Chapter 18
EIGHTEEN
Arlo was here.
My nightmares have returned. They’ve gotten stronger, too. Sometimes, it’s just Paul’s face haunting me as I’m forced to relive the abuse he put me through. Other times, it’s just the darkness of my mind that’s not letting me wake up – keeping me trapped deep within its clutches.
I need to increase the dose of heroin I’ve been using, because it’s no longer doing the trick. It no longer keeps the nightmares away.
And each time, I’d wake up covered in sweat, my breathing heavy. The only thing that’s been able to calm me down is the fact that Arlo was here. His scent would be the first thing I smell when I wake up from the terrible dreams, and it’s soothing to know that he’s lurking in the shadows.
I knew he’d find where Kaya and I were staying eventually, but I didn’t think he’d come.
The thought of him watching me sleep, just keeping me safe from a distance that once seemed uncrossable, makes my heart warm.
The man who stalked me day after day back in Long Grove, for two years, is at it once again.
The fact that he’s here to stay, despite the demons that are overfilling my head is making me happy.
Just the thought of Arlo is making me happy.
Besides, it had to have been Arlo. I highly doubt that Arson could’ve materialized inside of my room, miles away from where I left her, in the middle of the night.
She’s been curled into my side since I found her last night, purring and cuddling.
My little baby. She’s been hopping from one place to the other, and although it must’ve been terrible for her to be in so many new territories in such a short amount of time, I know she was well taken care of.
She’s gotten a little too chunky for my liking, but at least she was being fed well.
The door bursts open, and Kaya enters. Arson jumps off my lap, hissing at the girl, but Kaya only throws her a dirty glance, then completely ignores her. Kaya’s not the one to randomly pop into the bedroom she’d given me, and I immediately sit up in the bed.
“Alright, two things. Both are bad news, pick one.”
“Uh… the worst one?” I shrug.
“Alright, Wood’s death has made Flint act. He just paid an entire gang of fifty people, might I add, to go ahead and kill all of you.”
My heart sinks to my feet, the thought of anyone harming Arlo making my blood boil.
My hands clutch around the sheets, jaw locked tightly.
The rational portion of my brain is telling me that everyone will be alright, after all, this is what they do, and it’s not the first time someone’s come after them.
However, I can’t help but worry. All of those people are my family.
From Arlo and Aria, to Freya, Jewel and everyone I’ve met thanks to my Baby.
An image of their dead bodies flashes behind my eyes and it’s enough to make me nauseous.
“And the other thing?”
She motions with her head toward the other room. “Yeah, you need to see that one with your own two eyes.”
With a sigh, I toss the covers off, kissing the top of Arson’s head, and slide my feet into the soft slippers.
Arlo’s hoodie smells so much like him, which is another proof of his presence.
He definitely sprayed his perfume all over it while he was here.
I throw it on quickly, and head out of the bedroom, closing the door behind me to prevent Arson from leaving.
She’s an orange cat — she’s not to be left alone, unsupervised in a room that has that many cables connected to the outlets.
She’d definitely chew on them, then die from her own stupidity.
“What is it, Kaya?”
Kaya sits in the chair, pulling herself up to the desk. The monitor turns on, and while one of the many programs she uses turns on, she puts her glasses on. Unlike the rest of her usual outfits, the glasses are very simple. How strange.
“Someone put a bounty hunt on your head.”
My brows skyrocket to my hairline. “Excuse me?”
“Mhmm,” she murmurs, taking a sip of the coffee that’s on the left side of her.
It’s still hot, the steam floating upwards.
“It’s likely Simmons. I’m tracking it down as we speak, but for the foreseeable future, you’re not to leave this place, got it?
You’ll be dead before you can even go down the street to the bakery. ”
“How much money are we talking about, exactly?”
“Fifty-thousand dollars.”
I breathe out. “That’s a lot of money. I’m a little disappointed that it’s not more.”
“Oh, that’s the standard reward. However, if someone manages to kill you within the first seven days of the ad being up, they get triple.”
“Jesus Christ,” I groan. “Does he still have that kind of money? Last I checked, all his accounts got frozen when he got arrested. Besides, the man’s still a wanted criminal!”
“Men like that have hundreds of thousands, if not millions, in cash ready for things like this. I don’t doubt that he has the money to pay for your head. What I’m worried about is the fact that the ad popped up an hour after I learned of Flint paying a gang.”
The realization dawns on me, and I sigh, slumping to the floor, sitting and looking at Kaya’s back while she’s scrolling. “That’s just fantastic. Let me guess, the ad is on the dark web?”
“Bingo,” she nods, without looking at me. “But not just anyone can access it.”
I frown. “Isn’t the dark web extremely hard to get into in the first place?”
“Not at all,” she explains, turning in her chair to look at me. “All you need is a different browser, and a link. A kid could get in if they knew which browser to download. It’s the other things that aren’t as accessible.”
“But, theoretically speaking, if you knew what you were looking for, you’d find a way in?”
“Precisely.”
“Should I be worried you’re on the dark web?”
Kaya chuckles. “Worried? For me? No. Be worried for the motherfuckers I find on there.”
“Why?”
She lifts a brow. “Ever heard of the Rapscallion?”
“In passing,” I shrug. “Someone mentioned the name once or twice. Apparently, he’s some sort of a vigilante? He’s going around killing people who hurt kids.”
“She,” Kaya corrects.
“Oh? It’s a woman? I never knew and — oh my fucking God!” I gasp. “It’s you?”
“Took you long enough.”
“That’s… amazing.”
Kaya shrugs. “When all this is over, if you’re ever in need of a job, you know where to find me. I could use someone like you.”
“Someone like me?”
Kaya pauses. “You’re a victim, too. And although most sane people can sympathize with children who have gone through terrible abuse, whether it was mental, physical or sexual, they don’t know what it’s like.
Their rage toward those bastards will never be as strong and as big as ours.
My goal is to cleanse the world off them while I’m alive. ”
“That’s… on brand for you, to be honest,” I chuckle. “Do you have anyone to pass the business down to?”
“If my brothers end up having children, then yes. Otherwise, no.”
“You won’t have any of your own?”
Kaya laughs. “I was eighteen when I got a hysterectomy. I made sure to never be able to get pregnant. A person with my diagnosis is not a suitable parent. At least, I’m not.
I know I’d never be able to provide love and care the child deserves.
And giving birth to a child just to send it off to a nanny or a caretaker isn’t what any child deserves.
I’ll just focus on trying to keep those existing ones safe. ”
I take a good look at her. Kaya, for what it’s worth, isn’t the monster she portrays herself to be. Yes, her diagnosis makes it harder for her to connect with people, and I’m certain she doesn’t feel emotions in the traditional sense, but what she is doing is very brave.
Not many people would have the balls to do it, even with the resources.
The fact that her goal is to kill every predator, abuser and child molester is admirable.
Not only that, it’s fucking insane. She’s putting her life on the line for the little girl inside of her, for who she was before the innocence and emotions were snatched from her.
“Then, my answer is yes.”
The words fall from my lips before I can stop them. I didn’t want to outright accept it — things like these need to be thought out carefully. Yet, that’s the only thing I can see myself doing for a while.
“Perfect.”
“Yes, and we’ll—”
Her words immediately die out when a map opens on her screen, a little, bright red dot starts moving. The sound that comes from the speakers makes me flinch, and I swear, for a moment, I think the Purge is happening.
Kaya immediately turns back to the screen, and I jump to my feet, towering over her from the behind chair, trying to pinpoint what we’re looking at exactly. The location the red dot is moving toward is Brooklyn, and a small frown tugs on the corners of my mouth.
“What is that?”
“That, my friend,” she pauses for a moment, fixing her glasses, “is Paul Simmons.”
My heart immediately starts beating rapidly inside of my ribcage, and I cannot contain the flutter of excitement, and happiness that blooms in my chest. Fuck that, my entire body feels like it’s about to burst into flames.
“He’s out.”
Kaya laughs, her fingers gliding over the keyboard with ease. My eyes are following the red dot, and the fact that this man will be in my clutches very, very soon is making all of the suppressed anger reappear.
I’ve been plotting this. I’ve been planning this since the moment I escaped prison, and Arlo only pushed me forward, helping me carve and pave the perfect path for my revenge. Yet, now that the time has finally come for me to face the worst demons of my life, I’m not scared.
The happiness, the excitement mixes with rage, the feeling way beyond my comprehension. For all the women he’s done this to. For all the people that have suffered abuse by his hand. For the fifteen-year-old Blair who saw no end of the dark tunnel.
For all of us, and beyond, I’ll make him pay. I’m going to ensure the bastard never sees the light of the day, and the last person his pathetic face will see before he perishes like the pig that he is will be mine.
Revenge is a dish best served cold, and mine is long overdue.
I’m coming for you soon , Paul Simmons. And you can’t run anymore.
“We got the motherfucker, Blair.” she says as a sadistic grin spreads across her face.