Shackles on the heart (Book #1)

35. Attaining answers

(RaeAnna's POV)

I went home full of wonder. I can understand Lincoln's point of view for not wanting me to be around his mom right now, but will Lincoln even be safe around her? Will she try to hurt him? I try my hardest to stop those thoughts in their tracks before they get too deep down into the neverending rabbit hole.

I was starting to feel a little nauseous. Were my nerves getting the best of me? I went to the bathroom to empty out the breakfast I had ate this morning. I am feeling very light headed. While I had my head buried inside of the toilet I started to hear Gunnar's little whines and barks coming from behind me. When I was finished, I flushed and slid down onto the floor. Gunnar came up to me and started to lick me in the face while crying loudly. "What is it boy?" I ask him like he can understand me. "Woof woof." I smirk at him, stand up from off of the ground with Gunnar tucked into the safety of my arms. "Let's go take a nap. I'm tired." I say while yawning.

I woke up to the sound of knocking on my bedroom door. "RaeAnna. There is a woman here to see you." I tense, a woman? "She says she is Lincoln's mom." She tells me. With that I was leaping out of my bed, throwing off my blankets, throwing the door wide open, walking fast passed my grandma. Dakota is out there, I can't let her be around my little brother. Who knows what she is capable of?

I walk into the living room and there she is, sitting on my couch. The woman I seen with William, she is sitting there talking to Dakota. I can hear the fakeness behind her voice and see straight through her phony smile. I rush to Dakota's side to whisper quietly in his ear. "Go to your bedroom so me and this lady can talk okay?" He nods and goes straight to his room. I stand up to turn towards her, with my arms crossed. "Can I help you?" I ask, my tone laced with venom. Her smile immediately drops as soon as those words leave my mouth.

"What makes you think you have the right to speak to me like that? I only came here to meet my son's girlfriend. Am I not allowed to do that?" She asks.

"First of all you are in my house. Second of all Lincoln is not my boyfriend. We are just friends. Also how did you know where I lived at?" She grins evilly. "Felix told me and I figured out the rest on my own." Yeah, I bet that's exactly how you know where I live, I say in my head.

I roll my eyes with an agitated sigh then look her dead in her eyes. "Look Audrey I think you should leave." This makes her laugh like the insane person she is. "Even if I leave I'm never far behind." I blink. "Just what is that supposed to mean?" She smiles at me showing off her white teeth. "You will find out soon enough, princess."

My grandma walks into the living room, looking at Audrey. It seems she was listening to our conversation from the kitchen. "That's enough. It is time for you to go." She gestures to the door. With that Audrey grabs her purse, looks at me and winks, then she turns on her heel and slams the door on her way out.

My grandma turns toward me. "What was that all about?" She asks with her eyebrows raised. I just shrug my shoulders. "I don't know Grandma. Lincoln told me she was kind of strange." is the best excuse I could come up with, even though I knew the real reason deep down. She was a monster, just like William.

I need to find out how they are connected. How long have they been associated with each other? I head back into my room to relax as much as I can on my bed and once again overthinking my life and how it got to this point. What did I do in my previous life to deserve a life as complicated as this one?

Later that night Lincoln came over to my house with some dog food for Gunnar. I gently grabbed his arm to bring him into my bedroom. I make sure to talk in a hushed voice, hoping he does the same. "We've got a problem." He immediately looks anxious, waiting for me to continue. "Your mom came by my house earlier." His anxiousness instantly turns into anger. "What the hell did she do?" He questions quietly. "It's not what she did. It was the things she was telling me." I then went on to explain our joyful conversation. (note the sarcasm)

He looks completely mortified. "I can't believe she would come to your house and threaten you. We need to do something about this. I'm so sorry Ann." He caresses my cheek. "She needs to pay, along with everyone else who has been threatening you. I promise they will regret everything they have done to you and your family. I swear to you." He sounds so sincere, all I can manage is a mere nod. He grabs my face gently with both of his hands, proceeding to kiss my forehead, both of my cheeks and my nose. This makes me smile a little. "Together." I say. "Together." He repeats. "I think we need to recruit more people into our little plan." He says. I'm left stunned and dumbfounded. "What do you mean by recruiting more people?" I inspect.

"Like my friends and a few members of my family. We won't be able to handle all of this on our own."

"But how do we know we can trust anybody else other than each other with this? What if they tell or it accidentally slips out when they're in the middle of a conversation? I don't know link. This doesn't sound like a good idea to me." He sighs. "We need other people for this. I will keep the detail to a minimum."

I shake my head to tell him no. "Do you trust me?" He questions. "Yes and that's the thing link. You are the only one I trust. I wouldn't be able to tell anybody else about this. Promise me you won't tell anybody." He looks a bit defeated but eventually he nods his head at me.

Then something comes to me. "What about your uncle Chester? Can we trust him?" He nods immediately. "I trust him with my life. He could be a huge help." I mull over it for a few minutes, Lincoln waiting patiently for me to speak. "Okay let's get him involved. He already knows part of the truth anyways, but isn't he your mom's brother? Could he be in it too?" He shakes his head. "He has never really liked my mom much. He said she was fake, they don't even talk anymore. I can understand his point of view now that I know the real her."

"Can you call him? Tell him there's an emergency or something and he needs to come home." He doesn't even think twice before saying "absolutely. I will tell him. I'm sure he will come home once he hears that." He says to me. "We need to do this before my mission. We don't have much time before the day will be here. I just can't set fire to an innocent family link. It's pure evil." He agrees and pulls me in to hold me. My head on his chest. I can hear his heartbeat, one of the only reasons I am able to keep somewhat of my sanity intact, is this boy standing beside me right here.