Once my legs are unbound, I rear my head back and smash it into the top of his head as hard as I can. Jesus, fuck! That hurt.
I hear him yowl in pain as dizziness swamps me. Using my legs, I push down with all my might in order to stand up and run but my arms are still tied to the chair. The man grabs my ankle and I careen into the dining room table, striking the side of my face against the wooden edge, the chair shattering.
“Why, Elizabeth! Why did you do that!” the man is spitting and screaming at me.
He tries to straddle me like he did Hailey and I lose it. I fight with everything in me, kicking, biting, thrashing. Voices from outside can be heard and I try to scream but no sound comes out. Just a gurgling noise like coffee percolating. My head lulls to the side in time to see the man pull the knife out from the side of my chest.
He croons to me in a soft voice. “Shh, Elizabeth. It will all be better soon.” He slides the knife into me again and kisses me softly. “My sweet Elizabeth.” He gets up off of me and I hear his footsteps running toward the back of the house.
My body is floating and I feel no pain. I try to take in a labored breath, but it’s too hard to pull in air, like my lungs aren’t working properly. My eyes track to the dining room window searching for Jayson’s window, but the old oak tree is in the way.
Jayson. I see my swing and remember the Valentine’s Day Jayson gave it to me. The night he made love to me for the very first time. My gorgeous silver-eyed boy. The love of my life. Memories of Jayson and all our next times float in rapid succession across my vision. I think of my jar of stars as I try to touch the chain around my neck wanting to feel my promise ring.
Daddy. I feel my dad’s arms wrap around me. I’m sitting in his lap. His hands cover mine as he helps me pluck the guitar strings. I hear his deep voice singing to me. I hear him call me puddin’.Mom. I can feel my mom’s love. She wraps it around my body just like she wrapped me in hugs every day. Her soft whispers telling me it’s going to be alright.
Hailey. Oh, God. Hailey. I try to slide my hand across the blood-slicked floor to reach her. My vision fades out, then back in. A gurgling cough erupts from my throat and I taste something thick and metallic.
I blink.Julien. So handsome and brave, his smiling face hanging upside down from the tree branch in front of our old tree fort. Julien, in his grey tux as he dips me in front of the Eifel Tower. My best friend.
“Elizabeth! Are you in here?”
That’s my sweet Ryder’s voice. I picture us in his car, the wind in my hair, his golden amber eyes always filled with love when he looks at me. How free I feel when I am with him. How he kissed me and held me.
My beautiful, wonderful boys. My three princes. I’ve lived a lifetime of happiness with them by my side. My family.
Wait, no. Not all of my family. My parents. My sister. Gone. He killed them. Why did he kill them?
There’s a tug on my body and I hear Ryder’s voice, faint and far away, calling my name. My eyes are too heavy to open and my limbs won’t work. I hear Jayson’s voice. I need to tell them before the darkness takes me away. I need more time. I can’t leave them. I’m not ready.
Ryder’s frantic golden eyes swim in front my vision. With the last breath I can muster, I rasp out, “I love you.”
Chapter 25
Jayson
After a shitty night tossing and turning, I’m fucking tired and running on fumes. As I’ve said before, my parents are just plain awesome. Elijah and I sat with Julien as he told our parents about their relationship. Of course, both Mom and Dad welcomed Elijah into our family with open arms, and Mom insisted Elijah stay for dinner. It was good, real good, to see my brother happy and relaxed. Like finally, for the first time, he was able to dump the weight of the world from his shoulders and just be in the moment. After dinner, we all played a board game and then watched a movie. Elijah left around midnight and Julien and I stayed up for a couple more hours talking. We both conked out on the sofa. Not the most comfortable place to sleep, hence the restless night.
Julien talked me down from my anger at Liz. Just another tick mark on how many times I’m going to fuck up when it comes to her. I felt horrible about the way I yelled at her and the guilt has been eating me up ever since. I noticed headlights and heard the sound of a car around four this morning. I knew it was her from the sound the car engine. Part of me wanted to run out of the house and grab her into my arms, beg her to forgive me, and tell her how much I love her. The other part of me needed more time before I faced her because I’m a coward. I fucked up and I know it. I just don’t know what to say to her so she’ll forgive me.
It's six in the morning and I hear is Ryder’s Challenger outside. I'm already dressed for school so I step out onto the front porch. He parks behind Liz and Hailey's car in her driveway. What’s he doing here?
“Hey, man. What are you doing here so early?” I yell out to him.
Ryder stops mid-step up the pathway and turns toward me. I jog down to meet him halfway.
“How’s Julien?” he asks me.
“He’s good. Did Liz tell you?” I wait for his answer before I blow a gasket because if she told him when she wouldn’t tell me, I will absolutely fucking lose it.
“Nah, man. I already knew. She didn’t have to tell me anything.”
“You knew? Did Julien tell you?”
“No, Jay. I figured it out a long time ago. It wasn’t that hard to see what was going on.” His pointed jab scores a direct hit. I am Julien’s twin brother. I should have known. I should have been there for him and I wasn’t. Another thing to feel guilty about.
“So you saw her last night then?”
“Yeah. She came by and we talked.”
