AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He didn't move.
"Jacob! It's Dad! Open up!"
The sound of his father's voice brought Jacob to his knees. His legs literally gave out, and he went down to the floor. What the fuck? How could his old man still have that effect on him?
His head started buzzing, and he suddenly couldn't breathe. He felt like the darkness was closing in on him. He wanted to run. To find Freedom. To race as fast and far as he could, to escape into the darkness, into the silence, into the night.
If he didn't have the trio in his bathroom, he would sneak out his door to the barn and leave, get Freedom, and ride until he had no strength left to ride anymore.
But he couldn’t.
He had to stay.
His head started hurting. So much.
"Jacob!" His father bellowed. "Open the fucking door!"
Jacob braced his hands on his thighs, trying to breathe. His vision was dotting, spinning, and—
"Jacob." Phoebe was suddenly there, her hands on his shoulders. "You're okay."
He closed his eyes, sweat beading on his brow. He couldn't even breathe. The panic was closing in on him—
"Jacob, honey, I'm here. You're not alone with this anymore."
He still couldn’t think—
"Jacob!" Phoebe stood in front of him, wrapped her arms around his head, and pulled his face into her belly. "Put your arms around me. Now."
He was failing her. Danger was all around, and he couldn’t protect her, like he couldn't protect Sienna before. He saw his little sister in his mind again, his baby sister, her face, the last time he saw her, when he was taken away that night and then she was gone when he got back and he never saw her again—
"Jacob."
He dragged himself out of her grasp and staggered to his feet. "Run," he whispered, his voice raw. "Run. Run while you can. I'll stall them. He can't get Annie like he got Sienna. He can't." He grabbed her shoulders. "Run!"
Phoebe put her hands on his wrists. "He can't get to Annie. He can't get to me. He can't get to you."
"Jacob!" His dad's shout echoed through the house. "Open the fucking door!"
"No!" The word tore from Jacob's throat. "No!" The "no" he'd never been able to say before ripped from him, straight from his gutted soul.
"Jacob." Phoebe was still there, still holding onto him, still talking. "Come here." She grabbed his wrist, and dragged him across the floor, right to the bathroom. "Look. Look at the floor. They need you now. This minute. They're yours to protect. You have to come back."
He stared at the floor, at the puppy and the little girl snuggling on the cushions. But for a second, he saw Sienna, with her red hair, and her freckles. "Sienna?"
"No," Phoebe said firmly. "It's Annie. She's alive, and happy and well, and she needs you right now. This minute. She loves you, Jacob. Cupcake loves you." She paused. "I love you."
Love. Love. The word seemed to drive a wedge into the past trying to consume him, and he looked over at Phoebe, standing there, still holding his wrist. "You love me?"
She smiled, but her brow was knitted with worry. "I do." She put his hand on her chest, over her heart. "Can you feel that? Right there? That's unconditional love. You're enough for me, for Annie, for Cupcake. Exactly as you are."
He stared at her, and suddenly, the past seemed to dissolve around him. He saw Annie sleeping on the bathroom floor, clear as day. He saw Cupcake snuggled up next to her. Sienna faded into his past, and he saw only the three who were in his life now. He reached out, and Phoebe came into his arms as he reached for her.
He buried her in his arms, and she melted into him.
His dad continued to shout for him, but Jacob didn't move. He just stood there in the doorway to the bathroom, holding Phoebe tight, feeling her arms around his waist, holding him, hugging him, trusting him.
He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and took a long, deep breath that seemed to let go of a lifetime of weight.
