Light (The Shadows Series) (32 page)

“What?” Theron stops, his back turned to me. His shoulders tense and it is at that moment that I am sure of who it is.

“It’s Thomas, isn’t it? We haven’t heard anything else from him. The detectives are still searching through his accounts, right? So, if he knows the cops are watching him, why would he try something else?”

“Thomas is relentless. He isn’t deterred easily. In fact, it becomes more of a game to him. We have now become a game in his eyes. He will do anything to make sure that he comes out the winner.”

“But he’s a smart man, surely—”

“I never said he was a smart man, I said he was dangerous. He’s deadly, Eve. I don’t want you anywhere near him. So, today while we are out, Evan will be close behind.”

I don’t say anything else, even if I did, I’m not sure it would make any difference. After everything that has happened, I’d prefer Evan to be close by. I actually find it kind of comforting. Kelly and Theron help me with my shower and get me ready for my appointment. I still can’t shake the awful feeling that I had yesterday, I chalk it up to nerves.

Everything went well at my appointment. The doctor is actually surprised at how well I am healing. I am fitted with a different cast. I can put weight on my foot now, just not a lot. I will still need crutches, but at least now, I will be able to make it to the bathroom without having to call for help. Gray clouds now cover the blue sky and rain begins to fall around us, as Theron helps me back into Badass. It is still the best name that I have ever given anything and this car fully lives up to its name.

I watch the windshield wipers flick away the rain, as we drive home. Evan isn’t too far behind us. We end up losing him at an intersection, but Theron doesn’t slow to wait for him. The rain has turned into a deluge now, and visibility on the road is almost gone. I suggest pulling over to wait for it to let up, but it seems that just my words alone have caused a break in the clouds. The rain eases up, as we pull into the drive.

That awful feeling is back, accompanied with my arm and neck hair standing on end. I place my hand on Theron’s thigh, as we enter the gates. Something is off, normally the gates make a grinding sound when they first open, but they were oddly quiet. In fact, I am not sure they were entirely closed. I look over at Theron, but he doesn’t seem to notice. We pull up in front of the house. Theron parks as close as he can to curb of the walkway, so that I won’t have far to go in the rain.

Everything happens as if it is in slow motion. Theron steps out of the car, and I watch him walk around to my side to open my door. His hand pulls on the handle. He stops still, when a figure comes out from behind one of the trees. My heart is slamming in my chest, my lungs burn. It is then that I realize that I am holding my breath. I try to push open my door to open it, but Theron won’t move. He stands in front of it, holding it closed with his body leaning up against the car. The figure slowly walks around to the front of the car. The rain comes to a stop, as my vision clears to see the man standing in front of us. Thomas.

“No, no, no. It can’t be him. Theron! Theron!” I slam my palms against the window, but Theron still won’t move. Thomas is holding something in his hands. It is black and fits comfortably in his hand. It’s a gun. “Fuck! Theron! No! No!” I am screaming, as if my voice is going to save the two of us from the deranged man in front of us.

Thomas is screaming at Theron, but I can’t understand all of it. It is too muffled from inside the car. Theron isn’t buying whatever it is that Thomas is throwing at him. I can hear him perfectly outside my window.

“Just go. What the fuck do you think you’re going to accomplish here today? Waving around that fucking shit in your hand doesn’t make you a man. I’m more of a man than you’ll ever be. You are nothing, but a piece of fucking shit. I’ve taken your business. Your name has been run through the mud, nothing is left of you, but the trash that you are. Get the fuck away from us!”

“Theron! God damn it!” I desperately need out of here. I take my shoulder and ram it into the door, while pulling on the handle. It barely budges. Theron’s fist pounds into the side of the door. I am not giving up. Thomas’ right arm raises into the air at the same exact time that I hear tires screech outside my window. It is enough of a distraction for Thomas to lower his arm, turning away from us. Theron yanks open my door, quickly pulling me from the car. He sets me on the ground behind the car.

“Beautiful, stay down. Fuck. Whatever you do, please stay down. Jesus.”

“I’m not done with you, boy!” Thomas’ feet crunch on the gravel beneath his shoes. Theron stands, turning away from me. He leaves me alone behind the car. I can see Thomas’ feet get closer, so I try my best to scoot myself around to the driver side of the car. That is when I see, Evan. It was his tires, I heard screech. His arms are raised, as he makes his way around his car. His eyes never leave Thomas, his fingers rest on the trigger of the pistol in his hand.

“Put down the gun!” Evan yells, towards Thomas. Most people would probably cower from a gun pointed directly at them, especially when it is common knowledge that the man holding the gun is a trained marksman. My skin crawls when Thomas releases an eerie laugh.

“Do it. Pull the trigger, and I’ll pull mine. Who should I shoot first? The bastard child who ruined my life, killing my reason for existence, or the whore cowering behind a car, as if it’s going to save her or the bastard child she’s carrying?”

“Put down the gun. I will not say it again. This is your last chance to comply.” Evan’s feet spread to the width of his shoulders, his back straightens, but his aim never changes.

“Comply? Comply? I will never fucking agree to anything you have to offer me. He ruined my fucking life. He’s a murderer! He killed his own mother, and here you are protecting him.”

“I. Did. Not. Kill. My. Mother.”

“Sure you did, son. The moment your waste of a body came out of her, she started dying. You took her strength, leaving behind a weak woman to take care of child who wanted nothing more than to destroy our lives since its very first breath.”

 “Fuck you!” I am unable to sit there any longer, listening to this man blame Theron for all of his hate. “Fuck you. You are nothing, but a worthless piece of shit. You are nothing. You have nothing, but that’s too much for you, isn’t it? Your dick is even smaller than your intelligence, both are almost nonexistent, and now you’re angry with the world. You’re trying to overcompensate for what you will never have.”

 “And what’s that? What could you possibly know? You’re nothing but a gold digging whore.”

 “I know what it’s like to love, and you will never know the joy of having someone to experience that with. She was afraid of you, she never loved you.” Gravel crunches, and I know that he is coming for me.

 “Drop the fucking gun!” Evan screams at Thomas, as he comes around the front of the car. His feet must twist because he trips, either that, or karma is truly a bitch because his body twists, as he holds me in his aim. Thomas turns his head to Evan. Someone screams my name, and I hear the sound of two simultaneous clicks.

 I am told that if someone experiences something so horrific, they can block it out. It is as if your brain is trying to protect you, keep you from living in the hellish reality surrounding you. Everything blurs around me. I feel hands pulling me from the ground. A voice looms around me, trying to pull me back to reality, but I can’t get rid of the loud ringing in my ears. Then it hits me. Two clicks. I frantically pull at the hands trying to carry me away. I am desperate to see what has happened. Where is Evan? Why can’t I see Evan? Someone is screaming, crying. I can’t hear over the noise. It is so loud that I can feel it rumble in my chest. Fuck. It is me and I am the one frantically screaming. Why isn’t anyone listening to me? I can’t lose anyone else. I can’t do this again.

 “Evelyn!”

 My name registers somewhere in my consciousness, turning I find the face that belongs to the voice. Theron is kneeling beside me on the steps, trying his best to calm me. Our eyes meet, my heart thumps in my chest, and I know. I know someone is dead.

 “Beautiful, stop. It is over. It is all over. The police and an ambulance are on their way over.” He pulls me into his lap, rocking me back and forth. “It’s over. It’s all over.” He clings to me. I am not sure if his words are for me, or more for him. No words escape me. I can’t even begin to put together everything that has unleashed here today. I am not sure if God exists, but I know with everything in my being that the devil does and he was here tonight.

 Red and blue lights flash among the trees, accompanied by loud whirring sirens. Theron doesn’t let me go. The scene becomes a chaotic mess of people, as both police and paramedics rush onto the scene. Words are spoken, but in low hushed tones. All I hear is, “he didn’t make it.” My heart drops, tears sting my already hot cheeks, and anger boils beneath my skin. I watch as the paramedics push someone into the back of the ambulance, but I can’t quite make out as to who. Theron won’t let go of me. I honestly believe that he is panicking. We are still rocking back and forth when someone walks over, asking if we are all right. He briefly lets go of me, so that they can look me over to make sure that I am alright. He pulls me back into his arms when he is satisfied with their assumption of my wellbeing. I wrap my arms around him, and he buries his head in my neck. I am not prepared for his words. They catch me off guard, stabbing me through my heart in one swift motion. “He’s dead.”

 My eyes scan the chaos of lights, and people moving around us. I still can’t find Evan. The ambulance pulls away and that is when I notice the black shoes laying so still on the ground. This can’t be real. Someone covers the figure with a blanket. I close my eyes and bury myself into the man holding so desperately onto me. My awful feeling has come to fruition, and I can’t help but wonder if I am not to blame. If I hadn’t spoke up, what would have been the outcome? Theron stands and carries me back to the car. Where are we going?

 Maybe he just needs to get away, and perhaps this has finally all been too much for him. I don’t ask him what his intentions are, I just accept them. It doesn’t matter where we are going, as long as I am with him, nothing else matters. Tears blur my vision, as I watch the trees pass by outside the window. Nothing has really ever happened to me. I have never had any huge surprises, catastrophes, or excitement of any kind until these past couple of months. It is odd how quickly things can change.

I
am sitting in a hard vinyl chair. My right knee is pulled up to my chest with my arms wrapped tightly around my waist. Theron keeps trying to get me to eat, but I can’t. Hot and clammy sweats keep taking over my body. Panic is hiding just below the surface, and it is boiling just under my skin, waiting to claim me. I watch him pacing back and forth before sitting in the chair across from me, then standing to do it all again. I wonder who is more broken. Is it me, Theron, or the man lying beside me in a hospital bed? All of us are shattered into to so many pieces that I wonder if someone could even possess enough glue to make one whole person out of us.

Theron hasn’t slept in two days. He is insistent on staying at the hospital. I can’t blame him, if it was Kayla, I would never leave her side. The doctors were able to remove the bullet with minimal damage. It turns out that Evan has great aim, but Thomas didn’t. He moved at the last second and aimed his gun at Evan. The bullet hit its victim, but it was the left shoulder that took the bullet. Evan had a clear shot. His bullet didn’t miss its target, and it slipped through Thomas just above the bridge of his nose, killing him instantly. We are hoping that Evan will be released tomorrow if he wakes up, otherwise it may be a few more days, yet.

Bridgette has shown up twice at the hospital now, demanding to see Theron. I had her removed by security. I will deal with that crazy psycho once we are back at home. One panic attack at a time seems to be easier to handle. My mom is here with me. She keeps bringing me hot tea to sip. She has tried to mother Theron as well. He is so unfamiliar with being taken care of that he just gives her looks of confusion when she tries to comfort him. My heart breaks knowing his confusion is all because his father, the man that was supposed to love him and raise him, but instead held Theron accountable for the death of his mother and the destruction of the world Thomas was so clearly accustomed to. I can’t fathom how someone could hate their own child. I don’t think that my mind will ever be able to wrap around it. Perhaps, it is because all I have known in my life is the love of my family and friends. Never before, have I ever been so grateful for everyone in my life, especially Theron. Even if he doesn’t see it all the time, he is my everything.