Cursed Love: Cursed Love (Cursed, #1) (22 page)

I sit up and pull the covers back off my body, trying to quietly get out of bed without waking Jo.

She starts to squirm next to me while running her hand down my back.

“What’s wrong, baby?” she asks, turning on her side to face me.

“I heard a noise coming from next door,” I reply.

“It’s probably someone outside. Lie back down and go to sleep.”

“I can’t, Jo; I have to go check on Etty.”

Getting out of bed, I pull on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt.

“Do you want me to come with you?” she asks, sitting up in the bed.

“Nah, just stay here, I’ll be right back. I just want to make sure she’s okay. It sounded like she may have fallen down the stairs.”

“Okay, well hurry back.”

I lean down to give her a kiss on her lips and make my way out of the room.

It’s pitch back in the house, so I flip the hallway switch on so that I don’t trip and fall down our stairs.

Walking out the front door, I turn to the left and face Etty’s door. I can see that the living room light is lit through the window. Turning the knob, I open the door and see her sitting on the couch.

Her head is in her hands and she looks to be shaking.

I rush over to her and pull her into my arms.

“Etty, what happened? I heard a loud thumping and was scared something happened. Are you okay?” I ask with panic in my voice.

“Linc, you need to go, get out of here,” she whispers.

“Etty, what the fuck is going on? Why are you kicking me out?”

I look into her eyes that are now filled with fear—a terror that tells me that something is really wrong.

“Etty, is someone here?” I ask, starting to look around the room.

I get up from my crouched position next to her and move away to get a good look at her. Her face is starting to swell and her right eye is bright red. She has blood running down the side of her face and covering her hands. I have no clue what the fuck is happening, but I need to find out. I have to keep her safe from whatever is going on in here.

The sound of footsteps coming down the stairs pulls my attention from Etty to the other side of the room.

My eyes go wide as I see Michael, our old tenant, following another guy into the living room.

“That’s him,” Michael says, pointing to me with a large black bag in his other hand.

A tall, brawny man comes rushing toward me and catches me off guard. He knocks me over as I stumble backward, but I find nothing to stop my fall before I land on the hard floor.

A loud noise comes from Etty and I catch Michael moving toward her out of the corner of my eye.

I try to turn her way as he covers her mouth with his hands. I want to fight this guy off of me and go to her, but I can’t. The weight of his body is crushing my chest and my arms are pinned down along my side.

With my attention focused on Etty, I miss the fist flying toward my face and hitting me square in the jaw.

I struggle to move him off of me, but he’s almost twice my size. The more I try to move, the harder and faster his fist lands on my face.

The taste of blood begins to fill my mouth and I have no other choice but to let it trickle out the side of my lips or swallow it.

My head is spinning and I have no clue why Michael would’ve come back to the house and who the fuck this guy is that came along with him.

The front door opens and I catch of glimpse of Jo standing in the door way.

“Oh my god, Linc!” she shouts.

Trying to wrestle my way out from under this fucking prick, I watch as he reaches for something behind him.

Within seconds, a gun is brought to my face and fear mixed with adrenaline course through me. My girls are in this room and there’s no fucking way I’m going to let him hurt either one of them.

For a brief moment, I gaze at Etty who is still wrapped in the arms of Michael, and then Jo who is still standing frozen in the doorway.

Both girls have fright plastered across their faces and there’s nothing I can do to help them, to save them.

I can’t let this monster hurt them. I have to fight and get out from under him. There’s no choice to make—I
have
to do this for them.

My eyes look up at the man on top of me. The smirk on his face is one that I know I’ll never forget.

If only I could get the gun out of his hands, I would turn it on him and save my girls.

The next moment of my life plays in slow motion.

I look to Jo; the look on her beautiful face will forever stay with me. As for Etty, she looks down at me and I know exactly what’s playing through her mind.

She’s scared, she’s worried, and she wants to help me more than she knows she can.

The beast grabs my head and bangs it off of the floor right before the sound of the gun’s blast goes off.

The ringing of the bang echoes through my ears, and the memories from all those years ago play through my mind.

I begin to fall out of consciousness and can feel the blood begin to pool around my head.

As much as I want to keep my eyes open, it’s next to impossible. It’s a struggle that I can’t fight for long.

The darkness takes over and my body goes limp.

Alternate Ending #3

Linc begins to stir next to me and I feel the sheets being pulled off of my warm body. I open my eyes and see that it’s dark outside and he’s sitting up in bed.

“What’s wrong, baby?” I ask, turning on my side to face him.

“I heard a noise coming from next door,” he replies.

I’ve known Linc to have trouble sleeping, but never thought he was that light of a sleeper to be awakened by a noise coming from the other side of the house.

“It’s probably someone outside. Lie back down and go to sleep,” I say, patting the bed next to me.

“I can’t, Jo; I have to go check on Etty,” he says, getting out of bed and moving over to his dresser.

I watch as he gets out of bed to pull on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt.

“Do you want me to come with you?” I ask as I sit up in bed.

“Nah, just stay here, I’ll be right back. I just want to make sure she’s okay. It sounded like she may have fallen down the stairs.”

“Okay, well hurry back.”

He walks out of the room and suddenly the light from the hallway shines into the room. The front door shuts and I scoot to his side of the bed.

A sick feeling starts to run through me. I don’t know what’s going on, but knowing that Linc is about to go next door scares me.

I can only hope that Etty is okay and nothing worse has happened to her than falling down the stairs. Getting out of bed, I throw my jeans and shirt back on.

Something doesn’t feel right, and for some reason I feel like I need to get next door to check on both of them.

I pull my hair back into a ponytail and wipe my sleepy eyes with my fingertips.

Heading out of Linc’s room, I make my way down the stairs and into the kitchen for a drink.

As much as I want to go next door, I try and push down the uneasy feeling sitting in the pit of my stomach.

I grab a glass out of the cabinet and fill it with water from the refrigerator.

My head turns as a loud scream comes from Etty’s house. A surge of fear runs through my body and I have no choice but to get next door to see what’s going on.

I quickly set the glass on the counter and rush out of the house.

I stand on the front porch and turn the door knob leading into her house.

The sight in front of me catches me off guard. My jaw drops to the floor and my body instantly goes into shock.

“Oh my god, Linc!” I shout before my hand flies up to cover my mouth.

I look down to see that a man is on top of Linc, holding his arms and body down to the ground.

Linc tries is hardest to break free, but the guy is too big.

I watch as he reaches behind his back and draws a gun on Linc.

My heart falls to the floor and my body turns numb. I can’t move. I can’t scream. I can’t do anything to help save the love of my life.

Memories of me and Linc for the past few years flash in my mind. The good times, the bad times, and all the others in between will always hold a special place in my heart. I’ll never forget a moment that we’ve shared together, he’s everything to me. I love this man.

The first day I met him, the awkwardness of Cricket’s introduction amongst the two of us—it was as if he wanted to play matchmaker from the beginning.

The night that I first spent with Linc is another moment I’ll never forget. I’d had my eyes set on him for a long time, but I knew he was closed off and not interested in starting anything with anyone.

The night that I ran away from him, I told him I loved him. He broke me into a million pieces and I didn’t know what else to do but leave and run away. Had I known how he really felt I may have stayed, but I’m also a firm believer that everything happens for a reason.

Tonight, when he first told me he loved me. As the words came out of his mouth, the feeling that rushed through me was nothing I’d ever expected. It was as if my heart had been longing for him and it finally found the soul mate it was searching for all my life.

He’s my forever and seeing him like this now is killing me.

I look to the other side of the room to see a man struggling to hold on to a girl on the couch. It has to be Etty, but I don’t know the two guys that are here holding these two as prisoners.

My eyes scan the room and fall back on Linc. Our eyes lock and the pain and fear that are staring back at me hurt like hell. I wish there was something I could do to help him, to save him.

The movement of the guy on top of Linc pulls my attention from our gaze. I watch as he reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a gun. He grabs Linc’s head and bashes it against the floor.

My knees go weak just as the loud bang of the gun goes off. I fall to the floor, trying to reach out to my one true love. It’s too late, my body is numb and I can’t move.

The weight of my eyelids is something I can’t fight. No matter how hard I try to keep them open, the darkness pulls me under and I’m knocked out.

Cursed Ecstasy

The Cursed Series, #2

By t. h. snyder