Chapter 35

By the time I regained consciousness, my head was pounding painfully. I winced, lifting my hand to my head and holding it, starting to feel nauseous. My mind was in a blur as I forced my eyes to open and took in my surroundings.

The first thing I noticed was the dark ceiling. I sat up on the bed I was currently lying on and furrowed my brows, trying to make out where I was. The room looked normal; there was a nightstand beside the bed, a glass of water with some pills on the side were on top of it with a small note. I narrowed my eyes at it, and picked it up to read it.

Drink this up. It will help with the headache.

I crumbled the piece of paper in my hand and threw it to the other side of the room. Like hell I would drink up anything they give me. I looked down at myself and noticed that I had new clothes on and that my bruises were all patched up. I frowned at this and stood up from the bed as slowly as possible. My head pounded in protest, but I ignored it and walked quietly to the door. I looked around to see if I could use anything as a weapon, but, unfortunately, I found nothing.

I prepared myself for a fight as I turned the knob, and I honestly didn't expect to find it unlocked. I pulled it open and looked down the hallway and, surprisingly enough, there was no one. I walked down the hallway, keeping my guard up as I made it to the stairs without anyone jumping on me. Me being highly suspicious about it was the understatement of the year.

I kept looking around, trying desperately to find some sort of weapon, but it was as if they cleared the whole place of violence. I gave up on the task and just decided to do it the natural way—with my fists. Sometimes, going old school is the best way to go.

I walked down the halls, turning corners every now and then to try and get out of the maze-like house. When I finally found some stairs, I started making my way down the steps. Once I made it down, I looked around the unfamiliar place. The kitchen was nice and big, and I frowned.

Wasn't kidnapping supposed to be scarier and threatening? An answer to that question instantly appeared once I heard the click of a gun safety going off.

And there went my short-lived freedom.

"And so, she awakens." A familiar voice mused, and I turned to look at the owner of the voice.

"So, you were behind everything this whole time?" I said, not feeling surprised.

"Perhaps," Izzy said cocking the gun to the side a bit. "I must say you are very well trained."

"Likewise," I snorted. "What is your deal?"

"I am just here to deliver the package to its owner," She said with a mindless shrug, and I glared at her. I took a threatening step forward, and she pressed the gun to my forehead easily. "If you try anything funny, I won't hesitate to put a bullet in your brain."

"Like you scare me." I retorted, and she rolled her eyes.

"I'm pretty sure none of us want Chase dead because of your stubbornness. So, I would recommend you start walking." She said, and I gritted my teeth. With one final glare, she turned me around and pushed me forward to the stairs that lead to the basement. My shoulders were tense as I walked down the steps and saw two men standing in front of a door. Once they saw us, they stepped aside and aimed their guns at me cautiously. I held the urge to roll my eyes at them and walked inside the now open door.

Now it was starting to look more of a kidnapping scene.

The paint on the walls was chipped, and the place had a funny smell to it. There were no windows and the whole room was lit up by a dim light hanging from the ceiling. Izzy pushed me forward, and I clenched my fists by my side in annoyance. My arms were pulled behind me as a cold metal wrapped around my wrists rather tightly. I was about to struggle, until someone walked in front of me, giving me a wicked smirk.

"Ah, we meet again, my dear Amy." The person mused, and if looks could kill, he would probably be a thousand feet underground burning inside his own coffin and getting his limbs cut off one by one with a chainsaw.

Sorry, was I too graphic?

"How surprising." I said sarcastically, and Izzy chuckled behind me.

"I wasn't expecting you to be surprised, darling," Gregory smirked and tipped my chin upwards with the tip of his fingers. I moved my head away hastily, scowling at his proximity. He only smirked and nodded at the two guards that were behind me. "Bring him in."

I furrowed my brows and turned to look at the door, and soon enough, the guards pushed Chase inside. He scowled at the men, but when they glared at him, he blushed and looked away. My eyes widened as I took him in. His right eyebrow was cut open and had some dried blood around it. His clothes were all wrinkled up and had droplets of blood decorating it. He was limping slightly and had a bandage wrapped around his thigh, his left cheek was all bruised up and his lip was busted.

"Amelia!" he exclaimed once he took notice of me and tried to run over to me, but the guards held him back.

"Easy there, tiger." One of them warned and Chase continued to look at me. I wanted to run over to him and get him out of this place, but the feeling of cold metal around my wrists and against my temple assured me it wouldn't be happening anytime soon. His shoulders visibly relaxed as he looked at me, relief finding its way on his features.

"Isn't this quite the movie?" Izzy snorted, and I turned my head to glare at her.

"Damn right it is," I seethed. "Let him go. He isn't a part of this anymore."

"No can do, Lily." Another voice said, and everyone turned to look at the person.

"What is your deal, Bryce? Just why do you want me back? I left for a reason and didn't utter a word to anyone about your identities or your whereabouts." I spoke, going straight to the point.

"Ah, always so straightforward," he said. "Well, dear, you're not here because I want you to. Our boss is eager to finally meet you."

"Wait, aren't you the boss?" I asked, feeling confused. He and Gregory exchanged knowing looks and nodded to Izzy.

"Let's go, the boss is waiting," Bryce said, and Izzy pushed me forward. I looked at Chase frantically and he returned the look, struggling against the guards that held him captive. As Izzy pushed me out the door, he screamed my name and other things I couldn't decipher. I gritted my teeth in annoyance and struggled against Izzy, but failed to no avail. It was completely useless to try and escape this. For now.

We stopped in front of some double doors and Bryce knocked three times. A muffled voice from the other side indicated him to come in, and he opened the doors. Izzy pushed me inside with quite some force, making me stumble and almost fall face first on the floor. Bitch.

"Here she is, sir. We took proper care of her injuries and she seems to be in perfect condition." Bryce announced, and I looked over at the desk where the man behind all this was sitting at. At first, I couldn't quite make out his face. But when I did, my eyes widened in recognition and disbelief.

"Good to see you again, Amelia. This time, I'm surprised it took you this long to be in my office." He said. I opened my mouth to say something but shut it close. For basically the first time in my life, I was speechless.

"Cat's got your tongue?" Izzy chuckled from behind me. After a moment, I snapped out of it and glared at the man.

"It was you this whole time?" I asked, suddenly wanting to rip his throat.

"Yes indeed," Mr. Morris chuckled. "It was time to finally introduce myself properly."

"What do you mean 'introduce yourself properly'?" I spat. He stood up from his chair and straightened his suit before walking towards me. How fancy.

"Principal Morris was just a cover up. My real name, though, is Steven Clark." He said and stood in front of me. I blinked twice, looking up at the man I met almost every day at school. More pieces started gluing together in my mind and I was beginning to see the resemblance between us. His green eyes stared back at me as he awaited my reaction. I just stared back at him with a blank expression, sorting everything out in my head.

I slowly looked back at Izzy and found her smirking at me. I took notice of her blonde hair and green eyes, and I wish I could've found this all out sooner. It all started to make sense now.

Izzy

E. C.

Eva Clark

"You're Eva," I whispered at her and her smirk widened.

"Took you long enough, sis." She chuckled. I glanced at everyone in the room, feeling the anger bubbling up inside me.

Now I understood.

Chase was threatened by his stepsister and stepfather, after all. Izzy—more like Eva—was the one to plant the tracker in my necklace, Chase didn't know about it. He didn't want to be a part in any of this. He has been innocent this whole time.

"You knew I was searching for you back when I first joined this gang, didn't you?" I asked and looked back at my so-called father.

"Perhaps I did, and I must say that revenge of yours was quite pathetic." He said, and I glared at him.

"You were under my nose this whole time?" I asked in bewilderment.

"You could say that. You have grown up to be quite the woman. Perhaps not as girly and educated as you should be, but you sure put up a fight. I'm surprised you managed to kill off over twenty of my men the other night." He said with an amused glint in his eye.

"I can gladly kill off more." I spat, and he smiled. Literally.

"You're brave, I like that." He commented. My vision became blurry. Not from tears, but anger. Without thinking, I kicked my leg back and kicked Izzy—Eva, whatever—hardly on the shin. She let go of the gun and fell backward and onto the ground. The guards instantly went to protect Steven, and Bryce charged up at me. I silently cursed for having my hands cuffed on my back and ran towards him. I bent over once we were close enough, and tackled him with my shoulder.

We both fell to the ground, and he groaned when his back made contact with the floor. I rolled off of him and stood up, quickly kicking the side of his head. Someone pulled me back harshly against a wall, and I didn't hesitate to bring my knee up and kick the man where the sun didn't shine. Since I was on the floor, I rolled forward and passed the handcuffs under my feet, successfully getting my arms out of my back.

I stood in a fighting position and held the chain of the handcuffs tight in my hands while fighting off another man. The satisfying sound of his neck breaking greeted my ears when I twisted his neck harshly, and I frowned. More people came at me as the sound of gunshots filled the room, and not long after, the double doors were kicked open.

"Amelia!"

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[Edited: September 12th, 2020]

Mwahahaha, now who thought of Principal Morris being the father? Quite the plot twist, aye? It makes sense, though. Tell me your thoughts on the comments, and let me know that you liked the chapter by clicking that star ♥