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Arella
There was noise all around me. I knew it. Could see people’s mouths moving. But I heard nothing.
My stomach cramped from puking until nothing was left. It was completely empty, and I didn’t even want to try to drink water for fear it would set off my gag reflex again. The smell of death seemed permanently burned into my nose, making my sinuses sting, and if I opened my mouth, I could actually taste it on my tongue.
No matter how many times I’d washed my hair, or how hard I’d scrubbed my body, I couldn’t get away from the scent. Everything smelled like it, even Jordan’s jacket and skin. My favorite smells in the word were associated with him, yet he was part of the scents that were causing me pain now.
The items Garon had sent me—the pictures of him touching himself and dead birds—were nothing compared to the horrible things I’d seen in the newest box. I couldn’t get the sight out of my head. Not when I closed my eyes or looked at Jordan, or my parents wrapped me in what should have been comforting hugs.
I wasn’t safe.
That meant the baby wasn’t safe.
How was I going to protect the one person who depended solely on me when I couldn’t even protect myself?
Garon was dead. I should have been safe. But now there was a new boogeyman out there, waiting, ready to kill “the little bird.” Why had he called me that? Why would this new stalker refer to me as one? I’d never really liked birds, although they were kind of cute from a distance. There was just something about them that made me…sad? Not just the ones people kept as pets, always caged up, but the ones in the wild as well. Even in their flocks, I felt a sense of sadness every time I looked at them.
It was crazy to think that birds were lonely even in a huge flock, yet I was unable not to feel empathy for them. How could anyone or anything feel completely alone in the world when they were surrounded by everyone they loved?
Holding my breath, I tried to push those thoughts away. Although they were a million miles away from the horrible ones that flooded in when they disappeared. Broken kitty. Entrails. Creepy note stapled to delicate intestines.
Broken kitty.
Broken…
Me.
“Arie, breathe!” Daddy’s deep voice commanded as his hands cupped my face. I blinked, and his eyes came into focus, the same shade as my own.
Gasping, I sucked in a deep lungful of oxygen as tears blurred my vision. His eyes were so beautiful. Years before, the whites had been a sickly yellow shade. I’d thought I was going to lose him. If not for his brother, my uncle Shane, he would have died.
“Da-Daddy!” I sobbed, lowering my head until I could press my forehead against his chest. Even he smelled like the putridness that was back in the apartment. My parents had arrived just as I’d finished getting dressed, and they’d insisted on taking us back to their house. I’d wanted to argue. If I wasn’t safe, then they wouldn’t be safe either. Very few things were more important to me than protecting my dad. He’d been through so much in his life already, and I wasn’t sure if I could survive if something happened to him. Even more so if it was because of me.
But Braxton lived just a few houses away. He was going to come over with my other bodyguards, plus several more that he’d called Barrick to send over. I was supposed to be safe there, which meant everyone else would be safe.
But I didn’t believe them.
I didn’t believe anyone anymore when they said I was safe.
“I-I’m scared.”
And so very tired.
I didn’t speak the last part aloud, but it echoed through my mind.
More than that, I was angry. I was pissed that I couldn’t do anything about this fear that had taken over my life. I was losing energy that the baby growing in my belly needed. Would all the stress from everything harm my child’s development as he or she grew inside me? Was I harming them by not getting enough sleep, by constantly being scared of my own shadow?
Fuck that.
And fuck whoever wanted to harm me.
I was done with this shit.
“I know, sweetheart,” Daddy soothed, stroking one hand over my hair. “But we’ll figure it all out. Daddy won’t let anyone hurt you, I promise.”
Everyone kept saying that. Him. Braxton. Mom. The bodyguards. Jordan. Over and over, one after another, all evening. But no matter how badly I wanted to believe them, I couldn’t. Someone out there wanted to cause me harm. Just like Garon. And the worst part was that I didn’t know why.
What was so special about me?
