Seeking Our Forever

by Liberty Parker

  “You weren’t gullible, Raven. You were trying to survive that marriage and be the best mom you can be. We put our blinders on sometimes when we are in survival mode. Don’t beat yourself up, people like him are good at hiding the truth. Especially with the backers he has in this operation he had going on.” The things we’ve dug up are astounding. I knew he was a shady motherfucker, but sometimes even I can be surprised by the lengths people go to in order to hide shit.

  “Human trafficking. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to wrap my head around why a person could do that to another. It’s sickening.” She shakes her head in disgust. There’s nothing I can say to make what she’s uncovering easier to stomach, so I say nothing and keep my mind trained on the task at hand.

  “That’s just the icing on the cake, beautiful. These men and women are monsters and need to be stopped. Whether it’s by our hands or the laws, I don’t particularly care...it just needs to be done.”

  “I’ll help however I can,” she emphatically announces.

  “Even if it means getting your hands dirty and not doing things the legal way?” I don’t know why I ask this question, curiosity maybe?

  “Even if,” she responds. I nod my head in approval and for the next couple of hours we get lost in research.

  I see something out of the corner of my eye and hear Piper ask, “Hey, you guys look busy. Do you need me to run and pick up Damien? I need to grab a few last-minute things from the corner store for tonight's boil.”

  Glancing at my watch I see that it’s nearly that time of day. “Do you mind? We’re following a trail and I hate to break our concentration. Raven? Where are your keys?”

  Raven looks up and states, “Hanging on the key holder by the door. Thanks.” She’s so distracted by what we’ve been finding that she acts as though she was comatose and pulled from a deep sleep or something. Deciding to let her be for a few minutes, I set up the parameters for yet another search and head into the kitchen to grab us something to snack on since we missed lunch and it’s too close to dinner.

  Once back in the cave, I wordlessly hand her a drink and a pack of peanut butter and honey crackers. She nods, without really looking up and breaks into the crackers and starts eating. “Jonas, is the printer on?” she questions.

  I haven’t seen her eyes in a while; they’ve been glued to the screen. “Raven?” I wait for her to turn to me and then state, “Yes, it’s on. Just wanted to see that beautiful face and those pretty eyes. Carry on.”

  “Carry on? You sound like a talk show host or something.” When she starts laughing, I join in and the tension that has been in the room because of all we’ve discovered eases somewhat.

  Not paying attention to how much time passes by, we both get lost in work.

  * * *

  Piper

  * * *

  Damien hops into the car and his face splits into a smile. “Miss Piper! What are you doing here?” he excitedly jumps around in his seat.

  “I needed my best helper to come with me to the store so we can get everything we need for dinner tonight.”

  “I told everyone that we were sucking heads tonight.” His childlike demeanor is contagious, and I can’t help but chuckle right along with him.

  Picturing the look on any adult’s face that heard him say it like that, my chuckle turns into a full-blown laugh. “Did you mention that we were doing a crawfish boil?”

  “I told them we were sucking heads off of mudbugs! Ella said I was disgusting for eating bugs. I told her she didn’t know what she was talking about. That if the guys do it, I’m gonna do it too.” He proudly points to his chest.

  “Who’s Ella?” I need practice at this kid shit because he tossed in a name I’ve not heard before.

  “She’s my table partner.” He has a disgusted look on his face when he tells me this.

  “What is a table partner?” I don’t remember having one of those in school.

  “Our teacher puts four desks together so that we face each other, two by two. Just like Noah and the ark that Momma told me about a long time ago. So Ella sits next to me, Jared sits across from her, and Torie sits across from me. It’s annoying, though, because the girls giggle all the time, Miss Piper!” I bite my lip to keep from chuckling because I don't want to join the annoying girls in his mind. I kinda like being the cool one.

  My head is whirling and suddenly, I’m afraid for my child’s future. “Well, I’m sure it works for your teacher and from what I can tell, you’re very smart.”

  “That’s what Momma says too. When will we get to the store?” I whip my head in his direction because I’m having a hard time keeping up with the next topic of conversation. He shocks the shit out of me sometimes.

  I glance in the rearview mirror to reply, when I see a large SUV flying up behind me. Before I can evade the impact, the SUV slams into us and shoves us over the side of the embankment just before the guardrail. As the car hurtles down through the heavy brush, I holler, “Damien, hold on!” Someone had to see that happen. “Are you okay?” I ask this as I feel the car tilt enough that we slam into the bottom of the ditch. The impact is hard enough that despite my seatbelt, I’m pulled forward at the same time that the airbags deploy. Lights out for Piper.

  * * *

  Damien

  * * *

  My head hurts and my booster seat is hanging forward, being held back from the seatbelt which is choking me. “Piper? Piper, my head hurts,” I cry out. Lifting my hand, I touch the side of my face and pull it away and see red painting my fingers. This scares me and I want my momma. “Piper, please help me.” I crawl out of the seatbelt and my booster tries to hold my foot hostage. I let my shoe slide off and crawl up to the front of the car. I fall forward a couple of times before I get steady. I’m standing on the front part of the car and look down to make sure there’s no glass from the front windshield. I reach over to search Piper for her phone so I can call momma to come help us.

  “Piper? Where’s your phone?” She doesn’t answer me, and I look over and see that her eyes are closed and there’s blood on her face, which looks really white. Since she isn’t awake, I start looking around for her phone. On the steering wheel, I see a green phone button so I press it and a voice says, “I can make a call for you.”

  “Call Momma.”

  “I’m sorry, there is no one in the contact list named Momma. Would you like to make another call?”

  I think and then say, “Call Home.”

  “Calling Home.” Wow, momma’s car is really smart. I’ve heard her call it a smart car and now I understand why.

  I hear the phone ringing and hope Momma answers soon. When her voice answers and says, “Hello?” I start crying, even though I’m supposed to be a big boy and not be a titbag according to my dad.

  “Damien? Is that you? Honey, why are you calling on the phone? Where is Piper?”

  “Momma, Piper won’t wake up and the car had an accident.”

  “Are you okay? How did the car have an accident? Where are you?”

  “I don’t know,” I cry harder.

  Next thing I know, there’s a sound on the other end, then Jonas is on the phone. “Hey, little man, can you calm down for me, buddy?”

  “I can’t wake Piper up, Jonas,” I tell him.

  “That’s okay, I’m already looking for you on the computer. Can you tell me what happened?” he asks me.

  “We were talking about school and eating mudbugs tonight and then, someone hit us and made the car fly. Then we went down and now we’re stuck.”

  “Okay, little man, I know where you’re at so we’re getting you two help. Your momma and I will be there soon.”

  I sniff before saying, “I’m sorry for crying.” I’m scared that Jonas won’t like me anymore.

  “Damien, you don’t need to apologize for crying. I’m sure you’re scared.”

  “Only titbags cry. That’s what my dad said.”

  “Hate to break it to you, buddy, but sometimes, grown-ass me
n cry and they’re not titbags. You’re scared and wanna cry, you go right ahead.”

  I nod even though he can’t see me. “Please hurry. I think Piper is hurt.” I wish I knew what to do to make her wake up. The blood on her scares me, and my blood running down my face makes me want to cry again. Looking around, I see the napkins that Momma puts in the car for ‘just in case’ situations and I reach out and grab some so I can wipe away all the blood.

  “We’re on our way.”

  * * *

  Jonas

  * * *

  When I grabbed the phone from Raven’s shaky hands, I had no clue that there had been an accident. All I knew was her face paled and she looked as if she was going to be sick. When I heard Damien’s petrified voice on the other end, I wanted to murder whoever it was who scared him that way.

  “Jonas?” her tearstained face turns my way. “I don’t understand what happened. He said Piper was sleeping. Does that mean she’s hurt?”

  “I’m pretty sure that’s what it means, beautiful.” I’m afraid she’s going into shock with the questions she’s asking me. “We need to go get Atticus and go out and search for them. I have an idea of where they’re at. The ping indicates that they’re within a few yards from the store. Let’s go,” I say as I stand up and shove my wallet and keys into my front pocket.

  “Oh God! Jonas, the baby!” Her entire body begins shivering when the thought enters her head.

  “Piper, Damien, and the baby, are all going to be just fine. But we need to get there,” I emphasize. It seems as though we’ve been standing here talking for several minutes, but in reality, it’s only been a few seconds.

  “Shit,” she hisses as she stands and runs out the door. I rush after her, fearful that she’s in such a hurry that she’s going to trip over her own two feet and end up falling head first down the stairs.

  Reaching down, I lace her fingers with mine and lead her out of the room and down the stairs. This is where my brothers are resting and relaxing. We’ve dubbed it our ‘man cave’ we’ve had to claim a room of our own once Piper and Destiny moved in. In other words, we were given a small boxed room and turned it into our own. But that’s okay, because I am lucky enough to have two rooms to use as a personal escape. The shoebox room as I call it, and my batcave, where all of the magic happens at the tip of my fingers. It’s where I feel at home and where I’m the happiest. That is until Raven and Damien entered my life.

  “Atticus is gonna flip,” Raven whispers as we enter the room. That’s putting it nicely, he’s going to demand somebody’s blood. As long as it’s not mine, it’s all good. We hit the doorway; I have to take a deep breath before entering the room.

  “What’s up?” Silas questions when he sees us standing there against the door jamb. I catch his eyes roaming down to where we’re holding hands and see him raise his eyebrow. As if he wasn’t aware of how things were going, for fuck’s sake. Guess he’s so wrapped up in all things Destiny that he’s forgotten our previous conversations.

  Taking another deep breath, I say, “We got a call from Damien…”

  Before I can finish, Atticus states, “Why the fuck is Damien calling?”

  “If you’d let me finish, Raven and I were following a trail, so Piper offered to pick up Damien since she was hitting the store to get the stuff for dinner tonight. We’re not one-hundred percent sure what happened yet, but Damien called from the car and said that somebody hit the car and they’re stuck. I’ve got the coordinates, so we need to go find them. They’re not too far from the store from what I can tell,” I reply.

  “Why wasn’t Piper the one who called?” Atticus questions, his face etched with worry.

  “He said she was sleeping,” Raven murmurs with sadness dripping in her voice.

  At her words, Atticus bolts from his chair and practically pushes us out of the way. “Send me the coordinates, I need to find my woman. Now,” he growls.

  Not one to question him when he’s wearing that look on his face and uses that tone of voice, I quickly pull out my phone and share the location with him. “What on earth is going on?” Destiny rushes into the room bumping into us as we make our escape.

  “Piper and Damien were in an accident and Piper is unresponsive. Damien used the car and called Raven.”

  “No!” she cries out and Silas rushes to her side. She grabs his shirt, pulling him closer to her, and buries her head into his chest. “I can’t lose her, she’s all I have left in this world, Silas.”

  “You won’t lose her. And she’s not all you have,” he says to her while caressing the back of her head with his hand. He cups her neck and pulls her back, “You’ll always have me.” His declaration causes my throat to clog before Raven pulls me back into the here and now.

  “We have to go,” Raven declares. That seems to snap us all out of our stupor as we run out of the room.

  Twelve

  Raven

  As we drive to the location my legs are shaking and I can’t stop my hands from wringing themselves together. What if something really bad has happened to the three of them? What if Piper loses her baby? What if this sets Damien back? I can’t stand that thought. He’s so happy and carefree since Jonas and his family entered our lives, and it’s only been a few days. My little boy has finally emerged from his shell. Why would somebody run them off the road? Is this because of me? She was driving my car after all when she went to pick up my boy from school for me.

  “Get out of your head, Raven,” Jonas states. “Damien was smart enough to call us. We’ll find them and they’ll all be fine.” From his mouth to God’s ear. I don’t reply, but inside of me, I feel my heartbeat accelerating and I break out in a cold sweat.

  “Jonas, what if they thought it was me?” I inquire. The more I think about it, the more positive I am that the wreck was meant for me and Damien. Whoever it was, didn’t pay enough attention to the driver to realize it wasn’t me behind the wheel.

  “What if it was because they’re a stupid motherfucker who was drunk and decided to drive? We can’t look at the ‘what ifs’, Raven, because it’ll drive us all crazy. Right now, our focus is on finding them and getting them to safety.”

  “You’re right, I know, I’m just...I can’t lose my son, Jonas. He’s the only good thing that I’ve ever done in my life.”

  “I highly doubt that, sweetheart,” he replies.

  “That I can’t lose my son?” I ask confused by what he said.

  “No, baby. That he’s the best thing that you’ve ever done. You need to believe in yourself the way that I do. I see how special of a person you are, Raven. You just need to see it in yourself. We’ll get you there,” he confidently says to me.

  “How much longer?” I ask, wanting a change of subject.

  “Three minutes until we hit the spot the car pinged,” he reaches over and grabs my hand with his. We ride the rest of the way in silence. When we arrive, I see Atticus’ hotrod on the side of the road but there’s no sign of him anywhere near.

  “Where do you think he is?” I ask Jonas.

  “He’s hunting. Which means nobody will see him until he’s ready to be found,” he answers, but I notice his eyes are constantly scanning our surroundings.

  “Hunting?” I question, unsure of why he’d use that particular term. We aren’t out trying to get a deer or rabbit for supper. We’re trying to find my son and his sister-in-law. My friend.

  “It’s just a terminology Silas and I have always used when it comes to Atticus. When he searches for someone, it’s as if he’s hunting for wildlife. He’s zeroed in and focuses on one particular thing. He won’t even acknowledge anyone’s presence when he’s searching.”

  “That sounds intense,” I say to him as he parks the car. “We need to get out and search by foot from here. We’ll be able to see something small if we’re on foot that we wouldn’t spot passing by in a car.” Makes sense I suppose. I unbuckle my seatbelt and go to grab for the door handle before another thought enters my mind. “Should we
call nine one one too? I mean, they’ll probably need an ambulance, right?” That thought causes my stomach to turn and shivers to wreck my body.

  “Good thought, go ahead and call. The more people we have out here looking, the sooner we’ll locate them,” he replies, getting out of the car. I make sure I’ve got my phone handy before joining him at the front of the car.

  “What exactly are we looking for?” I ask as I am dialing emergency services. The whole area is somewhat desolate, and I need to know what to tell the dispatcher since I’m not good with street names but can get myself from point A to point B.

  “Tell them that our car is parked on the corner of East and Lexington. The phone pinged in this general vicinity. Let them know that there are five people searching on foot and that your son called from the car to tell us about the accident and that the driver is unresponsive. Don’t forget to inform them she’s pregnant.”

  My mind is whirling, but I quickly provide the information to the dispatcher who asks that I stay on the line until either the police or paramedics arrive. According to her, they’re no more than four minutes out. I notice that Jonas, Silas and Destiny have formed a mini-circle while I’ve been on the phone. Not wanting to be left out, I walk over to them. “I think you two should head west and Raven and I will head east. We’ll be able to cover more ground this way,” Jonas suggests.

  “Good idea, holler out if you see anything,” Silas responds. He wraps his arm around Destiny's shoulder and guides her in the way that they’ve been assigned. I relay the plan to the dispatcher who I can hear typing away on her keyboard in the background.

  We begin looking over guardrails and through the trees that line this part of the town. We’re looking for suppressed ground and damaged brush. We’re hoping that we’ll have a solid trail of skid marks to lead us to where they hopefully are. One could only hope that we’d find a golden brick trail. Not long after we’ve begun looking, I hear a scream that sends chills running throughout my body. It’s a scream that things of nightmares are made of. I quickly turn on the balls of my feet and run like the wind is carrying me to where that god-awful sound came from.