Secrecy

~ A mother's love ~

*Celeste POV*
The ticking of the clock got louder and louder as we waited in anticipation. I'm still trying to piece together how we got here. Sitting here, waiting for whoever threatened my family isn't what I thought I'd be doing. We should be running but we don't know who we're running from exactly. All Evan and I know is someone threatened my daughter and I would die before I let that happen.

"This is so frustrating and I hate it. We should be running," Evan took a seat next to me. His eyebrows narrowed in and his glanced from the door to me. He was worried, anxious, frustrated and extremely angry all in one. Mostly worried because he knew himself that we couldn't run without knowing who we were running from and what they knew about us.

"We don't know who were running from and we don't have the money. All I know is we can't trust anyone." The person who threatened us was either a close friend or a stalker. We don't tell anyone besides our closest friends where we live, but the person who threatened us already knew our address. Someone out there wants to hurt my family. It seemed as if there were a million other solutions but we couldn't bring ourselves to risk it then just for my whole family to end up dead by tomorrow. The fear of dying overwhelmed me but I also knew I'd die any day to save my kids. "Where's Adrian?"

"I put him down for a nap with Audrey." He threw his arm behind my head and continued to pull me in closer. With his finger under my chin, he tilted my head up. " Hey," I close my eyes as I feel his kiss planted on my forehead. "We'll get through this."

We anxiously paced around the house, picking up random objects just to place them somewhere else. We could barely sit still. Pacing around the living for what seemed like an hour made me realize how much of a neat freak Evan is, the thought makes me laugh. The door is exactly ten feet from the couch edge. Along with that, our kids' bedrooms are very alike with the exception of color. Adrian's room is purple, seeing as that is his favorite color and we have Audrey's room set up with pink until she is old enough to tell us otherwise. Evan has always been this way but it's one of the many things I love about him.

"Hey, I'm — " I start then quickly stop mid-sentence.

We twist our heads as we noticed that we were interrupted by a knock on the door. We slowly approach the door, step by step, I watched as Evan inched his hand closer and closer. The whispers from the other side of the door getting louder and louder. I clutch the baseball bat tightly in my hand, not recalling when I grabbed it in the first place. In a matter of seconds the door crashes in towards us, I land on the opposite side of the room. Acting on instinct, I quickly jolt up and run towards the room that my children were in, silently praying for their safety on the way. I open the door to reveal my two beautiful children, sleeping soundly, undisturbed by the now excessively loud commotion in our living room. I begin to remember our plan and the hidden location of the gun Evan and I bought for future situations like this. I close the door tightly, spinning on my feet to make my way towards my husband's study.

"Stop." His breathing uneven as if he ran three miles before stopping here.

I slowly raise my hands as a sign of surrender. Face to face with a curly haired brunet, looking into expecting but sad eyes. His body radiates confidence but his eyes tell a different story. I notice that in his sturdy hold is a machine gun. I study his features, both in fear and in hope that if I get called into a police station to identify this very man. As I study his facial expressions, he pulls his arms up and over his left shoulder then pushing the end of the gun towards my face. With barely any time to move, the gun's end makes contact with my face and I fall backwards, unaware of my surroundings that are now fading to a dark and cold pitch black.

"LET THEM GO!" I groan as my eyes open from hearing Evan's voice, feeling every inch of pain all at once. I flinch as my headache comes back too. I lift my hand as instinct to examine my forehead but my hands don't reach my head. I look down, not surprised when I notice the plastic zip tie restraints holding my hands to the back of the cold metal chair. I glance up to see Evan tied up in a similar chair and a different man from before. This man had the same curly brunet hair and looked a few inches shorter. They had similar facial features with lead me to believe they might be siblings. His eyes were different, this man had cold and ruthless eyes. Eyes that told you this man showed no remorse.

I quickly look down and stare at the floor as he makes his way towards me. I feel him get closer and his heavy footsteps get louder. "Good morning love." His voice was deep and raspy.

"Shut up. You don't — wait. Morning?" I turn my head in Evan's direction. His ruffled brunet hair and hazel eyes looked over to me in pain. It immediately made my heart drop to see the man I love with pain in his eyes. He would never admit it, always such a protector. He knew what I needed and never complained. He was always so patient with our children too. I look back at the man in front of me. " WHERE ARE MY CHILDREN?!"

"Don't fret sweetie, they're in a better situation then you are," he fists my hair in one hand while pulling it back. I try my best to distance myself as much as possible before he pulls me closer and lowers his head into the crook of my side. "You're so pretty. Too bad you're a whore."

I pull my head back as hard as I can, escaping his hands. " Who are you and what do you want?" I stare into his cold eyes, keeping strong posture as a way of demanding an answer.

" I'm just doing what I was paid to do, sweet cheeks." He walls out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

"Let's get out of here." Evan looks over towards me, holding his hands up in the air, showing me he untied his hands. He proceeds to walk over to my chair. Zip ties? On my husband? "I guess whoever paid him forgot to tell him that you were in the military." He unties my hands then helps me up. We quietly make our way around the bed room. I take note that everything in the room is covered in a layer of dust. "Here, another door."

"Let's find Adrian and Audrey." We hurried out of the room and soon learn that the door connects to another room that seems to be abandoned and used for storage. We tip-toe around the large furniture. After searching through 2 more rooms, we finally hear Audrey's cries. "Oh my God." I choke up at the sound of my daughter. After all the chaos we went through, I need my children to be okay. But I have a feeling that this chaos is far from ending.

"Hi baby girl. Here you can take her, I'll carry Adrian." I take Audrey as Evan picks up a soundly sleeping Adrian. "We have to-"

We turn our heads immediately at the now open door to the bedroom. Still holding onto my daughter for dear life, we freeze not knowing what to do. Time froze as we were face to face with him. The same man who hit me in the face with a gun, also has a gun at this very moment.