There was no one in sight as I felt above the door where I used to keep my spare keys. My finger tips touched the familiar metal and I bit my lip hesitating with it in front of the lock.
This is it.
I took a deep breath and quickly unlocked the door and walked into the foyer.
I remembered the first time Daniel brought me here to officially announce our engagement to the Pack. I was excited and I felt so happy sitting on that beige coloured couch holding his hand, waiting for his father to see us.
I was such a fool.
I looked at the staircase to my left and listened intently for any sign of life.
‘You’re sure it’ll work?’ Keegan –Daniel’s Beta- asked someone and I felt everything in me stiffen when Daniel said, ‘I know her better than she knows herself. She’ll be back.’ They both chuckled and I had such a murderous rage flood my body that I almost choked on it.
‘No! No please don’t!’ A woman’s voice cried out in pain and I silently rushed up the stairs to my (our) old bedroom where the sounds were coming from. I peered around the corner and saw a young girl in her early twenties unconscious on the floor to the right of the door. She had long auburn coloured hair and milky white skin but I couldn’t see if she was dead or alive. There was another girl -that I assumed was bonny- on her knees with her hands tied above her head to the bedpost. My stomach heaved. Daniel tied me down like that once.
I forced the memories away and tried to think of a plan to get her out of there. If they had her tied up just waiting for me to trade myself for her and possibly the other girl too then it would have been a clean cut and go but this was far worse. They’d clearly beaten the hell out of Bonny. Her lip was bleeding and she had a big cut on her cheek with a bruise forming around it, a black eye and as she silently begged them to stop but Daniel reached his fist back and punched her again, causing her head to rock back and then she went limp. I bit my tongue hard enough to taste blood and clenched my fists trying to control my wolf.
‘Aww look, she’s out again.’ Keegan snickered
‘It’s no fun when they don’t stay conscious.’ Daniel sighed looking from Bonny to the other girl and then started walking toward the door.
‘Make sure they’re both secure. We’ll be back to check on them in an hour or so.’
I snuck into the spare bedroom next to my old room and stood there in darkness waiting for them to walk past. I saw Daniel clean his knuckles off with his handkerchief and I had another image of him crouching in front of me as I begged death to take me a few months ago. He wore his usual sneer and told me how weak I was and that I’d never amount to anything.
He told me I should be grateful to be a Luna instead of bitching about his other play things. He said all of this whilst cleaning my blood off of his hands with that same handkerchief. I pictured grabbing him from behind and wrapping that piece of cloth around his neck and not removing it until he stopped fighting for air.
I blinked and gasped inaudibly at the violence that this asshole has awoken in me.
Keegan walked out of the door wiping his hands off on his jeans and then jogged to catch up to Daniel. They were laughing now as if they were at a party instead of some torture house with a young woman tied to a bed and another possibly dead girl on the floor of Daniel’s bedroom.
I waited another second and then I scrambled out of the room and into the other bedroom, kneeling in front of Bonny first.
‘Bonny, hey Bonny can you hear me?’ I gently lay my hand on her cheek and tilted her face up toward me and almost screamed to see her eyes open and staring at me.
‘Oh thank God, I thought it was them.’ She rasped and winced as she swallowed. I noticed blue finger marks on her neck and realized they must have choked her at some point.
‘I am so sorry this is happening.’ I swiped at my eyes
‘What they did is not your fault.’ She told me a bit more firmly but I ignored it, stood up and walked over to my bedside table. I felt under the drawer, loosened the tape and stood with a switch blade knife in my hand. So many nights I stood with the blade in my hand not sure if I should kill Daniel in his sleep or kill myself before he could finish the job. He never knew about the knife and I was sure that he’d use it on me if he did anyway.
‘We have to hurry, there isn’t much time.’ She whispered and I hurried over to her again and quickly cut her wrists free. She collapsed onto the carpeted floor and massaged her wrists. My neck itched and I swiped at it.
‘The other girl, she hasn’t moved for over an hour.’ Bonny stared at the girl on the floor but made no move to touch her so I crouched down and felt her neck. It was cold but there was a pulse.
‘We will have to send help back for her. I don’t know about you but I can’t carry her all the way to the border.’ I sighed knowing she was telling the truth. This girl wasn’t the tiniest thing and even with my werewolf strength, I couldn’t carry her that far either.
‘I promised her brother I’d get her out-’
‘If you try to rescue her and get both of us out then they’d surely catch us.’ Bonny sounded desperate and I nodded reluctantly.
‘Let’s get help as soon as I get you out of here.’ She nodded and I stood up giving the unconscious girl a sad look before turning around.
‘We can’t go back that way.’ I hissed as she walked toward the bedroom door.
‘You heard them. They’ll be back in an hour to check on us.’ I shook my head
‘Daniel isn’t that patient.’ I opened the bedroom window and looked down.
‘If you phase, you can make the jump.’ She walked over to me and looked out the window before taking a step back, horror painted all over her
‘Hell no. That’s too high.’ My neck itched again and I scratched it prodding her toward the window again.
‘I know you’ll survive because I did it once before.’ Her eyebrows arched and she looked out of the window again.
‘Please Bonny, you have to go now. ’
‘Daniel is a real asshole.’ She hissed placing her feet through the window and ducked her head through it.
‘Well that’s not nice.’ I whirled to see Daniel stand at the door with arms folded. The itch was always a sign that he was agitated and that he was near. I should have paid attention to it!
‘Screw you.’ She snarled and was about to climb back in when I pushed her. Luckily she phased before she hit the ground but she hesitated for a few seconds so I yelled,
‘Go!’ Then she took off like a bat out of hell toward the border.
‘Welcome home honey.’ Daniel sneered and opened his arms in a mocking gesture.
‘Don’t I get a hug?’ I clutched the knife in my hand and took a step back as he took one toward me.
‘Go fuck yourself Daniel.’ He scowled at me and my mark burned. I had to stifle the urge to scratch.
‘You should know better than that Kelly.’ He stalked toward me but I swiped at him with the knife and he moved just in time.
‘Those wolves are a bad influence on you Kelly.’ He snarled and tried to grab me but I danced out of his way and swiped at him with the knife again, this time I cut his arm and his eyes widened. A thick red line formed on his neatly pressed white shirt and when he looked up, his black eyes promised death. He lunged and knocked me back hard enough to connect my head to the shelf on the wall and that was the last thing I remembered.
