Darkness Falls (The Darkness Duet #2)

Chapter 26

Damien

M y wife is a sneaky little bitch. I can't for the life of me figure out how she managed to wrap three men around her finger. She has to have something on them that keeps them tied to her. That's the only thing that makes any sense. Because of them, all of this will be more complicated than it needs to be. I'll have to get creative in order to get her back to Rogue.

I still can't believe they got the upper hand and took her from me. Fucking Soren, that slimy little weasel. I didn't expect him to turn on us in order to work with them. It's the only plausible explanation for his disappearance. If I ever find him, I’ll make sure he watches me slit his wife's throat before I slit his.

I lean back in my chair and lift the glass of whiskey to my lips, basking in the sweet amber liquid before grabbing my phone to reach out to our newest hacker. They aren't nearly as good as Soren, but they should be able to get me the information I need to carry out the plan I've concocted.

About three hours later, I'm in my car and on my way to Braxton Falls. It's time for me to deal with my next conquest, and it’s going to be so fucking satisfying. I'll teach that little bitch to mess with me. I don' t feel a single bit of remorse for what I'm about to do.

A second car, full of a small team of the guard, trails behind me. I can't be left unprotected. I am their new leader, after all. The eight-hour car ride moves along quickly, and before I know it, I reach the outskirts of town. I tell the team to go to the only hotel in Braxton Falls and wait for me. They seem hesitant to let me go off by myself, but I assure them I only want some time to reminisce on the time I spent here with Callie.

Once I'm rid of them, I take the quick drive to the house I'm looking for. It's dark outside, but there is one light on inside, which appears to be the living room. Large windows grant me the perfect view inside, and I see the two people I’m looking for watching TV. They match the photos on my phone perfectly.

Hope you had a chance to say goodbye to your parents, Avery.

I shouldn't be enjoying what I'm about to do, but Avery always tried to sway Callie away from me when I was pretending to be Julian.

I quietly make my way over to their car and maneuver myself under it to find what I'm looking for. I could just kill them both in the house, but this seems like more fun. I quickly cut the brake line before sliding out from under it. By the time they pass the first few stop signs on the way to the hospital, the fluid should be nice and low.

It's the middle of the night, and there aren't any neighbors close enough to see me, which makes this even easier. I reach into my pocket and click on the cell phone jammer that my new hacker supplied me with. It's showtime.

Before I step up to the front door, I slip a mask on and grab my knife to hold at my side, ready for whichever unfortunate soul answers the door. Part of me hopes it's Avery's mom, so she has to suffer longer. I get a sick satisfaction out of seeing women suffer.

I knock a few times before I hear the television pause, and footsteps make their way toward the door. My body is bursting with adrenaline while I wait.

When the door swings open, I'm greeted by a man with sandy blonde hair. I don't give him the opportunity to speak before I plunge the knife into his chest to collapse his left lung. I rip the knife out and smile at him before saying, "This is a special gift from me to your daughter.”

I turn and run back to my car and hear a loud thud followed by a gut-wrenching scream. It's all happening exactly how I wanted it to. I watch from across the street as the petite woman struggles to drag the man toward their car to secure him in the front seat. She tries to call 911 but gets frustrated and gives up when she can't get her phone to work.

The car starts, and she backs out of the driveway, not even noticing the puddle of brake fluid it left behind. Once all is said and done, I'll be the innocent bystander who just happened to be driving behind them and witnessed the entire event. I have to make sure they end up dead after all. With every stop, I grow more and more excited .

She goes to stop at another stop sign, and I notice the car doesn't make a complete stop. I wonder if this is due to the brakes or if she's trying to make it to the hospital faster.

They turn onto the ramp for the highway, and I follow, trailing behind. Before long, I see the sign indicating the exit where the hospital is located only one mile away.

The exit comes into sight, and the car veers to the right, but just as I planned, she is unable to slow down enough to take the sharp bend safely. The next thing I know, the car smashes into the barrier on the side of the road.

I pull up behind them and watch as steam flows from the front end of the car. It's completely crushed, and the windows are shattered. I pull the cell phone jammer from my pocket to click it off before walking over to the passenger door to see the man slumped against the dashboard with the upper half of his body out of the front window. The airbag deployed, but it didn't matter. She was in a hurry to get him into the vehicle and never bothered to buckle him in.

This went perfectly. With where the glass is, they won't even be able to differentiate the stab wound. They will likely assume it's from the glass, and there will be nobody to advise them differently. I press my fingers to his neck to check for a pulse and am pleased when I find nothing.

I walk over to the driver's side, carefully prying the door open to get in. If the cops ask any questions, I'm just a friendly passerby who was trying to make sure they were alive. When I open the door, I see the woman has a large gash on the top of her face, where it slammed against the steering wheel. It looks like this airbag was faulty and didn't go off—even better.

When I lean in to check her pulse, I'm pleasantly surprised to find that she is dead, too. This really was way too fucking easy. I take a step back to commit a mental image of the scene to my mind and close the door.

With that, I slip into the role of Julian again as I pull out my phone to call the cops to let them know about the fatal accident I just stumbled upon. I make sure to sell how truly heartbroken I was to come upon the scene before hanging up and letting my cold demeanor resume.

First step: kill Avery's parents. Second step: take Avery and force Callie to come back to the compound. I'm halfway to getting exactly what I want.