chapter 20
Lizzie
Darrton and Ian dropped us off at the curb. Samantha wasted no time running toward our house.
Ian smiled and nodded. “I’ll see you soon, Lizzie.”
I watched as he ran down the road and disappeared.
“Everything will be okay, Elizabeth.”
I nodded. “Where are you going? You’re not leaving, are you?”
“I’ll be back when everyone goes to sleep. Now go, before your parents come looking for you.” Darrton kissed my forehead and disappeared down the road.
Samantha was knocking on our door when I rounded the corner. “Mom! Dad! Please! Open the door!”
The door opened. Mom flung herself out and onto Samantha. She looked up and began to cry when she saw me walking toward her. She ran to me, without any hesitation, and grabbed me. “Oh. My. God. I thought you two were never coming home!” she cried into my hair.
Dad was hugging Samantha by the door and I watched as his eyes studied me closely. He didn’t smile. A look of confusion crossed his face. He was starting to get a little stubble on his chin and his eyes were tired.
“Come inside. We have to call the police. We have to tell them what happened.”
“I don’t’ know what happened,” I stated. We had made it to the front steps. Samantha looked up at me. Her face was serious.
“Me, either,” she said. “We just woke up down the road in the ditch.” She lied so perfectly.
I nodded and felt a tear slide down my face.
My dad coughed and asked, “You two don’t remember anything that happened? Nothing?”
I watched Dad’s gaze travel down our bodies, examining our cuts and bruises. His eyes met mine. He didn’t believe us.
“Tommy, leave them alone, they just got home. I’m going to go cook you guys something, and, Tommy, you call the cops and tell them they are okay. Tell them we will have the interviews tomorrow after they’ve rested.”
Mom led us into the house but Dad stayed back, eyeing me closely. What did he know?
Surprisingly, Mom cooked us pizzas. This was normally not on her menu, ever. Samantha ate six slices of pizza by herself. After dinner, I told them I wanted to shower and get cleaned up. I was tired and I wanted to go to bed. They didn’t argue. I think they were scared, too. They just wanted us to be okay. Mom kissed my forehead and Dad watched me closely, only saying goodnight before I disappeared up the stairs.
After scrubbing the blood, dirt, and grime off of my bruised body, I walked back into my room. Since my other PJs were trashed and bloody, I put on a pair of blue ones. When I opened the door Dad was sitting on my bed. His hands rested between his knees and his brow was furrowed.
“Oh! Hey, Dad, is everything all right?”
He smiled. “I should be asking you the same thing, Lizzie. You were the one who was kidnapped.”
“Um, I think everything is fine. I mean I told you we didn’t remember anything. So, I really don’t know if I’m fine. I’m not hurt. My arm is a little sore, that’s all.”
Dad shook his head and stood up. He pulled a huge black feather from his jacket pocket. I stood up straighter. A warm rush of nerves covered my body. “What’s that?” I asked.
He shrugged and placed it on the bed then dug his fingers into his pockets. “I don’t know. You tell me. It’s rather big for a bird, isn’t it?”
I pulled at my long-sleeved shirt sleeve. “Uh, yeah, it’s really big and weird. Where did you get it?”
“Your tree house. I found it when we were looking for you two.”
“Hmm. Never saw it before. Maybe you should take it to the lab and see if you can figure something out,” I said, walking past him and sliding under my covers.
He nodded his head and rocked back and forth on his heels. “Maybe I will. I guess I’m going to go to sleep. Get some rest, hon.” He started to walk out and stopped. “If you think of anything or know something, you will tell me, right?”
I nodded and pulled the covers up. “Yes, I promise to tell you, Dad.”
He gave me a look of disappointment and nodded. “Okay, then. Goodnight, Elizabeth.”
After he left, I felt frozen in my bed. It should have felt warm and inviting but it wasn’t. It seemed cold, frigid, and like a...lie. He knows something is up. Why would a feather, even a really weird feather, make him think that?
I never fell asleep. I was too anxious for Darrton to sneak in. When I heard him tap on the window, I tiptoed over and unlocked the latch. He wasn’t in the tree. He had floated up. As soon as his feet hit the floor, he grabbed me up. His lips found mine and he pressed us together. “God. There for a little while I thought that I might not get to do this again,” he whispered against my lips.
I giggled and he laid me down on the bed. He pulled us together, spooning underneath the covers. “Elizabeth, I’m so sorry all of this has happened.”
“What will happen next?”
He didn’t answer for a while. “Warren will lay low. He can’t risk us finding him and destroying him.”
“After that?” I asked, turning to face him.
His face was calm and beautiful. “He will try and find other fallen angels or demons to help complete the ritual with him.”
“Then?”
“He will do it again and he will try and get me to call Satan to finish the procedure and then they will take over the world.”
I nodded. “What will he do with me?” I asked, almost shaking with fear.
He grabbed the sides of my face and kissed my forehead. “I won’t let him hurt you, your family, or anyone. I swear. Ian is going to move down here and we are going to stay close together to deal with any bad situations that may occur.”
I nodded. “But what will he make me do?”
“Anything he wants, Elizabeth. Anything he needs done, you will have to do it. You are bound to him.”
I felt sick. But if it means Darrton is alive, then it’s worth it. “How am I bound to him? In what kind of way?”
His fingers trailed down my side and back to cup my butt. “Not in this kind of way,” he whispered into my ear, letting his lips barely graze my lobe. “It’s a different kind of way. A business way. You do what he says and he leaves us alone, basically.”
I tried not to cry but the tears fell anyway.
“Shhh, don’t cry, Elizabeth. We will make sure everyone is safe.”
“It’s not just that. My dad knows.”
“Knows what?”
“He brought your feather in, said he found it in our tree house, and asked if I had ever seen it before. He is acting suspicious.” I pulled the feather out from underneath my pillow and showed it to him.
He froze. “You have to keep playing dumb, Elizabeth.”
“I know, but I don’t want to get him involved. I want him safe.”
Darrton pulled me closer to him. “I swear to you, I will keep all of us safe. No one else is getting hurt. Now, go to sleep. You need rest, Iofiel.”
I nodded and cuddled up against his strong chest. While he breathed soft and pure at a steady rate, I smiled. I knew everything could get bad again soon, but life was so right just then. I prayed Darrton could keep us all safe and Warren wouldn’t want anything for a really long time.