Chapter 28
Now THAT he hadn't been expecting.
He hadn't been expecting to see Glen.
He hadn't been expecting to find out Evetta was a cold-hearted, murderous bitch.
But he had expected to have to somehow rescue Juliana from being torched to death. Then...another curve, how many more of those was he going to have to take before realizing that this was just...not normal. Normal being people were after JULIANA, with familial ties. Evetta had just blown most of that out of the water with shooting Glen. Taker, could not for the life of him, figure out what he had done to her.
"What the FUCK, lady?"
Evetta couldn't help giggling wickedly as she still held the torch, staring at Taker with lust building in her eyes. "Do you have any idea how long I've waited for this moment, Mark? A very, VERY long time." She slowly pulled the wig off and revealed fiery red hair, shaking it out a little, sighing with relief as she tossed it in the snow. "Isn't it amazing what a little wig can do to someone's appearance?" She watched his eyes grow wider and bigger, smirking and licked her lips. "Do you remember me now, Mark, or do I need to jog your memory some more?"
He seen the lust in her eyes and was very repulsed by it, wondering how best to play this one out. He needed his memory jogged, that was for damn sure. He could remember a few red-heads from back in the day, but Juliana had pretty much erased every other woman from existence in his mind.
"Darlin'...why don't you come away from there?" He suggested, not looking at Juliana.
He didn't want this crazed broad to decide to toss down that torch. He knew he had to get Juliana down and inside immediately. The temperature had dropped rapidly and his teeth were beginning to chatter. Juliana was in just her jeans and tee shirt; he could only imagine what pain she was in right now.
"Take another step and I'll end her." Evetta threatened, knowing exactly what kind of game he was playing with her. "Does the name Mary ring a bell to you, Taker? Maybe it doesn't, you've been around the block a few times haven't you?" She snorted in disgust, waving that off with the gun, still keeping a trained eye on him. "Then how about Mary Lewinski?" The familiarity began dawning in his eyes and she loved it, stopping as she placed her hands on her hips, that lust never leaving her brown orbs. "I dated Glen...all so I could get to you. It didn't work out too well, so I had to...improvise and change strategy a little..."
"Yeah... I remember you..." He said slowly, recognition dawning in his green eyes, a slight cruel smirk spreading across his lips. He knew damn well she wasn't going to fall for his games and it was going to come down to a fight with probably all of them getting badly burnt. "Damn honey..." He purposefully let his eyes rake critically over her. "Last time I seen you, you were about six sizes bigger and wore some ugly fuckin' glasses. Amazing what a little cosmetic surgery will do, isn't it?" It would have been easier if this was another family member after Juliana; women scorned were not to be trifled with.
"Not to mention it's very expensive, but totally worth it. Mark, I've thought about you for years, even after you thought you killed your poor little brother." She smirked, glancing over her shoulder at Glen, who laid presumably dead in the snow, sighing wistfully. "He was a good boyfriend, but he was a boy and I needed a man in my life. And I knew the only way to be with you was to try destroying everyone in your life you ever cared about and loved." Mary glanced up at Juliana with cold eyes, clutching the torch tightly in her hand before her gaze moved back to Mark. "I didn't mean for the house to go up in flames the way it did. You would think one little spark wouldn't cause that big of a fire..." She watched his eyes narrow, laughing evilly. "And I certainly didn't expect your brother to survive, though I have to admit it was a sheer stroke of luck when he did wake up in the hospital and didn't know who he was. I called him Kane and told him a bunch of bullshit lies about how you tried killing him and wanted him dead, that the big brother loathed his little brother; jealousy can be an ugly thing. He believed every word I said, hung on them, and slowly but surely we began tracking you down. You were bouncing all over the place, sweetheart, I had no idea where to look for you. But we found you once we discovered you were protecting one of the richest families in the United States...The Harrisons. You know, Cassandra was quite the bitch for what she did to her daughter and she deserved what she got, but Ken on the other hand..." Mary licked her lips lewdly, ignoring the icy wind that brushed across her face. "He was definitely a great fuck and quite the helper in trying to destroy Juliana Harrison. Imagine my surprise to find out you saved the day, noble hero, only to part ways with your true love and you vanished AGAIN. It was so hard tracking you down and, once again, we wouldn't have found you if it hadn't been for Alan. I met him while he was trying to track Juliana down and he was a decent fuck as well, but also deserved what he got. Still, he didn't get the job done and I knew the ONLY way to make sure Juliana Harrison never breathed again was to do the job MYSELF. So here we are, Mark, and Juliana Harrison will soon be extra crispy."
"Whoa, wait one moment lady..." Taker sneered the word 'lady', making sure she knew that he did not consider her a lady at all. "Are you tellin' me you whored yourself out just to get to me?" When her eyes narrowed, he hid a vicious smirk. "I don't like my women loose, Mary." He gave her a thorough once over, allowing his upper lip to curl into a sneer of disdain. "Or fake."
The talking had to end soon; he couldn't keep her distracted anymore. Juliana wasn't going to last much longer and he knew Mary wasn't likely to keep holding that torch much more either. He just needed a small distraction, something that would draw her attention away from him and Juliana. His gaze strayed behind her to his now dead brother, green eyes widening in surprise.
"The only fake thing about me is my hair color and stomach, everything is else is one hundred percent real. And of course I whored myself out, do you have any idea how disgusting it was sleeping with your brother?" She actually gagged, looking thoroughly sickened by the very idea. "He's disfigured, we had to fuck in the dark or else I couldn't do it and, of course I imagined it was you. It's always been you Mark and it will always be you. I finally have you all to myself, after all these years..." Mary let the biggest smile cross her face, savoring this moment, wanting to make it last forever if possible. "I love you, Mark, and now we can finally be together forever." Without preamble, Mary tossed the lit torch on the wooden shrine, watching as it ignited in a huge flame while still holding the gun to Taker. "Now as punishment for being so much trouble, you can watch the love of your life burn to death."
Taker didn't care about being shot; he lunged forward when she dropped the torch, knowing that it wouldn't take long for the flames to reach Juliana was hanging over them from that tree. Keeping his eyes on the prize, he plowed forward. One hand clamped against flesh to slow the bleeding, Glen forced his long legs to hold him up, using his free hand to peel off his mask when Mary spun around, her eyes wide. Flicking his damp hair back over his shoulders, he stared down at her, letting her see what SHE had done to him, the horrible disfigurement the fire had left.
That was his distraction.
"Glen...you're ALIVE?" Mary blinked, feeling the panic rising within her and turned her head, glaring at the sight of Mark fighting through the flames. "NO!" She shot the gun and didn't know if she nailed him or not, having been tackled in the cold snow by Glen.
Juliana could feel something warm, her head pounding vigorously, from what she didn't know. Smoke billowed around her as the flames began slowly licking towards her, engulfing the entire wooden shrine besides the tree trunk she was currently tied against. A deep sigh escaped her as her eyes slowly opened, inhaling and immediately began coughing, the fumes making her dizzy. They suddenly snapped open as Juliana lifted her head, looking around, realizing she was surrounded by fire.
She was going to burn to death and never know who killed John!
"Woman, wake your goddamn ass up!" Taker ordered, seeing Juliana drifting in and out of consciousness, watching as realization dawned on her face of where she was and what was happening. Grunting, he balanced himself on the logs and branches that comprised the funeral pyre, cursing when flames licked up his legs and reached for her after retrieving his hunting knife from its sheath -he had taken it back from Keira when he had put her and John in the basement-, his height his friend in this situation. "Hold on, darlin'..." He murmured, smoke rising around them as he began cutting at her binds.
Taker was here and saving her again, that was all Juliana could remember as she slumped against him while he cut the binds from her wrists, moving down to her ankles. "Taker..." She breathed out, inhaling more of the smoke than she should've and felt her body being lifted. Juliana didn't have the strength to even lift her arms to wrap around his neck, slowly slipping back into the welcoming darkness that looked more than inviting. She could faintly here Taker's voice telling her to stay awake, but Juliana couldn't, going completely limp in his arms.
Mary had gotten him, again, but that was alright because Glen wasn't going to die alone. He wrapped his arms around her as tightly as he could, crushing her with what strength he had left.
"Mark..." Mary rasped out as she took her last breath just as the wooden shrine went completely up, crackling as smoke filtered the air, Glen crushing her to death.
Stumbling in the melting snow, Taker moved as fast as he could away from Mary and Glen's final resting place, which was now a full-on inferno. The further away he got, the more snow he trudged in, heading for the four-wheelers. "Goddamn you woman..." He growled, shaking her gently, draping her against him and held her up with one arm while he used his other to tilt her head back, checking her airways. "Wake up!" He gave her another shake, cursing when she just remained limp in his arms. Groaning softly, he lowered himself onto the four-wheeler, keeping a careful hold on her. "Don't worry darlin', I got you. I'll get you back home, Keira and John are waitin'. John's alive, Jules...hear me?" He bent down to press a kiss to her forehead before starting the four-wheeler, peeling out of there.
She didn't move for several long minutes, not moving an inch or breathing for that matter. The four wheeler began rumbling through the trees, Taker taking the path right back to the house. Suddenly, Juliana's began coughing violently, her eyes flying open, expecting to see flames surrounding her.
The four-wheeler slowly came to a halt as Juliana kept coughing, black soot coming out on her hands from how much smoke she'd inhaled, her chest feeling tight. She felt a warm hand on her back and Juliana slowly looked up right into Taker's eyes, tears forming in her own. They were alive, both of them, and Juliana could only stare at him before beginning to cough again, trembling incredibly hard because of how cold she was.
It hadn't been as easy getting back home as it had been getting way out to the shack. For one, the snow had covered the tracks, but he knew he was going the right way. He did let out a small sigh of relief when John's house came into view. "Alright, inside." He murmured, still holding her close as he lifted her off his lap and then to the ground, keeping a firm grip on Juliana's hand as he dismounted. "Come on." Scooping her back up into his arms, he hurried into the house.
"That you, Taker?" John's voice came over the intercom.
"Yeah, yeah it's me." He groaned softly, letting Juliana down near the couch, unable to carry her anymore. Turning his back to her, he peeled off his jacket, staring down at the bullet wound in his stomach. It had taken cloth right into his flesh and was beginning to bleed worse now that he was out of the cold.
"We're coming up."
"Taker..." Juliana couldn't even talk, her voice hoarse from coughing so much, not recognizing the voice over the intercom.
Juliana could tell something was wrong because Taker kept his back to her, tears streaming down her face, knowing he had to be angry with her for running off.
First John was dead, then she'd been struck from behind in the head and still had no idea who caused this horrible mess. She slowly stood up from the couch, stumbling since she was still unthawing, and managed to place a freezing hand on Taker's bare arm, causing him to whip around as she stumbled back. Her eyes instantly darted to his stomach and could clearly tell he'd been shot, shaking her head as more tears streamed down her face.
"God no...No please!" She began coughing more, dropping to her knees from physical, mental and emotional exhaustion, not able to take anymore. Juliana curled up in a tight ball and hacked as hard and loud as she could muster up, crying at the same time.
He was the one bleeding out, but she was the one curled up in a ball on the floor. Taker couldn't help shaking his head and grin at how…idiotic it seemed. "Could you please get up, wobble your frozen legs into the kitchen, and get me a towel?" He nudged her with his boot, knowing she was still unthawing, but he had to sit down before he passed out.
"Did you bring Mom back?" Keira came flying into the living room, throwing herself on top of her mother. "Mom, are you alright? Mommy?"
John came along much slower, holding his now wrapped ribs, seriously finding it messed up that his seven year old niece had had to help bandage him. "You got her..." He breathed, a relieved smile crossing his face as he glanced down at the man who was more than likely going to be his future brother-in-law. "What the hell is wrong..." His eyes trailed down to where Taker's hands were pressed. "With you..."
