CHAPTER 3
1502 Words
AYLA CROSS
I run up the stairs, trying to get away from Damon, but I turn my head and see him running after me.
I’m almost at the basement door when his hand grabs my arm hard and I scream.
We fall together on the stairs, and he tries to hold me while I fight back.
“Stay away from me!”
“Ayla! Stop!”
I don’t stop.
He tries to hold my arm, but I twist with all my strength and kick him in the chest.
“You were never my real husband!” I scream as I get up and run out of the basement.
“I AM! I ALWAYS WAS!”
My head hurts, but I keep running through the house, feeling him right behind me.
“HAZEL! HAZEL!” I scream desperately, looking everywhere.
He manages to grab me again and I fall to the floor, hitting my head hard.
I groan, dizzy, as he kneels in front of me.
“Stop fighting! You’re going to hurt yourself!”
“LET ME GO!”
“Can’t you see? I’m the only one who can truly love you and take care of you. I’ve always been in love with you. I’m the right man for you, Ayla. I always was.”
“Hazel…” I keep calling her.
I hit a lamp over his head and run straight to Hazel’s room, locking the door, but the room is empty.
“HAZEL!”
“No… no, no, no…”
I run to the bathroom — she’s not there — and I sigh in relief when I open the closet and see my daughter hiding inside.
“Hazel…”
“Mommy…” she whispers, her eyes full of tears.
I drop to my knees and hug her so tightly it almost hurts.
“I’m going to get you out of here. I promise. Nothing is going to happen to you.”
Damon pounds on the door.
“Ayla. Open the door.”
I don’t answer.
I go to the window with Hazel in my arms and look outside.
It’s raining, and it’s too high to jump.
“I’m scared, Mommy,” Hazel cries.
“I know, my love. But I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“Open this door now, Ayla! Don’t make me ask again!”
“Hide under the bed, okay? Don’t make a sound. Mommy will come get you. I promise.”
She hesitates, but obeys, crawling under the small bed.
Damon kicks the door open and enters the room, and now his eyes are golden, as if he’s holding back from turning into a werewolf.
“Stay away from her!” I scream, standing between him and the bed.
“I love you. I would never hurt you.”
“You’re a monster!”
“You shouldn’t say that.”
I try to run, but he’s faster.
He pulls out a cloth, and before I can react, he presses it against my face.
“No!”
I try to fight, but everything goes dark.
When I wake up, my head hurts terribly, and I groan as I sit up on a bed I don’t recognize.
I realize immediately that this is where he kept me before I lost my memory.
I run to the door and pound on it, screaming his name, begging, cursing. Nothing.
“DAMON!”
He doesn’t come.
I run to the small window. It’s very high, but it’s my only chance.
The moment I climb out, he enters the room, running toward me.
“AYLA!”
I feel the rain soaking me as I try to climb down, but my foot slips and I scream as I fall, grabbing the roof so I don’t fall completely.
Oh my God.
“AYLA, HOLD MY HAND!”
He reaches out to me.
I look down. It’s too high. If I fall…
“Take my hand or you’ll die, please…” he begs desperately.
Tears fill my eyes along with fear.
“No…”
His eyes widen as he tries to grab me, but I let go and my body crashes onto the wet grass below.
I scream, but manage to get up and run.
“Hazel…” I stop running when I turn and look at the house where my daughter still is.
I try to run back inside, but before I can, a hand grabs me and covers my mouth, pulling me behind the house.
I prepare to scream, but I freeze when I open my eyes and see who it is.
Everything fades when I see the same man from the hospital.
My husband.
My eyes fill with tears as he presses a finger to his lips, asking for silence.
“Ayla. It’s me.”
I sob as I hug him tightly, even though I can’t remember our life together — but he’s here now.
He holds me just as tightly, as if he’s afraid of losing me again.
“Cael…”
“I’m going to get you out of here. And our daughter too. I finally found you… and I’ll never let you go again.”
He touches my face, and I close my eyes, feeling how familiar his touch suddenly feels.
When I look at him again, I feel something warm running down my forehead, and Cael looks worried.
“Hey—hey, stay with me,” he whispers, holding me before I collapse.
“Your forehead is bleeding. What did he do to you, Ayla?”
I try to answer, but I can’t.
I lift my hand to my forehead and feel the warm blood between my fingers.
“He… he lied. He lied about everything.”
Cael tenses and tries to keep me awake.
“Stay awake, please.”
I blink and then look at the house and whisper:
“Hazel… she’s still in there… get her out… get our daughter out, please…”
“I will. I promise.”
“Cael… Damon is dangerous… he…”
“I know. I can handle him.”
“I’ll go with you. She needs me. You can’t go in there alone…” I whisper, and he shakes his head.
“I can’t lose you again. Not now. Not after finding you.”
Tears fall down my face as I nod.
“Stay here. Hidden. No matter what you hear.”
He touches my face one more time as if I weren’t real.
“I still can’t believe you’re here…” he closes his eyes and gently sits me on the grass.
He runs into the house, and I cry in the rain.
I stare at the house, waiting for them to come back, but they don’t.
“Hazel…”
My eyes widen when I hear a gunshot from inside the house.
I get up and run toward it, screaming.
“CAEL! HAZEL!”
As soon as I open the door, I shield myself as flames and smoke burst out.
The house is on fire.
“No, no, no, no!”
“HAZEL!”
I cough, trying to see, but the smoke gets thicker and thicker.
I run up the stairs, and when I reach the dark hallway, I hear Hazel crying.
“Mommy!”
“Hazel!”
I rush into her room and see her, terrified, curled up near the bed.
I hug her tightly.
“It’s okay. Mommy’s here. I found you.”
I look around and realize we need to leave fast or the fire will reach the door and we won’t make it out alive.
I shield Hazel’s face and body and run out of the room, but as I start down the stairs, I stop in shock when I see someone running toward us.
I think it’s Damon and prepare to run the other way, but seconds later I see it’s Cael.
“Ayla!”
“Cael!”
“We’re getting you out of here. Now!”
Cael helps us, shielding us from the fire, and I sigh in relief when we finally get outside.
I look at him and see that his shoulder is bleeding badly, and I remember the gunshot I heard earlier.
“You’re bleeding…” I whisper, but he doesn’t care.
Cael touches my face, then Hazel’s.
“You’re both going to be okay now…”
I look at my daughter, remembering she’s Cael’s child too, even though I can’t remember any of it.
The house is about to explode, and we start running away.
“Come on, Ayla!”
Cael holds Hazel and keeps calling me, but I stop and look back at the house.
I look at the bedroom window and see someone watching us as the flames grow.
It’s Damon.
“Ayla…” Cael pulls my hand, but I can’t move.
Damon shouts at us:
“I will find you, Ayla, even if I have to go to hell to do it!”
I blink before collapsing, feeling Cael trying to catch me as everything goes dark.
- Writer
