Page 72 of Captive

Our Abby, afraid of spiders. She can cut off a man’s head without blinking, get her hands bloodied, and yet spiders give her the heebie-jeebies. Our life together is only just beginning, so I can’t wait to learn what other weird little quirks she has.

It’s a good thing we have all the time in the world.

Six Months Later – Abby

“It’s official,” Hawthorne says as he stares at me, Ezra, and Royal. We’re in his office, the one room in the house we dedicate to work. “The Benefactor knows about us.” Though I knew those words were coming out of his mouth, I’m still shocked at hearing them.

Honestly, I kind of thought this day would never come.

Royal stands behind me, while Ezra sits in the chair beside mine. Both get a little more rigid when Hawthorne says that, and Ezra is the one who asks, “And? Don’t leave us in suspense.”

As I wait for Hawthorne to respond, I toy with the shiny pendant hanging around my neck. All this time, all these months, and I only take it off when I have to. It was the perfect present; I’ll die on that hill.

“The Benefactor agreed that our work has not been disturbed lately, so if we can continue to keep it up, they see no issue with it. They agreed it’s a bit different, since Abby is officially part of the team. It doesn’t go against their rules of fraternizing outside of the house, with civilians.”

Royal harrumphs, “See? I fucking knew we were stressed about nothing.”

Adjusting his glasses, Hawthorne says, “Not necessarily. None of us could’ve predicted what the Benefactor would say. They made it crystal clear in the past that if any of us break the rules, we’ll pay for it dearly. There was no way to know how they’d react to this particular news.”

“So, when do I get to meet this mysterious Benefactor man-slash-woman?” I ask, shooting my shot like I have many other times.

Hey, I’m curious. Sue me.

“Never. No one meets the Benefactor. They are… they prefer to remain anonymous for obvious reasons,” Hawthorne says with a shrug. “It’s not something we can change, so please don’t try to push it, Abby.”

Seeing as how he is our only link to the Benefactor, there isn’t much I can do about it.

I throw up my hands in surrender. “Fine, fine. I’ll let it be. Anything else, Boss?” I’ve found that Hawthorne doesn’t really like to be called that, and ever since I found that out, it’s pretty much all I call him, except when we’re getting down and dirty.

“The Benefactor relayed that I should be getting a new target within the week, so be prepared for another outing soon.” He stares at us, though mostly at me, and then he gestures for us to go.

Royal hightails it out of there, but I take my time in getting up and following Ezra out. Walking down the hall, he asks me, “You ready to go?”

“Hell yeah,” I say. “You sure you want to do this?”

His hand taps his pocket, and he says, “Yes. It’s time. I should’ve done it ages ago.” His blue eyes are on me right before we head down the stairs. Soon enough, we’re getting in the car and going out.

It’s so nice to be able to leave the house. I don’t think I’ll ever get over that. Being stuck in that house for so long all those months ago really was a pain. It didn’t feel like it at the time, but looking back, it definitely was. You don’t realize how big the world is until you’re taken from it for a while.

Ezra knows exactly where to go, and as we drive to our destination, he reaches for my hand and gives it a gentle squeeze. “Thank you for coming with me.”

“Of course,” I say. “Whatever you need.” This isn’t the time for jokes or rambling on my part. What we’re about to do is a big, heavy thing, and if we get there and he decides he’s not ready, then that’s okay. We don’t have to do it today. In fact, we don’t have to do it, ever, if he’s not comfortable with it.

He heaves a sigh, and although he’s driving, he spares a glance in my direction. A soft smile tugs at his lips. It’s not one of happiness, but one of acceptance. I think he accepted it years ago, but he was too afraid to admit it to himself. It took meeting me, learning to love me, for him to admit that he’s moved on.

We all have, as terrible as it might be. As hard as it is, as tempting as it is, you can’t live in the past forever.

Take Connor, for example. It took over a month for the authorities to find his dismembered body, and by the time they found him… he was pretty unrecognizable. A month is a long time for a body to go, even inside a house. I can imagine the flies and maggots; those little assholes always find a way.

What I cannot imagine? The smell. I’ve never been around a decomposing body before, but the smell has to be the worst.

So, yeah, the past is done. There’s nothing we can do to change it. All we can do is face forward and march onward—and do it together. Hawthorne, Royal, and Ezra. Without them, I’d be nothing. With them, I can take on the world and its terrors every damn day. Every girl should have a man like that.

Or more than one man like that. The more, the merrier.

We pull up to a jewelry store, and we get out of the car. I follow Ezra inside. The store is full of glass display cases, so many shiny things to see. Gold stuff, silver stuff, pretty rose gold stuff; it has everything. Rings for men and women, fancy tennis bracelets. Whatever you could imagine, they probably have. The inside of the store is way bigger than its outside would suggest.

What sets this one apart from the others in the city is that it has a buyback program. It’ll buy back not just any jewelry purchased here, but also jewelry purchased elsewhere, provided it passes inspection.