Stepbrother Bear - Complete (13 page)

CHAPTER TWO

But of course they had.

And in my
long lost, faraway dreams I would see them – all of them – exactly as they
were. I’d be sitting down with my father at a coffee-house or wherever,
catching up with him. He, like all of them, never seemed to be in any danger.
They’d act as though I was overreacting. That I shouldn’t have been so worried.
That they were right here all along. All I had to do was reach out and touch
them and they’d be there.

And then I’d
wake up and … if it were only that simple. I could call phone numbers. Or write
emails. Or send online messages.

I could go
round to their former homes and workplaces and they were never there – never
waiting for me to show up and find them. They really were gone. This had
happened to them. At this point, no one would probably even care about it
either. They’d just tell me to move on. Get on with my life. It was out of my
control.

I sat up in
bed. Another night, another dream. I hadn’t even slept that long either. I went
to bed at ten and it was just gone ten past eleven.

Aiden.

I had seen
him in my dreams tonight.

I’ll cut
through the ins and outs of the dreamtime atmosphere and just say that he was
in his bear form and he was chasing me. Trying to run me down.

I pulled back
the covers and walked from my room to the kitchen for a glass of water. I was
still in a bit of shock. I was still … frightened of him. I didn’t know why exactly.
He had no reason to hurt me in real life. So why had I dreamt it that way?

What was my
subconscious trying to tell me?

I swallowed
my water and set the glass into the sink. Then I walked back to my bedroom.

The blinds
were open and I could see outside. The moon was covered by the clouds so there
wasn’t much light streaming in. But I could make out the branches of a tree by
the window. And I could see there was a creature sitting by it. Staring into
the glass.

Staring into
me.

I went to the
window to get a better look at it.

As I drew
nearer, its eyes seemed to get brighter. They were white, with a green tinge to
them. I still couldn’t see how big the creature was, only that it was black,
and appeared to be a bird of some kind –

CRASH!

Without
warning the giant bird sprung from its perch and went headfirst into the
window, shattering it.

The force was
enough to send me flying back to the ground, broken glass and feathers raining
down on me the rest of the bird. I screamed at it, though there was no way to
characterize the emotion behind my scream. I didn’t know if I was shocked or
frightened or angry – all I could feel was the adrenalin pumping through me. As
I fought against my attacker I soon realized my hands were clinging to wings or
feathers anymore – I was fighting against the arms of a person.

“Stop it,” an
all too familiar voice commanded. “Stop that noise at once.”

And then I
did stop, as I now realized who was on top of me.

It was our
old friend and enemy, Ryan Decker.

CHAPTER
THREE

“Bastard!” I cried and swung my half
curled fist into his cheek. He grabbed the hand immediately afterward and
forced it to the ground, pinned with the rest of me.

“Are you
going to shut up now?” he asked.

I spat up
into his face, whilst continuing to thrash my legs about underneath him. As his
arms were preoccupied, he had no way of removing the spit.

“I’m not here
to hurt you,” he said hoarsely. “But I will if you don’t stop fighting me.”

“Fuck you!” I
squealed. “HELP! SOMEBODY HELP ME!”

Taken aback
by my sudden cries, Ryan let go of my arms and climbed off me.

I quickly
crawled back to my feet and made for the bedroom doorway.

“I had a
message from Lara, that’s all.”

I stopped for
a moment and glanced back at him. He wasn’t chasing after me.

Ryan sat down
on the bed and removed a cigarette case from his coat.

“So she’s
still alive then?” I demanded. “Where is she?”

Ryan shook
his head and proceeded to light the cigarette. “Somewhere nearby.”

“What the
fuck are you doing here?” I hissed at him.

He took a
drag from the smoke and let its fumes ooze from his nostrils. “We had a deal
once, didn’t we? You were going to get Aiden to come back to the resort. And
then this would all be over.”

“It was a
pretty dumb plan,” I said. “I haven’t seen Aiden since I spoke with you then.
He never came back for me.”

“Why do you
think that is?”

“I don’t
know,” I mumbled. “Maybe you guys already got to him.”

“We didn’t,”
Ryan said. “If we had, I wouldn’t be here.”

“So why are
you here?”

“Why don’t
you come and sit next to me? I’ll tell you all about it.”

“I’m fine
here thanks.”

Ryan smiled
and shook his head. “She cries in her sleep, you know. She still cries your
name. She thinks you’re coming to save her.”

“What?” I
blurted out. “Who are you talking about?”

“Lara,” Ryan
said. “Your lovely sister.”

“I know who
she is,” I growled. “What have you done with her? What about the others?”

Ryan waved
his hand. “Please. One question at a time.”

A rush of
adrenalin surged through me, and I stormed over to him, seizing him by the
throat. “What have you doing with them?! Where are they?! TELL ME!”

Ryan’s eyes
watered a moment, and he started choking.

I let go, and
he began coughing violently. He pounded his chest.

“Jesus,” he
said. “I gotta stop with these.”

I knocked the
smoke out of his hand. “Stop fucking with me!
What have you done with my
family?”

His eyes
widened. He coughed once more, and then a grin began to form itself.

“Your family
is still alive,” he said. “I know exactly where they are, and I’m here to tell
you how to get them back.”

CHAPTER FOUR

I looked into his eyes. Was he
telling the truth? I couldn’t see anything that would lead me to believe
otherwise. But where was I supposed to go from here? How far was I going to let
this guy push me?

“Why are they
alive?” I said, expressing my doubt. “It’s been three years. What use are they
to you now?”

“The
General’s wish was to keep casualties to a minimum,” Ryan answered. “And she
would need leverage for Aiden if he ever showed up again.”

“But three
years?” I whispered. “What have they been doing?”

“She put them
to work. Maintenance. Menial tasks mostly. But someone has to do them.”

“But…” I
shook my head. “Why haven’t they reached out to me?”

“If they did
that then they really would have to be put down,” Ryan said. “Thankfully,
everyone was fairly cooperative. Eventually.”

“And why
didn’t you come and take me away?” I asked. “Surely there would have been an
opportunity for it. With the fuss I made, with what I know, I don’t
understand…”

“No one was
going to believe a story as outrageous as yours without solid evidence backing
it up,” Ryan explained. “But of course it was more than that. We needed you for
bait.”

“Bait?”

“In case he
turned up one night. Out of the blue. Without notice or warning. In case he
showed up to steal you away with him.”

“You were
watching me?”

“Someone from
our unit was,” Ryan confessed. “Every hour of every day.”

“I don’t
understand. Why is Aiden so important to you? Why not just forget about him and
move on? There has to be something more than the ‘secret’ getting out.”

“The General
has her reasons,” Ryan said.

“Which are?”

He shrugged.
“I don’t question my orders.”

“So you don’t
know? It doesn’t make sense to you? Why they’re obsessed with capturing Aiden?”

“Whatever the
reason is,” Ryan said, “you can bet that it’s something big.”

I backed away
from him and leaned against the wall.

He adjusted
his seating position.

“You’re
wondering what I’m doing here now, right?” he said.

I blinked.
“I’m wondering a lot of things.”

“Word has
been passed down that Aiden is going to be making a brief appearance in town
tonight. We know the time. We know the location. We also know he’ll have a lot
of protection with him, so an assault on him in the open would be bloody and
inefficient.”

I looked up.

“Which is why
we need your help, Bianca.”

“What can I
do?”

“You’ll have
set instructions. Your job will be to lure Aiden to a location where he can be
apprehended without a struggle.”

I grimaced.
Felt sick to my stomach.

“You can say
no,” Ryan said. “We can’t
force
you to cooperate. But should you choose
to do so, your family would be released.”

A sharp,
unexpected laugh shot through me.

Followed by
another.

And another.

“What’s
funny?” Ryan glared at me.

“You’re not
going to release them,” I stated. “Not after holding them for three years. Doesn’t
matter what you get in exchange. If the people find out what you’ve done,
there’ll be hell to pay.”

“No one will
find anything out.”

“Oh really?”

“With certain
kinds of technology today, a person’s mind is little more than a computer. With
the assistance of the right materials and equipment, our programmers can hack
into a person’s brain and well … change anything they feel like. Including the
existence of certain memories.”

“You’re
saying they wouldn’t remember anything afterward?”

“That’s what
I’m saying. What you choose to believe is up to you.”

My eyes faced
the floor. “I don’t know. Seems like a crock of shit to be honest.”

“Our
practices facilitate the transformation of man to beast, in both outward
appearance, and inward characteristics,” Ryan stated. “Do you really think a
little thing like memory loss would pose any sort of difficulty?”

I looked up
again. Maybe he was telling the truth.

“Do you have
proof they’re still alive?” I said finally. “Photos? Video? And what was that
message you said Lara had for me?”

Ryan nodded.
“Go to the window.”

“The window?
What for?”

“Just go.”

I kept my
eyes on him as I made my way around the bed towards the window.

I looked out
of it, but couldn’t see anything.

“Is something
supposed to happen?” I murmured. “What’s going on?”

Then there
was a faint
wooshing
sound.  

It got louder
and louder.

And louder.

Another large
bird had descended to land on the tree’s lowest branch. I climbed over the
broken glass and stepped outside into the garden. The bird continued to stare
down at me, remaining stationary.

“Who are
you?” I whispered edging closer. “Do I know you?”

The bird
began to shift into its human form.

Through the
mess of long hair, and the black silky dress, I could barely make out the
woman’s face. She jumped from the branch and landed on the ground in front of
me.

“Lara…?”

She looked
up. “Yes it’s me. Hello, sister.”

CHAPTER FIVE

“Lara! Oh my gosh!” I rushed over and
wrapped my arms around her. “I missed you so much!”

Lara buried
her eyes into my shoulder and started to cry. “I missed you too.”

The sound of
glass crunching startled me from behind. I whirled round and stood between Lara
and Ryan defensively.

“Relax,” Ryan
said casually. He pulled another cigarette from his case and lit it.

I turned back
to Lara and held her face up to mine. “What’s happened? What have they done to
you? What – What –?”

“Never mind
about that,” Lara said pushing my hands down. “I’m okay.”

“What about
Dad and Mom? The family? Our friends who were at the wedding?”

Lara winced a
little. I could see that she was looking in Ryan’s direction.

“Go on,” he
said. “Tell her.”

“Everyone is
fine,” Lara said stiffly.

“They are?” I
demanded. “Or is he just making you say that?”

Lara’s eyes
avoided me. I knew she wasn’t telling me everything.

“You have to
do what Ryan says,” Lara droned. “It’s the only way to save the rest of them.”

“Save them
from what?”

Ryan’s
footsteps moved in closer behind us. I glanced back at him.

“What have
you done to her, you monster!” I barked.

Lara put a
hand to my shoulder to pull me back.

“Just do what
he says,” she insisted. “If you don’t…”

Suddenly Ryan
grabbed my wrist. He pulled me way from Lara.

I fought him off
by punching his chest.

Lara was
backing away from me.

I stopped,
still standing between the two of them.

“You can go
now, my dove,” Ryan said. “We’ll see you soon.”

Lara bowed
her head and shifted back into her bird. Then she rose up and flew into the sky
above us.

I stepped
further away from Ryan, turning back to face him.

He still had
the flaming cigarette in his hand.

“There’s
stuff you’re not telling me,” I said. “Stuff she wouldn’t tell me.”

“All we want
is Aiden,” Ryan said. “Help us capture him and we’ll set the others free.”

I looked back
to the sky where my sister was, flying through the air.

“But you’ll
need her too,” I said. “Now that she’s been affected the same way Aiden has.”

Ryan’s
presence drew close to me. He dropped the cigarette.

“Bianca,” he
said with his hand at my waist. “Lara is already free. We just need your help
now.”

“Okay,” I
sighed, turning back to him. “Tell me what I need to do.”