Chapter 22
Chapter
Twenty-Two
KENDRIX
“Doctor, I need to go home today. You said all of my tests came back normal, and my body is functioning all on its own. I can’t stay here another day, so either you get me those discharge papers, or I’m busting out of here and taking down everyone who wants to stand in my way.” Johnathan chuckled from his chair in the corner of the room.
“Mr. Thompson you do not have to threaten me we will set you free here but the minute you get even the slightest headache, your ass better be back in, pronto.” He smirked before walking out the door.
It had been three days, and I was going stir crazy in here knowing that my Jewel was still missing and we absolutely had zero leads. There was nothing left of Michael’s house to check after the explosion, and we ransacked Judge Amanda’s office, but someone had gotten to it first and cleared the entire room out.
“Ken, you have to save your energy, man; we will find her. God is going to protect her; you have to believe that.” Johnathan sounded assured, but what the fuck did he know.
“Did you stay this confident when Makayla was missing for years?” The nerve of him talking out the side of his neck like this to me.
He raised two hands in surrender, “You’re right; I don’t want you to bite everyone’s heads off. Go take a look at all the get-well gifts you have over there. Maybe that’ll distract you until the discharge papers come.” He pushed me over to the table where everything was organized, and I knew Phoenix made it look so beautiful for me.
My damn heart ached when I remembered the way she screamed for whoever it was to leave her alone.
Is she screaming now with no one to hear but her tormentor?
I went to look at the cards when my phone pang, running over to snatch it off the bedside table it was an email. There was no subject so I was about to spam it until the address caught my attention. [email protected] was the sender .
How is she emailing me when she’s dead?
“Come look at this Johnathan.” The room was filled with a heaviness that was almost too difficult to breathe through.
A video started to play with a familiar woman and a man that I, too, recognized. The couple was naked cuddling in bed when Amanda kept asking questions and digging for answers. She did it in a way that wasn’t too suspicious, but the post-orgasm haze had him ready to sing.
“I need her because I wanted her the minute I saw her, but she was too wrapped up in him. Who was there for her when he changed overnight on her, me! Who continued to help her with her studies and be there at her beck and call, me! He’s too selfish for her. I watched him be with multiple women in her face, and she still cried over him. She denied me once but the moment I get him out the picture, she’ll have no other choice but to choose me finally.”
“They can mail those damned papers to me; we need to go now!”
PHOENIX
Three Days Ago
“Yes Kay I am fine, I didn’t cry that much this morning as I did the previous days so I think we are on our way to better days. Listen, I just left the house. I went there to shower and get into some fresh clothes. I’m on my way back to the hospital. No you do not have to be on the phone with me until I get there. Tell Travis we love him and I will call him tonight. Ok, love you girl bye!”
I pulled off from the house after triple checking the cameras to make sure everything was still working fine. The radio played some of my favorite songs, so the good mood continued until I returned to Kendrix.
The nurse's station was empty when I walked by, but it was almost time for the staff to switch out for the night shift. There would usually be at least one person sitting there, though; it was like a ghost town here. When I made it to his room, he looked as peaceful as he did when I left. Even though they said it wasn’t a big deal, I cleaned his face and fixed his hair as best as possible. My baby wouldn’t want to be in here looking like nobody loved him.
While praying for him, I felt a presence in the room with us. My skin crawled with the awareness that whoever it was didn’t have good intentions. Lucky for me, when I got home, I attached the knives Kendrix gifted me with to my body.
“Don’t turn around, and I won't have to hurt you.” The voice was disguised like the one on the voicemail when Madison was murdered.
I followed directions, and when he told me to stand up, I did. Asha’s words played back in true vinyl form .
“Do everything he tells you to do, comply, and don’t deny too early, or you might set him off too soon.”
“Good girl.” He said when I held out my hand after he asked me to. The phrase coming from his lips made me squeeze my eyes shut in an attempt to get my bearings.
“Now I am going to put this over your mouth, and it will knock you out, but you will be okay. It’s a little something to make the journey to our destination more enjoyable.”
Immediately I started shaking my head no, ready to hit the help button on Kendrix’s remote. It lay only a few inches in front of me; somehow he knew what I was thinking.
“Don’t you dare do it!” The blow to the back of my head almost sent me flying into Kendrix’s peaceful body.
“Nooo, you can’t do this; get off of me!” I shouted as loud as my voice would allow. But I knew it was no use; the nurse's station was on the other side of the floor. We were the only ones still here on this end of the hospital wing, and other patients were closer to the elevators.
“Trust me, you’ll be begging to be in my arms soon enough.” A whisper to my ear was the last thing I remembered when everything else faded away.
Every time I opened my eyes, nothing but blackness surrounded me. When I screamed for what felt like hours on end, no one came to my rescue. All my memories of the past few hours or days, there is no concept of time here, and I’m sure that’s exactly how they wanted it.
I begged God to help me keep my senses alert, but my body refused to agree. It wouldn’t be too bad to rest up and save my energy for when I need it.
When I opened my eyes this time, the sunlight blinded me. The darkness was somehow more comforting; I knew what to expect from it. Some may say that you don’t know what’s crawling in the shadows, but it’s the ones who come to the light who are far more dangerous.
“Mom, Mommy, is that you?” My eyes must have been playing tricks on me because there is no way my mother is standing there a few feet away from me right now.
“Oh, you are finally awake; I didn’t know if the amount of drugs was too much for your body to handle.” I squeezed them shut to only open them right back up to still see her there with a sinister smile. The woman standing there was not my mother, though; her hair looked matted and loosely thrown into a ponytail. She never wore casual clothes; her theology was that a woman should be ready to start the day on a runway.
“Drugs? Awake? I’m sorry can you explain to me what the fuck is going on here. Why are you here right now and where is here? Where am I?! Help!” I should have seen the slap coming a mile away but the pain didn’t hurt any less.
“Shut the hell up Phoenix right now, before you piss him off. Now get up and eat that food I prepared for you.” Her eyes were glazed over like she was on drugs. The craze and frantic look made me anxious but I swallowed it down and saw a tray with bread, some kind of meat, and fruit.
“Fuck no, I will not shut up until you tell me what is going on here? Where is here in the first place? You better start talking right now!” I hissed out, every fiber of my being wanted to shake her until she came to her senses.
Destiny took a step closer until she was only a few inches away from me.
“What is going on here is you will finally do something for me. I sacrificed everything to be your mother and it still wasn’t enough for you. Your father couldn’t be bothered to contribute to his role as your parent, so I did everything. All of those late nights of leaving you home was so I could make enough money to feed, clothe, and keep a roof over our heads. Do you know how humiliating it is to be married to a wealthy man but still struggle day to day? One day, I was in the casino, and I noticed the most unique tattoo on this man’s wrist; one thing led to another, and we made a deal. He would forgive my debt if I helped him find a wife for his son, and we shook on it. Men like him, like Jenhong, you don’t say no to. You made it difficult by parading with that low life for so long, I told his son to do everything in his power to make everyone else disappear. You will not ruin this for me. It’s bad enough that you aren’t Asian, but apparently, the son has been in love with you for years, so the plan has been set in stone for quite some time. He got tired of waiting on you so we put this plan together.”
I grabbed the food tray in front of me and tossed it at her head, the fury inside of me was unbearable. My legs were weak, but I managed to kick her right in the chest, and her body flew to the other side of the room.
“You stupid poor excuse for a human being, you married me off to some man that I don’t even know to pay off a debt?! Do you even hear yourself right now?! You just wait until the guys show up to get me because you better believe that they are already searching for me! When they get here, you can trust you will be the first person to die.” My voice was confident and filled with enough steel that she looked slightly afraid. The tears that wanted to fall would not. Not anymore.
A voice came through the intercom that I failed to notice by the door. Destiny looked at me with such hatred and left the room without another word.
How could she do this to me?
Looking around the room, I didn’t notice anything that I could use to break out of this room with, and I didn’t know who else was here. Asha told me to think and strategize before I made any decisions. It’s funny that we prepared exactly for this situation; it doesn’t mean that I am ready, though. My heart didn’t stop racing since I opened my eyes, but I couldn’t focus on the fear that threatened to pour out of me like an erupted volcano.
My clothes were still intact, and the sweatpants I took from Kendrix’s drawer to feel closer to him weren’t out of place; thank God he didn’t touch me. But who is he? I still don’t know who the stranger is. Maybe it’s time we met face-to-face. It’s long overdue at this point. I looked around for my knives, and the bulge on my ankle and waist from the holsters assured me that I had a fighting chance to get out of here alive.
There was a knock at the door, and in walked the person I had never expected to be behind all of this.
“Seth… how could you do this to me? I thought you were my friend.” He didn’t say anything at all; his eyes roamed my body, and it made me feel naked and exposed. I grabbed the covers to shield myself, and that broke his stare.
“I am your friend Phoenix, I- I love you.” I squeezed my eyes close at his admission. This wasn’t right; he shouldn’t be here. None of this should be happening!
I heard his footsteps bringing him closer, “Don’t worry, Phoenix, you will feel comfortable with me soon enough. We have to get him out of your system first. How are you feeling today? I was worried when you didn’t wake up. I got with Destiny for giving you too much propofol. Trust me, she learned her lesson. Did she tell you everything? I thought it would be easier coming from her.” The ease I had always had with Seth was gone, and my muscles were locked up with a key now.
I shook my head no. He came closer to pull a chair up to the bed in front of me. Seth’s eyes held a different type of promise than Kendrix’s. His eyes knocked on the door of my fight-or-flight nervous system, but I slapped the warmest expression on my face.
Seth held his hand out for mine, and I called on the strength of God to keep my composure. “I have wanted this day since we were in college when he broke your heart. Oh wait, look at what I grabbed for you.” He pulled out his wallet, and in his hands was the picture from my house that had gone missing.
“It’s us. We just pulled an all-nighter. I fell asleep in the library twice, but you made sure I had snacks and water. Kendrix was supposed to help me study, but he ended up bailing on me.” The sweet expression on both of our faces was innocent. Seth’s hair was longer and pulled back into a high bun that looked identical to mine. We looked happy with each other .
“Kendrix doesn’t deserve you and he never did but you could never see that. I had to display all of his sins for you to turn away from that temptation and be free. Free enough to see that I have always been here. Once we graduated you shut me out but I did not hold it against you. My father found a way for us to be together, my heart is yours Phoenix and we belong together.”
Asha’s words rang through my mind, “Ask questions, probe for all the information you can handle. Go with the delusions until it is safer to do otherwise.”
“Seth, you hurt all of those people; Madison was my friend. How was Michael involved in all of this? I am so confused. Why did it have to turn deadly?” He had the nerve to look guilty, too.
“I don’t want you to judge me, but my family is full of dangerous people. I needed to prove myself, so she became a casualty. Michael bit off more than he could chew; he had to play his role in all of this.” I am so sorry, Madison. Please forgive me.
“You say that you love me, but you tried to hurt me. How is that love?” I tried to pull my hand away, but he kept his grasp firm.
“I never hurt you; everything else was for Kendrix. Michael was supposed to kill him multiple times, but I should have known he wasn’t wise enough. But every time we sent him after him you were never too far away. He finally did something right with that bomb, though; you should start your mourning process. There is no way he will be walking out of that hospital.” I blinked back tears. I didn’t know if Kendrix was still alive or not.
If I reacted to that, it might set him off.
My brain was quick to come up with a response. “Oh Seth, I did not know you felt this way! You are right. He’s not good for me; I can see that now. It is obvious that you are the better man for me. Can you ever forgive me for being so stupid all this time?” Seth being a lawyer might allow him to read me and know that this is all bullshit. But I prayed that his delusions were far greater than anything else.
I squeezed his hand and he smiled even bigger. Asha did mention that if my stalker is in love with me, that would be the easiest emotion to play on.
“Of course I can. I knew my notes would make you change your mind.” I swallowed the fear in my heart and made a vow to God at that very moment.
“All of this information has been a lot, though. Can I have some alone time? I am not comfortable with Destiny coming back in here anymore, and I would love it if you could keep her away from me.”
“Of course, anything you need, watashi no joō .”
Seth gave me my much-needed alone time, and I used it to do the one thing I knew would ensure my safety.
I prayed, on my hands and knees .
“God help me find a way out of this… please.” I blinked back the tears; I wouldn’t show anyone that they could break me.
I was a rising Phoenix that would come up out of the ashes.