Page 41 of Every Sunset

“Jesus, sweetheart. You’re frozen through,” he hissed, and seconds later I felt a soft blanket being wrapped around me.

“I’m okay,” I tried to reassure them as I lifted my head and looked between them both. Logan was crouched opposite Maddox, right beside me, and they were both watching me with so much concern it was startling to see. I wasn’t used to anyone other than my son caring that much about me.

I took a deep breath and pushed the wild strands of my hair that had escaped my ponytail back from my face. I had no doubt I looked a complete mess, but again – bigger problems.

“We don’t have to talk tonight, Anna. You look so tired right now,” Logan told me as he ran a thumb over the tear tracks down my cheeks.

“It’s just the crash from the adrenaline. I’m good,” I assured him, but it wasn’t too convincing when the words came out weak and shaky. “Let’s just get it over with, okay?” I added when they both looked unsure.

“Okay, but just tell us if it get’s to be too much,” Logan agreed reluctantly.

“His name is Callum,” I dove right in, just desperate to get it all out in the open so I could close it down in my mind once again.

Just knowing I needed to tell them what happened that one weekend was awakening every horrible second of it in my memory.

“The last name on his ad said ‘Smith’ but I doubt that was his real name.

“His ad?” Madd questioned.

“On a dating site. It was stupid, but I was lonely and I just…I wanted a connection, you know? I just wanted to find someone who would want me and care about me. I love my son more than anything and I have never for one second regretted having him, but being a very young, single mom didn’t make for a great dating life. ”

“We get it, Anna. You were allowed to have a social life, sweetheart,” Logan told me.

“I never wanted Max to get mixed up with anyone I dated, not that it ever really happened anyway, but that weekend he was away. He went camping with some friends and their dads, so I…I thought it would be okay. I thought I could just have some fun,” I explained.

“Callum started sending me messages as soon as I posted my profile on the dating site. He was funny and he seemed nice. We chatted for a while through the site, then I gave him my number and we were texting most of the day on the Friday. When he asked to meet me, I agreed. He picked a restaurant that I knew, and that I was sure would be crowded. I was so sure I’d be safe there. ”

“Tell us what happened, baby,” Maddox urged after several minutes of me zoning out, lost in my nightmarish flashbacks. It was the feel of Maddox pulling me tight against his body once again that brought me back to reality. I looked between them with watery eyes.

“The date was on Friday night. Kind of rushed, but it suited me since I only had that weekend while Max was away. When I met him…Callum…at the restaurant, he…he was nice. He looked just like his photo on the website, and he was charming and funny. I wasn’t sure he was really my type, but I was enjoying the company and the meal was good.

It was nice to just let my hair down, I guess.

“I remember eating the main meal. I had a couple of beers, but I was nowhere near drunk. We ordered dessert. I remember that, but I…that’s the last thing I remember. I think he must have drugged me…my drink, maybe when I went to the restroom.”

“Sonofabitch!” Maddox hissed as he held me so tight it bordered on painful, but I needed that hold to keep me grounded in that moment, and not lost to the memories of that terrifying night I was recalling.

“Next thing I knew I woke up back at my apartment. I was naked and I…he…he’d bound me to the corner posts of my bed.

He w-was stripped down to just his jeans when he walked in, and he was a completely different person.

He had a knife…l-like a hunting knife. He c-cut me…

right here. I thought that was it,” I said as I rubbed absently at the scar that was still red, angry, and barely healed, down my chest and to my navel.

“I th-thought he’d cut me enough to kill me then, but he hadn’t, obviously.

After that he…he hurt me more. I kept on expecting h-him to…

to r-rape me, but he…he didn’t. It was my pain.

He l-liked the pain he inflicted. He t-tortured me and he enjoyed every scream and cry he tore from me,” I whimpered.

“Jesus Anna. I’m so sorry. So fucking sorry,” Logan gasped as he rose on his knees and wrapped himself around me and Maddox, so I was squeezed securely between the two of them.

I turned enough to grab a handful of Logans shirt and tried to pull him even closer to me, where I huddled against his brother. He pushed closer against me and snaked an arm in between my side and Maddox, so he was holding me tightly too.

“I’m gonna kill him, Anna. He will never get near you or Max ever a-fucking-gain,” Maddox raged in a low menacing tone.

“Tell us the rest, sweetheart. Get it all out, then we can take you upstairs and just hold you all night, the way we both need to,” Logan told me.

I nodded and sat up, forcing them both to back off enough for me to sit up straight and take a much needed cleansing breath.

“I didn’t know how much time passed. I started to drift in and out of consciousness.

I had some damaged ribs and burns. The blood…

there was s-so much blood. I w-was cut up pretty bad and he’d beaten me a few times so my head felt fuzzy.

I never thought…I w-was so sure he’d kill me before Max ever came home.

He h-had the knife again. He’d moved me so I was tied to the bed but laid on my front.

I screamed as he cut me again, but it…the sound…

it barely came out. I’d already screamed myself hoarse by then.

“I didn’t hear the door open and close. I didn’t hear anything, but then suddenly my son made this sound…

this deep, pained roar. A heavy weight landed on me and when I tried to turn to look, I saw him…

Callum. He w-was stumbling to get up off of me, and Max…

” My voice broke as a sob burst from me.

“…he…he’d heard me cry out and grabbed his baseball bat.

He h-hit Callum to get him off of me, but not hard enough.

Callum got to his f-feet and went for Max.

I…I tried to get free…a-and I was screaming, even though the sound barely came out.

Callum knocked Max to the floor and picked up the knife he’d been using o-on me.

I…I w-was so sc-scared,” I stuttered hysterically.

“Breathe for me, Anna. Max is safe. You’re both safe,” Maddox whispered as he pressed my head against his chest again and ran a hand over my hair soothingly.

“What day did Max come home, Anna?” Maddox asked.

“Sunday…late on S-Sunday.”

“He held and tortured you for days,” Maddox hissed, and I just nodded. I hadn’t known how much time had passed at the time, but it had felt like years, not just days.

“Max managed to get the upper hand again, I’m guessing?” Logan asked, and I nodded, but didn’t lift my head from the safety of Maddox.

“I…I didn’t see it all. I could barely move to look over my shoulder and my head…

everything was so fuzzy. Max was so fast though.

He was bigger too…stronger th-than Callum.

He…he shot to his feet and Callum wasn’t expecting it.

Max smashed the bat down hard against his side this time and Callum stumbled.

Max hit him again and he fell, but as he went down he smashed his head against the corner of this old, oak dresser I bought at a thrift store.

It was solid and he…Callum, was out cold by the time he hit the floor. The blood….there was so much blood.”

“Max did so good. He saved both of your lives,” Maddox told me, sounding proud of my son.

“He did, but h-he never should have been forced to do it,” I squeaked tearfully.

“He c-cut me free. I…I was a real mess. Bleeding and I c-could barely breathe because…well, my ribs. It hurt so much just to breathe in and out. Max wanted to call the cops, and I should have let him, but I…I was s-so scared they’d arrest him for hurting Callum.

I m-managed to get to the floor to check Callum was alive and he…

he wasn’t. There w-was no pulse, a-and the carpet around him…

it w-was soaked with his blood. I thought he was d-dead. I was so sure.”

“Head injuries always bleed a ton, and you were probably in shock, not to mention, likely concussed. It would have been easy to miss a pulse,” Logan told me.

“I t-told Max we couldn’t call the cops.

I couldn’t take the risk. We worked to roll the body in the rug he was l-laid on, then we moved him into the hallway.

I…I t-took a shower and got dressed. Some of the cuts were too deep and they wouldn’t stop bleeding, but I…

I wasn’t thinking straight and I just left them. ”

“You could have fucking bled out!” Maddox growled, and I gripped him harder to try and soothe him.

“I didn’t. I’m here,” I told him. “Max took Callum’s car keys and found his car.

It was the middle of the night by the time he moved the car to the front of our building.

Getting Callum down to the car was h-hard.

Max did most of it and I…I know it fucked him up, dragging a body wrapped in carpet down three flights of stairs. How could it not?”

“He did what he needed to do, Anna. You both did,” Logan reminded me.