/Madison's POV/
I knew from the moment those thugs lifted me into their arms that they had no intention of hurting me. After wrapping me in a blanket like a burrito, I was carried to the back of a van which had a hospital stretcher tucked behind it.
I was too weak to move and no matter how many times I fought to keep my eyes open, it was a hopeless fight I constantly lost and surrendered to.
The next time I woke up, I was on a bed, lowered gently by one of the many men in black and gas masks.
An unfamiliar voice came running anxiously the moment I hit the bed.
"She wasn't hurt, was she?" The voice dripped with worry and soon it closed in. The bed next to me dipped as his hands reached my face. "I'm so glad you're okay." He heaved a sigh of relief as he gently caressed my face until I turned away.
"Don't touch me," I groaned. My tongue still felt numb and twisted but getting that much word out felt easier. The effect of the gas was wearing off and my body, which felt tied up in knots, was slowly coming undone.
I just needed to stall a little more.
"Allie… it's me. Elias." My eyes widened in surprise as the face of the tall, lean figure sitting close to me slowly came into focus. While other things remained blurry, his face was starting to get clearer but he was as unfamiliar to me as the room I was in. Where the hell is this place? I glanced around.
"Why did you bring me here? Are you trying to kill me or something?" I asked, trying to get the motive for his reckless act out of him.
"What on earth d'you mean kill… that detective was right, you did lose your memory—" His hands moved forward and I leaned back, trying to avoid his discomforting touch. "If you had your memories, you'd know I'd never hurt you." He sounded disheartened by my accusation but there's no way I'm buying that act.
For all I know, he might want to take advantage of me not knowing shit about Allison to get into my head. An Allison with no memory of the past feels pretty damn vulnerable to con artists like this fucker.
"For so long I avoided a confrontation with Zane because he was my friend, my cousin… I really didn't want things to come to this, you've got to believe me." His voice cracked. "But I couldn't just sit by and watch him torment you any longer."
"What… what are you talking about?" My face contorted into a frown but that tormented look on his face looked so convincing I found myself wanting to listen to him. "Zane would never hurt me," I said, but it was also my attempt to clarify whatever doubts I had left about Zane.
"I know you have no memory of what happened, but Zane… can be quite a handful. You were right, I am a coward. I hesitated for so long and this happened." What the fuck is this dude yapping about? "That night before you left, when I tried to convince you to come clean to Zane together, I wouldn't have pressured you if I knew he would hurt you."
"What exactly do you mean by that?" My jaw clenched tight. I hate how emotionally layered his words were. His face, tight with regret and guilt. The tears lacing his eyes were genuine enough. If this dude was spouting lies, he must have been a damn good actor, but I couldn't bring myself to believe him just yet.
That look on his face was familiar enough; it was the same look I saw on Zane every night he sleepwalked into my room crying out for my sister, an expression layered with hurt, guilt, and cemented with pain and regret. I could never mistake it even if I tried.
Both their affections towards my sister, however, seemed genuine—but could those affections drive either of them to hurt her?
"I thought telling Zane about us was a good idea. With the wedding coming up, I knew he was gonna be pissed about it, no doubt, but I also couldn't wait around and watch you marry the man you didn't want."
"So you tried to kill me?" I probed harder.
"I'd never do that. I think Zane did it after you told me about us." Elias brought out his phone and showed me Allison's last message to him, dated right before the day I came to visit.
> "I told him, he's really pissed. He doesn't want to break up. I'm sorry, Elly, he intends to push through with the wedding. What if I tried to go against him and he ended up hurting you? I wouldn't mind if his anger's directed at me, but I'm scared Zane might hurt you, Elly. You know how he is. Let's not contact each other for a while, but I promise to stop the wedding."
"I told him, he's really pissed. He doesn't want to break up. I'm sorry Elly, he intends to push through with the wedding. What if I tried to go against him and he ended up hurting you? I won't mind if his anger's directed at me but I'm scared Zane might hurt you Elly. You know how he is. Let's not contact each other for a while but I promise to stop the wedding."
My face grew pensive as my eyes skimmed the text. Did my sister really write that?
With a voice laced with doubt and suspicion, I asked, "I… sent you that?"
"Yeah. I was so stupid thinking Zane would at least consider his love for you and our friendship." He scoffed. "I shouldn't have waited like a coward. I should've tried to take you away from him immediately, but while stalling—hoping for a solution to drop into my hands—I heard you were stabbed. It just had to be him." Elias gritted as malice and rage filled his eyes.
"I don't think Zane did it though," I mumbled with a slight furrow, letting my confusion slip.
"Allison!" I flinched at his loud call. "Why are you still defending him? He's a fucking lunatic." He insisted. He was too driven by his own rage and regrets to see reason, so that was the moment I decided I needed to get out of there.
"Lunatic or not, no groom will stab the bride he planned to marry. Why would he try to kill me when he was planning to marry me?"
Frustrated, he replied, "I don't know, maybe because you tried to stop the wedding." Elias rose from the bed, a frown etched on his face.
"I was stabbed three times, Elias. Why would he go that far just to stop the wedding? Does that make any sense to you?" I pressured him further.
"I can't prove it yet, but I'm sure Zane has something to do with it. You know how unforgiving he is." He went on his knees in front of me. "Ally, let's leave… like we planned to. Mom will hate me for this, but we could leave together, go someplace where no one knows us—it'll be just the two of us, huh?" He sounded expectant.
"Wait… is that why you abducted me? To run away with you?" I asked in disbelief.
I might not know much about my sister, but I'm damn sure she wasn't the type to pack up and leave at the height of her career. I tried to remember the face she had on as she talked about Zane.
When Allison reached out to me, a package was delivered to my doorstep containing her wedding invitation and number. So I called, having hesitated for days.
She sounded very excited about the wedding though. I was the only family she had left, so she wanted me to be there. She wouldn't have reached out to me herself if she didn't want the wedding. Yet, I couldn't bring myself to dismiss Elias's claims since he didn't seem to be lying.
Could it be… my sister was seeing them both? I slightly shook my head, shoving the thoughts away. People said my sister was a saint—she was kind and warm; she couldn't have done that. But what about the content of her phone I saw? It didn't prove her relationship with Elias, but it did confirm they were meeting secretly; the background information also confirmed that.
"You said we were lovers, right?" I asked and he raised his head. "How did we meet? How did we fall in love?" I asked because I've been deathly curious, but his expression immediately turned awkward.
"We can always have this conversation later. You should get some rest. I'll have one of my men bring you supplies to tend to your wounds. I'm sure you're in pain after all of that." Elias rose, but his words gave me another thing to worry about.
Checking my wounds would definitely blow my cover since I have no stab wounds. While I do want to ask more about my sister from Elias, it's too much of a risk if he discovers I'm not Allison, and since he's been strangely evasive to my questions, it might be worth checking out.
I watched him leave, but then he returned later with a doctor and a first aid kit.
"Elly," I forced him a smile. "I'm sorry, but I don't want anyone else seeing my body right now. Can't you handle it alone?"
"Really?" His face brightened at my request. I guess he really did love my sister.
What type of fucking soap opera is this? How can two guys—cousins—like the same person? But then I guess I'm not one to talk. I like Zane regardless of his feelings for my sister. Although, if my sister was alive, I would've never considered that possibility.
Blushing like a teenager about to make a love confession, he turned to the doctor and the other guy who followed him in. "You all can leave, I'll handle things from here," he said, walking over to my side of the bed.
"I'm really sorry, Elias. Please don't hold this against me," I said before slamming my head into him in a headbutt the moment the door closed. Taking advantage of his disorientation, I dragged him forward so I had him secured with my legs, locked his neck into my arms tightly until he eventually passed out.
After tucking him into the bedsheet they'd wrapped me in, I glanced out the window. The building was a modern cottage, so using the window as an escape route felt super easy.
I did run into a few of his men as I left, but knocking them out was super easy since they couldn't hurt me but at the same time, they had to defend themselves.
The last one I encountered before getting off the property ended up leaving a cut on my waist though. I wasn't expecting him to draw out a combat knife the moment he was at a disadvantage, so I was rougher on him than most—slamming his head into a tree multiple times before leaving—but I made sure not to kill him as payment for letting me use his phone.
I walked a long time after getting away from the cottage, but for some reason, no matter how hard I walked, I couldn't get out of the thick trees surrounding the place. Am I lost right now? I wondered as I glanced around frantically with no idea where I was. Then I lost my footing and ended up rolling down the damn slope.
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