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“To see that it’s over. To know it’s never going to be an issue again. I don’t know, Jake. I just feel like I need to be there.” A noise sounds from behind us, and Jake is on his feet. He moves quickly, pulling a gun from one of the cabinets before he moves in search of the noise. At first, I thought it was Axel, but he’s in bed. Or at least he should be. I slink off the couch and head to his room just to make sure.
“Oh my God,” I say when I see him standing there with Axel in his arms. “Don’t hurt him.” A commotion sounds in the living room, and I hear Jake screaming obscene things. My heart dislodges and slithers into my stomach. This isn’t going to end well.
“Walk to the living room, Kyla.” I shake my head, waiting for him to hand me my son before I even think about moving. He must understand and passes me Axel.
“Who’s that, Mommy?” Axel asks.
“You remember the silent game we practiced? I need you to play that right now, okay? I need you not to say anything. Got me?” Axel nods in understanding as Jeremy motions at me with the gun in his hand.
I turn and walk into the living room, where he shoves me to my knees with Axel in my arms. I hold him as tightly as possible without hurting him, but this is bad. I know it is. I look over and see the guys surrounding Jake on the floor, and a sob escapes me.
“My my my. How history repeats itself,” Jeremy declares as he stands behind me. As I think about that night, a chill works its way down my spine.
“Let them go,” Jake says as he’s yanked to his knees in front of me. Tears spring to my eyes, knowing this has to be it. This has to be the end of us. And just like five years ago, Jeremy will kill us all.
“Let them go? How would history repeat itself then? As I recall, they all died except you.”
“Leave them alone. They didn’t do anything.”
“She left me! She fucking left me for what? For you? Is that what she left me for? Imagine my goddamn surprise when I discovered she ran to you. Did you know those kills were supposed to be hers? That your pretty little wife was supposed to die by her hand? I made it clear that those kills were hers on the way to your house.” I see the tear forming in Jake’s eyes, but I also see the anger. Jeremy is pushing buttons he has no business pushing.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper to Jake. I need him to know I’m sorry for what I was supposed to do, and I’m so damn glad I didn’t do it. My heart is breaking as I think about what Jeremy might do to Axel. I can’t think straight, and that’s hurting me.
“Let them go, man. They didn’t do anything wrong,” Jake tries to reason with him again.
“She left me. She wasn’t supposed to leave me!” Jeremy roars.
“I didn’t have a choice!”
“Why not? Huh?”
“I was pregnant, Jeremy.” I’ll lie. I use whatever weapons I can against him and lie to his face if that’s what it takes to keep Axel safe.
“What do you mean?”
“You can see for yourself I have a little boy, Jeremy. I knew what my father would do to him!”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying I left to protect him.”
“You’re lying.”
“I’m not. You know as well as I do what my father would have done to him. Is that what you wanted? You wanted him dead? Or to end up like me?” I’m trying here. I’m trying to reason with him the best I can, but I don’t know how well it’s working. I’ll lie to him about when Axel was conceived to keep him safe.
“You’re lying!” he screams louder this time. I feel the gun press against my head as my eyes find Jake’s. I mouth the words I love you to him. He has to know that. He has to know I love him before all this happens.
He mouths the words back to me as tears fill his eyes.
“You fucked up. You should have come after us, but you didn’t. And alas, there is no chance for you after this. This time you’ll die along with them,” Jeremy tells Jake. I see Jake straighten his spine and hold his head high. He’s ready. If that’s what it takes, he’s ready for it. And my heart shatters in my chest.
“Fuck. You. You stole my family from me. You think I’d let you do it a second time?” Jake smirks at him as a gun is pressed against his head.
“I don’t think you have much choice.”
“Is that what you think? After all the shit I’ve endured, you think this is how it ends?” Jake asks him. What is he talking about? Why is he pushing him? I don’t know what’s happening, and I don’t know what to do. So I hold Axel tighter in my arms.
“This is how it ends, Mystic. It’s the end of the road for you and your happy family. Don’t you see that?”
