by Eilish Rose
Sophia Black had stunned look on her face, and she was facing the entrance with pale face as if she had seen a ghost.
Kara followed her line of gaze, and when she saw what Sophia was looking at, her whole world shifted on its axis. She felt as if floor drifted under her feet. She stumbled with a force, and Jasper was quick to catch her. Her lungs contracted and she felt suffocated. Her brain was in frenzy and body trembled. Hot, angry tears prickled her eyes, pain evident on her face.
There were gasps from the guests, and everyone was beyond shocked because a man came back from dead.
In the door way of reception hall, stood William Black in his glory, a confused expression marring his face.
“No–” the word chocked out of her. And Amelia’s face also paled with fear when she saw him. She hugged Kara tightly.
“Fuck.”
“What the hell?”
“The fucking hell.”
The words like these echoed around Kara, and these were some of the last words she heard before darkness engulfed her, and all the energy drained away making her limp.
Before giving in to the darkness, only thing she was aware of two pairs of arms. One pair of tiny arms was giving her comfort, but it also sought protection, and she wanted to protect Amelia with everything she had in her. While the other pair was strong and it promised the safety, and those belonged to her husband, and she wanted to be saved by this man.
CHAPTER 10
2 months ago
It was around 10 in the night when Amelia and Kara came back to their home, both were scared. Their hearts were pounding against the ribs, an unknown fear was engulfing them as if someone was chasing them.
Getting away from the clutches of the devil was never easy, and they got out of those with a lot struggle, and during this whole time they both lost something: faith.
Kara was much more devastated because everything she used to believe turned out to be lie.
William was a lie; he was the biggest manipulator she had ever encountered in her life. He was a sick bastard who knew where to strike. He was the stan in an angel’s disguise. His words, promises were hollow; he never cared for anyone except himself. One year ago, after their engagement, she came to know how disgusting and sick he could be. She couldn’t get out of his clutches because he had trapped her by blackmail.
A man who had used children especially the innocent small girls as a blackmail could never be a man.
Being in their home, both Kara and Amelia got little relief, but they were far from being fine.
“Let’s go to my room,” Kara dragged Amelia with her as she was in no condition to move on her own; Amelia was in shock, so Kara had to act like her age and took care of her. But, inside she wanted to lock herself and cry until her tears dried.
Kara made Amelia to sit on her bed, and she switched on the lights.
“Ahh…!!! Turn them off, Kara. They are hurting me,” Amelia screamed in her broken voice.
She dimmed the lights as the bright lights were causing discomfort to her baby sister. It was understandable because she was kept in a dark room for 3 days. No contact to light made her sensitive to it.
Kara rushed to her sister, and touched her face before tucking her hair behind her ear. Amelia flinched a little, her eyes were distant. Mentally, she was still in that dark room where William kept her captive.
William kidnapped her while she was off to a school trip, and lured Kara by using her as a bait. He did this in retaliation; Kara threatened to expose his sick ways when he manhandled her a week ago. He was abusive, used to slap her whenever he felt like doing so. He always showed his cruel side in private. In front of the world he had crystal clear image.
His abuse was not limited to slaps; he hit her with objects sometimes, and she had scars on her lower back to prove it.
She could’ve been exposed him a year ago but he was clever. He used Amelia to blackmail her. He had some compromising pictures of Amelia. He was that disgusting! At that time, she felt as if she was keeping her mouth shut for her sister, but then she realized, she would never get anything out of it. William was narcissistic psychopath, and he was great at pretending. Eventually, he would use those pictures to hurt her or Amelia in some other way.
When Kara reached the place where he asked her to come, she was not prepared what she would experience here. She was ready to fight William, but when she saw Amelia all tied up with rope and thrown on the floor like a ragged doll, her whole resolved crumpled. The scene broke her hear in million times, and she felt unbearable in her heart. Even William’s slaps and beatings seemed much softer than this harsh reality. Amelia was unconscious, he drugged her as he didn’t want to deal with ear piercing screams of a little girl. The only relief was that he didn’t touch Amelia in any intimate way.
“How could he do this to us? How could he do this to you,” Amelia’s broken whisper brought her back to reality.
Kara hugged her sister and started rubbing her back slowly to sooth her down. “Shh… shh… don’t think about this Am. I won’t let him hurt you; he won’t come near you. I’ll report him, and I don’t care about the consequences. I’ve already made mistake by not reporting him earlier, but I won’t repeat it now.” Kara rocked her back and forth still hugging her.
“Will everyone believe us? We don’t have any proof. How could he hurt you? He was supposed love you, not ra–,” she couldn’t complete her sentence as loud sobs wrecked her body, she hugged Kara tightly.
The last two days flashed in her mind when William became the monster and violated her both physically and mentally. Kara’s resolved shattered as the adrenaline rush wore off, and the reality started to sink in. Kara started crying violently and this made Amelia cry harder. Both sisters engulfed each other in tight embrace and let their tears fall. They both had seen each other’s vulnerabilities.
“You know Kara, I never believed the girl in my school who said that her step-mother tortured her because I believed that our loved ones are supposed to love us and protect us, but this man has proved that people are cruel; they are not trustworthy. I will not trust anyone, ever. I hate this world. I hate…hate this feeling,” Amelia sobbed letting her emotions out. Being a child, she didn’t deserve this, but world is far harsher than we can anticipate.
Kara tightened her hold and kept on rocking themselves.
After a couple of minutes, Kara composed herself; she had to be strong for Amelia. She had to protect her innocence because it was not the age to lose the faith in everyone; she was too young to become bitter.
Kara cupped her cheeks softly and wiped the tears with her thumbs, and made her look at her. Kara never thought she’d ever see tear strained swollen face of her sister.
“Listen to me Amelia. You want to hate that man? Hate him with everything you have in you, but don’t let hate rule over your emotions. Baby, this world is a cruel place, but not everyone is bad. See, mom and dad never hurt us; they protect us every time we get in trouble. Their love is not pretended, it is real. As for William, we were never in his company more than 3 or hour hours, and this is not enough time to judge a person because psychopaths like him can pretend to be loving people for days– if not months– without letting their cover fall.
“I’m not asking you to forget this incident when all I want to do is to erase this memory from your brain, but I know I can’t do this. Let this incident be in your brain, but don’t let have hold on you. Keep this as an experience, but never base your decision solely based on this. You understand me?” Kara asked while wiping tears from Amelia’s face.
Amelia’s chin trembled and another stream of tears went down on her soft cheeks. She was like a broken doll, and Kara wanted to take away all her pain.
“You have no idea how badly I want to hurt that monster, if I get a chance, I’ll kill him over and over, not because he destroyed my life but because he tried to hurt you. You’re my everything Amelia, remember this. You can count on me. Okay?”
“Hmm…” s
he hummed unable to utter any word.
“Come on, you need shower. It’ll make little better. Okay?”
Amelia just nodded.
“Stay here, I go and get your clothes from your room, Okay?”
“No, Kara. Don’t go. I’m scared. What if he came here?”
“Shh… no he won’t come here. I won’t leave you. Let’s go to your room together.”
They both went to Amelia’s room and grabbed her clothes. Then Kara helped Amelia to take bath. Her body was covered in blue marks where rope was tied. A lump formed in Kara’s throat, and a chocked sob escaped her lips. Amelia looked at her sister with raw vulnerability. In that moment, she resembled a ragged doll. Fresh tears rolled down her cheeks.
“Will I look like this for the rest of my life?”
“No. no… these will fade away in some days. There won’t be any marks. Don’t think about them. Just keep looking at me, or think about any song that makes you relaxed. You can hum it,” Kara was trying her best to save her sister from submitting to the dark.
Amelia started humming ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’, she like this melody and it was her favorite.
Kara helped her putting on her clothes before drying, and she also applied some ointment on the marks.
“Am, sit here. I need shower as well. Is it fine if I just go few feet over there in the shower?” Kara asked while helping her to sit on the edge of the bath tub.
Amelia nodded, still humming the tune.
Kara scrubbed her body fiercely, she still felt dirty. Kara couldn’t imagine how the touch of the same man became so disgusting that she is feeling like burning her skin where he touched. With a lot of effort, she cleaned herself without losing her mind. Her body ached and warm water did little to sooth her. Even her body had marks: some old and some fresh.
A sob broke through her foggy mind, Amelia’s eyes were on her. Kara didn’t want her sister to see her like this, but she had no other option. She inhaled long breath and finished bathing, and put her clothes on. then she threw both her and Amelia’s other clothes in trash bin.
She took Amelia’s hand and led to her bed.
By this time Amelia was shivering, and Kara pulled her under the covers.
“I want to sleep, but I’m afraid he’d come here and would do all those things.” Amelia’s whispered.
Kara hugged her, and started rubbing her back slowly, this made Amelia little relaxed.
“Relax, baby. We are in our home, and he is a coward. He will never come here and do anything. And we can call the police also. Okay? Try to sleep.”
“Can I hum that tune again? It made me relaxed. You’ll not mind?”
“No Am, hum it for me as well, I made me relaxed also.” She kissed her forehead, and then pressed her cheek over the spot where she kissed.
Amelia hummed ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’. Meanwhile Kara thought about what’d she do next morning, and how she’d explain this to everyone, especially her parents who were on the way back to home from Paris.
Both sisters found peace for the first time in three days. Amelia’s soft tone helped her to drift to sleep, and few seconds later Amelia also fell asleep.
What they didn’t anticipate was that William’s car would slide off the road and it would burn the driver, bringing him to his end.
Following day, at around nine in the morning, Kara received the news of the accident from her parents. Everyone was devastated except Amelia and Kara. Media was here, and she had great opportunity to expose the dead man, but Amelia stopped her. She was afraid.
“Don’t tell anything, Kara. He is dead. Let him go away silently. If we tell now, they will link us to his accident.”
“You’re right. We can’t fight it right now. And this will be our secret.”
Amelia nodded while tears rolled down her cheeks. They hugged each other and went with the flow of events.
In the eyes of the world, she was devasted fiancée, but only she and Amelia knew the story behind her tears.
Jasper’s heart started to pound rapidly. Kara was limp in her arms, and Amelia also had pale face and her green doe eyes were filled with tears. But the fear in her eyes was perplexing, even William’s return was not that baffling.
“I get the car,” Aaron said while getting his phone out. “You carry her Jasper, and Ethan be close to Amelia.” Saying this Aaron went out of the hall while keeping his eyes on William.
There were loud voices, everyone was stunned, William had confused face. He stepped inside still not understanding what was going on. then his eyes landed on his brother, and a smile broke on his face. His eyes went towards the girl in Jasper’s arms and he frowned. He kept looking at both of them, a wide smile broke on his face. He took long strides in their direction.
Amelia stepped backward and collided with Ethan’s leg. She jerked her face upward and looked at the man. Ethan had stoic face but then his features softened, and he crouched down to her level. Amelia kept looking at him with unshed tears, her chin trembled.
“You got married, Jasper! I’m happy for you man. Congratulations.”
He got no reply.
“I know I have a lot of explaining to do and I’m trying to understand what happened to me. But I’m happy to be back and being with my loved ones is great satisfaction.” He spoke with sincerity.
“William,” Sophia, his mother came nearer, still not believing her eyes. “Is that you? Tell me I’m not dreaming.” She whispered in broken tone touching her son’s face with shivering hands.
William grabbed her mother’s hands and kissed them.
“I’ve missed you mom. And this is not dream. I’m here, with you, with my family. And I’m not going to leave you all,” he said and then hugged his mother.
Other family members started to come closer, and everyone was thinking about the irony of the situation. His fiancée married his brother, and he seemed to be nonchalant about this. Kara’s parents were still in shock.
Jasper didn’t have the time to stay and chit chat with his brother as Kara was unconscious, and something seemed fishy about whole ordeal.
“Let’s get out of here,” Jasper carried Kara in his arms.
“Where are you taking her? I wat to be with her. Please Jasper.” Amelia pleaded in an overly quiet whisper.
“Okay, Amelia. Let Ethan help you to walk to the car,” Jasper looked at Ethan and he nodded.
“Noah, go and tell Kara’s parents that both Kara and Amelia are with us, and we are going to my home, and then come with us.”
Everyone’s attention was on William, so it was easy to get out of there without drawing any attention.
Once outside the hall, Jasper quickened his pace. Amelia was trying her best to walk but her legs were shaking and every now and then she was stumbling a bit.
Ethan noticed this, and then asked her if he could carry her. Amelia agreed and he carried the little girl in his arms.
Arran came rushing to them informing that they can’t leave in their cars.
“Apparently, a dead man walked in in-front of media, and the news has broken out. Paparazzi has swarmed the place. This is going to be a huge scandal.”
“You mean to say we are stuck here?” Jasper asked.
“No, we will leave in another vehicle. Perhaps one of catering vans would do the trick. Follow me.”
All followed him to the back door of the mansion. As they sat, Noah came and joined them.
Chapter 11
“Thanks for coming Dr. Steel,” Jasper thanked Emma Steel– Kara’s gynecologist.
“It’s my job Mr. Black. Anyway, her blood pressure dropped suddenly. She needs rest and food, and these first months are crucial. And please try she doesn’t stress so much, it’s harmful for both of them.” She stood up from the bed where Kara was lying and Amelia was holding her sister’s hand with worried expression.
“I’ll take care of it. Please come.”
He escorted the doctor out of the room, and then Aaron walked her to
the door.
Jasper went back in, and stood near the bed looking down on tired but peaceful face of his wife.
His wife. The reminder unsettled him once again. Kara was no longer a grieving fiancée of his brother. She was his wife now, his responsibility, his to protect, and his to love.
The return of his brother had changed everything, he had no idea how he was going to handle everything. But he was sure of two things: there was more to William’s accident, and he would never leave Kara.
“You won’t let him take my sister away?” a baby voice caught his attention, and he darted his eyes towards Amelia.
He exhaled before sitting down on the edge of the bed. He then extended his hand towards Amelia, and she looked at his hand for some moment with startled expression.
After few seconds she placed her small and soft hand in his big and rough hand. Jasper held her hand tenderly.
“What makes you think like that?”
“Because, she was supposed to marry him. And he died. Everyone said so, then how he came back. Now, he will try to take my sister, but she is your wife. You two are supposed to mean together.” Amelia rambled whatever was in her mind with little panic in her voice.
“Shh… calm down, Am. No one is going to take my wife away from me.”
“Promise?”
“Yes, promise” and he meant it.
“Will you be okay if I go and talk to the boys for some time?”
“Hmmm…”
Jasper stood up, and then he bent down to place a soft kiss on Amelia’s head.
“I’ll be back real soon,” he ruffled her hair, and Amelia flashed him a smile.
Upon entering his study, Jasper stopped in his tracks, “what th–“
Ethan gestured him to keep quiet and he huffed in response, and went inside the room locking the door.
He stood there, watching Aaron inspecting the shelves with a bug detector device; he was the real control freak among them.
“Your office is clean, now we can have our meeting here.”