Page 18 of Fighting Shadows

She is my obsession, my everything.

A few hours later, the sound of tires crunching up the driveway alerts me to his truck pulling up.

Rushing to the door, I swing open the wooden cabin door.

His orange hair is the first thing I see as he climbs out of his dark blue escalade.

“Where is she?” he asks, pulling his doctor bag from the backseat and rushing past me.

There was no ‘Hi Dad,’ just ‘Where is she?’ I chuckled as I pointed him in the direction of the back room, looking on with fondness as I saw how grown he was now.

He opens the door to the backroom; his fingers curl around the handle in a death grip as he freezes in the doorway.

His doctor bag thuds against the cabin's wooden floor as he whirls around, fury blazing in his green eyes.

“This doesn’t look like you just found each other,Dad! This looks like you’ve kidnapped her!” He shouts, storming past me to his car.

“Where are you going? I need you to help her!” I call after him, racing to keep up.

“I’m calling the police. God, I knew I should have listened to Aidan about you being fucking crazy,” he shouts behind him.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t let you do that,” I say, picking up the plant pot I potted with daisies and lifting it above my head, ready to strike him over the head.

“Wha-”

I don’t let him finish the sentence as I bring the plant pot down over his head, the terracotta smashing into shards around us. Dirt covers my shoes, and the daisies I planted are now ruined, but I can’t let him call the police on me.

He needs to make Autumn better. Bring her back to me, and then we can talk some sense into him together.

He can see that we’re meant to be, that I love her, and she loves me.

“I’m sorry,” I mutter as I drag him back into the house.

I need him to be able to care for her, and I know he’ll run at the first chance I loosen the chains to bring him to her.

“Fuck,” I swear as I drag my son’s lifeless body into her room.

I hate it, hate that he’ll be in here with her, but I have no other option.

I drop his feet to the floor with a thump. I rummage for the chains I keep as a spare in case the others get damaged, and I secure one to the end of the bed frame. Thank God I invested in the black matte bed frame, thinking ahead in case my Little One wanted to try some of the old games we used to play.

Right now, they are perfect for keeping him where I need him but not close enough to her that he can touch what’s mine.

And why wouldn’t he?

Even in her state, she’s still the most ethereal being I’ve ever seen, but I refuse to share her. I don’t even want him to look at her, even when I know logically he has to look in order to help her.

“Dad?” Noah’s slurred voice asks as I clamp the shackle around his wrist, the lock clicking into place.

His green eyes snap to the metal that now decorates his arm before snapping to me, “What have you done?”

“What needed to be done,” I say, “You were going to take her from me, and I couldn’t let you do that.”

“She’s sick. She needs help,” he pleads, but I don’t refuse to give in.

“That’s why I called you! You can help her, and then you can see how happy we are together. She’s mine, Noah; she always has been.”

Chapter 10

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