Page 12 of Fated

The waiter blinked as if snapped from a trance, his face flushing deep red.

“I’m sorry—I don’t know what came over me,” he stammered, quickly turning on his heels and hurrying away.

I stared after him, horrified, unable to shake the unease.

“What the hell just happened?” Tyson locked eyes with me.

“Again, I don’t know, but that was really weird, right?”

“Yes,” the twins answered in unison.

A terrible uneasiness weighed on me. I grabbed my bag and scanned the area where the waiter had disappeared. About to turn away, I saw the dark-haired man from the bar, right there, leaning against the wall by the kitchen.

This time, his eyes were locked on me, cold, filled with what looked like murderous rage.

Quickly, I turned, whispering, “Look behind me.”

Tyson and Lucy both looked, and when they saw him, their bodies went rigid.

“I don’t like this, Areya,” Lucy said.

“We’re going to walk you out to your car. Go straight home, and make sure no one follows,” Tyson added, his voice serious.

I nodded, sick to my stomach.

The twins walked me to my car, taking turns hugging me tightly before I got inside and locked the doors. Back at home, sure that no one had followed, I rushed inside the house andalso locked our front door behind me. The quiet darkness of the kitchen wrapped around me as I stood there, trying to steady my breathing. My hand moved to touch the bracelets on my wrist, the ones that had been the center of such bizarre behavior tonight.

All I wanted to do was find Mom, tell her everything, and see what she thought.

I headed straight to her room, but my heart sank on finding her already asleep, a book still in her hands. A sigh escaped my lips, guilt creeping in. I’d promised her I’d be back early, and we would watch that show together. I’d have to wait until tomorrow to tell her about the bracelets and find a way to make it up to her. Easing her book from her hands, I set it on the bedside table, then pulled her blankets up over her and kissed her forehead.

“Goodnight, Mama,” I whispered, turning off the light and quietly closing the door.

Chapter 3

“Areya, my name is Officer McDannon. You are safe. You can come out of the closet now.” Her voice was distant, muffled, as though traveling through water. I blinked at the stranger, watching her lips move, but the words didn’t really register. It felt as though I wasn’t even there, as if I’d drifted somewhere far away, submerged in an ocean of numbness.

“She’s in shock,” said a man’s voice, equally distant.

“Find out if she has any family,” the woman said.

“Areya.” A hand tugged at me. I looked down at the small female hand touching mine, my gaze shifting to the bracelets on my wrist, staring at the gold and silver chains for a long moment before an image of Mom’s lifeless face tore through my mind.

Suddenly, the hand on mine felt unbearably heavy, intrusive.

“DON’T TOUCH ME!” I screamed, yanking my hand away, curling tighter into myself.

My knees pressed hard against my chest as the memories came barreling back, each one sharper than the rest: my mom; her body; blood. So much blood.

A violent sob escaped me as I buried my face in the fabric of the dress, clutching it like a lifeline, my body trembling. The tears came in torrents and the pain … God, the pain. It felt as if someone had taken a jagged blade to my heart, hacking through it, leaving me to bleed out.

How could I survive this? How could I live in a world without my mom—my best friend?

Time seemed to warp, stretching out in slow, agonizingseconds as chaos suddenly erupted around me. Heavy footsteps thundered toward me, then the cold metallic click of a weapon being drawn cutting through the air. A harsh light blinded me, and a man’s voice barked through the haze of my grief, “Put your hands where I can see them!”

The sharp, commanding tone tore through the atmosphere, jolting my entire body.

“PUT YOUR DAMN HANDS WHERE I CAN SEE THEM AND COME OUT OF THE CLOSET NOW!”

---