Page 110 of Dream a Little Dream

Every muscle in his body screamed to move, to dosomething,but he was rooted to the spot, mind a cacophony of panic and fury. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the girl and her small, fragile frame sinking into the chair as though she wished she could disappear into the floorboard, soft cries breaking the heavy silence and searing through him like a blade into flesh.

“Meet Alice.” Drew stroked his knuckles along her tear-streaked cheek in a grotesque parody of comfort. The girl flinched at his touch, wide, terrified eyes darting to Aaron, pleading with him to intervene. Her panic mirrored his own, her desperation clawing at his resolve.

Drew leaned down, his breath brushing the girl’s ear as her uncontrollable trembles rattled the chair legs. “She already knows you, of course. Don’t you, Alice?”

Alice couldn’t respond. She could only stare at Aaron, eyes shimmering with tears spilling over in silent, anguished agreement. The raw, helpless fear in her eyes sent a fresh wave of nausea through him, hands trembling at his sides as he fought to maintain control.

“She’s been talking to you for weeks now.” Drew straightened with a smile chilling Aaron to his core. “She told me how excited she was to meet you. You even invited her here, didn’t you? For a party. And would you believe she’s here with her mother’s blessing?”

Aaron blinked, his mind scrambling to process the words.

Drew tapped the girl’s shoulder, mockingly playful. “Tell Aaron who your mother is.”

The girl choked, body convulsing with fear. She couldn’t speak. The gag tied forcefully around her mouth muffled her attempts, but her eyes screamed the answer loud enough.

Drew shook his head, feigning exasperation. “Her mother isHeather.”

The room spun. Aaron’s vision tunnelled as Drew’s words slammed into him, one after another.Heather? Kenny’s Heather?

“And guess where Heather is right now?” Drew’s tone was light,conversational, as if sharing a harmless secret. “Guess who she’d rather be with than ensure her daughter’s safety?” He tutted, shaking his head in mock disapproval. “Dr Kenneth Lyons.”

Aaron couldn’t breathe and the ground underneath him was unsteady, the weight of Drew’s words pressing down like a vice.Kenny. His mind raced, the thought of him—his touch, his voice—colliding with the horrifying reality in front of him. This little girl was here because of him. Because ofAaron.

Drew glanced at his watch. “They’re probably skipping dinner right about now. Straight to the fucking, don’t you think?” His voice turned mocking, each word laced with venom. “Well, you would know, wouldn’t you, Aaron? Is Dr Lyons someone who forgoes a meal to satisfy his other hungers first? Someone who lets primal urges consume him? Oh, he’d tell you all about why that is, wouldn’t he? How sexual drive is one of the most powerful motivators. It’s instinct, isn’t it? People like him, who crave control, are slaves to their own desires.”

Aaron balled his hands into fists so tight his nails bit into his palms. Every word Drew spoke fanned the fire of his anger and self-loathing, the guilt roaring in his chest like an inferno. The venomous insinuations about Kenny tore at him, but it was Alice’s terror shattering him completely. Her small, trembling frame was a reminder of everything he hadn’t been able to stop.

“Why are you doing this?”

Drew tilted his head, eyes gleaming with a sadistic light. “Because, Aaron,” he said softly, almost lovingly, like a doting parent, “this is what you were born for.”

Aaron’s stomach twisted. He wanted to flee. But how could he when this little girl was there, pleading with him? How could heleaveher? Oh, God, this was so much worse than he could ever have imagined and he was stuck, body and mind.

“So we have a couple of things to prepare…” Drew said as if this was some dinner party and he still needed to fold the napkins. He clapped his hands, loud and unnerving. Aaron and the girl flinched, with Alice sobbing into her gag. “Ah, yes, here we go.” Drew reached over to the cast iron fireplace, retrieving a knife. A huge, unyielding knife that he speared so close to the girl’s throat, she hyperventilated. “Now, Aaron.” He shook his head with a laugh. “That name…ahh, it’s just not right. Your mother won’t approve.” He fished out his mobile phone from his pocket and scrolled through. “You need to tell Dr Lyons to meet you at the place where they found his sister.”

Aaron tensed. “What?”

“We need to get him here. Because he needs to see you for who you are. How beautiful you are! Well, he already knows how beautiful you are, doesn’t he?” He put the phone to his ear and winked. “It’s ringing.”

“I’m not doing anything—”

“Then I’ll slice her throat right here, right now.” Drew’s voice was a threatening growl, vastly different to his insufferable composure of before. “And considering all evidence leads to you, I’m not sure how you’ll get out of it. Then you’ll have to answer to not only the authorities but also, much, much worse, yourmother.”

The girl sobbed.

Drew waggled the mobile, the call ringing.

Aaron stepped forward, snatching the phone, eyes on the petrified little girl. He put the phone to his ear as Kenny answered with his usual professional, “Dr Lyons?”

“Kenny?” His voice came out shaky, dripping with regret, remorse, pain and every other emotion he thought he didn’t have. Mostly fear. Dread.Terror.

“Aaron?”

Aaron closed his eyes and a single tear slipped free, tracing a hot, bitter line down his face. He opened them quickly, forcing his gaze to the little girl in front of him. Her wide, terrified eyes locked onto his, pleading for something—anything—that could save her. His breath shuddered as the weight of it all crashed over him. This was his fault. Every second of her fear, every tear staining her cheeks, it all led back to him. She was here because of who he was, because of the darkness he carried and the past he’d been too stubborn to bury. The choices he’d made, the risks he’d taken. They’d brought them to this moment. And how his reckless, selfish pursuit of Kenny, wanting something he didn’t even know how to name, had set this horror in motion, blind to the consequences. For this little girl. For Kenny.

For himself.

His heart twisted in pain as he realised what came next. There was no coming back from this. Not for him. Because when this was over—when Drew’s sick game reached its inevitable, bloody end—Kenny wouldn’t think of him the same way ever again. And that cut deeper than anything Drew could ever do to him with the knife he currently had at a little girl’s neck.

---