“Not happening Livy. We go where you go.” Cole said flatly and Matt just nodded, both of them looking annoyed I would even try to suggest such a thing.
“It’s going to be fine, Olivia. That’s why Rob and I will go first. Just stay in our path, and if we shout an order, follow it. We’ve got you.” Jack said with a confidence I couldn't fake if I tried. He was so sure and calm. It helped, I had to admit.
“We all good?” Rob asked. Everyone gave an affirmative, except me who stood trying hard to find the reserves I needed to actually do this. I just hoped like hell I wasn’t making the biggest mistake of my life, bringing my four guys into the monster’s lair.
“Liv?” Kyle prompted, and I looked to him, unable to even try and mask my panic. “You don't have to do this, Baby.” He added when he saw my face. I took two deep breaths, counting as Matt had taught me. This was not the time to let panic win. I had to keep it on a tight leash.
“I’m ok. Let’s get going.” I replied, then gave Rob the nod he had been waiting for.
I had no idea what I was hoping for. Well, I was hoping the girl would be there, sat before a fire, safe and unharmed, but that seemed unlikely. That was the problem. If we did find her in that cabin, it was likely The Shadow would have already hurt her, and I didn't want that for anyone, but at least she would be found before too much damage could be done.
Part of me hoped we’d get there and find I had, afterall, killed the old bastard. I had no idea how I would have done that, or what the repercussions of such an action would be for me, but if he was dead, he hadn't taken this missing child. But then Kade would have to find out who had, and he may never do that.
As we set out, my real hope was that Kade’s cell would ring, with a call to say the girl had been found safe and sound. That she had just been lost, or hiding somewhere. Then we could all just turn around and go home. It was once again a delusion to calm my mind, and I should have known better than most, they never actually worked.
CHAPTER 11
Three hours into the walk and I was really starting to lose my grip on my anxiety. When we had first set out, I had felt confident, recognising things from the first frenzied time I had fled through that area.
When we came to the clearing in the trees, where I had come out onto the highway all those weeks ago, I had known it instantly.
But then we were in the thick of the forest, and when I said thick, I meant thick. The trees were huge and dense and it was pretty impossible to see any path through them, let alone the specific one I had taken while out of my mind with fear and panic.
The guys had kept me calm, telling me to take my time and look around, telling me not to panic and reminding me to breathe. But I was panicking, because every moment I stood floundering around, trying to find the right way, that little girl could have been suffering and it was suffocating me to think of any child going through what I had.
A few things along the way had reassured me I was going in the right direction though. We had passed a small stream I knew I passed that day. I remembered it clearly, because I had been so thirsty, I had almost stopped to drink from it, but fear won out and instead I just kept on running right past.
We had also come through a huge clearing, right in the centre of the dense forest, a huge open space where, for whatever reason, no trees were growing. I recognised this too, a flashback of me stood at the outer edge of it, too scared to run through in case The Shadow was following and would spot me easily so out in the open.
But that had been about an hour ago, and now all there was were trees, hundreds, maybe even thousands of them and I literally had no idea which way to go.
Everyone was stopped, watching me for the next instruction on which way, and I just did not know. I stood, turning in circles, looking for something, anything, to point me in the right direction, but there was nothing.
“Olivia?” Rob prompted. I turned to him, knowing there was nothing but panic on my face. He smiled, trying to soothe me. He had been nice through this whole thing, patient when I was unsure, then encouraging when I found something I recognised. In fact all of his guys seemed pretty nice. They had laughed and joked with my guys as we went, making us all laugh, and easing what was obviously a really tense situation.
“I don’t know.” I replied, close to tears. “It all just looks the same and I can’t remember coming through here at all. What are we going to do now?”
“It’s ok Liv, just take a breath.” Kyle said as he clamped a hand down on my shoulder. He was on my left, and Cole on my right. Kade and Matt were right behind us and the higher my voice got in panic, the closer they all came to me.
“It’s not ok!” I cried. “If he has that little girl then she needs us to find her right now! He’ll be hurting her Kyle, tearing her apart for his own sick pleasure.” By the time I finished yelling my voice was hoarse and barely coming out, having been strained too hard. Shouting was something I couldn’t do for long
