Chapter Twenty-One: Deadly Visitor 

Avery’s POV

Far away in wonderland, where sorrows drown and wishes come true, I'm immersed in the blissful moment.

“Easy, Ken.”

I pat the jaw of my tall brown horse, rubbing the side of his face gently. He happens to be my favorite, among the three of them. He nuzzles my face with his nose, as he grinds the food I've stuffed his jaws with.

“Good boy,”

I move on to the next cage, clutching the basket of animal food; a pretty mix of hay, grains, grass, and pellets, to myself and sprinkling them to the animals.

“Mummy!”

I slightly turn in the direction of the sound, to find my little princess running towards me. Setting the basket down, I lift her up joyfully and place a soft peck on her forehead.

She’s just as beautiful as her father, with her piercing blue eyes, pretty little lips, and long black hair.

“Here, darling.”

Reaching down, I pack a handful of the food and stretch the wonderful to her. She scoops a generous amount with her tiny palms and tries to feed the horse, following my directives.

“Yay!”

She chuckles when he eats from her palm, nuzzles her little hands, and plays with her cheerfully.

“Daddy’s princess.”

Abandoning feeding the livestock, I move out of the ranch, the bright sun kissing my pale skin. It's a beautiful day, and I'm sharing it with my beautiful family.

“My love.”

Orion whispers to me, wearing the most purest and beautiful smile, except of course, from Jenny, our daughter.

He walks up to me and plays with my baby bump, pulling me in a warm hug and plastering wet kisses on me.

Pulling away, he doesn't let go, his hands still all over my bump, with the grip surprisingly getting tighter in seconds.

“Ouch.”

I look down at my bump, still feeling the pressure, and the worst thing is that he's not making any effort to reduce it. Instead, it gets worse.

“You’re hurting me.” I grimace, laying my hand on his to lessen the pressure.

“Oh, am I?”

Is that meant to be a question? I try to ward his hand off, but he isn't bulging, not at the very least.

“Orion?”

I look upward to see his lips twisting in an awkward smirk. Oddly, his once bright and alluring pair of baby blue eyes darkens, and with each passing second, it gets worse, with me slipping off my feet like I'm drowning in its endless abyss of torment.

“Am I, Avery?”

He springs into an awkward laugh, cackling like a possessed demon that's thirsty for blood.

In a series of flashes, the incident plays before me; we're locked up in a room, and I bash his head to the wall, his blood bathing me fully, ruining my makeup, and clothes and even touching my protruding belly.

And I drag him out, In cold blood, digging a shallow grave and sealing my sin up forever. Dropping a dead stalk on his graveside, I walk away with another man in a mask and an entirely black attire.

Like a terrible nightmare, Orion gets up from his grave, about to haunt me, as he chases me off, with my new lover abandoning me in the wild.

“Orion, please!”

I cry, begging for mercy. I don't stop running for my life and that of my child, not minding if my lover is beside me or not. I'm so lost and confused.

“Argh!”

I scream at the top of my lungs when he launches himself off me, falling me to the ground as I dash my head against a rock.

I start losing consciousness, with blood seeping out of my head profusely. Everything gets blurry, and slowly, I slip into the tunnel of gross darkness.

He grips my belly, pressing on it tighter like he aims to burst it open. His claws dig into my flesh, ripping my muscles apart and blood seeps out of my stomach like my baby is being killed before I die.

“Don't hurt my baby, please… Please, Orion…”

I keep begging, trying so hard to smack his hands off, but I just can't for the umpteenth time I try.

Like I'm jolting out of the nightmare, I return to his side, now looking at his eyes that are now blue, but gloomy. Still feeling weird, I look down at my bump to see his claws digging into my flesh, and my blood ruining the whole place.

“Orion!”

I feel myself struggling to snap out of this madness, but I'm too weak to indulge my fantasy. With all I've got, I want this to end, I'm just too weak to pay the price.

In a snap of the fingers, Jenny disappears, her body going up in flames of black ashes, dissipating into the atmosphere and blowing away with the wind.

“My baby!!!”

I scream at the top of my lungs and spring upward, jumping out of my terrible dream. I'm in my room, with my shirt soaked with my sweat, and my face cladded with beads of sweat.

Almsit startled at the tall figure lingering by the door and staring intensely at me the whole time, I stop to see it's just Thane. His eyes widen and he has his arms crossed around his torso.

He leaves where he's standing and walks towards me, closing the long gap between us. Pulling the chair from my dresser, he levels it in front of the foot of my bed and sits on it, his eyes locking contact with mine.

“Who is Orion and what shit does he have with my baby?”

His voice is icy cold.

I've never seen Thane this cold and void, and I guess I pushed the wrong button. Guessing from his look, he must have heard me the whole time I was screaming... But what was he doing in my room?

That's not the bone of contention at the moment.

Right now, he's a father duck, if that's even a word. He may act irresponsibly and like a monster, but come for his child and have yourself to blame.

He's in that era; fierce and cold and overly protective.

I adjust in bed, trying to act all innocent, but the bright light is ruining my effort, shining so bright on my face and fishing out all of my weird movements.

The dream feels so real, and I'm beginning to guess that telling him the truth is the best. Something within me tells me that Orion is seeking revenge, or maybe I'm just overthinking it, especially since Piper just broke the news of his burial.

“Avery, I'll ask one more time, who's Orion?”