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I did something, though, in those six weeks. I searched found my sisters. I know where they are. Some are still in the state, others not. From what I could find, they are all happy and healthy. I don’t know why it was important for me to find them. Maybe I just needed to know they were safe. It wasn’t much different to what I did to Sage. I stalked them and watched them.
I watched them go on with their lives. I watched them live without a care in the world, and I even saw them smile. They fucking smiled. They’re happy, and that’s all I want for them. They didn’t have to live the life I did, and I suppose that’s a plus. They didn’t have to do the things I did or hurt anyone the way I did. Just knowing that gives me some sense of peace.
The police are searching for what happened in Bellmont. They still have no leads and have no clue how it happened. According to Ranger, they never will. His men made sure none of it was traceable.
Now, I sit here, watching her with a cigarette between my lips. So goddamn beautiful it hurts. She’s everything. She’s perfect. And she’s still mine whether she sees it or not.
“You could go talk to her.” I look over my shoulder and smirk at Ranger.
“You’re almost as good of a stalker as me,” I tell him as he comes to sit next to me.
“She misses you, Ares.”
“I know she does. I miss her too.”
“Then why don’t you just go to her?”
“It’s not that easy, Ranger. I still feel, and I probably always will,” I inform him.
“Feel what?”
“The darkness, the need, the urge. Do you know what I’ve thought about doing to her?” I ask, shaking my head. He has no idea the things that have gone through my head.
“But you wouldn’t do it, Ares. I know you wouldn’t.”
“That’s the thing, Ranger. I don’t know that I wouldn’t.”
“You love her.” I shake my head.
“I don’t hate her,” I tell him. He chuckles because if anyone understands what I feel for Sage, it’s him.
“You’ve taken enough time for yourself, Ares. You should go to her.”
“Do you think it’s that easy?”
“She’s having your baby,” he says. I know she is. He told me a few weeks ago. I nod my head and take another drag of my cigarette before blowing smoke into the air.
“She’s going to be a good mother.”
“And you?”
“She doesn’t need me for that,” I tell him.
“If you think she doesn’t need you, Ares, you really are crazy. That girl cries herself to sleep at night calling for you.” My chest aches at what he’s saying. It’s not that I don’t want to go to her. I do. I wish it were that easy, but in my mind, she’s better off without me. She has a life ahead of her. She has goals and a future.
“I need to go,” I tell him, flicking my cigarette to the ground and stomping it out. I take one last look at Sage as she smiles at Karen before I turn and walk away.
“Ares,” he calls me. I turn to face him.
“Yeah?”
“Don’t put off your future forever. She’s right there waiting for you.” I nod my head and walk back to my car, climbing in and taking off.
I drive until I make it back to Bellmont. I pull in past the destroyed guard shack and drive to where my father’s old house would have been. When I climb out, I look around at the ashy remains. There’s nothing left. Nothing at all. Even the fucking concrete wall has been taken down. I kneel and sift the ash through my fingers.
“There’s so much more I wanted to do to you. What you got just wasn’t enough. I wanted to drag it out and torture you the way you did me. I wanted to take my time and make you feel every ounce of pain Sage felt. I wanted your death to mean something,” I say out loud. He can’t hear me, but a part of me wishes he could.
“All of this was for nothing. You didn’t win in the end, did you, Father? I won. I fucking won, and now I’m the fucking king. You’re nothing. Not anymore.” I toss the rest of the ash onto the ground before wiping my hands on my pants. Then I turn and head back to the car. I know what I have to do. I know what I need to do.
