A Twisted Gift

16. Chapter 16

Chapter sixteen

Raina

It’s freezing as we slowly make our way through the dark forest. Erik goes first, saying he knows the best way. He’s already assured me that we won’t run into any bears. He explained hibernation to me, something Father conveniently neglected to tell me about.

When we get close enough to the mansion, Erik stops. His gloved hand brushes against my cheek, and then he presses something hard into my palm. I can barely make it out in the dark—a sheathed knife.

“I’m going to take out the guards first,” he tells me in a hushed voice, “and then I’ll come back for you. Stay right here, and stay quiet, all right?”

“All right,” I whisper.

“If anyone but me comes for you, use that.” He nods to the knife in my hand.

“I will.”

When he turns to go, I grab onto his arm.

“Be careful, Erik.”

He kisses me reassuringly. “I’ll make it back to you, little rose. Don’t you worry.”

With that, he steps out of the woods and up to the wall surrounding the mansion. He climbs it with ease. I know this is how he got in to see me all those nights, but it still surprises me. I didn’t think it was possible to climb it.

Erik disappears over the top, and my heart squeezes. This is the farthest we’ve been from each other since he took me last night. I wanted to go with him, but he insisted on taking out the guards by himself. Since they have guns, he’s worried about me getting shot.

As if he’s invincible.

I wring my hands together as I strain to hear any indication that something has gone wrong. There’s a muffled shout—one that thankfully doesn’t sound like it came from Erik—and then the sound of snow crunching.

Please, please, please.

Over the years, I’ve heard Father brag about how well-trained his men are. Erik has the element of surprise, and I told him everything I know about the guards, but what if that’s not enough?

Waiting is agony, my only company the creaking trees and the brisk wind. I find myself pacing as darkness fully settles over the forest. Only when a second pair of footsteps crunching against the hardening dirt matches mine do I stop.

There, at the entrance to the woods, is Erik. Moonlight glints off his knives, but they’re mostly dark. Covered in blood, I realize as he gets closer.

“You killed them?” I whisper when he gets closer.

“The two at the front gate and the two who walk the perimeter.” With a grin, he holds up a set of keys. “Found these, too. Bet one of them opens up the front door.”

Thank goodness. There’s no way I’d be able to climb the wall the way he did.

Erik cleans his knives in the snow before wiping them off with a black bandana. Once they’re dry, he places them back in the sheathes at his hips.

“Where did you get all this from?” I ask.

“A group of men who work for me from time to time.”

“What do they do for you?”

He arches a brow. “What do you think?”

Biting my lip, I stare at the knife in my hand. It’s heavy, solid—not something like one of the props Marissa brought home from the plays she used to perform in. This is meant to harm. To kill.

“They’re murderers?”

Erik nods. “The better term would be hitmen. Killers for hire.”

Killers for hire. I had no idea a position like that even existed.

“You pay men to kill people for you?”

“The ones who make a habit of threatening the people I love, yes.”

I nod slowly. Can I fault him for that when I’m about to do the same?

“We need to go, Raina.” He clasps my hand, his grip firm. “I don’t know how long it’ll be before anyone in the house notices that the guards aren’t responsive.”

He guides me around the wall and through the front gate. We stick to the shadows, avoiding the Christmas lights so we aren’t seen. At the front door, Erik tries a few keys until one turns the lock.

“Quiet,” he reminds me as we step inside. He shuts the door softly and pulls me toward the kitchen.

Staff first. That’s what Erik and I agreed on. Since it’s Christmas, just about everyone is home with their own families, but Father keeps the bare minimum around no matter what day it is. His private chef and a helper, one maid, and the guards.

It makes my stomach fill with butterflies, knowing that Erik wants to kill everyone involved in holding me captive. Not just the man who made sure it happened, but every single person who kept me a secret and turned a blind eye.

As we walk through the house, I realize that I’m already viewing the place differently—like an outsider. The Christmas decorations that I used to be so fond of make me sick. It’s all so fake, a facade to cover up the sinister deeds of my father.

There’s no nostalgia, no wishes for things to have been better. Only a readiness to finish this.

The walk-in pantry has two entrances—one from the kitchen and one from the laundry room. We move in through the latter, the sound of the dryer masking our footsteps.

In the kitchen, I catch Marlee humming a Christmas song. She’s the head chef, and she’s worked here for longer than I’ve been alive. I can think of countless times I snuck in here and begged her for food, but she never cared. Said it wasn’t her business.

“Can you get the flour from the pantry again?” Marlee asks Stella, her helper. “I forgot I gotta prep the dough for dinner rolls for tomorrow.”

Panic floods me, and I grab at Erik’s shirt. But he pushes me behind the open door and crouches out of sight behind one of the carts the maid uses to bring everything into the dining room.

“Sure thing,” Stella says, and a moment later, the light flips on.

Behind the door, I can’t see Stella as she enters the room, but I can hear her looking for the flour. A shadow slips across the cabinet doors—Erik, I realize—and then there’s a muffled scream.

Carefully, I peek around the door. Blood covers the packages lining the pantry shelves, and Erik is holding a limp Stella in arms, one hand covering her mouth. Her front is stained red from the blood flowing from her slit throat.

Erik lowers Stella to the floor and holds out a hand for me. I take it, stepping around the puddle of blood, and he helps me over her body.

“Stella?” Marlee calls out. “You good?”

Erik holds a bloody finger to his lips before stepping in front of me. My heart is in my throat as Marlee stomps over to the pantry.

“Ugh, Stella, come on. How hard is it to—”

Erik slams her against the wall before she can finish, his hands encircling her neck. As he chokes her, Marlee’s eyes find me, and shock mixes with the terror on her face.

“Y-you,” she wheezes as she claws at Erik’s arms. “P-plea…”

“Beg for your life all you want, but no one hurts my girl and lives,” Erik growls.

The smile that takes over my face is as genuine as it is unexpected. I’ve thought about finding a way to kill everyone who’s stepped foot inside this mansion, but I always thought it’d go differently. That a little piece of me would die with every person I killed. That it would hurt me to end the lives of everyone I loved, even though they never loved me back.

Instead, a weight I didn’t even realize I was carrying is lifted from my shoulders. As Marlee slumps to the floor, tears fill my eyes. I jump over her body and into Erik’s arms, fitting my mouth to his.

Everything that’s happened since last night has been so difficult to wrap my head around. Erik has made so many promises to me, and I’m pretty sure I believed him, but seeing him act them out is another thing entirely. It’s rock-solid proof that I’m not alone anymore.

“Are you all right?” he asks when he notices the tears in my eyes.

“Couldn’t be more perfect,” I whisper before kissing him again. “I don’t know how to describe what this means to me. Just… thank you, Erik.”

He presses me into the same wall he had Marlee up against, but where he was rough with her, his touch is gentle with me. A soft caress of my cheek and a reassuring squeeze at my waist. His lips move against mine so softly, so sweetly, that I almost forget where we are.

But Erik pulls away reluctantly, his forehead resting against mine as he breathes deeply. “We have to keep going. We still need to deal with the maid and the rest of your family.”

“Right.”

I’m not sure which maid is working today, just that it’s not the one who’s always kind to me. She told me weeks ago that she was taking some time off to spend with her family, and I was happy with her. Now I’m relieved that she won’t get caught up in any of this.

One of the serving carts is in the kitchen, fully stocked up with Christmas desserts, which means that the maid should be grabbing it soon. Erik and I opt to wait for her, and within fifteen minutes, he’s dragging her dead body into the pantry with the others.

Hand in hand, we tiptoe through the house. As we approach the dining room, the clinking of silverware drifts toward us. Just as I predicted, my family is eating their special Christmas Eve dinner. My heart pangs, knowing they don’t care that I’m not with them.

“What’re you going to do about Marissa?” I hear Benjamin ask, and I freeze, tugging at Erik so he does the same. “I can’t believe you let her leave.”

Oh, thank goodness. It’s better that my sister isn’t here for this. She may care about me the most, but I think she’d be horrified if she knew I had a part in killing our family.

“She’ll come around,” Father says boredly.

“You really don’t think she has anything to do with Raina’s disappearance? Don’t you think the timing is a little odd?”

“I’ve had eyes on Marissa since the second she left the estate. Raina isn’t with her.”

That sends a shiver up my spine, and goosebumps form on my skin. He’s been watching her? And she has no idea? That feels so creepy and wrong. An invasion of privacy, one much worse than Erik going through my things.

“You should just have your men bring Mar back in,” Danny suggests. “That’ll show her.”

Father chuckles. “Oh, Daniel. You have so much to learn. Someone like Marissa? She always comes running back to Daddy.”

“Disgusting,” Erik mutters under his breath. He lets go of my hand and pulls out a gun. “Do you have anything you’d like to say to your brothers before I kill them, little rose?”

If there was something I could say that would make them understand the part they played in keeping me caged, I would. But they don’t care. At some point when we were kids, they started finding it entertaining that I was always left behind. That I was so gullible and trusting. They’ve never stopped exploiting that aspect of who I am.

“They’re heartless,” I whisper. “Nothing I could say would get through to them.”

With a nod, Erik makes a motioning sound to cover my ears. As I do, he steps into the dining room and lifts his gun. Even with my hands over my ears, the two shots are loud—much louder than in the movies I’ve seen. So much power in such a little device.

From where I’m standing, I can only see Erik, but the shouts of agony coming from the dining room are enough for me to piece together a picture. He didn’t kill my brothers. No, he’s making them suffer.

Still aiming the gun—at Father, I assume—Erik motions for me to join him. With my head held high, I cross the room until I’m standing right next to him.

All eyes are on me, and the look of disbelief on Father’s face makes me smirk. For once, it’s nice to be the one in the room who has all the power.

“R-Raina?” Father stammers.

“Little bitch,” Danny seethes. “What the fuck do you think you’re—”

“Cover your ears again, little rose,” Erik says on an annoyed sigh.

Father’s eyes widen. “No—”

But the shot has already gone off, and Danny is slouched limply in his chair, blood oozing from the bullet wound in his forehead.

“You killed him,” Father shouts. “My son! You killed my son.”

Erik laughs, the sound heartless and hateful. “Count yourself lucky. After what you’ve done to her—your own sister, your own daughter —a quick death is kinder than you deserve.”

“Who the hell do you think you are?” Father sputters. “Raina, get over here. I’ll make you regret this if you don’t.”

“She’ll do no such thing.” Erik’s voice is forceful, revealing the anger that’s been simmering in him for so long. “Do you know who I am?”

“Erik. Erik Hawthorne, of course I know who you are.”

“Do you know who I really am?” Erik asks.

“Who you really…” Father trails off, his brows furrowing. His gaze flits to me—at how close I’m standing to Erik—and his eyes widen. “You. No, it can’t be.”

“All those years ago, you tore her away from me. You hurt her. You caged her. You sold her. And you thought you’d get away with it.”

“I—”

“But you couldn’t stop, could you? You came for my family next. Killed my mother and father where they should’ve been safe in their own home.”

“Dad, what the hell is he talking about?” Benjamin asks faintly. He’s clutching at his bleeding arm, his face inhumanly pale.

Father ignores him. “Your father was a bad, bad man.”

“I don’t care,” Erik shouts, making me jump. He must catch it out of the corner of his eye because he turns to me. “I’m sorry, little rose. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“It’s all right, I—”

Father takes the break in Erik’s focus to fling a dinner plate in my direction. I yelp as Erik yanks me behind him, the plate crashing to the floor and shattering. When Erik re-aims the gun at Father, he freezes.

“I’m sorry about your parents, son, but it had to be done. You were…”

“I was supposed to die with them. I know,” Erik spits out. “It didn’t matter that I was innocent in my father’s plans. It didn’t matter that Raina was innocent in her own conception. You still chose to punish us.”

“There are always sacrifices that need to be made to achieve greatness. You’ll learn that one day.”

“I already have,” Erik says darkly, nodding to the Christmas tree in the corner. “Raina, the lights.”

I spring into action, stripping the tree of the yellow string lights. Ornaments fall to the ground as I go, some shattering, but I don’t stop to be more careful. After what we have planned, it won’t matter, anyway.

“Call security,” Father hisses at Benjamin. “Or the police. Someone!”

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Erik says, but there’s a playfulness in his tone. A dare, almost.

He’s enjoying this, I realize. And… so am I.

It doesn’t hurt me, seeing Danny’s lifeless body and the pain on Benjamin’s face. Erik is right. This is only a small taste of what they’ve put me through. The isolation, the loneliness, the knowledge that I’d never truly belong anywhere.

It nearly destroyed me. But getting payback? It’s as vindicating as I always dreamed it would be.

“Fuck… you,” Benjamin wheezes out as he unlocks his phone.

“Raina,” Erik says.

“Got it.” I cover my ears, and a moment later, another gunshot goes off.

Blood sprays across the dining room table and splatters the wall behind my half-brothers. It stains the tablecloth, too, and from where I’m standing, I can see a large, red puddle gathering beneath their chairs.

With the Christmas lights bundled up in my hands, I step toward them. No more. No more bullying, no more laughing at my tears, no more taunting me about not knowing things. They’re gone. Forever.

“Raina! What’re you doing?” Father shouts. “Those are your brothers. We’re your own family. How could you—”

“You’re no family of mine.”

Erik is behind me now, placing a reassuring hand on my back. Kissing my temple, he murmurs, “That’s my girl.”

“Don’t listen to him,” Father says. “He’s only—”

“Shut up,” Erik snaps, advancing toward him.

My father scrambles away, but Erik grabs him and forces him into a chair. Keeping the gun pressed to Father’s temple, Erik beckons for me to join him.

“Touch her, and I’ll make this ten times more painful than it needs to be,” Erik bites out.

I can hear my father’s panicked breathing as I wrap the string lights around him. His arms are trapped against his body, and I tug at the lights to keep them as tight as possible. I wind them until there’s nothing left and Father is secured to the chair.

When Erik nods in approval, I grin. This was his idea. He was worried that Father would try to hurt me if I got too close to him, but now he can’t get to me.

“You’re making a mistake, Raina,” Father says, his voice desperate. “He’ll abandon you the second you’ve fulfilled your purpose. He’ll kill you, just like he did to your brothers. He’s only using you to get to me.”

“Him? Never.” I turn to face Erik, beaming up at him. “There’s only one person in this world who’d do anything for me, and it’s him.”

“God, I love you,” Erik whispers before kissing me softly.

I can feel how much he’s holding back. How much it kills him to step away from me and turn his focus back to Father.

“Don’t kill me. Please—”

“Oh, I won’t.” A grim smile slides over Erik’s face. “She will.”

Father’s expression morphs into one of horror. “W-what? Raina, no. You don’t want to do this. You love me. This will turn into something you regret.”

I shake my head. “All my life, you’ve forced me to carry so much pain. I shouldered it all, hoping that one day it’d be enough. That you’d finally love me. That maybe Danny and Benjamin would, too. But it was never enough. I could never be enough for you.”

“You don’t have to do this.” Father squirms against the lights, but I bound him too tightly. “I can make it up to you.”

“Do you know how much it hurts?” I ask, my voice perfectly even. “To be hated by the ones you love with your whole heart? To wish they’d care but knowing they never will?”

“Raina, I—”

“You don’t know.” I flip open my knife, just the way Erik taught me to this afternoon. “And you don’t really care.”

Gripping the handle, I slash the blade across my father’s face. He cries out, and it sets something right inside of me. I’ve been dreaming of vengeance since I was small, but I couldn’t do it on my own. Now, though… now, I’m not alone.

Never in my life have I been able to stand in front of my father like this without a fear of consequences gripping my throat and holding me back. But now Charles is the one who’s trapped, and for the first time in my life, I’m protected.

I’m free.

“This is for my mother.” I stab his thigh, yanking the knife free and watching blood soak into his pants. “This is for every time you hit me.” A stab in his other thigh. “For every time you locked me in my room.” Another. “For never accepting me as one of your own.”

Another, another, another. Each time I sink the knife into his flesh—feel it split, hear his screams, watch his tears fall—I give him another reason. I go until we’re both covered in blood and I only have one thing left.

Charles is barely conscious, so I doubt I have much time. When I turn to Erik, his eyes are filled with pride. He reaches for me, thumbing away some of the splattered blood on my cheek.

“Beautiful,” he whispers.

“Is there anything else you want to say to him?” I ask.

He shakes his head.

“Please,” Charles wheezes. “E… enough.”

“One more.” I lean in close and press the knife to his throat, reveling in the fact that I can do this. That he can’t hurt me anymore. “This is for Erik. For stealing me away from him and for killing his parents. For all the pain you’ve caused him.”

Then, just like Erik did earlier, I drag the knife across my father’s throat, making sure to cut deep. Blood gushes everywhere, and Charles passes out almost immediately.

“Goodbye,” I whisper, not with remorse or longing. It’s a release, watching the man who hurt me so much die at my own hands. It’s every bit as satisfying as I thought it would be.

And even better, now no one can keep Erik and I apart.

“Raina,” Erik says, his voice soft, reverent.

I turn to find him staring at me, his lips slightly parted and his eyes tracking me closely. Like a predator right before it pounces on its dinner. Sharp focus, silent movements, and something near-wild in his expression.

Heat stirs low in my stomach, desire slipping into my veins.

“Yes?”

He holsters his gun and flexes his hands. “Run.”