[ZARA]It would have been so much better if that man had just killed me on the spot. Because after being drugged and cuffed and dumped in a lonely forest shack, I was just hanging in limbo, crawling in and out of consciousness, having no track of time or place.Every time a little consciousness hit me with a soft knock on my eyelids, I found myself in the same creepy wooden cabin. Laid on the dusty floorboards, my wrists and ankles tied and the entire space turned to exactly 90 degrees. It would take a hell long minute for my tardy brain to figure out the whole situation and by the time I would try to do something about it, hoping to get these ties off of me or maybe try screaming for help, my eyes would grow heavy all over again and the drug would knock me out one more time.I had no idea how many hours had passed since that asshole ditched me here. Or maybe it had been days? He said this was like the game of hide and seek, so I was really hoping Maddox would know I was missing and wa
The wooden door opened, and I held my breath. I thought of the oceans, sand and mom. I thought of her laughter while she cashed after me along the mushy shoreline.Someone in the room gasped. I was pretty sure it didn’t come from me.The footsteps rushed closer, the floorboards creaking loudly against someone’s heavy footing. It took every cell in my body to not flinch when someone put a hand on my shoulder.“Fuck, Zara! What the hell are you doing here?”It was probably the drug tricking the hell out of me. Because there was no way he was here.Someone jerked me by my shoulders before I felt them working on the ropes around my wrists. I couldn’t help but rotate my wrist when the ropes finally fell away.Okay. Maybe this wasn’t some crazy-ass hallucination. Someone was really here, trying to help me out.Snapping my eyes open, I braced myself for the worst disappointment. God knows I had been on a streak of terrible luck so far.But when did Brandon ever disappoint me? Tears stung my
[ZARA]I’m cuffed, drugged and blindfolded.Can this get any worse? If that’s the question—the answer is yes. It can. It is.Waking up in an empty cabin and being unable to do anything to get the hell out of there sounds like a beautiful dream compared to what I’m waking up to now.I don’t know where I am. Or how I got here. I’m not alone either. It could have brought some ease to my trembling nerves—don’t they say we’re stronger together? —but it doesn’t. Every time I drift out of the dazed darkness, someone screams and cries, begging for help.To stop.The gruesome pain.Every cell in my body howls to reach out. Every bone in my body wants to put up a fight and make it stop whatever is hurting them. But I can’t. I can’t see. I can’t speak. I can’t even move.I’m helpless. And it fucking sucks.The last time I heard anything from Brandon was back in the car outside that cabin. There is no way to tell how many hours had passed since then. There is no way to tell if nothing bad had alr
[MADDOX]“Come on, Maddox, just hear me out!” Jade blocks my path the second I’m out of the office building. “Just once. Please.”“I don’t have time for this shit, Jade. Get the hell out of my way!” I’m so mad, I’m barely holding back from breaking her face. God swear if she tried to make this harder than it already fucking is, I’m going to shoot her right in the middle of her eyes and won’t regret shit.To avoid that from happening, I try to walk past her, but she grabs my forearm and moves back to obstruct my path.Every second ticks by like a bomb while the chill of the night seems nothing compared to the claws of cold dread sinking into me.Zara and Armonica’s lives are in danger. There is simply no time to waste. Yet Jade doesn’t know how to give her priorities a break. When I didn’t answer her single call, she thought it was best to show up and beg for a chance that I’m not inclined to give.It’s because of her stupid impulse Zara misread the whole situation. It’s because of her
[ZARA]“I’m sure you have questions.” A familiar voice rang into my ear.It didn’t take a lot to recognize the voice from the morning when I woke up in the car. Despite still being blindfolded and held down by metallic belts around my legs, abdomen, and chest, I was trying my best to not lose my shit.It’s hard. I swear.It’s like standing on the edge of a cliff, not knowing which one step would send me tumbling down the rocky slope.After that unknown man left me with a dreadful warning, a few minutes later someone pushed at the gurney—the wheels churning and squeaking underneath—and brought me to another room that smells like something died in there.No one talked. No one said a word.Well, until I heard a door open to my right and footsteps echoed throughout the room.“You lied!” It might be because of the drugs or that I’m famished or that I’m scared shitless, but when the two words left my mouth, they broke and sounded pathetic.The man chuckled from somewhere in the room. “I gue
He huffed out a soft laugh, and I wondered if it was my sense of humor or if he was high on something, too. “You’re funny, Zara. I have to admit, it’s after a very long time I have met someone so vibrant in the face of their potential death. It almost makes me want to spare you.”“I’m guessing you won’t.”“More like I can’t. If I let you go right now, Maddox might mistake it for my weakness. He’ll think I don’t have the balls anymore. And I hate it with passion when someone underestimates my competence.”If it wasn’t for animosity or their gender preferences (I didn't know Richard though), these two would be a match made in heaven. “Why does it matter what he thinks?”“It doesn’t. I’ve just grown to like the fact that every day a powerful man like him wakes up with a dread of losing someone he loves.”Something in my chest unfurled at his words, like a brush of soft feathers across my heart. I turned my head away from him. “He doesn’t.”“Doesn’t love you?” He asserted, and I felt a sh
[MADDOX]“Are you sure this is the right place?” Glancing at the lone red-bricked house, far from the main city, I cannot help but ask.Turns out, I have a thing for bad decisions and pissing people off. Even though the latter one comes off as no surprise, it bothers me to think I’m willing to take such a colossal risk by putting my faith in Jade. She doesn’t deserve it as far as I know. But something tells me if I didn’t give her this chance, I wouldn’t get another either. And I have too many regrets to add more to the stack. So, here I am. At the exact location, she got it from one of her guys, waiting for a sign that this isn’t the worst fuckup of my life.Nathan was absolutely against revising the plan at the last minute. But I asked him to trust me. He said he couldn’t. And, yes, that was pretty much the end of the conversation before he waited for me to get out of the car and left to follow our original course of the plan.He expects me to fail. But I hope that’s only because he
[FLASHBACK]“Boss!” A man doubled over, panting like a dog. “We’ve got a situation.”Richard stared at the man for a long second, face contorting into one of confusion. “What happened?”“You’ll have to see it for yourself.” The panicked minion sputtered out and stepped to the side. “Before it spirals out of control. Please.”Richard looked a second close to kicking the man out of the room, but he schooled his expression quickly enough and sighed heavily in his chest. Turning to face the woman lying on the gurney, he shot her a small, apologetic smile. “I’ll be right back. Till then, enjoy the show.”It was then Zara noticed another stretcher across the room. Just like her, a woman strapped on it. The only difference—she was still blindfolded with a black cloth and had a metallic mask clasped around her jaw.Richard removed her mask and moved a shower sort of device over her face.The woman begged him to stop whatever he was doing. “Please, let me go. Please, please, please. I won’t te
[ZARA]I play with the button on his shirt and grin. “What if I told you, it wasn’t exactly our first meeting?”He looks puzzled. “What do you mean? Have we met before? When?”“Five months before we met in your office.”“Are you serious?” Sitting straighter, he adjusts me on his lap while I move my arms around his round shoulder. “When? And why don’t I remember anything?”“In the restaurant where I used to work. You know, the one you had me fired from?” I arch an eyebrow, still pissed at what he did.He’s quick to apologize, his warm fingers exploring the expanse of my back. “I think we already established the fact that I was a dick then. Can we move on? Please?”“Alright.” I roll my eyes and laugh when he tickles my sides. “You were there with a few of your employees, and as luck would have it, we were also running low on staff. So, I came up to take your order.”“You did what?” He looks so shocked, it makes me grin wider. “What the hell was I doing?”I shrug. “I don’t know? You were
“With contacts like him, dad found me within an hour. I was in the hospital. Badly beaten and bruised. Yet, the first thing dad did when he saw me in the hospital bed was to throw everyone out of the room and slap me hard. He told me I was lucky to be outside because if we were at home, he would have broken my legs if that’s what it took to stop me from being a brat.”“But…” a small smile curled at the corner of his lips. “Little did he know we weren’t alone in that room. When he tried to hit me again, a notebook smacked the side of his face.”“What?” Did I hear him right? “Who did that?”Maddox looked at me before turning his gaze back to the warm fire. “A little girl. Not over nine. She was so tiny and yet so fierce in front of my dad. She even shouted at him to leave me alone. Dad was furious. Oh, you should have seen his face. He literally turned red. Before dad could react, another man stepped into the room. He was the father of that little girl and later I came to know they were
*ONE MONTH LATER*[ZARA]There’s a knock on the door and the first thing I do is look up at the time.It’s five past midnight. That can only mean two things.One: The person outside is in a grave emergency.Two: Someone is here to rob us, but has the decency to announce his presence so we could prepare for the worst.But when I step out of my room and look through the peephole, breath hitches in my throat for an entirely different reason.Maddox stands outside with a sweeping backdrop of snow.I don’t think twice before unlocking the door and pulling it open. A flurry of chilly nights whips me in the face, shooting a blunt shiver down my spine.“What are you doing here?” There had to be a good reason for him to show up at this godawful hour of the night. “Is Louis, okay?”It’s only been a month since we all learned of Nadine’s brutal death. News that took everyone by surprise and the whole media by storm. Even after a month had passed, we could find people on the streets, in shops and
Ten minutes later, Zachary, Kevin and Zara walk out of the house, too. They are still in some sort of conversation when Zara finally notices me and holds my gaze for a little longer than I expected. I’m the first one to look away and instantly feel like a fucking coward.Every cell—every bone—in my body screams at me to make this right, to bring her back home no matter what it takes. But a huge part of me is as clueless as a newborn baby. It doesn’t know what to say or what to do to convince her to come back into my life—to give me another chance. Do I even deserve a second chance? It’s because of me she had to endure so much that only became her fate because I couldn’t let go. I didn’t know how to.“Are you ready to go?” I hear Kevin ask as he made his way over to where I stand near their car. He looks around. “Where’s Nathan?”“He left.” I fill him in. “Something came up. I hope it’s alright if I tag along.”“Are you kidding me?” For the first time, he doesn’t look like he’s about t
[MADDOX]It’s odd how often I have driven by her house, but never really cared to turn my head and look. But now that I stand in front of it, I know why she fought so hard to take it back.The house is nothing out of a fairy tale. It’s decently constructed, has only one floor and is yellow. Not just any yellow but the one that makes you question why someone would do that to their house. Do they not love it? Is that supposed to be a punishment for the eyes of the beholder? How could a house be so yellow? It’s literally tormenting.But maybe it’s because I have known Zara long enough that I can tell you for sure this is just her way of showing a middle finger to the world. A message in capital letters that she doesn’t care about and can’t be bothered by the opinions of others. She’s gonna be herself no matter what and the rest of the world can simply fuck themselves.If one can look past the yellowness of the house, one would see the details that make this house a home. There’s a picket
“Thanks for coming on such short notice. Mr Gracias. Mr Richmond.” Officer Newman greeted us, gesturing us to take seats.Zachary and I took seats across from him while Nathan and Kevin decided to wait outside.“It’s no problem, officer. How can we help?” I asked.“Well, as we conversed over the phone, we found some bodies. They are, as expected, burnt and impossible to recognize. The face, that is. And because, Mr Gracias, your sister is still missing, we were hoping you will be willing to go through the accessories and clothes we found on the victims. This will help us narrow down our options and decide what the next course of action should be.”“Of course.” Zachary said, and for the first time, I caught the strain in his voice.“Great.” Officer Newman said and retrieved three transparent packets from the desk behind him. Carefully, he laid them all on the table and stood up. “I’ll give you guys a minute.”’Once the officer left us alone in the room, I turned to face Zachary. “Do yo
[MADDOX]“How long are you gonna sulk?” Nathan asked, and the whim to throw him out of the car was exhausting.“I’m NOT sulking.” Without saving him a single glance, I told him as calmly as possible. I looked outside the window instead and searched for a familiar face.Five minutes ago, we pulled up outside the police headquarters. Zachary and his brother, Kevin, were supposed to meet us here. For now, all I could see were cops and irrelevant people moving in and out of the building. No sign of the Gracias family.“And not growing any younger, either.” Nathan deadpanned, and I finally decided to fix him whatever glare.“Did you just make a joke about my age?” That should be hardly any concern to me. Especially when mom did it all the time. But since the moment I woke up this morning, I hadn’t been in the mood to take anyone’s shit. It might have had something to do with the fact Zara ended everything between us yesterday and left for good. Actually, fuck that! My mood was spoiled beca
“It’s not true.” He retorted, but when I gave him a pointed look, he shut his mouth and let me finish.“That what you think, what you say and what you do is best for everyone. That you have the right to decide for everyone because, in your head, no one is more capable than you are. You’re so controlling that you don’t even care how suffocating that could be for someone. In fact, not just me, for anyone at all. You make the rules and expect everyone to follow them without question. You are so deep in your head that you’ve become delusional. No one can reason with you because you don’t listen and neither do you trust. You know of whom you remind me?”There was a beat of silence before he spoke, the crease across his forehead tightening. “I am NOT like Richard.”“No. You aren’t. But you’re no different either. You are just as tyrannical, if not less.”He peered down at his hands and shook his head. “I…I don’t know how that happened.” A look of surprise crossed his face, water glistening
[ZARA]I woke up in a dark room.For a second, I thought I was back in that hellhole.I sat up with a jolt, so fast my head swayed and the entire room spun. A dark figure loomed near the foot of the bed and fear hijacked my mind.I whimpered, feeling something hard against my back, stuck in the middle of a shadow of the man and something that barred me from crawling backwards. Panic prickled the back of my neck, chewing at the little sanity I still had intact. But it was only when the shadow moved and took a step closer, I screamed like hell.“Zara!” Someone called. It came from the dark figure. “Calm down. It’s me.” He said and took another, cautious step in my direction. The shaft of light sneaking from the cracks between the curtains struck his face. My shoulders dropped, and panic melted when it hit me who he was.“Brandon?” It really was him. But…“Shit! I didn’t know you could screech like that.” He said and I could tell he was trying to act all cool while from the inside he was