Always For You (Books 1-3) (31 page)

I gunned the engine and we shot off,
the car shooting up the path and onto the main road as I set my
sights for the nearest hospital.

Grace

The world rushed by in a blur as I sat
in the back of the car, my hands pushing down on Chase's chest,
trying to slow the bleeding.

“Chase, look at me,” I said as I
saw his eyes go faint. “Look into my eyes Chase, don't shut your
eyes.”

He opened his mouth to speak, the words
so quiet and weak against the sound of the car and rain. I leaned in,
blocking out all but his words.

“I love you Grace,” he said.

Tears shot down my face. “I love you
too. It's gonna be OK Chase, we're nearly there.”

He continued, his voice so thin. “I
know it wasn't your fault, what happened with John. I'm sorry.”

“No, I'm sorry,” I said, my voice
full of tears. “I should have told you, I'm so sorry for what
happened.”

His breathing continued to be long and
slow, his words now fading into nothing. “I'll always love you
Grace,” he said again, his voice failing at the end.

His eyes flickered to a close as I
shook him lightly. “Chase, CHASE!” I said frantically, my vision
now obscured by my tears, “don't leave me, don't go.”

But he didn't open his eyes. He just
lay there, in my arms, in silence.  

January 19
^th
2014

Cain

I stood looking at the grave, my heart
heavy.

“I'm so sorry,” I said quietly,
“I'm so sorry for everything.”

The trees rustled gently around me, the
wind trickling between them like water over pebbles. I felt such
guilt over what had happened. It was all my fault, everything, and
now he was dead.

“I never meant for this to happen,”
I said, “I never wished for any of this.” A tear began rolling
down my cheek as I stared at the dirt, the last resting place of a
man I barely knew.

I was stood alone in the woods, an
isolated place miles from anywhere. To anyone else this would simply
be another patch of forest, nowhere special, nowhere of note. To me
though, it carried a special meaning. This was where I'd buried Rex,
the man who'd hated me with such fury.

I'd returned after delivering Cain to
the hospital, returned to bury Rex's body. For all he'd done, I still
felt a guilt over how he'd suffered, suffered at my hands. I needed
to bury him, needed to see him to his last resting place.

I took up his body and cleaned the
scene of evidence before driving out into the woods. I dug and I dug,
burying him deep in the earth, leaving the mound covered in leaves,
inconspicuous to any eyes that might come across it. But I knew where
it was, I'd always remember where it was.

It had been several days now since that
fateful night, a night none of us would ever forget. We'd managed to
see Chase to the hospital just in time, just before his body gave
out. Grace had been inconsolable, thinking he'd died in the car, but
he was strong, strong enough to cling to life for long enough to get
him into surgery.

He was stable now, stable in hospital,
Grace unwilling to leave his side. I'd told them all to say Chase had
been stabbed by a mugger, that he'd run away before we could do
anything. None of us had any desire to see the police get involved in
this, to tell the truth about what happened. The others, they didn't
care that Rex had been killed. He'd kidnapped the girls, stabbed
Chase, tried to kill me. They had no remorse towards him. I did.

I returned to them at the hospital
after I'd buried Rex. Emily was there, consoling Grace as she cried
into her shoulder. We'd waited and waited, but eventually the doctor
came out and delivered the good news. “He'll be fine, he'll make a
full recovery.”

Grace was allowed to visit Chase soon
after, leaving Emily and I alone for the first time. It had been such
a rush I hadn't had a chance to talk to her, to find out if she was
OK. Her actions spoke louder than my words ever could though, diving
in and hugging me so tight I thought my breath would give way.

She cried into my shoulder, unleashing
all of the emotion that she'd been keeping back. She must have been
terrified, kept in the dark, tied to a chair, for several days. It
was all my fault that it happened – my recklessness, my temper, had
put others in danger.

“No,” she said to me though her
sobs, “you saved us, you saved us all.”

She looked up at me through her tears
and kissed me. “I love you Cain,” she said, “please don't go
away again.”

I'd never heard those words before. Not
from anyone. “It's OK Emily, I'm not going anywhere.”

I couldn't say it back, I couldn't tell
her I loved her. I didn't know what it meant, didn't know if I felt
it. There was too much in my head right now to know for sure. But I
did know one thing. I knew that I wanted to be with her. I wanted it
more than anything in the world.

Grace

I had sat at Chase's side for days, but
I wasn't going anywhere. I loved him so much it hurt, I knew that
from the thought of him dying. Seeing his eyes close in that car,
feeling his heart beat slow to a near stop, I felt like dying myself.
The feeling of hopelessness hit me immediately, like there was no
point in living anymore.

But it wasn't the end. The doctor told
me how strong he was, that he'd held on long enough so that they
could patch him up. I couldn't thank them enough for what they'd
done.

Now I sat there next to him, my eyes
watching him breath lightly as he slept. He looked so peaceful, so
calm, as if he was in a deep and untroubled sleep. I wondered what he
was dreaming of, whether it was me, whether he really meant what he
said in the car.

I had spoken to Cain briefly about what
happened that night over a week ago. He'd told me that he'd found
Chase alone in a park, and had told him what happened with John. He'd
realized that it was an accident, that Cain and I were only acting in
self defense. It seemed that this most recent crisis had brought us
all together. For that, at least, I was thankful for what happened.

Where we'd all go from here, however, I
didn't know.

July 13
^th
2014

Grace

It was a Sunday, and I hadn't been
happier since mom died. I sat at the dining table at dad's house,
looking around at everyone busily chatting away and laughing. Chase
was to my side, his smile so bright it lit up the room, regaling
everyone with one of his many stories.

Dad and Penny were still together, and
I hadn't seen him this happy for a long time either. Emily was there,
looking as adorable as always, and sat next to her was Cain, quietly
looking around at a sight that must have been so unfamiliar to him –
a family dinner.

I was so happy to see Cain getting
along with everyone. Emily had seemingly ditched Scott after the
events of that night, realizing that her feelings for Cain were just
too strong. I'd spent time with him and dad, seeing them slowly bond
and get to know each other. I could tell that his guard was beginning
to come down, that he was forgiving dad for what happened all those
years ago.

I think he'd realized that if Chase
could forgive us for what happened with John, he needed to be
forgiving himself. The truth about what happened all those years ago
had hurt all of us, but it was clear that dad felt a huge amount of
remorse over it, and was willing to do whatever it would take to
build bridges with Cain, to see them develop a father-son
relationship that he'd always craved.

I just hope that things continue
like this.

Cain

I looked at a sight that I'd always
wanted to see, one I'd dreamed about as a child – the sight of me
and my family having dinner. To anyone else it would be so mundane,
something they'd done a thousand times, maybe even a chore. For me
though, it was all so new, so special.

There was somewhere I needed to be
though, an itch I needed to scratch. After dinner ended I told
everyone I had to work, had a shift at the bar. It was a lie.

I left the house and got on my bike,
speeding down the road into town. I felt a surge of excitement
rushing through my body as I went, stepping off the bike and walking
down some steps into a back door, leading into a basement.

I could hear the rumble of an impatient
crowd next door as I entered the room, loudly stamping and cheering.
“You're late,” I heard a voice in the corner of the room.

I looked up to see Brad standing there.
“Ready to go?”

“Sure,” I said, “what's on the
plate tonight?”

“Nothing,” he said, “easy money.”

A smile hit my face as I walked out the
door and towards the cage, the noise of the crowd getting louder and
louder as they saw me. I stepped into the cage and looked across at
my opponent. Brad was right. Nothing.

A tingle began to rise up my fingers
and through my arms as I bounced around on the spot, an excitement
for what was to come.

I was back in the ring, and I was
hooked.

October 25
^th
2014

Cain

I stood in a dug out concrete basin,
like a deep swimming pool, bereft of its water. It was large, perhaps
ten meters wide and ten meters long, and deep, too deep for me to
jump up and reach the top to climb out.

I could hear a loud
clamoring
above me, the pit surrounded by a crowd baying for blood, looking
down into it as I stood there. There was nowhere for me to go now,
nowhere for me to hide. I had to see this through, if I didn't I'd
lose her. I couldn't lose her.

I looked up to see a man emerge from a
door into the pit. He was enormous and muscled, like a bear, a
hulking figure looming in front of me. I was trapped in there with
this monster, and only one of us would come out alive.

I'd fight for her. I'd kill for her.
I'd do anything for her.

July 13
^th
2014

Cain

I sat in my dressing room at the back
of the club, sweat dripping from me. It was hot down there, hotter
than it had been before. It could be that the weather was heating up,
or the fact that the crowd had swelled recently, more people coming
to watch me fight. It was probably a mixture of both.

I saw the door open and Brad came in.
“Good fight bro, you looked fucking good out there.”

I knew I looked good. It was becoming
routine. I'd only ever lost in one fight, that fight against Rex, but
since then no one had touched me. I was getting better with every
fight, training every day. The money was good, so good I took it
seriously. Before it had been opportunistic, something I thought I'd
try my hand at. Now, though, now I could earn more for one fight that
I could rushing up and down the bar serving drinks all week. Now that
was
fucking serious.

“Here,” Brad said, passing me an
envelope. It contained my winnings for the night, and the packets
were getting thicker.

Brad had been in my corner from the
beginning. He'd been managing me, setting up my fights, and taking a
cut of my winnings as a result. Things had become lucrative enough
that we'd hired a proper trainer, an old UFC cage fighter who taught
me Brazilian Jujitsu and other fighting techniques. My focus was on
grappling skills, rather than anything that involved fancy roundhouse
kicks and all that. I was a street fighter, not a fucking ninja, so
we played to my strengths.

It worked. My fights were getting
easier and shorter the more I trained. I was learning quick and
making my opponents tap out even quicker. I hated it when they'd
refuse to tap though. Stupid bastards – I'd rather they didn't
force me to snap their arm if possible. I'd do it though - if they
made me.

I kept this all quiet from Emily
though, Grace and Trevor too. I didn't want anyone worrying about me,
thinking I'd get hurt. Frankly there was no other way for me to earn
money like this, not unless I started jacking cars, and I didn't want
to start doing that again. Working my ass off behind the bar was a
thing of the past for me now – I was hooked on this. The feeling of
excitement before a fight, the roar of the crown, the touch of that
envelope in my hands. It was too easy, so why the fuck would I go
back to bar work?

I wanted to give Emily everything. I
wanted to treat her, to surprise her, to make her happy. I'd fallen
for that girl big time, a feeling I'd never had. I was doing it
partly for her, so that I could get a nicer place, take her to nice
restaurants and on fancy holidays. I'd never been on holiday myself,
never been abroad. I wanted it all, and fighting was my vehicle to
get it.

July 16
^th
2014

Grace

I woke with a start, as I had so many
times over the last few months. I looked down at Chase, who was
sleeping peacefully next to me. Every time I woke, he seemed so
content, so happy, in his sleep. I don't know how he did it, not
after what had happened.

I guess his experience had been
different from mine though. He'd been stabbed, sure, but it was a
momentary thing, a physical rather than psychological injury. I could
still hear that raspy voice, a voice that had haunted my dreams over
two years ago.

It was the mugger, the same man who'd
attacked me the night I met Cain, that took Emily and I to that
abandoned warehouse. Cain had saved me then, and he'd saved me once
more, this time with
Chase's
help.

His face, mangled and scarred, now
joined that raspy voice, calling out at me in my dreams from beyond
the grave. I'd thought back when he'd mugged me whether I wanted him
to die or not, whether I'd have cared if Cain had beaten him so badly
that he'd been killed. I now wish he had, it would have spared all of
us this anguish, this suffering.