Aiden
“So, Mr Terratellus Sorry can I call you Aiden?” He said smiling at me. I could tell he was a weasel of a man by the way he moved around me.
“Yeah that’s fine. I want that Astra at the front.” I wanted out of here as quickly as possible.
“Of course, Aiden, but here come look at these cars.” He said, but he wasn’t taking me outside. “There’s more on my computer. It’s easier to see them this way.” He said as he tried to put his hand on me to guide me across the office.
I looked out the window and saw Evelyn was looking at a car, so I turned back to him. “No, I want the Astra.”
“It’s OK Aiden. Chill, I have a much better car for you. Don’t you want to see?” He was starting to sound a bit panicky. Then I thought I heard something. I turned back to the window.
“Aiden come with me look here.” He shouted over to me.
“Are you the only one who works here?” I asked. The office was empty but there were several desks.
“Well there’s my brother.” He stuttered.
I ran for the door. As I got outside I could hear her screaming. I ran as fast as I could, but I was too far away. Her fear level spiked and I tried to push all my energy into her. If I couldn’t get there she would need to fight her way out.
When I got there pain poured into me as I looked at her. She had tears falling down her face mixed with blood. Her pure ivory skin was stained red, her top torn into two pieces on the floor, she was only in her white bra that was now blotched with pink and her trousers were pulled down on one side. When I looked at her face she was crying and in pain, but she was smiling. I looked down to see three large dogs tearing away at flesh, splattering blood everywhere. He was screaming at me to help him.
“Evelyn?” I asked.
I tried to get her attention, but when I looked down I could see his trousers were undone and his penis was out. My blood started boiling. I saw a stained mattress behind Evelyn and the video recorder pointed to it. I looked down at him.
“I hope they rip it off.” I said as he pushed one of the dogs off and it went straight for it.
I stood in front of her trying to get her attention, but she couldn’t see me. I savoured the noise he made when he took his last breath. I watched as the dogs went back to Evelyn and stood in front of her. She bent down to her blood thirsty minions and hugged them but as she tried to stand she collapsed. I caught her, but she wouldn’t wake up. I laid her down and took my jacket off, wrapped it around her and picked her up. The Rottweiler’s started whining. I looked at the poor creatures. All they had known was that monster, so I told them to be free and we’ll meet again. They obviously knew a way out as they ran towards the back fence. I could see them running across the dry dirt.
I looked down at Evelyn. She was still unconscious. I walked back towards the office and the owner came running out.
“What happened? Is she ok?” He looked concerned, but I knew he was part of all this. He was trying to keep me inside looking at cars, so his brother could get what he wanted.
“Give me the keys to the Astra now.” I shouted.
He handed them to me and I put Evelyn in the car.
“If anything had happened to her you’d be dead right now. Luckily your dogs ripped up that rapist and he can’t hurt anybody again.”
I turned and got in the car and drove away as fast as I could. Once I was far enough away I pulled over and grabbed the backpack from the back seat and pulled out the address. It wasn’t too far away, about an hour’s drive. I set up the satnav on the car. When I looked at Evelyn it hurt. My jacket wasn’t completely on her. It had come undone. I could see part of her bra, chest and stomach covered completely in blood. It was going to be hard when she wakes up and sees all this. She was like a magnet for trouble. I wasn’t going to leave her again, although I’ve said that before. In trying to hide my feelings I put her in danger. I carefully pulled the jacket around her, so the blood wasn’t visible, but it was still on her face. When I saw her, she looked like a goddess standing there commanding her minions to feast. She was almost glowing, and her eyes were shining. I’d never seen her so beautiful before. It was hard to take in and now she was small and frail. I looked to the road and started driving. We both needed rest and the quicker we got there the better. I started to think about Sarah and Pete and how worried they would be… and Jake. I really missed him. He was my best friend, my brother. I hoped they were safe, but I’d never know. Not while we were being hunted. I thought back to the day I first met them.
“Hi Aiden, it’s very nice to meet you.” I stared at this woman.
Who was she? What was she doing here?
“My name is Sarah, and this is Pete my husband.” She had the biggest smile I’d ever seen, but it was a mask.
Behind it was pity and sadness. She sat down next to me. She smelled like flowers. It was comforting. Then she put her arm around me and pulled me tight. I started to cry.
“Hey, it’s okay you’re safe now and you’re going to come home with us.” She pulled away to look at my face asking. “Is that ok? We have got a room set up for you with a bed, toys and your own TV and PlayStation, but sshhh don’t tell anyone it’s our secret.” I smiled for a moment briefly forgetting yesterday. There was a knock at the door. I jumped scared, but Sarah held me tight. It was the social worker.
“Hi Sarah, Pete. I see you’re getting acquainted.”
“Yeah I think we’re getting on aren’t we Aiden.” I nodded. She sat in front of me. She looked uncomfortable shifting in chair.
“So, Aiden I’m afraid the police haven’t been able to find your father and we’re a bit stuck. We can’t find any identification for you or your father. No family records.” She shifted again clearing her throat. “I’m sorry but I have to ask you, do you have any other family members?”
I shook my head.
“Do you know where your mother is?”
I shook my head again.
“So, you only ever had your father? Did he ever talk about your mother? Grandparents? Aunties? Uncles?” I looked up at her.
“It’s only ever been me and daddy. He didn’t talk about anyone else. He said it was only us and that’s all we needed.” I could see her heart breaking for me.
“Ok thank you Aiden that was very helpful.” She looked worryingly at Sarah and Pete. “I’m afraid Aiden’s stay with you might be longer than we first thought. We haven’t found any other family members and have no way of finding them.” She looked at me again. The look on her face was hard for me to read. I didn’t understand. Why wasn’t I going home? Couldn’t Emma look after me till my daddy got back? “You’re the best foster parents we know, and he really needs stability right now. A care home will just make his trauma worse.” Sarah and Pete exchanged glances. Then he spoke for the first time.
“We will give him a loving home for as long as he needs it.” He put his hand on Sarah’s knee and smiled. “Come on Aiden I’m sure you’re hungry. Let’s go home and get dinner.” He picked me up and carried me out of the room. Being in his arms brought back memories of all the times my daddy would carry me home from Emma’s. I miss him now more than ever. Will I ever see him again? I relaxed against him and fell into a deep sleep.
When I woke Pete was carrying me into a large house.
“Put me down” I screamed. I kicked and punched until he finally let go of me. Sarah tried to hug me, but I didn’t want them near me.
“No don’t I don’t like it.” I said starting to cry.
“It’s okay Aiden.” Sarah said to me. She had put her hands down now and she understood that I needed space.
“Will you come inside Aiden? We have someone we’d like you to meet.” She said with a smile.
I nodded at her and followed her into the house. I waited as Sarah asked a lady in the house to leave. Then she asked me to follow her to the living room and when I looked up there was another boy about my age.
“Woohoo my new brother!” He sho
uted jumping around the room. “Hi, I’m Jake. What’s your name?” He said excitedly.
“Aiden.” I muttered back. I’d never been with other children my age before.
“Nice to meet you Aiden. I know were going to be the bestest brothers ever.” That was what he was. My best friend and I’d probably never see him again.
The satnav said we were at our destination and she wasn’t kidding. It was in the middle of nowhere facing a load of trees, and the only light was from the moon and my headlights. I pulled a little closer and I felt it. It was like a soft humming in my ear. As I went further it got a little louder, so I pushed through the leaves and the car sloped down. There were no markings anywhere, but there was room to drive the car through. I followed the humming for another few miles. Finally, I pulled into a clearing and I could see the cabin. It was facing onto a large lake surrounded by huge trees. I’d never seen anything like them. When I looked towards the cabin I saw the lights were on and a car was pulled up to the front porch. Somebody was already here.
Chapter 17
Aiden
I stopped the car, so we weren’t in the open yet. We had nowhere else to go. I hoped they had gotten lost and I could move them on their way, but I couldn’t risk putting Evelyn in anymore danger. When I got out of the car I was surprised at how warm it was here despite it being the middle of winter. I was only wearing a thin t shirt as Evelyn had my hoodie. I walked towards the cabin and looked into the blue car. I couldn’t see anything unusual and it wasn’t one of the agent’s cars. I could see the front door was slightly open, so I walked up to the crack and looked inside. I couldn’t see much but I could hear voices. There was two males and one female. Then his voice rang out to me like a beacon, Jake? They seemed to be arguing, so I pushed the door open. I wasn’t waiting. Evelyn was alone in the car and I had to get her inside.
“What the fuck you are doing here?” I shouted at Jake.
They all turned to me and I recognised the girl. I had seen her before in the hotel when I first saw Evelyn. She was the one staring at me across the table, and I also knew she was Evelyn’s best friend, Caitlin.
Jake flew across the room to me. He grabbed hold of me so hard I had to pry him off.
“What are you doing here?” I asked again.
“Where is Evelyn?” He looked panicked.
Then I see the blonde coming at me. She grabbed me by the collar.
“WHERE IS EVELYN?” She screamed in my face. The other male that was with her pulled her away from me and told her to give me a chance.
“Look calm down. Evelyn is safe I promise, and she isn’t harmed.” Well that wasn’t quite true. “I left her hidden as I wasn’t expecting a welcome party, but she’s very tired. Try not to flip out when you see her. I’ll explain later but she’s fragile at the moment.” I could feel myself starting to get upset. This was all my fault.
Caitlin came up to me. “Ok go get her, we’ll stay calm. I just need to see her.” She said to me. Then she smiled. “I’m glad you got her here.”
I smiled back and turned to go back outside. I ran to the car, got in and pulled it up to the house. Everybody was waiting by the door. Evelyn was still asleep. I pulled her into my arms and she snuggled into me. All I could think was how tiny she was, and then I saw the horrified looks their faces when they saw the blood on her. I took her in and laid her on one of the couches. I could hear Caitlin sobbing into the chest of the other guy there. He held onto her but was looking at me like he wanted to kill me.
I signalled for them all to go into the kitchen. When we got in there I could almost hear all their questions, so I spoke first.
“Right, so. Who the hell are you?” I asked the guy next to Caitlin. I didn’t like him already.
“I’m Eli. I’m Caitlin’s older brother and I’ve been looking after Evelyn for a long time.” Ah this was Eli. He was challenging me, but I didn’t have time for this. I wanted to tend to Evelyn.
“Fine. I’ll explain the blood, but the rest will take a longer to explain and I just want to get back to her. When we arrived in Michigan we went to a car dealership to get a ride. While I was in the office, a man took Evelyn. He tr–”
Now I was starting to choke up, but I had to continue. I could see the fear appearing on their faces. They saw when I laid her down she wasn’t wearing anything except a bra under my jacket.
“–I ran as fast as I could to get to her, but he had already ripped off her top.”
The tears were falling now. I tried wiping them away, but it was no use. Caitlin was already crying, and I could see terror in both the guy’s eyes.
“Now this is going to be hard for you to believe, but when he tried to grab her again his own Rottweiler’s attacked him. The blood on her isn’t hers. It was the man who took her. They ripped him to pieces while she watched but then she collapsed. She’s been out cold for over an hour.” When I looked at them they looked shocked.
“Where did the dogs come from?” Jake asked me.
“They were his dogs. I think. The whole place was fenced off with only one way out. There was an old mattress on the floor and a camcorder. The dogs were just there.” It hurt to think about what he did to her and was unthinkable that he could have done more.
I was done now; I walked out towards Evelyn and sat next to her. As I stroked the hair away from her face, the others came in to and sat down.
“Please when she wakes don’t make a big deal about the blood. I don’t think she even remembers what happened.” I said.
Then I noticed Caitlin staring at me funny and I think I knew why.
“What were u guys arguing about anyway?” I asked trying to distract Caitlin, which backfired.
“We were talking about when we were in New Orleans and that was where I first saw you.” She said narrowing her eyes at me.
“Yeah Aiden wasn’t she the girl you were chasing?” Jake asked pointing at Caitlin.
I could feel the blood draining from my face. Fuck. “I wasn’t chasing her.”
Jake looked confused. “Yeah you did. When I came back she was walking out and you followed her didn’t you?”
Oh, Jake please shut up.
“No, he wasn’t chasing me.” She said looking at Evelyn behind me.
Then Jake realised. “Oh my god yeah! Evelyn was there! Did you know she was your twin when you saw her? How weird you’d met the day before she came to us? Was it like seeing your other self? Why didn’t you say man?” Jake finally stopped talking; waiting for a response.
I was starting to shift around. I could feel her accusing glare. “I didn’t know she was my sister. I just sort of recognised her and I wanted to find out who she was.”
“No, he definitely didn’t think she was his sister.” Caitlin said accusingly, but she wasn’t wrong.
I knew she’d seen the way I looked at Evelyn that day, and I knew she’d be watching me with her now. I couldn’t let her see how I felt. Luckily Caitlin didn’t say any more about it.
“How did you guys get here anyway?” I asked.
“We used to come here a lot with Evelyn and her mom growing up. I guess she wanted us to be able to find it again.” Caitlin answered. I could see there was something she wasn’t telling me. She and Eli exchanged worried glances. I turned to Jake.
“So how did you get here? Are Sarah and Pete ok?” Jake looked to the floor and rubbed his head with his hand. This wasn’t good.
“Their gone Aiden.” Jake said solemnly.
“Gone where?” I asked. Could all this be really happening?
“About an hour after you left the hospital dad got a phone call from a woman named Jane. It was actually Caitlin and Eli’s mom. She had called because no one had heard from Evelyn and she was worried something had happened to her, but while dad was on the phone three black cars pulled up outside the hospital. I pointed them out because they were the same cars that hit us. Mom started packing my hospital notes and threw my clothes at me and told me to get dressed. So, I did, b
ut I heard gun shots. The police were still in the hospital, so it could have been them shooting, but Sarah dragged me out of the room and brought me to the back stairs. I tried asking her what was happening, but she gave me dad’s phone and told me to run. She said when I was far away to ring that number back and to tell Jane what happened.” Jake paused.
Caitlin took over. “It was our mom who sent in the documents into the police station. She knew Evelyn’s mom was on the run, and she gave my mom a folder to take into the police if anything happened to her. Evelyn and I became very close and I knew she was special but not like this.”
Caitlin was looking at Eli now to continue.
“So, when Jake phoned back and told our mom what had happened, she told him to do whatever he could to get to Michigan and to wait in a hotel there. She told him that we would be joining him. Our mom came to us and told us we had to leave, but it was too late. They were already banging on the door. My dad moved a bookshelf in the hallway up against the door to try and stop them. Then mom gave us the keys and pulled two rucksacks out of the closet already packed and said we would need them. She told us to go into the basement and use the exit on the other side that brings us out into the garage. We had time to get out, but when we got to the car the agents were already dragging our parents out of the house. We couldn’t save them. We needed to help Evelyn, so we drove to the hotel and met Jake there.” He rubbed at his head. I felt bad that they had also lost so much. This didn’t make any sense. We were told nothing about any of this. I was trying to make sense out of it.
Jake put his hand on my shoulder. “Aiden you should have seen my face when I saw Caitlin. I called her blondie and gave her a big hug until Eli pulled me off. She didn’t know who I was. Obviously, we’d never actually met before, but I remembered her. Once they knew who I was they said we had to leave, so I jumped into their car and we came straight here. We’ve been trying to piece it all together. That’s when you turned up and dude I’m so glad you did. I was so worried about her.”
Eden's Children Page 15