The Fire We Make

chapter twenty three

gif of Brayden above, looking so adorable while concerned  ^.^

I shook my head. No this wasn't real. This couldn't be happening. Isaac was a jail almost 25 miles away from here. His hearing was in two days. He couldn't be out. He couldn't be right in front of me, standing inches away from my front door. Though my parasympathetic nervous system was trying to conjure up whatever lie to make me feel better, I knew it was no use. Isaac was here and there was no way to try and deny it.

He looked different, older, which made sense since I haven't seen him since he was eighteen. He was a grown man now, with long hair up to his shoulders and a bit of scruff covering his face. He looked much more built too, with his shirt clinging tightly around his biceps. There were tattoos all over his arms too, none I could make out too clearly.

"You've never been one to stay silent," Isaac said, chuckling. "Why are you looking like you've seen a ghost, babe?"

I was still in shock, I couldn't answer. I pinched my skin, praying to myself that this was just a bad dream and I would wake up soon.

"You know, I've been waiting for this moment for a very long time. What I would say to you if I ever had the chance of seeing you again. How exactly I would get my revenge," Isaac said, walking towards me. He gripped the ends of my hair, twirling them around his forefinger. "I wanted to follow you, trying to track your every move to see when it would be best to get you alone. But you're never alone now, are you? And then I saw you tonight with that guy, and I knew I had to address my presence. Tell me, do you still think of me with every guy you've been with?"

I inhaled deeply as I felt his hands wrap around my chin, just inches away from where Kaiden was holding me.

"Answer me, you little bitch!" Isaac hissed.

With his other arm, he gripped my arm tightly and pulled me closer to him. I wince at the sharp pain that was flowing up my arm. I felt his warm breath against the nape of my neck. I closed my eyes, waiting for whatever was going to come next.

"Do you know what I've been through the past 3 years? Huh? You've made my life a living hell, and I plan to do the same to you," Isaac spat, twisting my arm tighter. Tears began to flow out of my eyes. He came close to my face and I closed my eyes as I felt his lips touch my ear.

"Drop your lawyer. Drop the case. You have no idea what you are up against," he continued. "This is a warning to watch your fucking back because tonight was only the beginning if you don't listen to me."

I watched in disbelief as he pushed himself away from me. He walked down the squeaky porch steps and disappeared into the night. I couldn't move. It was as if his presence paralyzed me. It wasn't until a buzz in my back pocket that shook me out of a trance.

"You look quite adorable when you sleep" a text from Kaiden read. Above the message was a picture of me sleeping on his chest. Another text chimed minutes after. "Almost home."

How did tonight go from a wonderful dinner with a potential new flame to a warning and a threat from an old flame? Was this all a sign that I shouldn't pursue what my heart so desperately craved?

Instead of replying to his message, I quickly scrammed back into the house and locked it right behind me, paranoid that Isaac would return and make his warning into a reality. Then, I dialed the number to our lawyer and was frustrated when it went straight to voicemail. Granted, by this time it was 2 AM and he was probably fast asleep. Despite this, I left a message informing him I needed to see him as soon as possible. I couldn't bring myself to say Isaac's name in the message as I was still having trouble believing he was actually out.