A long time passed by before Toby came back, or maybe it just seemed that way to Becca because of the situation. In her irrational mind, she kept imagining Toby appearing with Ryan behind him like a god of war, demanding that she release his daughter to him immediately, and banishing her to a lifetime of not seeing her daughter.“He’s gone,” Toby told her, seating down heavily beside her. He looked very sad, and Becca knew that he felt sorry for Ryan, which would have been strange, but the truth was that she had somehow felt sorry for him too. He had this sad and lonely look about him that seriously contrasted with the powerful and proud Ryan that she used to know. However, she was taking no chances.“Are you sure about that?” She inquired of Toby immediately, staring into his face as though if she stared long enough into it, she would see the answer to all the questions that plagued her. She kept glancing at the corridor, almost half expecting Ryan to step out from behind it.“Yes, I
The day started off very sunny, the bright sunshine lending the atmosphere a happy and alive look that belied the tragedy that would later unfold that day. Noah Hunter did not really like the weather, because it was so hot that it made him very uncomfortable. It seemed the twins didn’t like the hotness of the weather either, because they were really fussy today, and were frustrating the hell out of Noah. He felt guilty thinking of it that way, but it was what it was. His wife had left him in charge of them and had gone to get some groceries. Usually, he enjoyed playing with them and taking care of them on the few occasions that he had to babysit them alone, but today, he had this headache from the pit of hell, so he wasn’t finding their constant fussing funny in the least bit. “Tyler, stop that! Stop pulling your sister’s hair.” He ordered as the mischievous little boy pulled at a lock on his sister’s head, causing her to burst out crying, and increasing Noah’s headache tenfold. “Pap
A few hours later, Ryan arrived in the city in which the twins now lived with their grandparents. He had this really strong urge to see the twins, but he stopped over at his small house first to freshen up and rest a little from the running around that he had done. He called Noah to let him know that he was around and was coming over to the house, but although the phone rang endlessly, Noah did not pick up the phone, something that never ever happened. The man was a sucker for keeping his phone on him at all times and used to get angry with Craig if the latter did not pick up his calls back then when they were in school."You never know when there would be an emergency or something.” Noah always said.Ryan dialed the number over and again, but still got the same thing … endless ringing without Noah picking up the phone. Since he couldn't reach Noah, he dialed Anna’s number. She answered the call on the third ring, sounding breathless.“Hello, Ryan, dear. How are you?”“Good afternoon,
“I’ve really messed up big time. Heaven help me if I get out of this alive.”The room was pitch black since it was night already and there was no source of illumination in it whatsoever. If anything, it was nights like this that she hated the most, even more than her captivity.“Please, God, help me. I promise I’ll never be so stupid again.” Sandra prayed aloud. The last time she had prayed was when she was a kid, but she was willing to do anything right now, cry grovel, roll on the ground if need be, and even sacrifice herself if it meant her son would be free. But no, she had brought them into this mess, and it was looking like there was never going to be a way out for either of them.“Mommy?” Alex whispered in the dark. He had quickly learned that it was safer to whisper, as his father did not like them talking.“Yes, honey?” Sandra whispered back, drawing him closer to her and cradling his head against her chest, her heavy heart aching.“Alex scared.”“I know, honey, but don’t wor
Sam put the phone on loud speaker and came over to where she was sitting on the bed with Alex practically molded to her body. As soon as Sam sat beside her on the bed, the child scooted to the far end of the bed, where he cowered in fear. Sandra felt tears spring to her eyes. An opportunity … all she needed was a fucking opportunity, and she would gladly kill this bastard so that she could escape. Yes, she had gotten to that point. Dan picked up the phone on the first ring.“Hey, Dan … it’s me.” Sandra said before he could speak, trying to sound breezy and nonchalant, but she could tell that she was doing an extremely poor job of it.“Sandra, thank God! I was scared that something bad had happened. Are you fine? You don’t sound too fine.”“No, I’m okay. How are you?”“I’m fine, now that I know you’re okay. How’s Alex? He must be walking and saying some words by now, not so? You don’t ever tell me anything about him, and that’s not fair. I’m his blood, you know, and God forbid, if anyt
Sam had gone on his usual drinking and drug usage craze, refusing to take his meds, no matter how much Sandra pleaded. Now, he was home and was clearly not himself. She could count on her fingers the number of times that he was sober. Their finances were running very low because all Sam cared about nowadays was his booze and being high. Since she wasn’t on good terms with her parents, she had had to turn to Sam's parents for help feeding Amy and herself, but Sam had run through that money too, so she had no choice but to turn to Dan for financial help, even though she was embarrassed that he now knew things were not as rosy as she portrayed them to be. As always, Dan came through for her, and this time around, she was wise and experienced enough not to let Sam know about the money that her brother gave her. Somehow, Sam continued to get his supply of booze and drugs, but now, he was more hot-tempered than ever. Sandra also got two jobs so she wouldn’t have to turn herself into a begg
“Let go of me, you crazy bitch!” Sam yelled now, finally shaking her off him, and cradling his wounded arm, from which blood trickled slowly from where she had sunk her teeth into his flesh.“You killed Amy!” Sandra spat at Sam now, the sight of his sickly, pale, and crazy face in the glare of the lamp disgusting her more than she had ever thought possible.“Huh?”“You killed my daughter, and I will rather die than let you kill my son too.”“Ah! But if memory serves me right, you were the one who killed Amy. I will never kill my blood, you know, which is more than I can say for some people.” Sam mocked.“It was a mistake. It was a fucking mistake, and if you hadn’t been such a bastard that night, none of it would have happened.” Sandra cried, guilt overwhelming her.“Are you sure about that, Sandra? I mean, maybe she was disturbing your sweet, sweet sleep, which you were so eager to get back to that you threw her down the stairs. I saw you, you know.” Sam said. Sandra let him drone on
It was the wee hours of the morning, the time when sleep was sweetest. Becca had to get up in a few hours and prepare to go to the school where she taught, so she was making the most of the remaining time, which was why when someone knocked on her door at that time of the morning, she ignored the sound, sure that she must be dreaming or something. She had slept late, owing to Emma’s fussing, not that Becca could blame her. The child was teething, and Becca had tried all sorts of things to relieve her, all to no avail. The knock came again, and this time, Becca groaned, squinting in the dark, but still not getting up from her bed. It was when the knock came the third time that she sat bolt upright on her bed, eyes wide open in the dark. Who could be knocking on her door so early in the morning? Dan was going to be at the hospital all night long, and even for a better part of the morning, but even if he was the one at the door, he would not knock. He would just let himself in with a key