Keep Me

by Leah Holt

  Wait. . . Brothers?

  No. No it's not true, he's just trying to manipulate me.

  He's lying, Cole isn't his brother. He can't be.

  His words split my head open and shattered my heart. I couldn't imagine the man who had swooped in to save me, peeping in my window. Cole was everything I ever wanted, but this, the thought of him sitting shoulder to shoulder with this sick fuck, it spun my world upside down.

  “Or did he leave that out? Did he forget to tell you about that, about me? He really was there with me you know, Hanna, lurking in the shadows. Do you even know the man you've been staying with?”

  It can't be, I won't believe it.

  Cole isn't like him, he wouldn't do that.

  A freight train slammed into my head, drawing out forgotten memories. I remembered his face, I remembered Cole sitting in the front of the courtroom during Dane's trial.

  He was much younger, but it was him, he was there. His eyes were on me, watching me with this look on his face. He looked torn between two worlds. A world of sadness for knowing his brother was about to be convicted of something horrible; a look of hatred for everything that happened.

  Or was that something else, was he secretly wishing I had died beside my sister so his brother would go free?

  Was the look in his eyes actually meant for me?

  I had forgotten about him, I had blocked out as much of that memory as I could.

  And now it was back, splashing against my face like battery acid. It burned, it stung, it made me hate myself all over again.

  That was what he wanted me to remember. That was the secret that sat in the catacomb of who he really was.

  Cole wasn't just the man who had come in and rescued me from a monster anymore.

  Cole was a man who had been there from the beginning, he was a part of it.

  He was a piece of the horror that wanted me dead.

  Did Cole lead him to me? Was he the real reason Dane had found me?

  My shoulders slumped as I let the realization sink in and take hold. Maybe this was his plan all along; to take me, to show me kindness and concern to earn my trust. And when the time was right, when his brother was ready, he gave me away like a tribe sacrifices for their god.

  Cole was holding my heart out to the beast that needed to feed.

  Was fighting even worth it now?

  What point was there in trying to live when the one person who made me feel whole might have driven me to my death?

  Maybe this is where I say goodbye. . .

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Cole

  My headlights hit the red reflection of the taillights on his car, making them sparkle like the ruby eyes of a demon. Squeezing the steering wheel, I let the blood drain from my knuckles as I sat alone in the dark.

  The dreams I had before rushed through my brain, forcing me to grasp the feeling that I had seen this all before. I knew what he was going to do, I knew what he had planned for her.

  Stepping out into the cold air, I wanted to run at his car and search it for her. But I already knew that she wasn't there, she was somewhere inside the forest with him. My stomach clenched and turned at the idea of what was about to happen.

  It was a strange feeling, to know what he's done and still not be able to truly understand what went wrong. You think you know someone, you think that after spending an entire lifetime with that person right beside you that you could read them like a book.

  I was wrong.

  During the trial it was hard to fully grasp the nature of what had happened. How he had gone into their home, how he had done such horrible things to Vanessa. Dane hurt her, he scarred her, he defiled her. He wanted to make sure she always wore his mark on her flesh.

  It made me sick to think that my brother had done that, that I had looked up to him and never allowed myself to see the man he truly was.

  Blind love. I loved him, we were brothers, we were connected on a level that bred trust and loyalty.

  If someone had asked me before what my brother was capable of. . . I would never had said rape.

  He was a bad kid, I wouldn't deny that he had his issues. Dane found pleasure in stealing and taking from those he thought didn't deserve everything they had. But that need twisted, it took on a different shape completely.

  There was no amount of rehabilitation that could help him. He went in branded as a troubled youth and came out as something so much worse.

  My brother had killed, he tasted that power and nothing would stop him from doing it again.

  He's not your brother. . . Not anymore.

  I'm going to stop him. He won't have her.

  Lifting my chin to the sky, I tried to listen for footsteps or voices, yelling or screaming. Anything to let me know which way they went.

  It was so quiet, just like I remembered from those nights, the nights when she came to me for help and didn't even know it.

  All the restless sleep, all the cold sweats and troubled thoughts had brought me here. They prepared me for this moment and this moment alone. I wasn't just having nightmares I couldn't understand; I was having premonitions, glimpses into a future that was also my past.

  A gentle breeze swept around me, rustling the tree tops and sending leaves toppling over my feet. Angling my head, I thought I heard a voice in the distance, but I couldn't be sure. The wind swirled over my body, whistling against my ears. Goosebumps prickled my skin, exploding like mountain tops over the surface.

  Rubbing my arms, I flicked my head over my shoulders and looked out into the darkness. A glimmer of eye shine peered at me from the black landscape, then vanished as quickly as it appeared.

  Taking a step back, I searched for the eyes again, only to find a blanket of onyx-colored air. Go! Find her, she needs you.

  Taking one long step, I let my feet press on, moving in whatever direction they wanted. I had no clue where she could be, which way he went, or what he had already done to her.

  And that was the worst kind of unknown.

  The muscles in my chest grew tight as they swelled with anxiety. I was afraid it was too late, that he had already finished what he set out to do.

  All the other girls that had been here, the way they had their lives ended by the hands of pure evil. Dane had been using them, imagining that they were Locke, taking small bits of satisfaction from their death.

  He hated her for stepping up to him. He despised her for challenging him and not being afraid to tell her story, of speaking for her sister and telling the truth.

  He won't kill her. I'm not going to let him.

  This is why she came to me, I'm here to protect her.

  You know where she is, just listen to yourself.

  My body was guiding me, it was in charge and telling my feet which way to go. I didn't have a virtual map of this place or a tracker that beeped to tell me if I was getting close.

  All I had was my heart.

  My heart said to turn and my body followed, my heart said to keep going and I listened. Dawn was starting to bleed into the night, adding orange highlights and red hues. And I just kept walking as quietly as I could.

  Lowering my heel slowly, I would feel the ground before I put any pressure on the forest floor. A single twig could give me away, it could be my downfall and let Dane know I was out here, looking, hunting him down.

  The dewy scent of wet leaves started to seep into my nose, making me smell the air. Water? Am I near the water?

  Pushing through a thick bushel of thorns, I stepped into a small clearing. The sun had crested the horizon, lighting up the water before me. It felt surreal to be there, standing at the edge of the same pond I had seen in my dreams.

  Walking around the water's edge, I dropped to my knees and gently touched the divots in the mud. Her small feet left impressions, tiny foot-shaped patterns in the silt. Dragging my fingertips over the edge of her toes, I touched them lightly.

  She was here. She was right here.

  The marks in the mud were fresh. Wate
r sat motionless on the surface as it slowly dissolved into the dirt. Locke had been there not long ago, her presence still hanging in the air like a bitter perfume.

  All I wanted was to keep her safe, and I failed. I kept her locked inside my home, I spent hours trying to put the pieces together so she didn't have to be a victim. When I heard the message at her apartment, when the detective said my brother had been released; time stopped.

  I had spent so much time trying to distance myself from Dane, trying to be my own person and not the blood kin of a monster, that I severed myself from him completely.

  The thought of him being released never crossed my mind. What he did to Vanessa wasn't forgivable, he wasn't worthy of getting to live again, being allowed to breathe fresh air and being gifted a second chance.

  When I sat on that stand, giving my testimony, I lied about what I knew. I pretended that I knew nothing, I acted like he had been an honest and caring brother.

  None of that was true, I lied through my fucking teeth. And I hated myself for it. If I had told them everything, if I had called the police and spewed out my insides in the first place, there was a chance that Vanessa might still be here.

  Maybe if Dane had been caught sooner, things would be different. Vanessa wouldn't have spent the last few months of her life in fear, she wouldn't have seen the scars as pain, but felt them as strength.

  Locke would have her family and she wouldn't be bound to a darkness that she didn't deserve.

  That thought created a void, it made my heart turn to stone and ache as if I had been the eye of the storm.

  He found her because of me. . . I'm just as guilty.

  My eyes followed her footsteps as they broke to the right and disappeared into the treeline. Slamming my foot into the mud, I took off in the same direction.

  I couldn't change the past, nothing would ever make up for not doing the right thing back then. But I still had time to change the future. I still had the chance to make it right by her.

  Nothing was going to stop me. Not even him.

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Locke

  Dane stayed static, pacing in small circles. He hadn't moved away at all. I couldn't help but think he knew where I was, that he had me in his sights and was just fucking with me.

  I wanted to run, I wanted to dissolve into nothing and seep into the dirt floor. He was too close, too crazed, too dark.

  There was no way I could get past him if he found me. One wrong move, one rustle of leaves or snap of a twig, I'd be leading the lion to its meal.

  My lips fluttered against each other as soundless demands spewed freely. Keep going! Look someplace else!

  Begging and pleading with the powers from above, I ached to just get one more chance to run, one more chance to break free, one more chance to escape. But no one seemed to be listening, my prayers were falling on deaf ears, getting slapped back down by the hands of the sun.

  “I know you're out here, you might as well show yourself. Save yourself the embarrassment of being yanked out by your hair.” The muscles on his legs flexed as he took short brisk steps towards the trunk of a tree. “Maybe that's what you want. Am I right? Is that what you want? You want me to drag you out by your hair like I'm a fucking caveman?”

  Dane laughed to himself, leaning against the tree and tugging out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. Lifting a cigarette to his lips, he cupped his hand around the end and lit it. He stayed silent for a long moment, drawing in a few long puffs.

  Exhaling a heavy breath, he looked up at the sky. “Do you think your sister is looking down on you? I'm not a man of faith, Hanna, but if I had to bet, I'd say she's definitely not.” Tapping the head with a single finger, he watched the ash fall off and land on the ground.

  I hate you!

  I'm going to kill you, you piece of shit!

  The words tugged on my tongue, begging to be released, to be freed from their cage and allowed to take shape. I refused. It was too much of a risk. I still couldn't tell if he actually knew where I was or if this was just a game he had been playing with himself since I took off.

  If he didn't know, yelling would only give him what he wanted. . .

  Me.

  “You know why I think that?” A devious smile spread across his lips as his eyes scanned the forest. “Because you're here with me. Because if she was watching over you like an angel, lightning would probably strike me right here, right now.” Holding out his arms, he welcomed the hot fire from the heavens. “No? Nothing?” Dane yelled up to the sky. “Guess you're on your own, Hanna, no one cares, not even your own sister.”

  Every inch of my body trembled with rage. Fear was a strong emotion, but when you hated someone as much as I hated him, rage towered over all.

  “Vanessa was such a pretty thing. It's too bad she decided to swallow all those pills, it really is. I know you blame me for that, Hanna, I do. But I didn't feed her those, she fed herself.”

  That was it, that was all I could take. I could sit back and listen to him babbling about nonsense. I could handle him trying to fuck with my head and make me think that Cole was just like him and that the girls he had killed were going to blame me.

  None of it was true. He was a liar, he was a fucking bastard. Every word out of his mouth was built from sick thought he had inside his head.

  But to act like he hadn't somehow held my sister's hand, to try and downplay his role in her death. . . I wouldn't stand for that.

  I had been pushed to my breaking point. My blood was boiling, percolating under the skin and turning my flesh red hot.

  No more.

  Jumping out of the bush, I glared at him. “Don't you fucking dare! Don't you fucking dare try and say she didn't kill herself because of you!” Taking a step forward, I clenched my fists by my sides. “You raped her! You did that! She didn't want you, she never wanted you!” Angling my head, my brows furrowed deep. “No one would ever want someone like you.”

  Dane bared his teeth with a toothy grin as he dropped the cigarette. Stalking towards me, I didn't move. My eyes veered, teeth clenching down and biting the inside of my cheek. I wasn't going to let this man scare me anymore. He had owned my life in so many ways for long enough.

  Curling his fingers around my neck, he dug his nails in hard. “Is that what you think?”

  My shoulders jerked up towards my ears as his fingers squeezed down. Twisting my head, I glared up at him. “That's what I know.” Taking in a deep breath, my nostrils flared. “My sister was too good for you. She would have shot you down and told you to go fuck yourself if you had ever tried to ask her out. You had to do what you did because someone like her would never sleep with a scumbag like you.” Spitting in his face, I barked, “You're disgusting! You're a piece of fucking shit!”

  Thinning his lips, Dane drew his hand back and swung it across my face. My head snapped to my shoulder as my knotted hair lashed my cheeks. Keeping my head down, I rocked my jaw back and forth, working out the sharp pain.

  Swallowing, the taste of iron ran down the back of my throat.“I'm going to kill you,” whispering under my breath, a smile spread up to my ears. It wasn't a smile meant for anything good, it was a smile built off hate, it was a smile that came with so much anger my heart hurt and my lungs burned. “I'm going to take what you took from her. . .” Pausing, I wiped the blood off my lips with the back of my palm. “Life.”

  Looking down on me, Dane let out a wild chuckle. “Sweetheart, that is the funniest shit anyone has ever said to me.” Slapping his knee, he yanked me in close, bringing his mouth to my ear. “And you're going to regret saying it.”

  Spinning me on my heels in one quick swoop, his hand turned into a fist, connecting with my stomach. The air from my lungs flew out hard and fast, leaving me before I had the time to suck it back in.

  Dropping to my knees, I clenched my gut, gasping for air. I wanted to scream, I wanted to cry, I wanted to jump to my feet and strangle him. But I couldn't. I was numb, there were no tears to shed,
there was no voice to cast, there was no strength to hold down on his throat.

  “Stupid fucking bitch.” Running his hand over his chin, Dane's head bent and rolled as he grunted. “I'm going to make you beg for your life. I'm going to make you feel every inch of your body as it cries out for me to stop.”

  Curling my fingers into the dirt, I clutched a handful of sand. “Only if you can catch me.”

  “What did you just say?” His voice dropped in tone, sending a chill down my spine.

  Looking up, my lips curved into my jaw. “Only if you can catch me.” In one quick jerk, I threw the sand into his face and jumped to my feet, sprinting away as fast as I could.

  “Ahh! Fuck!” Slamming his hands against his head, he rubbed his eyes.

  I didn't look back, I didn't stop to see if he was following me; I ran.

  The ground vibrated beneath my feet, the tremor worked its way up my legs and stabbed the joints in my hips. But nothing was going to stop me. Not pain, not fear, not failure.

  His feet mimicked mine, repeating the same thuds and thumps across the forest floor. He wasn't far behind me, he was right there, gaining speed and running me down.

  Pushing my legs to their breaking point, I traversed over fallen stumps, layers and layers of leaves, sharp thorns and broken branches.

  Each one entered my skin, I felt them go in and I felt them break free. But there was no pain as they punctured my body, there was no sting or burn as I ran barefoot for my life.

  His hands blew cold air across my back as he swiped to grab me. He missed, and my feet moved faster.

  I thought I was losing him, I thought that I had gained some distance between us. I was wrong.

  The weight of his hands dug into my arm, yanking me off my feet and into the air. Throwing my body, Dane shoved me to the ground. “You little fucking shit!”

  I was staring at the sky, the bright blue was speckled in white clouds. Focusing through the treetops, I could see a plane flying over us, unaware of what was happening right below its path.