Authors: Marissa Kennerson
The Family (32 page)
“I promise you.”
“I love you more than life itself.”
Twig’s heart leapt. She couldn’t believe this was happening. “I love you too, Daddy.” Her chest heaved. “Daddy, one more thing.” Twig thought of her unsent email.
“Anything.”
“A friend of mine on the outside was going to try to find you for me. Will you find him? Tell him what’s going on? Keep him safe?”
“What’s his name?”
“Leo Cohen.”
“It’s done. I love you, Olivia.”
“Goodbye, Daddy.”
“See you soon, my precious girl.”
Twig handed the phone to Avery. She stood there for a moment, too stunned to speak. Avery stepped toward her and put her hands tentatively on Twig’s shoulders. They stared at one another, eyes filled with tears. After a few moments, Avery took Twig into a protective embrace.
“Why didn’t you come with me?” Twig managed to whisper into Avery’s ear. “Why follow me?”
“I realized as soon as you left.” Avery stroked Twig’s hair and continued to hold her close. “I knew it was the right thing to do—the
only
thing to do, after everything that’s happened.”
Twig finally pulled away. “Thank you.” Avery wiped the tears from Twig’s face.
“We’ve got to go,” Avery urged her. “It’s crucial we get back before anyone wakes up.”
43
Twig woke to Maya’s plump face glaring down at her.
“Twig, it’s time to wake up.”
Twig bolted upright. She looked over at Avery. She was just stirring, as well. Avery looked back at her and raised her eyebrows.
“Where’s Doc?” Twig ventured.
“He went back to his place to take a shower before the wedding,” Maya answered. “I’m supposed to help you get ready.”
“Me too.”
It was Anna. Twig hadn’t seen her since the night she was beaten. Twig felt a rush of sadness for her. Had Adam seduced her away from her life? Away from college, her friends and family?
Twig shook off her sleep, wondering why Maya had brought Anna. It was obvious to Twig now that Adam and Anna had been in some kind of relationship before he brought her here—just like Avery. Was he just torturing Anna by having her help prepare his new bride for his wedding? How many women had been through this with him?
Twig got up and looked around the room. No one seemed to know about their midnight excursion.
Her conversation with her father came back to her.
Twig looked at Avery when Maya and Anna walked into the bathroom to draw a bath for her.
“Did I dream him?” she asked.
Avery shook her head and then put her finger to her lips to keep Twig from saying any more.
Twig tried to ignore the meaning of the rose petals Maya had sprinkled into her bath. She submerged herself, letting her ears fill up with the charged silence beneath the water.
She sat stone still while Anna combed out her hair. Maya had gone.
“Do you want to wear flowers in your hair?” Anna asked shyly. Twig only shrugged in response. Anna paused and then handed Twig a large, white orchid. Twig thought of the day she had prepared Rose for her wedding. The day she had found out Adam had chosen her for his wife.
“I think he’ll expect it,” Anna said quietly.
Twig’s father’s words came back to her. “Just do what you need to do to keep yourself safe for the next twelve hours.”
“You’re right.” Twig took the flower from Anna. She twisted her hair into a bun and pinned the big white flower into her hair near the nape of her neck.
“That looks beautiful,” Anna smiled. “I miss girly things,” she whispered.
Twig craned her neck around to look at Anna. Anna shrugged her shoulders. “I’m sorry he made you come help me today.”
“He didn’t,” she said. “I volunteered. No one else wanted to come.” She wrinkled her nose. “Can I ask you something?” Anna said.
“Sure,” Twig said reassuringly. She had nothing to lose at this point.
“Why did you come back? If you had the chance to get away, why would you ever come back here?”
“My mom,” Twig said simply. “Can I ask you something now?”
Anna nodded.
“Why did you come here? From the outside world? Why did you come here in the first place?”
“Well, I didn’t really know what I was coming to,” Anna said. “And by the time I got here, it was too late. But I probably would have come no matter what. I was too in love, too hooked to let Adam go.” She paused. “I figure you’re not going to report me?”
Twig laughed. “Ah, no.”
“I was in school, and I thought I was having this very sexy affair with an older businessman from out of town. We’d go on normal dates to bars, to movies, to restaurants—”
“What?” Twig gasped and covered her mouth. She couldn’t believe his hypocrisy.
“He even has normal friends out there. Or at least he has it set up to look as if he does. I went to a dinner party at his friend’s house. And I was attracted to his ideas. To his friend’s ideas. After a while, I couldn’t relate to my own friends. They started to seem so shallow. So I became a bit isolated. I just had Adam. I would wait and wait for him to come back into town. I stopped going out with my friends at night so I could go home and wait for his call.”
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry this has happened to you.”
Anna smiled sadly. “We’ll probably never get to talk like this again.” Twig thought of her father.
“No, probably not.” Twig paused. Maybe they could take Anna with them. But she didn’t want to mention it now. The conversation they’d just had was risk enough. “We should probably get going,” she said.
“Twig.” Anna grabbed Twig’s hand. “Can we be real sisters? I think we need each other.”
Twig smiled warmly at her. “Yes, of course.”
“Oh, there’s just this.” Anna held up a sash made of royal blue fabric.
“What’s that?”
“Ada—Father said he had it made for you. For today.”
Twig flinched. She tried to recover quickly, nodding as Anna wrapped it around her waist.
Avery came out of the bathroom fully dressed. She took Twig’s hand.
“You ready?”
“Yes.”
“Do you think you can make it through this?” Avery whispered into Twig’s ear.
“Yes.” Twig paused. “If I just keep going and don’t stop to think.”
“Okay, let’s go,” Avery said, adopting a practical tone. Twig was thankful. Any display of emotion right now and she might crack.
The three women walked across the compound to where the stage had been erected. Twig noticed how bare things looked. There was no music or lanterns. There was no joy.
People sat quietly in white chairs that flanked the aisle Twig would walk down. It seemed everyone was in attendance except one person.
Thomas.
Twig would find him. When her father came, they would go find Thomas.
Avery took her elbow to steady Twig, who had started to falter. Twig bit her lip to quell the nausea that was rising inside her.
Twig looked down the aisle. Adam stood beaming on the stage beside Doc, who would preside over the ceremony. Adam was clearly excited. Twig wondered what exactly it was about all of this that excited him.
She shuddered to think.
“Looks like we’re on,” Avery said gently into Twig’s ear. She put her lips to Twig’s cheek. Twig closed her eyes to keep from crying. She turned and kissed Avery gently on her mouth.
Twig took a deep breath, straightened her back, and started the march down the aisle toward Adam.
And then she heard it. Or felt it. She wasn’t sure which came first. The earth seemed to be lifting, folding into itself around her. A wild, whipping wind pulled her hair from its bun, blowing her skirt. A thousand knives chopping violently at the air, as if the earth were being ground up by some giant machine. She covered her forehead and looked up. She remembered what her father had said about the security team arriving by helicopter, and his words, Don’t be afraid.
She was getting out.
She felt Adam’s gaze on her. There beneath the blinding wind, through the sound, Adam was glaring at her, shaking his head. He began to run toward her. She felt Avery grab her hand and pull her in the direction of the forest where the helicopter was landing. Together they ran, faster than they’d ever run before. They sprinted toward the helicopter, which was now just a few feet from the ground. Several men dressed in black with helmets and large guns jumped to the ground and began to run to Twig and Avery. The air screamed all around them.
As Twig ran, she whipped her head back for one last look.
She hadn’t meant to. It was ludicrous, after everything that had happened, but part of her was aching to turn back. It was the only world she had ever known. It was the family she’d grown up with. It was Ryan, her closest confidante. It was Sophie, whom she’d played with while she was still in diapers. It was Rose, whose color was a soft pink, who’d been nervous and excited on her wedding day. It was Farriss, looking at Sapphire with tears in his eyes. It was Anna.
Anna, trapped in a Family she didn’t sign up for. And that’s what Twig would always be here: trapped.
So she kept running. She was no longer running away from her life. She was running toward it. Toward her father, whom she’d finally get to meet. Toward painting with real paints on real canvases. Toward music and Cohen Lip Synch Nights. Toward Hazel, Alicia, and Jeff.
Toward Leo.
One of the men stuck out his arm. She felt the leather of his glove as he closed his hand around hers. She felt her feet, one by one, lifting off the earth, defying gravity, defying the magnetic pull of her former life.
She was getting out.
Author Bio
Marissa Kennerson received her B.A. in English Literature from the University of California at Berkeley. Before earning her master’s degree in psychology and art therapy, she worked for
Wired
and
Glamour
. She lives in California with her family.
The Family
is her first novel.
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.
Full Fathom Five Digital is an imprint of Full Fathom Five
The Family
Copyright © 2014 by Full Fathom Five, LLC
All rights reserved.
No part of this text may be used or reproduced in any form, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in review, without written permission from the publisher.
For information visit Full Fathom Five Digital, a division of Full Fathom Five LLC, at
www.fullfathomfive.com
Cover design by Torborg Davern
eBook ISBN: 978-1-63370-002-4
First Edition
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