Cara's POVThe metallic door rattled as they opened it, the same men from before stepped inside, around four and this time, they were holding something in their hands, but Isaac stepped in front of them, walking forward and blocking my sight.My sweaty palms pressed over the cold concrete, my pulse accelerating with every step he took. His eyes drifted from me to Nikolas, his eyebrow raising, "Looks like our sleeping beauty woke up," He mocked, so amused as he paused by his side and two men followed, suit on his steps. The other two behind them were rather busy arranging something. I saw them place a bucket over the ground and I tilted my head to the side, observing more but still couldn't make sense of what was happening or what more is Isaac planning to do."I hope you learned a lesson, son," Isaac added, his tone full of mockery as he held Nikolas down with a look that spoke volume, it showed him who he is and what more he is capable of doing, "But I brought you here to teach you m
Nikolas's POVSix, seven, eight...It burns. Like a hot Lava washing over my lungs.Nine, ten, eleven...It suffocates, like a tight grip over my throat, rapidly strangling the life out of me.Twelve, thirteen, fourteen...It's painful, but pain...pain lets you know you are alive still.With his tight grip over the back of my hair, he pulled my head backward and removed it from under the water. The oxygen rushed back with full force, a shock to my now weakened lungs, and temporarily blocking my brain from functioning the way it should; everything felt foggy and in a distorted haze. My eyes stayed shut, trying to regain or keep my consciousness afloat, trying to wash the ache away but he waited no more as he pushed my head back into the water for the fifteenth...sixteenth...I don't know, he's been doing this for too long, I've lost count.It's painful, isn't it? Frank's words echoed in my head again, as if they were coming from somewhere under the water. But be thankful for the pain, b
Nikolas's POVCara's terrified eyes met mine, silently begging me to do something and I whirled my head to Isaac again, "Let her go, your fight is with me," I snapped, so close to losing my mind at how much helpless and useless I felt at the moment, "I am the one who tried to hurt him not her, you want to burn me, drown me, electrocute me, then fucking do it, do whatever you want, just leave her out of it!"Isaac stared back at me with full satisfaction, regaining his calm demeanor at my infuriated state, "Sounds fun actually, how about we do this then-" He motioned to someone behind me to do something and a few seconds passed before I felt the brutal agonizing slap of the cane against my bareback. Air caught in my throat and the unexpected sensation had me stumble forward, and almost brought me back to my knees."Since you agree on it," Isaac carried on, explaining the reason behind the caning he will subject me to, "I won't hurt her, as long as he keeps using the cane on you," He ad
Nikolas's POVThe picture reached the ground, landing and falling right under my path of sight. My eyes gazed into it, into the person it held inside it and every nerve in my body hurled – pressed and pulsed with crushing pain, one more intense than any physical torture he could inflict on me."Maxwell, right?" He asked, checking, "Small little Max," He added, probably wickedly smiling, "What would you feel now if I were to set him on fire as well?"His words, adding to the fact that this is the first time I am actually seeing his face, the first time to witness how he looks like. This whole situation in general, it had a tear trickle down the corner of my eyes and fall over the picture.Cara was cursing him somewhere in the background, threatening him to steer away from her kid...my kid. My kid...and also not mine. My heart skipped a beat, it cracked under the affliction as I slowly brought my shackled hands to the picture, my shaking fingers resting over his small tiny face, caressi
Cara's POVI feel numb. Actually, I don't know what to feel anymore. After Isaac finished his speech, they hit him with a last shock that knocked him back to unconscious land. He was barely even awake by the time they did it anyway. Isaac's eyes fell on me one last time, accomplishment reigned in his gaze, so proud and pleasured that he broke his son down. Without a word, he left after, his men following behind, their mission completed, leaving the two of us alone. Him, unconscious. Me, trying to comprehend the weird tightness pressing and pulling over my chest. I let my forehead rest over my knees, mentally exhausted. I could only wonder how worn-out he must be feeling at the moment. What they did, it was brutal. For god's sake, it's not important who is at the receiving end of it, it wasn't humane. It's barbaric. I lifted my head up, my arms hugging my legs, pulling my knees closer to my chest as I stared at him for a long couple of minutes. This time he looks dead for real. Bru
Cara’s POVNikolas’s eyebrow raised and I shot him a glare. A low sigh pushed out of his mouth and he did as told, sitting down back where he was, wincing slightly at every move he made. I looked at where he placed the rock, reenacting my small plan in my head over and over again, hoping it will work somehow or we're royally screwed. "Hold on, I am gonna need this to look legit," I mumbled, placing the tray down before I inched to Nikolas, my eyes on his chest, "I am gonna need some of your blood," I pointed out and he gave me a what-the-hell look, "So, I am gonna have to touch you," I explained, "And I am not going to like it, but I have to," I grumbled out as I crouched down. He hesitantly nodded, giving me permission, even though he seemed utterly clueless. My fingers went to one of his fresh wounds and I wiped at the blood, transferring some to my hand. His eyes pressed shut, and his jaw twitched, badly trying to show he is not in pain. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes; Men a
Cara’s POVNikolas's back tensed up, and agitation spun through him, twitching his muscles. My eyes fell into his hand, the one holding the gun, his fingers shook before they wrapped so tight over the gun's grip, the gun still down but Nikolas's finger was by the trigger still, as if ready to just aim it forward and fire. He won't...shoot the kid, right?"Let's go, what are you waiting for?!" I hissed at him. We could get caught still, why isn't he moving?Nikolas wasn't listening to me now, busy in his own head. The kid's eyes left me and went to Nikolas, they slowly moved down, falling into the gun safely tucked in his hand and the boy's throat bobbed, swallowing hard and involuntarily taking a step backward. He looked behind and around him, "Dad!" He shot out, fear enveloping his tone and my eyes widened, "Alastor!" He tried to scream again but his voice came out all shaking as he backed away from us and to the center of the room, "He is here!" What the hell-Please tell me this i
We've been walking for more than forty minutes, definitely more, an hour maybe. It passed in utter silence. I refused to speak and Nikolas didn't seem to be big on conversations anyway. It's been long though, my feet ache, my chest hurts, my stomach is making all kinds of noises, tumbling up and down, in hunger, and nauseous. I am tired, I am exhausted, I am cold, hungry, and thirsty. "Can we take a break," I mumbled, my throat dry and I swallowed hard, rubbing a hand over it, trying to blunt the ache away as I heaved a strained breath out of my lungs. Nikolas paused in his steps, "I know you're tired but look-" He said, pointing at something behind me. I twirled around, looking at a distance across the road where a gas station can be clearly seen from over here, beside it stood a small building, two or three floors maybe, it had the word 'MOTEL' on its top in lightening colors but the letter E had its purple color flickering on and off, so it looked more like 'MOTL'.Oh, finally. I
My ears registered the voice that I adore more than anything before my eyes found her among the crowd. I turned my head to the side, my gaze found her as she struggled out of Alex's hold and rushed forward toward our table, "Daddy!" She said in excitement, jumping up to reach me.I didn't waste a second as I pulled her small self up into my lap, my heart calming down as I wrapped her in my embrace, kissing her head and sinking into her sweet flowery scent. She kept her little arms wrapped around my neck as she edged her head backward, looking at me.She smiled, "Hi," She said.I chuckled, "Hey," I said, edging forward and leaving a kiss over the tip of her nose.She giggled, "Why do I keep missing you," I said and her smile widened, "Because you love me," She replied back, so confident and she couldn't be more right.I allowed her to settle down in my lap, "That I do," I said, dropping another kiss to the top of her head, unable to get enough.Alex sat across from us, he threw a wink
One day later...Nikolas's POVI pulled at the neck of my white dress shirt, trying to fix the collar as I knocked at my mother's room, wondering what was taking her so long."Just a sec," I heard her mutter from a distance before her footsteps got closer and she opened the door. My eyebrows pulled closer as I took into her appearance, my confusion faded almost immediately, exchanging it with a small smile.Her eyebrows furrowed before she looked down at herself, thinking something is wrong, "Why are you smiling?"I shrugged, "It's just I haven't seen you look like this in so long."She gaped at me, "Are you indirectly saying that I looked ugly over the past days?"I chuckled and shook my head, "You know what I mean."She returned my smile with a one of her own before she stepped forward, one of her hands clutched into her purse and the other ran over the material of her simple nude dress, smoothing it down."So, what's the occasion exactly for all of this?" I asked."We're celebratin
Alex's POVI was about to leave, go back home, and rid myself of all of the confusion and uncertainty wrapping around my chest. You know, pretend that nothing has changed, that I didn't hear what I heard or learn what I learned.That the moment I step out of here, everything will just go back to the way it was.But for some effed-up reason, as I was exiting the bathroom, my eyes fell on the room at the end of the hall, and I wanted nothing more than to go in there and just talk, ask and get a clear answer for once. My jaw ticked and I rushed a hand over the top of my head, gathering myself before I made up my mind and stepped closer to the room, aiming to find its current occupant.The door was ajar, so I pressed my palm over it and pushed it open, expecting her to be there. My eyebrows pulled closer when I was met with an empty room. I haven't seen her since she and Liam talked in private before he left, I just supposed she'd be here now. Deciding that this was a message from the uni
Nikolas's POVThere are days when I am beyond grateful that I didn't have to grow up with Alex in the same house. Like Today for example. I really would've thrown him off the stairs or something if we were to grow up together. He is unbearable at times. Most of the time. Always actually. He settled his eyes on me, trying to hide his smile and miserably failing, I envy his constant giddy state sometimes, "Why do you keep looking at me?" He asked, his eyebrow raising in utter tease, "Did the kiss make you love me more?" His head tilted, faking affection, "Is it changing your mind about leaving?"I kept glaring at him but a small voice in my head said that I will definitely miss his crazy weird antics when I go. He is beyond annoying, that's true, infuriating even but he has a way of making you get used to his presence and insane personality.Our mother placed a plate full of pancakes on the table ahead of us, her closeness shutting him up. She rested her hand over my shoulder, I looke
Alex's POVDaylight blazed through the edges of the window blind, shaking me out of my somewhat peaceful sleep. Groaning, I tried to roll over to my back, opening my eyes in an attempt to blink away the heavy sleep.I winced as the brightness of the day welcomed me and immediately covered my face with the blanket. The pain throbbing against my skull reminded me exactly why I shouldn't drink as much again. All because of stupid Nikolas...Speaking of the devil, where is he? I lowered the blanket and rubbed at my eyes, finally adjusting my eyesight, my hazy gaze studying my surroundings and slowly recalling back the events of last night.Something felt odd though. I moved my head over what I thought was a pillow and my gaze slowly flickered up. My eyes widened and I instantly shot up from my laying position. My sudden movement shook her awake as well, her head that was uncomfortably pressed to the couch's cushion moved and she blinked her eyes open, meeting my shocked horrified ones.Th
By lunchtime, Tanya came back, she asked for the kid's attention, and the responsible attendee tried to calm them all down, ushering them to leave the toys, sit and listen. Alex let go of his legos and scooted backward, accidentally laying his back against me as he intently listened. I looked down at him, unable to have enough as Tanya announced that one of the kids was leaving, that he got adopted and she urged the rest to bid him goodbye. I think it's just one of the things they do around here. My eyes were on Alex still, so I noticed the way his shoulders slumped down at the news, a low breath leaving him as he pressed his chin over his pulled up legs, staring at the kid as he hugged the others, happy and giddy that he has his own family now. "What's wrong?" I asked, inching my head closer to his face, so he could hear me through the loud shatter around us. He turned his head to look at me, his brows pinched in sadness, "I want to go too," He said, his voice the softest sweetest
Leya's POV"Do you know a story?" He asked, out of the blue, his eyes closed still, I even thought he had drifted off minutes ago, but apparently not."Uh...a story?" I asked, confused."Hmm," He hummed, "I didn't have anyone to tell me bed-time stories before Frank took me," He explained, "After that, Linda used to tell me a story every night, it used to help me sleep," He was speaking but his tone proved that he was half here, half on the way toward unconsiousness."Oh, I don't know any story, I am sorry," I mumbled."I knew you wouldn't know," He said, his tone wasn't accusing or anything, just low and tired, stating a fact he believed in; that I lack any characteristic a mother should have, which isn't a lie anyway.A couple of minutes passed till he was finally fast asleep. My eyes never left his face all through, for the very first time in so long he was right beside me, his head resting over my lap. He wasn't shouting nor pushing me away. I didn't know what to do or even say.
Nikolas's POVAlex grumbled something as I pushed him inside the car. He immediately fell into the seat, his head tilting backward and pressing against the headrest, eyes closed, more than ready to fall back asleep. He was a gone case after all that we drank but for some reason, I still felt sober and aware. No amount of alcohol served its purpose to make me forget or at least lessen the pain pulsing through my head and body.It was near impossible to let loose or relax after all that happened.A loud sigh parted my lips at my failed attempts before I joined Alex in the backseat, exhausted and de-energized as I fell down beside him. Ronald looked at us through the rearview mirror, "Where to?"Alex opened his eyes, "I am way too drunk," He slurred out, "Do not take me home," He added, moving to the side and leaving the wide space of the car to press himself into me. His head fell into my shoulder, using it as his pillow, moving his head around and picking up a comfortable spot as he cl
"We are not driving," I pointed out when I saw his eyes flicker to his car. He groaned and I pushed him with me down the road, "Where the hell are we going?" He said, being a whiney bitch per usual.I kept ignoring him as my drunk mind navigated the way, we were so close anyway, so no way we'd get lost, my drunk brain assured me as I walked us to the targeted destination. We reached the Huntington beach pier shortly after. I internally praised myself for being able to reach here even in my intoxicated state. We walked along the bridge, the air chilly and brisk as we descended down the stairs. Nik kept mumbling some words and whining, disturbed that I pulled him out of his little comfort zone in the bar.I reached the bridge's pillars, right beside the sea, and picked a clean spot before I dropped down, placing the liquor bottle beside me and opening up the cap. Nik hovered over, glaring down at me and I patted the space by my side, "Sit and stop being so unpleasant."He rolled his eye