HER
My home doesn’t feel like my home anymore. It feels like a giant storage space that’s holding all my kitchenware, my clothes, my old life. There’s nothing here that reminds me of the life I’ve been living for the last month. Well, except for the glass paperweight I have standing on the coffee table in the middle of my tiny living room.
That reminds me of Kaine.
Probably because I swiped it off his desk when I left his office with Xavier barely an hour ago.
Has it just been an hour? It feels like I’ve aged decades sitting here waiting for Xavier to call me with an update. We agreed that I would come back to my apartment and wait while he goes and tells Kaine what we found out about Jemima.
My face scrunches up into a tight ball at the thought of her. Of the damage she’s caused. To my beautiful library, to Kaine’s company, to Kaine. I wonder where she’s hiding and if we’ll ever find her and make her pay for everything she’s done.
My heart twists at the thought of Kaine lying there in that hospital bed. But maybe that’s the best place for him. Someplace he’s being watched over, with people there to help him rest and recover.
And maybe one day, ready to accept me back into his life again.
I cringe at the thought that I ever even remotely suspected anything going on between him and Jemima. But I didn’t know. And he didn’t know that this was what she wanted all along.
My head drops into my hands. I miss him so much. All the things he’s done for me, and not just me, but Gabriel, my grandparents. All the meaning he’s brought into our lives. And what have I done for him except put him in one bad situation after another?
When all I want is to be a part of his life.
We’ll get through this, Kaine. We’ll get through it together.
There’s a ding on my phone and I snatch it off the coffee table, tapping the message to open it. It’s from Xavier.
“Kaine knows about J (Jem). Is on his way to your apartment now. Good Luck xx”
Tears immediately spring to my eyes. My whole body floods with relief. He’s okay, and he still wants me. I jump up and unlock the door, ready for him.
I look down, and I’m still wearing clothes from yesterday, and I run back into my bedroom, flinging my T-shirt and jeans off as I count the seconds until he’ll be here. Pulling a cotton dress over my body, I hear his footsteps down the hallway and rush out into the living room to greet him. My Kaine. My love.
The door flings open and I run to him, my heart pounding with joy.
And then I freeze.
It’s not Kaine.
It’s Emerald Earring Man.
“Hello, Jade,” he sneers and he’s uglier than I remember. Because now I see all the evil in him.
I suddenly feel cold, I’ve broken into an instant sweat and the breeze from the open door is making me shiver.
“What do you want?” I ask, taking a step backward but my apartment is so small, it doesn’t put that much distance between us.
He senses my fear and the sneer widens into a psychotic smile. No wonder Jemima was able to get him to do her dirty work, he probably enjoys it. Sick fuck.
“Aw, come now, you were so nice to me while I was working at the library, installing your precious smoke detectors. I was your hero then. Where’s the love now?”
“It burnt in that fire you started.”
“Oh, love, no. I didn’t start that fire and there’s nothing to prove I did.”
“I’ll find something. You can bet your life on it,” I challenge him, some of my fear transforming to hate and fury, the image of that beautiful building up in flames, of Kaine passed out in the ambulance.
“No, my dear. You won’t,” he says as he shakes his head. “I’m here to make sure of it.” He takes two long steps from the door into my apartment and instinct has me spinning around and running into my bedroom.
I try to slam the door shut, but his arm blocks it before it closes. I turn and push my back against it, my feet sliding on the floor and I can only hold him back for mere seconds before the door flings open, and I’m knocked to my knees.
For a split second I think about praying.
But I don’t have time. I feel him lift me off the ground and throw me onto the bed, his face snarling and panting like a rabid wolf. He kneels down on the bed, straddling me and pulls the hem of my dress up. His hands are rough, clawing at me as I thrash under him.
“Stop moving, I’m not going to hurt you,” he says, and for a moment, I feel relief. “I just want to have a little fun, don’t you?” he snickers, and my entire body floods with fear again.
He leans over grabbing my wrists and pins them over my head. “Such a pretty lady,” he coos and the sound makes my chest heave.
“Get the FUCK OFF ME!” I yell, using my fear to strengthen me. I continue thrashing under him, trying to get a knee free to slam it into his groin. “FUCK OFF YOU DISGUSTING PIECE OF CRAP!” I scream into his face when he grins and tries to kiss me. I squeeze my eyes shut and throw my head forward, slamming my forehead against his. The pain is blinding, and his agonized growl is the only thing that tells me I haven’t passed out.
“You bitch!!” He roars and lets go of one of my wrists and lifts his hand as if to slap me. I squeeze my eyes shut again and turn my face, bracing for the strike, but it doesn’t come. Instead, my body is pulled upward, before his hand slips from my wrists and his heavy, stinking body is dragged off me.
“She said, ‘Get the fuck off her,’ you fucking asshole!”
“Kaine!” I yell, as I watch him throw Earring Man onto the floor.
He’s dressed in his hoodie, thrown over a hospital gown. In the back of my mind I know he shouldn’t be here, but I almost pass out with relief that he is.
“ARGHH!” he responds, as he tries to pin Earring Man to the ground. He’s too weak though, and it takes just a moment before Earring Man reaches out and grabs Kaine’s neck
in a one hand choke hold.
“Kaine!” I yell out again, more worried for him that I ever was for my own life. I slide off the bed and run over, then kick Earring Man in the side, his ribs, trying to get him to free Kaine. He growls and swipes out with his giant hand and almost knocks me off my feet.
“Jade…. run…” Kaine struggles to say as he fights against the hand gripping his neck.
Never.