Come To Me (Owned 3)

Did Lenny even use tampons? I remembered her saying something about a cup, but where the fuck did she keep that? The cupboards briefly flashed into my mind but just as quickly I brushed that awful image away. I did a three-sixty spin around the room, feeling fucking helpless.

Eli came on the phone. “What can I do?”

“Get my sister out of here. Follow the instructions and go to the address where no one can find you. Turn off your Wi-Fi and GPS. Only call if you’re thirty seconds from dead.”

“All right.”

“Wait!” Grace screamed, coming back on the phone. “What if I don’t see you again?”

“Then it was nice to know you, Grace.” I hung up and walked back to my lair, double checking I had everything I needed. As I was throwing another burner phone into my duffel, the photo Lissie had given me caught my eye. I wasn’t sure Alice would go after her and Zoe, but just in case, I didn’t want to leave them hanging. I fired off a quick text, giving them the location and info of another PO box. When that was done, I ran downstairs to get Lennox.

We probably only had a few hours left.

“What do you mean I need to leave town?” Almost immediately after I sent the text, Zoe called. I supposed that was to be expected. Not many people would receive a text that told them to get the fuck out and accept it point blank.

“I’m sure Lenny’s said something about the kind of business I’m in. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for it to affect everyone.” I took a breath. I really was sorry. I used to be a loner, keeping to myself. There was a reason for that; so nothing like this would ever happen. “I don’t know how this will affect Moore Events,” I added. I’d effectively ruined five lives and a business in the span of an hour.

Is there something lower than a piece of shit?

“We have enough money saved that it’s no big deal,” Zoe interrupted. “As for Moore Events, you should know that it’s fine. I’m more concerned about Nox.” As I descended the stairs to wake Lenny, I thought about what Zoe said. I didn

’t know anything about Moore Events. It was Lenny’s brainchild, her business, her creation. Between the fighting and GEM, we hadn’t discussed it at all. We only took breaks in our fighting to fuck.

“You know.” Lissie came on the line. “It might be good for her to take a break.”

“It’s a bit more than a break,” I said with a grimace.

“Well obviously,” Lissie said, voice light. I couldn’t help it, a smile came to my mouth. Even as I told them to pack up their life, their child, fucking everything, Lissie sounded fine. I knew her history with drugs, but even so, there was no taint on her. You could easily forget she wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows.

“What I mean to say is,” Lissie continued, “She dreams up extravagant parties from out of nowhere. And she’s been doing it every week for two years straight. Even if this is a forced break, at least it’s happening.” I stopped on the last step, taking in everything Lissie had just said. The amount of work Lenny had been doing…I had no idea.

Where had our relationship gone wrong?

It was like somewhere down the road we took a turn and instead of trying to find our way back, we kept going through the dark forest, kept driving in the mud, acting as if it was normal to be so blind and battered.

“Just get yourselves safe,” I said gruffly. “I’ll worry about Lenny.” Hanging up, I turned into the guest room we’d built just before Grace’s arrival, as if fate had known my sister would come. Now, however, it acted as a bulwark between us. Lenny had slept there the night before and it wasn’t the first time she’d done so the past few months.

I rapped lightly on the door. “Lenny, we have to go.” Me, I could sleep through anger. I could sleep through pretty much anything. Lenny couldn’t. She felt the pain too deeply and sleeping next to me when our hurt was still raw was next to impossible, like sleeping on the dagger that did the cutting.

“Lenny?” I pushed the door open, pale light streaming over the wood floor. “Lenny, I know you’re mad, but we really have to go.”

There’s a moment, I think, when you know. The moment you know comes before the moment you acknowledge it, which makes it that much more terrible. I felt it in my body, a hard lump in my gut. I knew it as I stood in the doorway, my lone shadow gaunt against the hardwood.

The sheets were wrinkled and flat against the mattress. The pillow stark white, noticeably lacking in red hair. It was empty. It was bereft. I felt it, I knew it, but I didn’t want to acknowledge it.

Those moments were only seconds, but those seconds stretched on and on, tearing away at every bit of me until I stepped forward to the bed. I pulled back the sheets, but in her place was only blood.

I stay calm while the house is burning down. I’m relaxed while the flame is licking at my heel. I’m known for this. I’m regarded for this. My serenity is infamous. But it was as if the droplets of her blood were acid thrown on my face.

I felt the sound of my scream rip my throat apart. I only realized I’d fallen to my knees by the pressure on the caps. I fisted the sheets until my knuckles were white. I allowed myself that brief moment of utter despair, gave in to the scream that ricocheted in my skull, and then I stood. I ripped the sheets off the bed and walked out of the room without a second glance back.

There were questions that needed answering—like, how the fuck did they get into my house without triggering the alarms? How the fuck did they get her without a scream? These questions did a deadly tango in my mind, almost distracting me from the biggest, most important questions.

I wouldn’t question how to get her back, because I knew I would.

The biggest questions on my mind were who was going to pay, and how much blood would be shed. How much pain could I make them feel before they passed out and died? How many bones would break? Would they count the bones as I counted their sins?

All very important questions, but first, I had to find them.