Vengeance (6 page)

She gaped. “No friggin’ way!”

“Come on,” I said, walking up the stairs. I stopped at the row where Lucas was sitting. “Apparently, these are the best seats, or so Lucas will tell you.”

Chelsea laughed.

“What? They are the best,” Lucas said, but he couldn’t be bothered trying to explain the reason why. He thought Chelsea would never understand, and I just wouldn’t care. Well, he was right about that.

I stood to the side to let Chelsea through first. “Go on.”

She didn’t need to be told twice. She quickly squeezed past me and sat down next to Lucas. She looked around the seat. “How the hell do you get this thing up?”

Lucas leaned over and pressed the button, making Chelsea’s legs fly up.

“Thanks,” she said with a laugh.

“Hey,” I said. “I’m just gonna go see if Aiden needs a hand in bringing everything back, okay?”

A devilish grin spread across Chelsea’s face. “Sure you are.”

Lucas just about choked when her thoughts moved on to the two of them. I really needed to have a chat with him soon about Chelsea’s affection towards him.

“Maybe you should start the movie without us,” I said. I winked at her then phased out.

“Hey,” I said when I landed in the kitchen.

Aiden spun around. “Couldn’t stay away from me that long, eh?”

“Sorry to burst your ego there, but it was more like I couldn’t bear to stay with the two of them talking about how awesome
Transformers
is.”

He laughed. “Sure, that’s the reason.” He kissed the top of my head, then turned back to the coffee machine.

The microwave beeped. “I’ll get that,” I said. I opened the door and pulled out the popcorn bag. “Where’s a bowl?”

Aiden pointed to a cabinet on my right. “In there.”

I opened the door, pulled out two bowls, and emptied the popcorn into them. Aiden pulled out a tray from the cupboard then put the coffee mugs and chips on it.

I picked up the bowls of popcorn. “Is that it?”

“Yep. That’s it.”

We transported back to the cinema.

“That was quick,” Chelsea said in surprise.

“Shh,” Lucas said. He was completely into the movie already, and although he knew the words by heart, he still wanted to hear them.

I sat down beside Chelsea then passed a bowl of popcorn to her. Aiden did the same with the coffees then placed the tray on the floor in the aisle before coming to sit beside me. He put his foot rest up, and I did the same. When I leaned my back against him, he dropped his arm around me with his hand over my chest, just as he’d done so many times in the past. I’d never given it a second thought, but after everything that had changed between us, the innocence of it felt lost. I was hyper-aware of how his arm rested against my boobs and the fact that my stomach had just turned to putty. Oh, God. I really needed to get a grip on myself.

“You okay?” Aiden whispered.

“Umm… yeah.”

“Are you sure? ’Cause you feel a little tense.”

I closed my eyes, willing myself to calm the hell down. “I’m sure,” I said a little too late, which I was sure Aiden noticed but he didn’t pull me up on it.

I tried to concentrate on the movie, but that was an epic fail, considering we’d only recently watched it. Chelsea was surprisingly into the movie and, for once, wasn’t thinking how close she was to Lucas. The one time I wished I could be distracted by her erratic thoughts was the one time she had none. And Lucas’s mind was void of anything unrelated to the movie, so there was no reprieve there, either.

All I could concentrate on was the feel of Aiden’s skin against mine, his breath on my cheek, and the way my stomach dropped each time he moved a muscle.

By the time the movie was over, I was seriously considering taking off with Aiden somewhere private, but the thought of the note I’d found on Chrissy killed that idea. “Thank God that’s over,” I said, sitting up.

Aiden slipped his hand down to my waist.
“Don’t be so sure.”
Then he turned to Lucas. “When’s your dad coming over?”

“Crap.”

Lucas shrugged. “Not sure.”

“So what are we going to do now?” Chelsea asked.

Just as I was about to suggest we hang out in our bedroom or play pool or anything to avoid Nathan, the screen lit up with what looked like an old-fashioned movie. Someone was filming a teenage girl from behind her. The camera moved steadily toward her. A man’s arm reached out over her shoulders and grabbed her around the chest. His other hand brought a knife to the girl’s throat. The screen went blank then came to life again showing the hotel room where Chelsea and I had been hiding back on the Coast.

The girl was thrown onto the bed, and I knew before she turned over that the girl was Chrissy. She opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out. As the man moved forward, Chrissy tried in vain to scramble away. The shiny blade of the knife once again came into view, and Chrissy’s eyes widened in horror. Blood splattered all over the sheets and walls as he delivered one fatal swipe across her neck.

Chelsea screamed, and Lucas pulled her into his arms, making sure she was unable to see the screen. Digital fire burned through the middle of the footage. Then a message was displayed:

I WARNED YOU ONCE,

AND YOU DIDN’T LISTEN.

IF YOU DO IT AGAIN…

The fire burning at the edge of the screen rewound so we were once again looking at Chrissy lying dead on the bed. But instead of Chrissy’s face, it was Chelsea’s.

The screen went blank, leaving Aiden, Lucas, and me staring at the white screen in shock.

Bile rose in my throat as the image of Chelsea with her throat slashed open played over and over again through my mind. I was going to be sick. I transported to Aiden’s bathroom, lifted the lid of the toilet, and emptied my stomach contents into the bowl.

Once I’d finished, I slumped against the wall and put my head between my knees. My thoughts never wavered from the horrific image that would forever be embedded in my mind.

Finding Chrissy’s body had been a horrible experience, but seeing Chelsea killed brought it to a whole new level. Chelsea was my best friend and probably the only person who was in my life because she wanted to be there and not because someone had made her befriend me. I couldn’t bear to have anything happen to her.

“Hey.”
Aiden’s soothing voice filled my mind.

I looked up to find him standing in front of me.

He dropped to his knees and pulled me into his arms. “We’re not going to let that happen to her.”

I buried my head in his chest. “We’ve got to stop him.”

He stroked my hair. “I know. And we will.”

His natural calming ability slowly washed over me for the first time since I’d found out the truth. I only half-wondered why that was because I had missed it so much and was in desperate need of it.

A few minutes later, my emotions under control again, I lifted my head and looked into his eyes. “You guys didn’t tell Chelsea about it, did you?”

He shook his head. “No, we’re not that stupid.”

“Where is she now?”

“Lucas took her to the lounge room.”

“Okay.” I pushed away from him and got to my feet. I was about to transport to her when I realised something was wrong. I dropped back down to my knees in front of Aiden, buried my head in my hands, and pretended to cry.

Aiden wrapped his arms around me, giving me the perfect opportunity to talk to him in case anyone was watching. It would only look as if he were comforting me as a good boyfriend was supposed to do.

“I can’t hear Chelsea or feel where she is, and I should be able to.”

“What are you saying?”

I pretended to sob quietly.
“I think I’ve been drugged again. It’s the only explanation.”

“Are you sure you should be able to feel her from so far away?”

“I’m sure. But it’s not just that. You’re also able to calm me, which you haven’t been able to do since Harry gave me the injection.”

“Can you hear my thoughts?”

I pulled down the barrier I had put up between his thoughts and mine, expecting to hear them again, but there was nothing.
“I can’t hear anything.”

“Shit. How do you think he’s drugging you?”

“Who friggin’ knows? For all I know, he could be drugging me with the air that I’m breathing.”

“You’re going to need to see Harry again.”

I tensed before forcing myself to relax into Aiden’s arms again. I wasn’t ready to see my mum again, but what choice did I have? If I wanted any chance in stopping Nathan, I needed to be stronger than he was, and if that meant I had to see my mother again, then so be it.
“Okay.”

“Really?”
he asked, his internal voice sounding surprised.

“Yep. But only after we let everyone know. I don’t want Nathan thinking we’re running off again.”

He kissed me on my forehead.
“Let’s do this then.”

I pretended to wipe tears from my eyes as I pulled my head back. “I’m okay now.”

We transported to Chelsea and Lucas, who were sitting on one sofa, with Dave and Anna on the adjacent sofa. Aiden sat on the armchair, pulling me down onto his lap.

“You okay, honey?” Anna asked me.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to those messages,” I said.

“I don’t think you’re supposed to,” Aiden said. “I mean, that’s the whole point. Adam wants to shock you. He wants you to know he is in control.”

“Well, he’s got the shock value pretty much down pat,” Chelsea said with a strained laugh. “When you told me about the other messages, I had no idea just how bad they really were.” Her eyes glistened with threatened tears.

Lucas put his hand on her shoulder and sent her some calming endorphins. “You shouldn’t have had to see that.”

Lucas was right, but I didn’t know what to do about it. Chelsea was stuck in the situation whether we wanted her to be there or not. Nathan had made damn sure of that.

“How did he know you were back here?” Chelsea asked.

I shrugged. “I don’t really know.”

“He must have some sort of surveillance around here,” Lucas said under his breath. “Maybe we should see if Kai can find any cameras.”

“Good idea,” Dave said. “He’s coming around a little later to give us an update on the Chrissy situation, but I’ll call him to see if there’s any way he can do a search on this place while he’s here.”

I wondered why Dave hadn’t thought about asking Kai to do it sooner, but then I realised Nathan was probably stopping them from thinking of ways to figure it out. I had to wonder just how strong Nathan’s mind must be if he was able to control so many people, including my mother, who didn’t seem to recognise him at all.

“Do you know what time he’ll be here?” I asked Dave. “Because I was thinking of going to see my mum, but I want to be here when Kai arrives.”

“He’ll be here in about an hour,” Dave said. “But it’s just after midnight in the U.S., so you might want to wait ’til morning to go over there.”

Damn.
Sure, I could wake up my mother, but the real reason I was going over there was to speak with Harry, and I didn’t feel comfortable enough to wake him. “I guess we’ll have to wait ’til the morning.”

“You know that means you’ll probably see Nathan again, and you won’t be able to know what he’s thinking,”
Aiden said.

“I know, but I can’t wake up Harry. So we’re just going to have to deal with it.”

As if on cue, Nathan walked into the room, which sent chills up my spine. “Hi, guys.” He plopped into the armchair opposite where Aiden and I sat. “So where have you been the last few days?” he asked me casually.

My body went rigid, and I had to focus on trying to make sure I didn’t treat him any differently from normal. “This whole thing with my father screwing with me just got to be too much. And then there was my mother, who had this whole other life I didn’t know about, and a stepsister I didn’t know I had. I was just expected to deal with it, and I couldn’t. I needed a time-out, away from everyone.”

“Except Chelsea,” he said.

“Well, yeah… I needed some girl time.”

He nodded slowly, and I wished I knew what he was thinking. The way he looked at me made me worry that he knew I had figured out who he really was. “I guess you needed to do what you needed to do. I’m just glad you’re back now so we don’t have to listen to Aiden freaking out about where you were.”

“What do you expect?” Aiden asked as he wrapped his arms possessively around me, bringing me back against him in what I thought was a move to show Nathan that things between us were definitely still good. “Of course I’m going to freak out when she disappears and she’s got this psychopathic arsehole after her.”

“Okay, okay,” Nathan said, putting up his hands. “I was just mucking around with you.”

Dave cleared his throat. “I don’t think now’s the right time to be mucking around.”

Nathan pulled his eyebrows together. “Why? Did something happen?”

“Yeah, like he doesn’t already know,”
I said to Aiden.

“Adam left another message for Jade. The kids were watching a movie, and at the end of it, he put on his own movie of Chrissy’s murder.”

“Shit,” Nathan said, pretending he actually cared. “Was there any message?”

“Just a warning to Jade not to go into hiding again,” Lucas explained. Then he added,
“He said that if she hides again he’s gonna kill Chelsea.”

“Why would he change who the next target would be?”
Aiden asked. I had been so caught up with seeing Chelsea mutilated that I hadn’t picked up on the new threat.

“No idea,”
Dave said.

“Maybe it’s because Adam knows you’re back with Aiden now,”
Nathan said.
“Maybe there’s a reason why he wants to make sure you’re together.”

I tried to remain calm.
“What the hell?”
I said silently to Aiden.

“Be careful. I think he’s trying to see if you react,”
Aiden said to me.