But before we have time to do anything else, we hear some noise upstairs and my eyes widen with fear as they connect with Blane’s. He presses a finger to his lips before quickly untying my bounds and motioning for me to get back on the mattress while he hides in the many shadows of the dark basement.
Hesitantly, I do as I’m told though my heart is beating in my chest like it’s on the verge of bursting. I lie back on the mattress, my gaze focused on the staircase where A
iden’s boots just appeared.
He’s whistling. The sick fuck is actually whistling.
He finally comes downstairs and freezes in his tracks when he spots me. His eyes flutter to my wrists where the bounds are missing, and an expression of pure rage transforms his face into something terribly ugly.
Snarling, he comes for me and I cover my face with my hands in a futile attempt to protect myself … and the baby, who is at this moment just a peanut in my belly.
But before he can grab me, Blane bursts out of the shadows and takes Aiden by the throat. An enraged snarl escapes Aiden’s lips as I jump up from the mattress and as the two twins battle it out, I make a run for it.
I run out of the house and as soon as my feet his the grass outside, I’m blinded by the sun shining in my eyes. Blocking the light with my hands, I call for help as loud as I can, screaming my head off.
But all that meets me is the crashing of waves on the beach and the solitary chirp on a nearby who looks at me curiously from a branch on a tree next to me.
I start running around aimlessly, my eyes looking for someone or something that could help me, but I come up empty every single time. There’s no one here, the island deserted. I have no idea how Blane got here, but it is obvious he was alone.
Finally, I hear steps coming from behind me and I whip my head back in terror.
There’s a man coming towards me, limping lightly as he runs. It’s Aiden or Blane, and it makes me cringe that I cannot discern between the brothers. But the words he snarls at me make everything all too clear.
“You better run, princess,” he screams in my direction, getting closer with each step. “Won’t go easy on you this time around. You’re MINE!”
Realizing Aiden is after me, I yelp softly and make a run for it, though I know it’s a futile effort. I hear him panting behind me, and even further behind, I can hear Blane’s voice calling my name desperately.
I run. I run as fast as I can.
The shrubbery cuts into my feet, the sharp rocks on the ground grinding into the soles of them. I run through thorns, leaves and branches, each of them leaving a mark on my once so perfect skin.
I finally come to a clearing, and I suddenly realize I’ve been running uphill all this time. What a foolish, foolish girl I am … Because when I come to a stop at the end of the clearing, I realize it’s not a clearing at all.
It’s a cliff, and I’m standing on the edge with Aiden and Blane advancing on me as fast as they can manage. I can only hope the better brother will be the first one to reach me.
I turn around quickly, my eyes glued to the spot where the forest becomes sparse, knowing I’m a target exposed like this. Panting, suddenly both brothers appear in the clearing and look at me intently.
My heart beating like a hummingbird’s wings, my eyes flutter from one strong man to another. They exchange glances and for a second I’m sure they’ll jump at each other’s throats, but instead, they both head straight for me.
That’s when I start screaming and calling Blane’s name desperately.
One of the men trips and falls down, cursing loudly. The other advances against me until he’s only a step away from me. I look into his eyes, the question obvious in my gaze.
Will you save me … or hurt me?
The evil snarl on his face immediately reveals the brother who was faster is Aiden. I whimper in fear as he advances on me, grabbing me in his strong arms like a ragdoll. Desperately, I call out for Blane, who finally gets to his feet and heads for us.
“Not a step, brother,” Aiden snarls at him, clutching his hands around my throat.
Blane stops dead in his tracks and emits a low growl from his throat as Aiden and I face him, his twin pulling us both backwards towards the edge of the precipice.
He finally raises his hands in the air, trying to be placating. “Aiden, there’s nowhere to go anymore. Nowhere to hide,” he tries to reason with his twin.
“You think you’re going to win again?” Aiden growls, the grip on my throat tightening. I’m so scared I might faint at any minute, and my hands protectively clutch my belly. I see Blane’s eyes widen as he takes this in, but he doesn’t let Aiden see.
“No, nothing like that,” he says instead. “Please … We can work it all out. It will be okay, just come over here. Bring Emme here, dammit!”
It’s the last command that makes Aiden lose it. I know he could never stand taking directions, least of all from his brother. And throw my name in the game, and he will surely lose it.
“Fuck you,” he snarls at his brother, and my heart splits in two as I realize the divide I’ve created between the two brothers.
I never meant for it to end this way.
I may have been naive, but I always thought we could be happy together … That we could fix things, overlook our differences and put the past behind us.
My hand flies up in a silent goodbye and I know this is my last chance to make things right.
“It’s okay, Blane,” I say softly, just loud enough for him to hear as Aiden pulls me back, even closer to the edge of the cliff. “Don’t worry … I’ll be okay. You’ll be fine. You’ll get over this.”
“Shut up, bitch!” Aiden yells in my ear, his words echoing in my mind as tears start falling for the millionth time.
“Be strong, Blane!” I call out desperately as my love lunges forward, only a moment too late.
“I love you.”
Those are my last words before Aiden jumps, pulling me down into the deep abyss with him. I can hear the sea crashing against the rocks below me …
And then, there’s nothing but darkness.
Finally.
Mercifully.
Chapter 9
Somehow, I’m alive.
Don’t ask me how it happened, because I’m still fairly convinced it was a miracle.
When Aiden jumped, he lost his hold on me. The last thing I remember is his absolutely desperate and broken face as he mouthed my name, turning into a scream as he realized he was falling, falling, falling deep into the abyss.
Then, nothing.
I think shock took over, but it wasn’t before my adrenaline kicked in.
When Aiden let go of me, I grabbed on to a side of the cliff which was covered in bushy, thick ivy. I remember it crackling beneath my fingers, but Blane was there. Blane, who is always my saviour, always there to make it all better.
He pulled me up - I don’t know how he managed, but I was in his arms when I landed back in reality. He was clutching me close like I would fall apart in his arms if he let go.
And he never did.
Not even when they came to the island a few hours later and tried to pry me out of his arms. He carried me to the boat, held me in his embrace as we went back to the island. He was the one who placed me in the hospital bed and never left my side.
I slept for two days straight, and he later told me how worried he was when I wouldn’t wake up. The doctors reassured him I would be okay, and he would be more than a little surprised when I woke up. They knew something he didn’t …
When I wake up, I am immediately smothered by his hug, but it feels better than anything I’d experienced in my life previously. He looks at me longingly.
“You’re back,” he murmurs. “I thought I had lost you … Both of you.”
I see the pain in his eyes. We’ve each lost both of our parents, and he lost his twin years ago, the only connection he had left to his family. I can’t imagine the pain had he lost me too.
“I am,” I say slowly, my voice raspy from the days of not speaking. He quickly gets me a glass of water and I take long gulps of the pleasantly cool liquid. We settle on the bed together, not caring about rules and regulations.
My first thought after that is the baby, and my heart beats at a quickened pace. I think of everything that happened, thinking it surely must be gone by now …
But then I feel something. It’s not a kick, or anything like that … It’s a presence. And somehow, I’m a
bsolutely sure I’m still pregnant.
“What happened?” I ask hesitantly, because I have to know. I need to be sure this time around, need to know we can all make it out okay.
Blane hesitates, gently stroking my fingers as he pulls me in a tighter embrace. I let him wait, because I know he will tell me on his own time.
Finally, several long minutes later, he begins to talk.
“He jumped … He didn’t want anyone to have you if he couldn’t, and I think he was tired of fighting,” he explains tiredly, rubbing his eyes with his strong hand.
“Is he …?” I begin, my voice breaking in the middle of the question.
I have to know, yet I am so fucking frightened.
I don’t want to hear Aiden is gone, because that would mean I’m all Blane has left.
But I don’t want to know that he’s okay, either … Because I know I’ll keep living my life in fear, which, if you think about it, is not living at all.
He implores me with his gaze, searching for answers even though I’m the one who asked the question. Finally, when I’m starting to think he won’t tell me, he responds.
“He’s gone … I identified … his body, what was left of it. He landed on the rocks. They shattered him into pieces.”
His voice is thick with pain and sorrow, after everything that Aiden did to us. After every terrible fight, those sleepless nights when I woke up screaming, thinking he had come for me. The days of torture, the scar he carved into me.
And yet, I know we both mourn him.
Aiden was my best friend, my confidant, my light. Until the light went off in his soul and he let the darkness take him. I wish I could tell him the darkness came for me, too. It tried claiming me several times, but I resisted.
I guess I was always stronger than Aiden could ever be.
“There was a service when you slept. They scattered his and Marissa’s ashes on the island,” he explains softly and I cuddle into his arms.
I hope Aiden and Marissa finally find peace on the beautiful, mysterious island which was the home of my nightmares, but also the place where they all came to a stop.