****
I spent New Year’s Eve Day keeping Lauren company. She sulked around all day in p.j. shorts and a tank top. We cuddled on the couch and watched a movie marathon of all of her favorites, while eating handfuls of popcorn.
Around five, I peeled myself off the couch to start getting ready for the evening. Despite the fact that it was absolutely freezing outside for southern California, I put on a super-cute, short, flared dress and a pair of open toe wedges. It went great with my fitted, cropped biker jacket. I took my time doing my hair and makeup, knowing that as soon as we got to the show nobody would see me in the dark, the makeup would just smudge off and my hair would lose its luster, but I didn’t care. This was the first time I had left the house in days and I was getting stir crazy.
Fully dressed and ready, I set out in search of Ari. The house was dark and strangely silent. Aggie and Andy had left for the evening and the sun had long since set. Walking past the large glass windows gave me an insuppressible chill. The wind howled, causing the trees to dance around outside and their shadows to create lifelike images on the walls.
I turned the corner and my heart stopped momentarily at the sight of him. Ari looked as handsome as ever and scooped me up in his arms for a kiss. I let out a shaky breath, feeling safe in his arms. We were interrupted as Rory and Julia walked in, clearing their throats.
“You have no idea how nice it has been to not have seen your face all week,” Ari said.
“Yeah, right, whatever, you know you missed me,” Rory said with a bright smile.
“I didn’t. Did you, Ava?”
“Stop it, Ari.” I hit him playfully on the chest and we all headed to Ari’s car.
We went to dinner a few blocks away from the theater. Ari had wisely made reservations; the restaurant was crammed, but we were taken to our table right away. We walked from the restaurant to the theater to avoid the crush of cars seeking parking places. The streets were bursting with people out celebrating New Years. Once in the theater, we found our seats right away, incredible seats in the very first row. . . I could seriously lean my elbows on the stage. Discovery opened up for Ra Ra Riot, and then Vampire Weekend came on and played nearly all of their songs. They ended with “Walcott,” and the crowd went nuts.
Once the show was over, we struggled to get through the swarms of people. When we finally broke free and were outside, we found that rain was pouring down and the temperature must have dropped another fifteen degrees. I shoved my hands in my pockets in an attempt to keep warm. Ari told us to wait and he would hurry to the car and pick us up. We agreed and hung back under the awning of the brick building. People began to get really rowdy and soon after Ari left, a fight broke out between two burly men in front of me. One of the guys shoved the other one back, sending him flying into me. My body slammed back against the wall and my head hit the bricks, bouncing on them several times before my eyes finally rolled to the back of my head.
Images immediately started filling up my mind. I saw myself covered in mud, soaked with rain. I saw the woods and I felt the absolute fear that rushed through my bones. Then I saw an image I had never seen yet before, the source of the screaming. The sound came from a girl tied to a tree. She was bloody and beaten. It was Lauren.
My eyes shot open. Rory was hovered over me with a worried look on his face.
“They have her!” I screamed.
“Who? Are you ok? What are you talking about?”
“Lauren! We have to go.” I knew from my visions of my mother’s and Mia’s death that this was very real and if we didn’t get to Lauren quickly, she would be dead. I swore that this time I would stop the death of someone I loved.
“They took her, Rory; they have her in the woods, behind the house, where we run. We have to go now. Julia, wait for Ari, and tell him to go straight back to the house. Tell him that The Kakos have Lauren.”
Julia nodded her head while tears streamed down her face. I threw my shoes off, knowing I couldn’t move nearly as fast with them on, and I took off running down the crowded street, barefoot in the cold rain with Rory closing in behind me.
As soon as we hit the woods, we split up. I closed my eyes, trying to bring my vision of Lauren back to life. At the same moment, I heard the screams. I ran up the hills, pushing myself harder and faster than ever before, I slipped continually on muddy, slick rocks. The bottoms of my feet and the palms of my hands were covered in scrapes and deep cuts. I stopped for a moment to wipe the rain out of my eyes and I heard a small scared whimper. I followed the noise blindly through the rain; it was so dark that I nearly crashed right into her.
“Lauren,” I whispered, “oh, my gosh, Lauren, are you ok?” She was shaking and her body was a frozen blue all over. She was still wearing her tank top and p.j. shorts.
“No, Ava! You have to go,” she cried, “it’s a trap, it’s you they want.” As I worked on getting the ropes off, she told me that two of The Kakos came into the house looking for me and she lied and told them that she didn’t know where I was. They took her for bait, knowing that eventually I would come for her. They were right, I had come. . . and I would always come.
“Where are they now?” I asked, taking a moment to look around at my surroundings.
“They have a gun, Ava,” her voice trembled with fright. “One of them dropped it in the mud and they’re looking for it.”
I peeled my jacket off and put it on her frozen body just in time to hear the men coming for us.
“Lauren, you have to run. Rory is out there somewhere; he’ll find you. Don’t make any noise and run as fast as you can. Whatever you do; do not turn around and do not come back. Find Rory and run home. Do you understand me?”
Fresh tears sprang from Lauren’s eyes and she hesitated for a moment. I could hear footsteps coming up fast from behind me. Lauren paled and sucked in a breath. I could feel the fear rolling off her in waves. That’s when I heard the shot ring out; I didn’t realize what the noise was until I felt a ripping, searing pain in my arm. Lauren screamed and her eyes grew as she stared at my shoulder. I’d been shot.
“Lauren, run now!”
She did as I said and I hoped like hell that she would not turn back. The men came up to me quickly. I tried to ready myself but it was too late. The first one had me by my hair. He had his knee shoved painfully into my back. I tried to free myself but it was useless. I could feel the blood oozing freely from my body. I was weak and growing weaker by the minute.
“Hello, Beautiful Fate,” the one holding me whispered in my ear.
“What do you want from me?” I spat.
“Shhh… I don’t really want anything from you; all I want is for you to die. That’s it.” He pulled me tighter to his body and his grip tightened like a snake. He ran his dirty finger down my cheek and I spit in his eye. This made him jump back a little giving me a small second to push myself away from him. No. 2 jumped in and grabbed me.
“Just shoot her again and get it over with. The sooner she is gone the better for all of us.”
I heard a loud shot ring out from a revolver, my body let go, and I was surrounded in darkness.