Losing Eva (The Eva Series Book 2)

Losing Eva

Jennifer Sivec

Booktrope Editions

Seattle, WA 2015

COPYRIGHT 2013, 2015 AUTHOR

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Edited by Rogena Mitchell-Jones

Proofread by  J.C. Wing

Cover by Brenda Gonet

Previously self-published 2013

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to similarly named places or to persons living or deceased is unintentional.

PRINT ISBN 978-1-5137-0119-6

EPUB ISBN 978-1-5137-0140-0

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015913447

To my Family, whom I love and adore

with all of my heart.

You are my promise, my possibility,

and my everything.

IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL DAY.

Brynn couldn’t ask for anything more perfect. The sun was shining and bright. The leaves on the trees and blades of grass were the greenest green, almost as if the ideal shade was painted on just for her. The weather had been dismal lately, but the beauty of the day was unsurpassed by any so far.

Brynn sat back in her lounge chair with a book, looking forward to getting lost in it for a few hours. She hadn’t been able to enjoy the simplicity and beauty of their large backyard for a long time. It was one of the things about the house that she loved the most, but with her and Adam’s separation, Rose’s death, and her own acclimation back into normal life, it had been a busy year. Life had become simpler now that Adam was home, and Brynn was finally able to rest her mind and body more peacefully.

These days she needed it. Her doctor wanted her to take it easy, and as difficult as it was, she was trying.

She sat back and nestled deep into the Adirondack chair made comfortable with soft cushions and closed her eyes.

Suddenly, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. Someone was there in the backyard watching her. Somehow, she knew that it was him. She looked around frantically trying to find him. How did he find me? How did he know where I was? She felt completely naked and exposed in the spaciousness of the grass and the trees.

Maxie, their 80-pound pet lab lifted his head up and looked around. He seemed to sense something, too—almost as though he could smell him in the air. He let out a few loud barks as a warning while being sure to stay close to Brynn.

Thomas was close, and he was watching her. Brynn knew it. She felt the saliva building in the back of her throat, nearly choking her. It was a familiar feeling, one that she hadn’t felt for a long time. How can this be? How can he be here? He’s dead, gone for almost two decades. How can he be here now?

Brynn frantically gathered her things and turned to go into the house. Suddenly he was there, standing in front of her, towering as he did when she was young.

He glared at her, ice blue eyes piercing through her soul, hatred, and resentment radiating dangerously. Brynn was in danger, and she felt it in every fiber of her being.

“W-w-what do you want?” she croaked, barely able to utter the words. Maxie stood next to her, alarmed. He was more of a lover than anything else, and Brynn knew that she couldn’t count on him to protect her, despite his size.

Thomas didn’t speak. He just stared at her. Brynn wanted to cry.

“You’re supposed to be dead! Dead!” Brynn yelled, backing away from him cautiously, slowly. It felt like the house was a mile away from her as she tried to move her feet faster, yet keep her eyes on him. Thomas seemed to be getting closer and closer to her. “Oh my God, you’re supposed to be dead.”

Suddenly Brynn felt his hands around her throat, and before she knew it, she had fallen backwards onto the ground, and he was above her. He was squeezing slowly, tightening his grip, and Brynn felt her air supply cutting off.

“Please stop! P-p-please!” she cried, unable to raise her voice above barely a whisper.

She felt him release his grip on her, and she was grateful for a split second as she gasped for breath. Horrified, she watched him rolling up his sleeve. What is he doing? It was an odd gesture, and she couldn’t imagine why he would do that.

He opened his mouth to speak. His voice was different from the low, gravelly voice that haunted Brynn’s dreams from her childhood. His voice now was loud, booming, and clear like a bell. “You killed me. You were my daughter, and you killed me. How could you?”

Brynn was stunned. He knows. How does he know?

“I know, because I know everything. And now, since you took something from me, I am going to take something from you.”

Brynn was confused. What else can he take from me? He took my childhood, my ability to love openly and completely. He caused me to scar myself. What else can he do to me?

“This is what I am going to do to you.” With one sudden movement, Thomas took his fist and shoved it violently into her belly. Brynn couldn’t believe her eyes. Oh my God, what is he doing?

“I’m killing your baby, just like you killed me,” Thomas sneered, his yellow teeth staring down at her as he grinned.

Brynn screamed. The pain was incredible as she watched him pulling his bloody arm in and out of her stomach, his fists squeezing the tiny life inside of her. She could feel that she was in pain, her little baby. She screamed, desperately, trapped beneath Thomas’ massive body as he straddled her legs.

Suddenly she felt a sharp slap, then another. “Brynn! Brynn!”

Thomas was calling her name, but it wasn’t his strange voice coming out his mouth. It was someone else’s. “Brynn! Brynn!”

It was Adam. Adam’s voice was coming out of Thomas’ mouth.

Brynn sat straight up, no longer trapped. “Where did Thomas go?” she screamed in horror.

“Brynn, it’s me! It’s Adam!” Adam was holding her arms with his strong hands, trying desperately to get her to see him. Her eyes were wide and frantic, her pupils huge and black. He knew that she couldn’t see him. He knew that she was lost in her dream, as she was so many nights. “Brynn, sweetheart, it’s me, honey. It’s Adam. Wake up. It’s just a bad dream.”

Brynn stared straight ahead, her thick dark hair a tangled mess, and tears running down her face. Maxie was sitting at her side, his big head lying right next to her as he whimpered.

Slowly, her face started to relax a little, her hands flying to her belly, rubbing desperately. She shifted her gaze down to Maxie and then over to Adam, and then back to Maxie.

“Adam!” she cried. “Adam!” She was back, and Adam felt relief flooding through him. This was a bad one, maybe even the worst one. He was afraid he wasn’t going to get her back.

“It’s okay Brynn. You’re safe. It was just a bad dream.”

“It was Thomas. He’s dead.”

“I know it was Thomas. You screamed his name. It’s always Thomas. But he’s dead. He can’t hurt you anymore.” Adam took her hand and pulled her into his arms so that he could hold her close.

Brynn kept rubbing her stomach. She could feel the scars through her cotton nightshirt. Several of the deeper ones were pretty bumpy. She was sure those would never go away. Thomas was her father, and he was supposed to protect her. But instead, she had to protect herself. The cutting always allowed her to cocoon away into her own world for a bit so that she didn’t have to feel the pain and the fear. If she didn’t have the cutting, and then Adam, she knew that she never would have survived.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Adam asked gently. Sometimes she did, and sometimes she didn’t. The shrink had told them that it was up to Brynn, so Adam always asked. He didn’t want to pressure her.