Everlasting

by Kassidy Carter

  When he left to find something to cut the cuffs off with, a uneasy, terrified feeling came over me. I know Hunter is here and will do whatever he needs to do to keep me safe. I want to panic now that I couldn’t see him. I quickly grab the gun and hide it under me the best I could, to keep it out of Keegan’s sight. I picked up the cell phone Hunter left me and dialed 911. As soon as the operator picked up I did not give her time to ask anything. I raced through my name and what was going on. I wanted to be quick about it. I didn’t know when Keegan would be back and I didn’t want him to know I called the police. I keep the call connected after telling the operator that I am hiding the phone and toss the phone so it slides under the fridge, hiding it. I prayed the phone gets service under the fridge and the call stays connected. It was the one chance at surviving this. I am pretty sure it’s also Hunter’s only chance at surviving this nightmare too.

  I hear a crash come from the living room. I couldn’t stop the scream that tore from my throat. I scream out for Hunter and start to tug on my cuff, forgetting about my arm. I can’t see anything. I can only hear something being dragged on the floor. Whatever it is sounds heavy and the person is having troubles dragging it. I can only hope that it’s Hunter dragging Keegan. That hope dies quickly when I hear Kelly’s voice, causing my heart to stop.

  “We can’t kill him Keegan. You told me I could have him once you left with Payton.” She whines out.

  “Just help me get him on the chair.” Keegan’s back comes into view as he yells at Kelly. “Stop being a stupid bitch and help me.”

  I hear her gasp, but she doesn't say anything back to him. I hear more grunting and pulling, then the click of cuffs.

  “Keegan please uncuff me,” I say lightly, trying to get his attention. The way the kitchen is set up the oven is behind an island that is used for an extra counter, blocking me from seeing anything other than the top of his back. I need to know that Hunter is still alive.

  Kelly walks over to me and smiles. “Just shut up. No one wants to hear anything you have to say. You’re the one hurting Hunter right now. If you would have just stayed away from him, he would be fine.” I can tell she is holding back the anger she is feeling. I can also see the hurt in her eyes.

  “Kelly please, Keegan is crazy. Just help us out here and I won’t press charges, neither will Hunter.” I try to plead with her. She has to know that Keegan is going to kill Hunter. He was never going to let him live through this. “I bet this was all Keegan's idea. I bet you really don’t want to do this. Kelly, you are so much better than this.” She looks at me confused, almost like she wants to help, but she is scared.

  “Kelly, get the hell away from her.” Keegan turns and looks over at us. “Payton shut the hell up,” Keegan yells as he steps up to the side of the island. I look up at him. All I can see when I look at him is hatred. He is delusional if he thinks this will get me to love him again or be with him. I never hated a person this much in my life. I know I have to use the gun on him. I have to save Hunter and myself.

  I slowly reach under me and grab it.

  “Keegan go to hell,” I scream and aim the gun at him and press down on the trigger. Doing it without thinking. If I thought about it, I don't know if I could have done it. I hear nothing happen. I go to push the trigger again, but it doesn’t budge. Keegan looks at me with fear laced in his eyes and then it drains to laughter. I look down at the gun, confused as to why in did not go off. Then it hits me that I did not take the safety off. Before I can retry, Keegan jumps over the island and lands straddling me grabbing the gun out of my hands and tossing it.

  The laughter that was coming from him stopped as he grabs my neck, pulling me up a little. “You are going to wish you did not do that.” He shoves me back to the ground and slaps my face hard, causing me to scream out in pain. I feel him reach up and mess around with the cuff. He slowly lowers my arm to the floor once he has it released. The pain cuts down my arm, making me yell out loud again. The pain is so intense that it’s traveling through my whole arm now. I bring it to my chest and cradle it there, wanting to protect it.

  Keegan gets off me, standing up and pulling me up with him. I feel a wave of dizziness hit me, causing me to grab on to Keegan’s arms for support, trying to keep myself up.

  He pulls me over to the kitchen table and before I know it he has me sitting in a chair facing Hunter. I look at Hunter and my heart drops. His head is hanging forward so I can’t see what his face looks like. He isn't moving and the color of his skin is becoming sickly white. I thought my heart was broken before when I thought he cheated on me. But looking at him, this is a new kind of broken. I could lose him forever and it would be at the hands of Keegan. Keegan is only doing this because of me. Kelly is right, this is my fault and I need to fix it.

  I look up at Kelly. Maybe I can talk some sense into her. “How can you claim to love Hunter? How can you sit here and watch this happen? You know deep down that Keegan is going to kill him.” I scream at her, trying to get her to see what will really happen if she allows this to keep going on.

  Opening my mouth earns me another blow from Keegan, but it has shaken Kelly. I can tell by the way she stiffens and looks at Hunter and the Keegan.

  “Keegan, take Payton now. Just go. Hunter needs help and you promised me I could keep him if I help you.” She pleads with him.

  “Shut up Kelly. He is not making it out of here alive. He never was going to.” He reaches behind his back and pulls out his gun and aims it at Hunter. “You are so naive Kelly.” He says looking at her.

  I scream for him to stop and look away, not wanting to see him shoot Hunter. Keegan grabs onto my hair at the back of my head, effectively holding me there to watch him. I can feel the tears run down my cheeks. “I’m sorry Keegan. Please, we can leave; just you and me.” I plead with him. Kelly's face drains of all color, her body starts to shake as she realizes that she won’t be getting Hunter and that Keegan set her up.

  She steps back from the table and slowly makes her way towards Hunter’s gun that is on the floor. I see what she is doing and try to distract Keegan. I start to struggle out of his hold, pissing him off as he pushes me away. Just as Kelly picks up the gun and aims it at him, I fall to the ground and hear the blast of the gun going off. I feel something heavy land on me, not moving.

  I turn my head and see that Keegan is laying on me. Once I realize that Kelly shot him I start to feel that he is still breathing. He lies still for a few seconds, then grabs his stomach and pulls his hand away from it, seeing that his hand is covered in blood.

  “Bitch!” he screams.

  Kelly is standing there in shock, just looking at him. She still has the gun pointed at him, but her arms are shaking. She doesn't see him raise his gun, she is still looking at her hands. I go to scream her name just as Keegan fires the gun. The bullet hits Kelly in the chest. I look away as her body flinches back and she falls to the floor, not moving.

  Rage fills my body. As much as I did not like Kelly she did just try to save us. I start to beat on Keegan's chest violently. “You son of a bitch,” I scream hitting him harder. He leans his body down on mine, pinning my arms to me.

  “She was going to die anyways.” He hisses in my ear. He reaches up and takes hold of my throat and squeezes tightly. “If I die, you die with me.” My vision starts to blur as he cuts off my air. I try to grab hold of his hands to get them off my throat, trying to plead with him, but nothing comes out. I can start to see white spots as I try to get air into my lungs. I keep struggling with him but feel my strength weaken under his hands. I have to fight to not black out. I can feel the darkness coming, my hands drop to the floor on their own. I just stare at his face, wondering how a person as handsome as him could be such a monster.

  I hear another blast go off, but I am too weak to care. I feel Keegan's weight lift off me. My hands go to my throat automatically and I quickly draw in breaths and look over to where Hunter is standing. He doesn’t stay up long before he crumples to the floor.


  It takes me a few seconds to come back to myself. I keep trying to get the oxygen to go back into my lungs. When it does and I realize what happened. I scream and move to Hunter. He is lying on his side so I roll him onto his back, the chair still attached to one of his arms.

  I pat his face, trying to get him to wake up. “Hunter please wake up.” I cry out.

  “Payton?” He asks lightly, reaching up taking my good hand. A small smile spreads across his face. “I love you Payton. Remember that I’ve always loved you, and I always will.” He swallows and tries to take a deep breath.

  “I love you too,” I say lightly, leaning over and kissing his lips. He kisses me back lightly before his eyes close again.

  I watch his breathing slow down and I start to panic. The tears coming faster now, blurring my vision.

  “Hunter, please stay with me.” I cry out. He opens his eyes a little then closes them again. His head rolling to the side. I lay my head on his chest, crying harder. I try to cover his wound, putting as much pressure on it as I can.

  The next thing I see there are armed police officers and EMT’s charging into the cabin. One moves me away from Hunter. As soon as he gets me away from Hunter he starts to work on him while another one walks over to me asking me questions. I can’t focus on them. All I can focus on is Hunter and the pain I feel. They are doing chest compressions to get his heart started again. All I can think is I lost him.

  Chapter 16

  Payton

  They loaded Hunter into one of the ambulances that were waiting outside the cabin. I was still in a daze, not saying anything. I couldn't. The one time I spoke I asked about Hunter, but they would not tell me anything. That freaked me out the most. They rushed him out of here without saying a word.

  They got me strapped to a stretcher and wheeled me out of the cabin. The panic started to come back again. I can feel myself starting to hyperventilate. I dart my eyes around looking at the people trying to work on me. One of the guys took my hand, gently holding it. “It is okay ma’am, no one will hurt you.” He rubs circles on my hand with his thumb in a calming way. “You need to calm down or we will have to give you something to calm you down.”

  I lock my eyes on his and feel myself calm down a little. At least I am starting to breath normally again. “Can you please tell me how Hunter is? The guy you rushed out of there.”

  He looks at me with a sad look. “I can’t tell you anything right now. We need to get you to the hospital. When we are there, maybe we can find out more information. But you need to remain calm for him okay?”

  I understand what he is saying and take a deep breath, nodding my head yes for him. He smiles and goes back to what he was doing. It seems like a short drive to the hospital, but I know it takes around 30 minutes to get there from the cabin. I hope they drove faster with Hunter if he was still alive. I don't think he would have lasted another 30 minutes.

  We finally pull into to the hospital and they wheel me into the ER. There are people running around everywhere. I get wheeled into a room and wait for the doctor.

  I don't remember much of the rest of the night. I was given pain medication for my injuries. After the doctor came in and they took x-rays of my arm I fell asleep, into a peaceful drug induced coma.

  I wake up confused and frightened. I forget where I am as I jolted awake screaming, slamming my eyes shut again. Someone who was sitting in the chair next to my bed bolts up at the same time, placing their hands on my shoulders lightly.

  “Shh, baby girl. It’s all right.”

  As soon as I hear the voice tears of relief start to run from my eyes. Realizing it wasn't a dream and that I did get out of the cabin alive. I slowly open my eyes back up and look up at my dad.

  He is looking down at me with a worried look on his face. He looks like he has been through hell and his eyes are rimmed red, probably from crying. I hate causing him to worry. I reach up carefully, not to bump the tubes coming from my hand and touch his face lightly. I give him a weak smile, trying to ease the worry from him.

  “Dad, I’m okay.”

  He looks over to the door then back to me. “Payton, you’re not okay. Don't say it to make me feel better. You have been asleep for almost two days. That is two days I sat here worried about you. I am your father, you don't need to lie to me. From what the cops told me you were put through hell.”

  I can feel my lower lip tremble. “I’m sorry you had to worry dad. I didn't think I would have problems at the cabin. I didn’t think before I went off alone up there.”

  He shakes his head at me, placing his hands on my face lightly. “Look at me Payton.” I look up at him, placing my hands on top of his.

  “None of this was your fault. Do not blame yourself for this. Keegan was sick and crazy.”

  I shake my head yes. I still feel like it’s my fault. I did go alone, I knew Keegan was following me before the cabin. I have known for a while. I just ignored the signs, hoping he would just go away. I got Hunter killed. With that thought, my heart breaks, shattering, causing me to go into uncontrolled sobs. Trying to suck in as much air as I can to get my breath. It feels like I have been punched in the gut.

  “He is dead.” I sob out more to myself than anyone else. “Daddy he died saving me.” I cover my eyes with my good hand, not caring now about the fucking tubes that are stuck in me. At this moment, I just want to die.

  My dad stands there trying to calm me down. I hear other people come into the room, but I am still in panic mood.

  “I can’t get her to stop. She just started to panic.” I hear the panic in my dad’s voice. I know I need to calm down, but I can’t.

  I open my eyes, thinking I will see a nurse in the room, but its Matt and James. Matt is sitting on the bed by my legs. He places a gentle hand on my right leg and rubs it, trying to calm me.

  “What did you say to her dad?” He snaps. That is out of character for Matt to snap at my dad. He would never snap at my dad like that.

  His touch is calming me down a little. I keep chanting to myself that I have to be strong for myself and for Matt. He has to be so heartbroken. He and Hunter were like brothers. I can’t even think of his name without wanting to freak out again. God I can’t do this. I close my eyes again, not wanting to look at Matt right now.

  “I told her it wasn't her fault. She was starting to blame herself. I will not let her do that.”

  I hear Matt sigh. “Payton, dad is right. This isn't your fault. If Hunter finds out that you are in here blaming yourself over this, he will be angry.”

  I stiffen when Matt says his name. He says it without any hurt in his voice. I open my eyes, my vision is blurred from the tears. I wipe them away and look at Matt. He isn’t showing any hurt over his best friend dying.

  “How are you just sitting there? He died saving me. Why are you not crying? I thought you would be crying.’ I ramble out not stopping. “He was your best friend and you’re sitting here worrying about me and not giving a fuck that he is gone.” The grief just turned into anger. I can feel it boiling inside me now. I’d rather this than the pain. I wipe my face again to get rid of the tears.

  “What are you talking about Payton?” Matt looks at me confused.

  I lick my dry lips and close my eyes, trying to prep myself for saying his name. “Hun.. Hunt.” I can’t do it. I look up at Matt, sadly hoping he gets what I am saying.

  His eyes get wide as he looks at James then my dad. “You didn’t tell her, did you?”

  “Tell me what?” I demand.

  He smiles a little. “He didn’t die, Payton.”

  I swallow the lump that is stuck in my throat. I assumed the worst because they would not tell me anything before I passed out. “He really is alive?”

  James walks over to the bed. “Sorry, you thought he was dead but he is alive and asking about you all the time. It’s rather sickening and sweet I guess.”

  “James.” Matt snaps at him “It is not sickening. He is worried about her.”


  James smiles which causes me to smile, making me notice the pain in my face. “It’s pretty sickening. That boy loves you. The first thing he asked about when he woke up was how you were doing. He gets shot, almost dies, and asks about you right away.” He adds sitting over by dad.

  The relief I feel from hearing he is alive is amazing. The anger is gone. The heartbreak is still there but less than before. I asked to see him, but I have to wait. Some police officers want to come in and talk to me first. My brothers and dad are hesitant about letting them, but I tell them I am up to it.

  The officers come in and we go over everything that happened. I learn that Kelly survived. She told the officers that the night before she drugged Hunter so she could set it up to get me away from him. She did not know until the next day what Keegan had planned. Keegan called her and told her that I was heading for the cabin; he was following me up there. He told Kelly that she needed to get up to the cabin and keep watch outside, in case Hunter or one of my brothers showed up. If she saw someone, she was to shoot them. One of Kelly's friends called Kelly to tell her that Hunter was heading out of town; that’s when she text Keegan and told him. Keegan was threatening her also after he got her to drug Hunter he threatened to turn her in. He used his father’s power and money to get her to cooperate with him. He also told her that once he had me she could do what she wanted with Hunter. His goal was to take me with him to an island. He did not tell her more than that.