by S. Nelson
But tell that to her heart. Or was it another body part which needed to be told?
She watched him when he flung his arm around Alexa’s shoulder, pulling her in close to give her a kiss on the cheek. He’d done the same thing with me earlier.
As the night wore on, the more Megan’s mood seemed to sour. I didn’t know if it was because Matt wasn’t paying her as much attention as he was to Alexa and me, or if there was something else bothering her altogether.
“Can we move closer?” Alexa asked as she grabbed my hand, already pulling me forward before I even answered. “I hear these guys are amazing!” she shouted over her shoulder.
Megan and Matt followed us as we approached the stage. The band was busy chatting with some patrons while they set up their equipment.
An hour into the show, I suddenly became a little woozy. I tried to blame it on the alcohol, especially since I hadn’t eaten in hours. Drinking on an empty stomach was never a good idea. Taking some deep breaths, praying it would do the trick, I fumbled to find something to lean against. There were so many people crowding me, it was hard to breathe. Add in my sudden attack of dizziness and it didn’t make for a good time.
Staggering toward the edge of the bar, I accidentally bumped into Megan, spilling a bit of her drink on the floor. My other friends were turned away from me, thoroughly enjoying the music to even notice I wasn’t okay. She looked annoyed at first then concern washed over her as she saw me swaying where I stood. And it certainly wasn’t because of the music.
I knew something was wrong. My mind instantly flew to thinking someone had spiked my drink. But I reasoned it was impossible since the only people who had touched it before me were the bartender, Matt and Megan. They had each bought a round for the group. In fact, it was Alexa’s turn to buy next.
“Sara, are you okay?” Megan asked, shoving her shoulder under my arm to try and keep me steady. Her support of my body was a relief, and I leaned into her even more. I was terrified I was going to face-plant right there, in front of everyone.
My head spun.
My muscles were like jelly.
My body started to heat up and my vision became cloudy.
My eyes glanced over at Megan, and in a split-second I saw a strange expression cross her face. I didn’t have the energy to read into it because it was gone not a moment later.
Suddenly, pain radiated across my cheek. Confusion swept over me as I stared at the woman holding me up. She’d slapped me in an attempt to keep me coherent.
“Sara, you don’t look well. Do you want to go home?” I heard Alexa’s voice behind me, but she sounded so far away. It was almost as if I was dreaming. I couldn’t focus on anything, all of the people around me blurring into one large mass.
In a way, I was frozen.
I was unable to turn around.
I couldn’t speak to tell my best friend something was wrong.
The last thing I heard was Megan telling her she would take me outside, that she lived around the corner and would pump me full of coffee, sobering me up and returning me to our night out.
Promising we would be back in an hour, Megan ushered me from the club.
It was the last thing I remembered before darkness dragged me under.
~34~
Alek
It was past midnight and I hadn’t heard from Sara yet. Nothing. Not a text or a phone call to let me know she was all right. Didn’t she know what a mess I would be, leaving me totally in the dark as to what was going on with her? I wasn’t asking her to call me every hour or anything so extreme, but a simple check-in every five hours wasn’t asking too much. I didn’t think so, anyway.
As I picked up my phone to try her, it rang. Thank God. I glanced down at the name displayed across the screen and my heart picked up speed.
It wasn’t Sara at all.
It was Calvin.
I was still waiting on information about Megan. The strange feeling I’d been harboring simply wouldn’t go away. Instinctually, I knew there was more to her story than she revealed to Sara. I was hoping it was something small, but my gut was telling me I should be wary.
And I always followed my gut when it came to the woman I love.
“Devera,” I practically shouted into the phone. I was already pacing back and forth and he hadn’t even uttered a single word.
“Alek,” he said pensively. “Is Sara with you right now?” The tremor in his voice made my heart constrict. There was obviously something wrong if the first words out of his mouth pertained to Sara’s whereabouts.
“No, she’s not. Why? Tell me what you know.” I was becoming increasingly agitated, my fear overwhelming me to the point I could barely catch my breath.
“I did a thorough background check on Megan Smith and at first, there wasn’t anything alarming. She had no priors. Nothing unusual. Until I dug further back and realized she changed her name eight years ago.” The silence was deafening. I had no idea where he was going with his story, but mentioning eight years ago instantly raised the hair on the back of my neck. “Alek, her name used to be Denise Colden.”
The world spun around me.
There was no way. It had to be a coincidence. Don’t freak out. As much as I tried to convince myself there had to be another explanation, I knew better.
“Is it her?” I asked, my voice dripping with worry. “Is Megan Samuel’s sister?”
I knew the answer, but hearing him say it was still a shock.
“Yes.”
All those years before, I’d done my research. I knew everything about Samuel Colden, mainly in part due to Calvin’s expertise. I knew everything about his family, including his sister Denise. Or should I say Megan? I knew his family received death threats for what he’d done to Sara. I was assuming it was why she changed her name, but who the hell knew.
I should have been more persistent in finding out about her. Or at the very least, I should have asked Matt for Megan’s information immediately after Sara’s refusal.
“I don’t understand, Cal. What could she want with Sara?”
“Not sure. Maybe she blames Sara for her brother’s death? All I know is that she changed her name right after he was put away for kidnapping her, probably because her family was receiving death threats.” Bingo. “Their parents passed away a few years back, so Samuel was the only family she had left. And now…”
We both knew what came after and now.
And now, she blames Sara for her brother’s death.
And now, she is going to exact revenge.
But I was the one responsible for killing Samuel. Me. Not Sara. So why not come after me?
A sickening thought rattled my brain as I tried to take in everything. She was coming after me. By tricking Sara into thinking they were friends, she was going to use her as bait. To get to me.
The realization both infuriated and relieved me. If Megan’s attention was truly aimed at me, then Sara would still be alive.
If my hunch was correct.
Quickly ending the call with Calvin, I grabbed my keys and rushed out of the house.
I had to find her, before it was too late.
Trying to call her proved futile.
There was no answer, as I knew there wouldn’t be.
Racing toward Throttle, I prayed no harm had come to her. I didn’t think I would survive another devastation.
I barely held it together last time when she’d been shot.
~35~
Sara
What was with me waking up with mind-splitting headaches? I made sure not to overdo it, but there I was again. Temples throbbing and a dizziness which instantly made me sick to my stomach.
It took me awhile to realize I wasn’t lying down. Instead, I was sitting upright on something cold and hard, my limbs immobile. My eyes were still closed and I couldn’t really hear anything. It was quiet.
Eerily quiet.
Where the hell am I? How did I get here? The last memory I had was getting ready to go out, to meet ev
eryone at Throttle. That was where the recollections became fuzzy.
Finally, I heard a faint noise, running water off in the distance. It was muffled but I could make it out. Definitely water.
Then I hear a door open and close, someone slowly walking toward me and then… nothing. Back to silence. I thought I imagined everything until I heard a voice.
“Welcome back to the land of the living. For now, at least.” Megan was the person behind the voice, but why was she speaking in such a hateful tone?
“Megan? Where are we? Why can’t I remember anything? Are you all right?” I asked, my speech slurring with each syllable. I knew something was seriously wrong, but I held tight to the hope everything would be explained and there was a good reason for it all.
“I’m fine, Sara,” she said, my name disdainful on her lips. “You’re the one who’s not.”
She moved around me with stealth-like precision. I barely heard her footsteps before my head was violently forced back, my chair almost tipped over with the force. I cried out, but it only fueled her anger more. She loved the fact she was hurting me, but for the life of me I couldn’t understand why.
When she let go, I sprang forward and quickly righted myself. I was so weak, but I forced my body to cooperate. Forcing my eyes open proved painful, but I needed to see her.
I needed to see what she was going to do to me.
As soon as my lids popped open, they closed just as fast. The bright light was killing me, causing my headache to spike again. When I tried to shield my eyes with my hands, I realized I couldn’t move them. They were restrained behind my back.
“I don’t understand, Megan. Please…please, tell me what’s going on.”
To say I was confused was an understatement.
“You want to know what’s going on?” she asked, hitting me in the back of the head with her hand. Circling around to stand in front of me, she squatted and looked me in the face, her eyes so glazed over, I was positive she had taken something. “Well, let me tell you a story. Once upon a time, there was a little girl who had a big brother, a brother who did his best to protect her. But there was something off about him, something everyone knew about, yet they still made fun of him. But he couldn’t help the way he was. It wasn’t his fault.” Her voice cracked, indicating this story was indeed a personal one.
“Then one day, he did something beyond his control because he thought he was in love. He took a girl to his house and because she was there for a short time, everyone panicked and caused the situation to escalate. They called him names and hurt him, locking him away for eight years, probing him and forcing countless drugs down his throat. They even closed him off from the only remaining family he had left. Me.”
As I tried to listen to her story, the only person who popped into my head was Samuel. But it was impossible. He only had one sister and her name was Denise. The only reason I knew was because I was afraid his family was going to retaliate on me somehow, so I asked the police for as much information as they could give me. Thankfully, nothing ever happened.
Until now.
My eyes had finally adjusted to the bright light in the room, allowing me to see Megan standing in front of me, a knife held tightly in her hand.
I finally realized how dire my situation was right then.
“Megan, I don’t understand what this has to do with me,” I squeaked, afraid if I spoke any louder I’d set her off.
She leaned down and pointed the knife directly in my face, so close if I breathed the wrong way, it would poke me. “I’ll tell you how you’re involved.” She took a deep breath before ranting on. “You were the one who led my brother on. You were the one who gave him false hope. And at the first sign things weren’t going your way, you decided to tell the authorities he kidnapped you. You stole him away from me!” she hollered. “You did that.”
“Megan, please. I liked Samuel. I did. But he was sick. He thought we were in a relationship, and he forced me to stay with him against my will.” I didn’t even finish before she flipped out.
“STOP!” she roared. Before I could take my next breath, a burning sensation ripped through my arm. Warm liquid seeped out and dripped to the floor. She’d lost control for a split-second and cut me. “Stop telling me lies. We both know what happened.”
My eyes cautiously studied her movements as she paced in front of me. She wielded the knife as if it would deliver the truth. Her version of the truth. Glancing down at my arm made me wince. It hurt like hell because it was more than a superficial wound. Multiple stitches would be required to seal the flesh back together.
Another scar from the past I can’t seem to escape from.
“The day they released my brother was the best day ever,” she remembered, a small, crazy smile on her face as she thought of Samuel. She looked away, lost in a memory which caused her to tear up. “I loved him, Sara. He was my big brother.” She looked like the old Megan for a second.
“I’m so sorry,” I said, my words having the opposite effect.
“Sorry?” she screamed. “Sorry? Did you honestly just say that to me, you deceitful bitch?” She swung her fist at me, hitting me right in the temple and knocking me to the floor. “You and your bastard boyfriend are responsible for my brother’s death,” she sneered, a look of pure rage contorting her face. “And now both of you will pay.”
Lying on my side, I tried everything I could to remain as calm as possible, doing my best not to pass out. I needed to remain alert, especially since she mentioned exacting revenge on Alek as well as me.
All of a sudden, my cell phone started ringing. Wasting no time, Megan stalked toward my purse and grabbed my phone.
“Well, lookey here. It’s the man of the hour,” she taunted, preparing to answer it.
“Megan, what are you doing? Leave him out of it. You have me. If you want to take out your anger on anyone, take it out on me. Please,” I cried, but my pleas fell on deaf ears. She shot me an annoyed look, answering my phone in the sweetest of voices.
“Alek, thank God you called. Yes, Sara is with me. She wasn’t feeling the best, so I brought her back to my apartment to sober up before we went back.” She was silent as she listened to whatever he was saying. What the hell is he saying?
Her next words broke me. “Why don’t you come and pick her up then? Yes.” She glanced at me as her lips turned up in an evil smirk. “I’ll be waiting for you.” She gave him the address before ending the call. We were ten minutes from Throttle, which meant it would take him thirty minutes to arrive. She could do all sorts of things to me in that time.
“Megan, please, don’t do this. Please,” I begged her. I couldn’t bear to drag Alek into yet another dangerous situation, but my hands were tied. Literally. I was still lying on my side when Megan advanced in my direction. Seeing as how this wouldn’t be the best presentation for when Alek arrived, she bent down and lifted me back upright.
As soon as she turned her back to me, I fiddled with the rope which bound my hands to the chair. Soon, I was able to loosen the knot she made. Not enough to escape. Not yet, at least.
“I knew Alek would come for you without question. He’ll always come for his precious Sara,” she scoffed, hate laced around each word.
“Please, don’t involve him. It wasn’t his fault. It was mine.”
“He shot and killed my brother. How is it not his fault?” She breached the distance between us with a few angry steps. The knife was pointed right in my face. “How? Tell me right now before I slice that pretty face of yours.”
I trembled and hated myself for showing weakness. For some odd reason, I knew my weakness would only fuel her vendetta even more. “I was the one who misled Samuel,” I confessed, knowing I was only lying to try and buy more time. “I was the one responsible for his death, Megan. It was all my fault and I’m sorry.”
My lies permeated her crazy brain. I knew enough from watching plenty of shows on people who have snapped to not stick with your version of the story. If they be
lieved it to be one way, you had to find a common link to keep you alive. But how long would it work? I had no idea, but I had to give it a shot.
“He loved you, Sara. All he wanted was to be with you. You should have stayed with him this time.”
The bitch was stone-cold out of her mind. But at least I was buying myself some time.
She continued to shake her head in confusion as she made her way down the long hallway. She entered what I could only assume was her bathroom and slammed the door behind her. I went to work on the rope with enhanced fervor, trying to give myself the best fighting chance, only stopping when I heard a noise behind me.
“Sara.” I heard someone whisper my name, but I thought I was hallucinating. Whatever Megan gave me was strong enough to knock me out, then keep my head fuzzy when I came to. I continued to work on my restraints. “Sara.” I heard it again. I turned my head to the side and couldn’t believe who I saw.
Brian was crouched in the window, prying the rest of it open as quietly as possible so as not to alert Megan. He must have been watching long enough to know when to make his move. For a brief moment, I was brought back to the night Samuel had managed to hit him in the head, before abducting me. I cringed at the thought he was putting himself in danger yet again...for me.
“Brian,” I cried out, clasping my lips together as soon as I made the noise. I turned my head toward the hallway to make sure she hadn’t heard me. So far, so good. He raised the window the rest of the way so he could fit through.
He was on me in two seconds flat, working the rope from its knot in even quicker time. Once my wrists were free, I grabbed them and rubbed feverishly, forcing the blood to flow freely. “How did you find me so fast? Alek just called here.” As soon as I tried to stand, I fell right back down. I wasn’t strong enough to move on my own.
“Alek called me as soon as he found out Megan was Samuel’s sister.” I looked on in confusion. “He told me what I needed to know. He gave me your coordinates and I rushed right over. I was instructed to do everything humanly possible to get you out of here alive.” Helping me to stand again, he assured me Alek was going to be there any minute.