Caged (Caged series Book 1)

by Destiny Hawkins

  “You really lost your touch,” She said before slamming her fist into my face again. I could taste the blood from my bottom lip on my tongue and almost feared that I would lose. Once upon a time, I could take her on because I knew that I was stronger, but compared to her now, I wasn’t a match. She was the stronger one now, “I’m going to kill Lorena, and your Aunt, and then you’ll have nothing!” she hit me again and I fell against the dresser. “Just like me!”

  I looked over at her for a second, and even through darkness I could see her tears. I did this to her, and now she was trying to return the favor, but I couldn’t let her. I know what I did then was wrong, and I was sorry for that, but just like she lost people, so did I, and I don’t want to lose anyone else.

  Jessie swung at me again, but I tackled her to the floor and fell on top of her. I pulled up and started hammering down on her until she looked dazed, and eventually she just stopped fighting.

  Red and blue lights flashed outside my windows and I heard car doors opening and shutting. The police were here.

  I looked down at Jessie who was also looking up at the lights with tears in her eyes, “I’m sorry,” I started, “but I can’t be like you. I didn’t know what I was doing back then, and I’m so sorry it happened...”

  Jessie sniffled, “When I was a kid, I thought we were the same. But then you killed her...” She sniffled again, she jumped when the police busted in through the front door, “I’m sorry too,” the gun that had slid under the bed was now being pointed at my face. I sat there frozen while waiting for a bullet to go through my head, “I’m sorry-”

  “Police!” A gun shot went off and I screamed. Jessie was lying dead on the floor with a bullet in her skull.

  I stared down at her lifeless body and watched a tear slide down her face.

  “Come on, kid,” Detective Roy pulled me up by my arm and handed me over to the paramedics. My aunt was being rushed back to the hospital, and Lorena was outside by the time they got me out to a truck.

  “Jessie,” I said as they laid me down on the bed, “what about Jessie?” My eyes were blurred with tears, “Is she okay?” Lorena took my hand, her eyes were still red.

  “She’s fine. She’s on the other truck,” Lorena said, ‘just relax so that they can fix your leg.”

  “She’s lost a lot of blood,” One of the paramedics said.

  “We need to hurry and get her back now,” Someone else said.

  “This is my fault,” I felt my grip on her hand slipping, “I did this to her,” I thought back to Fike and Cleo, “This is my...fault... ”

  “It’s okay,” her face began to blur. “It’s okay, honey...”

  And then it was dark.

  Chapter 32

  This is the third time this year that I’ve been in the hospital since I’d gotten to Ohio. I remembered on my flight here how I watched all the puffy white clouds pass by, and smiled at the orange-yellow sun that lit up the sky. It gave me hope that things could change. I mean, after all that I’ve done, God still allowed me to see something so beautiful. At that moment, I felt like things would actually change for the better and I was so excited about that....change. Now I’m lying in the hospital for the third time with an aching leg, and a horrific image in my mind that I will never forget. I didn’t want Jessie to die, because I actually felt bad for her. She was the way she was because of me. Even before I arrived at Wintry High, something was already seriously wrong with her, and that was because of what I did.

  I sat in the bed and looked down at my hands. The blood that was covered on them was from all of the people that I had killed. I took three lives in my seventeen years of life, and none of them were intentional. Death follows me around, and will take anyone that crosses my path.

  I turned and saw Lorena asleep in the chair next to my bed. Her head was rested on the cushion with her hand on my leg. Each soft breath she gave relaxed me, and just for a moment, I could forget everything that’s happened. My friend, the little girl that I wanted to be with forever, was right here by my side. I thought I took her life for so long, but here she is, holding me once again. It hurt that this was the last time that she’d be able to do this for me, but now that I know she’s alive, it’s my responsibility to protect her. There was only one problem left.

  My phone that was sitting on the coffee table on the other side of me beeped and I picked it up. I thought it might have been Abigale or Cameron, but no. It was that unknown number once again. Fear didn’t set in the way it had before, because I really couldn’t find the energy to be afraid.

  I clicked on the message button and read the text that Arnold sent me.

  Fight for me, was what the text said. I never texted him back the first time, but this time I did.

  No.

  I took a deep breath, and was about to put the phone down when another message came in.

  Then suffer the consequences.

  I read the text one more time before I sat the phone down, and when I looked to see if Lorena was still sleeping I found that she was up and watching me.

  “Was it him again?” She asked.

  I clenched my teeth and tried to calm my shaking, “I don’t know what your talk-”

  “I saw the text, Rose.”

  I turned to her while frowning. While I was asleep, she must have searched for the text that pushed me away from her.

  “It didn’t take long to put it all together. You are the girl from my dreams, aren’t you?”

  When I didn’t answer, she sighed and sat all the way up, “And whoever that was, he was our...”

  “Yes,” I answered, “he was our owner. And he is very dangerous.”

  “Was that him? That just texted you?”

  I nodded.

  “What did he say?”

  “Nothing.”

  Lorena sighed in frustration, “Rose, just tell me-”

  “No! It’s none of your business. I don’t want you getting involved.”

  “I already am involved!”

  “No you’re not! Just stay out of this, it’ll keep you safe.”

  Lorena sat back in her chair and crossed her arms, “So that’s why you pushed me away?” she nodded slowly, “To keep me safe.”

  “Yeah, that’s exactly why.”

  “Keeping me in the dark doesn’t keep me safe. It makes me vulnerable.”

  “Well, you’ve been in the dark your entire life- thanks to me- and you were just fine.”

  “What do you mean thanks to you?”

  My face started to get hot and I closed my eyes, “Right, you don’t remember.”

  “Remember what!?”

  I took a few deep breaths, and clenched my fists. I knew that telling her would drive her away from me forever, and that’s what I wanted, but still, I was afraid. I didn’t want her to hate me, but then again, I needed her to.

  “How you lost your memory,” I said calmly.

  Lorena frowned in confusion.

  “You tried to run away from Arnold and I didn’t want you to, so I stopped you. Arnold decided to punish you by making us fight that night. I remember, you were so angry with me that you actually came back at me hard, but I still had so much more experience than you,” I looked down at my hands, “I took you down and you hit your head on a rock. You looked so pale that I thought that I killed you. Arnold even said that you were dead- and all this time....” I turned to Lorena who sat there with wide teared eyes. She looked like she was in shock, “when I found out who you were I just wanted to keep you safe. The best way to do that was to keep us separate. Then I learned that I’m the reason you had no memory....I mean it’s good that you don’t remember all of that, but the other things? I took everything away from you, I’m not going to do that again.”

  Lorena’s breathing was shaky. She wasn’t even looking at me anymore, she was looking through me. I just told her that I was the reason that she had no memory, and that I thought that I had killed her. I expected her to come at me like she did so many years ago
, but she didn’t.

  “I thought you were dead, Lorena. I loved you so much- you were all that I had. I love you now, and I’m sure that you hate me, but if that’s the only way I can keep you away, then so be it.”

  Lorena slowly stood up. She looked as if she had just ran a marathon and could barely feel her legs. She slowly walked towards the door, but stopped when she got to it and looked back at me, “I don’t...hate you Rose,” She held in a sob, but the tears flowed freely down her cheeks, “I don’t,” she turned back around and left me in the hospital room alone. I knew that I should have felt bad about telling her that, but all I felt was relief.

  When I left the hospital I finally got the break that I deserved. My aunt pulled me out of school upon my request, and I started home schooling for a little while. Abigale and Cameron visited me from time to time to see how I was doing, but I never let them stay long. I really did miss my friends, and I found myself feeling sick when I would make them leave. It made me feel even worse that I haven’t even heard from the third one. Lorena made no attempt to contact me after what I had told her, and when I asked about her, neither Cameron nor Abigale had any real answers. They said that she comes around as much as she did before I arrived at Wintry High...barely.

  After my text from Arnold, I figured it was good me and Lorena haven’t seen each other. Arnold was planning something, but he hasn’t made a move yet. It was like he was hiding in the shadows waiting for the perfect time to jump out and scare me. I actually started to forget about him because I was enjoying my freedom. Yeah, I had school work, but it was easy to manage my online classes. I would just get up early in the morning, study, eat a nice breakfast, and go running in the town.

  Every now and then I would stop at Jessie’s grave and leave her flowers. I couldn’t find the energy to hate her anymore, and if anything, I forgave her for all that she’s done. Her hatred and anger for me drove her to come after me and try to take away the people that I loved. Jessie wanted me to feel the loneliness that she felt, only she had no idea that I’ve already been there, and I couldn’t go back.

  I looked out the kitchen window as I ate my cereal at the table and smiled at the thought of me running in the sun today. Winter was almost over and it would soon be spring. The time for T-shirts, and basketball shorts. I couldn’t wait.

  My aunt walked in and kissed me on the forehead, “I would have made you some breakfast, Hun,” she walked to the cupboard and grabbed a bowl

  “No, it’s cool. I wanted to hit the streets early today.”

  “Ah,” she sat the bowl down and poured in some cornflakes, “first warm day today.”

  “Yeah, only sixty degrees,” I ate another spoonful.

  “Yup, and I’ll be right here,” She sat down across from me and laughed at the Christmas tree we left up, “It’s really about time we take that down. It’s almost March,” she chuckled.

  “Yeah,” I said sarcastically, “you can take it down. You know....since you’ll be here and all.”

  Shannon smiled, “Yeah, I guess.”

  I got up and put the bowl away, “Well, I’m out.”

  “Have fun.”

  “I will. Love you,” I said before I left. After Jessie’s attack, I made sure that my Aunt always knew that I loved her, because she was really all that I had left, and one of the most important people in my life.

  “Love you too!” She yelled back.

  I walked to the sidewalk and did my usual stretches, then I started my jog. It felt great to start running out in the sun again. I finally made it into downtown, and took a short break on the bench in front of the playground. There were a few kids playing on the jungle gym, and some students from school playing football on the field. I recognized a few from the team and got up to start jogging again, but then my name was called by a very familiar voice.

  “Rose!” Cameron called from the field. I sighed when he started jogging over to me, but at the same time, I felt a little bit of excitement.

  “Hey,” I said with a smile.

  Cameron gave me a tight hug and then pulled away, “How are you? I haven’t heard from you in weeks.”

  “I’m fine,” I nodded, trying to keep this small talk very short.

  “Oh, well, me too,” He nodded awkwardly with that goofy smile he always gave. “I didn’t expect this to be so awkward,” he rubbed his chin and raised his eyebrows.

  “Yeah,” I laughed, “Well I gotta g-”

  “Where you headed to?”

  “Oh,” I looked to my right, in the direction I would be running, “I really don’t know. Just out jogging.”

  “Yeah, it’s really nice out today. I couldn’t wait to come out and play a little ball.”

  “I couldn’t wait either- not to play ball- to run. It’s starting to finally get warm again.”

  “Yeah,” Cameron nodded again.

  Now it was starting to get really awkward and I wanted nothing more than to go running again.

  “Man, this isn’t getting any better,” Cameron laughed.

  “Nope,” I giggled.

  Cameron stopped laughing and just smiled, “I miss hearing you laugh.”

  I just smiled back and tried not to blush. Those butterflies he always gave me came fluttering back. Looking to my left, I saw a familiar black car parked next to the curb only a few feet away. At first I ignored it, but then I looked back at it again, realizing that the car wasn’t there before.

  The driver’s window was down and my heart began to race when I saw that familiar man from my wrestling meets watching me. He looked just like Arnold, but I knew it wasn’t him, because Arnold looked cleaner. It doesn’t matter how long it’s been since I’ve seen him, he’s always going to look sharp.

  “Rose, what’s wrong?” Cameron asked.

  I turned to him and then looked at the guys on the football field, “Um, you should-” I tried to catch my breath. “You need to go.”

  “What?” he rested his hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eye, “What is wrong?” He looked from me, to the driver, and then back to me.

  “Hey,” I pulled away, “don’t worry about me. Go back and play football,” I looked back at the car and started walking away. I figured that the driver would follow me, and that leave Cameron alone. I felt bad leaving him standing there the way that I did, but I couldn’t figure out any other way to get him to back off, so I had to just leave.

  I looked back that the black car following slowly, then turned back around. Pulling out my phone I was about to call detective Roy, but then I just remembered that he was gone. Detectives Roy and Carter left when there was no sign of Arnold a few days ago.

  Seeing that the car was still following me, I picked up the pace. Arnold was coming to punish me because I don’t want to fight for him. He might even kill me.

  I looked around to see the best route to run off too. If I could make a run for it, and through a tight spot, then I could probably get away. But that would be after I get passed two girls that stood in front of me. I didn’t even notice them until I was pushed back. My mind was so focused on running away, that they managed to catch me off guard.

  Now, the black car pulled over a few feet behind me, and I was pretty sure that whoever has been watching me from those tinted windows was finally going to show himself.

  Chapter 33

  Before the car door could even open, I broke through the two girls, causing one to fall, and I went into a full sprint. I could hear the car wheels screeching behind me a few seconds later.

  I ran across the busy street and onto another one. It would be easier to get away if downtown was as crowded as the streets of New York City, but instead, it was only but a few people out walking. My best way to escape would be to run in between cars and hope that I don’t get hurt.

  I was running as fast as I could, so not to get caught. I refused to see Arnold’s face again, and go back with him. I thought I would be ready the next time he decided to make an appearance, and I would get rid of hi
m once and for good, but I wasn’t. He showed himself today, purposely, to catch me off guard. He waited until I was finally starting to feel safe again to come after me.

  Running in between other cars was clearly not working well because I heard Arnold’s car screech around the corner and head in my direction. The streets just weren’t busy enough to keep him away.

  I thought about turning into one of the alleys but most of them led to dead ends and I didn’t want to take that risk of being trapped, then I would have no choice but to face him, and my punishment.

  I continued running straight until I came up on another intersection. This street was actually busy, and there was no way I could get across without getting hit. I looked back and saw that Arnold’s car was slowing down because of the red light, and had to take that chance and sprint across to give me time to get away from him.

  I shook my head, thinking that this was a crazy idea and made a run for it. I only made it about five steps into the street when I heard a loud screech coming from my right. I quickly turned and put my hands out, as if I could stop the car from hitting me, and I almost thought I did until I realized that the driver just hit her brakes.

  When I looked through the windshield I saw that the driver was Lorena. Her eyes were wide, and I could tell that I had scared the hell out of her.

  When I saw Arnold’s car turn after the light switched to green, I sprinted off. Arnold was right behind me now, and unfortunately, not many cars were on this street. When I turned down what I thought was another street it turned out to be a dead end. An alley.

  I looked around for any ladder or door, and saw that there was a grey door on my left, but when I ran to open it I found that it was locked, “No,” I said breathing heavily, “Open up!” I slammed my fists on the door.

  Arnold’s car pulled up in the alley, blocking my only way to escape. The back door of the car opened and the two girls got out. Both of the females looked to be my age, and I could tell that they both were fighters by the way they carried themselves. Very confident, and maybe a little cocky.