by B C Morgan
I watched from the top of the stairs as she opened the door to a crushed looking Marcus, he went to pull her into his arms, but she just shook her head and turned away from him, with tears streaming down her face.
He looked up at me and the hatred in his eyes was as clear as day, as was the murderous look on his face.
“Do you really think that little of Katherine, that you would put her through all this pain, just to save your own skin.”
I’m sorry, truly I am, but I didn’t have anyone else to turn too.”
“Save your excuses for someone who may actually give a damn, as far as I’m concerned your life is meaningless, and I don’t owe you a damn thing. But you already suspected that much, which is why you got her involved.”
I was about to offer up another apology when Marcus was suddenly standing in front of me with a dagger pressed up against my neck.
I could have killed him with a single look, but I knew that Kat would never have forgiven me if I did, so I stood there, as still as a statue.
“I do not want to hear another word uttered from your mouth, if you cannot respect that then I am out of here, and you can find this poor girl by yourself, do I make myself clear?”
I gave a small nod, the knife cutting my skin ever so slightly, but I refused to grimace as the silver pierced my skin and my blood coated the blade’s edge.
He pulled the dagger away and ungraciously wiped it across my shirt, before looking me up and down in utter disgust.
He returned to Kat’s side and pulled her into the living room and out of my range of hearing, they were gone for thirty minutes before she brushed past me and retreated into her room.
I went into the living room and found Marcus sitting cross legged in there, I had no idea what I was supposed to do when Kat suddenly reappeared with the dress that she had loaned Unya.
“This might not even work, because this doesn’t actually belong to her but it’s your best shot,” Marcus stated while still looking at me with utter disdain.
Kat came and stood beside me while shooting daggers into the side of my head, before she informed me that I would now owe her a new dress.
The next minute Marcus was soaking the fabric into a weird looking substance before he ignited the dress. It went up in a massive flame, before disintegrating entirely. He then placed the ashes onto a map as he uttered some words in a language that I did not recognise. There was a sudden gust of wind which sent the ashes flying towards myself and Kat before Marcus looked up at me and uttered two words “It’s done.”
Chapter Thirteen
Unya
I managed to come up with a plan of escape for the very next day, and luckily for me Addy had volunteered her services to aid me in my endeavour. The only problem was that I had not counted on Jackie coming into my room while I was on the phone to her.
She tore the phone from my hands and threw it against the wall, and then ground her heel into the screen until it was beyond repair.
She looked at me with murder clear in her eyes as she seized hold of my hair and pulled me out through the door and down the stairs. I did my best to keep up with her but lost my footing on the third step down. She laughed as she helped to propel me down the staircase, I tumbled, connecting with every step on the way.
I pulled myself up onto my hands and knees, as my ribs screamed in protest followed by my now sprained ankle. I tried to clear the haze from my eyes as I saw her heeled foot being raised up to strike me in the face. I flew sideways into the wall as she took to kicking me in the ribs and torso. I couldn’t help but cough blood up when she tutted in disgust and marched off into the kitchen.
Against my body’s protests I managed to pull myself up onto my shaking legs and sprained ankle and steadied myself against the wall as I slowly hobbled down the hallway, just trying to get to the front door. I was that hunched up, I didn’t notice that Jackie returned, just like I hadn’t noticed the fact that she now branded a bat, which she swung at my legs and sent me hurtling back to the floor.
I refused to cry out or beg her to stop, but I did pull my body close within itself trying to protect whatever I could, from her frenzied attack. I tried to hold on to my senses but soon found my surroundings turning black as she connected the bat with my head and sent me into a state of unconsciousness.
Z
I had no idea how much time had passed when I started to come around, the only thing I was aware of was the fact that I seemed to be on the move. I slowly prised my swollen eyes open to find that I was laying on the backseat of my car, while Jackie was in the front passenger seat and some random guy was driving my car.
“Look who’s finally awake, I wondered if you were ever going to grace us with your presence.”
“What did you expect Jackie, I told you not to lay a finger on her but you just couldn’t help yourself. How the hell are you going to explain this when the police find her?” Asked the strange guy, who kept staring at me in the rear view mirror.
“What is there to explain, she jumped off the same cliff as her boyfriend, obviously she hit some rocks on the way down.”
I tried to open my door, but Jackie had been smart enough to put the child locks on. I had no idea how I was going to get out of this predicament, the only thing I was thankful for, was the fact that I was unable to fear the situation that I had found myself in.
“We’re just lucky that the tide will be in, at least they won’t discover her body for a little while.”
“But you said that we would be able to take her money and get far away from here, how can we do that if nobody knows that she’s dead?” Jackie’s voice had taken on a whiney tone and I noticed that he visibly flinched at the sound. It was obvious that this guy didn’t care for Jackie, all he was interested in was the big fat pay out that he was going to help himself to.
“I have already explained all of this to you. Later on, tonight you will call the police and file a missing person’s report, you will inform them that she hadn’t been herself since Darren’s death and that you are worried about her state of mind. You will also explain the circumstances behind your sister’s death and say that you are worried that she may try something stupid.
You will then ring around all the people she knows and play the part of the doting and worried Aunt. Once her body is discovered it will just be an open and shut case of yet another pointless death of a teenager who lost their life far too young. You get the death certificate and presto, the money is legally yours.”
They spoke of my death like it had already happened, this was definitely something that had been in the works for some time. How could my own flesh and blood do something like this, if I thought the beatings had been bad, then this was truly atrocious.
We finally came to a halt and Jackie pulled him in for a kiss before exiting the car, He turned his face to me and looked at me sympathetically, which was funny given the circumstances.
“It’s really not personal, not from where I am standing anyway, I just like the finer things in life and Jackie is an easy meal ticket.”
He climbed out from the car and walked around to my side, where he unlocked my door and helped me to my feet, keeping my wrists in an ironclad grip.
He started to steer me towards the edge and after roughly twenty steps I would have been hurtling towards my death.
“Please stop,” I shouted, hoping my voice would carry over the wind that had begun to stir on our arrival. I hadn’t really expected him to listen, so I was quite surprised when he suddenly stopped mid step, with a look of utter confusion clear on his face.
“Martin, what the hell are you doing,” demanded Jackie as she stormed over to us. Martin just stood there with a blank look upon his face.
“Oh, for Christ’s sake,” she muttered as she grabbed hold of my arm and pulled me from his grasp, and then we were marching forward again.
I managed to raise my shoulder up and slam it into her chin, it caused her to lose her grip on my arm and I stumbled away from he
r.
I made it back to Martin where I pummelled my fist upon his chest, I stared up into his eyes and told him not to let her touch me again.
He didn’t appear to hear me and I could hear Jackie running back over towards me, I continued to pummel him until Jackie seized hold of my wrist and spun me around until I was stumbling closer towards the edge and falling to my knees. I heard a loud pop as my arm was pulled from its socket, but luckily the pain did not register.
I stared down at the ground but looked up when I heard Jackie scream, I was shocked to see her feet leaving the ground as Martin tightened his grip around her throat.
“Martin put her down,” I hollered at him, and he did it almost instantly, I had no idea why he had suddenly decided to help me, but I wondered if I could use it to my advantage even more.
“Hold her in place, so she can’t get away,” I demanded, staring straight into his eyes, not understanding why they seemed glazed and why that seemed so familiar.
He instantly pulled her flush against him, so that her back was slamming into his torso. He had one arm wrapped across her chest, just inches below her throat and his other arm was across her waist, also sealing her arms in at the same time. I slowly hobbled closer to her until my face was only inches away from hers.
“Why would you do this to me? Your own flesh and blood, I am the only family that you have left,” I exclaimed.
“Because it should have been me, you were handed everything in life, born with a fucking purpose that is wasted on the likes of you. And what did I get, a mother too consumed with hate to even acknowledge me and a sister who was almost as deranged as she was.”
I started to laugh a deep, side splitting laugh before I shook it off and regained my composure.
“Are you really that deluded? I have spent my entire life being somebody’s punching bag, having my entire life dictated to me. How the hell can you stand there and have the nerve to say I was handed everything. I have had nothing but harsh words, punches and kicks thrown at me. I have been kicked when I am down and I don’t just mean figuratively. I found my own Mother dead in my home and then sent off to live with the likes of you.”
I could feel my blood boiling and something beginning to stir deep within my stomach, I had no idea what was happening, but I did know that I should have hated this woman and that she deserved to suffer through some of what I had been forced to go through.
I drew back my arm and connected my fist with her nose, I rejoiced in the sickening crunching sound that followed the impact, before punching her again and again. She looked me straight in the eyes and laughed at me, which just spurred me on even more as I began landing blow after blow to her abdomen. She began to wretch and then had the audacity to spit blood into my face, I felt a sinister grin spread across my mouth as I saw red and resumed my previous assault on her already bloodied face.
“Hit me all you like Unya, you will always be worthless.”
That was the last thing she said to me before unconsciousness stole her away, I knew I should have stopped but I couldn’t seem to tear myself away.
I honestly believed I would have carried on until I ended her life when the sound of my name being called, stopped me dead in my tracks.
“Unya stop, you don’t want to do that, if you end her life you will lose yourself forever.”
I turned my gaze to Lawson’s face, but I refused to lower my fist.
“What does it even matter, I’m already dead inside,” I spat my reply back at him, with a vehemence in my voice that I had never heard before.
“Trust me Unya, whatever you are feeling right now will pass, I know that she deserves this, but don’t stoop any further down to her level.”
I finally lowered my fist and turned away from Jackie and Martin, only taking one last glance at the bloody cavern which was now her face, I couldn’t even recognise her anymore. I wondered if that was how bad I looked to Lawson as I slowly made my way over to him.
He shouted at me to look out, but my reaction times were significantly slower than usual, as Martin’s body connected with mine and sent me hurtling, ever closer to a rocky demise.
I was now only inches from the edge as Martin’s body sat astride my legs with his hands around my throat, his squeeze growing tighter and tighter, with fury clear in his eyes.
“What happened, what the hell did you do to me?” He screamed at me, with spittle flying past his lips, my vision growing cloudy as my lungs screamed for oxygen. I knew I didn’t stand a chance at getting away from him when Lawson walked up behind him and unsheathed a dagger that had been hiding behind his jacket.
He smiled a smile that I would never forget as his eyes locked with mine and then he ran it deeply across Martin’s throat from ear to ear, exposing his jugular and sending his warm life force all over my face.
Before Martin’s lifeless form could slump over me, he lifted him up, as though he was no more than a small bag of sugar and sent him hurtling over the side of the cliff.
I laid there panting, as my lungs tried to recapture the air that they had been deprived of as he slowly approached me, cautiously as though he was worried that I might run away, not that my body was up for any kind of strenuous activity at that precise moment in time.
“Who were those people?” He asked in a cold and distant tone, as he stared at my face in disgust, most likely because of the bruises and swelling and now Martin’s blood that no doubt covered it.
“My aunt and her new lover,” I replied before coughs wracked through my body and I began coughing my own blood up. He quickly caught it in the fabric of his top, before any could spill onto the ground. I must have looked confused because he quickly explained that it would be better if my DNA did not turn up here. I nodded my acquiescence, before somehow managing to roll onto my hands and knees. I realised that I had found myself in this position quite a lot in the recent days and wondered why the hell my mind would focus on that, after everything I had just seen.
Lawson helped me to stand, staring intently at me, probably trying to gauge my reaction to what I had just witnessed. I honestly still felt nothing, I probably should have feared him, especially after he took a stranger’s life without a second thought, but it meant nothing to me.
He helped me over to Jackie’s prone form, being careful not to directly touch any part of my flesh. Jackie was still very much out cold, so I kicked her in the ribs one last time for good measure before we went over to my car and I collapsed onto my backseat. It didn’t occur to me to ask where his bike was or how he even knew where I was, all I wanted to do was sleep the pain away and I drifted off into the black abyss of my mind.
Chapter Fourteen
Lawson
I had driven us back to Kat’s place, I knew I shouldn’t have imposed on her any further, but I was at a complete loss as to what I should do.
“What the hell did you do to the poor girl?” She demanded as she eyed me warily, as though she actually suspected that I was the culprit for the state that Unya was in.
“I played no part in this, in fact I actually saved the girl’s life,” I stated feeling irked by her suspicion.
“Well, it’s not like you helped her out of the goodness of your heart. You obviously still need her alive for the time being.”
Kat had said it with such disgust as Marcus came outside and looked at me with utter disdain when he saw Unya as well.
“For the last time, I didn’t do it.”
He snickered in response before carefully lifting Unya out of the car, and then he carried her in the way that a husband would carry his bride over the threshold and she didn’t even stir. I refused to feel anything similar to worry for her as I stood there like a statue, Kat spared me one last glance before she followed Marcus inside. I knew full well neither of them was going to trust me to be anywhere near her, especially alone. I found myself wondering if that bothered me for more reasons than just their utter lack of faith in my character but chose not to pull at that thread.
> I wondered how she could have allowed me near her after what I did to that guy, and I knew that she would have witnessed the thrill I felt as the life drained away from him. She was definitely hiding something beneath her hostile exterior, all I had to do was figure out what, before her Eighteenth birthday took place and one way or another, I would vacate her life for good.
Z
That night passed in a blur, as I refused to ask after her. I had to keep reminding myself that I didn’t actually care about her welfare, the only thing that mattered was she survived for the time being.
I sat in my room practically brooding and by the time the next evening rolled in, I couldn’t fight it anymore as I strolled into Kat’s room. Despite the glares from Kat and the daggers being shot at me from Marcus’s eyes I was pleased to see the steady rise and fall of Unya’s chest.
“Has she even woken up at least once since she’s been in here?” I asked, making sure that my tone remained neutral.
“No and I honestly do not know when that is likely to change, I know she is going to recover a lot faster than the beings that she has been raised with, but the damage is extensive,” Kat stated, with worry clear in her tone and shining bright in her eyes.
I stepped closer to the side of the bed that she was laying on, and physically recoiled at the sight of her. The entirety of her face was covered in dark purplish, blue bruises with the odd tinge of green here and there. Her eyes were swollen shut and her nose was clearly broken, along with her fat lip that was a deep shade of red, from where the blood had started to gather below the skin.
“In case you were wondering, her injuries are a lot more extensive than just what you can see on her face.” This came from Marcus and was spoken with the utmost disdain for me.
“Why hasn’t she started to heal yet, if anything I’d say she looks a hell of a lot worse.
Kat looked remorseful as she shot a look at Marcus, which I gathered was to prevent him from unleashing whatever poison was threatening to spill from his tongue.
“Her body is focusing on healing itself from the inside out, as far as we can gather, she has a sprained ankle, a dislocated arm and at least three broken ribs. She is covered in garish bruises practically all over her body and is definitely suffering from internal bleeding, the most worrying part is the fact that when Marcus tried to read her, he couldn’t sense anything. It’s like she’s nothing more than an empty shell.”