The Past Between Us novel Chapter 32

30

|Hunter|

I tried to find Scarlett in the sea of dancing bodies, somehow we'd gotten separated. I gritted my teeth when some drunk guy bumped into me.

Maybe this wasn't such a great idea after all.

I should never have convinced Scarlett to come here.

Where the hell was she?

I sighed in relief when I spotted the back of Jace's head. I quickly made my way towards him. I tapped him on his shoulder to get his attention.

His eyes widened in confusion when he saw me. "What are you doing here?"

It was my turn to look confused now. "What do you mean?"

His eyes narrowed. "Didn't you ask Nichole to tell Scarlett that you were waiting for her by the pool?"

My eyes widened in shock. "Absolutely not! Who told you this?" I demanded.

A feeling of dread started to settle in my chest.

Jace mirrored my shocked expression. "Nichole came here a while ago I read her lips when she was talking to Scarlett. She said she was going to take her to the pool where you were waiting for her."

It's like my legs had a mind of their own. I ran outside as fast as I could. My head whipped in all directions, trying to locate the pool house.

That's when I heard it, a scream.

The music from the party was pretty loud but I knew I'd heard it.

I ran in the direction of the sound as fast as my legs could carry me. A few moments later the pool house came into view.

"Scarlett!" I screamed.

Nothing.

Something was clawing the inside of my chest. Something was wrong, I could feel it.

I needed to find Scarlett.

A noise caught my attention. Something in the pool moved. A flash of raven hair caught my eye.

Without pausing to think I jumped, the icy-cold water bit at my skin but I didn't care. I grabbed her around her waist and hauled her out of the water.

My hands shook as I laid her on the ground as gently as I could.

Her eyes were closed. Her chest wasn't moving.

I put my hands on her chest and pushed, trying to recall what they'd taught us in school about CPR. I kept doing chest compressions till my arms started to ache. I put my ear to her chest.

Nothing.

I opened her mouth and put my lips to her chilled ones, trying to get some air to her lungs.

Come on Scarlett. Don't do this to me.

Please.

My vision started to get blurred by my tears but I furiously wiped them away refusing to give up.

"Breathe. Goddamnit! Breathe!" I begged.

Then suddenly, it was like I witnessed a miracle. Scarlett's chest rose in a shaky breath, and then she was coughing and throwing up water.

I felt like my heart was going to explode from the relief I felt.

"Thank God!" Whispered as I pulled her to my chest tightly. "Thank God Jace knew where you were." My voice was hoarse.

"Hunter." She finally seemed to regain her senses. She broke down. Sobs racked her delicate body as she hugged me tightly. Her whole body shaking "I was so scared Hunter!"

"I know baby. I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you. I'm so sorry Scarlett." My voice cracked.

I watched her pale face and wide frightened eyes and suddenly all the fear I had been feeling earlier was replaced by rage. Anger coursed through my veins.

"What happened? Who did this?" It was a struggle to keep my voice even.

"Nichole." She whispered brokenly.

I saw red.

No one could even lay a finger on Scarlett and get away with it. No one.

Nichole Sanders was going to pay.

"What happened?" I heard Jace pant as he came running towards us.

I noticed that Scarlett's dress was practically see through. I quickly took off my damp jacket and draped it over her before turning to Jace.

"Take care of her Jace. Get her home. I have to find Nichole. She can't get away with this. Not while I'm still here" I growled. My anger had now reached it's breaking point.

My gaze fell on her one last time and I could feel myself calm down a little

I brushed my knuckles against her cheek softly.

"I've never felt so scared and helpless in my life. I never want to experience that again." I told her as I reluctantly stepped away from her.

I needed to find Nichole. There was no way in hell I was letting her get away with this.

By the time I entered the house the party seemed to have ended. There were a few drunk people lying on the couch and floor.

"Nichole! Where the hell are you?!" I demanded.

No one answered me.

"You better come out or I swear to God I will come after you!" I shouted in rage.

"What's going on over here?" A firm female voice demanded from behind.

I whirled around and came face to face with a woman who looked eerily similar to Nichole.

"I'm looking for Nichole Sanders." I said through clenched teeth.

The woman's eyes narrowed slightly as she studied me. "I'm her sister Sara Sanders. Why don't you tell me what the problem is?"

My hands clenched into fists. I wanted to punch something so badly.

"The problem," I hissed furiously. "Is that she fucking tried to kill a girl, a girl who means a lot to me."

Sara's eyes widened, I could practically see the color draining from her face.

"You need to come with me!" She said finally. The sheer desperation in her voice made me follow her.

We stepped inside a room. I studied the numerous pictures on the wall and came to the conclusion that it was Sara's room.

"Why did you bring me here?" I demanded.

She didn't answer me, instead she walked to her bedside table and took out what looked like an old newspaper.

What the hell is she doing?

Sara finally walked over to me and with shaking hands handed me the newspaper.

My heart stopped when my eyes caught the headlines. I quickly skimmed through the article my heart sinking with every word I read.

"How-what?" I finally whispered in shock.

"This isn't the first time Nichole has tried to kill someone Hunter. I think she's obsessed with you." Sara finally whispered. My breathing stopped.

She shook her head. "I was scared this was going to happen again, I begged my parents not to let her attend school."

"We need to tell the police!" I said, still in shock.

"You don't think the police was involved the first time?" Sara snapped. "You're forgetting who my father is Hunter. He's the mayor, he has power over this town and these people, he cares about his reputation more than anything or anyone! He'll just cover up this incident and erase all of Nichole's records like he did the last time. Even if we manage to get her away from Scarlett somehow she'll just try to hurt some other girl in the future."

"We have to do something." My legs felt like they were going to give out any second.

"You care about this girl, Scarlett?" Sara asked.

"Yes, I do." I answered without hesitation.

"Then you need to stay away from her." She said slowly.

I felt like my whole world was spinning.

"Come in." I called out.

Sara's timid frame hesitantly stepped inside.

"Hi." She greeted softly.

"Hey." I answered.

A few uncomfortable minutes of silence followed. Finally, Sara sighed, her shoulders sagging.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered.

My eyebrows draw together in confusion. "For what?"

"About what happened with Nichole, I'm so sorry Scarlett. I should have told you."

"Should have told me what?" I asked, my confusion growing every second.

I could see unshed tears glistening in her eyes.

"Let me start from the very beginning." She took a deep breath. "My sister Nichole, she was always different, even as a child. Our parents were always too busy with politics to give us any proper attention. I, thankfully got over it, Nichole never did." Sara's eyes met mine briefly. "Did you know where Nichole was before she joined your high school?"

"I was told that she'd been home schooled before." I answered hesitantly.

Sara shook her head. "That's a cover up.'' She swallowed. "She was in a psychiatric institution."

I felt like every ounce of breath had left my body. "A psychiatric institution? Why?" I asked incredulously.

Sara's eyes became glazed over. "In her previous school Nichole became infatuated with a boy, his name was Sam. We thought it was just a normal crush so we didn't really give it much thought. But then one night we got a call from the police station, they said that Nichole had attacked a girl and stabbed her several times. Thankfully, the girl had survived and the police took Nichole in custody." Sara shuddered.

"Was the girl-?" I couldn't complete the whole sentence, I was starting to feel sick.

"She was Sam's girlfriend." Sara closed her eyes like she was in pain. "Nichole tried to kill her." She took in a shaky breath. "The doctor said that she was suffering from a mental disorder known as Fatal Attraction Syndrome*. They told us that individuals suffering from FAS were extremely dangerous and we needed to admit her into an institution so she could get the help she needed, so we did, for a while at least. But the things was, my father was running for Mayor the upcoming year and he was too worried about his reputation. He knew that people wouldn't vote for him if they knew that his daughter was in a mental institution for attempting murder. So he pulled strings and managed to erase all of Nichole's records, he even got her discharged from the institution. My father's plan worked because became Mayor and it was like nothing had ever happened.

When Nichole started insisting on going to Winston High to finish High-School, I grew suspicious. I warned my parents but they didn't take it seriously, they were eager to make things appear as normal as possible. So they signed all the paperwork and sent Nichole to your high-school."

My head was spinning. All my memories circled in my mind. Nichole always looking at Hunter. Nichole warning me to stay away from him.

"Nichole she was. . . she's obsessed with Hunter, isn't she?" My voice came out in a whisper.

Everything was suddenly starting to make sense.

Sara nodded slowly, her eyes locked with mine. "Three years ago when Nichole pushed you into that swimming pool. Hunter was furious, he came to confront Nichole but he ran into me instead. When he told me what happened, it was like history repeating itself all over again. I told Hunter about Nichole's condition and what she had done, I warned him about my father's resources. My father cares about his reputation too much, he would cover up Nichole's mess no matter how big it was."

Tears trailed down her cheeks as she continued. "I am so sorry Scarlett. I was the one who begged Hunter to stay away from you. It was the only way he could protect you from Nichole. I am so sorry."

My heart was beating a million miles an hour, I felt like I was about to pass out. "What happens now?" I finally managed to whisper. "She tried to kill me again. Will it ever stop?"

Sara gave me a sad smile "Yes. I went to a press conference yesterday and I told the reporters everything, about Nichole, about my father. It's all over the news now. My father is being forced to resign from his seat and Nichole is going to get the care she needs. She won't be getting out this time."

I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. My heart felt a thousand times lighter.

"Thank you." I whispered as I hugged her tightly. "Thank you for telling me."

For a while we just hugged each other and cried.

Sara finally pulled away and wiped the tears off my cheeks with her thumbs.

"You need to talk to him Scarlett."

I nodded numbly. I knew who she was talking about.

"Go to him." She urged. "That poor boy has suffered long enough. Keeping all of these secrets, suffering all alone."

My heart felt heavy, I could feel it hurting. Hurting for Hunter.

I'd hated him.

Blamed him for everything.

I'd said all those hurtful things to him and he'd never once tried to defend himself.

All those accusations. All that hate. All that pain. He'd taken that all. He had endured all of that alone.

All this time he had been protecting me.

"Hunter." A sob racked my body.