The Angel and Her Protector

Chapter 17

     His hands rough like sand paper gripped her arms, her body pushed up against the wall, "You're going to behave, right?" She looked into his eyes and nodded, she knew better than to disobey him. "Good girl. Now go into my room and wait for me, we'll play a little more before mom and dad come home." She ran off to wait in his room, sitting on his bed, she knew not to touch anything. She looked down at her hands when she heard his foot steps coming down the hall. She flinched when she heard the door close. "Mara why do you look so sad?" he asked her while stepping closer. She looked up and stared into his eyes, "Why do you have to leave? I am going to miss you so much." 

    He sat on the bed next to her, "I have to go to college. You know I will miss you too, but there are some things I have to take care of. Things that I can't do from here." She gave him a look, "You mean you have to go find Her!" 

   SMACK!

  "You will not talk about her like that. She is our future, or have you forgotten?" he spat at her. She gripped her cheek, tears already escaping her eyes, she hated when he talked about her. She looked down at her lap, resting both hands on her thighs, she heard him let out a sigh. She looked up at him, "I'm sorry." He looked at her and nodded his head, "I know kiddo, I just want you to love her like I do. I want the 3 of us to be one big happy family. Don't you want that? For us to have someone that we can love?" 

    She looked at the floor and thought about it, "If you love her then I love her, I just don't know what I will do without you, and without Amelia." He smiled at his little sister, he knew that once again he was getting what he wanted. "Don't you worry, I will come back for you as soon as I can."

    He placed his hand on her thigh, rubbing it up and down, making her feel a little better. She always thought they had a strange relationship, but her brother convinced her that there was nothing wrong with the way they 'loved' each other. He had a talent for doing that, he had practiced on their parents for years. He used guilt to get just about anything from them. 

    "Derek! Mara! We're home!" 

    "Mara!"

    "Mara! Time to wake up!"

    Mara sat up in her bed, she kept having dreams about Derek. She missed her brother so much, they were going to get Angeline and then live happily ever after together. She rolled her eyes as she got out of bed, she walked to her mirror and looked at her reflection, "But then someone had to go and ruin it all. Don't worry big brother, she will be punished." 

   Ring! Ring! Ring!

   Mara looked at her phone, "How did it go?" She could hear him breathing on the other end, "It went just as planned. Are your parents still planning to go see them?" She took a relaxing breath, what was to come next would be crucial for her plan to work. All eyes needed to be on the look out for a man, giving Mara her chance to sweep in to make her move. "Yes, they should be leaving soon. Carter are you ready for the next step? We can't mess this up," Mara trying to sound authoritative.  

   She couldn't see his face but she knew he was giving her a look, "Little girl if you keep doubting me then you can do this on your own. I know you want to make it up to Derek, so do I. You aren't the only one hurting because of that little bitch." Mara took a deep breath, "I know. We both lost our happy ending when she killed Derek." Mara thought back to the moment she learned that Carter was in love with her brother.

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   Angeline had barely slept, she kept hearing that voice every time she closed her eyes. She was having a hard time concentrating on the conversations that were buzzing around her. Lexie was talking with Grace about Amelia and the cabin, while the guys were trying to figure out a way to find the mysterious person who had called Angeline. She was to tired to focus on anything, so she decided to lean her head back on the couch and close her eyes. She drifted off to sleep while everyone talked.

    "Angeline, wake up. Wake up Angel." 

    Angeline looked around, she wasn't in the living room anymore but back at the cabin where Derek had taken her. She was sitting at the kitchen table but she couldn't see anyone else there. She turned her head, and saw a wall full of photos. Most were of Mara and Derek, but she noticed some that had an unknown man in the pictures. Who was he?

   She heard a noise and turned to find the source, but when she did the scene changed once again. Now she was at Grace and Daniel's house, she was in the living room. No one was there, the room was quiet. She looked around, noticing all the pictures, many of the family. One stood out though, it was small and mixed in well with the others. It had Derek, Mara, their parents and the mystery man in it. The room was starting to turn black, everything was fading away.

   "Angeline, hey wake up sleepy head," Angeline's eyes fluttered open as she heard Alex's voice. She looked around and saw she was back in their living room, sitting on their couch. Everyone was looking at her, concern in their eyes. She looked back at Alex, "What did I miss?" Alex cupped her cheek and kissed her forehead, "Nothing, you seemed to be having some crazy dream. You okay?"

   She rubbed her eyes for a moment and stretched her body, when it all came flooding back. The pictures and the unknown man. She looked at Grace and Daniel, "You have a picture on your mantle, you both are in it with Derek and Mara, and a man. He's an older man, who is he?" 

   They all stared at her, Alex was confused about the question and why she wanted to know. Grace and Daniel looked at each other before Daniel spoke, "He was an old friend of ours, he was like a brother to me. We had a falling out years ago and we haven't spoken to him since." Grace looked down at her lap, fiddling with her fingers, Angeline scooted closer wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "His name is Carter Johnson," Grace looked at Angeline with confusion.

   Angeline took a deep breath before explaining her curiosity, "I didn't realize it at the time, but Derek had pictures all over the cabin. Some were of just him and Mara. And he had some of him with Mara and Carter. Some even looked recent." Angeline glanced up at Grace and then looked at Daniel. 

   "You must be mistaken, that is not possible," Daniel spoke. Angeline could sense the anger he was emitting. She shook her head, "I promise, I saw dozens of photos of the three of them. He has a tattoo on his arm, it's a rose." Daniel placed his head in his hands, while Grace started to cry. They both knew Angeline was telling the truth, there was no way she could know about the tattoo based off of the photo on their mantle. 

   "I'm sorry Angeline," Daniel started but Angeline stopped him. "You don't have to apologize, I just want to get to the bottom of this and find answers. 

    Alex looked at John, "We need to find out who this Carter Johnson is and what he has been doing with Derek and Mara. Grace where is Mara now?" Grace looked at him with concern, "She's at home, do you think she's in danger?" Alex shook his, he looked at Grace and then at Daniel, "I think Mara is working with Carter, and I think they want to hurt Angeline for what she did to Derek."