Salient Secret

Chapter 33

Kai's pov

"Avery when you get this call me," I leave yet another voicemail, why isn't she picking up? 

I spoke to my mom and she agreed to come with Palmer tonight, but she said some other stuff that I need to tell Avery asap. I'm on my way home from the hospital and that's when I decide to drive to her house. I call her a few more times, still no answer, maybe she is asleep. I get to her house and ring the doorbell and her dad comes to the door, I haven't officially met any of her parents yet but this is not how it was supposed to happen. 

"Can I help you?" he says in a polite manner.

"Yes, I'm looking for Avery."

"Ahhh, you must be Kai," he says with a friendly smile on his face.

"Yes I am," I really don't want to do this now, I need to speak to Avery asap. 

"I'm afraid you're a bit too late, she left here about 30 minutes ago, she went to see her doctor."

"Thank you Mr Shaw."

"Hilton," he says correcting me, oh yes, Avery told me they weren't married. 

"Yes sorry, thank you Mr Hilton," I say while backing away towards my car. My mom isn't at the hospital but I go there anyways to see if Avery is there, and she's not. I call her and still no answer. Now I'm getting worried. I walk into the hospital and ask the nurse at the reception desk if she came in, she says no tall teenage girl with light brown hair walked in here today. Where else would she go? I go back to my place to see if she's maybe waiting there for me, and she isn't. I decide to call my  mom to see if maybe Avery found her, but she says she has not seen Avery since she was doing her treatments. 

I'm standing in the hospital parking lot, running my hands through my hair, worried. Where the hell is she?

Avery's pov

I wake up sitting on a chair with my hands tied behind my back and my legs tied together. There's a table in front of me, the room is very dark but I notice a shelf along the corner. Where the hell am I? I thought these kind of rooms only exist in movie. 

"You look just like your mother," I hear a man say while the lights switch on.

"Dane?"

"What a smart girl."

"What do you want from me?"

"You should actually thank me. You see, I've been watching my sisters and their families for some time now and you're my favourite. I thought when you got cancer that you would just give up, but you didn't." The thought of him watching me so closely this whole time sends an unpleasant shiver down my spine. "That is why I decided to bring you here, to protect you."

"The only thing I need protection from is you."

"I beg to differ," he puts a computer in front of me showing a living room that is very familiar to me...that's TJ's house.

"What you stalk grown men too?"

"Yes but that's not why I'm showing you this, well actually it's for later, at 6 pm," he says the last part with a smile on his. 

"How do you know about that?"

"You see, you've decided to do all the hard work for me, you're gathering everyone who has ever pissed me off. Now all I have to do is set fire to the flame," he says whispering into my ear, way too close for comfort. Panic takes over my body when I realize my parents will be there.

"NO! You'll kill everyone, you'd kill your sister."

"Oh there was only ever one sister who ever truly cared about me. Hint: it's not your mom."

"That is bullshit, my mom would've moved mountains for you back then." 

He gets mad fast and slams the table,"Then why did she hate me for being with the one I loved!"

"Julia was her best friend."

"I was her brother!" he says screaming into my face. 

"Is that what made you like this?" I ask and he starts maniacally laughing.

"What so powerful? Strong?"

"Psycho," I say and he takes a deep breath while closing his eyes and then calmly continues. 

"See that's the fun part, this is where you get to choose."

"I'm not doing anything."

"If you don't choose, I blow Maya's house up," he clicks a button and shows me a live video of her house. Even though I'm mad at her right now that does not mean I can let her and her family die.

"Okay. Fine. What are the options?"

"Now you're getting it," he says cynically smiling. 

"Option 1, you either watch everyone attending tonights meeting go up in flames, or..."hHe reaches for a case on the floor and opens it, there's a bunch of viles and injections. "You let me inject you with this," he says holding up the injection. 

"What is it?"

"It's a cure, for cancer..."

"You mean it's an experiment. That's why I'm really here, you need someone to be your lab rat. But why would you want to help me by curing the cancer?"

"Curing your cancer is just one of the effects, it will make you so powerful. Who wouldn't want that?"

"You can test this on anyone else then, if it's not just a cure."

"As I said, you're my favourite," he brushes my hair back off my shoulder and goes on, "You have 10 minutes to decide, your boyfriend is getting worried, I need to let you go if you choose the cure, oh and if I do let you go, you're not allowed to tell anyone about this, or else all of them die burning in flames."

"Oh enough with the flames. I don't need 10 minutes, I'll take the injection but you have to promise me that you won't hurt Palmer, ever."

"You're very brave to be making demands that you're in no place to make, but since I'd like to do this without your resistance; I promise I won't ever hurt her."

"Okay then, we have a deal," he smiles and unties my hands, he preps me for the injection and the next thing I know the needle is piercing through my skin, and the liquid is burning while it courses through my veins, I scream out in pain, after about 10 agonizing seconds it stops.

 I don't feel any different. The last thing I see is the face of my crazy uncle, then it all goes black again.

I wake up in my dad's car in the hospital parking lot, my phone starts ringing, it's Kai.

"Hey."

"Hey? I've been calling you for the last 45 minutes, where have you been, are you okay?" the worry is evident in his voice.

"Sorry, I went to the mall and dropped my phone, but I found it, I'm okay."