Popping the cork from the bottle of wine she had stolen from the kitchen earlier, Taylor took a long swig straight from the bottle and then sat with her back against her bed and waited for the burn.
The discovery in the garden had her head spinning, she had never seen human eyes that weren't situated in a face before and now every time she closed her eyes they were all she could see.
Taking another long swig she put the bottle down and rested her head in her hands.
How long would this last?
How long would it be before they found a way to get to her without Travis and her father stopping them?
Two heavy knocks sounded against her door so she slid the bottle into her bedside cabinet and stood up, swaying slightly as the alcohol began to seep into her bloodsteam.
"Hi" Travis stood in her doorway, his hair was styled and he wore a white dress shirt, black suit pants with a white pinstripe and his black boots "I just wanted to make sure you were okay"
"I'm fine. I'm a big girl Trav, i don't need you worrying about me all the time"
"Yeah well I do worry, no one should have to see that shit"
"I've seen worse" she spoke almost to herself as she turned and sat down on her bed with her back to Travis. He walked around and sat down next to her, as they both gazed at their own awkward hands.
"Taylor, maybe it would help to talk to someone about what you saw"
"No"
"It might do some good, lessen your load"
"Lessen my load? Is that what you think I want? You really are stupid, you haven't got a clue about me or any part of my life"
"Well why don't you tell me about it?"
Taylor gazed up for a second, her eyes latching onto his, they were so bright and filled with such warmth she wished she could dive into them and just drown there, find her peace within this beautiful man
"No" Was her only response "You smell nice" She heard Travis huff out a laugh at that but she didn't look up at him
"Thanks, I'm going out, your dad and some of the guys are going to stay in with you"
"Going out where? With who?" Her head snapped in his direction as she looked up at him with wide eyes.
"Just to dinner"
"With a girl?!"
He nodded "Ana"
"My Ana? Ana from the kitchen Ana?" again he only nodded "Wow, you're a fast mover" she stood up from the bed as he reached for her wrist
"Taylor..." snatching her wrist away the girl walked to her balcony, ignoring the man sat on her bed "I won't be back late, if you need anything at all just call me"
"I don't need you Travis, I don't need or want anything from you. In fact the sooner you are on a plane back to Canada the better"
"I'll see you in the morning" his voice was quiet, he almost sounded ashamed but he was a single man and it was Friday night, he had every right to live his life as he wanted to.
***************
Downing the remaining mouthful of her second bottle of wine.
Taylor dipped her toes into the cool water of her pool and fought the tears that were burning beneath her lowered lids.
It was 11.30 pm and Travis and Ana still weren't home.
All kinds of images flooded Taylors fragile mind but in all of them the missing 2 were naked and Ana was experiencing him in a way Taylor never would.
He looked at her like she were a child, something he had to protect and care for but not in the way she longed for, he didn't see her as the women she was, the women that wanted him in the way women wanted men.
Heaving the thin pink sweater over her head, Taylor wriggled out of her shorts and then sat in the cool night air in only her underwear and contemplated her next actions.
Her mothers voice whispered in her ear, drawing her to her whilst Austins giggles as he jumped from the pool edge into the water flooded her mind, battering her emotional barriers like a tidal wave
The tears she had been battling began to fall as she remembered holding her brother in her arms the day he was born, the tiny warm bundle that smelt like he had come from heaven and then holding him in her arms the day his life bled away, the smell of blood and bullets burning away the scent of baby
"Austin..." she tried to whisper but it left her chest as a sob "My baby Austin"
Standing on the edge of the pool, she closed her eyes and allowed her body and mind to be over taken by images and sounds of her baby brother.
His tiny voice giggling as she chased him, the way he would scream 'Tay!' when he was younger because he couldn't pronounce her name, the way he would sneak into her bedroom in the morning and fall back to sleep wrapped in her arms.
Stretching her arms out to the side Taylor allowed her mind to drift back, the empty warehouse, no one to be seen except Austins tiny frame standing alone, crying silently, terrified of the violence his noise would bring.
The cold chains around Taylors wrists and feet preventing her from running to him, the gag preventing her from whispering words of comfort, her mother chained up too far from her to reach
The shot came out of no where but as the memory ricocheted around Taylors mind she closed her eyes and fell forward into the pool.
The cold water lapped at her body but her alcohol soaked brain just told her to stay still, don't move your arms, don't move your legs, just let yourself sink and then wait for the darkness...
Clearing her mind of everything but her mother and her brother she floated to the deepest part of the pool, the part she had no chance of reaching the bottom of if she stood and she closed her eyes
"Mommy... Austin..." she whispered as the water began hitting against her face, her arms and legs feeling heavy under the influence of two bottles of wine "I'm coming" she said as water filled her mouth "I'm coming..."
