AURORA AGE FIFTEENSeconds pass, and I'm still as ice, unmoving. I hide better, my gaze peeking behind the trash bin where I could be sought out.Another man comes into view with a girl I recognize, she was at my school last year. Hanna is her name, she is in college now, studying a course too much for her. She's dressed in a pretty white dress that's now coated in droplets of blood. Hanna is pleading when she gets dropped next to the other girl. One of the four men I saw smoking a joint from a distance drags the other girl up, pushing her ahead, he only gets a few steps away from the men and one follows him. The girl is pleading too, calling out to Hanna for help, the man that dragged her slams her up against the wall and she screams, startling me. My heart beats faster, my fight or flight instinct kicking in but not knowing how to react right now. I don't trust myself not to scream so I cover my mouth with both my hands, trembling beside the trash can, my breathing too loud for my o
AURORAI'm tired, tired of the questions, the fake assurance. I hate it, I don't want to hear another "it'll be okay" speech because it will never be okay.My baby, my Layla was taken from me and nothing will ever be okay again. I miss her so much, I don't know why life plays such dirty games with me. I'm always getting the worst of it, and this time I thought I would have something good, but no fate tore that joy from me in seconds, slow excruciatingly painful seconds.I've been kidnapped, trafficked, raped, beaten, tortured in the worst ways possible and maybe yes, I did deserve those events but never taking my child away. I don't deserve to feel this loss, I don't deserve to feel this broken, to have my child taken from me, I don't deserve to grieve a living child but here I am, mourning her loss while another celebrates the gain.Layla is everything to me, she's my will to live and someone took her. To everyone she might just be a child but to me, they took my spirit, my happiness
CAELUMI was mad at Aurora, mad at myself for being so blindsided. It took one day in Afghanistan to find the truth I've been solely seeking for months. I knew Aurora didn't leave me like she has so claimed, she never could, as much as she wanted me to believe that lie I never would. I wish she had told me, trusted me enough to speak to me about her past, year trauma but no, I had to slit it out of her kidnappers throat.When Ryker brought me the news and Cassian connected the dots to Afghanistan I was mad, I was so fucking livid about the matter. I've never killed as many people as I did yesterday, and still, even after killing each and every man and woman involved in her kidnapping seven years ago, I felt nothing, I still felt infuriated. The slow painful deaths they endured was not enough to compensate for what the did to my little minx, her and many other women they trafficked.All that hostility and frustration I felt disappeared the moment Ryker interrupted my torture session wi
SCARLETTGratification.There's no other word I can use to describe the peaceful state of mind I'm in. My rival is finally suffering the effects of crossing me, she is getting a taste of all the pain that she put me through. My sister's in-law feel sorry for her, everyone that attended that party is pitying her, Xena included. Now it's "oh poor Aurora she lost her daughter, she's so sad, she's a good woman."She's not, she's a vile woman, and where was all this sympathetic energy when I was going through hell because of her? Suffering because my husband was in her bed and not mine. Before her, I couldn't give a shit where he spent the night because I knew that whomever it was he had been with was just that, a night out and nothing more, never to be spoken of or seen again. But she's too cunning, she lures him in by acting nonchalant but I see it all, I see how she craves his attention, how she has little pathetic outbursts when my husband gives me attention or shows some affection. Sh
CASSIANSicily was unsettling, I had a feeling we were in for some shit but after the things I saw and heard, my admiration for Aurora has grown. I'm a man that kills, I've taken so many lives in ways so despicable that get whispered about in our circles but when I saw what they did to Aurora, my stomach churned. She didn't deserve to hurt like they made her, and whoever had the bright idea to record her and the other girls while they did horrendous things to them has a special place in hell, close to devil. I'll meet him there, heaven isn't a place for men like me and I've long accepted that and now, I have something to look forward to when I meet times end.One of the men we raided in association to Aurora's kidnapping got three bullets into my arm, that was enough of an excuse to let Caelum give me a five minutes to play with him and I took every second I was handed and broke that man, I broke and ripped every body part I could. For Aurora and for every woman he hurt, and for the o
EMELIAI've been trying to get Aurora out of bed but she hasn't budged, I've done everything in my poser to do so. I installed a dancing pole in her room, gave her a show and asked her to join but she wasn't feeling it. It's like everything has lost meaning together with her losing custody of Layla. It's been a while now and she only sleeps when Caelum comes around, somehow he manages to convince her to eat a little. However, my brother has been a no show since yesterday, he has made calls to Olivia who was with Aurora last night to check in on Aurora.I'm cutting rearranging the kitchen cabinet when my phone buzzes with a message, it's Cassian letting me know he's just pulling up outside. I make quick with my work and go back into the living room, to my surprise Aurora is on the sofa. She's still in her pajama shorts and tank top, her hair is tied in a bun above her head. I'm told my brother washed her hair last time he was here and thank God he did, it was a mess.“Hey,” I smile.“H
AURORAI go back to the first line to ensure I'm not misreading anything in the document Cassian handed me. I've been deluded these past few days so I wouldn't put it past me, but even as I read it a fourth time, the sentences in the first paragraph are still unchanged.The lump in my throat is too big to swallow and all the tears I've kept at bay since I last cried in the bathroom this morning fall free. They fall with a heavy force, I don't intend to cry this hard but it happens, I can't help it and I can't surmise the document. “Is this for real?” I cry out, now sure that I've not been misreading anything.“What?” Emelia asks, this time seemingly pissed off.My gaze falls on Caelum and I sniff, watching him closely for a reaction, anything to help me fathom the document in my now shaky hands. “Caelum, I know you your jokes are of poor taste but Cass, if you're in on it..I-I'm-”“It's not a joke, I promise.” Caelum assures me.I look at the document again, rereading the first paragr
AURORAEver since I saw the custody papers, my spirits have been very high. Mom dropped by yesterday afternoon, and she was impressed with how good I was doing prior to the day before that. My sisters have all been calling to check in on me, and so have my friends. Olivia being the closest one here has been coming to my door nearly every hour to see if I'm okay and truly I am. Losing Layla forever broke me but now I have a second chance, one I fully intend on not overlooking. I'm going to love and protect so much, I'm going to be one of those parents clinically obsessed with their children and their joy. I'm going to make sure she knows just how much I appreciate having her in my life, and how wonderful she is as she continues to grow.With everything that's been happening these past few days, I've been so out of touch with reality that I totally forgot about Arabella. She was very supportive, the most supportive of my siblings if I'm being impartial. She's so young yet she more than
CAELUMThere was a time when I was desperately pleading with Scarlett for a baby, and now that there's light of us having one? I'm not thrilled, I want to be thrilled, I want to be happy about it but I can't find one fatherly bone in my body to help me. Possibly its the wrong timing that hasn't sat with me but I'm having a hard time connecting with Scarlett on the news. Still, I have to consider her feelings, I shouldn't have reacted as irrational as I did because at the end of the day it takes two to make a baby.We made that baby, regardless of how drunk I was, it's time to face up to my actions. I was going to divorce her but now, I'm not sure what to do but I do know that I can't let another man raise my child and I don't want Aurora to further suffer.I'm drunk, and high as a kite, craving more because what I already took isn't doing the job, making me forget. My phone lights up with yet another message from Aurora, she's ecstatic planning for her store opening. I've given her a
CASSIANI've spent the last week with my fiancé and her family, as annoying as she is, we've got some common ground. She's not my ideal choice for a bribe but close enough, she'll have to do. My choice in a woman is near to Caelum's choice but less fiery, the kind of fire that Aurora exudes would scorch me a little bit. I've been in contact with Aurora throughout my trip, and her near death experience that rattled Caelum appears to have done the same to her too.I had ordered a few beers and texted my party people about the party I would be holding at my place tonight, to celebrate my return from my short trip but if I'm being entirely honest, it's to celebrate the misery that has not yet befallen me as I prepare for my marriage. Emelia and Aurora said they were not coming because they would be enjoying a night out in the city by themselves. Those two have formed what Ryker, Bishop, Caelum, and I had built the moment we met and it comes just as effortlessly. It's pure, my fiance will
EMELIANAI park my car outside a familiar neighborhood, I've been to it during my high school days I must say there's been major improvements made. I used to have a boyfriend that lived here and now I don't even remember his house. The feeling of nostalgia hits, but I ignore it and focus on my phone, checking the red dot until I see my location close in on a gated household. The gate is open, so I hurry inside, sure to close it behind me.Gianna called me an hour ago, she sounded hysterical and I couldn't catch what she said was happening so I decided to drive to her, using the tracker on her phone. She knows about it, which is why she insisted that I go and get her, minus her providing me with an address. I assume she just had an argument with one of her spoiled friends and now she wants her big sister to get her. This is nothing new there but it's usually Sienna's craft not mine. Hell, I'm just glad to be called.Knocking on the door, I wait for someone to open it for me but I get n
SCARLETTI've waited up for Caelum all night, he didn't respond to any of my text messages or calls, and eventually I couldn't get through to him. My parents are beyond mad at the way he stormed out, Mom was worried it could have been a family emergency so she called Caelum's mom and she said, according to her knowledge nothing alarming had transpired.It's seven in the morning, I have a magazine shoot at exactly 9 a.m and I'd be dammed if I breached the contract because my husband went MIA on me, again. Eva will be coming to pick me up, she already texted me to say she's on her way.I'm ready, trying to hide the bugs I have under my eyes from waiting up all night for Caelum to show up. I had spent the entire day decorating this room to surprise him, and now I want everything in this room gone, I don't want it taunting me to recall what I thought last night would be like vs what it actually went like. I'm about to open my bedroom door when it opens, the door slamming into me.“Fuck.”
CAELUMMy heart is racing, I just saw her this morning. How is she not okay? She was fine when I left her yesterday, ecstatic even. I'm speeding through traffic to get to her but I fear I might be too late. Bella called an ambulance to her apartment right before she called me. When I declined her call, she texted me saying Aurora wasn't feeling well, and from there, the messages got worse, alarming. I couldn't sit in that restaurant any longer, I wanted to get to her. Bella is no longer answering my calls, and I'm still far from Aurora's apartment. With Bella not responding to my messages, I fear the worst has happened and if so, I hardly believe in miracles but if anything happens to Aurora, God better perform one or get two for the calling of one. I don't know how it is that I stayed sane without Aurora, but I can't do it twice. I've had year's of therapy to get over Aurora, until I realized it wouldn't work and quit, I'm not ready for an eternity of therapy to cope with never bee
SCARLETTMy parents are in our city, and Caelum, and I to be having dinner with them, and after that Caelum is taking my mom to see her favorite opera while my father and I go to a twenty-four hour running amusement park. It's tradition, one we don't break but now, as I stare down at my phone it would seem like I've seen the last of this tradition.“Scarlett,” my mother calls out from across the table, her voice startling me.My phone slips out of my hand and drops to the floor beside me. My gaze instantly jerks up to meet my mother, “Sorry.” I blurt out, proceeding to pick my phone up.“Honey,” my mother squeezes my fathers hand but I know she's addressing me because her gaze doesn't leave mine. “Where is Caelum?”And there it is, I can't make up any more excuses for him, I don't know what lies to form for them. Caelum has been putting off dinner with my parents for the longest time now, and it's not like him. Caelum is punctual with his schedule but lately, his schedule means nothin
**************Fifteen minutes after Caelum rudely ended our call, Cassian's driver arrived to pick me up. I insisted on driving behind him because after whatever nonsense Caelum is wasting my time on, I will need to pick up three more little girls then go back to my parents house for Paulina. Cassian's driver left me ten minutes ago, he led me to a newly constructed yet famous shopping complex. I'm familiar enough with the place to know that his family owns a jewelry store here, one run by his other sister, Sienna. I've seen no sign of Cassian, despite seeing his BMW in the parking lot there's nothing else suggesting his presence. I've left him four unanswered messages and I'm just about pissed off by his temerity. Stymied, I fetch my phone and open his contact card, calling him one time before I follow through with my already made decision to leave this place. The phone rings and just when I thing it's going to die out, in the very second, he picks up. “Hey pretty girl.” I can a
AURORA“Paulina sweetie, did you get your backpack into the car?” I ask, seeing her run past me. Paulina, Everleah and Layla have a girls day party at my house tomorrow and to start, I'm having a sleepover for them tonight. I had to invite Layla's sister too because I want to grow up around her siblings seeing as I'm not planning on giving her any, perhaps I could adopt in a few years but right now, just Layla is fine.Paulina doesn't respond but a few seconds later she runs back, “Auntie?”“Did you put all your things in the car sweetie?”“Yes,” she nods. “I'll go double check to see if I didn't forget my fluffy bunny.“Okay, hurry up because we have to pick up Everleah too, and Sapphire.”“Aurora!” my mother yells from the kitchen, she's been confined to it for the last hour. I was starting to think she was simply avoiding me, and I would have thought it if she didn't order Chinese takeout specifically for me.Entering the kitchen, I see my mother in her apron, with prints of white
CAELUMThe hospital chose to keep me under observation under mom's request. I stayed to ease her worries, if not I would be back to work, or tinkering weak for Aurora's attention.“I love you.” I whisper to her, watching her sleep on the bed. It's been two days, I get minor headaches and my arm right hurts, I've been told to not overwork it but it's my favorite of late, I am both left and right handed but my right touched Aurora better. She came over as soon as she dropped Layla off at school, we had been talking nearly all night so I know she hardly slept. Looking at her now I feel contend, like I have my old Aurora back.The bed was swapped out for a bigger one by the physician because every time Aurora walks in, I want her laying next to me. The door to hospital room opens, revealing my sister on the other end, with a bouquet of flowers. “Hey,” she faintly smile, walking past me to set the flowers in a vase. “From mom.” she tells me, her gaze shifting to Aurora on the bed. I see a