Page 35 of Come Alive
James did. From the very first meeting, he had secretly taken it just in case the deal the man was offering was too good to be true. “Yes.” He wanted to reach through the phone and shake Kazi, demand answers.
Instead, he found the picture and texted it to him.
A moment later, Kazi swore loudly. “This is important James. Do you know where he is? Where he’s staying?”
“No,” James admitted, a sheen of cold sweat forming on his brow. “Kazi, please man, I know you don’t owe me anything. Butplease,what is going on?”
Kazi breathed raggedly in and out a few times before replying, “There are few things you need to know. The first is youcannotmeet up with this man. He is a very bad man who owns part of this town.”
James waited for him to continue, but after several beats of silence, his impatience won out. “What else is there?”
“This man is your daughter’s stepfather, and we haven’t figured out why, but he also had a vested interest in—"
“Steve ismy daughter’sstepfather?” The information was a piano from the thirtieth floor crushing and pulverizing James, and in its wake, he couldn’t hear anything but a piercing white noise shooting directly through his head. His heart shot up his throat, and he struggled to swallow it down.
Steve.
The man who had approached him, who had been so empathetic to his cause, who had offered him money to build up his company, who had alwaysasked too many personal questions.Whoneveranswered any of his own.
“Yes,” Kazi replied. “And you must not goanywherenear him. Listen to me. There’s more to it than—”
James disconnected the phone, he had heard enough.
Chapter 21
Yara
Acircle of mirrors. Each image reflected endlessly, showcasing my flaws. A bright light above, spotlighted me.
This is a nightmare.
My body ached, my head was filled with cotton balls, but this couldn’t bereal.This was taken straight out of my worst fears. Standing uneasily to my feet, I stumbled forward. My head bounced painfully off the mirror, but it didn’t break. I didn’t wake up.
Rubbing my forehead, I shut my eyes.
What is this?
“My doll.” The familiar voice bounced around me.
No, this isn’t real. He isn’t here. It’s a recording.
“You’ve been a very bad girl. Forgotten your lessons. You were taught to be seen, not heard. Taught to be a perfect doll. But here you are,disgusting.Fat cheeks. Greasy hair. You never did grow into your knees either.”
No. No. No. This isn’t real.
Covering my ears, I rocked in place, attempting to dispel this voice. It was taken straight from my darkest hours. A ghost. A monster.
The devil himself.
“You’re dead. You’re dead. You’re dead.” Blindly, I made my way to my feet. Stumbling forward this time, I fell straight into the mirror.
It shattered around me, but I didn’t open my eyes.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk.”
A kick landed on my stomach and I huddled in on myself, doing all I could to protect that area, but still, I refused to look at the perpetrator.
It would make this too real.
