Page 38 of The Heir
Chapter Twelve
“Get away from me!” My voice cracked in the middle of my scream. He was carrying me from the car, pulling me away from my father. I hit him in the chest and tried to kick, but my leg was throbbing. I looked at his face— those black eyes—so empty and so wrong.
“Shh, Emma, I am going to keep you safe,” he had said, his voice causing my insides to squirm uncomfortably. I didn’t want him holding me, didn’t want him touching me. He set me down, and I was shaking, my bones rattling inside me, and I tried to catch my breath, but I was still screaming. His face moved in front of my own.
“Emma, you are safe. You are safe.” His black eyes were haunting to me as he draped his Jacket over my freezing cold body, keeping me warm as I stood beside the wreck and the broken pieces of the car he had freed me from—from the blood that was pooling beside the open car door, the shattered glass along the highway, and the body with golden hair on the side of the road. I turned away, vomited, and continued screaming over and over again.
“Emma, you are home,” I heard a female voice. Someone was touching my arm, my hair, my face. I tried to move out of her grasp. Who was it? Where was I? As the fog of my nightmare dissipated, Mary was beside me, and I realized that I was wrapped up in her arms.
“I am here, Emma. I am here, sweetheart,” her voice cracked as she cried into my hair.
“Mary?” I cried.
“Yes, Emma, you are safe,” she whispered. I drifted back into sleep moments later, too exhausted to speak. My body had been too drained to fully wake up, and I gave in to the blackness of exhaustion.
“Emma?” The light from my window was blinding as the curtains were open.
“Ahh,” I groaned, pulling the blankets over my face.
Mary stood beside my bed.
“We have to get to the flower shop. That seemed like a really bad one last night. Are you still up for it today?”
“I’m okay, Mary. If I just stay here, I'll think about it all day.” I sat up and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. Mary walked to the end of my bed and sat down.
“You haven’t had those nightmares in weeks.”
I nodded. What else was there to say?
I am losing my mind—slowly going crazy. I just found out my parents were murdered? And now I remember parts of the crash that I wish I could forget? No, I can’t tell her those things. I don’t want to make her worry more than she already does.
“They come, and they go,” I shrugged.
“I am so sorry, honey. Let me know if I can do anything to help. Remember, we are in this together. You are not alone.”
“Thanks, Mary. Sorry I woke you up.”
“Oh, hush. Now, let’s get ready. We have so many flowers to arrange.” She walked through my bedroom door, leaving me to get ready. With a sigh, I lay down on my bed just a minute longer. Working would be good; working would help me forgethim—the face I now held responsible for the loss of my parents, for the wreckage of my life.
Working at the Rose Village was the perfect remedy for my Friday night with Ryker; the memories faded as the day progressed. I still felt the cold, slithering sorrow inside of me, but I could still function. Mary had two weddings to prepare for, so it was nonstop work Saturday and Sunday. It kept my hands busy, and also my mind.
On Monday morning, I didn’t wake up screaming, so there was no Mary waiting for me with open arms. But, I did wake up in a cold sweat withhisface etched into my mind. With aching hands from tying ribbons and bending wires, I showeredhistouch away, got dressed, and headed to school. I focused on looking forward to seeing my friends, especially Shad—and not onhim, whoeverhewas.
As I walked down the hall to first period, I noticed posters around school, advertising the homecoming dance.Have we really already been in school for a month?Time was slipping away from me, it seemed. I reached the classroom door, took a deep breath, and entered, putting on a happy face, a face thatshowed the world that I was okay, even though inside of me the snake of misery was feasting, hollowing out my insides, and I was breaking apart from both sorrow and pain.
I made it through my first period, and I ached to see Shad. However bad it all was, I knew I needed him to heal me from the hollowness and emptiness I felt. The interloping snake continued to coil itself inside of me, making itself right at home there, and I needed it to leave.
“Em—” The familiar sound of Ryker’s voice rang in my ears. I kept walking, knowing he would catch me. I felt his hand slip into mine, and I melted into him. His touch was warm,finally. I looked into his sky blue-gray eyes, and I tried to hold back the tears that wanted to escape. He wrapped me into his arms, and I let a few tears fall.
“Ry,” I replied in a soft whisper.
“I should have come by this weekend, Em. I knew you probably weren’t doing well, but I didn’t know if you would have wanted to see me after what I showed you.”
“Ry, I’ll always need my best friend.”
He pulled my face up to look at him, and he smiled at me. The warmth radiating off him made me feel at home, like thingscouldbe okay. My frozen insides were melting, unthawing, and I wanted to stay there forever in his arms until all the cold and all the pain was gone, until the snake uncoiled itself from around my heart, forever.
“Em, I swear I will find him, and I will give your parents the justice they deserve.”