Page 69 of Affliction
“Daddy?” I whisper. And Uncle Nick’s head snaps up to look at me. Tears stream down his face, and he has blood on his jacket.
So much blood.
”Hey, hey, Princess, look at me. Look at me, Lizzy.” He begs frantically, but I can’t. My dad lies limp in my uncle's arms, and my eyes shift next to him.
“Mommy!” I choke out and run toward her. Dropping to my knees next to her in a puddle of something wet and sticky, I push some hair out of her face, and I see a small hole in her forehead.
“Mom?” Nothing. “Mom! Mom, wake up!” Tears pour out of my eyes and I start to shake her. “Mommy! Wake up! Please wake up!”
“Lizzy, look at me! Don’t look at them, Princess, look at me. Come on.” My uncle sobs, still holding my dad. I look at him, his eyes bright red and tears still running.
“N-no. No, Uncle Nick do something. Please, do something!” I scream, louder and harder than I ever have. Looking back down at my mom, I beg her to wake up.
“Mom, please. I’m sorry, we won’t get ice cream before dinner again. Just wake up!”
“Get her out of here.” I hear my uncle shout.
“No! I’m not leaving! Mommy, please wake up! Daddy, move! Get up!” I bend down and wrap my arms around my mothers torso and hold on as tight as I can. Blood soaks into my leotard, and covers my arms.
“God damnit, I SAID GET HER OUT OF HERE!”
Hands tug at my shoulders, attempting to pry me off of my mothers lifeless body. I cling to her, sobbing uncontrollably into her shoulder.
“Please don’t make me go! I want my mommy and daddy! Please don’t let them leave me!” I scream through sobs.
George successfully pulls me off of my mother, and scoops me up in a hurry.
“Put your head down Lizzy, and close your eyes.” He says then runs me out of the room.
Chapter thirty-nine
“Parker? Parker, stay withme.” I grab her face and tap her cheeks. “Come on, Sweetheart, wake up.” My body trembles and my heart wages a war inside of my chest. She goes limp in my hold, and her head falls back.
“Fuck.” I hiss and scoop her into my arms. Standing, I turn to see Nick reigning blows all over Preston’s face, his head snapping back with each one.
“Nick!” I shout and he turns to look at me. His eyes soften when he sees Parker laying lifeless in my arms, and he releases his grip on Preston. His body drops onto the floor, and the fuckeractuallylaughs.
“Ah, Nicky, it’s good to see you again. What a nice little reunion this is. Too badLizzyisn’t here to witness it.” He laughs again and Karson slowly turns to look at Preston, then back to me, his signature grin covering his face.
“May I?” He asks darkly.
“Keep him alive.” I grit out, and watch as my best friend strides over to Preston. His massive size dwarfs Preston, who slowly looks up to Karson, and laughs again. Without a word, Karson kicks him in the face, knocking him unconscious.
“Shut the fuck up.” Karson says, then bends down to grab Preston by the back of the shirt, and starts dragging him across the concrete floor toward the rotted bulkhead doors we entered in.
“She’s still breathing, but it’s shallow. We need to get her to a doctor, now.” I say when I slide my eyes back to Nick, and see the tears building in his eyes. He swallows and looks back at me.
“I’ve got one who can be at my house when we get there.” He then turns to walk toward where Karson stands. He grabs Preston by the ankles, Karson takes his arms, and they carry him up the five wooden steps that lead back outside. I follow behind them, watching as they let Preston’s head bounce off each step, and we make our way back to Nick’s SUV. His driver, whose name I’ve come to learn is George, opens the back door allowing me to slide in the seat, still holding Parker. He then walks around the back of the vehicle to open the hatch, and Preston’s body is dropped inside. He lets out a groan and I hear Karson’s dark chuckle as he jumps in the back next to Preston.
“Fucker doesn’t want to stay asleep.” He hits him again and the vehicle fills with silence. George and Nick rush into the front seats, and the car speeds out of the driveway of the home Parker used to live in. Judging by how she looks, and the little bit of what Nick told me on the way over here, this was not a home. It was her hell that she fought tooth and nail to survive, and escape, just for this scum bag to drag her back. It looks like a waste land. There’s nothing but a few scorched support beams left of it, and my heart splinters imagining what she went through here.
I look down at her lying in my lap as we speed down a windy back road back to Nick’s home. Her forehead and lips are split, blood seeping through the wounds. Her hair is matted on the back of her head, and she has two black eyes forming.
“Come on, Raven. Wake up for me.” I beg in a whisper and pull her closer to me, never taking my eyes off of her beautiful face. I don’t even want to think of what would have happened to her if we were any later. I will spend the rest of my life trying to make up for not being there to protect her when she needed me the most. I failed her, and I’ll never let that happen again.
Parker Ellis or Elizabeth Moretti, I don’t care who she is, or what she’s done. This woman is my life. I will lay mine down for her, remove anyone who dares to hurt her, and slaughter her demons for her. I’ve never known what love was before her, but I know without a doubt that I love her. She has consumed my heart, body and soul from the moment I laid eyes on her. A dark, obsessive type of love that some people might frown on, but I don’t give a fuck.
“Let’s get her up to her bedroom, the doctor’s almost here.” Nick’s voice breaks me from my trance as the car comes to a stop in the circle driveway of Nick’s mansion. My door opens, and George walks to the back to open the hatch as I step out with Parker. Preston rolls out of the back and drops onto the cobblestone driveway like a sack of bricks. Karson laughs and hops out of the back onto the driveway as I walk by, following Nick to the front door.
