Until death, p.4
Until Death, page 4
Raina screamed with anger as she kicked him in the face just narrowly missing his nose. The masked intruder was thrown to the floor, writhed in agony, and finally dropped the knife. Raina grabbed the discarded knife and ran to Alicia’s side. Alicia clung to Raina while sinking in her arms. It was then that Raina saw the blood covering her friend’s hands. Her eyes immediately strayed to the young woman’s nightgown now saturated with blood over her abdomen. There was so much blood! She met Alicia’s gaze with her own horrified one.
A relieved smile crossed Alicia’s face. “I knew you’d save me,” she gasped while offering a soft laugh before falling limp in Raina’s arms.
Raina stared at her friend with horror. “Alicia?” she gasped. “No, Alicia. You can’t die!”
Tears streaked Raina’s face as reality swept over her. Alicia was dead! The killer groaned and attempted to stand, alerting Raina to the danger still present. Raina gently lowered Alicia to the floor and moved to her feet with the knife in her hand. She sneered at the writhing man while clutching the knife.
“You fucked with the wrong woman!”
Raina took two quick steps toward the man now on his knees and raised the knife in both hands above her head. He looked up with surprise as she was about to plunge the knife into his throat. Raina felt a painful surge to the back of her head. The room spun as she caught a close-up look of the floor not even realizing she had fallen. The intruder from her bedroom stood over her as she attempted to pull herself up with little success. She could do little more than scratch and claw at the floor. Raina attempted to look at the man who’d hit her, but she couldn’t focus. He turned his attention to his partner, who was still on his knees not far from Raina, and appeared angry with the injured man.
“Get up, you idiot!”
The killer slowly moved to his feet and stared at Raina, who lay on the floor attempting to remain conscious. The little voice inside of her was screaming for her to get up, but she couldn’t seem to move. The killer held his bleeding mouth and eyed his partner with anger.
“I thought there was only one woman in the house,” he launched. “What the hell? We’re not being paid enough for this shit!”
“Don’t worry, we’re going to take the rest out of her ass,” the first intruder announced gruffly. “Help me get her to her room, and then I want you to make sure the butler is out of the way.”
§
The two intruders each took an arm and easily dragged Raina down the hallway toward her bedroom as her heels dragged along the hardwood floor. Her vision was blurry, her head seemed fuzzy, and her ears were ringing loudly. For a moment, she had forgotten what had happened. She had possibly blacked out a minute. When her heels hit carpeting, she realized the intruders were taking her to her bedroom. She struggled with consciousness as they tossed her onto her bed. The moment her back hit the bed, her head seemed to clear, and the ringing in her ears subsided. The first intruder unbuckled his belt. After her assault on his crotch, she knew he had to be hurting.
As he reached for her sleep shorts, Raina felt her adrenaline return. She flew upward into a sitting position and rammed her palm into his nose. He cried out while clutching his bleeding nose and stumbled backward. The second intruder leaped on top of her, but she managed to wedge her knee between them. He caught her wrists and attempted to pin her to the bed while she concentrated on getting leverage with her leg.
“Hold the bitch still,” the man with the bleeding nose cried out and grabbed her ankle in an attempt to pull her knee out from his partner’s midsection.
“What’s going on here?” Dane’s familiar voice boldly demanded.
Both men looked behind them and saw Dane standing in the doorway with his hands behind his back and a bewildered look on his face. Raina just about had her foot into the man’s abdomen while he was distracted but became distracted herself. She looked at the doorway as well and stared at the clueless look on Dane’s face.
“I’m calling the police,” Dane boldly announced, as if that would be enough to stop the two men.
Horror swept over Raina, knowing Dane was going to be torn apart by the two men. “Dane, run!”
With her wedged foot now in her attacker’s abdomen, she attempted to push him off her despite her poor leverage, but he refused to release her wrists. Alicia’s killer stormed across the room with the knife in his hand and nearly reached Dane in the doorway. Dane revealed a two-shot, double-barrel shotgun carefully hidden behind his leg and barely aimed before pulling the trigger. The sound of the blast filled the bedroom. The killer barely saw the shotgun before taking the full brunt of the buckshot at close range to his chest, throwing him backward and onto the floor. The intruder holding Raina released her and spun to the deafening sound. The sound of the shotgun blast had nearly paralyzed her as well. Raina scrambled on her backside across her bed. Horror filled the man’s face as he stared at the shotgun now aimed at him and raised his hands in the air.
“Don’t shoot!”
There was no emotion in the butler’s eyes as he pulled the trigger. Raina gasped and curled into a ball on the bed to avoid the shot that would be too close for comfort. The intruder immediately cringed and shut his eyes. All three were stunned when the shotgun clicked and nothing happened.
“Ah, fuck!” Dane cried out.
The intruder opened his eyes then sneered as he removed his own knife and lunged for Dane. Dane flipped the shotgun in his hand and swung it like a baseball bat. He struck the man on the shoulder, narrowly missing his head, knocking him back several feet and to the floor. Dane bolted for him and swung again. The intruder ducked the swinging shotgun and stabbed Dane in the upper thigh. Dane cried out in agony and dropped the shotgun. Before the intruder could pull the knife out, Dane punched him in the face. Dane stumbled back a step and looked from his injured leg to Raina, who stared with horror at the knife now stuck in the butler’s thigh.
“Get out of here,” Dane shouted the order.
Raina sprang off the bed but was reluctant to leave him. Instead, she ran for the dresser and grabbed her cell phone. The intruder scrambled to his feet with the shotgun in his hand and swung for Dane’s head. Dane blocked the swinging shotgun with his forearm and was nearly driven to his knees from the pain and force. The intruder took advantage of Dane’s helpless position and swung the shotgun for his head. Dane caught the shotgun with his left hand and punched him in the face with his right. The intruder dropped the shotgun and attempted to punch Dane in the face.
Dane caught his fist and twisted his arm, driving him to his knees. While he had the man on his knees, he pulled the knife free from his own thigh. Raina stared with horror as Dane’s blood flew from the blade. He flipped the knife in his hand and plunged it into the man’s throat. The intruder stared at Dane with horror as blood poured from his mouth and down his chin. Dane showed no emotion as he stared into the man’s eyes then released him, allowing him to sink to the floor. As Dane stared at the dead man on the floor, Raina hurried to check on the injured butler.
As she reached him, his look softened as he stared into her eyes with concern.
“Are you okay?” Dane asked while panting heavily.
Raina stared at him with shock as her mouth hung open, and she slowly nodded, uncertain how to respond.
Dane straightened without taking his eyes off her. “You should probably call an ambulance,” he announced just before he collapsed to the floor.
Chapter 6
Sitting up with the Dead
Two days later. The viewings for both Alicia and Brenda were held at the Steele mansion within the formal sitting room. Alicia lay within the plush satin liner of her decorative casket surrounded in flowers. She wore a lacy, white wedding dress while holding a bouquet of yellow roses. Even in death, she was beautiful. Miller stared blankly at the love of his life while standing solemnly over her casket. Raina’s father stood over the second casket on the opposite side of the room while clinging to his daughter. Brenda, who was dressed in her favorite peach evening dress, lay peacefully within her casket.
A room full of mourners grieved along with Otto, Raina, and Miller while the staff stood lined along the back wall. Each wore the same glossed over expressions on their faces. For some of the older staff, Brenda wasn’t the first lady of the house tragically taken from them. Dane stood just inside the double doorway while leaning on a cane to support him after his injury. As Otto’s friend and business partner approached, Raina released her father. Nole Oaks was a distinguished gentleman in his early forties, only a few years younger than Raina’s father. Most women considered the man to be quite handsome with his ginger hair the perfect length for running fingers through. He had a neatly trimmed, ginger beard that gave him a slightly rugged, lumberjack appeal. His expensive taste in suits and watches only added to his physical appeal.
Unfortunately, he lacked charm and had a way of turning women off the moment he opened his mouth. He often made women uncomfortable with his constant, inappropriate touching. Despite that his touching wasn’t necessarily sexual, it had a certain creepiness to it. Nole hugged Otto sympathetically and attempted to console him in the loss of his second wife. Raina slowly approached Miller, who still hadn’t moved from Alicia’s casket. Raina gently clung to his arm and rested her head on his shoulder. Miller couldn’t tear his eyes away from his dead bride-to-be, and his expression never changed.
“Those men,” he announced in an almost sedated voice. “They suffered, right?”
Raina patted his arm. “Yes, they suffered,” she replied then drew a shaken breath while attempting to keep from reliving the events from two nights ago. “She tried to save Mom, Miller. She was very brave.”
Miller seemed to hesitate then looked at his stepsister with surprise. “You called her mom.”
She eyed him with bewilderment. “What?”
“You’d never called her mom before,” he announced then managed a tiny smile. “She’d be happy that you called her mom.”
Raina suddenly lost control of her emotions and started sobbing. “I was so close, Miller,” she practically cried out. “A minute sooner. A minute sooner, and I may have been able to stop them. If I’d only been in my room. I should have been in my room.” She placed her hand over her mouth to hold back her sobs. “But I had to get into another pointless argument with Dane!”
All eyes were suddenly on Raina as her voice rose above the low murmur of the crowd. Dane stared across the front sitting room at Raina. He lowered his head while fighting his tears and limped from the room. Miller pulled Raina against him, burying her face in his chest, and attempted to keep her from causing a scene.
“She thanked me for saving her, but I didn’t save her,” Raina sobbed then shook her head despite Miller keeping her face buried against him. “She died in my arms!”
Raina managed to pull back and met his tear-filled gaze. Miller was close to losing it himself from her words.
“All I could think was I wished it were me instead,” Raina continued to sob. “Because I didn’t know how I was going to tell you I couldn’t save her!”
Miller clung to Raina to keep her from becoming hysterical while he sobbed uncontrollably onto the top of her head. Otto hurried across the sitting room and helped Miller escort Raina from the crowded room. Once they passed through the doorway, Levi rushed after them.
§
Once the wake was just about over later that evening, four of the six mansion staff gathered around the island counter in the kitchen for their own farewell gathering. Levi, Dane, and the two maids wore somber looks on their faces while empty shot glasses set on the counter before them. Despite their silence, all four were clearly drunk. Raina entered the kitchen from the back stairs. She looked heavily sedated and wore frumpy clothes, no longer dressed for the wake. When they saw her, Levi attempted to hide the nearly empty bottle of scotch. Everyone stared at her except Dane, who kept his eyes on his empty shot glass.
Raina slowly approached the counter while clinging to her arms folded over her chest. She uncrossed her arms and removed the partially hidden bottle from Levi. She filled Sloan’s shot glass and drank the contents in one swallow. When she attempted to refill it, Dane took the bottle from her without making eye contact.
“Alcohol and sedatives don’t mix,” he gently informed her.
“Are they gone?” she practically whispered without looking at those staring at her.
“Mr. Oaks and the Nixon’s are with your father in the study,” Sloan replied timidly.
“Miller?” Raina asked.
“In the crypt saying goodbye,” Levi gently informed her then fidgeted. “Titus and Hanson are keeping an eye on him for you.”
Sloan caressed Raina’s shoulder while leaning closer. “Can we do anything for you, Raina?”
Raina pushed the shot glass toward the bottle of scotch without response. Sloan frowned and looked at Dane while raising her brows. Dane reluctantly filled the shot glass. Raina drank the contents and nearly collapsed on the vacant stool. She finally looked up and eyed Dane across the island counter. He met her gaze and immediately looked down.
“I should check on Mr. Steele,” Dane gently announced then drunkenly limped from the kitchen while leaning heavily on his cane.
A moment or two after he passed through the doorway, Raina leaped up from her chair and hurried from the kitchen after him. She saw Dane several feet down the hall where he had stopped. He leaned his back against the wall and attempted to restrain his emotions. Raina approached him in the hallway. When he saw her, he straightened, avoided eye contact, and turned to leave. Raina touched his arm, causing him to stop and turn to face her. He met her gaze for the first time and appeared to fumble over himself.
“I’m so sorry,” he gasped with drunken emotion, his guilt clearly showing. “None of this would have happened if I’d gotten there sooner.”
Without commenting, Raina placed her arms around his neck and clung to him while burying her face into his neck. Dane placed his arms around her and held her against him in a tight embrace while holding back his emotions. They held each other a long moment without saying a word. Raina finally pulled back to meet Dane’s gaze and gently wiped the tears from his cheek. He smiled timidly and appeared embarrassed that he’d been caught crying. Raina stared into his blue eyes a moment while touching his damp cheek. Between the sedatives and the alcohol, her emotions were running rampant. As they stared into each other’s eyes, she couldn’t seem to control herself and kissed him quickly but warmly on the lips. Dane tensed slightly, surprised by the kiss, but didn’t hold back as he pulled her against him and eagerly returned the kiss with added passion.
In that brief moment, a thousand inappropriate thoughts raced through Raina’s mind. Every indecent thought she’d ever had regarding the butler seemed to surface. His kiss was intoxicating, and her inhibitions seemed to be taking a break. She somehow knew what she was doing was wrong, but she had a difficult time telling herself to stop. She wanted to feel something other than anger and sorrow even if it was only temporary. She heard the staff rustling around within the kitchen, jolting her back into reality. Raina hastily broke off the kiss and pulled away from Dane with some embarrassment while wiping her own tears. She managed a tiny laugh and smiled uncomfortably.
“You’re right,” Raina announced and had to avoid looking at him after the thoughts she had going through her mind. “Sedatives and alcohol are a bad combination.”
Dane shifted with embarrassment and shook his head in her defense. “No, that was entirely my fault,” he announced a little too quickly. “I wasn’t thinking. It’s been an emotional couple of days. I should know better--”
Raina gently touched his face, which immediately silenced him, and met his gaze. “Dane, it’s okay,” she announced almost timidly. “I think we both needed that.”
He stared into her eyes with some surprise. “Really?” Dane shifted uncomfortably. “So we’re good?”
She managed a warm smile and nodded. “Yeah, for the first time in four years, I think we’re finally good.”
The way he stared at her, she could tell he was surprised to hear her say that. “You don’t know how much that means to me,” he responded then smiled. “Thank you.”
Chapter 7
The Happy Occasion
Two years later. Raina’s black sports car pulled up to the mansion a little before five o’clock that Thursday evening and parked alongside several other, newer and much fancier cars. Raina and Miller got out of the sports car and stared at the mansion with matching frowns. Neither moved from their respective sides of the car. An attractive woman got out of the back seat of the two-door sports car. Raina’s friend, Jenna Ford, was around the same age as Raina. She had dark nearly black hair carelessly pulled up into a ponytail and wore faded blue jeans and a black leather jacket. She looked more like the lead drummer in a rock band than someone attending a mansion party.
Jenna shut the passenger side door, straightened her leather jacket, and took a step toward the mansion. She hesitated when she realized Raina and Miller didn’t follow. Jenna looked back at the brother and sister duo who hadn’t moved from the car and continued to stare at the mansion as if a monster had come to life. She eyed them with a bewildered look and raised her brows in reaction. Neither Raina nor her brother had been back home since the funeral, which seemed like a lifetime ago. Raina could almost feel herself transformed back to two years ago and remembered repressed memories she’d forgotten after the tragedy.
§
Two years earlier. A paramedic, who had placed his jacket over her shoulders, assisted Raina from the mansion. She remembered being cold, which seemed strange considering how warm the night had been. She could still see the fleet of police cars swarming the fountain and their red and blue flashing lights brightening the exterior of the house as she was escorted onto the porch for the awaiting ambulance. She remembered the paramedic clinging to her almost weighing heavily upon her shoulder. She noticed his bloodstained hand clutching hers as tightly as she clutched his back. They paused on the porch a moment for her to stare at the media circus outside the house. She wondered why the paramedic weighed so heavily upon her, but she was almost glad since it comforted her.
