Torn Apart

Chapter 9

We drove for another ten minutes before reaching the gang's hideout. To my surprise it wasn't in an abandoned warehouse, it was a large mansion hidden deep within the woods of Wes Newbury. There were tall trees everywhere, surrounding the mansion and giving it a scary feel. I hesitated before getting out of the truck and slowly following Taker to the porch. I kept looking around at the woods hoping that nothing vicious was out there. Taker glanced at me as he reached into his pocket for the house keys.

"We're changing your hair back tomorrow," he said. "I'm tired of looking at it."

I glared at him, "Why does it bother you so much? You're not supposed to care remember?"

He gritted his teeth as he put the key in the lock and turned it. "Like I said…I'm tired of looking at it."

I rolled my eyes and followed him inside the house. The lights popped on the minute we walked in, brightening up the place. It looked a lot like the house he had in Texas but with more of an open concept. The living room was off to my left with the kitchen right next to it. The dining room was on the other side of the kitchen and had a patio beyond the doors. In front of me was the staircase leading up to the bedrooms. I followed him up there, seeing four bedrooms with three beds in each room, two bathrooms, and a gym. The door at the end of the hall held Taker's bedroom. He unlocked it quickly and went inside, turning on the light switch upon entering.

It was beautiful. His king sized bed took center stage, covered in a blood red comforter and big white pillows. There was a closet in the far right corner and a window draped in white curtains next to it. There was another window in the far left corner and a door adjacent to it. He walked over to that very door and opened it, revealing a bathroom. I rubbed the back of my neck and took a seat on his bed, watching him turn on the hot water in the bathtub.

"You like your water hot right?" he asked.

I nodded, "Yeah…do you have bubbles?"

He looked over his shoulder at me with a look of disgust. "What the hell does this look like to you?"

I shrugged and took off my shoes, "You're running my bath water…so I figured you would still have the bubbles I like."

He rolled his eyes and opened a cabinet under the sink. He pulled out a bar of soap and then grabbed a towel and a new sponge from the shelf next to the sink. He sat them on the back of the toilet and then approached me.

"Alright…you've been through this before so you know the rules of the house. Me and the guys will be back a little later…as I said before if you try or even think about escaping-"

"-you'll kill me…I got it." I said. "Now please leave me alone."

He looked at me with a surprised look before heading for the bedroom door. Before he left he looked over his shoulder at me and said. "You know…it's a shame you got dealt this hand in life. You could have been doing so much more with your life right now."

I didn't say anything as he shut the door and left the house. I sighed with relief now that I was alone. Tears started pouring from my eyes as I stripped out of my clothing and then went to the bathroom. I shut off the water and didn't waste any time getting into the bathtub. The water was extremely relaxing but it didn't stop the tears from falling. My heart felt like it had been taken and grinded into one million pieces. I loved him…I really did…but to him I was a mere plaything he could dispose of at any time.

I wiped my tears and then leaned my head back into the water. The color in my hair began to bleed out, leaving my natural light brown hair behind. After washing my body down, I got out of the tub and then checked his room for something to wear. I didn't find anything for me so I put on one of his oversized shirts and then went downstairs to search the kitchen for some food. I ended up finding some lunch meat, bread, and cheese to make a sandwich. Once I made it, I decided to look around the rest of the house.

In the living room there were a lot of pictures of Taker and the gang hanging up on the walls. I looked at each of them seeing that Taker had did a lot of traveling over the years. There were pictures of them in St. Louis, Kansas City, and even California. He must have been looking for us since the time we went our separate ways. I looked around for what seemed like a good hour before going back to his bedroom. In there, I went through his closet, finding old shoeboxes with some of Sara's old jewelry. I stumbled upon a picture of her and John having sex in my old house. The picture was taken from a tree that was in my front yard.

I nearly threw up as I placed the picture back in the box and put it back in it's spot.

I was about to walk away when another box fell out of the closet at my feet. A few things fell out of it including a picture of me and Taker taken a week before we had sex. He looked so happy at that time and seemed less dangerous. I stared at the picture a little longer before placing it back in the box. I then picked up a piece of paper that was folded into fours and opened it. What I read inside nearly had me floored….

It was a DNA test done on John and Levi that found my uncle to not be the father. My jaw dropped in shock. Levi wasn't my little cousin after all but somehow I still didn't want to see anything happen to him. He was an innocent child in the middle of all this drama…just like I was. I needed to hear from Nikki and ask her if it was true. I ran downstairs and grabbed the phone, quickly dialing her number.

"Oh please pick up Nikki." I whispered before I heard her voice.

"What do you want Taker? I already told you where she was now keep up your end of the bargain and leave me and my son alone!"

My mouth fell open once again before I whispered. "You gave me to him…"

She was silent at first and then said, "Kitty? I-I didn't know-"

"-save it. Who is Levi's father and don't lie to me!" I snapped.

Her breathing shallowed, "Kitty you know who Levi's father is."

"Not anymore. According to this DNA test he isn't a relative of mine!" I screamed.

"DNA test? What DNA test?" she said.

Before I could answer her, I saw headlights outside. I hung up the phone and then ran upstairs to straighten up his closet. Once I was done I hopped into his bed and pretended to be sleep. I knew I needed to get answers now…everything just wasn't adding up.