Page 45 of Traces of Her

“Now that we got that out of the way, you’re gonna go back down there and take care of the messes we both made and your sweet little ghost will be safe.” He pats my shoulder before draping the blanket over it and turns to walk away.

“You’re really threatening me right now?” I ask incredulously.

Jared looks back over his shoulder. “Yep,” he nods. “Just because you’re my brother doesn’t mean I won’t hesitate to kill you… after you’d watch me take care of your girl first.”

“You stay the fuck away from her,” I growl, warning him.

He shrugs. “You know what you need to do to keep her safe.” He nods toward the basement door before walking away, leaving me alone in the hallway.

How we got to this point, I have no fucking clue. Only two things matter at this point: keeping Rowena safe and getting Lydia out of here alive. Rowena will always be my number one priority, no matter the circumstances.

Reluctantly, I open the basement door and descend back into the hell buried beneath the house to take care of the bodies, dead and alive.

Taking a deep breath, I rest my head on the door, knocking softly.

“Lydia?” I call out quietly. She moans on the other side of the door, so I slowly open it. A soft light shines into the room, illuminating her fragile form wrapped in a blanket on the ground. Resisting the urge to crush the crackers inmy hand, I sit down on the floor beside her holding a water bottle out to her.

“You’re dehydrated,” I state. “You’ll die if you don’t drink something.”

She shakes her head, pinching her lips shut.

“Lydia. Drink,” I demand, lifting her head, pressing the rim of the bottle against her mouth.

She closes her eyes. “Kill me,” she whispers.

“No,” I retort. “You’re confused and you don’t have all of the information. Things got out of control. I’m not denying the fact that you truly want to die but you can’t and someday you’ll appreciate that you didn’t.”

She opens her mouth and the water rushes in, choking her. Grabbing her arms, I sit her up as she continues to cough and clear her throat. We sit in silence as she slowly catches her breath before turning her head to look at me.

“Why?” she pleads with an urgency in her voice.

She’s digging for answers again and she deserves them now.

“A long time ago Robert fucked up. He made some bad decisions that set off a chain of events and in the end, it fucked up a lot of people. You’re all that is left to destroy him. Jared thinks stripping him of everyone he cares about will do that.”

“Everyone?” she asks, her eyes filled with confusion.

I nod. “James didn’t die the way you think he did. The story Ryder told you was bullshit. But that’s the only story anyone knows.” I pause for a moment. “Long story short, Ryder and I grew up together. He was younger but acted older than he actually was. I went off to school and moved away. Our lives went in different directions, but we always kept in touch. I was in town for work and went to visit him. That’s when I met James. After putting two-and-two together, I figured out Robert was his father too. Jared found out. So he used Scarlet to get to James. Their plan was for her to just lure him to Jared. Instead, she got carried away, fucking James and doing drugs with him and shit. At first, Jared was all about it and then it started to piss him off. He came by our house, looking for James while he was at class. When James and Scarlet came home to get Ryder, he told them about Jared coming by the house. Butthey ignored Ryder’s warnings and went out anyway. The rest is history as you know it. After the events that night, Scarlet left with Jared and that was the end of it.”

“No.” She shakes her head in denial. “Ryder didn’t know the guy that killed James.”

Taking a deep breath, I close my eyes for a moment. “No,” I say quietly, my eyes meet hers. “Ryder lied.”

Her brow furrows as she cocks her head to the side. “Why would he lie to me?” she whispers to herself as she hangs her head in defeat. Her entire life has been a mess of lies and she’s been betrayed by almost everyone in it.

“He did it to protect you,” I explain, trying to show her that Ryder isn’t this bad guy she’s beginning to see him as. “The less you knew, the better. He wanted you safe. Why do you think he was trying to move on with Jade? Jared found out that Ryder was getting close to you and if Ryder still had an attachment to you, Jared was going to find you. Everything Ryder did was to keep you safe.”

She pinches the bridge of her nose, shaking her head. “I don’t get it,” she admits.

“Ryder knew too much. If he was close with you, it was only a matter of time before you’d find out what really happened to James and why and that would fuck up Jared’s plan,” I tell her in a hushed voice. “When Tom died, no one knew Ryder stayed afterward. He didn’t realize it, but he led Jared straight to you. No one saw it coming until it happened and if Ryder had known Jared was coming, he would have tried to stop him, and he would have been killed.”

She stays silent, her mind in shock, attempting to process all of the information I just threw at her. Closing her eyes, she lies back on the ground, wincing as she moves. Slowly, I rise to my feet, giving her some space as she’s beginning to shut down on me.

“I’ll let you rest now,” I tell her, reaching for the door. “I know this is a lot and I can’t make any promises, but I’m trying to stop this. Just know that Ryder isn’t the enemy here and he isn’t a part of this by choice. None of us are.”

She’s quiet, her breathing at ease, so I slowly creep out of the room, not wanting to wake her. Stepping through the doorway, I begin pulling the door closed when her small voice breaks through the silence.

“Does Ryder know what’s happening here?” she whispers. Turning around, I’m met with her wet eyes, wide pools of torment and pain.

Other’s pain doesn’t affect me like I lead people to believe.

Hers does.

The sadness in my eyes when I stare into hers isn’t fake.

The lump in my throat when I swallow hard isn’t just for show.

The words “I’m sorry,” fall from my lips, heavy with sorrow as I quickly make my escape before I get us all killed.

---