Demons From the Past novel Chapter 28

|Verena|

"Thanks for letting my brother stay here Sky." I told Skylar gratefully.

It'd been around two weeks since Trevor had returned to my life and Skylar had graciously welcomed him into her home.

I still hadn't told our parents that their son was alive. The guilt was killing me on the inside but I knew it was absolutely essential. We couldn't endanger their lives by involving them with Kade and his gang. We had to be cautious, I knew Trevor was trying to come up with a plan to take them down.

"Don't mention it. What are friends for?" Skylar's voice broke me out of my thoughts.

She gave me a cheeky smile, "Besides, your brother is totally hot!"

I pretended to gag.

It wasn't like I was unaware that girls found my brother attractive. He had a lot of admirers back home too, but my best friend crushing on him was a whole new level of weird.

As if on cue Trevor walked into the kitchen, where we were currently seated.

"What's up?" He greeted, he stretched his arms above his head and yawned. His lack of shirt and tousled hair indicated that he'd just woken up.

"Hey Trev." Skylar greeted my brother a little too sweetly and I gave her a weary look, she just stuck out her tongue at me in response.

"So I was thinking about taking you to the shooting range today. You know, for old time's sake. It's been so long." Trevor spoke as he helped himself to some orange juice from the fridge.

I could feel my lips splitting into a wide grin.

"I'd love that. Besides, we both know I have a better aim." I teased.

"Don't kid yourself midget." He countered back.

I chuckled before turning to Skylar, "Do you want to join us?"

She wrinkled her nose, "Nah. I'll pass. Guns kind of freak me out."

"It's settled then. Let me just change into something appropriate and we'll leave." Trevor announced.

Half an hour later we were both seated in my Lamborghini, Trevor was behind the wheel and we were headed in the direction of the shooting range.

Ever since he'd returned, Trevor and I had been making up for lost time and I cherished every second of it. It was like he was trying to erase all the bad memories his departure had caused by replacing them with beautiful new ones.

Something tugged at my heart. My happy mood dampened a little.

It didn't seem fair that I was the only person relishing my brother's return. Our parents deserved to know that their son was alive, they deserved to be happy too.

"When are you planning on telling mom and dad Trev?" I asked finally.

He sighed, "It's hard for me too Verena but please try to understand that I'm doing this for their own safety. My being alive has already put your life in danger I can't risk their safety too."

He ran a hand through his hair, he seemed to do it whenever he was troubled. "I have to get to the bottom of all of this, I need to find Kade and end all of this once and for all. I'm going to talk to that guy you told me about before, Aiden. I'm sure he has valuable information, I just have to get him to talk. As soon as all of this is over we can be a family again." He squeezed my hand reassuringly.

I gave him a tight smile.

For some strange reason I couldn't shake the uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach.

The sound of my phone ringing pulled me out of my thoughts.

My mood instantly lifted when I saw the Caller ID.

"Hey Nate. What's up?'' I asked a little breathlessly.

I could see Trevor raising his eyebrows at me in amusement but I chose to ignore him.

"Hi." My insides tingled at the sound of his husky voice. "I just wanted to tell you that I'm driving over to Skylar's right now. I wanted to see you."

He wanted to see me.

I smiled at that.

"I'm actually headed to the shooting range right now with Trevor. Why don't you come meet us there?" I suggested, trying to sound casual although I was squealing on the inside.

"Yeah sure." His response was quick.

I was still smiling like a maniac when I hung up.

Trevor cleared his throat loudly to gain my attention. His eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Who exactly is that guy to you?"

I groaned.

No, please.

I cannot be having this conversation with my brother!

I'd successfully managed to dodge all of Trevor's questions related to Nate up till now but I knew there was no escaping this time.

"Is he your boyfriend?" He demanded.

"I am so not discussing this with you!" I snapped.

"Why the hell not?! I'm your brother, I have the right to know who my little sister is involved with."

I sighed in exasperation.

I couldn't answer him.

Mainly because I myself didn't know where Nate and I stood right now.

I knew I had strong feelings for him that much I was sure of. But Nate was a whole other story, he wasn't an easy person to read. I couldn't tell what he was thinking most of the time.

He'd kissed me once, but that was pretty much an accident and although it had been one of the most beautiful moments of my life I still had no idea how Nate felt about it.

And I didn't even want to start with his bipolar attitude.

"Is it serious? Are you into him? How long have you guys known each other?" Trevor bombarded me with questions.

I gave him a pointed look.

Trevor had always been possessive over me when it came to boys. He never thought anyone was good enough for me.

They were either too tall or too short or too loud or too quiet. No matter how perfect a guy was Trevor always managed to find some flaw.

I remember this one time he asked me to stop dating a guy because he knew too much about baseball!

Finally we reached the shooting range and I jumped out of the car as soon as I could, thanking God for my escape.

"Hey Charles!" I greeted the pleasant middle aged man who worked here.

I'd grown familiar with the place and all the people who worked here due to the fact that I spent most of my free time here, trying to perfect my aim. It was a good way to release my pent up frustration.

"Verena, thank God! I was starting to get worried when you didn't show up for two whole weeks."

I gave him an awkward smile, "Erm, yeah. . . I've been a little busy lately."

"Good to see you back again, and who is this?" Charles beamed.

"This is my brother Trevor. Trevor meet Charles." I introduced them.

They both shook hands.

"I'm assuming that you'll be renting two guns today?" Charles said motioning towards Trevor.

"Yes, the usual please."

"Why don't you kids gear up and I'll get your guns ready at the counter." Charles suggested.

I nodded eagerly.

We put on our goggles, head-pieces and gloves and made our way towards the counter where Charles provided us with our guns.

"Which model is this?" Trevor asked as he ran his fingers over the metallic body of pistol.

"Automag Four, .45 Winchester Magnum Cartridge." I responded.

Trevor nodded in approval, "I personally prefer 5 but this will do nicely too."

I grinned. "You know, I kept the bullet from the first time you taught me how to shoot."

He smiled wistfully, "That was a good day huh? I still remember it clearly, like it was just yesterday. You grew up too soon." He looked at me. "I never got rid of that revolver you fired that bullet with. I still keep it with me as a good luck charm."

I could feel the lump forming in my throat. I felt overwhelmed by all the emotions.

"Enough talking, let's shoot." I gave him soft nudge.

We'd been living in pain for too long. It was time to let go and have some fun.

We spent the next half hour aiming and shooting.

"Damn! You weren't kidding when you said you'd gotten better. I need to up my game." Trevor panted as he loaded his pistol.

I hadn't missed a single target since we had started.

I beamed in pride. I was about to response when I felt a presence behind me.

He didn't even make a sound but I knew it was him. It was like my body had its own Nate-radar.

"Nate!" I practically squealed as I turned around and threw my arms around him.

He stiffened for a moment before his chest vibrated in a chuckle. His arms went around me as he lifted me off the ground.

I hadn't seem Nate at all since the past week, I'd been too busy with Trevor.

I gave him a slow nod.

"You need to get out of this town, take Verena with you. You'll listen to me if you know what's best for you."

"Tell me where Kade is Aiden." I demanded.

"Get me out of here!" Aiden suddenly screamed.

The two officers immediately burst into the room and started taking him away.

I ran my hands through my hair in frustration as I saw them taking away the only shot I had at finding Kade.

Slowly, I made my way towards the parking lot.

My thoughts were a mess.

I had to find Kade and end this once and for all.

Every single person I cared about was in danger as long as that man was alive.

I reached to unlock the car when suddenly a gloved hand covered my mouth.

Before I had a chance to fight back I felt something prick my neck.

Everything went black.

************

I opened my eyes slowly, my head was still groggy. I tried to move but I couldn't. It took me a moment to realize that I was tied to a chair.

I took in my surroundings, I was in a dimly lit room which was completely empty. The steel walls were rusted and a single light-bulb hung overhead.

"Good to see you're finally awake." A familiar voice spoke coolly.

I clenched my jaw. My eyes trained at the figure standing in the far corner of the room.

"Kade." I growled.

"Greetings old friend. You don't seem too thrilled to see me. I'm wounded."

"You coward! Is this how you plan on killing me? You have weapons and men and you've still tied me up. Are you that scared of me? Think you won't be able to take me on?"

He laughed coldly, "Who said anything about killing you? You know I like to play fair, an eye for an eye, that's my motto."

"Then release me and fight me like I man." I grit out.

He shook his head. "You still don't understand. I have no intention of killing you. You killed my brother therefore it would be completely fair if I return your sister the same favor."

I could feel my breathing become shallow as the meaning behind his words registered. Ice cold fear wrapped its claws around my heart.

"There's no way you'll catch her. She's safe." I tried to keep my voice bold.

Kade laughed again. "I won't have to lift a finger. She'll come to me herself, to save her beloved brother."

He reached into his pocket and took out a phone.

My phone.

My eyes widened in horror when I realized what he was planning. My hands clenched into fists as I struggled against the restraints.

He shook his head at me sadistically, "Baby sister dies trying to save her beloved brother. How tragic."

He walked a few steps back and held up the phone with one hand and reached into his pocket with his other, "I'm going to make a video and send it to Verena. As soon as she sees it she's going to come running to save you. But first let's make it a bit more realistic, shall we?"

He extracted a revolver and shot. I groaned when I felt a searing pain in my shoulder. I could feel the bullet embedded in my flesh. Blood gushed out of the wound.

Kade laughed manically. "You're on Camera, say hi to your sister Trevor."

"Verena please don't. . ." I tried to speak but my voice sounded far away. I was growing lightheaded from the loss of blood.

He grabbed my hair and yanked my head back, I groaned in pain.

"Now listen here Verena, you have exactly one hour to save your brother. We are currently in the abandoned warehouse at the edge of town. I want you to come here alone. If I get the slightest hint that someone knows, or that you are being followed, I will put a bullet in your brother's head and the only thing you'll find here will be his body. The clock is ticking, you seem like a clever girl, you'll do as I say."

He hung up the phone and crushed it under his foot so there was no way to trace it.

He kneeled down so he was at eye level with me.

"You must be wondering why I bother, why I'm making such an effort when I could just kill you." He drawled, "You see, it's about the thrill. This is like a game to me. You're not afraid to die, killing you would give me no pleasure. The only thing you're afraid of is losing the people you love. I want to see the light go out of your eyes when I kill your sister in front of you. I want to see the soul leave your body when you realize that your sister died trying to save you. That's what I want."

"Please. I'm begging you. I'll do anything, just leave my sister alone." I whispered.

His lips drew back into a sneer.

"I want to kill Verena because I know that's the only way I can kill your soul."