Chapter 39
Hazel POV:
Bang Bang
A bloodcurdling scream leaves my lips.
Darkness is a shadow I can't escape and I can feel the blood on my hands, soaking into my clothes and I can't breathe—
Fear lives in the center of my throat and I feel like I am ripping at the seams at the terrifying image of his dead body on the ground.
There is a loud slam and I throw myself into the corner, hyperventilating.
Coda.
Coda.
Coda.
I can still feel the imprint of Rick's hand around my neck, the snarl on his lips twisting into a smile as he says 'I'm coming for you Princess.'
Someone grabs my arm and is yelling but my ears are ringing and I can't stop crying let alone find the air to breathe—
Please—
Please leave me alone—
Please—
~*~
Coda POV
"What the hell did Cordero do to make her like this?" Aurelio yells as I roughly brush past him, bounding up the steps on his porch.
"She is screaming bloody murder back there and she keeps saying please don't hurt me, I don't—I didn't know what to do. I tried to help her but I only made it worse and —" Aurelio shakes his head as if trying to erase the image from his head. "What happened to make her like this?" he asks again.
I don't answer, my heart pounding too fast for me to say anything.
I throw the front door open and take the stairs three at a time, her screaming making the hair on the back of my neck prickle.
I clench my fist when I hear her choked plea "Coda."
I try and open the bedroom door but it is locked.
I slam my hand against the door. "No! Please don't come in!" I hear Hazel cry.
The door won't budge and I can still hear her screaming. Aurelio realizes what I am going to do the moment I think of the idea.
He backs up, biting back a flinch as I step back and kick in the door. Hazel shrieks.
Throwing her door open, I see her curled into the corner, the sheets tangled around her. She flinches at the light but her eyes are glazed and her chest is heaving.
She scrambles away from me when I approach her.
"Hazel, baby, it's me," I say, my voice cracking. She looks right through me, the horror in her eyes lodging in the center of my chest. She was terrified of me.
I touch her leg and she kicks me, hard, screaming.
I brush off her kick, on my hands and knees as I try and pull her to me but she is hysterical and I don't know what to do. This was the worst of her panic attacks.
"Cara (darling), it's me," I tell her, trying to keep my voice calm but I am breaking, unable to hold back the lump in my own throat.
I want to sit and cry with her.
For the first time in years, after Ridge's death, I don't know what to do. Seeing her like this—I couldn't do this—
I grab her arm and she screams as I roughly pull her to me, trying my hardest to keep her still.
She was going to hurt herself if she kept thrashing around.
"Please don't hurt Jeremy. Please just leave me alone," she whimpers, sobbing.
I swallow hard, clenching my jaw and trying to stop the sting in my eyes that I know I can't ever show.
She wiggles out of my grasp, slamming her body against the edge of the bed in the process and I can't do it anymore, I can't watch her hurt herself. I pray that her fractured ribs are already mostly healed and she didn't damage them again.
It was time to take drastic measures. Ignoring her kicks and punches, I bundle her into my arms.
"Please. Baby, please," I tell her, unable to control the tremor in my own voice. "Look at me," I tell her firmly, trying to get her to snap out of whatever stupor she was in.
I lift her chin so she can face me but she wrenches away from my grasp, crying.
Grabbing her face between my hands, I look into her eyes. "I'm here. I am right here." She struggles to get out of my grasp but I'm not giving up this easily.
"Il mio tesore, listen to my voice," I say gently, hoping that she will see the honesty in my eyes and hear the love in my voice. "Please," I plead, resting my forehead against hers. "Please come back to me. Please baby."
She pushes me away weakly, her defensiveness slowing.
"Please come back Ill mio cuore, my heart,"
she freezes, slowly stopping her struggling. Her breathes come out in labored pants. "No one is going to hurt you," I continue, brushing my lips against her cheeks, her nose and her lips. "I am right here Il mio cuore."
Her fingers latch onto the collar of my sheet, holding me close to her and I know I've finally reached her.
"I'm sorry," she whimpers, burying her face into the crook of neck. "I'm sorry."
Stroking her hair, I breathe a sigh of relief and rock us back and forth. "Don't ever be sorry."
I glance up to see Aurelio sitting against the wall across from us, digging the palm of his hands into his eyes and I know that he finally gets just how serious this situation is.
He glances up looking weary and regards Hazel and I quietly. "I'm going to get her some tea," he says, getting up to give us some quiet time. I nod, appreciating his aid.
Hazel has calmed down, her shuddering breathes and shaking frame the only indicator of what just happened.
"Talk to me," I whisper in her ear. "What's wrong cara."
She sniffs as a tremor wracks her body. "They are everywhere Coda. In every corner of my dreams, hiding in the darkest of my thoughts. I can't shake them off of me. Every second of every moment is spend worrying and I just—I am so tired Coda," she cries softly. I hug her so tightly I'm sure it hurts her but at that moment, she is my lifeline and I am hers.
I can't say anything that will comfort her. I knew exactly what she was going through the worst part was not being able to help her through it because I still hadn't found the way the deal with the dreams myself.
Cordero was always going to be a part of my life. No matter what.
Because in order to fully get rid of Cordero from my life, you'd have to cut out everything that made me me—my mothers death, Ridge's death, the person I have come to be—
I was never going to escape Cordero and if I couldn't escape him, how would Hazel be able to?
I dragged her into the same deranged cycle of pain that I had spent years trying to run away from.
Maybe Cordero had me right where he wanted me to be—desperate.
~*~
Aurelio crosses his arms, glancing down worriedly at Hazel.
"You should've left her," he says, shaking his head.
I run my hand through my hair angrily, glowering at the wall.
"I tried."
"Clearly not hard enough," he hissed.
I take a large step forward, pushing him back until we are face to face. "I don't need you reminding me of my screw-ups. I know more than anyone that this is all my fault and if you don't think that shit eats away at me, then you're not the friend I thought you were," I snarl. There is so much anger in me I half want him to challenge me, to make me angry enough so that the old Coda—the ruthless, take it or leave it person, could resurface again.
Aurelio holds my gaze for a moment before sighing in frustration and looking away.
"You know I have your back over anyone else's. But I'm worried about both of you. She can't even walk around the house without a look of fear in her eyes and you walk around with the fear that you're going to lose her. This has to end,"
"Thank you for stating the obvious," I say, rolling my eyes. I take a deep breath to calm myself as I step away from Aurelio.
I knew he was right though.
I was stuck.
I couldn't leave her alone because no matter what Cordero wouldn't stop but maybe I only worsened things by bringing her with me.
I glance down at Hazel, brushing the back of my hand down her face.
There is a small scar near her eyebrow and I think back to the day Rick crashed his car into us.
She shifts in her sleep, a moan catching in her throat when she moves. I furrow my eyebrows, wondering how her ribs were healing.
She was broken and bruised and yet she was still here with me.
"Why do you think Cordero wants her father's files? Her father is just a car mechanic," Aurelio muses, leaning against the door frame. "the only connection I see is that Cordero makes a lot of money from you stealing cars but what does he want with the files?"
I tuck a strand of hair that is sticking to Hazel's face behind her ear, trying to make the connection between the files too.
"80% of him pestering Hazel is to make a jab of me. The almighty Cordero has lost control of his prodigy son that he took off of the streets and he is getting desperate to assert his control again. He's using Hazel as collateral to get me to do what he wants," I say quietly.
I leave the room and Aurelio follows me.
I didn't want to hold onto a phone for to a long just in case Cordero could somehow track where we were. As if he read my mind, Aurelio throws his hand out and I toss him the phone.
"I don't think she is going to like being cooped up in this house all day," Aurelio calls out to me as I walk into the kitchen. He pops the battery out of the phone and destroys it, promptly following me.
"Well she is going to have to deal with it," I snap, checking the locks on the windows.
Aurelio heaves a sigh. "I've already checked all of the locks and the windows are tinted so people can't look through from the outside Do you think I am a still a boy whose mama reminds to wash behind his ears?."
"I just want to make sure," I mutter. "Plus, your mother still calls to make sure you shower properly."
He snorts. "She worries about you too. She's always asking about you. I have to stop myself from telling her your on opposing gangs because if anyone found out, I'd be dead meat. As for Cordero, they should just come with guns blazing so we can take them all out. It would end in like five minutes."
"Yeah, that's brilliant," I hiss, punching him on the shoulder.
He flinches, glowering at me.
"Will you calm yourself? You are pacing my damn kitchen like you are about to under go heart surgery or something. Sit down. Have a beer. Watch a movie or something," he drawls.
I huff, collapsing onto a chair with a frown.
He had to be kidding me.
Like I had time for that.
"You know, Hazel told me how you two first met. Jumping into her car? Really?" Aurelio says, shaking his head.
I smirk dryly, thinking back to that day. It felt like so long ago.
"She punched me like twenty times that night," I chuckle.
Aurelio snorts, draining the last of his water bottle before crumpling it loudly and tossing it into the sink. "I knew I liked her."
I smile softly, nodding in agreement. Hazel was something else.
I hear Aurelio scoff, muttering something about whips under his breath.
I glower at him. "What'd you say Golden boy? I couldn't quite hear you."
He doges my kick, rolling his eyes. "I was just thinking it's kinda funny to see you wrapped around Hazel's little finger. Who would've thought the almighty Coda Williams would be whipped by a girl half your size," Aurelio laughs.
"She punches hard and kicks even harder," I warn him.
"I bet," Aurelio jokes.
I flick a piece of lint off my jeans, deep in thought. "She is tougher than most guys we know too. She took a beating for me you know."
Aurelio stops laughing, the air getting chiller.
"Rick grabbed a stick to hit me with and one minute I'm bracing myself and the next I am being tackled by Hazel, her tiny frame somehow able to knock me over. The fact that Hazel was over me didn't stop that coward though," I growl. "He hit her so hard with that stick I thought for a good second that he had cracked her back."
I hear Aurelio growl lowly. "That bastard."
I shake my head, finding comfort in the fact that even though Aurelio barely knew Hazel, he had already grown to be protective of her.
"Rick will get out of jail soon if the police don't find more evidence of his past," I say, stating the obvious.
"Then we've got to take down Cordero, expose his corruption and bring that gang of yours down soon," Aurelio snarls with anticipation, cracking his knuckles.
~*~
Hazel POV
When I wake up to find myself in a strange room without Coda. My heart takes off a mile a minute as I try to remember where I am.
Kicking the sheets off of me, I look around me. when I see the door splintered in half and shattered, I gasp. Gingerly stepping over the mess, I peak over the corner. The house is silent.
"Coda?" I hiss, looking around the corner. Descending the stairs, I look around.
If he left me, I think to myself, I will personally hit him so hard he'll poop his pants—
"Boo!"
I scream as a figure jumps in front of me, latching onto my shoulder.
Bringing my knee up, I hit the intruder's most sensitive spot. He goes down and I punch his neck for good measure before bolting away.
"What the hell?—"
I run into a hard chest and automatically, arms wrap around me.
I look up to see Coda staring down at me in confusion before looking back where the intruder is.
"Coda, there is someone else in the house and we have to go—"
"Of course there is someone else in this house. This is my house you two are staying in," the man I kneed wheezes.
I freeze and look at where Coda is looking to see Aurelio crawling to the base of the stairs.
He pulls himself into a sitting position, grimacing.
Horrified, I snap my gaze back to Coda to see him grinning.
"Oh my gosh I am so sorry, I just—Oh my—Aurelio—I am so sorry," I ramble, humiliated. I smack Coda in the chest. "Help me!" I hiss.
Coda winces. "With what? Aurelio?" he laughs. "He'll be fine."
Aurelio is hunched over and I quickly untangle myself from Coda to go help him.
"I am so sorry. You scared me and I thought—"
Aurelio dismisses my comment, patting my shoulder. "I should've known better than to scare you. By the way, you weren't joking when you said she kicked hard," he says, glancing up at Coda.
Coda stands with his arms crossed, watching us with an amused look on his face. He looks...almost... proud in a way.
I glare at Coda who is just standing there and Coda tries to hide the smile on his face. "Help me carry him to the couch!"
Coda rolls his eyes, not moving. "He'll live. Just let him sit on the bottom of his stairs."
Aurelio lets out a groan, leaning back against the stairs with an arm over his eyes.
"Classic Coda. I'd get shot, stabbed and pushed off a building and he would still say I'd be okay," Aurelio says dramatically.
Aurelio goes silent and I can't tell if he is sleeping. Looking up at Coda for guidance, he shrugs, clearly enjoying this too much.
"Um, Aurelio? Are you sure you're okay? Coda can get you an icepack or something for you..." I trail off, growing red.
Aurelio barks out a laugh and I jump in surprise. "Just let me die here. I have been scorned by my soul mate Coda Williams and there is no reason for me to live anymore—"
"Shut up you dimwit," Coda sighs in exhasperation, grabbing onto Aurelio's forearm and pulling him up.
Aurelio grunts in pain and I have to help him stay up right.
"Coda," I hiss. "Be careful."
Coda rolls his eyes, clapping Aurelio in the back so hard it nearly sends him careening into me. "He's in a gang, he's been shot before and still managed to take out five men."
My eyes widen and I take a small step back.
"Don't scare her, jeez," Aurelio mutters to Coda, flinging an arm around my shoulders and bringing me closer.
"Will you help me to my chair baby girl?" Aurelio asks, pouting. His blond hair falls over his dark eyes and I begin to see why so many girls fall for him.
"Alrighty prom queen drama queen, go fix us some breakfast, will you?" Coda says, pulling Aurelio off of me.
Aurelio rolls his eyes. 'jealous' he mouths to me, gesturing to Coda.
"I am going to train Hazel some more on how to fight later on and she'll be needing a punching bag. What do you think Aurelio? Are you up for enduring some more of her kicks and punches?," Coda threats, narrowing his eyes.
"I'm leaving, I'm leaving," Aurelio mutters, swatting Coda away. "Me? the drama queen? Please."
As Aurelio limps away, complaining, I stare at him, still worried and embarrassed.
"Shouldn't we—"
I stop, Coda inches from me—a lot closer than before.
I narrow my eyes at him. "What are you doing?"
He smiles charmingly and I swallow hard when he brushes a strand of my hair away. "What? I can't smile at you?"
"Not like that," I mutter, grudgingly. My heart pounds bruises into my chest.
He laughs lowly, taking a step forward and forcing me to step back until the wall is behind me and we are hidden from Aurelio who is in the kitchen.
I smile up at him, hoping that he doesn't bring up last night but when I see the frown on his face, I know that I won't be so lucky.
"Why didn't you ever tell me?" he asks, so quiet I can barely hear him.
I avoid his piercing gaze—the hurt in them disarming.
"It wasn't important at the time—"
"It's important to me," Coda interrupts, snapping. He growls lowly, shoving a hand through his hair from his frustration. "You were screaming last night Hazel. It was raw and—"
He stops, struggling to contain his emotion. I finally begin to take in his disheveled appearance and the dark circles under his eyes and I feel an immense sense of guilt in my heart knowing just how worried he was about me.
"They are only dreams," I say soothingly, placing my hands on his face and guiding him to look at me.
"Why do you lock the door to keep people out then?" Coda asks.
He swallows hard, his handsome face weary as he shakes his head in defeat.
"There is no other way," I say in honesty. "I want to learn to cope with my dreams myself."
"You knew they were that bad so why didn't you come to me?" Coda asks angrily. "I could've helped you Hazel, I could've—"
Coda shakes his head in frustration, swallowing his emotions back. I try to get him to look at me but he won't.
"Coda," I say quietly, pleadingly.
He shakes his head again, untangling himself from me and stalking up the stairs.
He doesn't turn around. "Don't follow me. I need time to think."
Feeling a lump in my throat, I cup my elbow and blink back tears.
What do I say?
What do I do?
"Give him a minute to think things out," a voice behind me says softly.
My shoulders slump and suddenly I am too weary to hold back my tears.
The tears fall silently at first as I try to swallow my sobs back but my chest is aching.
I feel Aurelio's arm wrap firmly around my shoulder before he guides me to the couch.
"He has always been a man of too few words and too many emotions," Aurelio says humorlessly. "He pushes people away when he is overwhelmed. It's a mechanism."
I sniffle, burying my face in my palms.
"I know you want to help but give him a few hours. He'll come back. He always comes back," Aurelio advises, rubbing my back with his hand in soothing strokes. "I hate to say it but you really freaked him out last night."
"That's why I locked the door," I mutter.
Aurelio scoffs. "Did you really think Coda would let a flimsy door stand in his way?"
No.
"Why is Cordero so adamant on keeping Coda in the gang? Why can't he just let Coda go?" I ask, taking the tissue box Aurelio hands me.
Aurelio sighs heavily, leaning back on the couch.
"Coda's all he's got."
I flinch. "What's that supposed to mean? Are you trying to tell me Cordero loves Coda and is wanting to keep him close?"
Aurelio snorts, taking a long drink from his beer can. "It's not love. It's desperation. Cordero doesn't want to be alone and he has this sick fantasy that Coda will someday take the gang over for him. Cordero reacts to desperation. He knows that his control over Coda is lessening and in his desperation to keep being powerful, Cordero is wanting to teach Coda a lesson."
"A lesson?"
Aurelio glances at me, his eyes boring into mine. "A lesson that will put him back in his place. A place of power that is above all his other gangs members but always a notch below Cordero himself."
I swallow hard. "He disgusts me."
Aurelio laughs, nearly choking on his beer. "That's a nicer description than the one I would use to describe Cordero. The man is disturbed. He hates you because you're the cause of Coda's 'rebelliousness'" Aurelio says, putting quotation marks around the word rebelliousness.
"Hates me enough to kill me?" I whisper, picking at a loose strand in Coda's jacket.
Aurelio grows silent, staring off into the distance as I take his silence to mean yes.
I swallow the lump in my throat.
"He'll have to get through Coda and I first."
I freeze, surprised, as I turn to look at Aurelio.
He looks at me earnestly, his oceanic blue eyes hypnotic. He is handsome. I suddenly think about how cute Addy would be with Aurelio and that thought alone is enough to make me choke on emotion.
Aurelio knew nothing of me yet he was willing to die for me.
"Don't look at me like that. I may be a gang member but I still care for those I love. I am fiercely loyal and protective and now that you are with Coda, I will do everything I can to keep you safe. He can't lose you. Not after Ridge."
For the first time since I've arrived, Aurelio isn't smiling and joking. He is completely serious.
There is an iciness in his eyes that makes me believe that he is indeed a notorious gang member for a reason.
I am at a loss of words, his loyalty to me touching. Unable to put into words how grateful I am, I place my hand over his and squeeze tightly, blinking away my tears.
"I don't want you—or anyone—to get hurt for me," I say quietly.
Aurelio cracks his signature grin. "Oh believe me, I won't go down without a fight. Also, I believe that Coda may know a few others who can help us."
I stare at Aurelio in confusion. "More people?"
"Coda is a natural leader. His is firm yet compassionate. All these years of playing second in command to Cordero meant that he was in charge of a lot of other gang members. Instead of ruling them through fear like Cordero though, Coda earned their respect. If things get messier and it comes down to it, I don't doubt that few of Cordero's own men will turn and help Coda."
Woah. My head is spinning.
I gape at Aurelio who chuckles at my reaction. He ruffles my hair. "Don't look so surprised. Coda can be nice and make people like him if he wants."
"I don't have to make people like me. They do that all on their own," Coda suddenly says from the door way. I jump in surprise.
When did he get here?
I hear Coda's footsteps behind me but I stay frozen in my spot as Aurelio looks behind me, a lazy smirk on his lips.
"Please. They don't know you like I do. If they did, they'd be running," Aurelio scoffs.
Coda steps close enough so my back brushes his thigh, his hand gently dropping to my shoulder.
"At least I have friends other than you," Coda snaps back, maturely.
I roll my eyes and Aurelio scoffs. "You're not my only friend. I have other friends."
"Sure Golden boy. Do you remember little Tommy? You were supposed to work with him on a project and instead of becoming buddies with him, you shot him in the foot."
My eyes widen and I gape at Aurelio who sheepishly looks away.
"No way," I gasp.
Aurelio waves Coda's comment off likes it's nothing. "He was waving that gun around too much and I had to grab it before he accidently shot my beautiful face or his crown jewels. The boy was always too drunk to function properly anyways so I don't know why he was trying to use a gun while intoxicated."
I hear chuckle behind me and I try to calm my racing heart when his thumb begins to gently stroke circles into my skin.
He always comes back, I remember Aurelio telling me.
"Well how horrific it would be if he shot your beautiful face," Coda says sarcastically. "How then would you pick up all the poor unsuspecting ladies?"
Aurelio glowers at Coda, offended. "I have more to offer than just my face. The ladies dig my sensitivity and my wit and my—" Aurelio grins wickedly, his gaze flickering down to his pants.
"You disgust me," Coda tells Aurelio blandly, his voice lacking emotion. My face goes red at his implication.
Aurelio bursts out laughing. " I was going to say they love my sense of style, get your head out of the gutter Williams. Also, Hazel here said the same phrase earlier."
Aurelio takes one look at my red face and starts to laugh again.
"Did she really?" Coda asks, amused. He stands next to me, running the back of his hand across my red cheeks.
"Well you know— it was directed to Cordero— and I didn't call Aurelio disgusting, I wouldn't and—" I begin to ramble, suddenly nervous.
Aurelio blinks and Coda hides a smile.
"Do you always ramble when you're nervous?" Aurelio asks, chuckling.
I glare at Aurelio, about to deny when Coda speaks up, clearly amused. "You have no idea."
I snap my glare to Coda who looks down at me with a gentleness that I don't expect.
That look is enough to make my mouth go dry and my angry remark go flying out of my head.
"You owe me a new door by the way," Aurelio grumbles to Coda. Coda just grins as he entwines our fingers together and sits by my feet, leaning against my legs.
I turn beet red at the mention of his ruined door and last nights episode.
"It'll be fixed by tomorrow," Coda chuckles.
I glance down at Coda, wondering how I fell in love with a boy who changed his emotions like the flick of a light switch.
But then again, the more I think about it, the more I realize this: How could I not have fallen in love with him?
Coda catches my stare and grins cheekily at me, pressing a kiss into the back of my hand. "I'm sorry," he murmurs.
My heart stutters and I smile back softly at him.
"You better install that new door quickly. I need my beauty sleep. I don't want to be hearing hanky panky at night, you hear?" Aurelio interrupts, loudly.
I gape at him, feeling unbearably embarrassed.
Coda kicks Aurelio's leg and Aurelio yelps, flying off the couch. "Damn boy, calm down. I was kidding."
I shake my head, collapsing against the couch. These boys.
~*~
A/N- Super long chapter just for you :) This was a little bit of a filler but I really like Aurelio and his interactions with Coda. What do you think. Thank you for sticking with this story <3
As a side note, who knows the story about Queen Esther of Persia? I can't stop thinking about her story and I've actually written a prologue already but i'm not sure if i should post it. I have a lot of other stories i need to finish. but anyways, what do you think? Would you be interested?
As always, thank you for your support. Please don't forget to fan, comment and vote!
-Love, Smar