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Ary wasn't sure what time it was. She had laid down around midnight and had fallen asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. She hadn't been sleeping well and when she could actually fall asleep, she was out like a light.
Things had gotten better since she told Rave about the miscarriage, but not all of her worries and concerns were gone. They still had to worry about who bombed the Sheriff's Office. Her uncle was stable, but was in a medically induced coma because of the swelling in his brain. The doctors didn't seem too optimistic.
It had been almost a week since she told Rave, since Rave almost killed Luke. Again. She hadn't heard anything from her family. She'd taken this time to take a step back from everything and focus on her relationship with Rave. Mads called her to update her about her uncle's condition, but that was the only communication she had with the outside world.
Rave wasn't in bed yet so it was at least some time before four in the morning. It made the fact that someone was calling her repeatedly a little more worrisome. It seemed that all she did lately was worry. She was terrified that this call was about her uncle.
The last she heard he hadn't been doing so well. He had a lot of swelling around the brain and if the doctors couldn't get to go down there'd be no coming back from that. Even if he did live he'd have brain damage and could possibly be in a vegetative state forever.
"What?" she mumbled into the phone, not bothering to see who was calling.
"B-Bella," it was Maddie and it sounded like she was crying.
"Mads?" Ary sat up in bed, instantly alert. This was it. Maddie was going to tell her that her uncle had died. Even though she had been expecting it, she didn't know if she could handle hearing it.
"It happened again," her sister sniffed into the phone.
"What happened again?" Ary asked. With all of the crazy shit that was happening with her family she was going to need a little more elaboration. Did Luke get shot again or did Juliana go off on one of her psychotic outbursts?
Juliana hadn't been around lately. Ary hadn't seen her since the outburst at the house and Maddie had told her that it was like their mother had disappeared off the face of the earth.
"Bella!" Maddie practically screamed her name.
"Sorry. What?" Ary shook away her thoughts and tried to focus on the conversation.
"There was another bomb, Bella," Maddie all but whispered the words.
"What?" Ary's heart dropped. "At the hospital? Uncle Jack-"
"No, not the hospital. Here, at home. At Aunt Charlotte's," Maddie corrected her.
"How? What happened?" Ary was trying to piece everything together even as she was still waking up.
"I don't know. Aunt Charlotte just called Dad like ten minutes ago," Maddie answered her.
"Is anyone hurt?" Ary demanded.
"I don't know. The place is on fire. They're putting it out now. Luke was supposed to be home, but we can't get a hold of him." Maddie sounded like she was going to start bawling again.
"Hang on," Ary muttered into the phone.
Not bothering to change out of her pajamas, Ary yanked on her socks and boots as she balanced the phone on her shoulder. She didn't even try tying her shoes as she headed out of the bedroom. Any thoughts of brushing her hair or even putting on a bra completely left her.
"I'm headed home now," Ary informed Maddie.
"Bell, what's going on?" Maddie sobbed into the phone.
"I have no idea, but I'll get to the bottom of this. I promise," she told her sister before hanging up.
What was going on? Why would Christian put a hit out on Luke? Did Luke do something to upset him? Damn, now she really wished that she had gotten a chance to talk to Luke. He knew more than he was letting on. He probably knew more than any of them. If her cousin was alive, she'd kill him. After getting the information out of him of course.
Ary came barreling down the back staircase. She jumped down the last few steps and hit the ground running. There was no time to waste. There could be more bombs going off in Haven at any moment. Bombs that where specifically being placed to harm her family.
"Jesus, Ary," Mason barely caught himself from dropping the cases of beer he was holding when she come sprinting past him.
"Where's Rave?" she demanded as she slowed down to a more reasonable pace. She was still moving pretty quickly though.
"What's wrong?" he asked, frowning.
"No time. Where the hell is your boss?" she snapped at him.
"Out front," Mason nodded towards the door leading towards the main part of the club.
Ary only felt slightly guilty for snapping at Mason like that. She didn't mean to sound like an asshole, but her heart was beating so fast that she couldn't really focus on anything other than the tight feeling in her chest. She knew Mason would forgive her.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Rave slid off of the barstool as soon as he saw her.
"We need to go to Haven. Now," she told him.
"What? Why?" he asked, confused.
"There was another bomb. This time at Luke's house," she stated. Rave's expression didn't change. "Rave, I know you hate him, but he's my family. I have to go," she told him, urgently.
"Okay," Rave nodded. "Let's go." He grabbed his jacket from behind the bar and followed her out back.
"Lock up," Rave ordered Mason.
"Okay..." Mason looked thoroughly confused, but he wasn't about to disobey orders.
"Christian isn't really the bombing type," Rave frowned. "He likes the blood and guns," he explained as they approached his car.
"Okay, but he always has someone do his dirty work and with the gang being all over the place, he's had to get help from somewhere else," Ary suggested as she jumped into the passenger seat.
"This just doesn't feel like him," Rave said, starting the car. He put it into gear and floored it out onto the street.
"Who else would want to hurt my family?" she questioned.
"I don't know, but you aren't exactly a clean living, wholesome bunch. Your uncle, Luke, your mom-" he stressed that one. "There could be plenty of people that want to hurt you."
"I miss the days when Juliana having a fit was the worst thing I had to worry about," Ary sighed, slouching in her seat.
Rave reached over and took her hand in his. "It'll be okay, Ary. We'll get through this," he assured her.
Ary couldn't explain what she was feeling at the moment. What Rave said, the way he said it. That's all she had ever wanted to hear. That she wasn't alone, that she wasn't the only person who was fighting. No one had ever helped or supported her. They never encouraged her.
Her chest hurt again, but this time it wasn't from fear, it was from the love she felt for this man. For all the over protective crap he pulled on her and the dozens of times she had ran off, he was still always by her side.
"Rave?" she said his name in a raspy voice, her throat suddenly dry.
"Hmm?" he glanced over at her.
"I love you." She said it as if it were her first time confessing it.
He smiled, stroking his thumb over her knuckles. "I love you, too." She frowned. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"What if we never stop this? What if the bombs and shootings and violence just go on forever?" she questioned.
"That's impossible. You're just thinking too much," he assured her.
"Am I? We've literally been bombarded from every side for almost a year. From Christian, from Michael, and now possibly a new threat?" She leaned back against the seat, her brain just fried from all the scenarios she was thinking up.
"Ary." He squeezed her hand in a show of support. "This will end. Even if it means going up against every lowlife criminal in the entire Midwest, we'll get past all this violence and mayhem."
Ary had to believe him. If she didn't she'd just worry more. Eventually there would be an end. She'd see to that. Whether it ended in the death of every person who wanted to harm her family, or with her own demise, there would be an end for her. An end where she wasn't always on her guard. Where she wasn't awaiting for the confirmation of death of a loved one. All there was left to worry about was the ending she actually preferred more.
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I apologize for the long break! Thank you so much for sticking with my story for all this time. I promise I will finish it by Halloween.