Chapter 30

Chapter Thirty

SERAFINA

‘You’re embarrassing me, Sarah.’

I hate when she says my name wrong on purpose like that. Yeah, I know there’s not much difference between ‘Sera’ and ‘Sarah’ but she sounds out the ‘ah’ to make it ‘Sarah’ in such a way that I want to kill her.

Oh, God, is that true? Killing my own stepmother? Is that my fate with all of this?

‘I’m going to push you in,’ she says to me.

Her breath smells expensive. A lot of alcohol for sure. She’s been flirting with the owner of the property all afternoon too. I wonder if she’s ‘doing it’ with him. I’m not sure what ‘doing it’ means but I know it’s something.

I’m standing at the end of a dock looking out to a lake that’s scary to me. Everyone else is enjoying the lake, which is fine. Good for them. Why do I have to swim in the lake? Why do I have to stand at the edge of the dock and jump into unfamiliar water?

‘I hope you can’t swim and you drown,’ my stepmother growls at me. ‘You’re better off that way anyway. You can see your father then.’

She cackles into my right ear and my eyes fill with tears. I tell myself that’s not Bridgette talking, that’s just her drinking. But why do I have to do this? Why did my father have to die? Why do I have to stand on this dock, knowing I’ve let my stepmother down. Behind me I hear her talking to someone.

“Did you see Bill Mackenzie’s kids? The two girls? They just jumped in. With a dive. And they swam! Did you see the way everyone looked and clapped? But, no, not my… not Serafina…”

I lower my gaze. A few seconds later, someone is standing next to me. It’s Olivia.

“I hate the water,” she says. “It’s murky. Creepy. I’ve watched too many scary movies about water. And you know there are animals in there. Fish and creatures and growth.”

I look up at Olivia. She offers me her left hand and I take it.

“I really hate the water,” she says with a smile.

That makes me smile. A few seconds later we both jump into the lake. We both come up screaming, laughing, and then we quickly swim to the ladder on the dock to get out of the lake.

I really wish Olivia was my mother.

I’m shivering from the water.

No. That was a dream.

Oh, okay. I’m not shivering from the water. But I’m shivering. My face is wet too. There are voices around me but they’re more of an echo.

My eyes flutter a little. I can’t remember how to open my eyes. Or how to tell my brain to tell my eyes to open. When they flutter I see nothing but big, bright lights. White lights.

I move my mouth but I can’t talk.

“She’s trying to say something to me!”

That booming voice makes my heart go crazy. That’s Tyrant’s voice.

Tyrant! I need to see you! Help me! Save me!

Machines start to beep and voices start to yell. Someone is calling Tyrant sir and I know that’s going to end badly. Someone screams for help. Another screams for security to come get Tyrant. I just want to wake up and explain that Tyrant is here to protect me. He’s here to help me. He’s here to save me. He’ll kill everyone around me just to get to me.

A sudden surge of pain moves through my head. It’s a nerve pinching kind of pain and I feel my body begin to shake. Then comes random jolts where I kick my left leg. Then I punch with my right fist.

There are more voices. A few flashes of light. I can’t hear anything now. I definitely can’t see anything. Then it’s like a dark blanket being pulled up and over my body, something bad engulfing me and taking me away. Everything goes black. Goes quiet.

Everything goes numb.

I’m stuck in a void but I don’t know for how long. It’s like I’m just sitting in the middle of a dark room. That’s when I wake up.

I have no idea how or why it happens, but my eyes suddenly just open. I instantly know I’m in a hospital room, in a hospital bed, machines hooked up to me. The beeps are almost soft and soothing.

I look to my right and there’s Tyrant, sitting in a chair, watching me. He leans toward me and touches my chin.

“Are you here, Sera?”

His rough voice is like heaven. I nod. I move my mouth. Nothing comes out at first. After I swallow hard, I try again.

“Right here,” I manage to say. “A hospital?”

“Yeah,” Tyrant says. His eyes are focused and intense. “Do you remember what happened?”

“I’m not sure,” I say.

“Try to remember, Sera. Someone attacked you. Someone tried to kill you.”

I suck in a breath. The machines elevate their beeps and noises. In a matter of seconds, there are nurses in my room, checking up on me. They call for a doctor now that I’m awake. Everyone moves fast but moves gently.

Tyrant stands up and stands next to the hospital bed. Everyone seems to move around him. Nobody will acknowledge him or talk to him.

A doctor comes into the room. He has a tired, stern face and dark eyes and looks intense.

“Glad to see you’re awake,” he says. “You know, you’ve been in good hands here this entire time. This guy next to you, he tried to fight every security guard we have here. I thought he was going to burn the hospital down just to be by your side.”

Hearing that about Tyrant makes me feel flushed. I smile and nod.

“Talk to me about pain levels,” the doctor says. “Where and how much?”

There isn’t much pain right now. Although something feels weird with the left side of my head. I realize there’s a massive bandage there. That’s when pieces of what happened come back to me.

I look at Tyrant.

“Someone hit me in the head,” I tell him. “I was in the women’s restroom. After we…”

I freeze up and heat rushes to my cheeks.

“You’re remembering,” the doctor says. “That’s a good thing. Can you feel everything? Legs? Toes? Fingertips? All that?”

The doctor is asking basic questions and I keep nodding. I’m not sure if I’m telling the truth or not. I mean, yeah, I can move my body. It hurts to move. My head is very weird. Very wobbly .

I keep getting pulses of images. I was attacked. That much I know.

Attacked.

The heart monitor starts to beep a little bit quicker and louder.

“Deep breaths,” the doctor says to me. “This is a lot to take in right now. You showed up here in rough shape. It’s been a hectic few days for you, Serafina.”

“Days?” I whisper.

“Three days, Sera,” Tyrant’s voice says.

I look at him again. Shock ripples through my body.

“Three… days…”

He nods. “You were attacked. You remember that part. You lost a lot of blood from your head. You have staples in your head right now. There was a moment or two where it looked pretty bad.”

I can see Tyrant’s body tightening, thickening, flexing with angry muscle.

My head turns back to the doctor. “I don’t remember any of it.”

“Of course not. You were asleep , let’s call it. Right now we’re going to monitor you, okay? You might start to think of us as a great pain in your backside. It’s important we keep a close eye on you.”

My chin starts to quiver. For the next couple minutes I feel like a science project. My vitals are checked. I’m asked fifty million more questions. Everyone works around Tyrant. They all know he will attack if provoked and if told to move away from me.

I’m trying to think about the night of the meeting. Tyrant and I in the bathroom. Him fucking me. Really hard too. So hard that after he left the bathroom, I dropped down to my knees because I was tired and sore.

I remember covering my mouth and blinking away tears. I was smiling though. The feeling was so intense. Then I climbed back to my feet. Pulling myself up. That’s when I saw…

“… something in the mirror,” I say and I look at Tyrant.

“What?”

“Someone was in the bathroom behind me,” I say. “I turned around and they were dressed in all black.”

“A mask?” Tyrant asks.

“No. I don’t think so. But I couldn’t see their face. And they… they…”

I start to lose my breath. The machines start to go crazy once again.

“Okay, we have to be careful here,” the doctor says. “I know it’s important to find out who did this, but if Serafina doesn’t calm down and let her body rest, she’s going to slip.”

“When I want to hear you fucking speak, I’ll order you to speak,” Tyrant says to the doctor. “Until then, you fix her and keep your fucking mouth shut.”

All the nurses gasp. The doctor swallows hard. He then excuses himself from the room. The nurses follow shortly after.

“Tyrant,” I whisper.

He touches my face. “I can’t lose you, claimed one . This has gone too far. Too fucking far. It’s beyond threats now.”

“I don’t know who did this,” I whisper.

“I’ll find out. And I’ll fucking kill them.”

“I know you will,” I say, which surprises me.

I’m openly acknowledging just how violent Tyrant can be. And yet I want him to be. I’m embracing this.

What is wrong with me?

My eyes fill with tears. Tyrant leans down and pulls me against his chest. My face against the muscle under his shirt. I take a deep breath.

I feel safe in his arms but I’m not safe. Not safe at all. Someone really wants to hurt me. Someone wants me dead. I know Tyrant will do anything to keep me safe, and alive.

But how many people are about to get hurt or killed because of me?