AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I runout of the house as fast as I can, collapsing onto the front yard when my well of adrenaline runs dry. My hands grip at the grass to tell me that I'm free. After being tied to a chair and stuck in that room all day, I'm actually free and still alive.
Officers rush over as I try to catch my breath through my sobs, but the main voice that gets my attention is Amelia's. She screams my name as she ducks under the caution tape and runs over to me, not letting a single person stop her.
“Oh my God,” she cries. “Are you okay? Where's Easton?”
The last question makes the hair on my arms stand straight up. “What do you mean? He was right behind me.”
I turn around, hoping to see him, but there's no one there but an officer looking at me strangely. There's no sight of him.
“Where is he?” I ask, starting to panic once again.
Amelia wraps her arms around me. “He never came out of the house.”
All the fear that left my body as I got through the front door comes back tenfold. The reason Alec never killed me when he had the chance was because he loves me. But Easton? He hates him with a burning passion. There is nothing that would stop him from pulling that trigger.
“Easton!” I push myself from Amelia's hold and try to get back inside, but an officer grabs me before I can even make it up the porch steps.
“You can't go in there,” he tells me.
I elbow him, swinging my arms to try to break free, but he holds strong. “Let me go! I need to get Easton!”
Another officer comes to help him hold me in place while one more stands in front of me. “Ma'am, I'm Lieutenant Frazier. I promise you my men are working to get your boyfriend out of there safely, but to do that, we need you to stay out here.”
Everything in me starts to break. “He needs to be okay. I can't lose him.”
The Lieutenant nods. “I understand that. Let's take you over to the ambulance and get you cleaned up. I even have an OB here to check out the baby. Can we do that?”
Knowing there's no other option, I nod and let them lead me over to the back of an ambulance. Amelia follows behind me, and they finally let everyone else on the other side of the caution tape to be with me. They're all trying to stay strong for my benefit, but I can tell by the way Zayn keeps looking back at the house that he's worried. And he has a right to be. I saw firsthand how unhinged Alec is.
The EMT cleans the cut on my lip, and the OB that came to the scene uses a fetal Doppler on my stomach. Hearing the baby's steady heartbeat should be a relief, and in a way it is, but my attention is on the house. On the window of the room I know Easton is in with Alec.
“Am I done here?” I ask frantically as they put away the first aid kit.
The second they nod, I hop off the back of the ambulance and start making my way back to the door. Every part of me knows if I don't get back in there, something terrible is going to happen. My friends follow behind me, trying to get me to stop, but I won't even hear it.
“Whoa, whoa,” Lieutenant Frazier says as he stops me. “Ma'am, you need to stay out here.”
I try to push past him but he puts his hand out and gently holds me back. “No. I need to get Easton.”
“I understand, and believe me, getting him out safely is our number one priority,” he calmly explains. “But like I told your boyfriend before he went all super hero on us, there are ways we need to do this to ensure no one gets hurt.”
“You aren't listening to me!” I shout. “Alec doesn't give a shit about Easton. He's going to—”
The sound of a loud bang echoes out of the house and my body goes ice cold. My heart sinks inside my chest, shattering into a million pieces as dread fills even the officer's face. I let out a scream as I try rushing to the door, but Tessa grabs both my arms to hold me back. It barely even registers that Zayn is holding Amelia back as well as we both break down. Keeping me outside is a fight as I watch the SWAT team storm into the house. Tessa swings me around to try to gain some leverage, and I crumble to the ground.
“This can't be happening,” I sob. “This can't be the way I bring our son into this world. He needs to know his dad.”
“I know,” Tessa says, crying along with me. “I know.”
Zayn holds Amelia tightly as she sobs hysterically. The pain in my chest is so intense, I can barely breathe. It’s too much.
I need him.
I fucking need him.
I can’t do this alone.
Dropping my head against the grass, I give into the pain and let it wash over me—unrelenting and without forgiveness.
