I nodded. “Detectives Kinross and Walsh. They found me in New York and said they were opening a cold case, and they wanted to know if I’d spoken to either you or Mason. I said I hadn’t, not for ten years. They were looking for Mason. They think you tipped him off.”
Lucas ran a frustrated hand through his hair, only now realizing his brother was still a danger. “I may have mentioned something to him about them.”
“Luc, I need to talk to you about what’s been happening.”
His jaw clenched. This was opening an old wound, but if we were to survive the wrath his brother was about to impose upon us, he needed to know.
“Since you tipped Mason off about the detectives, he’s been stalking me. His behavior is violent, and it’s just a matter of time before something deadly happens. So, I need you to listen and understand the severity of the situation because it’s so much bigger than what you can imagine.”
His jaw was set like stone, but he was receptive. “I’m listening.”
Taking a deep breath, I gathered my thoughts. “It all started before your dad left. His behavior toward me was always hot and cold, erratic at best. Some days he’d have me cornered, backed right up against the wall. The night of the street party, he held a gaming gun to my head. It was almost like he had to remind me how quick he could get the upper hand. But it worsened when you came home to find your dad had left. It was like it finally allowed him to show his true self. He saw how close you and I had become. He saw the hand holding. Mason saw how much we loved each other and that was just fuel for his jealousy. That jealousy soon turned to hatred.”
My eyes glistened, but I blinked it away. “He would make lewd comments when you weren’t around. Things he wanted to do to me. Insinuate I wanted to take part in whatever sick thing he had planned. He’d stand behind the drapes in your room, hiding his face and write messages as if it were you. Then when the boyfriend showed on the scene, Mason’s hatred turned violent. He… his behavior was unpredictable. One minute he’d be making a joke and I felt safe in his presence. The next he was hunting me down like prey.”
My forehead creased, and I took a long breath. “That time we were on the rock at the cabin, and he’d appeared after being missing for days, he heard everything we said to each other. He saw how we almost kissed and that set something off in him. The next day when you were fishing, you sent him back for the lures that were on the table. Do you remember?”
“Yes, vaguely.”
“I was out picking flowers, and he came searching for me. I was a few hundred yards behind the cabin. It was the sound of a twig snapping that first told me I was in danger. I waited, but I couldn’t see anyone. I grew paranoid knowing I was being watched, so I headed back into the woods. I was only a few steps in when Mason startled me from behind. I scolded him for the scare, but he had this strange look on his face like he was caught in a trance or something. I asked him what he was doing, and he said he was checking up on me. He’d gone to the cabin and I wasn’t there.”
A tear slid down either cheek, and Lucas gently wiped them while listening intently.
“I took a step away, but he gripped my arm and pushed me until my back hit a tree. He pinned me to it and taunted me. Started saying things like he knew the real me. That he knew what my desires were, what underwear I wore, what I really wanted from a man. I tried to fight him off, but he was stronger, taller.
“Then he tripped me and landed on top, held my hands above my head and slid a finger into my panties.” Another tear slid down my cheek. “I squirmed and bucked under his weight, but it just seemed to encourage him. Then the truth was revealed to me. The truth behind all his taunts. He said I’d chosen the wrong brother. That he knew my feelings for you and that you’d never return them. That he was more than capable of giving me what I needed. I begged him not to rape me. Over and over again. He used his fingers to scare me, but then it’s like he decided the timing wasn’t right. Instead of taking my virginity in that moment, all he did was kiss me. He told me to open my eyes, and when I did, he was holding his carving knife. He held the blade close to my face and used it to wipe the tears that fell down my cheeks. Mason warned me to keep my eyes open because he didn’t want me to miss what he was going to do.”
Lucas’s face had paled considerably. “What did he do?”
I lowered the blanket and turned my shoulder into the light of the fire. Lucas moved on his knees, his frown reading the white lines carved into me.
“Mine,” he said the words like he’s taken a blow to the stomach. “He carved the word mine into your skin?”
I nodded and wiped the tears with the back of my hand.
“He took his time, and when I cried, he cut slower wanting to maximize the pain. He knew I would always choose you, but still wanted me to have something to remind me of him.”
“Why did you never tell?”
“Mason warned that if I ever said anything to you that he’d do more to me than just carve into my flesh. I’d already seen what he was capable of, I didn’t need further proof. I went back to the cabin and washed the wound. There was blood everywhere, and it just wouldn’t stop. I was worried you’d both come back and see me like that.
“Once I got the wound covered, I changed into a t-shirt and went to leave for home. That was until you two turned up on the doorstep. I tried to act normal. I tried to be casual with Mason standing only a few feet away from me, watching and waiting for me to give you even an inkling that something was wrong. I kept my distance from then on. I felt like I couldn’t talk to you without wanting to tell you everything. My mom saw that change in me as well. I lost weight. I couldn’t confide in her simply because I was too scared.
“Every night, I heard the fighting coming from your place. Your situation was worsening. I never saw you and when I did, I knew you were fighting your own battles. I remember those few times I did see you, you looked so… different. You too had lost weight. You were pale and always tired. And then there were the bruises. I felt so helpless when all I wanted to do was be by your side, yet Mason was doing everything in his power to keep me away. One day I returned home from school and saw a note left in the bucket. It was asking me to meet you out at the cabin.”
Lucas shook his head. “I don’t remember ever writing a note to meet me at the cabin.”
I smiled weakly, the pain still real. “That’s because it wasn’t you. At the time I thought it was. I ran out of the house so excited to see you without the possibility of Mason being there. When I arrived, the door was closed. There were noises coming from inside the cabin, muffled, but at the time I still believed it to be you. When I pushed the door open, I saw Joanie being fucked. I was shocked. A part of me broke, and I wondered how you could ever do something like that to me. But when he looked up, it was Mason. He smiled… an evil, gloating smile and continued thrusting.
“I took a step back ready to run, but my heel caught on the step and I fell. They both stopped, and Joanie questioned me like I was some sick pervert. She turned on me while Mason sat back and laughed. Later that night, another message arrived to my window. It was from Mason. A question. He asked if I liked what I saw.
“Mason was continually finding ways of hurting me because I hadn’t chosen him. A few weeks passed, I kept my distance. I rarely saw you. The arguments in your household grew louder, and when I did see you, you always sported new bruises. Then one night, it was especially bad. I could hear heavy thuds, glass breaking. It seemed more volatile than normal. It was storming outside, and in between the thunder I heard you and Mason bickering by the car. Looking out of the window, I saw you both carrying a tarpaulin.”