Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
By the time we were done eating dinner, I was wiped out. The pizzas I’d made had been a success. Even the one “fancy” pizza, as Knox had called it, had been a hit. It had been a Margherita pizza with chunks of mozzarella, basil, and balsamic drizzle. The other three pizzas the twins had helped me make and to Knox’s relief, they had been meat lover’s, pepperoni, and supreme.
Even though I was tired, I was determined to watch Game of Thrones with the guys. I ran home really quick to throw on pajamas. I chose my Hulk set. The shorts were purple and the top was Hulk green with black writing that read, “Ready for an incredible nap.” I returned to the smell of popcorn in the air and Knox, Colt, and Creed were already lounging on the large sectional. Keelan came walking in from the kitchen carrying three bowls of popcorn. He handed one to Creed and another to Knox. He smiled down at me. “Nice pajamas.”
I couldn’t tell if he was teasing or not. Narrowing my eyes, I put my hands on my hips, ready to defend my cute PJs. He surprised me when he circled an arm around my waist and pulled me down into his lap. We were all the way on the end, which allowed my legs to stretch out to the side and my back to rest against the armrest. He placed the bowl of popcorn in my lap with an innocent smile before turning to look at his brothers.
Colt and Creed weren’t happy. They’d become two glaring statues who appeared to be moments away from maiming Keelan.
Keelan smirked. “You get her all the time. Learn to share.”
Knox rolled his eyes and pressed play on the remote to the TV. The show began to play and Colt and Creed still hadn’t stopped glaring in our direction.
“I don’t know how I feel about this,” Colt grumbled and looked to Creed.
“He’s not going to bite her. Let it go and watch the TV,” Knox said.
I felt the strong urge to go over there and sit by them, but Keelan was my friend, too. I didn’t want to hurt his feelings either. It wasn’t until Colt and Creed eventually focused on the show that I could relax and finally dig into the popcorn.
About halfway through our second episode I was fighting to keep my eyes open. “Why don’t you lie down?” Keelan whispered.
I shook my head to refuse, but I could already feel him lifting me up and laying me down on the couch. “Don’t let me fall asleep,” I mumbled. I felt fingers brush some hair away from my forehead before I gave up the fight and fell asleep.
“Shiiiii…llooooohh! Come out, come out wherever you are!” Mr. X shouted from another room. My heart was racing, and my inner arm was bleeding where Mr. X had cut me. Blood dripped from my fingers as my arm dangled at my side limply, leaving a bloody trail in my wake as I quietly snuck through the house in the dark. Dashing into the kitchen, I scooped up one of the kitchen towels hanging in front of the oven. Biting my lip to keep myself from crying out, I wrapped the towel around my arm. I made quick work of my makeshift bandage and moved on. I couldn’t linger or he’d find me. I needed to get out of here and get help. I clung to a sliver of hope that I could still save Shayla.
Moving as quickly and silently as possible, I headed for the back door just off the dining room. Every window I had tried had been nailed shut. I couldn’t give up. Reaching out for the gold door knob, I turned it. The door wouldn’t budge. “No!” I whispered as I tried to slam my body against it. It wouldn’t budge. I had no choice but to move on.
“Shiloh,” a voice whispered from behind me.
My heart accelerated to a speed so fast, I was afraid it’d give out. Panting, I turned to find Mr. X right behind me. I screamed as loud as my lungs would allow, hoping the neighbors would hear, and fell backward to the floor.
The drop to the floor was short and I landed on carpet. We didn’t have carpet in the dining room. I didn’t have time to stop and think about that as I scrambled to my feet. I took off running the moment I was off the floor, but something strange happened. I wasn’t even in the dining room anymore. I was in the living room on the other side of the house. The room where both of my parents had been murdered. My dad’s corpse was still sprawled out on the couch and my mom was still dead on the floor where I had watched Mr. X stab her repeatedly. “How did I get here?”
“Shi?” a muffled voice called out to me. I turned to search for the voice. There wasn’t anyone there. My family’s living room blurred out for a second, revealing a different living room —one with a huge sectional couch facing a monstrously large entertainment center.
I knew that living room.
“Shiloh?” a different but just as muffled voice said. I turned my head again and saw Knox standing by the entertainment center. Then my family’s living room returned. Knox and I were both standing in the darkness with my parents’ bodies a handful of feet away. Knox regarded me with caution and worry in his eyes. I didn’t understand why he was here, and I didn’t have time to find out.
“I need to get help,” I whispered as I stepped closer to him. “We need to get out of here before he finds us.”
Knox’s brows furrowed.
“I don’t think she’s fully awake,” another muffled voice said. I had to ignore it because we didn’t have time to just stand here. If we lingered here, Mr. X would find us.
I stepped toward Knox and grabbed his wrist. I tugged a little, trying to get him to move, but he wouldn’t budge. “He’s somewhere in the house. If we stay here, we will die. We have to get help,” I said and tugged some more.
The result was the same. He didn’t budge. “Who’s in the house?” he asked.
“Who the hell cares?! We need to wake her up,” a voice argued, and it was clear this time. Not that it mattered.
“Please,” I begged. “Shayla is still upstairs. She’s dying. If we don’t get help right now, she won’t make it.”
Knox’s expression changed from confusion to what looked like sadness.
I didn’t understand why he wasn’t moving, and I couldn’t leave him behind. I couldn’t let anyone else die. “Please, Knox. We have to go get help.” I tugged on him again with all my strength. I got him to move one step before he yanked his wrist free and grabbed mine instead.
He then tried to pull me toward him. “Shiloh.”
I resisted. “Please!” I pleaded loudly as tears pooled in my eyes. “If I don’t get help in time, she will die. Please help me, Knox. Please! If she dies, I’ll be all alone! I don’t want to be alone! Please, don’t make me be alone!” I cried as I screamed at him. Sobs ripped out of me and there was nothing I could do to stop them. His eyes were wide as I fell apart in front of him. My knees gave out and I crumpled to the floor. At that point I didn’t care anymore. I wanted to give up. If Mr. X came in and killed me right now, so be it. I had no more fight left.
Knox knelt in front of me and pulled me into his arms. I climbed into his lap, wrapped my arms around his neck, and buried my face into his shoulder. My whole body shook as I cried and that just made him tighten his arms around me.
“Fuck,” someone cursed.
The smell of coffee woke me. I had to blink a few times to see clearly. My eyes felt puffy. I was surprised to find myself waking up on the guys’ couch. What shocked me the most was the heart beating steadily beneath my ear and the large body it belonged to that I was pretty much lying on top of.
I slowly lifted my head to see who it was. His size was my first clue. My eyes proved that it was indeed Knox beneath me. He was sleeping soundly. I sat up a little and his arm that was wrapped around my back tightened. It was then that I became very aware of everywhere we were touching. My leg was thrown over his. My upper thigh was touching a part of the male anatomy I had yet to be introduced to and it was currently hard enough to attach a flag to. His hipbone was also becoming well acquainted with the area between my legs.
Being very careful not to wake him, I pushed the blanket that was covering us down. I grabbed at the back of the couch, trying to pull myself up enough to gain leverage on my elbow. Once I was able to put my weight on my elbow, then my hand, I lifted my leg that was holding down his manhood to put it… cheese and rice! The only place I could put it was between his legs and that required me to shift my hip. Using what little upper body strength I had, with my leg hovering in the air, I shifted my hip and began falling off the couch.
I let out a yelp and braced myself for the ground. Knox’s arm that was still at my back caught me and he yanked me back on top of him. Only this time I was completely on top of him—straddling him. I still had one hand locked onto the back of the couch and the other was flat on his chest. I gaped down at him, blushing like crazy because I could feel his flagpole through the thin—very thin fabric of my pajama shorts.
“Um…good morning,” I said awkwardly.
Staring up at me, he threw an arm behind his head and sighed through his nose. “You need to work on your slipping-away skills.”
“I was trying not to wake you to avoid this very awkward encounter.”
“You woke me the moment you lifted your head off my chest,” he said and yawned.
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
He shrugged. “I wanted to see what you’d do.”
“Why were we sleeping together?” I asked.
“Because we couldn’t get you to let go of him,” a voice said, startling the crap out of me. It was Keelan. He was just standing behind the couch with a mug of coffee in his hand, staring down at the two of us. “Am I interrupting?” he asked with a sly smirk, which he tried to hide with a sip of coffee.
I took that as my cue to climb off of Knox and they both chuckled. Once I was standing, what Keelan had said finally registered in my head. “What did you mean that you couldn’t get me to let go of Knox?”
They exchanged a look and the mood in the room shifted.
Knox threw the blanket off his legs and sat up. “Do you remember having a nightmare last night?”
My back went ramrod straight and an uneasy feeling brewed in the pit of my stomach. Nervously, I twisted my fingers. “Did I wake everyone up screaming? I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep here.”
“I don’t think she remembers,” Keelan said to Knox.
Knox’s eyes met mine. “Do you remember falling asleep?”
“Vaguely. Keelan laid me out on the couch,” I answered.
“You were asleep for about a half hour when you started breathing heavily and talking in your sleep,” Knox said.
“You said that you needed to stop the bleeding and that there was no way out,” Keelan added.
As they spoke, my dream quickly came back to me and a sense of dread began to overwhelm me.
“Colt told us that you were having a nightmare and that we should wake you before it got bad,” Knox continued. “Keelan was about to wake you when you screamed the most bloodcurdling scream I’ve ever heard and then you threw yourself off the couch. You were barely on the ground a second before you were on your feet and running across the room. I thought you were going to run straight into the TV, but you stopped and began looking around. You were frantic and looked terrified. You were acting like someone was chasing you.”
I tried not to react, even though I was freaking out on the inside.
“We caught on pretty quickly that you weren’t fully awake because we were all standing right in front of you, but it was like you couldn’t see us,” Keelan explained. “Colt and Creed wanted to shake you awake. I didn’t think that was wise. Your guard was up, and I had a feeling that if any of us touched you, you’d attack. So we tried talking to you and calling out your name.”
“It seemed like you heard Colt say your name and then you looked right at me,” Knox said, watching me carefully. “You could see me. Do you remember any of that?”
I nodded a single nod. “I remember seeing you. I didn’t think it was real.”
“Do you remember what you said to me?” he asked.
“Not really,” I lied.
“You said that there was someone in the house and that we needed to leave before he found us.”
“That’s really strange,” I said, shifting my weight from one foot to the other. “But that’s dreams for you.”
Knox’s eyes narrowed as he studied me. “You’d be a terrible poker player, Shiloh.”
Alright, I was done with this conversation. “Where are Colt and Creed?”
“They should be home any moment. They went out to get fresh bagels for breakfast,” Keelan replied.
Knox never took his eyes off me and it was making me want to squirm. I looked from him to Keelan. I knew they were waiting for me to elaborate and I could see the questions they were dying to ask. “You know what? I’m not really hungry,” I said, stepping back. “I better get my run in before it gets too hot out. Don’t you guys have to get ready for work?” I rambled before spinning on my heel and heading for the door.
“Who’s Mr. X?” Knox asked.
I stumbled to a stop and slowly turned around. I didn’t want to believe it. I begged the powers above that I was hearing things. “What did you just say?”
Knox’s gaze was intense and unrelenting. “Who is Mr. X?”