Page 91 of Awakening

Olivia

“This isn’t sketchy or anything,” I say to myself as I turn off the highway onto a very heavily wooded, gravel road. “Here we are, Willow Road.” It’s a narrow, one lane road, and it somehow seems to feel darker and darker the further I travel. The mailbox by the road confirms the location. “This is it, 5674.” I immediately feel sick to my stomach as I drive down the long driveway. I already know I’m asking for trouble by being here, but I need answers.

It's an old white cottage, which looks to be abandoned. The glass on the second story windows appears to be broken out, while the first story is boarded up. The white paint peels from the surface of the poor, old home, which was probably beautiful in its day. I get out of the car and walk to the front porch. My stomach twists as I look in the windows on one side of the double wooden doors. I see nothing, but old, dusty, wood floors, and dilapidated furniture. Taking a deep breath and releasing a sigh, I knock on one side of the double doors. Nothing.

“Hello?” I knock on the door again, but there’s still no response. “This is stupid. This is so fucking stupid,” I say as I twist the doorknob, opening one side of the double door entry. I’m hit in the face with an overwhelming smell of dust and mildew. The boards on the old hardwoods creak as I step inside. “Hello? It’s Olivia. Is anyone here?”

Walking further into my creepy surroundings, I go to the windows on the back of the house. The bottoms are boarded up, but I can see out of the tops of the windows. There’s a man standing in the middle of the back yard. His back is to me, and his head is down as if he’s looking at something in his hands. Looking to my right, I see an old screen door on the side of the house that leads out into the back yard.

The door creaks when I open it, and step outside into the cool, cloudy day. A branch cracks in a tree overhead, startling me, and causing me to lose my hold on the screen door. It slams behind me and the man turns to face me. My mouth drops open, and I gasp as every hair on my body stands on end.

Ethan

We’re almost to Denver when my phone starts ringing. Nick sees the name on the screen of the hands free system. “Moretti? I didn’t realize you guys exchanged numbers.”

“Olivia gave it to me when she was staying there,” I say, touching the screen to accept his call on speaker phone. “What the fuck do you want?”

“Have you seen Olivia?” Anthony asks, sounding panicked.

A sick feeling overwhelms me when I hear she’s not where I expected her to be. “I actually assumed she’d be with you.”

“She was with me. She told me what happened, and asked me to take her away somewhere that you couldn’t find her. I was in the middle of making the arrangements when she went to the bathroom and never came back. I went out the back of the coffee shop we met in and watched her drive away. Something is wrong. I’m worried about her.”

I’m fucking furious knowing she went to him and asked him to take her away…away from me. He just couldn’t resist telling me that little tidbit of information. “Fuck. I know where she’s going.”

“Where?”

“I’m almost certain we’re being lured to the same location. I think it’s Ian.”

“Oh, that’s just fucking great. You dick. Don’t you see that her being with you only brings her trouble?”

“After today, that trouble will be eliminated. I’m going to kill the son of a bitch.”

There’s a moment of silence. “What can I do to help? It’s no secret that I fucking hate you, but I’ll do anything for her.”

“Ethan, take all the help you get,” Chloe begs from the backseat.

I look at Nick who says with a shrug, “It’s not a bad idea.”

“Fine. We’re on our way to 5674 Willow Road just outside of Conifer. Meet us there.” I end the call and clench the steering wheel as I step down hard on the gas.

Olivia

He smirks and walks toward me. “Hello, Olivia,” he says, stopping a few feet away from me. He’s tall and muscular, similar in size to Ethan. Much bigger than me. He has crystal blue eyes, also similar in shade to Ethan’s, and wavy dark brown hair.

I frown as I try to figure out how I know him, and why he sets off every alarm bell in my gut. “I know you.”

“Yes. Do you remember me?” He takes another couple of steps toward me, and I instinctually step back. There’s something about him that sends warnings of danger straight to my bones. Then it hits me. “You’re the man I saw in the middle of the road that night.”

“Good job,” he says with a slimy smile. “Is that all you remember?” He pauses as I think. “I really hope not. This won’t be nearly as fun if you can’t remember who I am.”

A rush of chills runs through my body and an image flashes in my mind. I’m in a room, and a man is walking toward me. I’m shaking my head, and appear to be pleading with him. I’m visibly pregnant. I look up at the man waiting for my response in front of me. It’s him. Another image flashes through my mind, and this time he has me pinned down on the floor while he stabs me with a needle as I beg him to stop.

My voice shakes as I barely get his name out. “Ian?”

“You got it. Good girl,” he says, his voice laced with sarcasm.

A wave of nausea washes over me and I double over in an unexplained and severe pain. Every bone in my body begins to throb.

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