25. WYNTER

25

WYNTER

T he house is quiet when Noah isn’t here. That lonely cold feeling creeps back through the walls whenever I’m alone.

His presence has become a reassurance. One that tells me I’m safe here, that no one’s going to steal me away and put me through hell. One that lets me know my sister will be found.

The blood on my hands hasn’t stopped spilling since he introduced me to it. I’ve lost count of the amount of men that are dead thanks to me. There are more than I thought I needed to kill.

What am I supposed to do once they’re gone? I can’t do what Noah does and kill random people.

I’m constantly overthinking everything and it’s making my brain hurt.

Heading upstairs, I go to the bathroom hoping to find some pain relief in the cabinet. It’s a mess inside thanks to all the supplements I’m taking, but I find one small unlabelled bottle in the back with a few pills in.

I grab a glass of water and take two of them. Hopefully they’ll help with the pain in my damn pussy as well. Noah’s cock is a blessing and a curse thanks to its extreme length.

Although it’s late I’m not exactly tired so I head downstairs to watch a movie. It can help distract me from worrying about Noah and Summer too much.

I wish he didn’t go on this job for Dmitri. He could get himself killed and I wouldn’t have a clue what happened to him. But I do understand. If Dmitri told me I'd get Summer back if I worked for him I wouldn't think twice. I've never hated a person so much in my life. I'm going to enjoy watching the life vanish from his eyes after I've given him a taste of his own medicine.

Heading to the kitchen, I pour myself a glass of red wine, tipping it back, then pouring another. It’s probably not the best idea to mix pills with alcohol, but I’m sure two painkillers aren’t going to do anything.

When I settle down on the couch a movie’s already playing on one of the channels so I leave it on. It’s already nearing the end, but it’s one I’ve seen before with superheroes saving the galaxy so I keep up with the plot easily enough and finish it along with my wine.

I get my phone out and consider texting Noah for an update, but I don't want to accidentally screw his job up if his phone goes off at the wrong time. Rather than put it away I find my thumb hovering over Charlie's number. I never should have put it in here. It's been so tempting to call her. But I can't risk her safety. She's better off in the dark until all this is over. Once I have Summer back we can go see her and it'll be like none of this happened.

Tossing my phone onto the coffee table, I’m about to get up to grab the bottle of wine from the kitchen when a news report comes on the television.

My stomach drops and bile rises in my throat as I see the house behind the news anchor.

My prison.

I never saw it from the outside, but I had glimpses of the grounds through the windows the few times I was out of the basement and the sedative hadn’t completely taken effect yet.

It’s the same place. I know it is.

“The investigation has been kept private while the body was being identified and the family notified–”

A picture of a young girl with black hair flashes up on screen, she barely looks sixteen.

“Evelyn Young’s remains were found buried on the grounds during the investigation into the murder of Tommaso Abato.”

“Evie?” I see it now, her hair was bleached blonde when I knew her at the club. She told everyone she was eighteen, but she was just a kid. Did Jackson know that when he hired her?

“No.” I press a hand to my mouth to stop myself from throwing up.

“The young woman is suspected to have been pregnant at the time of her death.”

My hand tightens around the remote.

“No!”

I already knew that I wasn’t the first to be used by Tommaso, but to see it in real-time like this hits differently.

Was she sold by Dmitri as well? What about the other missing girls?

My head whirls with questions and there’s only one way to get answers. Dmitri. He’s the key to it all.

The broadcast changes to a pre-recorded shot of Daniella Abato walking down the street, her head down as she wears all black. She looks worse than when I saw her before. Now she’s truly burdened with the weight of her late husband's sins.

How could she have missed everything going on in that house?

The screen changes again and this time it’s to a photo of her and Tommaso on their wedding day. They look so different. Her long black hair stands out against her white dress. Then it hits me.

Tommaso was picking out anyone that looked like his wife used to.

Dmitri mentioned my hair when he was speaking to his friends in Russian that night he took me.

Evie’s dark hair. Mine.

Was it all for some sick sexual fantasy or did he think he could surprise his wife with a twisted gift? A newborn that they could pass as their own. They’re old enough for a biological baby of theirs to be questioned, but stranger things have happened in the world.

Whatever the reason, I need him to stop existing completely.

The remote flies out of my hand. It moves in slow motion before it goes straight into the television, cracking the screen, but it keeps playing.

I start grabbing everything within reach, throwing it at the screen until finally it goes dark.

It’s not enough though. I need to get this feeling out of my body. My skin feels hot and tight like all I want to do is tear it off. I grab my hair and scream as loudly as I can until my throat aches.

When I try to walk, my body feels light, but my feet feel heavy. The room starts to spin as I take a few steps.

What’s happening? I hold my hand in front of my face and suddenly there are two of them. No, it's just my reflection.

Moving my hand out of the way I see her staring back at me. “No! You’re not here! You’re not me!” I cry out as she stares back at me with such sorrow. I was just coming to terms with my body and I thought she wasn’t a problem for me anymore. Seeing that house has brought it all back. All the pain. All the hate. All the fear.

I don’t think before my fist hits the mirror. The bite of glass against my skin is just what I need. I hit it again and again until there’s more blood than glass left inside the frame.

Unclenching my shaking fist, blood drips from my knuckles down onto my toes.

Watching it reminds me of my mom and how the last memory I have of her is her dead body.

As strong as I’ve always tried to be about her death, I miss her so much.

All my life I’ve been kept busy. First, it was keeping my grades up then it was taking care of Summer when Mom couldn’t.

There were days I wished I didn’t have to play Mom to my little sister, but now that it’s been taken away from me I want it back.

My mind’s moving so fast that I can barely keep up with my own train of thought.

Clutching my head I try to step over the broken glass, but my vision gets blurry and I trip. My hands land just next to it.

“Let me help you,” a soft voice says behind me.

My body doesn’t feel like mine as I’m helped to my feet.

I turn to look at the person holding me and see Daniella. It's like she's stepped straight out of the television, dressed all in black with that same sad look on her face. “What are you doing here?” I ask. My voice is slurred and I feel drunk. Mixing was a terrible idea.

“It’s okay, I’ll get you both out of here.”

“Both?” I look at her again, but this time I see Evie’s face. Then it morphs into Dmitri’s. Then into mine. My mind’s playing tricks on me.

Nausea spreads in my stomach and I drop to my knees. My hand lands on a piece of glass and I pick it up as the phantom of my imagination reaches for me again.

“Get away from me!” I growl and slash the glass out, slicing across their palm. They scream and start to back away.

“You’re not real!” I scream right back and wildly slash the glass through the air. The phantom runs from the room. Their hair which I thought was black is actually a dark hood. It has to be Dmitri. There's no other explanation. Noah said if he betrayed him then he'd come for me. Does that mean something's happened to Noah?

Struggling to my feet I chase after them. I’m slow and my feet are sluggish. When I make it to the front door they’re already gone. But I know where ghosts like to hide.

I head around the side of the house. The groundskeeper’s cottage is lit up again. It’s a blur in the distance now that my eyes are struggling to focus. That’s not where I want to go anyway.

My feet drag and I almost fall over a few times, but I make it to the woods.

“I know you’re out here, Dmitri!” I shout. “You’re not going to take me this time. I’m stronger now.”

I point my dagger forward—no, that’s not my dagger—it’s a shard of glass. Where did I put my dagger?

It doesn’t matter, it can draw blood all the same.

The mausoleum should be nearby. That’s where I’ll find the phantom. No candles light my way this time. No pretty petals soften the ground under my bare feet. No Noah to take my hand.

I want him here with me. Bones. Noah. I want all of him.

“Noah?” I call out, but there’s no reply. My head spins and the trees bleed into one. Their branches mocking me as they grab at my clothes.

“Get away from me,” I snap at them.

There’s still no sign of the mausoleum.

Where is it?

My foot snags a branch and I fall forward. There’s not enough time to catch myself and I land face first.

It’s cold down here. So cold and dark. Stone walls start to enclose around me. Metal bars push up through the dirt, caging me in. “Noah,” I sob again. “Please.”

I can’t save myself this time.

My vision gets darker and I want sleep to take me, but it never comes.

I’m stuck here, immobilized by my own fears. Left vulnerable for the monsters to come clawing back out of the darkness.