Next to Forever (Never Letting Go)

by Moose, S

I place my hands around her neck and tightly squeeze. She squirms underneath me, clawing my arms and whimpers.

  “Shhhh, don’t fight it. Just let go,” I whisper, squeezing tighter. The life in her eyes gradually leaves her as she stares into my eyes.

  Empty.

  Dead.

  I drag her body to my car and drive over to Erin’s house. No one’s around, and the neighborhood is quiet. I check around the house to make sure we’re alone. All of the doors and windows are locked. “Fuck.”

  Without thinking anymore. I pry open a window, and once I’m in, I look around again. “No alarm system? Idiots.”

  I make my way upstairs to the nursery, with Olivia’s body in my arms. Once we’re both in, I pull out the knife and start having some fun.

  Chapter Twenty

  Connor

  Today’s the last day of our vacation before we head back. Erin eats her breakfast quietly and doesn’t say too much. I know she doesn’t want to go back, and I wish we could stay here forever. I slide my hand across the table and take her hand into mine. “Where’s your head at?”

  The look of unhappiness shows in her eyes. “I don’t want to go home. We’ve had so much fun here, and I’m not ready to deal with everything back at home.” She lets out a nervous sigh and leans back in her chair.

  “Everything’s going to be okay, baby. We’ll go back and live our lives the way we should. Believe me, okay?”

  She nods her head and we talk about the trip back home—about making sure that we have everything. I need to keep her safe and away from Vander. The text messages from Adam telling me about the roses that Sophia got and the mysterious calls is pissing me off. I need to find this asshole and keep him the fuck away from my family. I wonder if Erin is experiencing anything like this, but she’d tell me, right? I shake away thoughts of her keeping secrets from me and enjoy the last day of paradise with my girl.

  We take one final sweep of the hotel room before going down to checkout. Erin holds onto my arm and lets out a sigh, “We’ll come back again, babe.”

  “Okay. Promise?”

  “Promise.”

  Everything is all set and the taxi picks us up and drops us off at the airport. We have three hours to spare, and it takes a good hour to get through security. Erin’s listening to her music, resting on my lap as I go through the emails on my phone. Since the company needs the private jet, we have to take the plane back home. Our flight is called and we start to board.

  Time to go back home.

  The flight is smooth, and we make it back to Charlotte on time. Going through customs is fine and once we get our bags, the limo is out waiting for us.

  “And we’re back to reality,” Erin says as she rests her head on my shoulder.

  “It’ll be okay, babe.” I kiss the side of her head and read more emails.

  The limo pulls to the side of our house and drops us off. While saying bye to the driver, Adam and Sophia pull in. A look of fear and terror comes into view.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “The alarm system called us, and they said the window and motion detectors went off,” Sophia responds, running to Erin.

  I look around but everything looks fine. I tell Erin to stay back with Sophia, while Adam and I go take a look around the house. We head to the backyard and everything looks fine, until we turn and look at the family room window and broken glass all over the lawn. “What the fuck?” The windows are broken and Erin’s garden is gone. There are ashes where her flowers were. “Vander?”

  “Fuck, probably.”

  “I don’t get what this fucker’s problem is. Have you heard from him?” Adam shakes his head. I call the cops, and we head back to the girls.

  Erin walks toward me and puts her arm around my waist. “What’s going on?”

  Shaking my head, I look back at Adam. He’s holding Sophia and shrugs his shoulders. “Don’t worry, baby, we’ll figure this out.”

  Before Erin says anything, the police arrive, examine the house, and take our statements. I keep looking at Erin and see the expression of fear on her face. I wish we didn’t have to come back to this crap. I hate that we’re going through this, and there’s nothing I can do to help Erin with this shit.

  Adam and I tell the officers everything and they let us know they’ll be in touch. I know that sleeping at the house tonight isn’t safe so we head back to Adam and Sophia’s place. We try to keep the conversation light but the girls are scared. When we get to the house, Erin and I say good night to them and make our way to the guest room.

  “You okay, babe?”

  I look at Erin and bring her in my arms, never wanting to let her go. “I just want you to be safe.” Her smell intoxicates me and all I want is to be inside her.

  Watching Erin sleep in my arms and knowing she’s here with me makes my world better. Leaning my head back, I think about everything she’s been through. Everything we’ve been through. Her strength is incredible, but I know she’s only showing me half of what she’s feeling. Pushing the strand of hair from her face, I lean down and kiss her gently on her forehead.

  “No, no. Please, leave me alone. Don’t do this.” Erin moves violently in her sleep. Her arms thrash in the air and she punches me in the face. “No! Please! I want my baby! ARIA!!”

  I bring Erin in my arms as she cries in my shirt and holds me tight. This is the first time she has had a nightmare, and I don’t know what to do but be here for her. Her breathing is erratic and she’s still crying. “Erin,” I whisper in her hair, holding her tighter.

  I hold her tighter and repeat over and over that everything’s going to be okay, but her screams and cries are getting louder. “Erin, please wake up. It’s okay, baby, just wake up.” Adam and Sophia come running in the bedroom and try waking Erin up but nothing’s working. I can’t let her go, but Adam keeps trying to take me away from her. “Stop! Just let me help her,” I scream at him. He steps back with Sophia and they stand at the end of the bed watching helplessly as I try to hold Erin and wake her up.

  This goes on for the next hour, and finally, she calms down and her cries stop. I rub my face and let her go before leaving the bedroom. We all walk down to the kitchen and Sophia makes us coffee.

  “Night terrors,” Adam starts to say. “Sophia had them for a while after the whole Kyle situation. It sucks, man, but there’s really nothing you can do. Keep an eye out for her and make another appointment with Doctor Taylor.” Adam looks at Sophia before talking again. “There’s something you should know.”

  Sophia shakes her head and turns away. “What’s going on?”

  “The cops went in your house and found some things,” his voice trails off and I’m starting to get angry and annoyed.

  “Okay? Why didn’t they come to me and what’d they find?” I look at Sophia, and she’s crying in the corner of the kitchen.

  “They found,” Adam’s voice gets softer, “Olivia’s dead. They found her in the nursery. Um, her head was in the crib and there was blood everywhere.”

  My world stops again, and I can’t believe what I’m hearing. This is starting to be a nightmare, and all I want is to wake up from this fucking shit. Quickly, I stand up and try to make sense of everything. How the fuck is he still out there and no one can find him? “I don’t get it, why Olivia?”

  Adam gets up and goes over to Sophia. “There’s more.”

  “Okay?”

  “There are pictures of Erin and Sophia all over the nursery with blood on them.” Sophia cries again and holds onto Adam.

  I can’t take all of this anymore. My mind is flooding with a million ways to kill Vander, but I have to stay calm for Erin and keep her safe. She’s my number one priority and I won’t let anything happen to her. “What the fuck do we do now?”

  “You’re both staying here with us.” Sophia looks at Adam. “Joseph and your dad think it’s a good idea to work from home for a while or at least until Vander’s caught.”

  “So what happens to my house?”
<
br />   “It’s a crime scene and you won’t be able to get inside.” Sophia lets go of Adam and walks over to me. She brings me in for a hug and tells me that nothing’s going to happen, and we’ll all be safe, but how can I believe that when there’s a fucking murderer out there who wants to hurt my two best friends? After talking to Adam and Sophia, I go back upstairs to Erin. She’s sleeping soundly and looks peaceful. I don’t want to wake her up, so I bring over the loveseat to the side of the bed. These are the moments that I live for—being close to Erin and keeping her safe. I can’t stop thinking of Vander and Olivia. There’s no way Erin’s going to want to go back to the house. Olivia didn’t have any family, just me. Even though she made some fucked up decisions, deep down, she’s a great person, but now she’s in a better place.

  Morning comes and Erin’s still in bed. I get a call from the detective on the case and he asks if Adam and I can go down to the station to wrap up with some final questions. I meet Adam in the kitchen and we both head out. It’s a quiet drive to the station, and I hate that we’re leaving Erin and Sophia alone but Doctor Burns should be on his way over to watch over them.

  We make it to the station and meet with detective Donaldson. He asks us some more questions about Vander and Olivia. There’s not much that we didn’t know, and he lets us know that I can go back to the house tomorrow afternoon. Before we leave, detective Donaldson pats us on the back and lets us know they’re doing everything they can to find Vander. We thank him and leave the station.

  “Want to pick up breakfast for the girls?” Adam asks.

  I nod my head and we go back to the car. “I don’t know what to do anymore. How can we be safe when there’s a fucking idiot out there?”

  “Just got to stick together for now,” Adam responds.

  We pull up to a café and go inside to order muffins, donuts, and bagels. After paying, we head back to the car and my phone starts ringing. I look at it before answering and see Erin’s beautiful smiling face looking back at me.

  “Hey, beautiful.”

  Erin sniffles. “Where are you?”

  “Baby, what’s wrong?” I nudge Adam and let him know we have to hurry back.

  “Nothing. I woke up and you weren’t here. I asked Sophia if she could take me back to the house, but she said no and told me what happened.”

  “Fuck,” I mumble. “Baby, don’t worry, okay?”

  “Connor, why didn’t you tell me what was going on? Olivia’s dead, and we can’t go back to the house. This is so stupid. I just want our lives to be the same again.” Erin breaks down and sobs into the phone. I feel helpless, and I want to make her better but I’m running out of ideas. I don’t know what to do anymore. Dealing with this bullshit is getting old and this isn’t what we need.

  We’re finally home and go inside. Erin and Sophia are on the couch watching TV, and I look at Erin. Her eyes are bloodshot and her face is pale. She runs over to me and I hold her in my arms. “This isn’t going to be easy, baby. But we’ll get through it all, so please stop worrying.” She stiffens in my arms and I hate it. I hate that we’re living our lives like this. She holds me tighter, and I never want to let her go or have her go through any more of this hell. “We got this, okay?”

  Erin nods her head and we all decide to live our lives as normally as we can and forget Vander for now. Erin makes a call to her manager and lets him know what’s going on. Adam and I head to the office and call Joseph to fill him in. There’s an eerie silence around us, but I shake it off and listen to what Joseph is saying. Everything at the office is running smoothly, and we have a few webinars to attend but other than that, Joseph is taking care of everything else.

  “Just be safe and take care of one another,” Josephs says.

  “We will. Thanks for taking care of everything. Call us if you need anything,” Adam states. “I’ll email you the documents tonight.”

  “Sounds good. Take care, boys.”

  We end the call with Joseph, and I sign off on some paperwork before we send it off to him.

  * * * * *

  “Aria! Baby girl I’m so sorry! I just want you back, please don’t leave me!” Erin’s body tosses and turns and I can’t wake her up.”

  “Erin! Baby, come on wake up please.”

  Her tiny body thrushes around and there’s nothing I can do. She punches me in the face and knocks me on my ass. I get up from the ground and watch helplessly as she cries in her sleep. I stand there, watching her, and feeling helpless.

  After what seems like hours, Erin slowly wakes up. “Connor?”

  “I’m here. You were having another nightmare, and I couldn’t wake you up.” I try to keep my composure but this is killing me. Climbing back into bed with Erin, I bring her close to me and rock her back and forth. All I want are these nightmares to stop, so Erin can sleep and get through the night. Watching her every night like this is killing me. Why can’t I take away her pain?

  “Connor, please stop blaming yourself,” she whispers. How can she be so strong when all of this is happening?

  There’s no denying that this is tearing me apart and making me anxious and edgy. Losing Aria and dealing with that loss is hard, and I can’t imagine how we’re getting through each day, but seeing Erin’s pain and torment—it’s as if we’re trapped in our own hell and Vander’s the puppet master. “I feel like I’m failing you. I can’t keep you safe and it’s killing me.”

  “You can never fail me, Connor. Don’t lose hope because I’m leaning on you to be my rock. My hero. I don’t blame you for anything.” Erin’s lips meet mine and we spend the night reminding each other of our love.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Vander

  Looking inside, I see my two girls. They’re wearing yoga pants and sweaters. My dick starts twitching in my pants, and all I can think about is taking them. Making them mine, the way it should be. Adam and Connor don’t deserve to have such beautiful and sexy women. I know they want me. I still remember the way they were looking at me when we first met. I had them eating from the palm of my hand. “Just wait and see girls. I can make you happy. I can give you everything you need.”

  Getting rid of Aria worked wonders. Erin’s vulnerable and Sophia’s weak. Two weak girls, this will be easy. The shit Adam and Connor put me through, now I get to get my revenge and take away everything they love. Everything.

  Sophia walks into the kitchen and bends down. “Mmmm, baby, I know you know I’m here,” I whisper. “Keep showing me how much you want me.”

  I look around and see that it’s just me back here. I take out my aching cock and start pumping it with my hand. My head is thrown back and my eyes are shut. I think about how warm their pussies would be around my dick and hearing them scream my name. I find my release and let out a guttural moan.

  “Soon,” I whisper before leaving their house. I get in my car and drive away. Passing Erin’s house, flashes of Olivia come to mind. I smirked, thinking about her pleas and begging me to not hurt her. Little bitch fucking nearly ruined my plans. I had to get rid of her. No one will get in the way of my plans for Erin and Sophia. I just have to take care of the two idiots, and then they’ll be mine.

  Forever.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Erin

  The days and nights are getting longer. Adam and Connor are trying their hardest to figure everything out with Doctor Burns but there’s still no answer from anyone about Vander or his whereabouts. I hate seeing them like this and try to figure something out, so this nightmare can be over.

  I’ve been at work for a few days and it’s still hard to function. Doctor Taylor says to take it day by day, and I’m trying but my mind keeps going back to Aria and Vander. Why did he do this to me?

  It’s a little past one in the afternoon and I realize I didn’t have lunch yet. I let Stacey know I’ll be back in an hour. Leaving the office, I walk a few blocks to a nearby café. There are people all over, getting ready for the holidays and Christmas decorations. Usually the holiday
s make me happy, and I can’t wait to celebrate but this year, so much shit has happened, and I just don’t seem to really care anymore.

  I walk into the café and take a seat in the far booth. When the server comes to ask what I’d like, I order a diet Pepsi with lemon and a chicken Caesar salad with lobster bisque soup. She smiles at me and tells me my order will be up in a few minutes. I check my Facebook and Twitter to see what’s going on. Nothing too exciting. A cold feeling takes over and I look up to see Vander standing before me. I don’t know what to say, and I can’t take my eyes off him.

  “Erin,” he says, sitting down in front of me.

  “Vander, what the fuck are you doing here?” My voice is a little loud and some people are looking but I don’t care. Who the fuck does he think he is? “I suggest you get the hell out of here before something happens.” I dial 911 under the table and hope that this works and the operator will send help. “You killed Aria! You’ve been terrorizing us all and you killed Olivia.” I didn’t realize the tears coming down from my eyes.

  Vander reaches over to my hand but I pull away. “Now, don’t be like that Erin. I did it all for us. I love you and soon you’ll be mine. You’ll see.”

  Anger consumes me and I take my fork and stab his hand. Vander screams in pain but I don’t care. I get up from my seat and start punching him in the face. Over and over again. The words are coming out of my mouth but I don’t know what I’m saying. Arms come around me and pull me off ,but I kick and scream telling them to let me go. Vander’s head hits the table and his eyes are closed.

  “Erin! Erin! It’s okay, shhhh.”

  Connor.

  “I got you baby, shhhh.” I let down my defenses and my body goes limp in his arms. The sobs start racking through me from me and I let it all out. The police come in with the paramedics and they work on Vander and ask us questions. Everything’s in a daze and I try to answer their questions.

  “Everything will be alright, Ms. Costella. We’re taking Vander to the hospital where he’ll be treated and then taken in.”