55. Olivia #2
“You got this,” I mumble again, lifting my chin.
“No more nightmares. Get your hands free, like you’ve been trained to do.
Get the hood off your head and then, get the fuck out of here.
” I nod to myself, repeating the words over and over.
It’s the only thing I can do to distract myself from the bullshit I’ve been thrown into.
One day, I’ll get back at Mack for being such a douchebag.
I mean, I get it. He’s grieving. But grieving doesn’t have to make you an asshole at every step.
“Deep breaths,” I remind myself again, keeping my voice low so it doesn’t echo through the vast cave system. Although as I perk up my ears, a chill runs over me when no other noises filter through my ears.
Damn it. I really am far, far away from anyone else.
A deep chill spills over my flesh from my surroundings.
This cave was always cool and damp, maintaining the same temperature year-round.
A reprieve in the summer to cool off and a warmer haven in the winter months.
So many memories lie within these rock walls.
I may not remember the specific layout. But I’ll never forget the feeling of sitting here, contemplating running away from the awful family I had been born into.
“If I stay here, do you think my dad will be sad I’m gone?” I whisper, looking around at the dripping water coming from above. A shiver runs through my body before a strong set of arms pulls me into his side, and I lay my aching head there.
A day ago, I was finally allowed out of the basement after being forced to live in the darkness for hours on end. The first thing I did was run away from the house the second my father left on business with Franco, and I found myself here in the caves. But I wasn’t alone like I thought I would be.
“I dunno, Trouble,” Hux mutters softly so his voice doesn’t carry through the entire cave system we’ve been hiding in for two hours.
Surprisingly, Mack and JJ haven’t found us yet.
If they’re looking, that is. But I know it’s only a matter of time before they pop up and beg us to go exploring again. They always do.
“I wish he’d be sad,” I sniffle, wiping at my aching nose with a huff.
“I don’t think he would be, though. I think he’d be happy I was gone.
” But I knew that if I were gone, Sophia would bear the brunt of his frustrations.
Well, after my mom, anyway. She seems to make him mad the most. Only, I don’t understand why.
She tries so hard to do everything he wants, and she still disappoints.
I understand, though. I seem to be a stain on his entire existence.
“I think he’d be happy if we were all gone.
” Huxley holds me tighter, whispering sweet words into my ears until I sigh heavily.
“Was it bad today?” he asks, knowing exactly why I wandered into the cave by myself without calling any of them to join me.
“Was it for you?” I ask, peering up into his moss-green eyes, which widen slightly, and he avoids my question altogether.
It’s always bad, with no reprieve.
He only nods. “Some days, Trouble, I want to move away and disappear. So, I come here.”
“Me, too,” I murmur. “Take me with you?”
“I think we all do,” he says, squeezing my shoulder softly. “And I’d take you anywhere with me. Always. I’d never leave you behind.”
I breathe through my nose as I sit on the cave floor, my brain lost in the memories of the past that I can’t seem to escape.
That’s what happens in this town, though.
Around every corner, a living, breathing memory smacks me in the face and knocks me back a step or two.
I swear, since I set foot here, I’ve been drowning.
And all the therapy in the world I went through to get myself back to the human I was before has been wiped away.
But I don’t want to have my head beneath the waves anymore. I want to breathe and be Olivia Viotto again. A new and fresh Olivia who doesn’t answer to anyone else but herself.
I want answers to my past, and the only three people who can truly unlock that for me are the boys who put me in this position.
Three boys whom I’ve blamed for ending my family’s life and almost mine.
Three boys who I’m not so sure did it. It’s a feeling that now sits in my gut and stares me straight in the face.
They could be innocent. In fact, I’m sure they are.
JJ claims it. His eyes plead with me every time he lays his gaze on me. They tell a story without speaking a word.
My only question is, why did Franco make me think they did it?
And why? I’m sure he couldn’t have forced the boys to kill me.
And that’s a realization I’m coming to. Franco never could have dragged the boys to my house, forced them to hold me down, and watched without helping as I bled out and almost burned to death.
Shit.
Maybe JJ is right. Maybe I do need to come clean and tell the guys I’m me.
Olivia. That I never died. I shake my head.
I will. Eventually. I’m waiting for confirmation from Carter.
I don’t want to start following my broken heart and get fucked all over again if it’s not true.
But I know what my gut says. Somewhere along the way, I was lied to.
Now, I have to figure out who, what, why, and when.
A grunt escapes me as I pull at the zip tie, keeping my wrists together.
It cuts into my skin, leaving me burning and in pain, but I try not to pay attention to it.
My fingers carefully run the length of the zip tie until I find the locking mechanism keeping it together.
Carefully, I twist it so it’s to the outside of my wrist, so it’ll be easier to break through.
Eventually. My chest heaves as I test it a few times, making sure I have enough wiggle room to step through my arms and bring them to the front of my body.
“Fuck,” I grunt breathlessly, and carefully step through my arms and bring them to the front of my body.
Thank fuck I’m slightly flexible. “That was harder than I thought it would be,” I say to myself again in a low voice, taking several deep breaths to calm myself and yanking the dark hood off my head.
Blinking, I look around, hoping my eyes will adjust to the utter darkness surrounding me, but it’s useless.
It’s pitch black. Darker than fucking dark.
I can’t even see my hands in front of my face, and there’s no light source coming from any direction.
“Great.” I toss my tied hands in the air and roll my eyes.
“Good thing I packed backup,” I mutter to myself again, reaching under my shirt and grabbing my phone hidden in my binder and my glasses in my pocket.
Quickly, I put my glasses on and look around.
It’s too bad the night vision cameras don’t work on my end. Oh, well.
Thankfully, Mack didn’t notice the lump or feel my phone when he threw me over his shoulder.
If he had, I would have been truly fucked.
Since JJ gave me the smallest warning possible about where these were going to be held, I figured I needed my phone in case something happened, and I needed to call for help.
Not that it’d get me very far down here.
I have zero signal and won’t have any until I’m closer to the entrance.
How the hell does he expect me to crawl my way out of here without light? Right. He probably doesn’t want me to make it, anyway.
Turning on my flashlight, I quickly look around the small room Mack dumped me in.
Water drips constantly from the walls, making them glisten under my phone’s light.
A cold, mineral smell hits my nose as I swivel my head back and forth, taking the room in completely.
My heart hammers in my chest as I get to my feet, taking in the height of the ceiling and the stalactites hanging above, like sharpened teeth carved from water for years upon years.
I lick my lips, taking in the stalagmites on the cave floor, another hazard I’ll have to keep in mind as I navigate my way out of here.
“Ugh,” I groan to myself. “He really did want to kill me.” Because if I had stumbled through the darkness, I would have fallen and busted my head open. Or worse.
Fucker. I shake my head, trying to keep my chin up.
I guess I can’t blame him. If he really thought I destroyed the treehouse —which, I mean, I totally did —but they were my things, then he’d want to make the person responsible pay for their crimes.
I guess that’s what this is. He’s making me pay for destroying what little was left he had of me.
I rub my chest at the realization that had been staring me in the face the entire time I’ve been here.
I’ve seen the permanent scowl on his face and the way he no longer lights up at the simple things that once brought him joy.
A hardness clings to every muscle in his body.
A darkness surrounds Mack like a thick cloud.
He isn’t the same guy I knew. Losing me must have chipped away at him little by little.
And losing the things that reminded him of me must have sent him over the edge.
Mack thinks I broke everything in the treehouse.
He’s trying to punish me for destroying everything.
I didn’t lie to him, though. I’d never destroy someone else’s things.
Only my own. Everything in that treehouse was something special I picked out to spruce up the dead space.
To make it a home for all of us to enjoy.
If it were up to them, there wouldn’t have been an ounce of personality in that place. Only a bare wooden floor and windows.