Pieces of Me (Lavender Falls #1)

Prologue

Hadley

Iturn in the passenger seat to face Kane while subconsciously playing with the bracelet around my wrist. “I had a really great time tonight.”

The inside of the truck is dark, with only the soft light of the moon casting us in a glow, and I hope he can’t see how flushed my cheeks are.

Reaching across the middle seat, he grabs my hand from my lap and laces our fingers together. “Me too.” He smiles at me, and the butterflies in my stomach begin to dance. “We should do it again sometime.” He says, continuing to rub his thumb over my knuckles.

“I’d like that.” My voice is a breathy whisper, and I pray to God he can’t tell how nervous I am.

Please kiss me, I think.

He reminds me of a young Chad Michael Murray with his short cropped blond hair and bright-blue eyes.

There was a moment earlier when I thought he was going to kiss me, and God, did I want him to.

I was slightly disappointed when he didn’t.

A part of me was worried that maybe he wasn’t into me like that, but he continued to hold my hand all night and even mentioned a few times that he thought I was beautiful.

He gives me a little tug, and I slide across the seats of his pickup, trying to control my breathing so he can’t see how much he’s affecting me.

When we’re thigh-to-thigh, I look up at him through the slit of my bangs and roll my lips between my teeth.

Lifting his hand, he gently places a stray piece of hair behind my ear before trailing down my cheek and cupping my jaw.

My heart is beating so fast, my eyes catching on his mouth as his tongue peeks out to wet his lips.

He starts to lean in, and my lips part. “Hads?” My name comes out of his mouth in a soft whisper, his warm breath hovering over my parted lips.

“Hmm?” I lean in closer, our lips grazing.

He swallows, and for a moment I can’t hear anything over the beating of my heart. “Can I kiss you?” he asks quietly into the dark.

“Yes,” I whisper against his lips.

He closes the last thread of distance, and our lips touch.

His kiss is soft, and I let him explore with his tongue.

I’ve only ever kissed one other boy before, and it never felt like this.

Soft and caring. The butterflies in my stomach take flight, and I sink deeper into the kiss.

Kane pulls me closer, and I grip his shirt until I’m practically on his lap.

After a few more moments and the steering wheel digging into my back, we pull apart and rest our foreheads together, our breaths mixing and our heart rates slowing. I can feel the heat of my cheeks, and my palms are sweaty.

“I should probably go inside. I wouldn’t put it past my parents to be watching out the window right now.” I tell him before we both turn to make sure that’s not the case.

“I’ll see you Monday?” he asks, clearing his throat and brushing my cheek with the pad of his thumb.

“Mhm.” I scoot across the seats and open the truck door, stepping out into the night.

Trying to hold it together, I walk up my steps, fighting the giant smile that wants to overtake my face.

When I get to the door, I turn around and wave before he puts the truck in gear and takes off down the long winding driveway.

Once his tail lights are out of sight, I do a little dance and lean against the door, smiling up at the sky, then gather myself together before going inside.

Kane has been a friend since middle school and has always had a crush on me, but for the last six months, I was in a relationship with someone else.

After I ended things, Kane finally took his shot, and I am so glad I finally gave him a chance.

I’ve always thought he was cute, but I never saw him as more than just a friend until now.

My parents adore him and have been pushing me to go out with him since the tenth grade.

They were both overjoyed when I told them I was going out with him tonight.

“I’m home!” I yell, closing the door softly behind me.

I’m met with an eerie silence, the only sound coming from a soft hum somewhere in the house. The air has a slight chill, causing me to shiver and hitting me with a sense of unease.

“Guys! Where are you all?” I yell out.

Nothing.

Shaking it off, I continue to kick off my shoes and lock the door behind me before I silently shuffle down the hall to the stairs.

“Mom! Dad! I’m home!”

No answer.

“Crew?” I call out.

Silence.

“Where is everyone?” I mumble to myself as I start my descent up the stairs.

My whole body is on edge, and I can’t shake the feeling that something just isn’t right. With a rambunctious six-year-old brother, silence is an anomaly in our house. Even at 9p.m., there is usually a lot of activity happening.

I expected both my parents to be eagerly waiting for me. They were so excited about my date with Kane this evening and said they couldn’t wait to hear how it went.

As I reach the top landing, a shiver snakes down my spine causing the hairs on the back of my neck to rise. My heart beats erratically and I can hear my blood pulsing through my ears.

I get the prickly sense of being watched and my mind is shouting at me to get out.

At the end of the hall I can see the faint glow of my parents’ TV just beyond their half shut door. Thinking they must all be cuddled up watching a movie I let out a breath and take my final step off the stairs.

Run, my senses scream the closer I get.

I tiptoe to the end of the hall, my chest rising and falling in a rapid succession. Pausing at the threshold of their room, I take a deep breath, and with a shaky hand, I push the door open and enter inside.

I blink, and it takes me a moment to process the scene before me.

There’s blood. So much blood.

My parents’ things are scattered all over the room, but it’s the walls and floor that I can’t take my eyes off of. The room is painted in red.

At the foot of the bed lies my mom. Pale and eyes open, unblinking, in a pool of that deep crimson that covers every surface. Her beautiful blonde hair a halo around her, her mouth open and frozen in time.

A scream rips through me as my eyes catch on a figure to the right.

My breaths quicken, my pulse racing as tears begin to fill my eyes and cloud my vision.

Just off to the right, I see my dad. He’s slouched in front of the closet door, head hanging and chest bare and bleeding.

“No, no, no.” My legs give out and I begin to scream as I crawl towards my mom.

“Mom! Mom! Wake up!” I beg, placing my hands over her chest, trying to stop the flow of blood even though I know it’s already too late. My hands are cold and sticky, and tears stream down my face.

I look over at my dad and know there is nothing I can do for him either.

Crew.

I need to find my brother.

I start to stand when I hear the floorboards creek and the creeping of footsteps behind me.

Getting the prickly feeling of being watched again, I swallow the sorrow and turn around.

My breath hitches, and my body begins to shake violently with sobs.

“What did you do!?” I scream with so much hatred I want to explode.

My ex-boyfriend stands in the doorway, watching me with a malicious smile. His hands are covered in blood, and he has splatters all over his clothes and face.

“Exactly what I told you I’d do,” Adam states, slowly stalking towards me. “I warned you, Hads. I told you I’d kill every single person you loved if you left me, and you didn’t listen! I watched you get out of HIS car!” he seethes, the carpet squelching under his feet as he walks towards me.

My stomach clenches, and I think I’m going to be sick.

My body shakes with hatred and fear. “Crew?” I choke out, asking but not wanting to know.

Standing toe-to-toe he reaches out a hand and caresses my face. I try not to flinch as the cold stickiness of blood makes contact with my cheek.

He shakes his head, and his eyes look almost sad. “I’m sorry, baby. It’s just you and me now.

How it was always supposed to be,” he says, his voice gentle, thumb running under my eye to swipe away the tears.

My heart shatters, and I swallow down the bile that wants to come up.

Only six years old and now dead because of me. He will never grow up. Never get his first car, never graduate. Never fall in love.

Adam and I were only together for three months before he started to get possessive.

I couldn’t even wave at another guy without him threatening me.

There were even a few times he hit me. Knowing I deserved better, I finally broke things off, telling him to never speak to me again.

After seeing me with Kane a week later, in his usual fit of rage, Adam threatened to murder my entire family.

But I never thought he would ever actually do it.

He threatened all kinds of crazy things over the time we were together, and he’s never acted on them.

I just thought he was delusional and crazy.

“I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!” I scream over and over before the sting of his hand burns across my cheek. My head snaps to the side, and then I feel the hard grip of his fingers digging into my chin, forcing me to look at him.

“Baby, why’d you have to go and say that? Huh? I don’t want to hurt you, but you make me so goddamn angry when you speak to me like that.” He shakes his head and spits in my face.

I kick him as hard as I can, jerking my face from his grip, and begin to back away, trying to think of a way around him.

“You’re going to pay for that, Hads!” He reaches behind him, and I catch the glint of light catching off a knife as he pulls it from his back pocket. I scramble backwards, slipping in a pool of my mom’s blood and landing with a thud.

Adam steps closer and looms above me, dangling the knife in his hand.

“Don’t make this harder than it has to be, Hads.

I didn’t want it to go this way, but you are being too goddamn difficult.

If I can’t have you, no one can.” He spits, face red with anger.

“I promise I’ll make this quick.” He steps closer tapping the knife in the palm of his hand with each step he takes.

Heart beating frantically, I scramble back and pull myself up against my mom’s night table reaching behind me for her knitting needles. With my adrenaline pumping, I know the only way out of this is to fight.

With every ounce of strength I can muster, I lunge forward and thrust the needle straight down into his shoulder.

“You fucking bitch!” he roars, letting out a painful groan.

Stomping on his foot, I knee him in the groin and take off for the exit.

My socked feet slip, and I come down hard on my hands and knees just as Adam gets a hold of my ankle and drags me through the soaking wet carpet.

I scream and lash out, foot connecting with his jaw, stunning him just enough I can pull free.

Dashing out the door, I’m just about to the stairs when my head is jerked back so violently I see stars.

Adam has a handful of my hair, but I don’t give up.

I twist and punch blindly, fighting back and giving myself any chance I can at making it out alive.

I connect with something solid before I’m thrown to the floor.

A hard crunch echoes as my head connects with the banister, and for a moment, all I can see is blackness. I kick out and try to stand, but Adam is quicker. Before I can get to my feet, he kicks me with so much force I stumble backwards, my feet sweeping out from under me as I hit stair after stair.

A crumpled heap at the bottom, I try to breathe through the pain, knowing I need to get up and run if I want to survive.

My head throbs and my leg burns, bent at an unnatural angle. I try to scramble backwards, dragging my leg as Adam begins his slow descent down the stairs after me, my heart thumping with every inch he makes.

Tsking, head shaking, he rubs his shoulder where the needle protrudes from it and comes to stand above me. He’s looking at me with so much venom in his eyes I want to cower.

“Please.” I cry and beg. He looks almost sad, and for a moment, I think he might let me go, but then his head moves side to side. “I’m sorry, Hads. I think it has to be this way.”

I try to get up, but my leg protests and something wet and sticky slides into my eyes, mixing with my tears and obstructing my vision.

“Get away from me!” I scream, pure terror coursing through my veins.

With his dark hair hanging over his eyes and his body covered in blood, he looks so menacing and not at all like the boy I fell for only six months ago.

Before I know what’s happening, my body is jerked upright and I feel the sharp sting of a blade as it plunges into my stomach.

Gasping and eyes wide, I look down and watch as the knife is pulled from my skin leaving a trail of fire in its wake.

A gargled scream leaves my throat before I feel the tearing of my skin once more as it’s pushed through my flesh for a second time.

I try to kick and fight, but my body is on fire with each new strike of the blade.

With only one good leg, it’s no use, and dark spots begin to dance behind my lids.

I might be screaming, but I’m in so much pain I can’t tell if it’s real or all just in my head. I try to count the plunges of the knife but quickly lose count after five. My body feels like it’s burning alive, and with one last cry, I will the darkness to take me.