If I Say Yes (Say Something #1) Read online

  The climb is excruciating, and I don’t remember there being as many stairs when I was younger. As I reach the top of the stairs, the music becomes louder, dancing towards me, and calling for me to come and play. I get lost in the moment, my focus on nothing but the sound of the beautiful music coming my way. I yearn to play again. The hole in my heart is missing the very core of its being. Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata calls for me, taking me back to the time I spent weeks trying to perfect it until I could play it without sheet music— when I was only eight years old.

  I walk towards the room apprehensively, and doubt begins to fill my mind, questioning if I am ready to face the music, literally. I press the door open slowly, and a low gasp escapes my lips. My mind must really be playing tricks on me. It’s bad enough that I am hearing music playing in my head, but now I am actually seeing someone sitting at the piano playing. I can see a familiar shade of strawberry blonde hair cascading down the person’s back. I don’t have to see her face to know who it is.

  “Heidi?” Her name comes out a whisper. When the piano stops playing, she turns her head towards me and confirms that it is indeed her. Her blue eyes stare daggers into me. If looks could kill, I would probably be dead right now. “What are you doing here?” How do you know about this place?

  “I was wondering when you would finally make your way home, Elizabeth.” My name slides off her tongue like acid. How does she know my name? Heidi laughs, a laugh that sounds like it belongs to an evil villain in a movie, and it sends chills down my spine. She crosses the distance between us, and I smell something familiar and try to wrap my head around the scent. It’s my perfume, the one I use to wear as a teenager. The scent sends me spiraling back into my past, and flashes of memories dance in front of me like a movie. The recitals my mother never came to… my carefree days with Jacob, Millie, Eli, and the rest of my friends… finally settling on the night of my mother’s death.

  “Hello…” Heidi interrupts the montage. “I am here to make you suffer the way I have had to suffer for the last twenty-four years of my life.”

  I stare at the woman who is supposed to be my assistant, my eyes wide, and feeling utterly confused. “What are you talking about?”

  “As if you didn’t know.”

  “Heidi… whatever it is, I honestly have no idea what you are talking about.” She brings her hand up and slaps me across the face. The hit stings, causing tears to form in the corner of my eyes, and all I can do is stand there frozen in place.

  “It’s because of you… and that whore of a mother you had… you two are the reason my father neglected me and never wanted anything to do with me.” I’m speechless, unable to comprehend what she is trying to get at. “It’s time you pay. You have spent all these years pretending that your past is nothing but a distant memory. You gave everything up, and for what? To hide like a scared little kitten? I’m going to make sure you never see the light of day again. You don’t deserve happiness. You don’t deserve Elias or Reid… they will pay for what you have done!” she screams at me, and I flinch. I move to take a step back, but she reaches for me, grabbing a handful of hair at the back of my head, and slams my head into her knee.

  The sight of blood pulls me back to the night of my mother’s death. I crumple to the floor, hyperventilating, and barely hearing anything Heidi says as I stare at the blood falling from my nose. “My father,” she strikes me on the back of the head with a sharp object, “was in love with your mother.” Another blow hits my head, and I can feel the warmth of the blood trickling down my neck. A glint of sliver flashes in the sunlight pouring into the vast open room, and I barely glance in time to see that she has a knife. “He spent years pining for her while she was busy screwing around with that boyfriend of yours.”

  That’s when I realize who she really is. “Your father is Robert?” The same man who broke into my apartment a few weeks ago.

  She laughs and strikes me again. “Have you paid attention to anything I have said?”

  I push off the ground. I have to get out of here and call for help. I feel the heel of her shoe dig into my back as she pushes me back down onto the floor. A sharp pain hits my side, and I cry out. She stabs me with the knife. Blood pools around me as I begin to lose consciousness. The last thing I see before I black out is the memory of my mother’s contorted body. “Reid…” I say softly before the blackness engulfs me.

  ***

  I jolt awake to being splashed in the face with cold water. It takes a few minutes for my vision to clear, and when it does, I find myself in another part of the house, the one room I was avoiding— my parents’ room. My side stings from where I was stabbed. I instinctively reach down and find a bandage wrapped around me. The room is dark, with a lamp on the nightstand next to my parents’ bed providing the only light in the room. The light is dim, and I can only see about a foot around me. I hear footsteps moving around but can’t see where they are coming from. “I took care of your wounds for you, so you don’t have to worry.” Heidi’s voice sounds throughout the darkness. “I have plans, and they don’t include getting rid of you so soon.”

  The footsteps grow closer, and I fight against the restraints that have me pinned to some sort of chair. I squint my eyes, trying to see through the pitch black in front of me, and find which way Heidi is coming from. I sense her presence behind me before I hear her. “I think it’s time our company joins us, don’t you?”

  Before I can respond, the overhead bedroom light flickers on and blinds me for a moment. After blinking my eyes a few times, my vision comes back. I cry out as tears form in my eyes. Across the room are the two people I care for the most— bound, gagged, and seemingly unconscious.

  “Let them go,” I say harshly. Heidi laughs and walks around me. She finally comes into view, with a large knife in hand. She walks slowly towards Eli and Reid, who are both shirtless. I start to fight against the chair and doing everything in my power to break free. It’s useless, the rope she is using is tied tightly. “No!” I scream as she glances back at me, holding up the knife, waving it back and forth with a sinister grin plastered to her face.

  “Let’s see…” She places the knife against Reid’s stomach and starts to press in. I hold my breath and wait for some sort of reaction from him, but he doesn’t stir. “Right about here”— the knife digs into his skin — “is where your scar starts… is it not?” I close my eyes so I don’t witness her cutting him.

  I hear something drop against the floor and force my eyes open. Blood is trickling down Reid’s stomach from his open wound. I glance back to Heidi, who is standing back with her arms across her chest and admiring her work. On the floor, near Reid’s foot, is the knife that she just used to cut him open. The tears stream down my face, and all I can do is blame myself.

  “Before we continue,” she winks to me, “I want these two to be awake. They need to hear what I have to say.”

  Heidi turns her attention to Eli. While walking the few feet between the two of them, she sweeps up her long hair into a bun on the top of her head. I watch as she walks past Eli and into the master bathroom. I listen as the faucet turns on and the sound of water echoes out into the room. My mind starts to reel at how she possibly subdued them, much less get them up here, but I’m not able to give it much more thought. My focus shifts as I watch her exit out of the bathroom with a bucket I presume is filled with water. I hold my breath and turn my head as she dumps the contents of the bucket over Eli’s head. I hear the sounds of Eli coughing and glance towards him. His eyes are wide and disorientated. He fights against the cloth that is gagging him in attempt to say something. “Oh look, pretty boy wants to say something.” Heidi chuckles and pulls the gag out of his mouth.

  “Liza! Wh—“

  “Nuh-uh-uh,” Heidi interrupts. “It seems that you too have forgotten who she really is. If you are to speak, you will call her Elizabeth.”

  “Fuck you!” Eli shouts. Heidi smirks, reaches behind his chair, and pulls out a bat. She raises the bat and
brings it smashing down against his knee.

  “Stop!” I scream. “It’s me that you want! Leave them alone!”

  Heidi hits Eli again and I wince as if I can feel his pain. She pulls the gag back over his mouth with ease while he is grimacing in pain. “Keep your mouth shut.” She peeks over towards me. “Speak out of line and you will only make it worse for them.” She starts to walk towards me. Behind her I hear Reid groan and see that he is starting to wake up. “Yay!” Heidi cries out and claps her hands in excitement. “Now, we can really get the party started.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  I WATCH IN HORROR as Heidi stitches the wound she created on Reid’s stomach. Every time he grimaces or cries out in pain my heart breaks just a bit more. This isn’t fair. It’s all my fault, and I really don’t understand the full extent of it all. All I know is that Robert is Heidi’s father, who was in love with my mother, who cast him aside because she was screwing around with Jacob. Sure, I am connected to all of them, but none of what has happened is my fault. No, the blame is on them. More importantly, it’s on my mother, but she’s gone now. Isn’t that enough?

  After Heidi’s done stitching Reid up, she wraps a white ace wrap around him, just like she did with me. Blood is covering her hands and smudged onto her clothes, but she doesn’t seem to notice. She stands up from her kneeling position and turns to glances at me. Her eyes are crazed with terror and she looks wicked.

  “Now,” she says as she licks her lips and walks towards me. She stops, leans close to me, and stares straight into my eyes. “I’ll let you have the honor of telling everyone why we are here.”

  My eyes flicker over to Reid, who is still clearly in pain, and he is staring at me with confusion written on his face. When I can’t take it anymore, I turn my attention to Eli, who seems less confused. Heidi told him to call me Elizabeth, but I know he is still confused as to why. “I still haven’t got the slightest idea. Sure, you have a vendetta against me for whatever reason, but them—” I glance over to the two men “—they have nothing to do with this. Just let them go.” I begin to cry.

  Heidi raises her hand and slaps me across the face. “You are not the victim here! I am!” she shouts. “Now, you can start by telling Reid everything. You can tell him the truth about who you really are and whose house we are in.”

  I can barely see the man I love through my tear soaked eyes. I squeeze my eyes closed tightly and open them when I feel the tears sliding down my cheeks. I didn’t want to tell him this way, but I have to go along with Heidi until I can figure a way to get all of us out of this situation. “T-t-this is my house,” I say weakly.

  “I’m sorry… what was that?” Heidi laughs. “Speak louder so we can all hear.”

  “I said that this is my house.” My voice is still weak but significantly louder. “I mean, the house I grew up in. I haven’t stepped foot in this house for six years, until today.”

  “Why is that?” Heidi interjects. This is the part I am going to have the hardest time telling. I’m afraid once Reid learns the truth, he will see me as a product of two seriously messed up people. People who are nothing but monsters, and decide he wants nothing more to do with me. Add in the fact that he is being held captive and just had his stomach split open because of me. It’s over between us before we really got started. Heidi hits me again, and the force of her strike splits open my lip. I stick my tongue out and taste metal. The taste of blood. I can’t look at Reid. The way he is staring at me, with hopelessness in his eyes, is killing me piece by piece. I glance at Eli, sympathy clearly shining, and he knows I haven’t told Reid. That I haven’t told anyone. He nods his head slightly, encouraging me to spill the secrets I have been hiding.

  “My father murdered my mother. Right here in this room.” The look in Reid’s eyes isn’t what I was expecting. I was expecting disgust, or perhaps shock, but neither of those make an appearance. Instead, sorrow fills his eyes. He is staring at me softly, slightly nodding his head, as if he has known all along. Oh my, what if he has known all along. “My real name is Elizabeth Lewis…” I take a deep breath. “My father is Jared Lewis.” I don’t have to explain who he is because my father was a big time defense attorney.

  “The prodigal child has returned!” Heidi exclaims. I’m not entirely sure what she means by that, but I’m not sure I know what or who she is anymore. “This is where I come in.” Heidi walks a few paces until she is standing in the middle of all three of us. “You see, Elizabeth, over there,” she is speaking to Reid, “Her mother was a whore. She didn’t know how to keep her legs closed, no matter who it was. First, she was with my father. She got knocked up, and when he asked her to marry him, she went running into the arms of Mr. Big Shot. Her mother kept a relationship with my father. She kept telling him she made a mistake and promised that she would get a divorce and that they could raise their family together.”

  Wait…what? “It’s not possible that my mother was pregnant with another child. I’m an only child.”

  “Don’t you get it?” Heidi says in a low voice. She stalks towards me with a smile on her face. “Jared wasn’t your father… Robert was. My father is your father… which makes us sisters. Crazy, isn’t it?”

  No, no, no. She can’t be telling the truth. It’s all some sick twisted ploy of hers. No way in hell is Robert my father. I close my eyes and shake my head. She’s lying. She has to be. “Believe what you want.” I open my eyes and stare at Heidi. “But we are sisters.”

  “I could never be related to someone as twisted as you are.”

  “Which brings me to my next point. The reason we are here.” She glares at me, and I’m sure hatred is filling her every bone. “After your mother married Jared, my father was heartbroken and distraught, and began a relationship with my mother. When she discovered she was pregnant with me, he left her high and dry. Yeah, he sent money every month, but he wasn’t there. He was too busy crawling into bed with your mother and watching you grow from a distance. When your mother grew tired of him and cast him to the side, he came crawling back, begging for forgiveness, but it was too late by then. He tried to explain that love made him stupid, that he regretted not being there. But I know if it wasn’t for your mother trading him in for a much younger boy toy, your boyfriend, he would have never come back at all.”

  “You still aren’t making any sense.”

  “I’m not? Let’s see if you can make sense with this.” She picks up the baseball ball lying next to Eli’s chair and smashes it against his other knee. “Tell me, am I making sense now?” She hits his knee again.

  “Stop!” I scream. “What do you want?”

  “I want you to suffer. For what your mother did and for what my father did.”

  “You can’t blame me for their actions,” I whisper. My body is wrecked with sobs. I can hear Eli groaning in pain. The sound of the baseball bat making contact with his knee is playing like a broken record over and over again.

  “Your mother isn’t alive, which I have Jared to thank for that. Since he didn’t finish the job with you, it’s my duty to do so.”

  “But your fat—”

  “He is paying for what he has done. Why do you think he was in your apartment all those weeks ago? Because I coerced him into it.”

  I think back to the night that Robert was in my apartment. That night has replayed in my mind a thousand times, trying to make sense as to why he was there that night with Jacob. Why after all these years, he was doing something about it. The pieces are starting to fall into place. The emails, how the person knew my every move. It was all Heidi. She knew my every step, her desk was outside my office, and it was easy for her. But I still can’t figure out where Eli and Reid play into this.

  “Fine. Do what you want with me, but just let them go,” I plead.

  “No, they are staying. It’s part of your suffering. I am going to kill both of them, painfully and slowly, and thrive off the torture it brings you. Then, once I am finished with them, I will do the same for you. No
ne of this is going to be short and quick. We’re going to be here for a long time. Now, why don’t you get comfortable for a little bit. I have to go check on a few things, and then the fun times will resume.”

  Heidi turns and walks out of the room, closing the door behind her, and I hear the sounds of locks clicking in place. She’s locked us in here, leaving just the three of us alone. I glance around the room, a heavy weight bearing down on my shoulders, and I can’t stand to look at Eli or Reid. Eli is still softly groaning in pain and I feel helpless. Nothing in this room has been touched. The room remains unchanged and just like it always has. The four poster bed sits just to the right of me, a large fireplace sits empty across the room, and a night stand by the bed. That’s it. Neither of my parents made this room personalized. They left the personalization to their offices. Rooms I only caught a glance of once or twice in my life.

  Finally, I muster the courage to glance at the both of them. At first glance, Eli seems unharmed except for the low groans emanating from his body across the room. His upper body remains untouched. Reid has only experienced the one wound as far as I am aware of. My eyes drift to the bandage around his stomach. Traces of red seep out through the patched up wound, making the wrap turn to a slightly pinkish color around the cut. I’m sure he is in pain, but he isn’t showing it in any way. I watch as both of them move their heads back and forth, trying to wiggle the gags out of their mouths. I pull against the chair again and barely manage to budge the rope. After a few minutes, I give up and sag against the chair. I cast my eyes down to the floor, tears brimming in my eyes, and let out a soft sob. “I’m so sorry. You two shouldn’t be here. This is all my fault.”