“Julian—” Dad starts but I cut him off as I stare at my brother but speaking to all three of them.
“You think those assholes are that creative enough to mess with my head?” I growl, letting the anger fester as my mind races.
“Dude, try to calm down,” Liam warns, glancing around at the passers-by.
“Your brother is right, son,” Dad mutters, his face as dark as mine while he stares down at the phone, not bothering at all about what people are seeing. “We need to handle this privately.”
“Stop looking at it!” I snap, my protective instincts kicking in and I almost laugh. It’s crazy how I don’t want my father to see the love of my life looking like that—so exposed, so vulnerable, beaten down and stripped of her dignity—when at this very second, Matthews has his fucking hands on her…
“FUCK!” I explode, undiluted fear racing through me, frying my nerve endings to a crisp.
Stunned, dad stares at me like I’ve grown horns. At this point, I don’t fucking care if I really do have them. I’ll be the very devil if I have to for what’s coming.
Dad gives Liam his phone back, holding his gaze at the same time. Then they both turn to look at me.
I have no idea what they see on my face just then but Liam curses, his eyes widening. Cole takes his car keys out, not saying a word, but ready.
“J, we don’t know if this is actually real,” Liam rushes to say, stumbling over his words in a rush to calm me down. “You know how they like to fucking play games like these.”
The darkness closes in on me, my vision narrowing like I’m looking out from a tomb, a deep, deep grave and my oxygen is running out.
Death.
It feels like death is in my bones, over my fucking head, and around me.
But why her? Why fuck with me through her?
“I’m going to kill him.” The words are hoarse, clipped, sounding somewhere between an unhinged, wild madman and a solemn vow made by a sociopath.
It’s the most truthful thing I’ve ever said in my life other than when I told Mia I love her. Liam and Cole, both know it as well.
“Fuck!” Cole and Liam both whisper at the same time knowing that I mean it.
Alarmed, Dad looks around, his eyes narrowed.
“Julian, you can’t say things like that in public,” Dad says, dropping his voice. “Anyone can hear you.”
The fucking world can hear me right now and I wouldn’t even give a damn. There’s violence in the air, everyone can sense it.
“We don’t know what’s going on here, so take a breath.”
I can only imagine at the taste of relief that would have filled me if I had any suspicion that this was fallacy, but that’s a luxury I haven’t been afforded.
“J, for all we know, these assholes are playing into this shit about you going to jail!” Liam says.
“Then how do you explain that damn text?” Cole mutters unhappily. “That asshole clearly knows that your case was dismissed.”
“Exactly! How the fuck does he know that?” I seethe, anger bursting through me. “How does he know when I just fucking found out myself literally a few minutes ago? And how did he get to Mia?”
Cole and Liam glance at each other quickly but I catch the furtive worried expressions on their faces. Straightening up, cracking my neck from left to right, I narrow my gaze on both of them.
“How do you think he got to Mia when you two just saw her?” I repeat, each word heavy on my fucking tongue. Cole is quick to gauge my sudden mood flip but Liam…
“That’s what’s tripping me up!” Liam says. “We just met with Mom to get the stuff from Mia…” he trails off, snapping his mouth shut.
“You met with who?” I demand, turning to look at my brother fully.
“Ah shit,” he whispers, shifting on his feet, glancing at Cole.
“Who the fuck did you meet? Because I swear to God, if either of you had Mia in your sights, if you were close to her and didn’t fucking see that something was wrong, I swear to God I’ll make hell reign down on you both.”
“Julian…”
“She’s been taken!” I roar, “And you two better tell me you saw her.”
They don’t say a word.
“Liam.”
He looks down at the ground, shifting on his feet.
“Tell me the fucking truth right fucking now,” I whisper. “Because right now, she’s fucking naked, hurt, bleeding and at the mercy of those fucking assholes!”
“Fuck,” Cole whispers, looking at me. “Here’s the thing, J…”
And there it is. The raw, naked truth of what I’ve done.
Chapter Two
Mia
There’s a low buzzing whine filtering in from somewhere, breaking the stagnant, strange mask of darkness over me, rousing me from a restless, empty slumber.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Disoriented and groggy, I frown at the persistent dripping. Where the hell is it coming from? Is it raining? But no, the dripping is too slow, too constant, almost hypnotic.
A gust of wind so cold blows over my face making my teeth start chattering. I feel the vibrations in my head.
Where am I and why is it so cold?
I try to search my mind, but it’s like there’s only darkness, like I’m existing in a blank space of nothingness.
Maybe I’m having some sort of nightmare. It’s not that unusual. Or I might be hungover. Yes, that’s more plausible.
Another gust of wind whips over me, this time, blowing my hair into my face, but as soon as it makes contact, I yelp. My hair is freezing cold and wet, with something gooey matted in it.
My nose tickles as a strong, pungent smell filters in. I recognize the unmistakable smell almost immediately and my heart start pounding against my chest… it’s blood.
My eyes fly open, as alarms blare up in my head as if I can sense some kind of unknown danger close to me, made more acute by the low buzzing, but the moment my eyes flare open, I’m met with nothing but thick, oppressive, endless darkness.
A frightened gasp escapes my lips. I can literally hear my heart pound even harder as fear snakes its way into the pit of my stomach.
Why is it so dark? Am I dreaming?
I force my eyes closed. Then open them again, but the view is still the same.
A shudder goes through me.
What the fuck is this?
I can feel myself start to panic as the smell of blood becomes stronger. Gingerly, I try to sit up straight, but I’m met with pain so acute, it steals my breath away.
My jaw drops open on silent scream as my body comes awake with very excruciating agony I’ve never felt before.
Every inch of me is in pain. Tears stings my eyes and I quickly decide to lie back down… wait, lie back! I’m lying on something smooth, hard and so damn cold.
Another gust of cold wind blows over my face and a quiver moves through me, making the soreness in my body even worse.
“Oh God.”
What happened to me?
I try to move my hand so I can move my hair from my face, but nothing happens. There’s no movement at all. I can’t feel my hands or my arms!
No, no, no…
I attempt to move my arms again, nothing. I try my legs, my toes, my fingers…all nothing. It’s almost as if all my limbs are disconnected to my body.