Unbreakable 2, The Mystery of Lilly (Cypress Grove Series) Read online

  Unbreakable 2, The Mystery of Lilly

  By Amie Nichols

  Copyright 2014 ©Amie Nichols

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Dedication

  Carson K. Carlisle

  09/25/1979-02/28/2014

  Carson in so many ways changed my life without even trying. Even though I never met her, I feel as though I knew her well. She was the first person to review my book, and as a new author she was very kind with her words. Noticing I needed help, she introduced me to her best friend Tara Sanders-Vanover. Tara has become so important to my life. A lifelong friend who has changed my writing career.

  Carson’s life ended way too soon, leaving behind many family and friends whose lives will never be the same without her. Heaven now has a beautiful, free spirited, hula hooping angel. Forever in our hearts Carson, you will never be forgotten.

  Prologue

  LUKE

  I hear voices, sounds like my dad talking. He's talking to someone, I don't recognize his voice. "It will take some time, he will start to regain consciousness before he will actually be able to move or open his eyes," I hear the unfamiliar voice say.

  "What were they given?" It's my mom's voice this time. "How much longer will they be out?" I try to open my mouth to speak, but my lips feel glued shut and so do my eyes as I can't open them either. I hear a slow and steady beep, I can't figure out where it's coming from.

  "The blood work reveals it was Ketamine, an animal tranquilizer. It was a very high dose. Luke will wake before Lucy and Sam since he is bigger," the unfamiliar voice says. Lucy and Sam, what's going on? Where's Lilly?

  "Is there anything you can do to speed up the process? We need Lucy! She is the only one who will know how to run the tracker!" It's Jacob and his voice is frantic. "She is the only one that can help us find her!" I hear Jacob pleading with the unfamiliar voice. Find her? Find who? Lilly? I hear the steady beep pick up speed. It is going really fast all of a sudden and footsteps rush closer.

  "Luke, baby, can you hear me?" It's Mom. I try to speak again, but I still can't make my lips move. I can hear you mom, what has happened to Lilly?

  "He is probably conscious now, but he is still paralyzed. It shouldn't be long. You need to talk to him, calm him down. His blood pressure is sky rocketing," the voice I don't know says.

  "Son, please just try to relax. Don't fight it, Son." It's Dad, and I feel a hand on my forehead. It feels like Mom’s.

  "So does that mean Lucy should be coming around soon?" I hear Jacob again. The fear in his voice makes the beeping start to go crazy again. I hear the unfamiliar voice say something, but it sounds as if they are walking away. No, I need to know what is going on! Where's Lilly? Is she hurt? Oh God, she can't be hurt! Please no, no, no, no! The beeping goes so fast it is almost one solid noise. There's more rushing around, and then a girl's voice.

  "Luke, you have to calm down or they are going to give you something that will make your waking up take longer." It's Emma's voice and it is calm and soothing. "I am going to explain to you what is going on so you will know why you need to calm down, so you can wake up." She sounds so soothing that I think that Lilly must be okay; if Emma sounds this calm, she has to be. The beeping slows down a bit, and as I feel someone rubbing my arm it slows more.

  "That's it, buddy." I now hear Jimmy's voice, but still no explanation.

  "Once your blood pressure is back to normal I will explain, just relax." I have no choice, I have to relax. It's Emma again talking. The beeping has slowed down to a steady even pace. Okay guys, tell me what is happening. Tell me Lilly is okay. Oh God, let her be okay.

  I hear voices mumbling but can't make out what they are saying or who the voices belong to. Then it's black again.

  Chapter 1

  Lilly

  I feel the back of my head hit hard on something metal. Pain sears through me and I feel as if my head is going to explode from pressure. I can't open my eyes and I can't move. Another hard slam, only this time my butt takes the brunt of the pressure before my head slams again.

  It starts to come back to me; the stalker, the van, and oh my God, the button. He pushed the detonator button. I scream, but my mouth doesn't open. I can't make it. SLAM. My head takes another beating. Pain runs through my entire body, but all I can think about is that Luke is dead.

  This son of bitch killed him. I don't care about anything else now but hurting this man, then dying myself. I can't live without Luke. SLAM. . . .Then everything's dark.

  I feel like I am floating, but not in a good way. Every muscle in my body aches. Every bone feels broken. I open my eyes to see trees, upside down trees, as my head bobs up and down. With what takes every ounce of strength I have, I lift my throbbing head. I'm looking right into the face of him. He is staring forward, his eyes concentrating on where he is going. Sweat is pouring down his face and he looks angry. I don't care. This is the man that killed my Luke. I try to lift my arms to hit, fight, and swing, but they won't move. They lie limp at my sides as I am carried through some dense timber.

  "Fuck you, you piece of shit." I spit out the words, my voice hoarse and low.

  He ignores me and I try to wiggle from his grip. Sharp pains rip through me. Every move I try to make is like a knife cutting into my skin, but I don't care. I keep trying, starting to squirm in his grip. I can tell it is making it more difficult for him to carry me so I continue writhing, moving, kicking, and swinging. Even though every movement is little, I feel as though I am getting stronger. My arm finally lifts. I swing as hard as I can, smacking him in his face.

  This makes him look down at me and the anger in his eyes makes me wince, but it doesn't stop me from fighting. With another swing I make contact with his neck in a karate chop style hit. The hit's not hard, because I don't have the strength, but he loses his grip anyway and I go careening for the ground. I hit the timber floor with a loud thud. Most of the fall is taken by my shoulder, I scream as the pain rips through me.

  "Why are you fighting me, Lilly?" The man is now squatting down on his haunches in front of me. "I thought you were happy that we are finally together?" He seems confused as I lie there in pain. I feel hot tears stream down my face.

  "Go to hell, I hate you and I will kill you for killing Luke." The words are like ice on my tongue. I played along at first to save Luke, but now all I want is for this man to suffer.

  "Tisk, tisk. I know you don't mean that." He's smug as he waves his finger at me. "It won't be long and we will be there. It will be a lot easier on both of us if you don't fight me." He looks down at me smiling, making my insides turn as I feel bile in my throat. I roll to try to stand, but I don't get very far before he is hoisting me up in his arms again.

  "Let me go," I scream at him, wiggling to try to get away, but he has a tighter grip this time. "I hate you! I have never felt anything for you. You're a delusional, psychotic piece of shit." I want to hurt him with my words. I'm not going to plead with him. I am not going to give him anything that would feed his delusion.

  "It's all his fault, you wouldn't be saying this if he hadn't poisoned you," he says, his voice low and growly.

  "You're disgusting, I never knew you were watching me. If I did, I would have been disgusted by it!" I'm shouting every word as loud as my hoarse voice will allow.

  "You don't know what you are saying. I know you love me and it will take time to get the poison he fed you out of your head, but we will get there my love." He's smiling down at me again. His eyes are glazed over and he looks like he truly believes everything he is saying to me. The vomit comes and I am choking. He puts me down on my knees as wave after
wave of hot bile flows. My stomach turns as dry heaves start and I can't stop. Tears stream down my face as my whole body trembles.

  "That's it, get the poison out," the psycho behind me says. Fuck, what am I going to do? I try to stand, wanting to walk to get my strength back. Maybe I can run if I get my legs under me. He lets me stand, my knees wobbly I take one step then another. He is right behind me and I know not to try to run now because there is no way I could outrun him the way I am feeling.

  "Don't think about running," he warns me and wraps his hand around the nape of my neck guiding me in the direction he wants me to go.

  "Where are you taking me?" I choke out the words, my mouth dry with the taste of bile in my throat. Walking is hard on the timber floor; my legs burning, my thigh muscles weak. My head is swimming and I feel lightheaded, dizzy. "Can I have some water?"

  "I am taking you somewhere they can't find you, and we will hide until they stop looking." He takes a bottle of water from his backpack and hands it to me. His eyes soften as he stops and holds my arm as I take a sip of the warm water. It feels so good going down my throat. All I can think is if I can get up enough energy I could escape. He watches me carefully, looks at me adoringly. He really has feelings for me, and I think I can use this to my advantage.

  Thinking I could change up my strategy by pretending I feel the same way, maybe I could catch him off guard. The thought of it brings the bile back up in my throat as I think of Luke. Tears prick the backs of my eyes. I don't want him to see me cry. I don't want to give him the satisfaction. All I want to do is hurt him, and I will hurt him.

  "What do you mean, looking for me?" I try to sound innocent. "Why would they be looking for me when they know I am where I belong?" The words are like sandpaper and the smile that forms on his face doesn't make it any better.

  "The security guy you hired has the entire state looking for you. I wish he was in the house when I blew it up. Then we wouldn't have to worry," he growls the words low and harsh.

  Oh God, the house blew up with Luke and Lucy inside. I can't help the tears that are forming in my eyes. The rush of emotion as I cry out in pain, I fall to my knees sobbing thinking of my poor, strong Luke. Helpless with the drug he gave him crumpled up on the kitchen floor not moving. I lose all sense of where I am as it sinks in even deeper, that the love of my life is dead. The man tries to get me to stand but I fight him, all I want to do is lie here and die. I feel the pain of the rough timber floor underneath my body as I lay my head down.

  "We have to keep going. You know it will be all right. They will stop looking eventually and then we will be free to be together." The delusional, psychotic idiot thinks I'm crying because they are looking for us. The crying stops, and the anger returns like a light switch being turned on and off. I lift myself up to my knees with my good arm still staring at the ground. I use the sleeve of my shirt to wipe my face before I look up at my deranged kidnapper.

  "Why me?" I ask.

  He kneels in front of me so he is looking directly into my eyes.

  "I love you, I have since the moment I saw you. Your mother hired me to kill you, but I couldn't. You're the most beautiful thing I have ever seen and I just couldn't. So I took care of her instead," he says, putting his hand under my chin lightly to bring my head up to meet his eyes.

  "What. . .wait. . .Jane hired you?" What the hell is happening? Is this for real?

  "Yes, I was to kill you before you turned eighteen. It had to be before you turned eighteen." He repeats this over and over now staring at the ground.

  "Why before I was eighteen?" All I ever knew was that when I turned eighteen, Jane was going to make me change my name and make me leave the state.

  "Something about when you turned eighteen, everything was going to change. I didn't get all the details, but she paid me a lot of money to kill you. She was getting more and more anxious the closer it got to your birthday. I was afraid she would do something, so I took care of her."

  "The crash, you did that?" I am so shocked right now and have tons of things going through my head. My poor Luke pops into my head again. I'm so sorry, baby, it's all my fault. I say a silent prayer hoping he can hear me. Although I'm dying inside, the tears won't come. I feel as if he is pushing me to survive this. He would want me to survive.

  "Yes, I had to, to save you. If I didn't she would have found someone else to kill you. I could not let that happen." He reaches for my face again, but I pull back. "I'm sorry you had to hear this, I can't imagine what you must be feeling knowing your mother wanted you dead." He looks wounded by my action of not wanting him to touch me. He goes to grab my arm to help me up and I pull away from his grip. He's being gentler now, as if he's not angry, but concerned. "We have to keep moving love," he orders softly, but firm.

  I feel like I have no choice but to do what he says. I don't know what else to do. My whole world is a blur and the sobbing starts again. I get up, my knees still shaking, and he puts his arm around my waist. He takes my arm and places it over his shoulder as we walk. I cry uncontrollably as I allow him to assist me in walking. I don't even know what to do or think.

  We walk for what seems like forever, my body so numb from the pain I feel like a robot. The man leads me and we are suddenly in front of a metal door on a small hill. It is like a fallout shelter that leads into the ground. Fumbling with the padlock on the door, he unlocks it and swings the massive door open. He grabs my upper arm and guides me toward the opening. I step down onto hard concrete steps. It's damp, the smell over takes me the further we descend. It is pitch black and my senses are heightened. I feel him behind me as he reaches over my head to pull on a string, turning on a light that flickers to life.

  In front of me is what I can only explain as a cage. Iron bars encase an old, dirty cot-like bed. There is a metal looking bowl in the corner that I can only assume is supposed to be a toilet. The smell is musty, moldy, and dirty. My stomach turns as I realize that I am going to be in this space for a while. He pushes me toward the cage. I flinch as my shoulder slams into one of the bars. My dislocated shoulder still throbs, but nothing compares to the pain in my heart over my Luke.

  All hope is lost to me, I just want to curl in a ball and die. Any expectation of running from this man has vanished if I am locked in this hellhole. I hear a screech and turn my head to see him sliding a rusty metal chair toward me. He is dirty with torn clothes, but I see he is very muscular. He looks tired, sullen, as he motions for me to sit in the chair.

  "I am going to take care of that shoulder," he says.

  I shake my head no. I don't want him to take care of me in any way.

  "Sit and hold on to the bars, I will be quick," he orders, pushing me down onto the chair. I don't take hold of the bars. Instead, I slump in the chair looking down at the dirty concrete floor. He grabs my dislocated arm and puts his foot on the chair. The pain from the movement makes me whimper. He places his other hand on my chest. I move to avoid his touch and the warning in his eyes sends shivers down my spine. His foot moves to my hip, and when he has a good hold on me he pulls hard and fast. I scream in pain as the shoulder pops back in place.

  "I'm sorry, but it needed done," the man says as he reaches for me helping me off of the chair. He guides me into the cage, shutting the door with a loud bang that makes my whole body quiver.

  "What are you going to do, cage me up like an animal?" I shout angrily, "Let me out of here! I will never love you, I hate you! I despise you! I want you dead and I want to be the one to kill you!" I wanted to hurt him. The look in his eyes tells me I've just succeeded.

  "I know you don't mean it so I am going to forgive you," he says.

  "Go to hell."

  He doesn't say another word. He puts a couple bottles of water and what looks like some protein bars on the floor just outside of the cage.

  He turns back to me. "I will be back as soon as I can. I need to see what they know," he tells me as he turns to walk up the stairs.

  "Let me out!" I scream at the
top of my lungs grasping the iron bars with my fists, my knuckles turning white as I try to move the bars. "Let me out!" I scream so loudly again that I hurt my own ears with the words echoing in the small room, but he's gone. With a massive thud the metal door is closed, leaving me here all alone.

  Oh my God, oh my God. I start hyperventilating; I can't breathe, oh my God, I can't breathe! Panic and fear overtake me. I feel myself hit the concrete floor before everything goes black.

  Chapter 2

  I must be dreaming. I feel myself being lifted and I hear a familiar voice in my ear. "I got you, baby." It’s Luke's voice and it is the sweetest sound in the world. Am I dead, am I with Luke? I don't care as long as I can stay with him. I hear commotion all over and then see a bright light.

  I try to talk, but it is more of a whimper. My mouth is so dry it feels like my tongue is concrete. I want to feel him and I try to reach out for him, but can't move. My whole body is lifeless. Then I smell it, I smell the scent that makes my heart speed up. It's Luke's smell. Warmth overtakes me again before all senses are gone and my world is once again black.

  "She's severely dehydrated and in shock. Some of the cuts are bad so we will watch them closely. She has some broken ribs, but other than that she is fine. She's a fighter. We will continue to push liquids." I hear a voice talking, but I don't recognize it.

  "Thank you, Doctor." It's Emma's sweet voice. My eyes open, they feel as if someone has rubbed sand in them causing tears to start to form.

  "Baby, I'm here, you're safe." I turn my head to the familiar voice and the tears start streaming down my cheeks.

  "Luke." I whimper at the magnificent sight of him as he looks down at me. "Am I dreaming?" I can only hope I never wake up if I am.

  "No baby, I'm here," he says, pressing his lips to my forehead. The feeling is like warm sunshine. "You are in the hospital and you're going to be fine." I see tears forming in his eyes as he looks down at me so lovingly.