Chasing Jenna Read online

  “What did you find?” I yelled, dropping my hands from my face, staring at Marcus. Ryan’s eyes darted to mine and then back to his brother’s.

  Ignoring my outburst, Ryan continued, “Marcus, you really have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into.”

  “No brother, it seems you don’t know what you’ve gotten yourself into, or maybe you do.”

  “What are the two of you talking about?” I demanded. Ryan held up his hand, wanting me to stop talking. But this game they were playing was dangerous. It needed to end now before someone did something that couldn’t be taken back.

  Marcus backed over to the table and reached into his pocket, pulling out several pieces of paper and holding them in the air like he was trying to make a point.

  “I’m talking about this, Jenna. I found them in a locked cabinet in the basement of the house.” He laid them on the table.

  Ryan started growling as he shook his head back and forth. His chest rose quickly with each breath, anger radiating off of him in waves. I was terrified by the way his jaw flexed as he ground his teeth. His eyes darted back and forth between Marcus and me.

  Finally he broke, “Jesus, Marcus, I know. I know you were there okay? They all know you were there. You don’t need to do this. Just let me explain.” His voice was softer than before, almost pleading.

  Marcus didn’t take his eyes from Ryan, but motioned for me to come over to the table, “Jenna, I found these in a file with your name on it.”

  “Stop!” Ryan’s harsh voice was back and it bounced off the walls as he rushed toward his brother. “They know you have that – you just signed your death certificate. They will kill all of us, don’t you understand?”

  Marcus rushed his brother, and they stood eye to eye ... toe to toe. Marcus spoke a strained whisper through his clenched teeth, “I died when you let them kill Katie. I will never stop.” He looked in my direction, “Jenna, you need to …”

  Before I could move, Ryan grabbed the chair sitting beside him and brought it around, connecting with the side of Marcus’s head. I screamed as I watched Marcus fall to the floor. He lay motionless. I rushed to him, lifting his head onto my knees and feeling for a pulse. It was faint.

  “Are you crazy?” I screamed.

  Ryan mumbled quickly under his breath like a maniac, running his hands through his hair over and over. He paced back and forth until he finally walked over to the television and pulled the cord from it. He stormed toward me and I scrambled backwards on the floor to get away from him. “Don’t you move,” he growled at me.

  He roughly lifted Marcus, putting him on the bed and tying him to the frame. I saw an opportunity, so I jumped up and grabbed the pieces of paper from the table.

  His voice was low and threatening, “Don’t read that, Jenna.” But I continued. A small gasp escaped from my mouth as I fought the reality trying to slam down on me.

  His eyes were dark and his face showed no emotion as he stood next to the bed. I looked back down at the papers in my hands, scanning them as quickly as I could.

  “What is this?” I couldn’t look at him – scared of the pain it would cause me to see him in a different way. He was all I had left, my second chance, my escape. But suddenly I realized, nothing could be farther from the truth. He’d never planned to be my escape; he planned to be my ending.

  The papers I held in my hand proved that.

  Over and over I read the name that was about to change everything I perceived to be good and safe. I struggled to contain the fear buried deep inside of me since childhood; but it poured out into this small, dungeon – like room – drowning me, closing in all around me, weighing heavily on my chest.

  “Don’t be afraid,” he whispered moving close enough to me that I could feel the heat radiating off his body. He leaned into me slowly, like a lover wanting to gain access. When his chest touched my shoulder, I closed my eyes and leaned into him. Welcoming his closeness, praying he had an answer that would make this entire mess ok somehow. My heart had not yet realized – he was my biggest threat.

  “What. Is. This?” I asked once more. His two word answer shattered my already broken world.

  “The list.”

  Shaking my head in disbelief I asked slowly, “Of what?”

  “The people who are assigned to you.” He let out a long breath, while checking that his brother was still not moving.

  I didn’t want to hear anymore – he continued anyway. “My brother didn’t know any of this until now. He’s a true First year in the house, so he knew nothing of the business. I, on the other hand, have had a year of ‘special training'.” He smiled at me, causing my skin to crawl.

  “I am your Keeper Jenna. I’ve been assigned to keep you safe since you were chosen."

  “Chosen?”

  “Yes, you were identified as a candidate before you even started school. Cale is your Sponsor, I am your Keeper, and Quinn …” his eyes fell briefly to the floor but he quickly recovered, meeting my eyes once more, although he couldn’t hide the crack in his voice, “Quinn is your trainer.”

  The visions of Katie slammed back into me and I grabbed at my temples like someone was stabbing me. My vision tilted and I stumbled.

  “What have you done? Oh, my God Ryan, what have you done?”

  The rational side of me eyed the door, trying to figure out how to get past him. The emotional side was still determined to trust him. The internal struggle kept me from reacting. He leaned down and turned my face up to his, holding my chin softly. His eyes filled with tears as they darted back and forth between mine.

  But I knew I couldn’t show weakness. If I was going to make it out alive, I was going to have to fight.

  “Don’t be afraid, it’ll be harder on both of us.”

  He was no longer my Ryan, and the reality that he never really was quickly set in causing a tornado of emotions inside my chest.

  I watched as his eyes moved over to Marcus on the bed. A terrifying calmness came over him as his arms fell to his sides. I knew with every cell in my body that he was going to hurt me. Tears began to run down my face.

  “You stay away from me,” I whispered as I backed away from him.

  “You can scream all you want to, no one in this neighborhood is going to help you.”

  “No, no … you’re one of them? Why? Why would you do this?” His stare burned into me.

  “I need you to …”

  “To what? Let you kill me without causing you too much trouble? You tricked me and used me. You told me you loved me and promised to protect me. I am not going down like this. I will not let you be the one who does this to me. I hate you!” The words were spilling out of me.

  I grabbed for the bat lying on the floor. With one quick movement he came at me while kicking the bat across the room. We both froze, staring into each other’s eyes.

  I could see the door behind him and knew it was my only hope. He was going to have to kill me to contain me. He lunged and grabbed me around the shoulders. I twisted and fought against his hold.

  “Stop fighting me and let me explain.”

  “Explain what? How you killed Katie? How you’re probably going to kill your own brother and how I’m next?”

  I fought with every ounce of energy I had – swinging, hitting and screaming. I reached up and dug my fingernails into his cheek as hard as I could. He grabbed my hands, holding them to my sides as blood trickled down his face.

  “I know you can’t understand this now, but I promise this is for your own good.”

  He twisted me around; pulling my back against his chest as he tightly gripped me around the neck with his thick forearm. His mouth hovered above my ear as his grip tightened, restricting my air flow. He whispered, “All you had to do was shut up and listen, but you never listen to me. I’m sorry, Jenna but I have to do this. I don’t want to, but you gave me no choice.” And his grip tightened once again.

  “Please,” I gasped “Don’t”.

  “It’s too late for beggi
ng, we’re out of time.” He growled.

  I sputtered and gasped, trying to get any small amount of oxygen I could. He leaned closer to my ear and kissed it gently as he whispered, “I do love you, never forget that.” Then he tightened his hold around my neck … Katie’s face was the last thing I saw.

  >CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT<

  Waking up from something like that is a slow process. My head pounded as every beat of my heart pulsed behind my eyelids. My body felt weightless but I ached everywhere. I choked trying to clear my throat. It burned and felt like I was swallowing razor blades. I gagged again, my tongue so dry it stuck to the roof of my mouth. I turned my head to the side and something ran down the side of my cheek. I reached up slowly to wipe my mouth.

  I was restrained – I pulled again, nothing. I tried to move my leg, but it too was restrained.

  Panic surged and tears began streaming down the sides of my face. I blinked rapidly, trying to recognize something, anything to tell me where I was. I pulled and pulled against whatever was tied around my hands and feet. But with every movement came searing pain, where the bonds cut deeper into my skin, the fresh wounds oozing and sliding under the straps.

  My heart pounded against my chest as muffled voices drifted into the room. I tried to roll to the side, lifting my shoulders as much as I could. My hands throbbed as I pulled on them, frantically scanning the room. This was a bedroom and I was tied to the bed. I laid my head back down, letting the memories creep back in. Ryan was the reason I was here. I knew what was going to happen to me, and so did he.

  Cale’s voice carried above all the others and it paralyzed me as he summoned Quinn. “She’s awake, go calm her down.”

  My blood turned to ice. Not Quinn…please not him. Ryan spoke next, “I could’ve killed her, but I didn’t know if you wanted her alive. Do you want me to go in and finish her off?”

  I threw my head back against the mattress over and over, fighting the splintering of my heart, as tears blurred my vision. I wanted to be furious, I wanted to hate … but I couldn’t. How could he be talking about killing me with the same voice he had promised to protect me with? The same voice he’d said he loved me with. I was going to die today ... there was no doubt about that. But I was going to choose how I died. I wouldn’t plead or cry; they would never get that from me again.

  Cale’s voice was strained and to the point, “No. You had your chance – Quinn will take care of it.”

  I closed my eyes and begged death upon me. I willed my heart to stop, my breathing to cease. I was terrified of the pain I knew they had planned for me, but more than that, I didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of taking one more thing that belonged to me. If this was really the end of my life, I wanted to be the one who was in charge of it. I wanted them to feel disappointment that they were not the ones to cause my final breath.

  The door cracked open; I looked over, hoping whoever was coming in next, was here to help me. I really didn’t know who I expected my savior to be – there was no one left to come for me. I was completely alone. Katie is dead, Marcus probably is too, and Ryan … well, he’s as good as dead to me now. Although, I held out hope for one second – I had to, because I knew without a doubt, that if the door closed behind Quinn, it would be the same as signing my horrific and painful death certificate.

  Cale came in first. Something triggered inside of me and I started fighting against the bonds again. He flashed a large smile and chuckled, “Still fighting, Jenna? Just like the first time we met, fighting then and fighting even now.”

  I tried to scream but my throat closed with the strain and I fell back against the bed, gagging and coughing.

  “You really are stupid aren’t you? Fight all you want – you aren’t getting out of those,” he leaned toward me and whispered, “I’m a bit of an expert when it comes to restraints.” He walked to the end of the bed and stood there shaking his head at me. “Truthfully, I expected nothing less from you, fighting until the very end. If I had to be honest, it’s somewhat admirable – and irritating as fuck at the same time.”

  The door opened once more and Quinn stood in the doorway. I stilled as all the blood drained from me. His eyes roamed over me and flashed with lust. He was going to hurt me so badly, and he was looking forward to it.

  Ryan stood motionless in the hallway behind Quinn. His eyes met mine, but his face showed no emotion. I wanted to call out to him. I wanted to believe that he was going to save me, until the memory of what he’d done came rushing back to me. I realized all over again why I was here – he was the reason. He brought me here, and handed me over to these monsters to dole out whatever twisted justice they felt I deserved. I turned away from him, closed my eyes tightly and tears ran down each side of my face. He wouldn’t save me. No one would come for me. No one ever saved me. My body trembled as I realized these were my last few moments alive. Katie’s smiling face, my mom, and memories of Ryan holding me flashed through my mind.

  A sob surfaced and my chest involuntarily rose off the mattress as I tried to fight it. I rolled my head back and forth on the mattress, trying to erase any good memories I had of him. All along he’d used me to improve his position in the house. All this time I was nothing more than a pawn in his well thought out plan. If he kept me hidden while everyone else looked for me, he could deliver me at the right time, when it benefited him the most.

  Quinn stood quietly over by the door, while Cale came to the side of the bed and bent down so he was eye level with me. He took a long, deep breath and then let it out.

  “You’re such a disappointment, Jenna. I thought you were smarter than this – I really did.” He stood and started pacing next to the bed. “I knew you would figure this all out eventually, but I really believed you would see the positive side of it.”

  He stopped and stared down at me. When he spoke again, his voice was strained, “I could’ve given you more than you ever dreamed of. Look at you and your pathetic, little life.” His voice was getting louder and louder, “I would’ve given you money, education, travel. With your looks, you would’ve held the company of the most powerful men all over the world.”

  I felt the sobs begin again, but I pressed my lips together tightly. I would not give him the satisfaction of even one more tear.

  “But you had to ruin, didn’t you?” he growled.

  I lifted my chin in defiance and smirked.

  Pain suddenly shot through my head; I could feel the blood dripping from the corner of my eye before I even knew he’d hit me. He leaned over me, his face right above mine. Spit flew from between his teeth as he hissed, “You almost ruined everything for me. You think some little tramp like you could bring me down?”

  I stared right back at him. There were things I wanted to know, things I had a right to know and this was my last chance.

  “Katie,” I whispered.

  He smiled down at me, his eyes slowly moving down my face to my mouth. He ran a finger down the side of my cheek and then stood abruptly.

  “Okay … you want to know about your friend, I understand that. It really is a shame someone with Marcus’s bloodline and potential would fall in love with trash like Katie.” He paused and then waved his hand in the air, “Anyway … after Ryan and I got into that fight at the party, Marcus was sent off by the elders to tell their father how badly Ryan was screwing up. It was the right thing to do, and when Ryan came to see me that night while you were sleeping in my bedroom, I set him straight. You see, for a second, Ryan had fallen under your spell. I understood that, so I gave him the benefit of the doubt when he came back begging my forgiveness. It was a rookie mistake; we’ve all had it happen. It’s the pitfall of having to work with beautiful, captivating women.”

  “By the time Ryan got his head on straight, you were already gone and he had a job to do.”

  “We had patrols out looking for you. Quinn stopped by your room and found Katie. As you can imagine, she was very upset and demanding. She freaked out on him and started making accusations
against me and The Brotherhood. Some were a little too close to the truth, so Quinn did what he had to do.”

  Cale glanced over at Quinn and he nodded in agreement. “Quinn tells me she really wasn’t Brotherhood quality anyway. I’m sure he could’ve taught her what she needed to learn, but we prefer the naturals, you see, it’s always better to have employees you needn’t spend a lot of time training. They can begin earning income right away. But she was never going to be the same, so we killed her – because we couldn’t find you. It was a message really, to make sure you understood how serious we were about getting you back.”

  My gut twisted and I tried to curl into a ball. But the restraints prevented it. So I lifted my head off the bed as far as I could, and rolled as far up onto my side as possible. I squirmed with the pain of knowing what he was saying was true; it was my fault that Katie was dead.

  He continued to walk back and forth at the bottom of the bed. “Now you on the other hand, you had a spark. I knew you weren’t going to be bought. All the bloodlines could see that when they met you at your interview. But it was okay. It made you more of a challenge; made things look good for me once I got you to agree to be sponsored.” He checked his watch and took in an exaggerated breath.

  “That is why I sent Ryan after you. He has, well … special training and I was hoping you could be convinced. But then Katie happened and you just refused to be caught – such a shame.”

  His laugh was cold and made me shiver.

  “The only good thing about this is you can be completely erased.” He checked his watch again and then looked at me with a strange smile. “Your mom should already be dead by now.”

  A rush of emotion hit me like a tidal wave, washing over my body and filling me with a desire to fight. I twisted my body, ignoring the stabbing pain shooting up my arms.

  “No,” I wanted to cry out in disbelief, but it came out in a choking sound. His fist connected with my jaw and I faded out for just a second, but nothing could dull the kind of pain I was feeling inside of me. Blood ran from the corner of my mouth and I did nothing to try and stop it.