19. Aurora

The second I walk in through the back door, my eyes go to the kitchen and I'm hit with a flood of memories like a tsunami. I remember the evil red-haired woman. I never liked that cunt anyway.

I remember… macaroni and cheese and snacking on graham crackers. A little boy with bright green eyes carrying me everywhere because the house was too dirty.

"Trash bags," I mutter as I step further in. Damien turns to me with confusion on his face. "I remember the walls with trash bags stacked on top of each other. I don't know if that's rea—"

"It is real," he confirms before taking my hand in his and guiding me out of the barren kitchen. I stop next to a closed door, but there's something dark and unnatural about it, something that feels as if a demented spirit resides inside the door.

"Where does that go?" I ask before looking up at him.

"Samantha's room."

No wonder the door feels evil to me. Fucking bitch. She deserved worse than what Damien did to her. I saw the crime scene photos of her corpse, the needles stabbing between her legs and her neck slit open with her tongue pulled through it. I don't know why, but all of his murders get me all hot and bothered. Maybe it"s because I can feel his passion when I look at them. None of them got to me more than Calvin's.

That one was so fucking hot. I could barely stop myself from masturbating until he fucked me blind later in the school bathroom.

"It's also where I have a surprise for you," he whispers huskily in my ear. My entire body shudders.

I swear, if he wants us to screw in her room as a major fuck you to the bitch, I'm completely on board with that idea.

"Show me."

He smirks before shaking his head. "Not yet. First, I want to… show you something else." With his arm around my waist, he guides me down the hall to another door. He drops his arm and grabs the electric lantern sitting outside the door and hands it to me before he opens the door.

I walk down a single step into what has to be the basement before I hear a muffled moan. What is that? Does he have something down here? Or someone?

I lift the lantern and nearly drop it when I see my dad tied to a chair with a gash across his forehead. He screams behind the duct tape slapped over his mouth, shaking the chair violently.

"Dad!" I scream in shock and run down the stairs to him, instinct taking over. "Oh my god!" I take a close look at the cut on his forehead and almost cry, but it doesn't look too deep, just a superficial wound. He screams louder behind the gag right before I hear a whistle from behind me.

I snap around to see Damien standing at the bottom of the stairs, his arms crossed over his chest. My heart pounds away behind my ribs like a bongo drum as my head snaps between looking at Damien and my dad.

"Damien, why is my dad down here?" I ask defensively.

My dad fights harder and I can decipher the words through the duct tape.

Run, Aurora.

He repeats it over and over as he fights the rope, but it"s no use. He can't get out.

Damien nods his head toward the stairs. It"s clear he doesn't feel comfortable talking in front of my dad, but he can't really expect me to leave him down here, can he?

"Damien, he's my dad. I can't just—" I stop speaking completely when he sends me a hard look. He's ending the conversation. He doesn't want to hear another word on the matter. It's a choice, possibly a test. My dad or Damien.

I have no clue why Damien kidnapped him, but I have the feeling he'll explain himself when I'm not around my dad.

I already made my choice earlier. I just didn't realize what the choice would entail. I can overlook all the people he has killed, but it can stop now. We're together. Isn't that what's most important?

I feel like such a traitor, but I don't have much of a choice here. I can't lose Damien, even if that means having to lose everyone else. At least we'll still have each other.

"I'm sorry," I whisper to my dad before I hurry back over to Damien with my dad screaming behind me, the same muffled sounds as before, only more adamant. Damien takes my hand and leads me out of the basement.

The door closes and I can't help the fit of anger that comes over me. The next thing I know, I'm hitting Damien's chest as he holds me tight against him.

"Why is he down there!"

I'm not an idiot. I know Damien didn't take me down there to show me that my dad is here. It was the exact opposite. He wanted my dad to know that Damien found me and that he's powerless to get between us.

"Answer me, dammit!" I yank myself from his hold once he reaches the living room and grab at my hair. "Why is my dad in the fucking basement, Damien?" I turn to him, my words calmer than the energy racing through my veins. Lieutenant Henry Sullivan is my dad. He raised me after the age of four. I need something to work with here.

"Pretty girl," he groans.

"No, don't you dare try to sweet talk your way around this. You have the fucking police lieutenant tied up in the goddamn basement!" I have zero chill right now and I'm pretty sure it's getting on his nerves. Let him get as pissed off as I am. Damien isn't going to hurt me. He's proven that ten times over.

That singular thought calms my rage a little, but I'm still so upset. He put me in an impossible position.

Damien takes my face in his hands and forces me to look up at his face. "Listen, you may not like it, but… this has been a part of the plan all along… He has to die. Him and everyone else who would try to find you… once we leave. We have to leave under the radar and… we can't if within a day the entire town will be looking for you. If they find you, they find me. If they find me…" he trails off for me to complete the sentence.

"You go back to prison." It feels like someone is ripping my heart out of my chest, but it's not because my dad is in the basement. No, it's because I can't function with the idea of not having Damien anymore. I don't think I'd survive it. I close my eyes as my lip trembles.

"Look at me," he demands and I slowly open my eyes. Those bright green eyes I love so much stare back at me. "I'm not going to let that happen, okay?... I waited fourteen years to come back…to you and I'm not going to risk it…again. Do you understand?"

I nod rapidly as I run my fingers up his arms and he wipes away my tears. "How many others?" I ask, my voice weak.

"He's the last one. Just him and then we can leave… That's why he has to die, but that's not why I want him dead." His eyes darken as he stares down at me, his fingers tensing against my face. "He took you from me, pretty girl. He hid you from me. He never… wanted me to find you. Everyone who tried to… keep us apart has to die."

It's dark and twisted, but I completely agree with him on that. I'm biased on this matter because he's my dad, but I know Damien is completely right. We can't risk anyone stopping us from making our grand escape.

Since we saw Alexis on the way here, I know she's not on his list, but I have to know something.

"Is Talon alive? He's Alexis's stepbrother," I ask, really concerned. I don't know who all is alive or who Damien saw as a threat, but I have a general idea.

"Yes."

I'm able to breathe again knowing that. "Just promise me that you'll leave him and Alexis alone. I can just make up something to tell them before we leave." I know he said my dad is the last one, but I have to be certain before I can fully relax.

He pushes a stray strand of hair out of my face before smirking down at me, that loving edge in his gaze again. "You have my word." Then, he kisses me and pulls my body flush against his. I lick my lips once he releases them before meeting his gaze again.

"What now?"

A smile pulls at his lips as he releases my face and takes my hand in his. "Now, I will show you your surprise. After that?...We go upstairs and I fuck you until you can't function."

Holy hell. I like the sound of that.