⚠️WARNING: Depictions of violence ahead, read with caution
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The kids were growing up too fast, Odin was now 6 and Cali was 12.
Andre was in the living room with both kids when I ran in with an envelope in hand.
"Andre! Baby! Look!" I shoved the envelope in his face.
He laughed before gently taking it from me, opening the envelope and taking out a piece of paper. I watched his eyes read, his face becoming unreadable before he reached the end. His eyes widened and he turned to me with shock in his eyes.
"A reunion?!"
"Yeah! We're invited to go to the reunion and see all of our friends and teachers!"
"Sky, this is fantastic, but who's gonna watch the kids?"
I swore under my breath, quiet enough for Odin's parrot mouth not to repeat, "Let me make a few calls, maybe one of my uncles can if they're not busy, or my cousin."
"When's the reunion anyway?" Andre glanced at the paper again, "Oh, in a couple of weeks."
"Gives us enough time to get someone to watch our babies."
"If we have to, we can hire a babysitter." Andre suggested, "As long as they don't mind dogs."
I playfully rolled my eyes and sat down next to him, watching as Cali colored in her coloring book and as Odin built with his building blocks.
I rested my head on Andre's shoulder, smiling as he wrapped his arm around me.
"Look at what happened." he whispered in my ear, "we have a beautiful family, two perfect children, three amazing dogs, and I have the most beautiful wife."
He kissed my temple, I looked up at him, "I wouldn't have this life any other way."
****************
We found a sitter for the kids, my aunt told me she would be flying in for business and she said she would love to watch the kids and the dogs.
It was the night of the reunion, Andre and I dressed semi-fancy for the event. As I finished getting my shoes on, I heard the doorbell ring.
I opened the door and hugged my aunt Clarissa, tearing up as I haven't seen her since the wedding.
"Please come in!" I excitedly pulled her inside.
Soon, Andre descended the stairs, Odin following behind. Clarissa's smile immediately blossomed across her face as she laid eyes on my son.
"Oh my goodness, Sky, he looks just like you!" she cooed.
I smiled, gesturing for Odin to approach. He shyly did, not sure who this person was.
"Odin, this is my aunt, Clarissa. She's gonna be watching you and your sister while daddy and I are out."
Cue the waterworks, Odin started crying and begging me not to leave. Practically clinging to my leg.
"Hey, hey," I softly said to him as I picked him up, "it's only gonna be about six episodes of Spongebob. Daddy and I will bring home some snacks too, how about that?"
His tears stopped, and he hugged me. I laughed a bit and hugged him back, telling my aunt exactly what to do for the kids and giving her the dogs' schedule for their dinner and outside routines before they went to bed.
Afterwards, Andre and I were on our way to Hollywood Arts to see our friends and catch up with our teachers.
*******************
As we arrived, I immediately recognized Jade in the crowd of people. I screamed her name and rushed over to her, practically tackling her in a hug.
"Hey!" she laughed, squeezing me.
"Hey yourself! How's everyone?" I asked, pulling away and squeezing her hand.
"Sky, don't run off like that!" Andre soon joined us, completely out of breath, "You had me worried."
"I'm sorry!" I quickly hugged him, "I just saw Jade and couldn't hold back!"
Soon, our group of friends joined us, everyone chatting and catching up with each other.
So here's the details:
-Beck and Jade were still going on strong. Jade got signed as a musician while Beck got casted in an upcoming movie. They were doing fantastic and their married life was bliss. Bat was happy and healthy, too.
-Tori and her husband were getting along great, they already had a kid together and were planning on taking a trip to Disney for some family time.
-Cat and Robbie were expecting, Cat being three months pregnant with their first. They weren't married yet, but were engaged.
-Trina's dojo was doing fantastic for business, she was doing something she loved and even made it on a very popular blog.
As I was showing the girls pictures of Calliope, I immediately got a really bad gut feeling.
"Andre." I mumbled just loud enough for my husband to hear.
As if he had the same feeling as me, we stood close to each other, keeping an eye open for anything suspicious.
Our group immediately knew what was going on and copied our actions, making sure we were all safe from whatever threat we sensed.
Someone got on the mic above us, as we were in the Asphalt Cafe for the reunion.
"It's great to see you all again!" Sikowitz's voice boomed over the speakers, "I see a few of my students from back in the day!"
I took the opportunity to look up, seeing our teacher's smiling face as he talked.
"Now, this wasn't planned, but I feel as though one of our most successful students should come up here and perform for us. Skyla Harris! Come up here and perform!"
My stomach dropped, for the first time in my life, I had stage fright. Carefully, I pulled Andre with me, just to make sure I had somebody with me to keep me safe.
I smiled to Sikowitz and then looked down, smiling to all my classmates.
"Hello Hollywood Arts!"
Everyone cheered.
"It's great to be back! So let's get this reunion started!"
I turned to the band behind me and told them to play one of my songs from my album, the song being called, "Athena".
I didn't write it for my dog, in fact, I found the song to be inspiring and powerful, just like the goddess herself.
As I sang, I watched the audience closely, then I noticed a figure approaching from the shadows. Something shone from the many lights passing through the crowd and I stopped singing to alert everyone.
"SOMEONE'S GOT A GUN!" I yelled, causing everyone to run for cover.
Shots started firing, I ran to find Andre. I found him hiding with our friends behind a wall.
"Who the hell would bring a gun to a reunion?!" Robbie whispered so the shooter couldn't hear us.
"Someone who wants revenge." Jade answered, peeking around the wall.
She quickly pulled back, her eyes wide, "And I think I know who it is."
"What?" Tori squeezed her husband's hand.
"Who?" Trina asked.
Jade's eyes locked with Tori's, "Your ex."
"Flynn?!" I whisper shouted.
"He must have escaped again." Andre growled.
I kept my eye trained on the corner, then I got a plan.
"I know who he's after." I spoke up.
"Who?" everyone asked.
"Me. I yelled for the police when he was after Tori. He heard me. I'm the reason he got arrested again, so he wants me dead."
"What are we gonna do?" Cat asked, trying to stay calm for the sake of her pregnancy.
"I got this. Jade, I'll give you a signal. Andre, stay close by if he drags me off somewhere. He's not gonna go far. Trina, scout for anyone who may have been injured. Keep Cat protected at all costs, someone call the police if anyone's injured. Stay safe."
"Skyla, you can't." Andre pleaded.
"It's me he's after, and I'll make sure he doesn't pull that trigger."
Before anyone could protest, I calmly stepped out from behind the wall with my hands up, "Okay Flynn! I'm here, I'm the one you want, right?"
"You fucking bitch!"
"We can talk about this."
"No!" he pointed the weapon at me, "No! Because of you, I went back to prison. I had a chance of living a normal life and YOU RUINED THAT!"
"A normal life doesn't mean escaping prison and pretending to be someone you're not! You almost killed my friend!"
"Because she was hiding from me! Because she was scared of me!"
"For good reason." I slowly lowered my hands, "You raped and killed three women."
"They were all sluts anyway. Tori? She was different."
"No." I firmly said, "She was just another target for you."
Suddenly he grabbed my arm and pulled me in close to his face, he smelled of sweat and grease.
"You want to be big and brave now, Superstar? Let's see how big and brave you can be."
He then started dragging me towards the door that leads inside the building. I started hollering for help, only to be shut up by a warning shot.
"Let me go!" I growled, trying to break free from his grip on my arm.
At this point we were inside the building, he was dragging me over to the ladies restroom. He stopped in front of the door and shoved me.
"Get in there and get undressed. Everything off."
"No." I turned towards him, only to see the barrel in my face.
"Get in there or I will blow your brains out."
"Okay, okay. Just be warned, I have stitches so I can't be quick unless I want to rip them out." I fibbed, trying to buy time.
"Sure, whatever, just get in there."
I did what he said and got inside the restroom. I took of my shoes and began undressing myself, slowly though.
"Hurry up!" he yelled, "I hear people coming."
"I'm trying! Again, stitches!"
I managed to take off my bra from underneath my shirt, but before I could slide it under the door, Flynn burst in, gun on the floor and hands around my throat. He slammed me against the wall, keeping his grip loose.
"You were bullshitting me this whole time, weren't you, whore?"
"I don't know what you're talking about!"
"Stop lying," he started applying pressure, "or I'll kill you right here, right now."
"You left your gun behind, dumbass!" my husband's voice echoed through the restroom, "Now get your hands off my wife."
"Or what? You'll shoot me? You'll get arrested for it, you look the type to start trouble. Just like your slut of a wife."
"You son of a-"
"Andre, don't!" I pleaded.
"He disrespects you and your music, now he's got his hands on you and disrespects me, why shouldn't I teach this motherfucker a lesson?"
I shot Andre a look, he instantly understood and whipped out his phone. He was gonna text Jade and give her the signal to alert police, he did it stealthily, though, in order to keep Flynn from getting suspicious.
Once the phone was back in his pocket, Andre put his hands up, "Alright, Flynn, let's just talk."
"Talking is the least that I want to do." he shoved me further into the wall, "I want to teach this whore a lesson for fucking with me."
"Just let her go!" Andre pleaded.
"OR WHAT?!" Flynn yelled.
"You're gonna make it easier for the police to find you." Andre simply shrugged.
"You called them?!" Flynn exclaimed, releasing the pressure from my neck.
"No, but considering there were gunshots, that you stupidly shot off, someone's bound to call and report the shooting." Andre reasoned, fighting a smirk.
"Tick...tock." I mocked.
"Shut it, whore."
"That's really all you got?" I continued to mock him.
"I said, shut it."
I reeled back my knee to kick him in the groin, but he moved before I could swing.
"Not gonna work this time."
I was stuck, and so was Andre. We couldn't do anything without this psycho hurting me.
But soon, the thundering of footsteps approached. And the shouting of police filled me with relief.
"POLICE! HANDS WERE WE CAN SEE THEM!"
Flynn finally let go of my neck, I ran to Andre, who captured me in his arms. An officer approached Flynn and cuffed him, escorting him out of the building. Another officer approached Andre and I while another carefully bagged the weapon.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
"I am now."
I looked up at Andre, who was just glaring in the direction where Flynn was.
"Baby." I said, turning his face towards me, "Focus on me."
"He had his hands on you. Who knows what he would've done to you if I hadn't showed up."
"I hate to interrupt," the officer spoke up, "but we received a phone call from someone named Jade Oliver."
"Yes, yes. She's a friend." I explained.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After the cops left, everyone at the reunion decided that it was time to leave. So I messaged my aunt to let her know that Andre and I were coming home, bringing a couple of our friends with us.
We hopped into our respective vehicles and making our way to the house. Andre wasn't looking at me.
"What's wrong?" I asked, reaching out to touch his hand.
"I'm just pissed with that scumbag."
"There's no reason to be." I looked at his face, "He's being taken away, this is, what, the second time he's broken out of prison? There's no chance he's gonna break out a third, considering his prior charges."
"Skyla, he put his hands on you."
"That was expected, Andre."
"No," Andre pulled over and looked at me, "you don't get it."
"What are you talking about?"
"It's a man thing, Sky. He put his hands on you, I should've rocked his shit, hell, I should've shot him. But I couldn't because you just sit there and tell me not to act on my instincts."
"Because it could get you in trouble!" I pleaded.
"Who cares, Sky! I'm trying to protect you!"
"I don't need to be protected."
"Yes you do! With all the shit you went through, I feel like I have to protect you so it doesn't happen again!"
"Andre, it's not gonna happen again!"
"You don't know that."
"Yes I do! My mom's in prison, Nadia fucking changed for once, Flynn is possibly getting the death penalty, there's nothing to protect me from!"
I sighed, "Look, Andre, I get that you want to protect me. It's flattering. But you did your protecting back then, we have a life now."
He clenched his jaw.
"We have two kids, three dogs, a career together."
He let out a rough exhale through his nose.
I poked his arm repeatedly, "We're married."
He cracked a small smile, I continued, "We have a life we deserve to live. And yeah, that whole situation back there was scary, I'll admit that. It's over now, though. There's no need to worry anymore."
He took a few moments to think, then sighed, "You're right. I guess I'm still locked up in the past."
"Baby, look at me."
He did what I said, I placed my hand on his shoulder, "I'm safe. You're safe. Our kids, our dogs, our family, is safe. The only protection I need from you, is when we're-"
"OKAY! Let's head home!" he cut me off, awkwardly smiling.