Survivor of a Twisted Fate

Chapter11

“Kirsten!” exclaimed Allison as the nurses threw Kirsten into the room and closed the door quickly.

They were in a room with three thick clay walls, two bunks, a toilet, and a window. It looked like a hospital room in a prison somewhere in the Middle East of another country, and the girls didn’t know where they were.

When they first got there, they tried looking out the window to see if they could tell where they were, but the only thing they could see was a chain link fence and a deep forest behind the building.

Alison determined they were in another country and never going to see their home again. Then when the girls were dragged into operating rooms and administered a glowing green serum, everything seemed worse than they were.

Allison looked at her friend sadly, and Kirsten pushed to her hands and knees but fell on her side and cried. She was pale and sweaty with fresh needle marks on her arms, and Allison frowned.

She crawled toward Kirsten and put her head on her lap. She ran her fingers through her hair, and Kirsten looked up at her weakly as tears slid down her cheeks.

“Have you seen Tom today?” she asked, weakly.

Allison shook her head, and Kirsten started sobbing.

Two days ago, the staff took Tom out of the facility, and when the nurses returned, he wasn’t with them. Kirsten cried all night in Allison’s arms, and Allison’s heart broke, watching her friend’s break.

“Tom’s gonna be okay,” she sniffed, and Kirsten buried her head in Allison’s side.

Suddenly, they heard the main doors open and shut, and they watched the window. They saw two nurses dragging a drugged-up woman to the next cell, and Allison recognized her.

“That’s Officer Simone’s mother!”

Kirsten looked and her eyes widened. The girls looked at each other with worry and swallowed hard. Allison thought momentarily and inhaled a sharp breath. Kirsten looked at her oddly, and she smirked.

Officer Simone would be coming for her mother and the rest of them. She read about how Anna single-handedly brought down one of the largest crime bosses of Charton and knew she would come to find them.

“Kirsten, I just got a little hope.”

Kirsten looked at her in question.

“Officer Simone is going to find us,” she cried and hugged her.

Kirsten only nodded, hugging her back, and hoped that she was right.

********

Anna leaned against Justin, biting her cuticle, and staring into space. Justin rubbed her neck and shoulders and didn’t know how to make the trip easier for her. He knew her nerves were shot and her emotions were off because he felt the same way when he got the call about his parent’s deaths.

He had gotten home from Peru and thought it was strange that his parents hadn’t returned from Canada. He called the staff to see where his parents were, and they told him their plane had gone down.

After he inherited the family fortune, he went in a downward spiral of drugs and alcohol for a year, got help, and tried to live in their footsteps. His parents adored Anna and punished him every time he got into a fight with her. They told him one day he would fall in love with the girl, and he told them that would never happen.

He chuckled at the thought and wondered what they were thinking, looking down on him and seeing Anna in his arms. He hoped they were proud of the man he had become, and they were happy.

Anna pulled back and searched his eyes. Justin gently touched her face and rubbed her cheek with his thumb.

“I’m sorry you lost your parents, too,” she whispered, sniffing.

He looked into her eyes, feeling a tingling sensation in his heart, and he wanted to pull her lips to his and kiss her sadness away. Without a word, she snuggled on his lap, and he wrapped his arms around her. She pressed her face into his neck, and her breath sent tingles through his body.

“Thank you,” she sniffed, picking her head up and searching his eyes.

He ran his fingers through her hair and gave her a thoughtful look.

“For what, gorgeous?”

“Being kind. You haven’t once made me want to punch you in the face and that’s a first for you,” she teased.

He snorted, searched her eyes, and grinned.

“Well, thank you for not punching me in the face.”

She looked into his eyes and giggled.

“You’re welcome.”

Justin rubbed a tear from her eye, and Anna’s bottom lip poked out.

“I know, gorgeous. I’m here for you and not going anywhere,” he said.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and sobbed.

“Shsh. I’m here, gorgeous. I’m here,” he said soothingly, rubbing her back, neck, and head, and she hugged him tighter.

*********

Anna’s eyes widened, seeing the sheriff, ambulance, and Paul’s cruiser in the driveway and, she scrambled off Justin’s lap. As soon as the car stopped, she jumped out of the car and ran inside the house.

She gasped, seeing blood everywhere in the kitchen, and her hands flew to her mouth. Justin ran in after her and stopped, not believing his eyes. She saw a bloody trail that led out of the kitchen and out to the barn, and Justin saw the look on Anna’s face.

“Anna, no you…”

Before he could finish his sentence, she ran toward the door and outside.

“Anna!” he called, but she ignored him.

He ran outside and saw Paul grab her and pull her against his chest. She was strong, and now, with the adrenaline running through her, she was stronger.

“Let me go!” she screamed, thrashing in his arms, and he hung on tight.

“You don’t want to go in there,” he grunted, struggling with her, but she continued to fight.

She pushed her feet hard against the ground, put her hands on his chest, and pushed him backward. He lost his grip, and she pushed again. The moment she broke free she bolted to the barn and ran inside.

Paul and Justin looked at each other, yelled in frustration, and ran after her. They stopped and watched in horror as Anna’s heart broke. Justin swallowed hard, and Paul watched his best friend sadly as tears ran down his face.

Anna saw her father’s body, three shots in the chest, and she stumbled over to it, hitting her knees. The officers stepped back and watched sadly.

“Daddy?” she cried, touching his face with shaky hands, and tears rolled down her face.

Her father stared into space, and she huffed a sob, closing his eyes.

“Daddy, I promise, I won’t stop until I find who did this to us.”

She began crying harder with uncontrollable sobs and ran her fingers through his salt-and-pepper hair.

“Daddy, don’t go,” she cried, but he was already gone.

Strong arms wrapped around her in a gentle embrace, and his scent invaded her nostrils. She cried hard as he held her tight and rested his head on hers.

After Justin felt Anna relax, he pulled her to her feet and led her into the house. He didn’t take his arms from around her for one second and sat with her on the couch. She had a very firm grip on his jacket and wouldn’t let go.

********

Paul sat in the armchair, hung his head, and sighed. Anna curled up beside Justin and leaned against him. Paul stared at the liquor in his glass and sniffed.

“Who do you think would do this? The Simones are good people,” he sighed, and Anna shook her head, chewing on her cuticle.

Justin gave him a disgusted look, and Paul frowned.

“Sorry, Anna.”

She looked at her best friend and smiled weakly.

“It’s okay. Paul. I think after this I’m going to bed. My head hurts,” she said, and he nodded.

He downed his drink, stood, and walked toward the door.

“Get some rest.”

Anna nodded, and Paul left. She looked at Justin, and he gave her a knowing look.

“As soon as this is gone, I’ll go. My driver is outside,” he said, gesturing to the window.

She searched his eyes momentarily. He was different from the boy who liked to torment her when they were kids. Now, he was caring, gentle, and kind, and this confused her. Why was he being so nice to her now?

She saw he wanted to be there for her and remembered him saying he wasn’t leaving until he knew she was okay on the ride home. His eyes read he didn’t want to leave, and she didn’t want him to leave either.

Anna played with the hem of Justin’s sweatshirt and thought about him leaving. She felt a pain in her heart and shook her head.

“Will you tell your driver he can go home for the night?” she asked, and Justin raised an eyebrow.

“But if I do that, how will I get home once my glass is empty?”

She made a face and snickered.

“What if I don’t want you to leave?”

Justin looked surprised momentarily and cleared his throat.

“You want me to stay?”

She nodded, bit her bottom lip, and gave him an intrigued look. He smiled, ran his fingers through her hair, and tucked a loose red strand behind her ear. He searched her eyes and smiled.

“Okay. I’ll stay.”

He grabbed his cell, sent a text, and turned down the ringer. She downed her drink, set the glass on the coffee table, stood, and stretched. She looked at him like she was waiting, and he downed his drink. She smiled as he set his glass on the table, and she grabbed his hand.

She pulled him into an added closed-in porch and hit a button on the wall. The couch unfolded into a bed with pillows and a blanket, and a shade pulled back, revealing the starry night sky. He smiled, impressed, and she pulled him onto the bed. They pulled their sweatshirts off, and Anna pulled the blanket over them.

Justin opened his arms, and she snuggled against him. He kissed her head and rubbed her shoulder, staring at the sky.

“Justin?”

“Yeah?”

“After everything we’ve been through, why do you like me now?” she asked, tracing his muscles.

He shrugged and chuckled. She looked at him and he pressed his palm against her cheek.

“I don’t know, but what I do know is that I like this feeling way better than we were kids. You really got me good a bunch of times,” he said, and she snickered.

“You deserved it.”

“Oh, I deserved it. Well, isn’t that nice of you to say,” he teased.

She snorted and shook her head. He rubbed her cheek with his thumb and smirked.

“Now, since you made me send my driver away, I think you should be nicer to me.”

“Oh, is that it? I thought since it was my house, it was my rules,” she said, walking her fingers up his chest.

He chuckled, and she giggled. She snuggled against his chest and happily sighed as he wrapped his arms around her. He loved feeling her skin against his and smiled, blowing a light breath. It began raining outside, and the sound of the rain hitting the roof soothed them and made them fall asleep.