Taking a breather in the bathroom, I thought quickly about Josh’s words as his massive deception moved through me. It simmered in my blood as it tried to react, but I wasn’t building up to explode the way I normally would. I wasn’t feeling the rise of rage or the need to run. Perhaps it was because deep down, I always sensed that Josh was involved in how we got together. Perhaps my subconscious knew it was coming. Something was always ‘coming’ these days.
But Josh was my soul mate because as much as he complemented me, he also had a darkness he had to keep at bay too. I believed it had started to grow inside him on the day he lost his parents. How his sparkly green eyes turned darker with the pain of their loss. Death always changes people, and Josh didn’t just lose his parents but his life too. It was all taken away from him, yet he tried not to let it consume him or destroy our bond. But I know that darkness grows where the light can’t shine. Josh had lost some of his innocence when he lost everything else. When he escaped to Morewell and sent me that letter saying good-bye, I believed, deep down, he fled because he didn’t want me to see what he was already beginning to change into. A darker and more haunted version of the sweet boy I met when I was thirteen. He was protecting me from a side of him he feared I wouldn’t accept or wouldn’t understand. But he was wrong. Very wrong. That was becoming clearer by the second. To me, destiny is destiny, no matter what the course. And now, more than ever, I had found a reason to see through the dark. The light had filtered in and through my heart and into my eyes. It wrapped around my mind and gave me peace I didn’t know I could have. Even if I wanted to be mad, I couldn’t find that burning rage that wanted to ignite. And, even if I wanted to run, my feet were stuck in one spot, somber and still. Everything had already changed.
I knew today was not the day to confront those actions that Josh had wrongly done by Clint and Samuel. I would need to talk to them in my own time and apologize for my behavior and the things I accused them of. There would come a moment when it was right to see them again, when this day was behind us, after we had taken our huge leap forward, because here in Prague, my eyes were wide open, and everything was about to change all over again.
Breathe Norah, just breathe. It’s time to do it. It’s time to tell him.
I opened the bathroom door and started to stride out, when I was halted by another presence in the room. We were not alone. Standing behind Josh was a tall, round-faced, balding black- haired man with a gun planted firmly behind Josh’s head. He had his other hand latched onto Josh’s right shoulder, gripping so tight I could see the pain from his hold on Josh’s twisted facial expression.
“Why hello Lenorah Rossi. I’m so happy you joined us. I was just getting acquainted with your, your, your...Wait, should I still call him your fiancé? From what I heard from outside the window, that may not be the case. Am I right?”
Josh tried to move out of his hold, but the man then kicked Josh in the back of his legs, dropping him to his knees. He moved so the gun he was holding was clearly visible on the back of Josh’s head for me to see.
“Josh...” My voice was trembling at the sight of his life at the mercy of this intruder. My head started to fill with dark rumbling clouds, my pulse rising. “What do you want?” I yelled at the man.
He shifted himself behind Josh so he had a better grip on his shoulder. Josh winced at his hold. “What we’ve always wanted Lenorah. But here in Europe we do things a little different. Here, your Daddy can’t help you. Now if you want to see Josh again, you’ll figure out what we need and you’ll give it to us.”
“Norah, don’t listen to him. It’s the Lappell, they want you to...” Suddenly Josh was hit across the head, his body falling to the ground. He groaned as he lay on the wooden floor, and I instinctively stepped forward to help him. The man lifted his hand and pointed his gun at me, stopping me from running to Josh’s aid.
“Tut, tut, Lenorah. You should know better than to do that. Come any closer, and Josh’s face will become a permanent part of the floor.”
Looking at Josh rolling around on the floor, I immediately thought of my own gun that was tucked in the drawer in the dresser. My eyes went to the drawer, trying to figure out a plan to get there fast enough so the intruder wouldn’t take me or Josh out. The man laughed as he watched my mind ticking over. “Don’t be stupid Lenorah. You don’t want to ruin this before it even gets started do you?”
I swallowed and returned to looking at the man hovering over Josh, who was readjusting his aim at his head. “What do you want?” I screamed at him, barely holding myself together.
“We want you...to come find us.” The man grabbed Josh by the back of his shirt and pulled him to his feet. A small trail of blood trickled down from his head and onto his cheek. I stepped forward and again the man raised his gun to me, shaking his head. “This is what’s going to happen now. Mr. Hollows and I are going on a little trip. If you are a smart girl, you’ll figure out how to find young Joshua here.” He grinned smugly. “Let’s call it...hide-and-seek.”
“Hide-and-seek? Hide-and-seek? Are you a fucking crazy person? I don’t understand why you are doing this. Please, please just let Josh go. Please!” Josh was still shaking his head at me while I was pleading for his release.
“Consider it your first test Lenorah. Now if I was you, I wouldn’t follow us just yet. You wouldn’t want Josh to have a little accident along the way. Best you stay put and get your thinking cap on.”
Josh shook his head furiously. “Don’t come after me Norah. Don’t follow me. Just let me go. Don’t...” The man jammed the gun into the side of Josh’s hips, stopping him from saying anymore. He moaned in pain, and then coughed, trying to get air into his lungs.
“We know you’re smart Lenorah. Now be a good little girl and close your eyes and count to a hundred. It’s time to...play.”
I didn’t know what to do. Josh’s green eyes bore into mine as we stood staring at one another, unable to say everything we needed to say. What if this was the last moment I ever had with him? What if those green eyes that looked at me with both love and fear would be the last thing I would ever remember of Josh? I sensed that the Lappell had other plans for us, and I was hoping that this wasn’t the end. I was praying that if I just followed their ridiculous instructions, everything would be okay, that Josh would be okay. I hesitantly started to quietly count to a hundred. The last thing I saw was Josh’s terrified face and his head shaking ‘no’ as I slowly closed my eyes. When I opened them a minute later, my fiancé, and my life, was gone. I stood frozen. Staring at the open door where Josh had been yanked out of my life and into the unknown. What should I do now? Should I get the gun from the dresser and go after them? What did he mean that this was a test? Where do I go? What do I do?
Josh...
My hands started to shake. I needed to calm down. It would not be good for me to lose it right now. I couldn’t be reckless. I needed to keep it together. I had to call for help. I needed to call...my Dad. I ran over to Josh’s backpack in the far corner of the room, my feet trying not to stumble and fall in my wedding dress. I sifted through the backpack, until I found his cell. With shaking fingers, I flipped it open and started to dial. My hands fumbled and I dropped the cell to the floor. Suddenly, there was the sound of more footsteps walking into the room.
“Alright, alright, alright. Let’s get this elopement on. Hey Norah and Josh...” The footsteps came to a grinding halt behind me. “Hey...what...the...hell!?” Tess had walked into the room to witness me kneeling on the ground, scratching around at the floor in my wedding dress, trying to pick up the cell with my fumbling, shaking hands. I lifted my face up to see Tess, knowing it was streaked in tears.
“They took him Tess! They took Josh!” I sobbed, unable to hide my distress.
Tess dropped to her knees next to me, one of her arms immediately going around my shoulders. “Wait, what? Who took Josh? What are you talking about?”
My whole body began to tremble. “The Lappell. One of their men. Th
ey just came here, pointed a gun to his head, and took Josh away from me.”
Tess’s grip tightened on my shoulders, her voice now shocked and panicked. “Whoa! Whoa! What? The Lappell? Where did they take him? And why? Why would they do that?”
“I don’t know Tess. It’s the fucking Lappell! I don’t know where they’ve taken him. I don’t know if he is safe.” My eyes were darting all over the room, like I was lost and confused and couldn’t get my bearings. “What if they hurt him Tess? What if they...they...I don’t know what I’ll do if something happens to Josh. I need him back and now he is gone.”
Tess moved in front of me on her knees and planted both her arms on mine to slow my frantic behavior. “Norah, you need to try and calm down. Think. You need to call someone who can help. Someone like your Dad. This is too much for you to handle. Okay. Your Dad will know what to do. Call him right now.”
I looked to the floor to where I dropped the cell and used what little strength I had left to pick it up and dial my Dad’s cell number. He answered right away.
“Dad, it’s me, Lenorah.”
“NO! I’M NOT OKAY! The Lappell kidnapped Josh!”
“Right now! They broke into our room, put a gun to Josh’s head and then took him away.”
“I can’t calm down Dad! It’s Josh! You know how I feel...”
“What? Yes. Yes. Yes. I already know that. I know what Josh did to them. He told me this morning.”
“No...it doesn’t matter to me.”
“No, I don’t know why the Lappell took him.”
“No, I don’t know where.”
“Where am I? I’m in Prague.”
“It’s none of your business why we are here!”
“What do I do Dad? I need to find him. I need to be with him. I have to help him. They said they want me to...”
“What do you mean you want me to wait here?”
“I can’t just sit here and do nothing. I have to go find him.”
“You must know someone who can help me.”
“Who? Who are you sending?”
“Fine. I’ll wait here till they arrive, but your henchmen better know what they’re doing.”
“Yes, I’ll text you the address.”
“No Dad. I won’t do anything stupid.”
“I love you too.”
I could hear what my Dad was saying but it didn’t register in my head. I could only hear my own scattered words filled with dread and panic. Nothing was processing or making sense.
“What did he say?” Tess asked immediately after I slammed the cell off.
I started texting my address to my Dad’s cell. I felt like I was on autopilot as I typed out the letters. After I sent the text, I stood staring at the cell, not quite sure about what my body was doing. It was feeling all sorts of crazy nerves and emotions that I was desperately trying to hold in. “Norah? What did he say?” Tess’s voice managed to break into my thoughts.
My breathing was staggered as I spoke. “He told me he was sending some guys to help. That I had to stay here until they arrived. That he would find out what was going on and that they will know what to do.”
“Okay, that’s good. Good. We’ll wait for them to arrive and...”
“NO!” I screamed and threw the cell across the room, smashing it to pieces.
“No? Norah, I think we should do what your Dad says. We need to wait for help to arrive.”
Suddenly everything bad was hitting me all at once. Josh lied to me. Josh had been taken by the Lappell. Josh could die. Josh could be dead. I could be left alone to...
Trying...to...breathe, but can’t.
Thump, thump.
The deep rumbling clouds had erupted into a storm in my mind. There was nothing but the feeling of the cold rain, the lightning and the thunder. So loud, so dark. The booming sound was all I could hear, and all I could see. My hands became extensions of that thunder, monstrous and scary. My body took on its own life. There was no stopping the darkness once it reached every corner of my skin. It would crawl and bite and kick and keep going until the pain was satisfied. It would keep going until I could barely breathe and feel. I tried to fight it this time. I tried to stop. But nothing can really prevent the worst part of you from rearing its ugly head when your soul is ripped out and taken away. No — now my darkness was in free-fall, and there was nothing I could do to prevent it from stalking out of me and swallowing me whole. The only thing I could hear was the thumping of my heart, which only forced me to take it as far as I could go into the black depths that had no limits. I felt nothing. No pain. Just numbness in all my actions. My darkness was loose, and it was angry.
Thump, thump.
“Norah, STOP! What are you doing?!”
Thump, thump.
“Norah, you are going to hurt yourself! You need to calm down!”
Thump, thump.
“You are really freaking me out Norah! Stop this! Stop breaking and throwing things!”
Thump, thump.
“STOP! It’s going to be okay Norah! Your Dad is sending someone to help and they’ll fix this. They’ll fix you!”
Thump, thump.
“SOMEBODY HELP NORAH PLEASE!”
Thump, thump.
“Wake up Norah. Please wake up. Snap out of this. I don’t know what to do.”
Thump, thump.
In the cold dark stillness of my mind, I am alone.
I am trapped.
I want to remain in this black corner where it’s quiet and safe.
In this nightmare I don’t feel pain.
In this nightmare, I am me.
Present.
I couldn’t believe how messed up this situation was. With my head racing, my heart frantically pounding — my nerves were shot to shit. I would have done anything for some weed and a bottle of vodka right now. They would know what to do, and they sure as hell would have given me more strength to hold off these two stalker ex-boyfriends. I couldn’t believe I just let them into the apartment. What kind of friend am I? “A fucking scared as hell friend doing the best she can,” I told myself, although I’m pretty sure if I sucker punched these two assholes in the groin before I let them get hold of me, I wouldn’t be in this crazy new predicament.
“Don’t go near her please,” I begged the guys. “I just don’t think she can handle anymore complications. Seeing the two of you, could make this,” I used both my hands like a giant arrow motioning towards the broken shell of a body that was Norah crouched on the floor, “so much worse.”
Begging certainly wasn’t my style, but it was the only way I could get them to hear the magnitude of how scared I was for Norah. The guys took heed of my words and didn’t go closer. I was thankful that I could stop them from at least doing that, although given their reaction, I don’t think I needed to ask them to hold back. I think they too, were in shock at the horrifying sight of Norah’s state.
The room felt stale as the silent air lingered between us. It was the strangest feeling of melancholy that gripped us as we all stood just inside the entrance of the doorway, simply staring at Norah. The sight of her like this made us all unable to move or speak. There were no words to begin to explain our chaotic emotions. No words to describe our predicament. Nothing but the electric buzz of fear for this girl who looked like she had fallen deep into infinite darkness. Norah was still crouched on the floor, in the middle of the room. Her shoulders were hunched over, her head hung low, and she sat, staring at the floor. She didn’t even lift her head as the guys came bursting in. It was like she had become paralyzed in that one spot, unable to move or hear. I felt like crying, just staring at her. Seeing her so weak, to the point where it had crushed her spirit, was really heartbreaking. I had spent hours and hours trying to talk to her, trying to comfort her, but it was as if I was invisible. Nothing I said or did would penetrate her mind and bring her back from whatever soul-crunching place she was trapped in.
And now I had to deal with these two characters. I honestly didn’t k
now how Norah would react to Samuel and Clint being here. . I mean, why the fuck are they here? Why are they claiming they were sent here? And by her Dad of all people? It just didn’t make sense. It was fucking crazy, is what it was. When Norah finally got together with Josh, she put a lot of effort into distancing herself from these two guys, and for good reason too. They had both caused her a lot of heartache and pain, and with Josh, Norah was finally in a good place in her head and her heart. Norah had opened up to me so much more since she was with Josh too, especially about her feelings, so I knew first-hand, that these two being here, would not elicit a happy reaction. She had told me once that she had tried to extend an olive branch to both guys before her big art show, but they wanted nothing to do with it. To me, that just made them bigger assholes. Especially after everything they put her through. They weren’t even decent enough to support her work and recognize a friendly heartfelt gesture. No, they just ignored her, like she never even existed to them. I told her she shouldn’t have even tried to speak to them again, but Norah, being Norah, trusts very few people in her life and I think she still held onto their sweeter memories. It was a time in her life when she trusted them both with her heart. I guess she was still mourning the loss of their friendship. I know how very few friends she had. I told her that their pride probably kept them away, or perhaps work or other commitments that kept them away from coming to the show. I didn’t have the guts to tell her they probably went back to their old habits — lying and manipulating women. It seemed to be who they really were after all. Fucking dicks! So why now were they showing up to save the day?
As awful as it was seeing Norah like this, it didn’t take long before all our eyes drifted around to the state of the apartment. Around her, the room had been completely demolished. Norah had destroyed everything in a fit of rage. I knew this because I had seen her fury unfold in front of me. I had witnessed Norah completely ripping up the contents of this room, screaming and crying and breaking everything she could grab. I didn’t know how to stop her rampage. I had tried to hold her back from breaking chairs and smashing cups and plates or anything else she could get her hands on, but it was no use. Her rage gave her strength I didn’t know she had locked inside that tiny frame. I couldn’t even hold her down when I had tried to restrain her. She had almost punched me in the face a few times as I attempted to take hold of her arms. But I was a useless obstacle, so I stood back and watched her craziness unfold. It lasted a solid hour before she collapsed on the floor and passed out. I managed to move her into the bed to make her more comfortable, but before dawn, she awoke screaming in her sleep. She then twisted herself off the bed and into that position on the floor, and hasn’t moved since. I didn’t know what else to do except leave her where she lay crumpled and go about picking up some of the bigger pieces of broken decor and make sure she wasn’t near anything sharp or dangerous. I was hoping whoever her Dad had sent would know how to help her in this state.
All The Pieces (Pieces of Lies 3) Page 3