“You’re…you’re both…” Nervously she looked at Zane for confirmation.
“Brothers, yes.” Delighted intrigue shined bright through the crystal blue gaze.
For some reason, the information wasn’t as surprising as it should have been. Looking back to Reid, who still silently faced the large window, she gave Zane a desperate look.
“Zane please just tell me what’s going on,” she begged. She had to get through to them, and Zane was the safest bet. He was always kind to her, she wanted him to tell her this is all some elaborate prank. “Why am I here? Why take me from my home like that?” Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Reid’s large shoulders stiffen.
“Home?” Reid laughed dryly turning back to give her a look of shocked incredulity. “You truly considered that small, empty apartment a home?”
Insulted by his tone, Everly momentarily forgot her fear and stepped forward in angry defiance. “Yes, I considered it my home, and you had no right to take me from it!”
Reid’s evil smile spread across his usually stern face igniting the dark sapphire of his eyes. “My sweet little Everly,” his voice rumbled smoothly. “You’re going to learn that we have every right and more.”
The words ignited an icy heat throughout her body, a cold fire of startling realization. Turning to Zane, her heart plummeted, and her hands grew clammy around the lamp base as she saw the same dark want in his eyes that matched his brother’s. Earlier when they peeled off the black mask, a foolish sense of relief swept through her. She knew these men. They wouldn’t do any of the horrible things her imagination conjured during the journey, they wouldn’t hurt her. But as she looked at them now, as she stared at the dark lust in their eyes she knew she had been very wrong.
Zane, stepped forward giving her that familiar soft smile. “I know what you’re thinking.” Just like he always did. “And don’t. You know us, sweetheart, you know we would never hurt you.”
The tears that had welled up in her eyes were falling now, down her cheeks, as she clutched the silver lamp base tighter to her breast as she pressed herself tighter into the wall behind her.
“But I don’t know that,” she protested. “I don’t know anything about you two.”
Except that they were French-speaking, criminal brothers who were looking at her like they wanted to devour her.
“But you can sweetheart,” Zane’s bright blue eyes gave her a beseeching look, almost as if he desperately needed her to understand. “You can know anything you want to know about us.”
“And you will,” the hard finality in Reid’s tone made her whip her head back to him. He was standing closer now, his hands in his pockets, but much closer than before, instinctively she lifted her makeshift weapon higher.
“My God Everly, I can still clearly remember the day you walked into the bank.” Zane laughed, swiping back some of his hair he glanced out the window to the early dawn sky, lost in reverie. “You were so quiet, so shy and sweet it intrigued me. I found myself watching everything you did. The way you ignored all the guys, quietly ate your bag lunch every day and tried to stay out of everyone’s way. And the more I watched you, the more I craved to know everything about you. After two weeks of talking about you nonstop to Reid, he decided to come down earlier to see you for himself. And baby,” fixing his gaze back to her his eyes went bright with predatory excitement. “We were hooked. We had to know everything about you and, my God, when we did find out more… Everly, I have never been more certain you were made for us.”
“Made for us” his excited words rang in his in her head. Both of them? Her mouth went dry as she stared at them. They were insane. Insane stalkers who knew nothing about her.
“You don’t know anything about me,” she voiced aloud, darting her eyes between both men, leery of their slow but steady encroachment.
“We know you ran away from your college in Savanna because of the asshole professor you thought you were going to start a family with,” Reid’s dry, matter-of-fact tone felt like a nail going through her heart. “We know you grew up in a cult-like polygamist community in the backwoods of Tennessee. We also know about your online comic, your change of majors, your fears and insecurities to acclimating to what you call the “real world.” Should I go on Everly?”
By now her knees were on the verge of buckling, every word, every painful truth felt as if it was hurled at her like a javelin. “No, please don’t,” her voice hoarse.
How do they know all of this? Even if they found her comic, they couldn’t know all of that. They had details that no one knew, except maybe one person. A small horrible thought surfaced in her mind, and her stomach suddenly felt weak. Palming the knotted wood of the cabin wall behind her, she braced under the realization— and betrayal.
“You tricked me,” she couldn’t choke out the words fast enough. How could she have been so dumb? Another naïve mistake that would end up costing her dearly.
The strangled sob tore through her throat before she could stop it, covering her mouth with one hand she watched through teary eyes as they both stepped closer around the bed crowding close but still keeping their distance.
“Everly sweetheart,” Zane’s voice sounded rougher as if pained by the sight of her tears. “You were miserable and lonely we had to.”
They were 2Blackhearts. The anonymous online friend she poured her heart out to wasn’t just some other lonely girl she always imagined it to be— it was them. Both of them. A dark part of her wanted to laugh it made sense now, Everly thought angrily swiping away her tears, the odd personality, the sudden shift in conversations. How could she be so stupid?
Fixing them with a scathing stare, she strained against the wall. “You both are just liars and criminals!”
“No,” Reid’s voice grated, silencing her immediately. “We never actually lied to you. Not once.”
Eyes widening in outrage she ignored all of her fears and stepped forward until she was only a yard away from where they stood side-by-side. “Of course you did, you stalked me and impersonated someone else to gain my trust.”
“Would you have given us a chance if it was us who chatted with you?” Zane answered this time his own voice crackling with a low thrum of anger. “Would you have even given us the opportunity to talk to you?!”
“No,” she screamed. “And I won’t now, either.” She promised venomously, enjoying the small look of shock that passed through them at her outburst. Shock— and was that hurt she detected?
Jaws tightened, and their eyes hardened in anger. Zane crossed his arms over his wide chest while Reid continued to stare down at her with his hands thrusted deep into his pockets. Immediately the dangerous situation pressed itself again on her mind in reminder. She had no control here, no leverage, no escape, and no one back at her apartment missing her absence. Right now, it was just her and these two men that doubled her in size, strength, and speed, standing a few feet away.
Lowering her gaze, Everly tried to swallow the knot in her throat. “Then what are you going to do with me?”
“Nothing, we already told you we would never hurt you,” Zane answered with a sigh. “You’ll be comfortable and safe here, sweetheart, I…”
“No,” she cried shaking her head frantically. They couldn’t do this. “No, you can’t, Zane please,” she had to make him see, to get through to him. “I can’t stay here I want to go back home.”
“Home?!” Reid’s voice thundered. Frightened, she jumped at his tone and turned to face him still shielding herself with the lamp base. Furious, Reid reached out and ripped the lamp easily from her hands and tossed it on the large bed. Grabbing her by the shoulders, he pulled her against him so she could stare directly into the fury in his eyes. “Dammit, Everly, that was no home, that was a ticking time bomb. You could not have expected to work full-time and raise a child in a studio apartment.”
Pushing frantically against his solid chest Everly began to panic. “Yes, I expected that. It was my home, and this is my life,” s
he screamed
Reluctantly the grip on her arms loosened letting her stumble back to the wall again. Her breathing heavy now, her chest heaved as she stood pressed against the wall in fear.
Looking to one another, both men shared a silent, nonverbal communication with the other. Stepping back first Zane looked at his watch before giving her an unreadable look.
“It’s early, and you have been up all night, try to get some sleep.” Walking to the door, Reid followed behind.
No. No, this couldn’t be happening. Frantic, Everly ran around the bed towards the door, stopping a few feet away she tearfully met their gazes.
“Please,” she begged. “You can’t do this. I don’t need your help.”
Grabbing the doorknob, Zane opened the door.
Panic and anger thundered through her, clenching her fist she blinked the tears from her eyes. “You say you care about me, that you know so much about me,” her voice was barely above a whisper. “But if you knew anything about me, you would know I value my freedom above everything else.”
She couldn’t read the looks that passed over their faces. She had no idea what they were thinking.
“Get some sleep Everly,” Reid replied softly before closing the door.
The click of the lock felt like it echoed in the room.
±
Numb. Both her body and mind felt absolutely numb. Laying on the bed, Everly let her eyes follow the neat, uniformed mortar lines separating the bricks of the fireplace on the far wall. As her gaze unthinkingly followed the un-ending geometric pattern she thought of Zane’s and Reid’s dark expressions before they left the room.
This was really happening.
This wasn’t some vivid dream she was trapped in, this was actually happening. That truth was driven in by every minute she spent searching the colossal room for an escape.
There was none.
With only one way out the large bedroom was a prison.
Every door and drawer Everly had opened and searched frantically, hoping and praying for anything that would give her a bit of leverage to escape. She found nothing. The gigantic room had only a bed, two nightstands, two lamps, a vanity and stool, and a pair of wingback chairs in front of the fireplace. It was as if the whole room had never been touched, much less slept in.
The bed was distractingly large. Growing up she shared a bunkbed with three of her sisters, their bed wasn’t even a fraction of the monstrosity she was laying on now. It could fit eight people comfortably. Next to the bed, there were two doors, one on either side next to the duplicate nightstands both leading to the same place. Inside there was a large hallway like bathroom with a closet on each end as well as two separate toilets on either end, with a large shower and tub in the middle. Besides a handful of toiletries and towels, it was barren and untouched as the bedroom.
Letting her gaze drift from the fireplace, Everly looked out the large windows on either side of the fireplace. Bright morning sunlight shined brilliantly over the thick trees surrounding the cabin. Shifting in the bed she turned towards the large wall of windows that faced the bed and watched the gentle waves of the water in the distance. The room was mostly windows, large thick, impenetrable picture windows, she knew that because she did her best to break them. The lamp base Reid tossed from her hands earlier was still lying on the floor where she dropped it in disgust after trying and failing to break the thick wall of glass.
Now she was just tired—and numb.
So many stupid naïve mistakes. Ignoring the little burn of tears in her eyes, Everly brought her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her knees. It’d only been two years since she left home swearing to herself and her father that she would make it on her own and she would be happy. Getting accepted into the large art school in Savannah was all the encouragement and motivation she needed to validate she had made the right decision. Things were falling into place just how she had dreamed. Growing up she knew she needed freedom, the chance to go off and explore what the world had to offer and not hide from it and judge it like she was taught.
She wanted to know more than just what she was allowed to know. Go and see places, experience new things and fall in love all under her own command—not her father’s. Entering into college was like a thrilling dream. Scary and daunting at times, especially since there was just so much she didn’t understand, but it didn’t matter because Everly was optimistic. Doggedly she studied the people around her, watched TV, eavesdropped, made conversations with strangers, just anything that would get her closer to acclimating to the “real world.” And she was, at one point she truly felt she had even maybe accomplished it until she realized just how wrong she was.
Peter Creery, her dark-haired charming impressionists professor. The man was everything Everly imagined the perfect guy would look like. Walking a mile every day to the small county library ran out of the back of an old church, Everly would occasionally sneak glances at the handful of secular books they had, mostly detective and thriller novels. It was fun imagining the rest of the world outside her community, imagining what adventures people had and what they looked like. Tall, lean, and handsome Peter was exactly what she had imagined. Their relationship started slow and sweet, subtle flirtations that evolved into romantic dinners and outings. Everly felt as if she was floating, never had anyone made her feel so special. Foolishly, she not only dreamed of their future together, she actively planned it. What jobs could she get in Savannah to be near him, when should she send a letter to her family about them, all of those thoughts—all of those beautifully foolish thoughts.
All of them destroyed.
The day she found out she was pregnant she was overjoyed, and nothing in her naïve mind told her Peter wouldn’t feel the same. The shock and anger on his face still felt like a knife to the heart even remembering it. Those beautiful carefully crafted dreams shattered in her face. Turns out, Peter was married, married to a woman who was returning from an art residency program in Brazil in a month. Giving her the money to abort her baby, their baby, Peter told her to leave.
Golden Creek was supposed to be her clean slate, their clean slate, clutching her stomach protectively. And again, she trusted the wrong person. Hot tears rolled down her cheeks in shame as she thought about how she had been working up the nerve to ask 2Blackhearts to share a photo with her. Everly had hoped that maybe even one day they could meet up in person together.
What an idiot. Two black hearts indeed, scowling at the memory of Reid’s anger. They were liars and criminals, and she had to get away from here, away from their hungry terrifying gazes.
±
Images of the dark empty eyes of those masks jolted her from her sleep. Heart pounding, Everly sat up in bed and squinted at the throbbing pain in her head. Looking around the sun-drenched room, memories of last night and this morning flooded back with all too real clarity. It wasn’t just some twisted nightmare. Sitting on the massive bed, Everly looked out the tall crystal-clear window at the high afternoon sun shining across the blue graywater. Looking at the clock on the nightstand next to her it was half past three. Everly wasn’t even sure what time she fell asleep, but by the way her head was pounding it was either too much, or not nearly enough.
The water bottle caught her eye. Sitting on the nightstand, the cool plastic bottle slowly dripped with condensation. Everly’s heart lurched as she looked up at the door across the room in fear. They were in here as she slept. Heart racing, she pulled back the blankets and paused, staring at the thick white comforters with an accusing glare. She fell asleep on top of the covers, not under them. Peeling back the covers she let out a sigh of relief at her still intact clothes. It felt like ages ago when she got dressed for work in her gray sweater dress and black tights, not knowing that her whole life would be shattered in one night.
Getting up from the bed, she padded softly across the carpet, hesitantly she reached out for the doorknob. Surprisingly, it turned under her hand. Quietly as possible Everly pulled open the door. Co
oler air from the quiet hall whorled around her as she stepped outside. The hallway was long, quiet, open, and nothing like she’d ever seen before. To her right the wall stretched down to the other end of the house and what looked to be only one other door along the wall. The other side of the hall was completely open reminding her of a hotel atrium. Directly in front of the bedroom was a large open kitchen with expensive stainless-steel appliances set amongst the wooden cabinetry. The large open kitchen opened up to a large foyer. She had caught only a glimpse of the foyer when they first brought her in from the car. Spotting the large dark wooden double doors, Everly clung to the shadows of the half-exposed hallway until she was directly in front of the front door. Reaching out to the large handle, the blood in her veins froze at the familiar voice.
“How did you sleep?” Turning around Everly pressed herself into the sturdy wooden door as she watched Zane walk towards her and stop.
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