My Precious Shina - Book Two

Chapter Twenty-One

<Shina>

I should have held them closer, hugged them tighter, showered them with more kisses, shown them how much I had grown to love them. I should have been a better mom.

How would I be able to live with myself if we didn't get them back? Or if they had been hurt? How would I ever be able to make this up to them? To Elijah? To myself?

Did I even have the right to ask for forgiveness, even if they did come back safe?

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<Elijah>

I felt my heart break ever time I looked over at her. Every day the children were gone, her skin became paler, her face more hollow, her eyes emptier. I could see the blame she carried for herself, even if I couldn't understand why.

I had tried to tell her it wasn't her fault. I'd told her over and over that I would bring back our children, that I would have them found soon. At first, it had seemed to help but by the third day, I could see her hope dwindling and her heart slowly crumbling.

With every day that passed, I added her pain to the suffering that the kidnapper would feel once they were found.

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<Shina>

It was during the early morning of the 9th day that we received a call from the police. One that nearly stopped my heart as I felt the world come to a sudden halt. They had found signs of the children in a house in the woods outside of Elijah's hometown.

A house that I had been to nearly four years ago. A house that had filled my nightmares for months after I had escaped with Eli. A house that I had prayed for over a year to never have to think about again.

And one of the rooms had been covered in blood.

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<Elijah>

All I could do was sit there blankly, my mind not wanting to process what I had just heard from the man on the other end of the phone call. As much as I was thankful that they had found signs of the children, I felt nothing but horrified chills at hearing them speak of blood.

Thankfully, they were able to confirm it was likely from the kidnapper himself and not the children, since the room seemed to be set up for self inflicted torture. But that did little to make me feel better about the person who had our children captive.

How could I have ignored him so much after hearing that he had awoken again, lost memories or not. I should have had him under constant watch, just to be safe. I had failed my family, failed to keep them safe from that lunatic.

And I felt nothing but dread at the words that next came so easily from my Shina's lips.

"He'll come for me next. He wants his family, what he believes is his family, back. And he'll do anything to get it."