"I guess this means they know we"re here."
Colton said that nonchalantly like we were discussing the weather or something. I"ll never understand these boys or how they manage to keep so calm while facing things that would make a normal person bat-s.h.i.t crazy.
"Are they dead?" I couldn"t stop myself from asking.
"Would you prefer them alive? I don"t know about you but I don"t enjoy being used for target practice."
He had a good point. It wasn"t like any of these dead men had done me any favors or wanted to let me out. Everyone here knew that Alexander was torturing people and none of them did a thing to stop it. They might not have done it themselves, but standing idly by made them just as guilty.
Even so, I couldn"t help but feel bad about the trail of bodies left behind us, and I hated myself for it.
"Let"s go princess! We don"t have all day."
Colton"s voice brought my attention back to reality. His brother had already taken Amelia from him and took off while he stood there waiting to see if I was able to move on my own. He started towards me as if he was going to toss me over his shoulder in a typical Tobias fashion, but I brushed past him and headed down the hall while trying to ignore the pain in my shoulder.
Colton pa.s.sed me easily, as one of his steps was the equivalent to two of mine. I sped up a little to try to keep up with him despite my entire body protesting.
"f.u.c.k!"
Colton"s scream was the only warning I had before he dropped to the ground. Someone had managed to shoot him in the shoulder. I couldn"t see his brother or Amelia anywhere, and Colton"s eyes lit up like there was literally a fire burning in them.
I"ve come to recognize when the curse was taking over Tobias, and I"ve caught a glimpse of what happens when the curse was taking over Tristan. The sudden change in Colton"s eyes was pretty much a dead giveaway to duck for cover.
I couldn"t find anywhere to run or hide so instead I dropped to the ground and tried to conceal myself with the dead bodies that were littering the floor.
Colton"s screams were all I could hear before the pounding of my own heart drowned everything out. I tried to take a peek at what was happening, but one by one the lights that lined the hallway went out making it pitch black.
The beating of my heart echoed in my head and I tried to call out for Colton in the dark. I couldn"t hear myself, but within seconds I was face to face with a pair of fire glowing eyes. Fear struck me to my very core. Tobias told me that Colton was the one having the hardest time controlling the curse, which meant there was a very good chance my life was in danger.
A deafening bang broke through the silence and just like that the glowing eyes were gone. I didn"t know if he was dead or alive, but I knew we definitely weren"t alone.
"Tell Alexander we got them."
A voice was barely audible through the ringing in my ears, but his words made me even more terrified that Colton was dead. I felt hands gripping on to my arms and pulling me up from the ground. There was still no light, so Alexander"s henchmen must be wearing some kind of night vision goggles.
I was so close to freedom and it was taken away from me all over again. I was beginning to wish for death when the hallway suddenly burst into light.
Colton stood in front of us holding a ball of flames in each hand. The light from the flames showed the four silhouettes of the men who had captured me.
Colton"s eyes were still lit up and there was no doubt in my mind he was going to kill every last one of them. His features no longer looked like a young kid, but rather a rugged young man who lived and breathed danger.
My arms were released as the four men scrambled for their weapons. I wasn"t stupid enough to sit around and wait to find out what was going to happen; I already knew. I turned and ran the opposite way as fast as I could, leaving the light from Colton behind me.
My foot slipped out from under me as light came flying down the hallway and an invisible force propelled me forward. Pain exploded through my body as I connected with the ground and everything around me seemed to go dark as I lost consciousness.
I woke up to the sound of my own scream as I was thrashing around trying to lash out at the closest person to me. I wasn"t sure if I would find Colton, or more henchman, but at this point I didn"t care; everyone was a threat.
It took a moment for me to realize I was no longer in a dark hallway, or in a steel holding cell. Instead I was lying in bed my bed. I wanted to believe that everything that had happened was all just a terrible nightmare, but the pain in my shoulder as I tried to move made sure I knew that it wasn"t.
I leaned back against the headboard and pushed my hair out of my face. My mind was so messed up I didn"t even know if this was real. For all I knew I was locked away in a cell still and this was all just my imagination playing a cruel prank on me; wouldn"t be the first time.
"Morning sleepy head." Amelia said with a smile.
I looked around expecting to wake up and find her in her cell across from me, but instead she sat at the end of my bed, far enough away so she wasn"t in my line of fire.
"Is this real?" I whispered.
Amelia got up and walked around the bed, then sat down beside me on the bed. I thought she was going to hug me or say something to try to convince me that I wasn"t dreaming, but instead she reached over and pinched my upper arm.
"Ow! You stupid cow, what the h.e.l.l was that for!" I yelled while slapping her hand away.
"Making sure you know it"s real. You"ve been pa.s.sed out for two days." She chortled.
I stared at her for a minute, and then smiled as her laughter grew to the point of being contagious. I tried to laugh with her, but it hurt like a b.i.t.c.h so instead I ended up coughing.
Tristan came in to the room followed by Colton and two others. All four of Tobias"s brothers stood in front of me; I realized now why they had looked so familiar. Colton shuffled around uncomfortably before Tristan cuffed him upside the back of his head and gesturing towards me.
"Uh, sorry Willow." He said awkwardly; I was confused.
"For what?"
"For, uh, kind of sort of almost blowing you up."
Well that explained blacking out and why it felt like someone tossed me off the roof of a house.
"Colton, you don"t have to apologize-"
"Yes, he does!" The other three said in unison.
I was beginning to wonder if the whole talking at the same time thing ran in the family; Tobias and Tristan did it all the time. Speaking of Tobias, I didn"t see him with his brothers.
"Where"s Tobias?" I asked abruptly.
All four brothers stood there silently looking back and forth at each other. I could tell that they were hiding something, but no one wanted to say it.
"Look, if he doesn"t want to see me then just tell me. I don"t blame him after what happened; I wouldn"t want to see me either-"
"It"s not that, I"m sure he does want to see you." Amelia said warily "Then what is it?" I choked out.
I didn"t even realize I had started crying until my voice cracked and tears fell free from my face and landed on my hand. I reached up and brushed away the tears as everyone in the room shifted uncomfortably.
"He"s not here." She said, and then bit her lip.
"What do you mean he"s not here?"
Again, they all avoided answering my question. There was a knot in my stomach and I felt like I was going to be sick. I knew the answer already, but I couldn"t bring myself to believe it until someone said it out loud.
"Where is he!" I demanded with a strength I didn"t feel.
Amelia jumped at the sound and took my hand in her own.
"We couldn"t get to him." Tristan finally answered.
The room felt like it was spinning and everything around me was fading away. My mind kept going back to seeing Tobias chained up and tortured in front of me. I could see it happening, hear every bone breaking as he fought against his restrains; I could smell the blood that pooled at his feet.
Tobias opened his mouth to scream but it wasn"t his voice that came out, it was mine. I squeezed my eyes shut and covered my ears with my hands to drown out the sound. Someone grabbed my arm so I tried to fight them off, but I was quickly scooped up and cradled in someone"s lap. I opened my eyes to see Tobias holding me against his chest.
"Hey, blueberry, calm down."
Blueberry? Reality set in. It wasn"t Tobias who was holding me, it was Tristan. Tobias was still in h.e.l.l and his own brothers left him there!
I pushed Tristan away and wrapped my arms around Amelia. She held me as I wept, unable to stop the tears from flowing. This was entirely my fault. I don"t know how long we sat there, but it was long enough for me to be lying in Amelia"s lap as she ran her fingers through my hair to comfort me.
My heart ached for Tobias and my body still shook with silent sobs, but my tears were all out of juice. I didn"t even realize the boys had left until Colton poked his head back in.
"Uh, Willow? There was a girl in town looking for you. Micky called and Tristan already picked her up and they are on their way here."
I didn"t even acknowledge his words. There was no one out there who would be looking for me that I knew of, unless she was someone who worked for Alexander. If that was the case, I"m sure the boys would deal with it.
Amelia shooed him out of the room with a wave of her hand, then went back to playing with my hair. It wasn"t until she made partial rows of braids that only went back to the crown of my head that I realized she wasn"t just playing with my hair; she was brushing it.
I didn"t even want to think about how awful I looked after weeks in h.e.l.l with buckets of ice water being the closest thing I had to a shower. Amelia told me she would draw me a bath as soon as I was ready to get out of bed. I needed to soak and right now it was the only thing I could do to try and feel at least a little normal.
I sat up and started climbing out of bed. Amelia was at my side instantly and helped me walk to the bathroom. I gripped on to the edge of the counter while looking into the mirror. I didn"t even recognize my own reflection. I was covered dirt and dried blood, and I had lost so much weight my cheek bones stuck out at unhealthy angles.
I turned away from my reflection and started taking off my clothes. I noticed that my shoulder had been patched up while I was unconscious. My dress was beyond ruined; even if I could salvage it I didn"t want to. I wanted it burned along with the memories of everything that happened to me while wearing it.
Amelia helped me into the bath. The water was hot, but felt amazing as I slid into the tub. My muscles hurt, but the water helped the ache, and the dirt and blood began to wash away.
It only took about ten minutes for all the dried blood to be washed off. I kept in the braids Amelia had started, but she helped me wash the rest of my hair with the shower head over the edge of the tub so my shoulder wouldn"t get wet.
Once I was washed up and wrapped up in a towel, Amelia helped me back to my room. I could hear hushed voices arguing downstairs. Most of them were male voices but there was a female whispering among them, which made me wonder if Tristan was back with the mystery visitor.
My bed sheets were changed while I was gone and pajama pants and a t-shirt were laid out on my bed for me. Amelia helped me get dressed even though I had a.s.sured her a dozen times I could do it on my own.
There was a knock at my door and Tristan"s face appeared when Amelia opened it. He gave me a guilty smile, knowing I was still mad at him for leaving Tobias behind.
"I know you might not be up for visitors right now, but I"m pretty sure you"re going to be ok with this one."
I didn"t even have time to ask him who it was when she pushed past him and waltzed herself into my room. My heart literally stopped beating for what felt like forever. Jennica was here! I got up off the bed and ran to her.
Her arms came around me as tears started flowing again. My little sister was actually here standing in front of me. I haven"t seen her since I left home.
"What the h.e.l.l happened to you?"
"Would you believe me if I said I tripped?"
"Maybe if it was off the grand canyon and you hit every cliff on the way down."
We both laughed before she held me again. It felt amazing to hold my little sister in my arms again. It was surreal to think that she was actually here at Tobias"s house. Come to think of it, what was she doing at Tobias"s house?
"How did you find me?"
"I"ve never really been far behind you. When you left, I knew I couldn"t stay there so I followed you, but you were always just out of reach."
Unbelievable. I knew I didn"t leave her in the greatest of situations, but I never thought that she would actually follow me. It was a lot to wrap my head around. I knew there was going to be a long story behind it and I was going to need to sit down for this.
I walked over and climbed back into bed and Jennica followed me. Tristan left the room, but Amelia stayed put at my side like a protective watch dog.
We spent the next three hours talking about how Jennica kept track of me after I left. I had to get her to explain it to me a few times over because I could never understand her when she "geeked out" over things like implementing a make shift GPS tracker on my kindle reader.
The way she talked about it made it sound like it was so simple and it was. To her. To me, it was like tossing pieces from three different jigsaw puzzles and telling me to put it all together into one big picture.
She never really explained how she managed to keep herself fed and clothed along the way, or how she paid for hotels. I"d like to think she had decent part time work like waitressing or bartending at worst, but I didn"t dare ask because I had a feeling she was avoiding such topics for a reason and I wasn"t going to like her answers, if I pressed her.
Jennica and Amelia seemed to hit it off pretty good, which was surprising since Amelia never really makes good first impressions. They seemed to get along better after Jennica accepted the fact that the brothers weren"t exactly normal. When I told her about Tobias, I expected her to have a lot of questions, but instead she just accepted it for what it was. She was even on our side when Amelia and I insisted that we needed to go back for Tobias.
"I"m sorry, but what exactly do you mean by "we"?" Colton asked when we ambushed the guys in the kitchen with the idea.
"I mean exactly what I said; I do believe I"m speaking English here. WE need to go back for Tobias!"
"Willow, exactly how hard did you hit your head when Colton blew you up? You aren"t in any shape to be rescuing anyone."
"She wouldn"t have to be rescuing anyone if you guys would have saved him the first time!" Jennica snapped.
"Ok, who are you? How are you even remotely relevant to this conversation?" Colton asked in irritation.
"I"m the sister of the girl you tried to barbecue, so yeah I"m pretty relevant."
"Enough! Colton shut it; Jennica is a part of this now, whatever this is. If Willow wants her here, she"s staying. If you got a problem with that you can take it up with Tobias when he gets home!"
Colton looked at Tristan in disbelief. He clearly wasn"t too thrilled with the idea of Tristan siding with me, but it did little to appease my anger.
"When he gets home? Don"t talk about him like he"s off on a shopping trip or touring another country. He"s being held captive and getting tortured and trust me when I tell you it is anything but a vacation! Every second we stand here debating whether or not it"s a good idea to go back for him means another minute of him being picked apart like some kind of twisted science experiment. If you had rescued him instead of me there is no doubt in my mind that he would already be kicking in the door to save my life. You can all sit here with your thumbs up your a.s.s if you want, I don"t give a s.h.i.t. I"m going back for him with or without you."
The room fell silent as soon as I opened my mouth. I could tell that Colton and the others wanted to argue, but no one spoke a word. Tears were falling from my eyes and I didn"t even bother to wipe them away. Instead I turned around and left the room.
As soon as I made it to my room, Jennica and Amelia were at my side. I couldn"t face this alone despite how much I wanted to believe I could, so I was thankful that I at last had them on my side. Tristan showed up not long after with all his brothers in tow behind him.
"Willow?"
"Just leave her alone." Amelia pleaded.
"We just wanted to say that we"re going after Tobias."
"I"m coming with you." The words were out of my mouth without a second thought.
"You barely made it out alive the last time; I really don"t think it would be a good idea for you to go back." Tristan confessed.