the table. “I distinctively remember Jonas and I having already made it clear to you that you weren’t going to it. It’s too dangerous; they might look for you to show up at it.”

  “But I thought you said that I’d be fine as long as I was with either you or Kara at all times,” I said, reminding him of his words from a couple days ago. “Besides, Brian was killed because he was trying to protect me. The least I can do is take the risk of showing up at his funeral to pay my respects.”

  “Fine, but we’ll have to lie low, not talk to anyone,” Alaric instructed “besides briefly paying our respect to the family of course.”

  “We?”

  “Yes, we. We’re all going together, just in case,” he stated with finality similar to the tone Jonas always used when his mind was set. I knew better than to argue it.

  “Fine,” I agreed, willing to have Alaric along if it meant I could go. We left with plenty of time to get to the cemetery before it began. The three of us stood together in the back of the crowd throughout the entire thing.

 My heart broke as I watched the grieving family mourn their loss, and I felt responsible for their suffering. Maybe I hadn’t pulled the trigger or even forced Hayden to pull it, but I couldn’t ignore the realization that if I’d never left home, Brian would still be alive right now. It was a fact, plain, simple, and unbearably painful.

  When it was over, Alaric and Kara immediately steered me towards the car after we’d told the Webb family how sorry we were for their loss. I took one last glance at Brian’s mother, father, and little sister before getting into the backseat of the Benz. As Alaric drove back to the loft, we were all silent. I turned my head to face out my window to hide the tears that were slipping from my eyes noiselessly and began to wonder if maybe it wouldn’t be better for me to simply turn myself in to my father before anyone else got hurt in this mess.

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  “Have you learned anything?” Lawrence Larkin inquired as Hayden practically shoved past him to go up the stairs. Hayden stopped on the first step and turned back to his father’s best friend.

  “As a matter of fact, I have,” Hayden admitted to the man. He’d been purposely avoiding the older man until he was sure, but he supposed that he didn’t require any more evidence than he already had. After all, he had an eyewitness and he’d reached Britney at a phone registered under Matthews’ name. What more proof did he need?

  “Well?” Larkin asked eyebrows raised and eyes fixed on Hayden. Hayden stared right back. True, Larkin pretended a rather indifferent air to the whole business, at least, in the area of caring about his daughter’s welfare. However, Hayden could tell that he truly was worried about his daughter; and he had every reason to be too. After all, it was over half a year now since she had left.

  “As it turns out, Matthews was much more aware of where Britney was located all along,” Hayden announced, pausing to gage Larkin’s response.

  “What do you mean?” questioned Larkin with widened eyes. Apparently, he hadn’t expected Matthews to have been the one helping her. Who would have either? Even Hayden had second-guessed himself about it at first.

  “Matthews met her in McKenna’s the night she ran off,” Hayden revealed, “I have an eyewitness who swears to it, and, though I doubted him before, I have further evidence. I got my hands on some phone numbers registered with Matthews and I reached Britney with one of the numbers. Unfortunately, the phone must’ve been destroyed before I could trace it. I’ve tried dialing it back, but get nothing.”

  As he’d been speaking, Hayden watched a startling transformation occur in his godfather. At first, he had appeared subtly hopeful, but as he received more information, especially after the confirmed connection tying Matthews to Britney, his face had taken on a rather bleak expression.

  “Is something wrong?” Hayden finally demanded, disconcerted by the other man’s expression. “Now that I know who’s been helping her, I can deal with him, and learn her location in no time,” he reassured Larkin, thinking that was all that bothered the older man. “There’s no need for worry. I’ll get her location out of him one way or another.”

  Larkin shook his head. “You have to avoid causing any trouble with Matthews, for now at least,” he informed Hayden.

  “Why?” asked Hayden his face revealing obvious disbelief.

  “Because, if you tangle with him, it could very well lead to greater repercussions than you can imagine. You see, Jonas Matthews is under DeRuise’s special protection, which he hasn’t withdrawn, even though Matthews stopped working for him. It’s a conundrum, but until DeRuise publicly announces a withdrawal, Matthews is untouchable to anyone,” explained Larkin.

  “But surely this...”

  “This changes nothing,” cut in Larkin roughly. “You’ll have to follow him everywhere he goes and hope he leads you to wherever Britney is so you can simply take her back as peaceably as possible. However, if he doesn’t do so soon, I’ll go to DeRuise and personally request that he revoke his promise of protection due to what Matthews has done. Perhaps I can convince him to at least allow us to use some force to retrieve Britney.”

  “I've had him under constant surveillance for a few days now,” Hayden stated angrily. “But he hasn’t gone near wherever it is he’s keeping her. Waiting will do us no good,” he argued.

  Larkin straightened himself out to his full height, which put him even with Hayden, and gave him a withering glare. “Are you calling into question my judgment, Hayden Klan Terrence?” he demanded, narrowing his eyes at the younger man.

  Swallowing and gritting his teeth, Hayden lowered his eyes submissively. “No, of course not sir, I have every faith in your judgment. I merely feel that it might be better to go to DeRuise sooner rather than later. After all, we have no real idea if your daughter is willingly staying with Matthews, or if she’s being held against her will.” Hayden noted that a worried looked entered Lawrence’s eyes. His words had had the desired effect. He wouldn’t wait too long now that Hayden’s words weighed heavily on his mind. Or course, if what Ladino had said was true, Britney was most likely, though unfortunately, a willing “captive” �" if she could even be called that.

 “Nevertheless, we must wait awhile longer,” was Larkin’s firm response. “DeRuise doesn’t take such promises lightly, and Jonas Matthews was always a favorite of his for some reason. We must tread carefully in this situation.”

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  The day was already half gone by the time Jonas rolled out of bed and gazed moodily at the calendar hanging on the wall of his room. It was the first of November. He hadn’t seen Britney in over a month now. For the most part, their contact had been limited to emails, aside from a couple phone calls, for which Britney borrowed his brother’s phone.  He growled vocally and yanked a fresh dark-grey t-shirt over his head.

  So far, nothing more had happened with Hayden or Larkin. The only thing that told him that he didn’t have the freedom to go to Britney was that he was constantly being tailed by someone or another. He didn’t know who the men were spying for at this point, whether Larkin, DeRuise or both, but he was rapidly tiring of constantly looking over his shoulder. He’d rather just have it out and get it over with than continue this ridiculous game of cat and mouse. It was unnerving, and his life was excruciatingly lonely now without his sister, Mac, and Britney.

  His life had become routinely boring. He went to classes, bought groceries once a week, and spent the rest of his time hanging out around his apartment.   Sometimes, for lack of better entertainment, he’d race his Maserati Quattroporté in circles around town, just to drive the guys following him mad.  Once, on a whim, he’d even left the state, just to see if anyone would attempt to stop him. They hadn’t though. Much to his surprise they’d merely continued tailing him.

  He’d been used to his solitary life before, but ever since Britney had come into his life, he’d become accustomed to having friends and family around fairly regularly. Now, he couldn’t help but feel how alone he was and at this point, he’d even take Alaric for company.

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  “Ah, Lawrence, what an unexpected surprise, though, I assure you, a pleasant one,” DeRuise greeted his old friend cordially as he walked into his library where he’d instructed his men to have Lawrence Larkin wait for him.

  “Vincent, my friend,” said Larkin with a rather tired nod of his head from across the room where he was standing near a window, watching the pouring rain.

  “What can I do for you, Lawrence? Your message sounded rather urgent,” commented DeRuise, wishing to cut to the chase. He had some rather important issues he’d hoped to resolve today. This unexpected intrusion was not a welcome one on his part.

  “You’re aware of course, that my daughter, Britney has been missing for close to a year now?” inquired Lawrence, his tone serious, but hurried, catching onto Vincent’s disinterest.

  “Of course,” agreed DeRuise, taking a pair of rather strong cigars from a nearby box and offering one to his friend. Larkin declined and DeRuise proceeded to light his own.

  “Well, it appears that young Matthews has been hiding her all along. Hayden has discovered some rather substantial proof that connects him to Britney the night she ran away and a couple times since then,” Larkin explained carefully, not sure how DeRuise would take the news. When DeRuise said nothing, Larkin took it as a sign to explain himself and gave as detailed an explanation of what Hayden had learned as he could. When he was finished, DeRuise extinguished his cigar and stared directly at Larkin in a way that made his friend shift uncomfortably. It was quite clear that Jonas was still his “pet.”

  “So,” DeRuise started slowly, “you’re here to request I withdraw my protection from young Jonas, is that it?” He guessed accurately.

  “Yes, I’m afraid I am,” he admitted in an almost apologetic tone. “I’ve done my best to remain patient, hoping he’d lead us to my daughter, but he hasn’t been near her in well over a month now as far as we’ve been able to see. And, quite frankly, I’m not sure how much longer I can continue containing my godson,” Larkin added.

  “How about this then, I’ll allow you to take him in, rough him up some, and try to force the information out of him,” allowed DeRuise. “However, I don’t expect any permanent injuries of any kind. Simply take him in, threaten him, and attempt to get him to tell you where she is. After that you’re to release him, whether he tells you where your daughter is or not. Does this satisfy you?” Although he asked, it was clear that he would budge no further on the subject.

  “Thank you,” Larkin said, “I will follow your conditions and keep my godson and men within your bounds. I assure you, Matthews will sustain no lasting damage of any kind. He has seemed to be a nice enough young man up until now, and he’s the son of a gentleman. I will see that he is treated as such, despite his actions in regards to my daughter.” In truth, he wanted nothing more than to permit Hayden to torture Matthews to his heart’s content, but he’d settle for having his daughter back at this point.

  “Very well then. I trust you will inform me of how it goes? I’m curious to see how this will all play out,” he mentioned with interest. “Though I ought to warn you, you’re not dealing with a common mutt as are so frequent here. The Matthews family is practically royalty among us.”

  “I don’t understand,” responded a puzzled Larkin.

  “Jonas Matthews comes from a rather long line of extremely skilled assassins,” revealed DeRuise calmly, as if discussing the weather. “I was curious about the family when his father first brought him here. So, I did my own personal research and managed to trace back their family to the early 1800’s, and have every reason to believe that they go much further back than even that. They pass on their knowledge from father to son, and as far as I am aware, Jonas received that very same training. So be wary of him and do not underestimate him,” DeRuise warned Larkin.

  “Assassins? Are you certain?” Larkin asked with disbelief. “I met Alec McKay Matthews not long after he’d begun working for you,” recalled Lawrence, “He was most assuredly cultured and decidedly refined, but hardly seemed to be any serious threat. Besides, why change their line of work if it had been passed down for so many generations?” he questioned with a note of skepticism.

  “Trouble in London,” DeRuise told him with a dismissive shrug. “I’ll have my own men watching this situation Larkin, so do not cross me. Your petty issues and inability to keep your daughter under control are your own troubles, don’t make them mine,” he threatened. “I have high hopes that that boy will return to his family trade, and I won’t have him destroyed over some foolish girl.”

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  Still only half-awake, Jonas walked out to his car, knowing that if he waited until he was fully alert he’d be late for his class. He was unlocking his car when he suddenly realized someone was behind him. He began to turn to confront whoever it was, but just as he caught sight of steely grey eyes, an abrupt strike caused his head to slam into his car. There was a split second of pain, and then everything went dark.

  Jonas re-awoke, as he was being dragged by two men, one on either side. His head was throbbing and he felt the unmistakable run of blood from a wound where his head had been slammed against his car. Squinting his eyes, Jonas was painfully aware of the bright sunlight as he looked up to see where he was being taken. Immediately, he recognized the Larkin mansion. He tried to get his feet underneath him and free himself from the men, but though he managed to stand and begin walking, he couldn’t free himself. The grips of the two men only tightened the more he struggled against them, and his hands were well-secured behind his back with what he guess to be zip ties.

  They went in through a back door, up the stairs, and straight into what Jonas knew to be Larkin’s office. They only paused a moment outside the office door before Jonas was taken in and shoved into a chair before Larkin, who was sitting behind his desk.

  “Jonas,” greet Larkin with a smug expression.

  “Lawrence,” Jonas said with a smirk.

  “It seems we have a problem,” commented Larkin, pointedly ignoring Jonas’ disrespectful use of his first name rather than the expected Mr. Larkin. He folded his fingers together and carefully placed them on his desk as he looked at Jonas.

  “That’s a shame,” Jonas replied with a shake of his head, keeping the same cocky air he’d decided to adopt for this confrontation. Frequently, it provided him with calm while he frustrated his adversary to no end. This time he hoped would prove to be no exception.

  “Yes it is,” agreed Larkin. “However, I’m sure we can settle the issue peaceably enough, don’t you?”

  “I hope so,” Jonas answered. Larkin smiled, encouraged by the response. He removed his hands from his desk and sat up straighter.

   “I knew you were a smart enough boy,” Larkin commended him. “Now, tell us where Britney is, and you can leave as soon as I’ve retrieved her,” he promised.

   “See, now you’ve managed to peak my curiosity. Exactly what is it that makes everyone believe that I have your daughter?” inquired Jonas, smiling his amusement. “This is the second time in less than two months that it’s been suggested that I’ve kidnapped her or something, and personally, I see it as an insult myself.”

  “We have an eye witness who says you left McKenna’s with her the night that she vanished,” Larkin informed him.

  Jonas arched a brow skeptically. “Who exactly is this elusive informant of yours that I keep hearing about?”

  “Ricky Ladino,” supplied a voice from behind Jonas. He watched from the corner of his eye as Hayden circled out from behind him like a vulture, before moving to stand beside Larkin’s chair. “Don’t deny it, Matthews. If he’d been lying about seeing you, he’d have admitted as much last time I saw him,” he added. “He said he saw her come into McKenna’s and then leave with you shortly after that.”

  Jonas snorted with disgust. “Well, at least allow me to set the record straight before you hand your daughter’s would-be-rapist a reward,” Jonas remarked dryly. “She went into McKenna’s looking for refuge from Ladino and his men, who were stalking her in the streets. Unfortunately, she didn’t realize what McKenna’s was until too late. They followed her in and accosted her. I happened to be there at the time, and knowing, as I’m sure you can imagine, what would happen if no one stopped them, I stepped in. There was a brief standoff and a couple threats thrown back and forth between Ricky and his men and me, but in the end, I got her out of there safely,” Jonas recounted for Larkin.

  Anger flushed Larkin’s face, and he turned to Hayden. “See to it that Ladino receives his just reward,” he commanded stiffly as he checked his rage.

  “How do we know he’s not lying,” demanded Hayden, eyeing Jonas. He’d expected that Ladino had been hiding something, but he didn’t want to simply take Jonas’ word on it.

  “Ladino has a reputation in that area,” Larkin informed Hayden with a grim voice. “But, feel free to question Ladino himself on the matter. No doubt you can manage to wring the truth from him.” Hayden nodded, but focused his attention on Jonas, apparently reluctant to leave. However, after only a moment, he left to do as he was told.

  Once Hayden was gone, Larkin returned his attention to Jonas again.

  “I believe what you said, and I thank you for stepping in when you did,” Larkin said with a genuine thankfulness that took Jonas by surprise, causing him to drop his guard ever so briefly. “However, that doesn’t erase your own crimes,” he reminded Jonas. “I’m wondering though; if what you say is true, why didn’t you return her to me? What caused you to withhold the truth from me for so long when you could have relinquished her back to me and been richly rewarded for your rescuing her as you did? Were you hoping for a larger reward if you waited until she’d been missing longer?”

  “As a fatter of fact, I’d fully intended to take her back home �" wherever home was for her - the following morning, but she didn’t want to go back,” Jonas told Larkin, with a straight, serious face.

  “Of course she didn’t,” laughed Larkin. “She ran away, Matthews. You could have brought her back though, willing or not.”

  “I could’ve,” Jonas agreed with a slow nod. “But, I understood her misgivings about what she’d learned, and believed she was old enough to decide her own future.”

  Larkin growled out, “You didn’t have the right to keep her from me. Now, tell me where she is. If you tell me, I’ll forget this ever happened, out of gratitude for your having saved her that night.”

  “No.”

  “Excuse me?” Larkin asked incredulously.

  “No,” Jonas restated, pronouncing the single word slowly and evenly.

  “I don’t think you fully understand your situation,” Larkin told him, rising from his chair and motioning to the men who had “escorted” Jonas in. “Are you sure that’s what you desire your answer to be?” When Jonas simply raised his chin unwaveringly and didn’t reply, Larkin signaled the two men. Jonas had been expecting the attack before it came, and did his best to protect himself from the crashing blows rained down on him as he was pulled from the chair and beaten to the ground. When Larkin finally signaled for them to stop, Jonas lay gasping for air on the floor. Larkin came around the desk to stand directly in front of where Jonas lay, trying to breathe. He reached down and dragged Jonas up, shoving him back into the chair. Jonas winced, but didn’t make a sound besides mildly labored breathing.

  “Have you reconsidered by any chance?” queried Larkin, expecting Jonas to relent and divulge Britney’s location. Jonas did his best to sit up straight in the chair and look Larkin in the eyes.

  “No.”

  “Very well then,” he said, shaking his head at Jonas’ stubborn refusal. Jonas had no idea that DeRuise had restricted him from hurting Jonas too much. As far as the young man knew, Larkin could kill him here and now. Likely, the only reason Jonas would think he had any chance of survival was that if they killed him, they wouldn’t know where to find Britney.

  “I’ll give you some time to rethink your position,” Larkin informed Jonas. “I hope you come to your senses and tell me where to find her,” he commented, “for your own sake.” He turned his back on Jonas, and Jonas was hauled from the chair by his hair and viciously beaten.

  After what seemed like an eternity to Jonas, they finally stopped, dragged his barely conscious form out to the car, and shoved him in roughly. The car roared to life and wound through the streets of LA at almost as reckless a speed as Jonas would’ve driven at. They came to a sudden halt, got out, and roughly dumped Jonas next to his car where Hayden had attacked him. With a few final departing kicks to his ribs, they left him lying on the pavement in a bloody and bruised heap.

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  From the shadows, where we’d been anxiously watching for Jonas, Alaric and I waited impatiently to be sure that the men had left for good before rushing out to Jonas. I got to Jonas ahead of Alaric, and fell down onto my knees next to him, trying my best not to cry at the sight of his broken body.

  “Jonas,” I whispered softly, reluctant to even touch him lest I only cause more damage.

  “Britney?” Jonas questioned in an unbelieving whisper. “What the hell are you doing here, Britt? It’s not safe here! What if they’d seen you?”

   “Alaric probably would’ve shot them all,” I replied bluntly. “I called you a couple hours ago, but you didn’t answer. I had a really bad feeling that something was wrong since you always answer your phone unless you’re in class; in which case you turn it off. So, I waited an hour or so to see if you’d call back. When you didn’t, I told Alaric, and we came right over. He tried convincing me to remain behind, but I refused.

  “After we got here we found your phone and backpack next to your car and, there…there was blood on your car’s window, so we got even more worried. When we saw the car coming, we hid, watched them dump you, and waited until we were sure they were gone,” I explained to him hurriedly, moving around to his other side in order to see his face more clearly. I let out a small choking sound when I saw his usually hansom face bloodied, bruised, and swollen.

  Just then, Alaric dropped down beside me.

  “Jonas,” he said in a soft yet firm voice. “Can you tell me if anything’s broken, anywhere?”

  Jonas gave an almost imperceptible nod, and then spoke through split and blood-coated lips.

  “I don’t think anything’s broken. I might have a cracked rib or two though,” he told his brother.

  “We have to get you out of here,” Alaric declared with determination. “I’m sorry. I’m sure this is going to feel like hell, but I have to get you inside,” explained Alaric apologetically before carefully picking Jonas up and carrying him up to his apartment while I followed closely behind. “It’s a good thing you’re not much heavier,” he commented as we went up the steps, “I don’t think I could’ve carried you. You’re a lot heavier than you look,” he concluded with a gasping laugh.

  Once inside, Alaric and I began pulling together as much of Jonas’ things as we could that we thought he’d need or want. Occasionally, Jonas was able to murmur something about various items he wanted us to pack for him. Once, as I was passing by the sofa he was resting on, Jonas managed to reach out and grasp my hand.

  “Britt,” he choked out, fighting the pain at the movement, “Britt, go into my closet and grab the pair of large black duffel bags in the back. We need to bring them with us.” I nodded and hurried to get them. I opened the closet door and dug around for a few minutes, but couldn’t seem to find what I’d been sent to collect. Just as I was about to give up and tell Jonas I couldn’t find the bags, I found them.

  They was extremely heavy, but I dragged them out to the living room where we were putting everything we collected to take with us. When I got there, Alaric was just picking up a couple bags he’d filled with most of Jonas’ clothing.

  “I’m going to start taking things out to the car while you finish up in here. Do you know where he keeps his bandages? We’re not going to have enough back at the loft, not for all of his injuries. Any medical supplies you can find we should bring with us,” he instructed me while moving to the door.

  “But Alaric, Jonas needs to go to a hospital,” I whispered, worried.

  Alaric nodded. “But we can’t take him to one without figuring out a way to explain those injuries. Besides, no one is watching him right now. This is our best chance to move him to the loft without them following him. If we take him to the hospital, they’ll be watching him and we probably won’t get this chance again. Kara and I’ll have to take care of him,” Alaric whispered back. I nodded, understanding, and hurried to collect Jonas’ bag of medical supplies. When I came back with it, Alaric was gone.

  I went over and knelt on the floor near Jonas’ head. His eyes just barely opened to look at me.

  “We’re going to get you to the loft, Jonas,” I reassured him in a soothing voice, gently brushing one of his wild, wavy locks out of his face. “Just hold on a little longer.” He gave me a pitifully weak half-smile and my heart broke at the sight, knowing that once again, someone that I cared about had been hurt because of me.

  I waited next to him, doing my best to try to halt the bleeding from his worst wounds with some bandages while Alaric finished moving things to the Benz. When he was finished, Alaric picked Jonas up once again, carrying him as carefully as he possibly could to help prevent causing any further injuries or worsening any preexisting ones. When we got to the Benz, which Alaric had been using since his own car was still back in Seattle; Alaric set Jonas in the back seat before turning to face me.

  “Alright Britt, I’m going to need you to drive the Benz so that I can bring Jonas’ car. You’ll need to try to drive as erratically as possible without getting yourself lost. Hopefully, we can throw off any tails that we might acquire. Do you think you can do that?” queried Alaric, his eyes sweeping my face, appearing to be in search of any hesitation in my expression.

   I nodded, answering, “Yes, I can.”

  “Good, then lead the way, and I’ll follow. It might be best to split up, but I don’t want to risk losing the two of you,” he explained to me.

 I got in behind the wheel, glanced momentarily back at Jonas who had his eyes tightly shut and his teeth clenched, and sped from the parking lot. In my rearview mirror, I noted Alaric following somewhat closely behind us, though still keeping his distance. Instantly, I realized that he was purposely keeping some distance to draw less attention to the Benz. If no one saw them all together at the apartments, then no one following would focus on the Benz, since they wouldn’t realize who they were looking for was in it. They’d follow the Maserati because they’d know it was Jonas’ car.

  I swiftly darted to the right, taking a side-road I recognized, and saw Alaric take the turn several minutes later. Another turn, this time to the left, took Britney back to a main road once again. She was going fast enough at the moment that Jonas would be impressed if the circumstances were different.

  Finally, I pulled into the loft’s small parking lot. Before I’d even gotten out, Alaric came around to the Benz and scooped Jonas out, taking him up the steps to the loft in a hurry.

  Tossing me the keys as best as he could while holding Jonas, he called, “Britt, take the Quattroporté out back and out of sight.” I hurried to do as he asked, and then grabbed Jonas’ fist-aid bag from the Benz, and raced up the stairs to the loft, hoping I wouldn’t trip in my haste. Up ahead, I saw Kara fling the door open as soon as Alaric arrived at it, her face stricken. While Alaric took Jonas in, Kara waited for me to get in before closing the door and going over to see what she could do for Jonas.

  I watched helplessly as the two rushed about cleaning and bandaging Jonas’ wounds to the best of their ability. I could tell from their hurried whispers and haste that they were very worried about Jonas. Feeling like there was nothing else I could do, I snatched up Kara’s phone lying on the kitchen table, and ran up to my room, intending to call Ana, who answered on the third ring.

  “Ana, it’s Britney,” I said when she answered her cell phone.

  “Hey Britt, what’s up?” she asked me casually.

  “Ana, it’s J-Jonas,” I began, my voice quavering slightly. “He was beaten up pretty badly by some of my dad’s guys and he’s in really terrible shape. We brought him over to the loft. Kara and Alaric are doing the best they can for him, but we can’t take him to the hospital because Alaric thinks it’d be better if we used this opportunity to move Jonas to the loft so we can help him and make him disappear to prevent them from coming back for him again.”

  “I’m coming Britt,” Ana informed me resolutely. “I’ll talk to Mac, and be there as soon as I possibly can, ok?”

  “Alright,” I agreed softly. “We’ll be waiting for you.”

  “You guys just hang in there for now.”

 

Reviews

[Zachary_James]

Gave me the chills, loved it so much