Page 37 of Come to Head

I turned my attention to her. She was on the ground, her arms and legs chained to the wall. Her typically blonde hair was cut nearly all the way off in haphazard chops. And the bruises. Her face, her arms, her legs.

I wanted to scream, to cry, to run to her. My vision shaded red as anger pulsated through me, heating my blood and causing my heart to patter aggressively against my ribs.

What had they done to my best friend?

How dare they?

I was so caught up in my anger and indignation that I almost missed her explanation.

“My dad is back.”

I whipped back to the man before me. What does my step-father have to do with her dad?

Confusion dug its way against my temples, the headache ramping up a notch as I tried to make sense of it all.

"Steve?"

"How do you know my dad, Stephen?"

It didn't make sense. How was this possible? This couldn't be true.

I wanted to deny it all, but the truth was literally staring me directly in the eyes.

It had been a while since I had seen Steve, but there was no mistaking it. He was Steve Landon, my step-father.

Chapter 22

Izzy

“How?” Shock was the predominant feeling that I found as my brain muddled, followed shortly by disbelief.

“How indeed?” the man hummed, stepping back to survey me. He brought a finger to his lips.

He looked like a typical late 40s working class man. There was nothing about him that screamedviolent. Except Yara had said it was her dad and I had met her parents. Her adoptive parents that is. But this man? Now that I knew they were related, I could fuckingsee it.In their eyes, the shape of his face. I hadn’t noticed before, because the similarities were subtle, but they were there.

But the tone that Yara had?

It was terror that this man induced. Herfather.

It made my protective instincts latch on two-fold. This wasn’t a good man; I had learned that much from Oliver.

What had he done to my best friend?

“I needed a family to settle in this town. To go unnoticed.”

He swooped his hand towards me, and I wanted to flinch back, but I couldn’t, I was trapped in this chair. I swallowed down my terror as it threatened to choke me.

“Why did I want to settle here? To keep an eye on my dear old daughter of course. Make sure she didn’t forget my trainings, my teachings. She is my flesh and blood; therefore I have a duty to watch overher.”

My thoughts were racing a mile a minute. My emotions were not keeping up as this horror played out before me.

Yara had never met my step-dad. She never came over to my house as he didn’t permit guests. He hadn’t really been around that much to begin with. I had probably seen him a grand total of 10 times throughout his and my mom’s marriage. But I chalked that up to his job.

Except I had never really known his job, never cared to.

“But Hallie? Is she Yara’s—” I don’t know why that’s where I landed, but I wanted to grasp onto something that made sense.

“No, that bitch is a falsified adoption. I needed a good cover, easier to lure a wife in with a daughter of my own. Though I don’t think your mother would have cared either way.” He pitched forward his finger, pinching my chin painfully. “I told her to teach you better. To whip you into shape. But you always were a cow. A disgrace. I was almost at the point of discarding you, but then you left town, saving me the time.” He jerked back suddenly, slapping me across the face.

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