Light (The Shadows Series) (2 page)

“I can’t. I’m not doing it. You can’t go. I don’t want to be alone with him.”

My mom’s hand softly touches my chin, turning my face towards hers. “I will love you whether I am here in this place with you, or if I’m floating above you with the stars. A mother’s love never ends. Now please, promise me you’ll let her love you. Keep her. Hold onto her friendship as long as you can. I believe she’s going to be your light in a very dark time.” Tears fall from her eyes, sliding down her cheeks.

I can’t let her down. I don’t want to disappoint her, so I do it. “Okay. I promise.”

T
hat was the last conversation that I had with my mom. Her speech went downhill after that. She died about two weeks later. My dad was destroyed. He swore that I did something to kill her. He acted as though just my presence was vile enough to take a human life. I wasn’t allowed back at the beach. I couldn’t sneak back out, either. He had me sent away, so he wouldn’t have to look at my murderous face anymore. Those were his exact words. What kind of parent tells their child they have a murderous face? What kind of parent blames their child for spreading cancer? Mine does.

I kept my promise to my mom, even through college. I never let Eve go. Her beautiful smile is locked away in my memories. She saved me from myself that summer. I was ready to go with my mom. I wasn’t sure how exactly, but I looked into different ways that I could kill myself. I was never able to go through with it. Every time I pictured Eve’s face, I felt a little bit of hope. I became an adult that summer. Death will do that. Every minute I spent with Eve, I felt my heart get lighter. She made me feel as though I mattered. We could sit by each other for hours and not say a word. I felt needed, wanted, and most importantly, I felt loved. The memory of her is the only thing that kept me from falling into an abyss of despair all of these years.

My eyes are closed tight, refusing to let in any light. I am sitting against a wall. My shoulder feels like it’s burning. It is probably from the glass table I broken and pushed in front of the door, but people were still trying to get in. So, I rammed into it with my shoulder. It shattered. Everyone left me alone after that. I feel like I am going to throw up. The only thing keeping me somewhat calm is rocking my body back and forth. I’m gripping onto my legs, trying to stay in this reality. First my mom, and now my gram. I am completely alone. I feel void and empty. I was mad at first, but there are no words to describe how I feel now. I know he did this. I don’t know what he said to her, but I know it pushed my gram over the edge. He will pay for everything he fucking did. He will suffer for hurting Eve, and I will make him pay for everything he has ever done to hurt my gram.

My gram is fucking gone. No, no, no, no, this can’t be real. I chant “no”, over and over again, trying to wish this all away. I hear glass crunch, alerting me to someone else being in the room with me.

I stop rocking to yell at whoever is in the room, “Leave. I said I want to be fucking alone. Fucking leave!” Chanting once again, I start rocking back and forth. This isn’t real. I swear that I can smell Eve’s perfume. I must be losing my fucking mind. I feel a soft hand rest on my forearm. My skin feels like lightening is crawling across it. It can’t be her. I walked away from her. I let her go.

“Theron.”

I stop rocking. Holy fuck. My sweet, beautiful angel is actually here.

“It’s Eve. I am here to help you, but I need you to look at me first. You’re bleeding and I’m worried about you.”

Fuck. I don’t want to bring her into this, but he already did. He hurt her to get to me, and now he has taken the only family that I have left. Fuck him. I look up into her beautiful eyes and see pure fear. She’s frightened. He has fucking scared her.

“Thomas did this. He did this! He fucking took her from me. He has taken everything from me. He’s going to pay for this. I will ruin him. I won’t stop until he has felt every ounce of pain he has brought into my life. I will fucking destroy him.” My words are dark and laced with venom. I mean everything that I have said. She doesn’t say a word. Her bright blue eyes just stare into mine. She is my light, but dark shadows are taking me over. I need to keep her, so that I don’t lose my mind. I put my hand over hers, and she gasps. Turning my head, I look away. I must really be a monster.

H
e is sitting on the floor, gripping my hand. I finally got him to move, but we’ve only made it to a section of the floor where there’s no broken glass. At first he wouldn’t move, but once he saw I was kneeling in glass, he followed me to the other side of the room. He wouldn’t sit in a chair, so I slid down the wall, and he sat next to me. He hasn’t spoken since I first came in here. I check the time on my phone and notice I’ve been in here with him for over an hour. The wall I built around my heart starts falling apart as I sit with him. Just the feel of being close to him, seeps into my heart causing it to thump hard in my chest. Seeing him so utterly, destroyed is killing me. I want to save him from all of this.

I need to get him out of here. He needs his shoulder checked, and I need to get him home. I don’t want him to get upset or put off by any of my movements, so I plan everything out in my head as far as I can. I even contemplate different problems or scenarios that could come up.

“Theron.” I hear him take a sharp breath, but he doesn’t say a word. “Babe, I’m sorry. I’m so very sorry, but we can’t stay here. I need you to let me help you. Your shoulder is cut up, and I just want to make sure that you are okay. Then, Evan will drive us back to my brother’s place, okay. We don’t even have to go to your place. Just come home with me. Please, babe.”

He looks up at me with dark, void eyes. I’m really hoping the idea of me needing him will work. He stares at me for a few minutes, and I hold his gaze. “Please, baby. Let me take care of you. I need you home with me, I need to feel you.” I notice a light flicker in his dark eyes, and I know I have his attention. I stand and pull him up with me. He clings to my hand, as we walk over towards the door.

“I’m going to open the door now, it’s the only way out. The doctors are going to check your shoulder, and then you are coming home with me. I won’t leave you.” I bring his hand up to my lips and gently place a kiss on the back of it. I open the door to see a devastated Evan, leaning against the wall across from us. He looks at me, and then over to Theron. “Evan, Theron needs his shoulder looked at. After we have the all clear from the doctors, we will need you to drive us back to my place. Theron will be staying with me.”

“As you wish, Miss Evelyn.”

Theron squeezes my hand. It’s painful, but I’m doing my best to ignore it. Evan follows Theron and me as we walk over to the emergency room registration.

“Excuse me, but he needs to be seen. He cut his left shoulder pretty badly. He was in the waiting room and had an accident.”

“Accident? More like a temper tantrum. Have a seat and fill out these forms. Someone should be with you shortly.”

I let out a big sigh. I understand that he has had a mental breakdown, but she doesn’t have to be such a bitch about it. I hand the forms to Evan, since he would be able to fill in more blanks than I could. Theron, has finally released his death grip on my hand, and is now holding my arm. It seems like we wait forever for someone to call Theron’s name, but it has really only been about twenty minutes.

We follow a nurse into a private room and she pulls the curtain around us. She hands me a gown for Theron and I help him pull off his shirt. The nurse’s eyes roam his chest, and I give her a deathly stare. If she wants to live while we are here, she had better keep her gaze professional. She takes his blood pressure, and makes some notes in her chart before walking out of the room. I help Theron slip on his gown. I start to help him with his jeans, but he stops me.

“Don’t. They only need my shoulder. I’ll let them look at it because you are here. Then we are leaving. We can stay at Robert’s tonight, but then I am going home. I’m going to run him into the ground.” Theron’s eyes are dark and cold. I keep quiet and sit beside him in the sterile room. Thoughts cross my mind of what he may be capable of. He’s such a calm person, I can’t picture him being violent. Although right now, I wouldn’t put it past him.

Theron got eight stitches in his shoulder. The cuts were not as bad as they seemed. Once the doctor cleaned off all the dried blood, there was only a few scratches and one deep laceration. He has to have his sutures removed in ten days. The drive to Robert’s was so quiet; all I could hear was Theron breathing. Evan parks the car. Turning my head, I try to give Theron a soft smile. I want to tell him everything will be okay, but I know that is far from the truth. Softly taking my hand in his, I help him out of the car. His grip on my hand tightens, as we walk into the beach house.

I can’t imagine the pain he is going through right now. I may have lost a close friend, but now he has lost all of his family. I won’t count his dad as family. He’s more of a sperm donor. He may have given Theron some of his DNA, but that is all he has given him. A real father wouldn’t treat his son like this. I’m tempted to ask Theron if he knows what exactly Thomas said to Isa, but I don’t want to push him any farther. He is already broken and falling apart. I don’t want to run the risk of completely destroying any shred of my Theron that may still exist, even if he is lost, lurking in dark murky waters.

He follows me downstairs to my bedroom. I open the door, and gesture with a wave of my hand for him to go in. He doesn’t let go of me, instead he pulls me along with him. He still hasn’t spoken, but his breathing is definitely softer, easier. I start to sit on the bed, but he stops me with his hand. He holds his palm up in front of me, and then raises his index finger on his other hand.

“What? Why am I waiting? I want to help you.” My voice pleads with him, but I’m not sure he hears me.

He sits on the bed, propping pillows up behind him and spreads his legs open. Curling his finger, he motions for me to join him. I crawl up on the bed and make myself at home, laying between his legs with my head resting just above his waist. My head rises, as he takes a deep breath. “I know you want to help me.” His fingers run through my hair, grazing my scalp, sending goosebumps crawling across my flesh. I shouldn’t have waited so long. I should have gone to him. Stubbornness seems to be my flaw with him. I mentally take a deep breath, needing to clear away my stray thoughts. My focus should be on Theron, and what he needs. He lets out a sigh and twirls my hair around his fingers. “Eve?” He pulls me from my thoughts, as guilt settles in my stomach. I don’t want to make this about me.

My heart slams hard in my chest. I don’t know why, but I suddenly feel scared. “Theron.” My voice is flat, not knowing what to expect next.

“I know you want to help me, but I’m not sure what’s going to happen. This could be a dark path and I don’t want to taint you. I don’t want to poison you.”

I roll over onto my stomach and place my palms flat on his stomach, under my chin. His beautiful eyes are full of concern. “You won’t. I’m with you. Whatever path you go down, wherever this leads, I will follow you. I shouldn’t have stayed away. I was stubborn, selfish, and blind. You needed me as much as I needed you.”

“I did and I do. Are you sure about this?”

“Absolutely.”

“Okay. I’m going to tell you what I know. My gram was an amazing woman. She was beautiful, loving, caring, cunning, and vengeful. Thomas hurt her a long time ago. She tried for so long to gain his love. All he did was destroy everything she had. He ran my grandfather’s name into the dirt after he passed. Gram never forgave him. Do you remember how I said I sold my shares of Rowe Incorporated?”