Seeing Double (The Perception Trilogy Book 1)

by Alyssa Lynn

  “I would be pissed too if some girl came over and wrapped around Ethan, but you have to understand that this is all new to Demo. He’s never been near a traffic light, much less in a club filled with women throwing themselves at him. You’ve got yourself a good looking man, Ava. If he knew that this would upset you, do you honestly think he would have done it?”

  She sniffled and reached for a roll of toilet paper that was sitting at the corner of the sink. Wiping her nose she stared at herself in the mirror. “I know he wouldn’t. It’s a lot and I shouldn’t be so hard on him, but my God!”

  Kaycie rubbed her arm. After a few seconds, Ava started laughing hysterically.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “Kaycie,” Ava said, trying to catch her breath. Now, Ava’s giggle had become contagious and had both girls standing in the middle of the bathroom gasping for air through cackles of laughter. “I can’t breathe, oh my God. Dude, I kidnapped a clone and brought him to a night club. That sounds so ridiculous!”

  “Yes it does,” Kaycie said, wiping tears from her eyes. “You stole a clone from a secret organization and gave him alcohol to boot.”

  They were now using the sink to hold themselves upright from the cramping in their sides. “And…” she said, through shrieks, caused by the pain in her ribs, “I SLEPT WITH HIM!” The girls were now howling and could hardly breathe. Ava finally steadied herself on her feet after a minute and looked at herself in the mirror. “We need to fix these messes and get back out there,” Ava said, gesturing to her runny eye makeup.

  “Alright, alright. We will go back out, but you can’t go all bat shit crazy again.”

  “Deal.”

  After a few more giggles and some deep breaths to calm themselves down, they fixed themselves up and headed back out to find the guys. Opening the door, they noticed Demo right away, standing up on the bar dancing with Ethan right by his side. Ethan was singing, “I wanna dance with somebody, I wanna feel the HEAT with somebody,” at the top of his lungs.

  Ava couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of lust when she stared at the singing Demo. She looked at Kaycie and they both broke into laughter again, until Ava caught a glimpse of a familiar blue blazer headed toward the bar. The man was pushing his way through the crowd of people and talking into an ear piece while keeping his head low. Ava poked Kaycie in the ribs and pointed him out. Both girls went sheet white as they came to the conclusion that they were no longer in a safe place.

  CHAPTER eleven

  A va remembered the last time she was this afraid, and the anniversary of that night had passed by just a few days ago. She reached over and squeezed Kaycie’s arm in an act of panic. She had flashbacks to Jett being dragged through the garage doors and her heart told her that she wasn’t going to let him be taken from her again. Not without a fight.

  “We’ve gotta get to them,” Ava said. The girls flung the bathroom door open and pushed through the crowd as quickly as they could to get to the bar. Kaycie was waving her arms in the air trying to get Ethan’s attention, but he was too wrapped up in the excitement of the crowd that he didn’t even see the girls.

  Ava felt claustrophobic as the people continued to close in around them and the density of the crowd increased as they got closer to the front. Girls and guys were dancing up on Kaycie and Ava as they tried to get to the bar.

  “Demo!” Ava kept yelling, hoping he would hear her. The guys continued to shake their butts and point to random people in their audience like they were Garth Brooks on stage. Kaycie could see the men in the blazers closing in and she knew they needed to do something quick.

  “Ava!” Kaycie started yelling. Ava threw her arm up in the air and they made their way to each other. “We’ve gotta create a diversion.”

  Ava thought quickly and looked at Kaycie. “No time like the present to throw a temper tantrum!”

  In unison, the girls started screaming as loud as they possibly could, and flailing their arms and legs. People were looking at them and started to move away, leaving a large gap in the audience. When they realized it was working, they looked up at the stage and saw that the guys had noticed them in the center of the dance floor. Kaycie lifted her arms up and pointed to the guys in the blue jackets that were reaching for Demo’s leg.

  Before Ethan could react, Demo was pulled down, landing on his back on top of the bar. The girls continued to scream as they watched this happen and ran toward him, punching people in the crowd if they didn’t move out of the way in time.

  “Ethan, do something,” the girls were yelling to him, but he just stood there on the bar, frozen.

  One of the suited men talked into his ear piece as he grabbed onto Demo’s shoulders and slammed his head off of the bar, causing him to go unconscious. Ava went from being nervous to being completely irate and pounced onto the guys back. He reached around and wrapped his hand around Ava’s wrist, pulling her down to the floor.

  Meanwhile, the entire crowd had pasted themselves up against the wall when they realized something was wrong. A few individuals were frantically making phone calls, while others took pictures and videos of the struggle.

  Looking into Ava’s eyes, the man whispered, “You’re the little bitch that started this mess.”

  He grabbed her by the hair as he pulled the limp and sagging Demo up underneath his arm. Ava reached up and tried to pull Demo from the man’s grasp, but he wasn’t budging. She could reach his face and began to rub his cheek in an attempt to wake him up.

  “Demo!” Ava kept yelling, but there was no reaction; he was out cold.

  Kaycie was at the other end of the bar in the hands of the other suited man. He had her arms yanked upward behind her back and was reaching down for her ankles. Ethan remained still on top of the bar counter.

  “Ethan, why aren’t you doing anything?!” Ava was screaming to him while she was watching the disaster unfold in front of her. Not only had these people taken Jett from her, but now they were doing it all over again, and this time, they were including Kaycie in the package.

  The man who was wrangling Kaycie grabbed Ethan by the arm and pulled him down to the floor. Dragging all four of them out of the bar, they made their way to a black SUV that was parked out front of the club. As they got closer, the back doors opened and one by one, the group was tossed inside. The inside of the vehicle looked like it was made for kidnapping. The seats had all been removed and there were rope ties attached to the wall near the roof.

  The girls were fighting to get loose of the ties that had been placed around their wrists and legs before they were propped up against the vehicle wall. Though they were thankful for not being linked to the ties on the walls, tears fell from their eyes and rolled down their cheeks until they were absorbed in the fabric from the gags that had been placed in their mouths.

  Demo lay motionless at the back of the SUV while Ethan sat next to the girls with a terrified look in his eyes. Sitting completely still, he couldn’t even look at Kaycie and Ava while they sat next to him fighting to get out of the fabric traps. The man that climbed into the back with the group seemed to be enjoying the show of watching the girls struggle to get free.

  Ava kept glancing at Ethan through teary eyes with a look of confusion as to why he wasn’t helping them. She wanted to yell at him, but the gag was keeping them both from letting out anything but a whimper.

  The driver of the SUV kept looking at the man in the passenger seat. They were whispering to each other and gesturing toward Ethan who continued to sit quietly. Kaycie sat with her eyes closed and was taking deep breaths as the tears kept rolling down her face.

  “Hey kid,” said the man in the passenger seat. “What’s your name?” Ethan flinched when they acknowledged him.

  Trying to talk around her gag only made it worse for Kaycie. Drool was starting to form in the corners of her mouth. She kept trying to say Ethan’s name, but the words couldn’t form in her mouth. Sobs kept escaping from her lips and all she could do was close her eyes and
pray.

  When Ava caught sight of Demo, she immediately was taken back to the night at Marcus Creations. Watching him from the fence; holding himself up on his hands and knees while he was beaten by the men that surrounded him. She wanted so badly to help him that night, but knew that he wanted her to stay put to avoid them both being placed in harm’s way. Once again, she felt helpless as he lay there, only a few feet away from her.

  When the men lost interest in Ethan, they started saying coordinates into the radio that was attached to the ceiling. “ETA roughly twenty minutes,” said the driver.

  The passenger looked at Ethan again and shook his head. “What exactly did they want us to do with them?” He asked the guy in the back.

  “Boss wants them placed in captivity until they determine which class they’ll be put in.” The man sitting in the back with the group placed his hand on Ava’s leg and squeezed. “I pray they use you for organs and chop up your remains. Hopefully, they won’t even put you out before they start cutting. Making you feel every single slice they make into your pretty little body.” Ava started squirming under the pressure of his hand on her leg and tried to kick, but the ties around her knees were too constricting. “Oh, you’re a feisty one,” he said, giving her a dirty grin. His hand began to move up her leg and lift the bottom of her dress to get a peek at her lacey garment. “And you’re a bit of a slut,” he added, licking his lips.

  Looking over the man’s shoulder, Ava could see Demo’s eyes cracking open. She started whimpering, thankful he was okay and desperate for him to remain still so the others didn’t know he was awake. The radio let out a, “ten four” from the guy on the other end.

  Demo kept blinking himself back into reality, but didn’t move his body. Ava was starting to worry that he was physically incapable of moving. He looked at her and nodded his head to let her know he was alright and Ava shook her head in hopes he would understand that she was telling him to stay still.

  With a bright green light up ahead of the SUV, the driver didn’t touch the breaks as he continued on toward the intersection. Just then, a silver car came barreling through and almost side-swiped their vehicle. The driver cut the wheel to the right and the SUV tipped up on two wheels. Ava’s eyes widened as she looked over at Kaycie who was also panic-stricken. The girls couldn’t imagine dying in the back of this vehicle with these people.

  Terror sank into every passenger as they held their breath and felt the impact of the side of the vehicle smash into the pavement. The man in the passenger seat toppled over onto the driver who was only halfway inside the vehicle when it came crashing down. The man that was in the back had smacked his head off of the ceiling before crumbling into a ball on top of the girls. Groans came from Demo as the vehicle slid to a complete stop. Ava looked at the man that was lying on top of her and noticed blood was dripping from his nose and his eyelids were fluttering rapidly. Ava had never hoped for death upon another human until this moment in her life.

  Kaycie wasn’t moving and had a cut on her forearm that was dripping with a fair amount of blood. Ethan was holding his head and had cuts and scrapes all over his body. Ava was frantically wiggling underneath the dead weight of the motionless man. Demo crawled from the back of the vehicle up to the girls and started to free them from the ties and the gags.

  “I’m guessing when we landed, we didn’t land on four wheels,” Ava said, once Demo removed the gag from her mouth.

  “I do believe that is a correct statement,” he replied.

  “Get Kaycie,” Ava said to Demo, as he finished untying her wrists. “I’ll get my legs free.” Once she removed the rest of her ties, she punched the unconscious man in the head and crawled over to Ethan. “To say that I’m pissed at you would be an understatement,” she whispered, “but you look pretty beat up, so I’ll help you to safety now and kick your ass once you’re better.”

  Demo reached up and rubbed Kaycie’s cheek to get her to open her eyes. When she finally came to and peeked through her eyelids, she began to panic. Still not able to talk with the gag in her mouth, she started shrieking at the sight of someone in front of her. Demo put his hands up and shushed her to let her know everything was okay.

  “It’s just me,” he whispered to her. Waving his hands until he knew she was aware of who he was. “Are you doing okay?”

  Between heavy breaths, Kaycie nodded her head.

  “Okay,” Demo continued, “I’m going to get this guy off of you and free you from those ties.” Grabbing the heavy man by the arms, Demo pulled the bottom half of the man off of Kaycie and shoved him to the side. He removed the gag and noticed the blood dripping onto her lap. “Is your arm okay?” he asked her.

  “I’ll be fine,” Kaycie said, feeling where the gag had rubbed the corners of her mouth raw. She looked up at the front of the vehicle to see the men in a pile of shattered glass and mangled metal. Neither of the men were moving. The dashboard would have pinned them in place even if they were conscious.

  “What happened?” asked Kaycie.

  Demo looked around at the remains of the vehicle, “I have no idea. But I know that whatever it was, it just saved our lives.”

  Ava helped Ethan as they climbed over what was left of the seats to make it up to Kaycie and Demo. “Let’s get the hell out of here,” Ava said.

  Demo stood on the side of the seat and pushed the door upward, holding it open and looking at the group, “Ava, can you get Ethan and Kaycie over to me while I hold this open?”

  “I’ll do my best,” she said, grunting as she slipped herself under Ethan’s arm and carried him to the door. “You’re gonna have to push through the pain, Ethan. You’re not exactly as light as a feather.”

  Ethan groaned as he tried to stand up. Blood was running from the side of his head.

  “Ethan, are you going to be okay?” Demo asked. “You appear to have taken quite a beating.”

  “I’ll be fine,” he replied, reaching up and taking hold of the door jam. “I just gotta be careful, I feel like my insides are in shambles.” Stepping up onto the head rest, Ethan stood and slowly crawled onto the outer side of the vehicle.

  Ava made her way over to Kaycie and knelt down beside her. “Girl, even hog-tied and bloodied up, you’re still the hottest redhead in town.”

  Kaycie smiled and held her side while Ava looped an arm around her waist and pulled her up. Making their way over to the Demo, Ava pushed Kaycie up while Ethan reached down through the door and grabbed under her arms.

  “On the count of three,” Ava said. “And be careful of the wound on her arm.” In one swift move, Kaycie was out of the mangled vehicle.

  Demo looked over at Ava, “Your turn.”

  She leaned in to him and kissed his lips before she climbed up and out of the wreckage. Ava held the door while Demo made his escape. The three of them looked at Ethan with distaste.

  “What the hell happened to you back there,” Kaycie asked him through clenched teeth.

  Ethan didn’t say anything, but managed to finally make eye contact with the group.

  “I already promised him an ass-whooping once he’s healed,” Ava said, climbing down to the pavement. The group looked around them to see the bubble lights and sirens making their way to them.

  “Let’s just hope that they don’t ask questions about Demo, or this could get pretty squirrely,” said Kaycie.

  “If anyone asks, Demo was merely a witness to the accident and came to our rescue. Nobody needs to know who was in that thing when it crashed. If they think he was a passenger, they will want his information,” said Ava. Everyone, but silent Ethan, nodded in agreement.

  As the police came up to them, Ava made her way to the front of the group, “Hello officer.”

  “Ma’am. Is everyone okay over here?”

  “We’ve seen better days, but I believe we’ll all be alright. There are a few men in the SUV that will need medical attention.”

  “I’m sorry miss, but at this point, everyone that was in that vehicle w
ill need medical attention. In addition to speaking with me so we can get a statement.” The officer looked at the three of them and pointed to Ava when he noticed the marks on her wrists and legs. “How about we get you kids loaded up in the back of the ambulance and off to the hospital for some tests?”

  They all nodded, but Ava gestured toward Demo. “Sir, he wasn’t part of the accident, but he is my boyfriend and was a witness to what happened. I really don’t want to leave him here at the scene and I know he doesn’t want to let me out of his sight right now.” Even with everything that was happening around them, Ava could feel herself flushing at the use of the word ‘boyfriend’.

  The officer noticed blood running down Demo’s neck. “Are you sure he wasn’t involved in the accident?”

  “No officer,” Demo said, thinking quickly. “I actually just came from a touch football game in our backyard. We tend to get a bit out of hand at times.”

  “Well, technically he’s not supposed to ride in the ambulance, but I can take him with me and we can escort you to the nearest medical center,” replied the officer.

  Ava didn’t feel that she could trust anyone right now. Even though he was more than likely just an innocent state police officer. She mustered up the best act she could and let the tears fly, “Sir, please! I don’t want to be away from him right now! My head hurts and I’m beaten. Just, please, let him come with us!”

  The officer held his hands up in the air and attempted to calm her down. “Okay, miss. I will speak with the EMTs and we will see what we can do.”

  Ava turned back toward the group once the officer had walked toward the ambulance. Demo grabbed her hand and squeezed lightly.

  “I know I said I was going to wait to kick your ass, but I still can’t believe you just stood there. You froze up on top of the bar while I was being dragged out by my hair and Kaycie was being hog-tied by some macho man in a suit! Not to mention the fact that Demo had been knocked completely unconscious and was helpless in the arms of that ass hat! You best keep some distance between the two of us, or it’s gonna get ugly.” She pulled out her cell phone and sent a text to the girls at the lab to let them know she was okay. They would be hearing about the accident on the news when they turned the TV on.