Bound to Forever - Book ll

Filling in the Blanks

Kiera's Point of View: 

"Another game? Won't they get tired?" I asked Charlene, realizing that the time was now eleven o'clock, and aside from her two kids, my twins and newborn were already exhausted for the night. 

"When they go to sleep, the nightmares start," She sighed. "They miss their dad." 

That I can understand. My twins miss their father more than he could even imagine, and it broke my heart every time they asked when Simon was coming home. 

"I still get nightmares, and I can understand those nights where I would rather exhaust myself by staying awake instead of going to sleep." 

"I've tried so many different methods to prevent it from happening, but nothing ever works." She frowned. 

"That's because nothing will. It's a part of a trauma that they're having to fight subconsciously, and it feels like, with me, anyway, that the older I get, the more used to it. Nights where I don't have nightmares are a blessing." 

"Do they get bad?" 

"Oh, yes. Sometimes, I'll wake up crying, have vivid dreams to where it feels real... a lot of it is repeating experiences from the war." 

"You served?" 

"Yes. I started in the Marine Corps, then I moved up into the C.I.A. Was involved in a lot of tasks that really made me reconsider my role, and it left me with nothing but trauma for the rest of my life." 

"I'm so sorry." 

"It's not your fault. Sometimes I just wish I could handle it as well as Simon does, but I feel like he hides a lot of it from me, and I can't blame him." 

"Have you heard anything from him lately?" 

"I got a check-in saying that he and Finley were heading back from Idaho." I shrugged, grabbing random dishes from the table to take back towards the kitchen. This cabin was secluded in the Montana wilderness, and if this wasn't mean to be a former safehouse for a witness protection program, this would be an ideal vacation spot for me if I had to choose. Graves had filled me in about the history of the house as well as the strict guidelines to follow: no lights after dark, no leaving, and no loud noises. 

Easy enough, right? 

Well, there was one rule that Charlene and I both forgot to follow, and that was turning the lights off now that it was well past dusk. With this realization, I began to check the perimeter of the cabin with subtle peeks through the curtains, seeing a soft glow of a screen between trees. "Shit." 

"What is it?" Charlene questioned, frantic. 

"Turn all of these lights out and wait in the back corner of the far bedroom with all of the kids. If you hear me shout, you get those kids and run. Do you understand?" 

"Y-Yes." 

"Everything is going to be fine. Unfortunately for them, there's someone far better hunting them tonight." I knew I was cocky with my response, but a part of me knew it wasn't.

Because I was right. 

I grabbed the pistol that I had tucked in the drawer of the table that sat next to the front door, thankful that I had also brought my suppressor as it was going to come in handy as well as a tactical bag I brought as well. To me, having just one weapon wasn't enough to protect my family against some assholes sent over here to take us out. 

Making sure to lock the door behind me, my steps were silent as I made my way into the woods, remembering exactly where I saw the soft light, careful to not snap any twigs or other foliage beneath my feet. A few minutes go by, and I finally see the car that housed the two men that were staking out the cabin. These men were not assigned by Graves or Simon to watch after us, and I would have known beforehand if we were supposed to have stationed protection. I verified that there were only two, and instead of taking them out on the spot, I decided to toy with them to make them think that they had a chance.