by Evie Harper
His tears are coming fast and constant. His face contorted in pain and his eyes are clenched closed.
I thought I would enjoy his begging more. But I’d be lying if I said his pleas didn’t affect me even just a little bit. It’s time to finish this. I pull the screwdriver out and Donovan howls in agony. His face is pale and his eyes glass over; he’s passing out.
Alexa gasps and I assume it’s because of the blood now seeping down Donovan’s legs. But then I hear it, the biggest joke God has ever played on me. Kanye’s voice saying my name in my mind. Is this my punishment for taking a life? God plans on torturing me through it as well.
“Emily.”
My world spins and the screwdriver falls from my hand. My blood stops pumping. My pulse unmoving. Then in a flash, I spin around and there he is. Kanye. My heart restarting sends a shock through my body, the current so severe I can’t even get the scream out through my mouth. My body begins to shake, every inch of my skin spikes up with defiance to ward off the breakdown I’m about to have.
He’s alive.
He steps toward me, but it’s not his whispered, “Emmy,” that breaks me, not the smell of his cologne or his blue eyes piercing mine. It’s his touch. As soon as my flesh feels his, I succumb to the heartache, the devastation. I bend my body in on itself feeling all the pain I had just buried deep inside myself. It comes full force.
Kanye wraps me in his arms and we fall to the floor. I endure the spiralling emotions of loss, torment, and now, relief. I lost someone I can’t live without and now he’s here. He’s touching me. He’s alive and I don’t know how to stop the pain and relief from entwining and wreaking havoc through my body.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Kanye
Emmy is in my arms, her body shaking from her sobs. My girl. I’m so sorry. She’s already been through so much. I wish she didn’t have to go through this as well, but there was nothing else I could do.
“Baby, please stop, it’s okay. I’m okay,” I whisper into her ear.
She gazes up at me. My breath gets stolen as her agonized face and bloodshot eyes stare at me with awe. As if every word I speak is a miracle. I understand how she feels. It’s exactly how I felt when we found her at Marco’s house. The fear that at any minute you could wake up and realize this is all a dream.
“I’m so sorry you had to go through that, Emmy,” I state gently.
She straightens her body and wipes the tears away from her face. In the process, she gets some of my blood on her face. I reach up and wipe it away and she looks to my hand and then to my leg.
“Oh, my God.” Emily’s voice is high pitched and panicked.
“It's okay. The bullet went clean, straight through, and I have a bandage on to stop the bleeding. This is just what I lost straight after I was shot.”
Emmy regards me with wild eyes, scanning the rest of my body.
“I don’t understand. I heard... I heard another shot. You stopped screaming and then the man...” Em stops and swallows hard. “The man said it was done.” Her voice is achingly sad and her beautiful brown eyes show confusion.
“He did shoot me twice. Once in the leg another one in the chest. But the guys and I put on vests before we went in. You know Jake, he has this stuff as toys in the back of his car. When I realized he wasn’t going to stop until I was dead, I decided to play dead. He bought it and left. Straight after, I heard gunshots. I got to my feet, made it out and found three dead bodies with Jake and Joseph standing over them.”
Emily touches my chest, pushing up against my now vest-free abs. I wince and she pulls away instantly.
“No, no, it’s okay, just a bruise where the bullet hit the vest that’s all.”
Her body visibly relaxes then she jumps up, her arms going around my neck and her mouth on mine. Hard and possessive. The kiss is wild, desperate, and so fucking hot. That’s my girl.
“Shit.”
At hearing Alexa curse, Emily and I both pull back at the same time and look to Alexa. Then come the thundering footsteps in the house. Joseph runs into the room. He looks around wildly and then pins Alexa with his eyes.
A deep growl emanates from his chest and he takes purposeful strides toward Alexa.
“Give me that goddamn mouth, Lexie.”
Alexa looks like she’s about to fall on her ass, but Joseph picks her up and Alexa wastes no time jumping into his arms and their mouths come together in a fierce, brutal kiss.
I sense Emmy turn her face to me and I gaze down into my girl’s face. She gives me a small smile.
“Holy fuck,” Joseph says and then places Alexa back on her feet. We watch as his body visibly relaxes. “Thank God, you’re okay Lexie, but Christ, you are in so much fucking trouble. We have a lot to talk about.” Alexa nods, agreeing with Joseph.
Jake comes bursting into the room, finds Emmy quickly, and takes quick steps to her. He picks her up and gives her a big hug.
“Em, fuck. Thank God.” Jake’s voice is strangled as he holds his sister tightly.
He glares at me with murder in his eyes, sweat dripping down his face. I grin because I know what he’s about to say.
He points to me and says, “I’m going to kick your ass later for driving off and leaving me and Joseph behind. Do you know how far of a run that was?” he shouts at me over the top of Emily’s head.
Groaning in the room suddenly gets all our attention and everyone shifts their heads to the bleeding motherfucker tied to the chair.
“Oh, I forgot he was still here,” Emmy states.
I pull Emmy from Jake and inform her, “Time to go, baby. I’ll deal with that piece of shit. You and Alexa are leaving now.”
At that moment, we all hear sirens in the distance. All of us guys look at each other, knowing we don’t have long to get this done.
“Jake, take the girls to the airstrip through the trees. Tell them you were hiding until help came. Tell Smith we found the girls and there was a shootout. I was shot and Joseph has taken me to the hospital.”
“Emmy, when the police question you, tell them the three dead guys at the airstrip were the men who kidnapped you. Tell the police they took you to the airstrip and held you there until we arrived to save you. Tell them what I just told Jake and that’s it. Don’t mention Donovan. Smith is going to ask you if he was here. Tell him no. Do you understand Emily?”
Emmy nods, agreeing quickly. I see the determination in her face and the fight in her eyes.
“Joseph and I will take the cars when we’re done here. Go.”
Everyone starts moving. Joseph whispers something to Alexa. She nods and moves out of the room with Jake behind her. Emmy gives me a hard, closed-mouth kiss and then she’s out the door following Jake.
Joseph and I look to each other. Joseph’s smiling. It’s a scary as shit evil grin. I don’t smile, frown, or have any emotions about this moment. I just want this to be over with, once and for all so Emmy and I can finally move on. Knowing this man will cease to exist in the next few seconds, gives me all the peace I need.
Joseph and I move forward and stand in front of the motherfucker.
Donovan groans and then focuses on us standing over him. His eyes widen and he says his last words on this earth, “Oh, fuck.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
It’s been a week since he tried to take me. The week consisted of nightmares, but not of him. Only of a world without Kanye. Every day the emotions of those brutal moments hit me and I need to see or touch Kanye to chase away my fear. He understands and pulls me into his arms, holding me until the moment passes and my heart is reassured that he is here with me. The memories are diluting with each passing day.
The fear of knowing what it feels like to lose Kanye will forever stay with me. But that’s life, isn’t it? Taking the risk to love someone knowing one day you will lose each other. Love is pain. Without the pain, how would you know what love feels like?
Kanye hasn’t mentioned him once since he arrived back with Joseph and I don�
��t want to know. All that matters is we are safe.
My parents freaked out when they found out what had happened. Thankfully Jake and Kanye were able to calm them and explain the monster would never be a problem again. My parents understand what that meant and I know it gives them some semblance of peace.
Lily came over that night, rushed into my house, and knocked the wind out of me when she tackled me to the sofa, hugging me so tightly. I knew losing someone else in her life wasn’t an option for Lily.
When she let me up, tears flowed down her smiling face as she spoke, “I missed all the fun of watching the bad guy get his karma.”
She pouted. We then heard Jake curse behind us. “Jesus Christ.”
We both burst out laughing and Lily said, “High five, sista. You kicked ass.” We high fived and then a flash went off. We looked over and caught Kanye holding my camera.
He shrugged, saying, “Now you can add your picture to the others, Emmy.”
He walked out of the room and I was left staring at the spot he just left. My picture would join the other photos of people who are smiling, happy.
A picture of me smiling.
Kanye had my smiling picture blown up and framed. At the moment, it’s in the dining room on the wall, but it will be moved into my studio once the construction is done. The other pictures of our family and friends have been framed as well, added to our wall in the living room. The rest of the pictures I have put away, somewhere safe. They may be pictures of strangers, but they represent a time in my life when I struggled but held on. When I fought through every day the best I could. They represent me surviving.
***
One week later.
I gaze up at the blue sky, the breeze rolling over my body. I’m lying on the pebbled trail in my rose garden. I inhale the fresh, beautiful smells of my roses. Reaching over, I caress a pink rose, stroke the petals, and appreciate the softness.
I remember the belief I held not long ago that the only time my life or I would ever be perfect was before my abduction. That I could never get back that carefree, loving girl that Kanye put a rose on for my prom. My rose and that moment in time became my obsession. Instead of looking at what I had, I kept looking at what I thought I had lost. But examining this rose now and seeing the edges darkening, the leaves bent and the petals ripped in places, I now understand that even roses can’t be perfect. They all have their own scars from their life cycle, yet they stand tall and are beautiful.
I am a rose. I have scars from my life, but I am strong. I stand tall and I grasp life every day and live. I survived. I’m a survivor and I’m proud of myself.
I hear the creak of the back door opening and watch as Kanye strides toward me.
“My girl enjoying her rose garden?” he asks.
I smile up at him. Bending, he scoops me up into his arms. I squeal at the surprise and then wrap my legs around his waist.
“There is one thing I’ve been dying to do again in this rose garden,” Kanye states with a wicked grin.
He swiftly places us both on the ground in the middle of the rose garden, next to the fountain. I’m surrounded by the warmth of the man who never gave up on me. I stare into his eyes and hope he can see the everlasting love I hold for him. Kanye places soft kisses along my jaw, while I stare at the beautiful, flawed roses, and the sun shines down on us. We make love in the rose garden and I let go of my skewed, perfect, existence and embrace my flawed, wonderful, and precious life.
EPILOGUE
Three months later.
Today, Kanye and I are having a barbecue at our house with family and friends. He thinks I woke up this morning and just wanted to have a barbecue just because, but I have a surprise for him. I’m going to surprise my whole family.
I glance around the yard and smile. It looks beautiful. Kanye hung fairy lights around the trees, the fence, and our back porch. He really went all out for just a barbecue, which is a bonus for me because it means when I surprise him, it will be in a beautiful atmosphere and most importantly, at our home.
I’m in a group with Lily, Jake and some friends of ours talking. I touch my back pocket and feel for my surprise. A smile graces my lips as I think about how shocked and happy I know Kanye is going to be. It’s almost time.
I search the crowd for Kanye and my eyes land on Alexa. She’s laughing with Nick. It’s the fake ‘I’m giggling so hard because I’m hurt’ laugh. Alexa and Joseph weren’t around during the week after the attempted kidnapping. However, Joseph came to see me before he left for his uncle’s house in Mexico.
“Emily, there are no words I can ever say to you to right my father’s wrongs. But I want you to know, I will do everything in my power to make sure my family never touches you or your family again.”
I asked Joseph not to go. I told him it wasn’t up to him to right what his father did or what his uncle may do. We all urged him to stay here, with us, and start a new life. But he was determined to leave.
Alexa was heartbroken. She begged him to stay. She pleaded with him right on our front porch.
“Joey, once before you chose to stay at your father’s to help Jake. I understood that. I wanted to leave so badly, but I understood you wanting to help him. Now, I’m begging you. Choose me. Stay here and forget that life. Start a new one with me.”
“Lexie, I can’t just sit back and let my uncle keep digging into my father’s death. If he finds the answers, they are going to lead him right here.”
“There isn’t anyone left but us, Joey,” Alexa says frustrated. “Everyone else is dead. There’s no one to tell him anything.”
“No, I’ll go. See what I can find out and hopefully stop him from starting what my father created.”
“And me? I’m supposed to wait around again. Wait to see if you come out alive? Once you enter that world again, Joey, you won’t be able to escape it.”
“I will, Lexie. I’ll come back. I promise.”
Joseph steps to Alexa but she moves away from him shaking her head with tears trickling down her face.
“No, you need to choose. You stay here with me or you go to your uncles, but if you go, we are done. Forever done. I don’t ever want to see you again.” Alexa’s chin quivers on her last words.
“Lexie,” Joseph whispers. “I need to do this,” he says softly.
Alexa gasps out in shock. Joseph isn’t choosing her. I can see the pain on her face that even threatening their relationship isn’t changing his mind.
“You need it more than you want me?” Alexa asks, her voice painfully sad and her tears coming fast and heavy.
I go to move to her, to comfort her, but Kanye doesn’t release me from his arms and shakes his head sadly at me.
Joseph says nothing. He just stands and stares at Alexa. The torment of what he’s doing to her is written across his face.
“I’ll be back for you, Lexie, no matter if you want me in your life or not. I’ll be close by.” Joseph walks down our porch steps toward his car.
A loud, brutal cry comes from Alexa and then she screams, “I hate you, Joseph O’Connor! You’re just like your father, an uncaring monster!”
After Alexa lands those hurtful words, she spins and races into the house.
Joseph’s face goes pale and his shoulders slump. It’s the first time I’ve seen him look truly defeated.
He gets into his car and drives off.
I look up to Kanye with glassy eyes. “He’s making a huge mistake.”
Kanye kisses my temple and says, “I know, baby, but that’s for him to figure out and hopefully, not before it’s too late.”
That was six weeks ago. The guys had been receiving secret phone calls from Joseph for two weeks. Kanye said he was just checking up on Alexa and letting the guys know everything was going fine at his uncle’s.
Then the calls stopped. They’ve tried to find him, but it’s as if he’s disappeared. Dead maybe. I shake the thought from my mind. We haven’t told Alexa anything. All she knows is, Joseph left her he
re alone and she is on a one-way street of heartache. She goes out a lot, drinking, meeting new guys. Pretending she’s okay when it’s clear she’s in so much pain.
I understand now how everyone saw right through me. When you care about someone, you notice these things. You care if they are happy or sad.
Suddenly, the lights go out and the backyard glows with just the fairy lights. I look around, confused, and everyone grows silent. Then I hear my name.
“Emmy, where’s my girl?”
I step through the crowd and find Kanye standing in the middle of my rose garden. He’s changed from shorts and a polo shirt into black slacks and a light blue collared shirt. He looks devastatingly handsome.
“Come here, Emmy.” He motions me with his hands.
My palms instantly sweat and my heart jumps around my chest at his gesture.
I walk toward Kanye, the boy I love so deeply and the man I will always cherish. Kanye’s grin is cheeky and it lights up his whole face.
I come to a stop in front of him and straight away, he gets down on one knee.
Tears swim in my eyes, blissfully happy tears.
“Emmy, I’ve considered you mine since the first moment we met and I saw you had the face of an angel. Then I fell harder when you showed me your loving, carefree nature. Life has tested us, and we have survived our dark days. Now it’s time to live in the light and have our happily ever after.”
Kanye lifts a small ring box from the ground. He opens it toward me and in it sits a beautiful diamond ring.
“Will you marry me, Emmy?”
Inexpressible joy flows through my body. My heart and stomach in a flurry at how to express how happy I am. I don’t think there are words or actions to show what I’m feeling right now, just my happy tears and my smile on my face.
“Yes!” I shout so everyone and the whole world can hear that I’m going to marry my best friend, my lover, and my savior.
All around us our family and friends clap and cheer, yelling out their congratulations.
Kanye places the diamond on my ring finger and gazes at me with a brilliant, handsome grin. He tips his head down and kisses me while his warm hands tenderly stroke my cheeks. He kisses me gently, as if it’s our first kiss. Kanye moves his hands from my face to my waist and pulls me closer. One of my happy tears falls to my chest and then I remember that this moment is about to get even better.