The Light In The Shadows (DISCONTINUED)

Chapter Eight

Ryder's POV:

The world felt like it was spinning three thousand times faster than it really was. What had I just let happen? My niece, my Raelynn, got kidnapped. KIDNAPPED! And I just stood there, helpless while Vivian kidnapped Lynn and shot Blaire, my fiancé, my pregnant fiance, in the leg. I'd never felt so helpless in my entire life. And that wasn't it. Vivian had the audacity to kidnap, kidnap, Raelynn's best friend and closest bodyguard. Just to hurt Lynn. Just to hurt me.

I took another long swig of my whiskey. My head throbbed. In just one night, I had lost my everything. My Raelynn. My life used to be so dull without her. As soon as she was sent to my doorstep, my life seemed to brighten up. The sun seemed to shine brighter, as if I had some hope. As if I wasn't just a drunk man who had everything in the world, but at the same time has nothing; I had no family until I had her. Now that she was gone, my life was back to being ugly and gray.

It was all my fault. When Raelynn showed up on my doorstep I spent every moment that I could with her. I realized the errors of my ways, and worked to make the proper environment to help raise her. Of course I broke things off with Vivian, but I didn't exactly go about it the right way. I left her, and now my mistakes were the reason Raelynn was missing, and Blaire was shot. The baby was fine and doing well, but I couldn't say the same about Blaire. She took it really hard when she realized what had happened. She saw Raelynn as her daughter. Blaire was fiercely protective of the ones she loved. Blaire wouldn't talk to me for weeks, but I completely understood. I had basically chosen her over her daughter. I had let her daughter's best friend get kidnapped along with her. Not to mention how pissed off she was when she found out that Vivian was my ex.

Vivian had been arrested the day it all happened. She looked awful, her face full of regret and pain. I wanted to hate her, demean her and spit insult after insult; but in the end, it had always been my fault. Maybe if I had let her down easier, or even just talked to her about things, maybe it would've been different. Maybe none of it would have ever happened and we could've been happy together. After all, she was never my soulmate. I don't even understand why I was with her in the first place. I wracked my brain to think of the first time I had seen her. I definitely didn't feel the same way I felt when I met Blaire. How come I had been convinced she was my soulmate? Wait-

"Come on, get up. You are hopeless. It has been 3 weeks since she was taken, and you haven't even lifted a finger to find her. Your time for grieving has passed, now go find your niece," Blaire had come into the treehouse, finding me drunk and with about a week's worth of no sleep on my face. I had some 5 o'clock shadow and the bags under my eyes were so dark, you would think someone punched me. I almost wished someone would at this point. If it meant I could just feel something. I was numb. It hurt the most because I couldn't feel anything. Maybe that was my punishment. I didn't answer her, my drunk thoughts sprawled all over my mind.

"Are you kidding me? Your niece, your daughter that you raised as your own, is gone and all you have done is sit here and nurse that stupid bottle of whisky. You have done nothing but mope around constantly! The company is in shambles and you look like a mess. Raelynn, Graeson, and Cameron sacrificed themselves, so that I could live, and I am going to make damn sure they're here to see it!" she was fuming. "Look at yourself! Is this what Raelynn would want for you? Is this the man you want her to see you as?" Blaire scoffed and shook her head. "You have gone right back to the man you used to be; and to think, for one moment, just one single moment, I thought you were different. I guess I was wrong. You're letting everyone down Ryder. Me, your company, you're letting Raelynn down Ryder."

I snapped.

"What would you know about it, huh? You weren't there when she showed up at my door, a small ball of light in my darkest corner. She was my world. I would give anything to get her back. I might be letting her down, but who cares! She's not here anymore! I let her push me away, and now she's gone. I kept our secrets, I lied, and I didn't tell the whole truth. I can't ever make this up to her. She's gone, Blaire. Gone. I don't have anything left to fight for."

I slumped down into the cushions. I remember Raelynn would spend hours on end up here. This place was her safe haven. I sighed and took another long pull of my drink. I felt a sting on my cheek. Looking up I saw Blaire with raging eyes. They bore into me, full of anger so powerful, it made me look away.

"Nothing left to fight for? Nothing left to fight for?" Her voice went up an octave. "Do you hear yourself right now? Did you or did you not promise to look for Raelynn until she was found? Did you or did you not promise to protect her with everything you had? What about this baby? Is she or he not worth fighting for either? Are you going to leave Raelynn out there on her own, all while leaving your child fatherless? You're upset, we all are. I'm sorry you had to make the decision you did, but Raelynn? She needs you. This baby? They will need you, too. Graeson? He has no one who can save him but you. Cameron is your most trusted worker. He needs help. What are you going to do about it? Now you need to be the man I have learned to love. How do you not realize? You say you have nothing left to fight for. But Ryder," She smiled. "You have everything left to fight for."

I sighed and looked down at my hands. Blaire was right. I did have everything left to fight for. But the thing was, how was I going to fight for it? How was I going to be able to do anything at all when I was just a drunkard, sitting in a kid's treehouse, counting myself as a failure? Was that all I was? A failure?

Blaire's placed her hand on my shoulder, rubbing her thumb on it gently.

"Come on," she said softly, taking the whisky bottle out of my hand. "Let's get you back to being the strong, powerful genius, the man who was said to never back down from a challenge. Let's get you back to being the Ryder Knight."

Authors' Note:

Hey guys!

Thank you so much for reading! Hope you guys are doing well, we hope to be on a more regular updating schedule soon. Thank you all so much for all the support, it really means a lot. We are having some MAJOR writers' block, and as we said before, school keeps us really busy too. This chapter is really short, but we will have more chapters up soon. This is where things are supposed to get interesting (hehe).