by Melissa Jane
“When do you leave?” There was no mistaking the regret in his tone.
“Well… I don’t exactly have a time restriction.”
A smile twitched his lips. “You quit?”
“Let’s just say my boss is caught up in something that will take a while to sort out.”
It was my time to get serious. “Why did you never come find me, Lucas? Ten years is a long time.”
His thumb stroked my hand. “A lot happened before I left Delaware, Gem. Mason made me swear to never find you. You saw something that night. Something that could have ended my family.”
I sat up and hooked the blanket under my arms. “I don’t know what happened that night. You were gone before I could ask. Mason told me the same thing. He told me to never find you, or he would slit my throat.”
“What?” Lucas recoiled like I’d slapped him.
“The day you were leaving I tried to talk to you by the car. Mason stepped in and ordered you inside. He said if I ever tried to find you he would slit my throat, and while I bled out, he’d tell me all about the things he did to me while I slept.”
Lucas looked winded. “Did he…”
“I don’t know,” I said shaking my head. “I couldn’t tell if he was bluffing or not.”
“Fuck!” Lucas cursed under his breath. “I’m sorry, Gem. I didn’t know any of this. And if I find out he broke into your room and molested you, I’ll end him myself. The threats alone are reprehensible.”
Lucas was lost to a barrage of thoughts, ones that were raising more questions than answers. Ones that would surely be tormenting him, knowing his own flesh and blood was responsible. “There are detectives looking for him,” I added quietly.
“You know about the detectives?”
I nodded. “Detectives Kinross and Walsh. They found me in New York and said they were opening a cold case, and they wanted to know if I’d spoken to either you or Mason. I said I hadn’t, not for ten years. They were looking for Mason. They think you tipped him off.”
Lucas ran a frustrated hand through his hair, only now realizing his brother was still a danger. “I may have mentioned something to him about them.”
“Luc, I need to talk to you about what’s been happening.”
His jaw clenched. This was opening an old wound, but if we were to survive the wrath his brother was about to impose upon us, he needed to know.
“Since you tipped Mason off about the detectives, he’s been stalking me. His behavior is violent, and it’s just a matter of time before something deadly happens. So, I need you to listen and understand the severity of the situation because it’s so much bigger than what you can imagine.”
His jaw was set like stone, but he was receptive. “I’m listening.”
Taking a deep breath, I gathered my thoughts. “It all started before your dad left. His behavior toward me was always hot and cold, erratic at best. Some days he’d have me cornered, backed right up against the wall. The night of the street party, he held a gaming gun to my head. It was almost like he had to remind me how quick he could get the upper hand. But it worsened when you came home to find your dad had left. It was like it finally allowed him to show his true self. He saw how close you and I had become. He saw the hand holding. Mason saw how much we loved each other and that was just fuel for his jealousy. That jealousy soon turned to hatred.”
My eyes glistened, but I blinked it away. “He would make lewd comments when you weren’t around. Things he wanted to do to me. Insinuate I wanted to take part in whatever sick thing he had planned. He’d stand behind the drapes in your room, hiding his face and write messages as if it were you. Then when the boyfriend showed on the scene, Mason’s hatred turned violent. He… his behavior was unpredictable. One minute he’d be making a joke and I felt safe in his presence. The next he was hunting me down like prey.”
My forehead creased, and I took a long breath. “That time we were on the rock at the cabin, and he’d appeared after being missing for days, he heard everything we said to each other. He saw how we almost kissed and that set something off in him. The next day when you were fishing, you sent him back for the lures that were on the table. Do you remember?”
“Yes, vaguely.”
“I was out picking flowers, and he came searching for me. I was a few hundred yards behind the cabin. It was the sound of a twig snapping that first told me I was in danger. I waited, but I couldn’t see anyone. I grew paranoid knowing I was being watched, so I headed back into the woods. I was only a few steps in when Mason startled me from behind. I scolded him for the scare, but he had this strange look on his face like he was caught in a trance or something. I asked him what he was doing, and he said he was checking up on me. He’d gone to the cabin and I wasn’t there.”
A tear slid down either cheek, and Lucas gently wiped them while listening intently.
“I took a step away, but he gripped my arm and pushed me until my back hit a tree. He pinned me to it and taunted me. Started saying things like he knew the real me. That he knew what my desires were, what underwear I wore, what I really wanted from a man. I tried to fight him off, but he was stronger, taller.
“Then he tripped me and landed on top, held my hands above my head and slid a finger into my panties.” Another tear slid down my cheek. “I squirmed and bucked under his weight, but it just seemed to encourage him. Then the truth was revealed to me. The truth behind all his taunts. He said I’d chosen the wrong brother. That he knew my feelings for you and that you’d never return them. That he was more than capable of giving me what I needed. I begged him not to rape me. Over and over again. He used his fingers to scare me, but then it’s like he decided the timing wasn’t right. Instead of taking my virginity in that moment, all he did was kiss me. He told me to open my eyes, and when I did, he was holding his carving knife. He held the blade close to my face and used it to wipe the tears that fell down my cheeks. Mason warned me to keep my eyes open because he didn’t want me to miss what he was going to do.”
Lucas’s face had paled considerably. “What did he do?”
I lowered the blanket and turned my shoulder into the light of the fire. Lucas moved on his knees, his frown reading the white lines carved into me.
“Mine,” he said the words like he’s taken a blow to the stomach. “He carved the word mine into your skin?”
I nodded and wiped the tears with the back of my hand.
“He took his time, and when I cried, he cut slower wanting to maximize the pain. He knew I would always choose you, but still wanted me to have something to remind me of him.”
“Why did you never tell?”
“Mason warned that if I ever said anything to you that he’d do more to me than just carve into my flesh. I’d already seen what he was capable of, I didn’t need further proof. I went back to the cabin and washed the wound. There was blood everywhere, and it just wouldn’t stop. I was worried you’d both come back and see me like that.
“Once I got the wound covered, I changed into a t-shirt and went to leave for home. That was until you two turned up on the doorstep. I tried to act normal. I tried to be casual with Mason standing only a few feet away from me, watching and waiting for me to give you even an inkling that something was wrong. I kept my distance from then on. I felt like I couldn’t talk to you without wanting to tell you everything. My mom saw that change in me as well. I lost weight. I couldn’t confide in her simply because I was too scared.
“Every night, I heard the fighting coming from your place. Your situation was worsening. I never saw you and when I did, I knew you were fighting your own battles. I remember those few times I did see you, you looked so… different. You too had lost weight. You were pale and always tired. And then there were the bruises. I felt so helpless when all I wanted to do was be by your side, yet Mason was doing everything in his power to keep me away. One day I returned home from school and saw a note left in the bucket. It was asking me to meet you out at the cabin.”
Lucas shook
his head. “I don’t remember ever writing a note to meet me at the cabin.”
I smiled weakly, the pain still real. “That’s because it wasn’t you. At the time I thought it was. I ran out of the house so excited to see you without the possibility of Mason being there. When I arrived, the door was closed. There were noises coming from inside the cabin, muffled, but at the time I still believed it to be you. When I pushed the door open, I saw Joanie being fucked. I was shocked. A part of me broke, and I wondered how you could ever do something like that to me. But when he looked up, it was Mason. He smiled… an evil, gloating smile and continued thrusting.
“I took a step back ready to run, but my heel caught on the step and I fell. They both stopped, and Joanie questioned me like I was some sick pervert. She turned on me while Mason sat back and laughed. Later that night, another message arrived to my window. It was from Mason. A question. He asked if I liked what I saw.
“Mason was continually finding ways of hurting me because I hadn’t chosen him. A few weeks passed, I kept my distance. I rarely saw you. The arguments in your household grew louder, and when I did see you, you always sported new bruises. Then one night, it was especially bad. I could hear heavy thuds, glass breaking. It seemed more volatile than normal. It was storming outside, and in between the thunder I heard you and Mason bickering by the car. Looking out of the window, I saw you both carrying a tarpaulin.”
Lucas shifted uncomfortably. I expected this reaction.
“When the lightning flashed, you both looked up and saw me watching. I got frightened and ducked. Your shirts were covered in blood, and you struggled to carry whatever it was in your arms into the trunk of your mom’s car. The next day I was waking up to my mom asking me if I was aware you were moving. I ran down the stairs and found the three of you packing the car.
“That was when Mason warned me, once again, to keep quiet and not to find you. He made a lewd comment about my mom, and before I knew it, I was on my knees crying on your driveway having lost the love of my life without so much as a goodbye.
“Fast forward ten years and suddenly I have detectives turning up at my birthday party. The woman corners me in the bathroom and starts asking questions about the relationship I had with you. She made mention we shared the same birthday, so she’d done her homework. I told her I knew nothing. Then she asked me about Mason. Whatever I had replied had obviously triggered her curiosity. They didn’t leave me alone. I could feel them watching, waiting for the truth to somehow reveal itself.
“What I didn’t know was that Mason was also watching. Before the detectives arrived in my life, they’d already paid you a visit, and in turn, you’d tipped him off. Mason left work and headed to find the one person who had the tiniest bit of knowledge on him and what happened that night. He found me. He also found my workplace and destroyed Maximus Kline’s artwork by carving into them.”
“How do you know it was him?”
“Because he left a calling card. Maximus graciously handed it to me. It read, Truth or Dare.
Lucas’s eyes widened at the mention of our childhood game the three of us played. “That night when I returned home a bouquet of flowers my ex had given me on my birthday were all missing their buds. Frightened he had been in my space, I slid a chest of drawers across the door for extra security. But that night, I was restless. Tossing and turning in my sleep, fighting through a nightmare that featured Mason. When I woke with a fright, I saw him standing at the foot of the bed. Doing what he does best. Watching. Waiting. Intimidating.”
Lucas swallowed hard. “He was in your apartment?”
“Yes. And he was holding his favorite carving knife.”
Lucas rubbed his jaw, agitated. He rose to his feet and pulled on a pair of shorts. When he started pacing, I wondered how far I should go.
“Carry on,” he urged, sensing my hesitancy.
“I reached for the light, and when I turned back, he was gone.”
“You’re certain he was there?”
“Certain. His cologne remained. I went searching through the apartment turning on every light, but I couldn’t find anything. I thought I was going crazy when I saw the chest still in place across the door. I went to the bathroom to wash my face and lo and behold there was a message on the mirror.”
Lucas stilled, arms resting on the back of the couch. “What did it say?”
“Little Wren.”
“Little Wren?”
I nodded, a chill running up my spine.
“Fucking Christ!”
“Mason wanted me to remember all the horrible things he’d done to me out at the cabin. He was letting me know he was watching. Reissuing the warning to keep my mouth shut. He just never stuck around long enough for me to reassure him I wasn’t going to utter a word.”
Lucas sat on the end of the couch, his chin resting on steepled fingers. For the next few minutes, I told him about the trip to my parents’ house, the rock through the window and seeing Mason standing in the rain on the porch. There one second, and gone the next.
“I had been in contact with my college friend, Christina. I’d agreed to see her the next day. When I arrived, her baby Evie was on the floor, but there was no Christina. I let myself in and went searching for her. There was a knocking on the wall coming from down the hallway. I followed the noise and walked in on Mason on top of Christina having sex, in the exact same position as when I saw him with Joanie.”
Lucas slowly closed his eyes and shook his head, no doubt ashamed of his brother’s behavior.
“He continued fucking her while looking me straight in the eyes. It was a cruel reminder of what I’d never given him. A reminder that he would always hold a grudge over it.”
“How did that end?”
“Not well. As you can imagine, I’d had it! Mason was slowly turning everything I loved into something dark and repulsive. We argued, and Christina didn’t believe a word I said. He, of course, was on his best behavior and holding Evie like she was his.”
“Is she?”
“No, that’s a whole other story. He used her as a silent threat. I’d been seconds from telling Christina who he really was but when I saw him holding her, that promise in his eyes he’d hurt her if I uttered a word. I decided to leave. I took the opportunity to tell him I wasn’t saying anything to the detectives, but he didn’t believe me. I felt he was choosing not to believe. He wanted the drama and craved keeping me on my toes.”
I told Lucas about the photos of Peter and the beautiful blonde and to my surprise, he didn’t seem shocked. Even Mason’s own brother expected the worst from him.
“To be honest, I know it was Mason who sent them as a way of crushing something else in my life, but he actually did me a favor.
When I revealed how David had been found hogtied naked with his face in another man’s genitals behind a dumpster, Lucas was rightfully horrified.
“Jesus,” Lucas exclaimed stunned by the progress of the story. “Mason always did have a perverted and twisted sense of humor.”
“I met with the detectives that afternoon and discussed everything I’m telling you now. I couldn’t let Mason continue wreaking havoc in my life.”
“Did you tell them anything?”
“Yes. But the only reason why I hadn’t beforehand was because of you. I couldn’t bring myself to incriminate you in anything. Mason had a way of dragging people down with him. They assigned me an ex-SWAT to look after me. His name is B, and he isn’t much of a conversationalist.”
“Where is this B now?”
“At the end of the drive.”
“Jesus, Gemma!” Lucas rose to his feet and recommenced the pacing. “All this was happening, and I wasn’t there for you. All this time my own brother, since we were teenagers, had been hurting you right under my nose.”
“This isn’t your fault, Lucas.” I too got to my feet and wrapped the blanket around my torso. “Mason had everything planned out. He played on my fears and knew how to hurt me. In a way, he was protect
ing you.”
“No, he wasn’t, Gem. So please don’t bother spinning that story with me. I missed all the cues. I missed all the nights you were in bed crying because of what he’d done to you. I missed being your protector because all that time he claimed to be my protector from everything that was going on at home.” He took a step forward, his fingers running along the scar tracing the letters.
“He did this to you. My own brother almost raped you and carved into your beautiful skin. Gem…” his forehead touched mine, tears streaking down my cheeks, “… will you ever forgive me?”
“I don’t need to forgive you, Lucas. I kept quiet about it. It was my choice to not say anything. I dealt with it the best way I could. But we have to face the current problem. Mason will eventually find out I’m here and who knows what he’ll do.”
“He can come. I welcome it. He and I have a score to settle.”
Chapter 29
As expected, my words had greatly disturbed Lucas.
There had been so much time that had been wasted based on a misunderstanding. But there was still something that needed to be addressed. I had told Lucas about everything Mason had done to me, but he was still yet to reveal what happened the night of the storm.
Exhausted, we sat in front of the fire watching the flames twist and turn until I fell asleep against his chest. He offered the comfort I, for so long, had craved. When I woke, I was tucked in a blanket on the couch, a pillow under my head. But no Lucas.
Wrapping the blanket tight around my body I went in search. I didn’t have to look for long. In the dark, I spotted Lucas sitting on the porch steps overlooking the grounds, something metallic glinting in his hands.
“Luc?” I called, and he turned his head slightly in acknowledgment.
“You should get some rest, Gem.”
I approached his side and sat next to him. It was quiet in the woods, only the sound of crickets sporadically chirping breaking the stillness.