I’m not sure if she knows just how much I appreciate what they’ve done for me. Maybe, if my brother and sister could have found this, things would have turned out differently for them. Maybe, if tonight goes well, my sister can still have this in time.
“Oh, Ayden.” She pulls me against her, crushing my chest.
Usually, I squirm, but I decide to let her have a moment. Truthfully, I kind of need one, too. Even though I’m strong, I’m still terrified out of my goddamn mind that something will go wrong. Unlike a couple of years ago, I have a lot to lose.
My family.
My music.
A career in music, even.
Most importantly, Lyric. I don’t even know if I could function without her, not with how close we’ve gotten.
She holds me up when I’m falling,
Stills me when I’m tumbling,
Calms me when I’m cracking,
Gives me air when I’m suffocating.
Lyric, she somehow takes the pain away
When everything is crushing down on me.
How I ever lived without her, I have no idea.
The problem is, I’m worried how she’s going to react when I tell her what I’m going to do. She flipped out when I told her about the photos. Maybe I should keep this to myself for now.
After the detective leaves to go get his team prepped for tonight, I stay home with Lila and help her clean the house. Scrubbing down the counters and the floors distracts us from the massive cloud hovering above us.
Finally, after the kitchen and living room are sparkling, we sit down at the table to eat some sandwiches.
“I don’t want to tell Lyric what I’m doing tonight,” I tell her, picking the crust off the bread. “She’ll worry about me, and I don’t . . .” I swallow hard. “I don’t want her to have to go through that.”
Lila nods, picking at her food. “I think we should probably keep it from Fiona, Kale, and Everson, too . . .” She shuts her mouth and stares down at the plate. “Ayden, are you sure you want to do this? The police, they’ll keep looking for her. They’re not going to give up.”
“I know they’re not going to, but how am I supposed to live with myself if I don’t go?”
“This might not go as you plan. You know that, right?”
I nod, sucking in a deep breath. “I know that, but it’s worth the risk.”
She nods, still staring at her food.
A silence sets in like an ominous doom.
Chapter 16
Ayden
I leave the house before Lyric gets home and drive around town with Lila while she runs some errands. I know, if I see Lyric, then there’s a chance I’ll break down and tell her everything, so it’s a good thing we take off before that can happen. Still, when she sends me a text, I feel like the world’s biggest asshole for lying to her.
Lyric: All right, dude, why weren’t you at school? What’s going on?
Me: Nothing. I didn’t feel well, so I stayed home.
Lyric: Why aren’t you home now?
Me: Lila took me to the doctor.
Lyric: Is everything all right? Now u have me worried.
Me: Everything’s fine. I just have a cold.
There’s a pause before the next message buzzes through.
Lyric: R u sure that’s all that’s going on? U seem like you’re being a little vague and sketchy.
Me: I swear everything’s fine. If I’m feeling better by the time I get home, u can come over.
Lyric: Okay.
Her one word response means she’s more than likely buying my bullshit. I just hope she isn’t too angry when I do go home and have to explain everything to her.
After we finish running errands, Lila drives me to an old diner located near the Golden Center Bridge to meet with Detective Rannali so he can give me a rundown on how the night will go down. He already gave us strict orders to make sure we aren’t followed by anyone when we go, and during the thirty-minute drive, Lila is a nervous wreck, constantly checking the rearview mirror, changing lanes, and taking the longest route possible.
By the time we pull up, it’s late enough that the sun has set, and the city around us glows against the night. Only an hour left, and then I’ll be standing on the dock, facing the people who haunt my nightmares.
Or will I?
Now that I think about it, I can’t remember any of their faces nor have I seen any of the people who have been tormenting my life for the last few months. What will happen when I finally see them? Will I know them? Will I remember that I know them? According to some of the stuff the detective has told me, the Soulless Mileas are a decent sized group of people.
“How are you feeling?” Lila asks after she parks the car in front of the diner.
“Fine,” I lie, unbuckling my seatbelt. When she presses me with a stern look, I sigh. “Fine. I’m terrified out of my goddamn mind.”
“You can always not do it,” she says with hope in her eyes. “No one will be upset if you back out.”
“That’s not true. I’ll be upset with myself.” I reach for the door handle to let her know I’m going to go through with this.
Sighing, she turns the keys and shuts off the engine. “Just so you know, I’m going to be there, too. I already told Detective Rannali that I’m not going to let you do this unless I can be close.”
“All right.” I push the door open and climb out of the car.
She gets out, too, and meets me at the front of the car. Then we walk into the diner. The hostess sits in a booth, tucked away in the corner of the room where the lighting is low. The place has a total of five customers, which is probably why the detective picked this place to meet.
“Anyone hungry?” he asks after the waitress places menus in front of us and leaves.
I shake my head. “Not really.”
Lila reaches over and flips open the menu. “You’re going to eat. I don’t want you doing this on an empty stomach. You need your strength.”
Giving her what she wants, I order a plate of fries and a soda. She orders nothing for herself, and the detective asks for a glass of water.
“So, I first want to assure you that the location of the dock couldn’t be any better,” the detective starts after our drinks have been delivered. “There are trees and bushes surrounding it, and there’s also an old, vacant building nearby. My team has already scoped out the place and set everything up. Nothing appeared suspicious, so I have no reason to believe this won’t go smoothly.”
“The note said to come alone, though,” Lila reminds him. “Aren’t you worried that’s going to cause problems?”
“The only problem I foresee is that no one shows up.” He reaches for his water and takes a sip. “There was no threat to the note, though, which I found a little odd. I’m guessing they assumed Ayden would just listen to them.”
“But I don’t even get why they want him to meet them,” Lila says, folding her arms on the table. “What exactly is the point of making him come out here to meet them?”
The detective exchanges a look with me from across the table. I can tell he’s thinking the same thing.
“I know this isn’t what you want to hear”—he leans back in the booth—“but we believe it’s their way of coaxing Ayden out to a desolate place so they can try to take him without making a scene.” When Lila’s eyes widen, he adds, “Don’t worry. We’re not going to allow that to happen. I have ten of my best men all surrounding the dock.”
“You better not mess this up,” Lila says, being all hardcore. “If anything happens at all, I’ll track you down and cut off your balls.”
The detective appears highly amused by the threat. “Duly noted.” He turns to me. “I need to go over a few things with you. First and most importantly, under no circumstances are you to get into a vehicle with anyone.”
“You think they’re going to ask me to do that?” I ask, stirring my soda with my straw.
“It’s a possibility, yes.”
“Can’t you just arrest
them when they show up?” Lila absentmindedly steals a fry off my plate and pops it into her mouth.
He puts his hands out in front of him being very down-to-business. “We will arrest them, but we have to be careful and move slowly so we don’t spook them. We want to make sure that this ends with us getting Sadie back. You have to understand, these people aren’t your typical criminals. They have heavy beliefs that bind them to each other. Cracking down on them and trying to get them to out the rest of the group isn’t something that’s going to easily happen. In fact, from all the information I’ve collected on them throughout the case, more than likely, they’d easily go to jail to keep their secrets.”
Lila swallows hard. “All right, I’ll trust your judgment, then.”
“Thank you,” he says. “Now, Ayden, I want you to listen carefully.”
He gives me rule after rule: no acting spooked, keep calm, no trying to take matters into my own hands. He acts as though I’m going to flip out when the person shows up and try to kill them. While I briefly ponder the idea, I would never do something like that.
By the time he’s given me the rundown, there’s ten minutes left before go time. I’ve eaten probably a total of five fries and feel sick to my stomach.
“Are you ready for this?” he asks me after he pays the bill.
I shrug and then nod. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”
The detective and Lila leave the diner first, getting in his unmarked car and driving down to the location. I climb in Lila’s car and remain in the parking lot for five more minutes before backing out. Then it takes me three minutes to get to Golden Center Docks and another two to get out of the car.
I reach the dock that stretches out over the water with no time to spare, which is exactly what I was hoping for. The last thing I want is to be standing out here in the open, terrified to fucking death.
The water laps under the wooden dock I’m standing on, and the trees enclosing the area move with the wind. The sky is dark, the moon full, and the stars bright. In the distance, I spot the building the detective mentioned. Every now and then, I hear a noise and wonder if it’s the person meeting me here or if it’s the police. I can’t really tell. In fact, I can’t really tell much of anything other than I’m edgy as shit.
Finally, at around a quarter after ten, I spot movement from the path that leads down to the dock. I turn and watch as the figure descends the shallow hill and heads straight for me. My muscles seize up, and I want to run, but force myself to stay put.
When the person reaches the edge of the dock, I realize I’m cornered. The only place for me to go is in the water. Whoever it is has all the control, which instantly makes me think it’s someone from the Soulless Mileas.
They slowly make their way toward me, each step premeditated. As they get closer, the moonlight casts across them, and my jaw drops. They’re wearing a red raincoat with the hood pulled over their head and black rain boots.
She stops halfway down the dock, leaving at least ten to fifteen feet between us.
“Hello, Ayden.”
“You’re the person who was at that house,” I say with my eyes trained on her. “The one who warned me the place wasn’t safe.”
“It wasn’t safe,” she answers calmly in the same gruff voice she used that day. “It wasn’t time for you to go yet.”
A chill slithers up my spine.
“What do you want?” I ask, daring to take a step toward her. “Why did you ask me to come here?”
“I didn’t ask you to come,” she replies, taking a step back. “You were chosen to come.”
“You were chosen, Ayden,” she whispers in my ear. “You were chosen for this since the day you were born.”
I blink from the memory and step toward her, my legs shaking. “It was you . . .”
“Close your eyes,” she says. “This is going to hurt.”
I stop in the middle of the dock. “You were there.”
She shakes her head. “No, I wasn’t. I’m here now, though.”
She speaks like everyone else in my memories, her words wrapped in riddles.
“Tell me why I’m here,” I demand, my voice echoing around us.
She glances at the water behind me, and then her gaze slides to the trees. “Ayden, you’ve been a bad boy.” Her eyes land back on me. “You were supposed to come alone.”
Shit.
She turns and races off down the path toward the direction she came. I run after her without thinking, refusing to let her get away. Tree branches whip at my face as I keep my eyes on her, tracking her as she swings left then right before veering into the trees.
I dive in after her, the leaves and branches thick around my face. I know somewhere in the midst of the trees there are officers, but I can’t hear or see anything other than the woman laughing from somewhere.
“You want to know why we picked you?” she asks, her voice sounding as if it’s coming at me in every direction. “You want to know why?”
“No.” I whirl left then right, scanning the area for her. “I want to know what you’ve done with my sister.”
“Your sister?” she asks with a cackle. “I don’t think I know who you’re talking about.”
“You’re lying,” I growl, stumbling deeper into the trees. “Tell me where she is.”
“Hmmm . . . Let me think. Locked in a house, swallowed by the darkness, where no one has ever killed, yet blood stains the floors and the walls.”
“Fuck you!” I shout, lunging in the direction of where it sounds like her voice is coming from. Instead, I end up bumping into a tree.
I hear the sound of officers yelling my name from somewhere close by and shout out, “I’m over here!”
“And here’s another little secret I’ll let you in on.” Her voice floats from the trees ahead of me. “Your blood is tied to us, Ayden. And not because your mother gave us to you. Your blood has tied you to us from the moment you were conceived.” Footsteps dance around me. “Ever wonder who your real father is?”
“No.” I cover my ears with my hands as I sink to my knees.
“Ever wonder why we chose you?” she whispers in my ear. “Ever wonder why your mother gave you up so easily?”
“No. No. No.” Rage crashes through me as I jump to my feet. “I’m not going to let you get away with this.”
“We already have,” she whispers from right behind me. Then something hits me hard on the top of the head.
Love, love, love.
I never got a chance to say I love her.
My eyes slip shut as I begin to fall.
Then everything goes black.
Chapter 17
Lyric
Something’s wrong. I could tell from the moment Ayden sent me the text this morning. The worry only magnifies when I step foot into my house. For starters, both my parents are home, and Ethan is here along with the three youngest of the Gregorys. When I ask them what’s up, they give me a vague, “We’re just hanging out” answer.
Ayden also didn’t show up for school. He said he was sick, but I’m not buying it. Something’s definitely up.
“So, when are you guys going to fess up?” I announce while everyone’s sitting around the table, eating pizza.
“Fess up to what?” my dad replies, acting all breezy.
“Whatever’s going on with Ayden.” I pick a pepperoni off a slice and drop it back into the box.
“Nothing’s going on,” Ethan says, staring distractedly at his pizza slice.
“You’re lying. I can tell.” My eyes travel across him, my dad, then land on my mom.
She shakes her head. “Lyric, nothing’s wrong. Ayden’s just sick and went to the doctor.” She checks the time on the microwave. “Lila did say she had to run a few errands, and they were going to be a little late.”
“Whatever. Don’t tell me, then.” I finish off my pizza then chill in the living room for a while with my sketchbook.
I work on a drawing of a tattoo I’m thinking about getting
until around nine thirty or so when Fiona and Everson walk in. They have backpacks in their hands and frowns on their faces.
“Something’s definitely up,” Everson says as he drops his pack on the floor and sinks back in the chair. “It’s too late for them to be gone.”