Never Letting Go (Delphian Book 1) (5 page)

Briggs was standing as still as a statue by the kitchen entrance. For some reason I wasn’t surprised to see him there, as he looked intimidatingly at the both of us and I wondered what he was thinking in that moment.

Then I wondered why I cared at all.

Glancing back at Dante, I saw him staring at me. “Sorry,” he whispered. I gave a slight nod and stood up to retreat to my room. Passing Briggs, he stood ever so still and I thought I heard a sound coming from him, an inhalation of breath, as if scared that I would accidentally touch him as I passed by. But that couldn’t be.

What would Briggs have to be scared of?

In the safety of my room, I sat on the edge of my bed, frowning. I was confused—so, so confused—by the emotions that these men in my life were pulling out from me. I liked Dante, I
connected
with Dante, and I wanted to know what it felt like to kiss Dante. But I feared Briggs, almost as much as he seemed to be scared of me.

What was he so fearful of?

I pulled back the collar of my shirt and stared heatedly at the tattooed name on my skin.
Ethan.
Who the hell was Ethan, and what connection did he have to me? Because more than anything, I think I needed him.

Something told me that only he could make all this confusion go away.

D
ANTE KEPT GIVING
me looks as the days went on and I didn’t know what to make of it. Yes, I was curious about how his lips would feel against mine, but that thought completely disappeared as my mind kept going back to Briggs.

Why did he seem scared by my presence? Am I just reading him incorrectly?

I kept telling myself this answer wasn’t important. I tried to ignore the almost helpless sound that had come from him and focused on things that were less confusing, like Dante.

Or so I thought.

It was just like any other day. Kaede was away working a late shift, Amy was intently playing some game on her phone in her room, and Dante and I hung out in the living room. The television was just background noise as I watched him watching me, his gaze moving across my face.

His eyes reminded me so much of what, I imagined, an ocean would look like. They got darker and darker the more they looked at me, and I marveled at the fact that they were now a stormy blue. I knew he wanted to continue what had been interrupted between us days ago.

And despite the name of a person flashing through my mind, I let him.

His lips felt strange against mine, like an alien impression. I was left in a state of almost wild fascination as my body instinctively pulled back, a small frown forming on my face as my mouth left his. I touched my lips, confused.

Again, why did this very moment seem so familiar?

Dante licked his lips slowly as he stared over at me sheepishly, a tinge of red flooding his cheeks.

“Sorry,” he said as he ran his hand over his face. “I shouldn’t have done that, Mia, but I really wanted to, I’ll be honest. I like you.”

I slowly brought my fingertips to my lips again as I grazed the sensitive skin, trying to analyze what had just happened.

It tingled.

I obviously knew he was waiting for some kind of response even though I couldn’t respond verbally. I didn’t know what to do.
I like you too, Dante,
I wanted to say back.

But something felt wrong.

A noise caused me to look up and I saw Briggs looking at me, again almost accusingly, a few feet away. It was like a repeat of days before: I had no idea how long he had been standing there, what he must have seen. But that almost hurt look on his face quickly disappeared as he stared coldly at the both of us before roughly stalking away.

I didn’t know I was holding my breath until I released it. The expression on Briggs’ face clutched at my heart. It made me feel things that kiss with Dante didn’t and I touched my chest, which was suddenly beating rapidly.

Standing up, I ignored Dante’s puzzled expression and walked over toward Briggs, who was now standing in the hallway, breathing heavily. He must be able to explain all this. I moved a hand to grab onto his shirt but he quickly moved away.

“Don’t—” the fear—yes,
fear
—was apparent in his voice. “—touch me,” he spat, recoiling as if I were infected with some disease.

“What is wrong with you?” Dante rushed up from behind me, gave Briggs a punch on the arm, then looked at me apologetically.

“Yeah,” Amy’s door suddenly swung open as she came face to face with us. “I can hear you all through the door, you know.” She came over to us and scowled at Briggs, then wrapped an almost protective arm around me. I was shaking. “Why are you so mean to Mia? She hasn’t done anything to you.”

Briggs continued to express a foul look as he remained silent, jaw contracting repeatedly. Then his eyes moved over Amy, Dante, and eventually me. I stared helplessly into dark circles, heart frolicking in my throat. He held my gaze for a moment before stalking away.

“I don’t have to explain myself,” we all heard him mutter as he retreated to his room.

There was an awkward pause and Amy had an almost half-surprised grin on her face like she didn’t know what to say. Dante roughly ran his hand through his hair and sighed, shaking his head. He then looked over at me intently. “I don’t get him sometimes. He’s pretty decent—he doesn’t
have
to stay here but he does and helps us out as much as he can. I just don’t understand why he’s the way he is with you.”

I pondered on Dante’s statement. I didn’t understand myself and I wanted to know why.

I
needed
to know why.

I
WOKE UP
hearing sounds coming from outside, and my body instinctively moved to sit up but I couldn’t. Looking around, I realized I wasn’t in my room. Instead I was tied to a large bed. I glanced down and saw that I was wearing nothing but a simple white nightgown and alarm bells began to sound off in my head.

Where am I?

I tried to re-trace my steps, and how I got here.

After the whole Briggs incident, Dante and Amy tried to pretend things were normal. I had turned in early for bed, not comfortable with this mirage we were all trying to play, and tried to find peace in my sleep instead.

But I had woken up in the middle of the night for no apparent reason. Then a sound coming from outside my door made me get out of bed. I opened the door and found Amy looking faintly suspicious dressed all in black like a cat burglar. She even had a black hood atop her head, her white-blonde hair peeking out from the sides. She stood near the entrance to the apartment, slowly unlatching the lock, and it reminded me of that night with Briggs. When I had followed him to the gravesite.

Amy’s appearance made me think about our conversation earlier.

“Have you ever been in love, Mia?”

I just stared back at her.

“Because I think I’m in love with…” she shuffled closer to me whispering, “Kaede.”

It was not like I had been expecting her to say Briggs.

“He’s so gorgeous, don’t you think?” Her eyes lit up enthusiastically as she fiddled with her choker then twirled her hair between her fingers. “His hair is so long and silky … and you should hear him speak Japanese. It makes my toes curl, it’s so lovely.”

Her eyes caught my stare. “Say. Did anyone ever make your toes curl, Mia? It’s the best feeling.” Her eyes widened. “I wonder what your mind’s been keeping from you,” she mused.

I wondered that myself.

I was surprised at her going out this late. Going out at all, for that matter. The amount of times that the guys had stressed both Amy and I stay indoors could not have gone unheard. My eyes would always flick over to Briggs, as I remembered our night together, whenever Dante or Kaede would bring it up, but as usual he ignored me.

Feeding into my curious nature that I chose not to stifle, I decided to follow her outside, slipping on my green and yellow-laced shoes. Opening the door to the building, I felt the cool air hit my skin and I inhaled at the sensation.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I realized I couldn’t remember anything after that. I must have passed out. Looking around at this strange place, I knew the feeling that I should have felt now was fear. Both my feet and hands were bound together by a piece of rough rope attached to each bedpost. I knew it was useless to struggle, the bonds too tight. No amount of wishing would make them disappear. I could hear muffled cries from outside my door and instantly knew it was Amy.

Still, I tried wiggling out of the restraints but it was hopeless, the ropes rubbing my skin raw. I relaxed into the mattress and stared up into the ceiling, exhaling slowly. Amy and I should have listened to Dante, Kaede … even Briggs.

We should have stayed inside.

Three hours.

I had nothing to do but stare at the ceiling and listen to Amy’s whimpers until they settled down. Then I counted the seconds, the minutes, and finally hours. So I would have to assume it was approximately three hours since I woke.

I wondered what the point of this was. Why we were taken. Why I was currently dressed the way I was. Why a single name,
Sophia
, was written repeatedly, over and over, on the walls of this room in red. I hoped it was lipstick or paint, and not blood.

As my mind conjured up the sight of blood, I thought of Briggs, and then the burial of all those girls.

Perhaps I would meet them soon.

I closed my eyes, trying to figure out how I felt about that. I recognized that I didn’t like it, and that this unknown captive couldn’t win. If not for me, I at least had to try for Amy who was innocent in all of this.

So yes, I would fight.

Focusing back on my restraints digging into my skin, I wondered if they would work like the walls and doors I easily passed through. Closing my eyes, I focused on moving all my limbs
through
them. After a few seconds passed, I glanced back down and saw that the ropes lay on the bed on all four sides next to my limbs, and I was free from them.

I quickly sat up but braced myself when I heard footsteps approach the door. I looked up to see it creak open and a presence entered the room, its steps calculative. I couldn’t see his face, though. I rubbed my eyes, thinking I was seeing things but my sight didn’t correct itself.

The person standing in front of me was a blurred entity.

But I knew he stared at me, and I heard him as clear as day.

“How did you get out of the ropes?”

I said nothing, blinking rapidly.

He stalked toward me and I tried not to flinch from his strange presence and unexplainable appearance. “I tied those really tight. You must be some sort of magician, huh?”

I could hear Amy whimper in the background and I closed my eyes, trying to wish myself away from this place.

“The blonde was a mistake,” he started conversationally. “She looked back at the wrong time and I had to shut her up. But you … you remind me of someone.”

He approached even closer until he was a breath away, crouching near my head. I still couldn’t see his face but I could feel his eyes on me, the stare entirely different from that of Briggs.

“You have no idea how hard it was to find you. You look so much like her, it hurts,” he whispered roughly. His fingers stroked the side of my cheek and I turned my face away, not enjoying the sensation. He dropped his arm. “If I didn’t know any better, I would say you
were
her. But you’re not,” he said shortly, dropping his hand. “You’re just my imagination hoping for the best, aren’t you? The voice in my head playing a joke on me, and a means to an end.” He waited for my response; I remained exactly as I was. “Why aren’t you answering me?”

I looked up into his face, defiant. I tried to show no fear, staring at nothing but emptiness.

Why is his face a blur?

“Answer me!” he roared and I flinched from the tone.

I sensed an evil lurking inside of him.

A rustle of the doorknob caused us both to glance up. “Shit.” The guy looked down at me in what I can only imagine would be alarm. “I guess you’ll be the one that got away. It must be your lucky day.”

He rushed toward the window to my right. His blurred face found my stare. “You know I’ll find you again. I’ll bring you back, Sophia.”

Then he was gone.

Sophia?
It was the name written on the walls. Who was Sophia?

Before I could analyze what had happened, the door burst open and a tousled Dante greeted me.

“Mia!”

I was grateful that I could see each individual feature on Dante’s face. I had probably been drugged while looking on at the stranger. Yes, that must have been it. No one’s face could actually be blurred.

I focused back on Dante. How was he even here? How did he know Amy and I were here in this strange place?

Dante looked down at my hands, soothing my marred flesh. “Briggs woke us up and said you were in danger. I don’t know how he knew but...”

I tuned out the rest of his words. I was confused as to why Briggs would even care about my well being, considering the way he treated me. He couldn’t even stand my touch. But then I felt the hand that clutched my own and looked up into Amy’s tear-streaked face as she gave me a huge hug, and Kaede who looked on in relief. Realization dawned on me. Of course: Amy.

That had to be the reason for Briggs to care at all.

•••

B
Y THE TIME
we all got home we were all spent. We were all trying to process the last few hours. I wanted to get out of the clothes that I was wearing. The thought of that person undressing me to put me in the nightgown made me ill.

Briggs was MIA as per usual.

I left the others, immediately heading to take a shower. When I cleaned up and was dressed comfortably in some of Amy’s hand-me-downs, I made my way back into the living room. Dante stood in the center, his back facing me. I noticed that he looked especially pale against the harsh lights, a gleam of sweat on his face when he turned.

He sat down heavily on the couch, patting the space next to him. I shuffled toward him, settled next to his body. He looked down at me. “Kaede and Amy are in her room. She keeps crying and won’t let Kaede out of her sight.” He smiled faintly. “It doesn’t seem as if he wants to leave either, which is good. Amy always did get what she wanted. Now, I never expected the night to turn out like this, Kaede and I rescuing our girls. We should probably call the cops ... I
will
call the cops. There’s a psycho loose on the streets that needs to be caught. I’m just glad the both of you are safe. Amy’s my only family and you...” He looked down, emotion overcoming him.

I obviously couldn’t speak so I clutched his clammy hand, squeezing reassuringly.

“Mia,” he sighed, “I have to say I’m glad you fell from the sky and into our apartment, just like an angel. There’s something … special about you.”

I gave him a look. “Not the mute thing,” he rushed. “Just, you know.” He stared directly into my eyes. “It’s like you were
meant
to be here. You understand what I’m saying?”

I didn’t but nodded as if I did. That warranted a smile from him. He lay back on the couch. “Great. Now I can take a wonderful nap and dream of you. I hope you dream of me too.”

That was how I left Dante. I checked in on Amy and found her asleep, curled up against Kaede’s chest, his arm protectively around her waist. Closing the door gently, I retreated to my room.

And I did dream as Dante hoped I would, my hand clutching the piece of paper underneath my pillow.

The sad thing was that it wasn’t about him at all, as he wanted. A part of me wished I could dream of innocent Dante, who seemed in awe of me. He had a beautiful soul and deserved anything he wished for.

Instead, I dreamed of another man, another soul consuming me. Yes,
consuming
. It was the only way I could describe it. His presence filled me with a passion, a burn, a yearning that I didn’t think I’d ever felt before.

But I must have.

It was the most heartbreaking, gut-wrenching, life-altering dream I had ever felt in all my eighteen years.

How did I know it was eighteen? Because this dream taught me one thing: I remembered.

I remembered everything.