Chapter Thirteen
Hannah
In a hurry to get to his meeting, Vik drops me and our new addition at home before rushing back out. I decide to bathe the kitten and wash away the grime from the garbage cans.
As I do so, I reflect on the day and everything that came with it. Tension. Bittersweet memories of my teenage years. And the main event, where Vik used me as he pleased, without care or concern for anyone else in that house.
Silly as it sounds—and especially considering I enjoyed it too—I’m glad it happened.
It stopped me from slipping into the darker parts of my past. Mostly the brief thoughts about my own dad while Damien and I talked. Luckily, they never got very far while I was busy putting out fires between the men.
Who knows what might’ve happened if Vik hadn’t taken charge upstairs?
It’s much easier to remember the bad than the good. And there was a moment today when the nightmares started creeping back, when everything could’ve gone wrong.
Vik stopped that from happening.
Now that I’m alone again, it’s harder to stop myself from going there. Remembering my dad. He was a bitter man with a short temper and an affinity for cheap, hard liquor. He spent his mornings working, his afternoons drinking, and his nights fighting with my mum.
It was during one of those nights that my life shattered into a thousand jagged pieces. They were arguing again. The thin walls in our house didn’t block much sound, and I could hear every word. Dad punched walls, slammed cupboard doors, and puffed out his chest to make himself feel like a big man.
I’d stopped worrying about Dad turning his anger on me. He already had. More than once. Quick lashes out of nowhere because Mum wouldn’t let him hit her instead.
Somewhere in the middle of it, I decided I’d had enough. I was going to run away. At ten years old, I didn’t have anywhere to go, but I didn’t want to stay there any longer. So, I climbed out my bedroom window and disappeared into the night.
Rain poured from thick, gray clouds. Lightning lit up the sky, holding my attention long after I reached the street corner and stepped out to cross. Everything after that happened so fast. I remember tires screeching, a car horn blaring and blinding headlights racing towards me.
I braced for the impact that never came. The driver swerved to avoid me but lost control on the wet road. A deafening crash against a lamppost brought the car to an abrupt stop.
He died before the ambulance arrived.
Rather than blaming me, everyone blamed the driver.
They said he’d been drinking at a nearby pub and sped through the residential streets before running the stop sign.
Their reasoning didn’t change how I saw what happened.
I’d killed him by being careless. By believing I had the power to change my life for the better at the age of ten.
Some good came from it in the end. He’s the reason I became the person I am today. I vowed to help anyone in need, no matter the cost.
It’s the same promise that’s landed me in the mess I find myself in now. That left me homeless, broke, and asking my stepbrother for handouts.
Tears splash into the kitten’s bath before I realize they’ve fallen. I sniffle, compose myself, and force the memories away.
“Now, what am I going to call you?” I ask, smiling down at the kitten.
After patting him dry with a fluffy towel, I carry him into the kitchen in search of something to eat.
Of course, there isn’t anything suitable for a pet. Why would there be when Vik barely feeds himself half the time? Which means I’ll have to head out again, even though I know it’ll annoy Vik.
I leave the precious baby in my room and call a taxi. It’s a fifteen-minute drive to the nearest store, and the ride is quiet for the most part. I don’t blame the driver for not wanting to chat. It’s late, and he’s out here working when he should probably be home with his family.
“Mind waiting a minute? I’ll be in and out.”
He grumbles. “Sure, but I’m keeping the meter running.”
I nod and hurry across the parking lot, heading straight for the pet food aisle. I grab four different flavors of wet food. I don’t think the kitten will be too picky, but it’s always good to be prepared.
As I leave Lovemore’s, I hear a strange sound coming from the alley. Loud bangs. Male grunting.
My cheeks grow warm at how much it sounds like Vik when he was...
Oh God.
I still can’t believe it happened.
Against my better judgment, I tiptoe towards the back of the building. It’s not the smartest decision, especially with the cab driver waiting, but following my curiosity has worked out surprisingly well today.
Besides, what’s the worst that could happen?
It sounds more like two people about to start screwing than anything else. Could make for a funny conversation with Vik later.
Better yet...
If I’m lucky, it might even spur him on again.
I jump as a row of trash cans crashes to the ground before I get a chance to see what’s happening. My curiosity is instantly replaced by terror. The sounds I’d mistaken for pleasure are actually someone grunting and choking.
Run. A voice in the back of my mind screams at me.
But I’m frozen. My back is pressed against the wall, only inches from whatever is happening around the corner.
Then I do the stupidest thing imaginable. I peek around it. Some foolish part of me genuinely believes I can help. At the very least, I’ll be able to give the police a better description if I can see what’s happening.
They’re much closer than I expected. Only a few feet away. Two men. The attacker is dressed in black. The other, wearing jeans and a white t-shirt, is suffocating in his grip.
“Rest easy, brother. Your sacrifice is not in vain,” the attacker says.
His voice is husky and gruff, muffled by the mask covering his face. The other man tries to answer but can’t force out a single word. He sputters and gasps, clawing desperately at his attacker’s arms.
All in vain.
Moments later, his body goes limp and crumples to the ground among the discarded trash.
I jerk back behind the wall and clamp both hands over my mouth to stop myself from screaming.
Then I force myself back towards the store.
If I can get far enough away without him hearing me, I’ll run.
The police need to know what I’ve just seen. I walk cautiously with the idea of sprinting once I’m out of the attacker’s earshot.
Fate, it seems, has other plans.
I only make it four steps before an enormous hand crushes my shoulder. It clamps down, dragging me back the way I came as the bag of cat food slips from my fingers. A second hand covers my mouth, smothering my screams against a thick leather glove.
I kick wildly, desperate to catch someone’s attention, but it’s no use. Other than the cabbie, the parking lot is empty.
A freezing chill races through my body until my bones ache. Fear grips my chest so tightly I can barely breathe. This is it. Vik was right. I shouldn’t have stuck my nose where it didn’t belong, no matter how well-intentioned I thought I was.
Now I’m going to pay the ultimate price.
I’m going to die tonight.
Just like so many times before, I find myself in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Crossing the street when I should’ve been home.
Sneaking pain medication to a man who no longer wanted to live in agony.
Every terrible decision I’ve ever made has finally caught up with me.
I have wasted my life because I couldn’t resist my own na?ve curiosity.
“What are you doing here?” he asks against the top of my head, squeezing me tighter against his solid body. He drags me deeper into the alley until the entrance is nothing more than a distant square of fading light.
To my surprise, he doesn’t do what I expect. Instead, he sets me back on my feet.
“I’m going to let you go,” he says. “But if you scream, I’ll have to hurt you.”
Adrenaline surges through me, but I manage to nod.
As soon as his gloved hand slips away from my mouth, I consider breaking my promise. I see myself screaming. Running. Praying someone hears me.
I decide against it. I remember the empty parking lot. Even if someone does come, I wouldn’t want them facing the man standing behind me.
Apparently satisfied, he releases my shoulder and takes a step back. I turn to face him, and it takes every ounce of strength I have to stay on my feet.
I recognize him immediately.
Or rather, I recognize the black mask with the white skull across the front.
He’s the man from the news. He catches me before my knees can give out.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, he presses a gloved palm against my chest, pinning me to the wall.
That same hand slides up my neck, across my jaw, until his fingers wrap around my cheeks.
He tilts my face towards his.
And somehow, I can see him. Clear as day. Staring back at me like the Reaper come to collect his next victim.
He steps even closer, using his body to pin me harder against the wall. His heat radiates through my clothes. His scent fills my lungs. He’s wearing no cologne. There’s just the scent of clean detergent and something unmistakably masculine beneath it.
My knees weaken. Not from fear alone. The sensation pulls me somewhere else. Somewhere safe.
Back to Vik.
Then it hits me. Fear isn’t the only thing twisting inside me. Warmth blooms low in my stomach. Tempting me. Reminding me that the danger and the adrenaline are far more intoxicating than I’d ever admit aloud.
The warmth curdles into disgust almost as quickly as it appeared. There’s something deeply wrong with me if this is how I react to standing inches away from death.
I turn my face away.
He takes it as an invitation to spin me around until I’m facing the wall.
“Forget what you saw here,” he says quietly. “It’s just a bad dream.”
Then he lets me go.
My skin still burns where his fingers touched me. Tears stream down my face as the sound of his footsteps slowly fades into the night.
I snatch up the grocery bag and run back to the taxi. The driver doesn’t say a word, even though I took far longer than I promised.
I’m grateful for his silence during the drive home. It gives me time to think about what just happened. What I should do about it. And why it made me feel the way it did.
Being scared makes sense.
Being confused makes sense.
But wondering what might have happened... That makes me feel sick.
Because he could’ve done whatever he wanted with me.
And I wouldn’t have been able to stop him.
Why is that so fucking alluring?