Chapter Ten
Coraline
D eclan has been gone since 2am and might only be home tomorrow, Alice says he's working in Miami and should be home soon. I'm sitting on the black leather sofa in Declans living room reading a fantasy book about a human girl who accidentally killed a wolf and ended up bringing an entire faerie kingdom to their knees.
It's raining outside and I'm secretly hoping it starts thundering. I have a small cheese board next to me with some olives, crackers and Brie. I can't remember the last time I've been so content. I hear Alice and Nathaniel walk through the front door, I pop an olive into my mouth and I raise my eyes to look at them, but when I do, I see two men standing in the living room.
The one has blonde hair and black eyes, the taller one has black hair and blue eyes and is smiling maniacally. They are both dressed in black and carrying handguns, without hesitation they move towards me and my brain doesn't seem to function, I can't process what's happening right now.
I scramble off the sofa as my kindle and cheese board go flying onto the beautiful Persian rug. My feet slip as I run towards the hallway but I feel a hand wrap around my bicep and hold me in place, I scream and buck like a wild animal while trying to break free from the intruders hold. Blood is brushing in my ears and my breathing turns to heaving, "LET ME GOOO!!!" I scream at the top of my lungs while scratching and slapping at the blonde man's face.
I feel a hard knock at the side of my head and my vision instantly starts sprouting white dots at the rims of my eyes "Shut the fuck up" the taller dark haired man says, he cocks his gun and holds it to the centre of my forehead as he says slowly "you're going to come with us, you're going to cooperate, and you're going to keep that fucking mouth closed."
He says as he pushes the gun harder against my skull.
I shut my eyes as tightly as I can while my lips pull into a thin line. I feel a bag being pulled over my head and I'm hauled up over someone's shoulder before I feel another hard blow to my head before my eyes close.
I slowly open my eyes and realize the bag is still over my head, fuck my head is killing me. I try to lift my arms but soon come to the conclusion that my hands are restrained behind the back of a chair and my legs are chained to the floorboards.
I rattle my arms to get them loose but it's no use, the restraints are too tight, I feel them cutting into my wrists and I close my eyes to calm myself. How long have I been here? "Ahh, you're awake. Finally." I hear a voice say, but the voice sounds.. automated, robot like.
The bag is ripped off of my head and I see the two men who took me standing in front of me, and in between them stands another man, dressed in all black with a purge mask on his face. What the fuck? "You've been knocked out for about sixteen hours." The man in the mask says in that robotic voice. He walks closer to me and wraps his hand around my throat, he pushes my head against the back of the chair and squeezes until my vision starts to blur "You're going to die today, Coraline." he releases me and I cough, wheezing to inhale precious air.
"What do you want from me?" I say through my vigorous pants. "I want your life." The man says plainly, my brows knit and I try to loosen my wrists but I feel the blood dripping from my index finger.
"Let. Me. Go." I say through gritted teeth. "Or what?" The robotic voice chuckles, and I stare at him and I haven't felt rage like this before, my chest is heaving and my head is swimming. I don't know why I feel like I could kill him, how dare he take me from my home, well, Declan's home.. and think I would just let him?
The man in the mask stalks towards me and I still, he gets on his haunches and runs a finger down my face, I jerk my chin away and spit at him. He rises to his feet and the next thing that rises is his hand, he brings it down onto my face and the sound of the impact bounces off the walls.
I taste copper in my mouth and I feel blood trickling down my nose, I look up at him and spit my blood filled mouth at him, again.
"You think you're tough shit?" The man says, there's a tinge of anger in his robotic voice and I mentally prepare myself for the worst. The man pulls out a switchblade from his pocket and flings it open, my stomach drops and I can feel bile building at the back of my throat.
He presses the knife to my throat and digs it in slightly, it's enough pressure to let a bead of blood break through the skin and trickle down my neck. "You will die today, Coraline, and I'm going to enjoy it.
I'm going to enjoy seeing life leave your eyes" just as the words leave his mouth, the window on the right hand side shatters and the dark haired man drops down to the floor, dead.
Next, the blonde haired man is falling to his knees like a domino effect.
The door flies open and Declan walks in carrying a heavy rifle. My heart squeezes and I want to get up and hold him, a small whimper of relief leaves my lips as I say "Baby!" without hesitation he shoots the masked man in the knee, making him collapse as he lands on his injured knee.
He rushes towards me and shoots the chain in between my feet and cuts the cable ties keeping my hands bound. He immediately grabs my face and searches my eyes, he's breathing is rapid and his eyes are filled with concern and rage.
"You're hurt" he says and his voice cracks on the last word. He scoops me up into his arms and I wrap my arms around his neck, he kisses my face about eight times before I slide down his body and he motions for me to stand in the corner.
He kisses my lips and then my forehead before saying "I'm never leaving you again, I'm so sorry baby." His face is filled with pain and anger and I can't help but let a few tears run down my cheeks while nodding.
Declan turns around and I swear to God, the energy in the room changes. It's harder to breathe, it's deathly silent and his footsteps toward the masked man sound like thunder.
My heart is racing and I know the masked man is going to die, not me, Declan is going to kill him, and I'll happily watch. The man on the floor is clutching his leg and trying to move away from Declan, only to be cornered with nowhere left to go.
"I was hoping we'd run into each other soon. You have some explaining to do." Declan says while cocking his head to the side and holding his weapon in front of him. "You dare come into my home, and take my wife from me, you've put your hands on her." Declan turns to me and says "Baby would you care to explain to this piece of shit what happened to the last man who put his hands on you?" I look at Declan and say "You pinned him to the forest floor and slit his throat." My voice is filled with anger and steel, my eyes are on the masked man and I can sense the panic in his body language.
"Yeah, quite proud of that actually." Declan says with enthusiasm and a psychotic grin, "Now imagine what I'm going to do to you for trying to take my woman from me. Nobody will ever take her from me." My body stills and I look at Declan.. this man.. loves me.
"Now" Declan says with a clap of his hands as he walks closer to the man on the floor. He drags the masked man my way by his black hoodie, and drops him in front of my feet. Declan reaches for his mask and rips it off of his face and my blood runs cold, I turn around and I vomit in the corner of the room before breaking out into a sob. Tyler.
"Tell her." Declan says whole while holding his rifle to my brother's head. "Tell me what?!" I cry.
"Why?! Why did you do this to me?!" I scream. "You have exactly sixty seconds to explain yourself to her before I blow your brains out Tyler." Declan says while cocking his weapon.
"I-Cora-" Tyler stutters, "53 seconds" Declan taunts.
"It-It was me. I stole the two million." My heart is breaking, and tears are running down my face without my permission or my knowledge.
Why has he done this to me? "Tell her everything, you piece of shit." Declan screams at him.
"M-Mom and dad.. I did that too. I ran them off the road." I feel my face morph into an image of stone, my heart beat steadies and deadly rage takes over me. I have to will my hands to stay by my side and not send them into his face. "Why." I say in an unnerving calm tone, even to me.
"He had life insurance out on them baby" Declan answers for my brother. I take a step closer to Tyler and I slap him across the face, my hands form into fits as I continue hitting him. "
You" punch "Murdered" punch "My" punch "Parents" punch.
Declan grabs my hands and pushes me backwards, my brother's blood is coating my hands and it's sprayed onto my face.
"YOU MURDERED MY PARENTS FOR MONEY!!" I scream at Tyler, spit flying from my mouth. He chuckles while blood is pouring from his nose and his mouth, he spits four of his teeth out and tries to sit up.
"And you would have been next, you little fucking bitch." He says, Declan turns around and shoots him in his other leg, Tyler screams in pain and clutches his leg.
"Y-You... you were in the car. Weren't you? You were the one who ran me off the road.. you tried to KILL ME!!" I scream the last two words.
"Why?" I say through a heaving chest and eyes full of tears.
"Why would you do this?" I cry. "They left you everything, they left you the money, and you didn't deserve it. I took life insurance from out on them, and killed the fuckers. Legally from that day on I became your guardian, so I got rich off of their deaths and the money I stole from you. I took life insurance out on you too, you were supposed to die in that accident. I would have been richer. You always have to fucking ruin everything Cora, you know that? Ever since you were little.
Always, in, the, fucking, way." I walk towards Declan and without hesitation I grab his rifle and I shoot my brother in the head. He falls backwards and a loud thump rings in the room, I toss the rifle on the floor and I walk towards him, I see his lifeless eyes staring at the ceiling and I spit on his face. Piece of shit. I wipe my face with the back of my hand, not caring about wiping the blood on my face. I turn to Declan and say "Take me home." He looks at me with love in his eyes, he cups my face and kisses my lips as he says "I love you"