Linked

Chapter 8

Kaileen

I took few steps back as Jack Kayder entered the room. He reeked overwhelmingly of alcohol, and his brown eyes, so similar to Elia's, were mismatched because of his unevenly dilated pupils.

"Uh... Are you okay?" I asked, reaching for something to protect myself with if the need arose.

"Sure," he whispered, eerily echoing what Kyle had said to me earlier. That seemed like a thousand years ago. Then, the next thing he said had me blinking in surprise. "Elia. Elia, my precious daughter." he murmured as he stumbled to where I was standing. I took another step back, but my back hit the wall with a thump. I had nowhere to escape to. My feet felt like they were rooted to the spot, and I stood there, my body shaking as he pinned me to the wall and started to run his hands over my thighs. I felt his hot breath on my neck. Convulsing with disgust, I filled my lungs with as much air as I possibly could and screamed, hoping someone would hear and come to help. Jack didn't even seem to hear my shout. His sweaty hands were now starting to snake up my shirt. I swallowed a sob. If this was how I was going to lose my virginity, I would suffer through it stoically, not as a crying mess. I steadied my trembling hands, but the pressure that had been on my body suddenly disappeared, leaving me to collapse onto the floor.

Eria

The three of us ran out of my room and stopped in front of Elia's. The door was hanging ajar. There were two people inside of the room, one a petite girl which I assumed to be Kaileen and a man who looked like... Dad? Kyle and I were standing there in shock, but Nathan moved quickly, and he was just a flash of copper-red hair before my father was on the ground, knocked out cold. Kyle, released from the frozen moment, rushed forward to cradle Kaileen's head in his lap. Nathan was back at my side after dragging Dad's unconscious body into the far corner of the room. "Sorry I had to do that. I couldn't think of anything else to do." he apologised, scratching his head. I waved the apology away halfheartedly, my mind already processing why Kyle and Kaileen would be at my house. The only logical reason I could come up with was that they were going to do something about Elia being taken, except how could they even hope to do that? I motioned for everyone to get out, then closed the door firmly. When I had everyone's attention, I put my hands on my hips and turned to Kaileen. The poor girl looked badly shaken. I knew I was going to sound like a bitch, but I had learnt early on that your life was much easier if you were like that. People listened to you and you got stuff done.

"I'm coming with you," I demanded. "I don't care if it's going to be dangerous, impossible, or both. If you're looking for my twin, I'm not getting left behind."