Chapter 50
2320words
It was well past three in the morning when I awake to someone pounding on my front door. I groan, rolling out of bed. But the pounding kept coming. Who the fuck was bothering me at this time? I didn’t care that I was half-naked; as I sleepily strolling towards the door, the banging only got louder. Fuck sack! They will break the bloody door down at this rate. “I’m coming!” I shouted as I began down the stairs. Who the hell was that? It’s three in the morning on a Saturday! Finally, I make it downstairs, swinging the front door open. Adam fist flying through the air as he tries to pound on the door again.
“Dude, what the fuck!” I groan, dodging the blow.
“Where is she?” Adam questions, not bothering to wait for my reply before barging into my house. By all means, come in. I close the front door behind him, still half asleep.
“Who?” I ask, turning back to him. Adam eyed me disapprovingly, his jaw clenching.
“My sister dickhead, who else?” He accused, pointedly before searching the dam house, as if he would find her hiding under a table or something.
“Why would she be here? She hates me, remember?”
“If you truly believe that, then you’re an idiot,” Adam snorts, not looking back at me as he searching the living room. She wasn’t here, so he moved toward the kitchen.
“She told me she wants nothing to do with me,” I debate, my irritation rising. Finally, I step into his path, forcing him to look at me. Adam groans.
“Do we really have to do this now? Scarlett’s always saying shit like that.”
“Why don’t you tell me what’s going on? I’m clearly missing something,” I push, folding my arms over my chest. Adam sighs, leaning back on the counter.
“She’s not here, is she?” Adam states more than asks. I shake my head. He sighed, clearly debating telling me more. “You love her?”
I didn’t even need to think about it for a second. “I do,” I admit, without even blinking. I didn’t know when it had happened or why, but I had fallen for Scar hard. I had tried to admit how I felt about her so many times, but I couldn’t seem to find the words. I was a coward. So instead, I tried to show her, in the only way I knew how.
Adam studied me for a moment, letting the words sink in. Then, finally, he nodded to himself almost as if he had decided to trust me with something at that moment, with something.
“You remember our adopted parents? John and Stacy?” Adam clarifies. I nod, John had always hated me for some reason, and he had also been a hard arse to Adam. Constantly pushing him, and he drank a lot too. Stacy, on the other hand was a mouse of a woman, so shy but kind and loving. The complete opposite of her husband.
“Yeah... what’s this got to do with anything?”
“Do you remember anything about when they disappeared on Scarlett’s birthday?” He inquired. I thought back two and a half years ago. It was April. Like all of the girl’s birthday’s, it wasn’t much of a party. Just us four and our parents. I didn’t remember much, honestly. But there was one detail I couldn’t forget.
“I remember you covered in John’s blood, having beaten him close to death,” I recall. Though I had never asked Adam about it or if John had even survived. It was like talking about them had become off-limits after that day. We never asked where their parents were, even though they were still mirrors—my mum just kind of become theirs. But something had changed between Scarlett and Adam. He had stopped bullying and teasing her or moaned when she hung around us.
“But you never knew why? Karen never told you?” Adam wonders, watching me curiously like at any moment it would snap into place, and I would suddenly understand. I shake my head. “I kicked the shit out of John that day because... I caught him abusing my sister,” Adam explains. I frown, more confused than ever. John had never been aggressive toward Scarlett? He’d been hard on Adam, but he had never hit him. Scarlett was his favourite; he loved her.
“I don’t understand.”
“He was fucking her,” Adam clarifies, his face repulsed. My jaw dropped as memories flooded me; Jhon was always touching Scarlet’s arm, her leg, stroking her hair and picking her up despite the fact she was far too old for that anymore. I felt sick to my stomach, my heart aching for her. She was a fucking child. John was almost three times her age, had a wife under the same roof. I swallowed the bile in my mouth. Forcing myself not to throw up. “It started when she was thirteen. She didn’t understand that it wasn’t normal. How could she? she was a kid. John had groomed her for years, told Scarlett so many lies she didn’t know which way was up,” every word hitting me like a punch to the heart.
I hadn’t known. Nobody had. It wasn’t right, for an adult, someone that was supposed to be her guardian, to protect her had been the one to abuse that power. I didn’t understand how any person could survive that. Yet Scarlett had. She had grown into the strongest person I knew; there was nothing that scared my girl. She never went done without a fight. But Scar had been forced to become those things; I realise to survive.
“What about Stacy?”
“Stacy...” Adam sighed, a sad smile on his lips. “She couldn’t accept it, that her husband had done. She had been married to Jhon for fifteen years, had sex with him throughout that time. She refused to accept that she didn’t know the man she was married to. Stacy believed it was all lies made up to hurt her. After that, she couldn’t look at Scarlett, refused even to acknowledge her. We lost two parents that day,” It was too awful to even comprehend; they had escaped the system only to end up here. Abused and abandoned all before they turned eighteen.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I felt useless.
“It wasn’t my place to tell you... Scarlett needed some form of normality. Your relationship with her helped that.”
“So why are you telling me all this? What has this got to do with why Scarlett is missing?” I enquire, finally connecting the dots. Adam rubbed the back of his neck, and I noticed his knuckles were busted. Adam was not someone that got in fights; he was usually the one to pull me out of them. I knew before the words left his lips.
“John came back,” Adam declares. Just like that, my body is pumping with red hot rage. Adam noticed the shift in me and got in my face before I could move.
“Where the fuck is he?” I fumed, fists clenching and unclenching.
“Uncontentious,” Adam shrugs off. As if it was nothing more than a minor inconvenience. “If he has any form of self-preservation, he’ll stay that way.”
“Did he touch her?” I demand. If he had touched her, I swear to god I’d kill him. I wouldn’t even blink. I would spend the rest of my life in jail with a fucking smile on my face knowing I had rid the world of one more pervert. But people like him deserved a whole lot worse than death. Adam hesitated, clearly debating if telling me was worth the backlash. He knew I could overpower him easy. “Did he touch her?” I repeat, my voice deathly calm.
“He didn’t fuck her, as far as I could tell... But his dick was out when I pulled him off,” Adam testifies.
“Fuck!” I groan, turning away from him. I needed to fucking punch something, and I didn’t want that to be my best mate. I drew back my arm and punched the fringe hard. Causing the whole thing to wobble. Pain causing through my knuckles, but I didn’t care. I punched it again. Harder. Till blood stained the surface of the fridge, and my hand was dripping. Tears pricked my eyes, but I refused to let them fall, not here, not while Scarlett was still out there.
“Are you done?” Adam remarked, his arms crossed over his chest, brow raised in amusement.
“I’m going fucking kill him, Adam”, I warn, walking toward the door. Adam gets in my way again, dough in his eyes. He could see the burning darkness inside of me, desperate to break his fucking neck.
“You’re no good to my sister in a jail cell,” Adam points out. “We still need to find her before she does something stupid,” I picture my sister lying in her own vomit, uncontentious. I couldn’t let that happen again; Scarlett was family. Whether she liked it or not.
I thought about where she might have gone, who she might have turned to. She wouldn’t have gone to Storm, not while she was in the hospital, she wouldn’t want to add to her burden. Begrudgingly I ask, “Did you call Asher?” Adam shakes his head. “I’ll do it.”
I got dressed quickly, chucking on some ripped jeans, a tee and my leather jacket. Before pulling up Asher’s number, I pressed call as I hurrying back down the stairs. Adam had already left to search for his sister, with the idea to slip up to cover more ground. Asher picked up after the fifth ring.
“Hello?” He called through the speaker, voice thick with sleep.
“Is Scar with you?” I demand, trying to keep my voice calm. Asher seems to wake up to that, the sound of shuffling coming through the phone.
“What Scarlett...No! Is she okay?” he questioned, sounding panicked. I ignore his question.
“So she not with you then?” I conclude. I hated myself for being relieved because now there were a hundred places she could be, and none of them were as safe as being with Asher. I grabbed my keys from the unit, ready to head out.
“No, of course not! It’s almost four in the morning. What happened?” Asher challenged like it was my fucking fault she was missing. I would have been pissed, but in reality, it was a likely situation.
“Not sure,” I lied, not wanted to reveal Scarlett’s secrets to him. “Adam’s already looking for her. I’m heading out myself now.”
“What did you do?” Asher accused.
“Nothing for fuck sack,” I growl, grabbing my helmet from the shelves. “I don’t have time for this.”
“Bullshit. If something happens to Scarlett, it’s because of you. It’s always is. I know that you left her at the lake after my party. I saw your fucking bike when I picked her up.” Asher declared. Of course, it had to have been Asher that day, the one person that is always trying to make me look bad.
“I’ll find her,” I dismiss, pressing end on the call before he could say another word. I didn’t let his words irritate me, even if he was trying to take my girl. Asher had given me an idea as to where to start look. I put my phone back in my pocket and strapped on my helmet before mounting. I didn’t even enjoy the ride as I made my way down to the lake, the cold air nipping at my legs and face.
I pulled up by the side of the road, the same place I had when I had taken Scarlett to the dock. It was hard to see if she was there, the moon hidden behind clouds of rain. But I made my way over anyway, practically running. If she wasn’t here, then I was screwed. There was nowhere else I would think Scarlett would go. When I got closer, I noticed something was lying out at the end of the dock. I prayed to anyone that would hear me that this lump was my girl and she was still breathing.
“Scarlett?” I called out over the wind. The figure tried to sit up but quickly fell back down, giggling. What the fuck? I starting running. I needed to see it was her, and she was okay. I dropped down to my knees in front of the hooded figure, Long red curls sticking out the edges, her olive-green eyes closed—a bottle of something in a paper bag in her grip. I took the bottle from her hand and took a swig. Whisky. A wave of relief washed over me, and I managed to relax a bit. She had covered herself with a blanket she must have stolen from one of the boats. I ran my fingers down her cheek. Her skin was like ice. “Baby, can you hear me?” I call to her, my voice soft. She mumbles something I can’t make out, her body curling into my heat. She wasn’t just cold but damp, probably from the rain. Shit, how long had she been out here like this?
“Come on, Baby, let me take you home,” I offered, shrugging off my jacket to give to her. That got her attention. Scarlett tried to lift herself up, fear and panic in her eyes.
“N-no... not home,” She mumbled, her words slurred. Shit okay. Not home. That probably ruled out my place too. The lake house?
“Okay, let me take you somewhere else then?” I offered. Scarlett nodded, looking up at me with innocent, trusting eyes that made my heart melt. I gently took her into my arms and pulling her head to rest on my chest. She snuggled into my warmth, jacket tossed over her bare legs, the bottle of whisky in hand. I almost laughed. She had her priorities straight, at least.
