Chapter 23 - Maddox
I stared at the door and frowned. I looked at my phone, checking the time, seeing it was only fifteen minutes past six, but still late. Jillian was always back at the house by six, or I would get a message about if something was holding her up. I hadn't heard from her since this morning.
I pulled myself off my chair and walked over towards the front door. I looked outside, but I didn't see her car or her car coming down the road. My stomach twisted up, feeling like something wasn't right.
I walked back over to the table where dinner was already set out. I grabbed my phone and called her. It rang a few times before it went to voicemail.
I hung up and ran a hand over my face. I paced, trying to think of anything I might have forgotten, but nothing came to mind. She didn't say she was doing anything besides going and picking herbs and then working.
I pulled my phone up, deciding to call John, who was Jillian's boss. He could at least tell me if she was working late on a project or if she had left. The phone rang a few times before John picked up. "Hey, Maddox. Was just about to give you a call."
I frowned. "You were?"
"Yeah, I was wondering if you knew where your wife was."
My stomach dipped. "What do you mean? Didn't she go in for her shift?"
"No, we were expecting her around ten, but she never showed. She hasn't seen her all day."
I went stiff as I thought about how long it had been. Over eight hours were uncounted for. Eight hours had passed during which no one had heard from her or known where she was.
I wondered if she ran for it, but I would feel a tug. I would have known if she was running away and I wasn't.
"What were you calling for?"
"She's not home. I haven't seen her since this morning when she said she was leaving to go pick some herbs before heading to work."
"Well, that's weird. She didn't come in. No one has seen her all day."
I ran a hand over my face, hating this pit that was forming. Something wasn't right.
"Alright, thanks, John. Please call me if you hear from her." I ended the line and started to call Hope. She hadn't heard from her since this morning. I called Nina, who hadn't spoken with her today. No one had.
I paced, trying to think of anything that could have happened, but everything was pointing towards the woods.
I grabbed my keys and called up Kelly, my Beta, as I headed into my car. It only rang twice before he answered. "Hey."
"I need a search party put together."
"A search party? For whom?"
"Jillian is missing."
"What do you mean by missing?"
"I haven't spoken to her since this morning."
"I don't think that counts as missing just because you haven't heard from her in a few hours."
"It's been over eight."
"I think you're a little paranoid."
"I know something is wrong, Kelly. I feel it. She didn't show up to work, and she hasn't come home. No one has seen her since this morning."
"Well, that is a little odd. What about her car? Is it there?"
No, which begged the question. Where was it?
I started my car up and started down the road. My eyes were scanning the road, trying to figure out where she was, where she could be. I went down Main Street and down the side roads. I stopped at areas where she might have a project coming up.
I had circled what felt like the entire town until I spotted the parking lot near Ashview Park that was right next to the woods. Her car sat there empty.
I drove over and parked next to her car. I got out and searched her car, finding nothing. No keys, no phone. Nothing.
I slammed the door, running my hands through my hair. I turned, looking into the woods, when I felt that tug. She was here. I knew it. I sent Kelly my location and headed into the woods. I walked around, scanning the area, trying to think of where she could be.
Was I overreacting? Has she maybe just lost track of time and was too focused on her task to realize how long she'd been out there? No, she knew that she had work today. She wasn't the type of person to just forget about work.
I pulled my phone out, trying to call her again, but it didn't even ring. It went straight to her voicemail.
"Maddox." I turned to my name, finding Kelly walking towards me with Ethan, Owen, and Garrit. They all looked at me, confused. "What are you doing?"
I pointed towards Jillian's car. "She's out here. I know it. Her voice goes straight to voicemail, and she didn't go to work. It's unlike her."
"Maybe she fell asleep," Garrit said with a shrug. Ethan hit him.
"She isn't you, dumbass."
"Do you smell her?"
"Of course I smell her," I snapped, insulted. "She's my wife, and I feel a tug to be here."
Kelly frowned. "We aren't saying it as an insult, Maddox. We're asking to make sure we don't go in blind."
I sighed, scanning the space. I could smell her, but she was all over the place. It was like she'd headed in one direction and changed her mind and headed into another.
"I can't track her scent. She's gone too many directions."
Owen stepped up, sniffing the air. He nodded in agreement. "She did. Her scent is all over, and with the wind, it's just going to disappear. You'll have to follow your bond."
I felt like going North-West, so we started trekking up.
I ground my teeth together, sniffling the air every few feet to make sure I could still smell her.
We didn't get far before I paused, spotting something shimmering on the ground.
I walked over and felt my stomach dip down as I spotted the beads from Jillian's bracelet scattered around the ground.
I spotted her bag a few feet away, planters scattered all over the place.
"What did you find?" Kelly asked, stopping next to me.
I showed him the beads, grinding my teeth together. "Her bracelet."
"Well, that's not good."
"No, it's not." I headed forward, and we all kept walking until we came to an open clearing. I froze when I spotted her. She was on the ground, curled in a fetal position. Her head was ducked down close to her chest, and my stomach clenched up.
"Jillian."
Her head slowly raised to look at me. I stopped moving, realizing her eyes were darker and her face was pale. She didn't look like herself, and when she smiled, it didn't fit her face.
"Stop," I placed a hand out, stopping the guys. "Don't get any closer."
They looked at me, confused when Jillian's smile grew. "Smart man, you are." Her voice came out wrong. It wasn't hers.
"What the hell?" Owen said.
"She's possessed again," I said, trying to think of how to get her free. I tried to think of what Nina had told me, how she and Frank had talked to her to get her to free herself.
"Let her go."
Jillian slowly pulled herself up, and as she looked at me, suddenly I could hear voices. It felt like someone was screaming in my ears, and I quickly tried to cover them, but I could still hear.
"Kill him."
"He doesn't deserve to live."
"He isn't the man you think he is."
"He's only going to leave you soon enough."
The voice grew louder, and the guys all winced as it became a scream.
"Kill them all!"
"They all deserve to die!"
I looked at her. I knew she was in there begging to get free. She'd told her this was her fear; being pulled back into the dark, unable to control her body, was something she never wanted to happen again.
I knew she disliked the bracelet, but another part of her was happy because he wouldn't get into her head again, but he had. He was stronger than we thought. But I knew she was strong enough to fight this.
"Jillian, I know you're in there! Please. Come back to me."
The voices continued and moved closer to Jillian. Jillian moved. A small knife in her hand swiped at me. I jumped out of the way, but I could hear the guys all moving.
"Maddox!" I knew they were worried about me, but I wasn't. Jillian moved again, her hand swiping at me again, this time as she charged at me.
I ducked her knife and caught her middle, twisting us. Jillian thrashed this time, the knife stabbing into my forearm. I felt the blood trail down, but I ignored it.
The guys were grabbing her, trying to push her down onto the ground. "Careful." I snapped.
"She just fucking stabbed you," Owen snapped at me. "We're trying to restrain her."
Jillian screamed, but it wasn't her voice. Her body thrashed and kicked. She even bit onto Ethan's hand. I saw the pain radiate over his face as I tried to grab her head to look at me.
"Jillian! Come back to me. I'm right here. I know you're in there. You just have to fight it."
Jillian continued to thrash, her entire body bucking against us. I felt the wind whip hard against us, almost like someone was trying to free her. I tightened my fingers on her face, leaning closer.
"Jillian, I know you're there. You are stronger than this. You are the strongest person I know. The most resilient and patient. You are everything to me, and I need you. So, I need you to find your way back. I know you hate the dark. But, consider it."
Her body went still, but the voices remained. I was at least getting closer, right? She was fighting to get free.
"You really are so easy to fool," the voice said, almost like it was sitting on my shoulder.
Jillian's eyes slowly opened, and they looked like hers. She looked scared as she stared at me.
I felt a little relieved as I stared at her, seeing she was okay. She looked to have control over her body, but the look in her eyes confused me. I expected her to at least smile a little, but she was looking at me with complete horror.
My hands moved down from her cheeks, going over her jaw and to her neck. I watched her eyes widen as my fingers curled around her neck.
What the hell!
I tried to move them back, but I couldn't. I had no control over anything I was doing. My fingers tightened, and her arms jerked, but the guys were still holding her down.
"Maddox, what are you doing?" Owen spoke as he looked at me, completely confused.
"Maddox," Kelly looked at me, confused. Suddenly, the guys let go of her hands, and Jillian pulled her hands up, her fingers curling around mine, trying to get herself free. But my fingers tightened. I felt a smile pull at my face, but I knew it wasn't me.
I would never hurt Jillian. I would never put my hands on her like this, yet I was.
"Maddox!" Suddenly, the guys were yelling. All of them were pulling at me, trying to rip me off her. I hoped they did. God, I needed them too.
Jillian coughed, her voice broken as she gasped for air, as the guy ripped me off her. Jillian looked at me, utterly terrified, as she pulled a hand up to her neck, her mind seeming to calculate what had just happened.
The guys pinned me, all of them shouting at once.
"What the fuck are you doing!?"
"What the hell, Maddox!"
I shoved at them, knocking Kelly and Owen to the left, and I landed a punch to Ethan. Jillian quickly pulled herself up.
"Don't hurt him! He's possessed."
The guys looked at each other, confused, seeming unsure of what they were supposed to do.
I needed them to hurt me. To stop me. Jesus, I needed them to do whatever they had to do to keep her safe.
I watched Kelly seem to realize that as he moved closer to her. "Jillian, Maddox would never allow us to let you get hurt, so you need to stay back."
He's right. That is exactly what I would want.
Jillian shook her head. "No, you have to get through to him. Pushing me aside and trying to protect me isn't going to get him back."
My body moved, lunging forward, and Ethan grabbed me, stopping my body before I could reach them.
"Move her back," Owen snapped angrily at him.
"No!" She yelled back, shoving at Kelly. "He needs me. If we are going to actually get him, he needs me here."
Jillian looked at me with pleading eyes. "Maddox, you have to fight this. I know this sucks. But you have to fight."
I wanted and I was trying, but I didn't have any control over my body. I couldn't stop myself from what was happening. I could scream at the top of my lungs, but my mouth wouldn't even move.
"You're going to watch while you lose everyone you care about," the voice chuckled.
No. No .
I lunged and felt Owen and Ethan grab at me, but I threw my arms back, sending them flying. Kelly had Jillian and was trying to pull her back, but she fought against him, wiggling herself free.
I watched in horror as she ran towards me. My heart felt like it was going to break knowing I wouldn't be able to stop what would happen.
"Kill her," the voice whispered.
No. No. No! I will not harm her. I will not hurt her.
I love her.
Her arms wrapped around me as she pulled me into a hug.
I didn't feel it at first, knowing she was hugging me.
But after a second, I felt her skin pressed against mine.
I curled my fingers around her arms, her skin pressing against my palms. I felt her breath against my chest, and tears on my fabric.
Her body shook in fear as she clung to me.
"Please come back to me…. Please come back to me…. please…. please…I can't do this without you."
I blinked, soaking her words in. Her arms tightened as her face pressed harder against my chest. "I love you."
I reached up, cupping her face. She looked at me, stunned, her eyes widening as she looked into mine. "Maddox?"
Before I could even soak in her words, take in the moment, the voice echoed around us like a ghost. It sent a shiver down my spine knowing we weren't safe.