I shouted out a goodbye to Mum and Dad and it hurt that I couldn’t go give them a proper goodbye. Grabbing my keys, I walked out Abby White and was ready to assume my new identity.

Blake and I had decided to quickly meet in the park on the bench where we first met that short amount of time ago. As I walked across the park, I saw him waiting. He wasn’t looking my way, so I stopped and took a moment to drink in his perfection. I remembered our last night together, only a few nights ago, he promised me that he would never stop trying to end this so that we could be together and that I could come home.

He caressed every part of me and drank me like a cold drink on a hot summer’s day. The touch of his lips against mine as I devoured his taste, my body tingled with anticipation. Every touch he’d gently placed on my skin lit up my heart and made me feel new emotions I never knew existed in an intimate relationship. Blake had opened up my eyes to a new kind of life and a special type of love. He, now and forever, would completely own me, heart and soul.

Snapping out of my pleasant daydream, I began walking across to him again. When he saw me, his face lit up with a smile and he got up rushing over to me. I couldn’t help but smile back. When he reached me, he wrapped me in his arms and gently brushed his lips against mine.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, but he didn’t release me from his embrace. He clung to me tightly, knowing that this would be our last embrace for who knew how long.

“I’m so worried, Blake. I honestly don’t know if I can go through with this. There must be another way?” A lump began to form in my throat. Blake released his arms from around me and brought his hands up to hold my face. He tilted my head up slightly so our eyes met. His emerald green eyes shone with admiration and love.

“He’s a man that wouldn’t take any notice of a restraining order seriously. I’ve seen him with you Abby, and I know what possessiveness looks like. I’m trained to notice that type of behaviour.”

I knew he was right. “I know, but I’m giving up so much. Do you know how hard it is to say goodbye to your twin sister, to know that she’s going to believe you are dead in the next day or two? To not be able to say a proper goodbye to my parents…” Tears began to well in my eyes and fall down my cheeks, but they weren’t there for long because Blake brushed them away.

“I’m truly sorry for you having to go through this, but for right now this is the only way. If we can cause trouble for him, then we might stand a chance that you won’t need to be gone for long. I will always be here for you. We will have those new phones, and I’m the only one who knows your new name. You can contact me at any time and if you ever need me, I will always be there for you,” he said his words full of conviction. I knew he wasn’t too keen on this idea either because it meant time away from each other.

I nodded in acceptance. “What if I mess this up or he really does do something to harm me?”

“He won’t. I think you should leave your necklace, the one you have on now so I will know that you actually got away.”

I placed my hand over my necklace, the necklace that Melodi gave me for my birthday. I never took it off. At least if I left it, she would have something to remember me by. Although I knew she wouldn’t need that. Being twins, we sensed each other. I remembered Mum telling us one time that if one was upset, so was the other, yet we could be in separate places.

One time, when we were five, I was with Dad and Melodi was with Mum. Dad and I were at the hardware store when all of a sudden I got sharp pains in my knees. They hurt so bad that I was in tears. Dad rushed me home and when we got there, we discovered that Melodi had fallen off her bike and skinned both her knees. I wondered if she would still feel my presence when I would be apparently dead.

“Okay. I need to go, or I’ll be late and he won’t like that.”

We both released a heavy sigh. This was the moment we’d been dreading, yet anxiously waiting for. Blake placed his lips on mine and our kiss was tender and full of passion. Soon our hands were touching every part of each other, memorising everything.

“I wish we could have one more moment together,” Blake whispered against my ear, his breath tickling me.

“I know. Why couldn’t you have found me sooner?”

“I’m sorry, I was blind for so long and wasn’t looking until that day I saw you there upset and down. Something within me wanted to help you, then that something grew from wanting to assist you into wanting to be a part of your life. I wanted to save you from the hell you’d been living and to show you what heaven on earth can be like with the right person.”

His words wreaked havoc with my emotions, especially my heart. I was so angry that I couldn’t have my piece of heaven on earth with Blake. Instead, I had to leave and possibly never come back.

“Where is all my paperwork?” I couldn’t allow my heart any more pain. I needed to distance myself from everything and that included Blake, even though I knew he was my one and only.

He produced an envelope from his back pocket and handed it to me. “Do you remember what I said about setting the scene?”

“Yes,” I said bluntly. He went into full details the other day about how I needed to set out the blood and to make it look like an argument had taken place.

I took the envelope. “Thanks for everything…I think. I guess this is it for now.”

“Yes it is, and I promise I will try to come see you as soon as I can.” Sadness filled his voice.

With his words spoken, I said nothing more but turned to leave. As I started walking away, Blake grabbed my arm, pulling me back into his solid chest and kissing me with everything he had.

Our final goodbye for who knew how long. Possibly forever.

Chapter Twenty

Abby

Three Years Ago

As I drove to Jacob’s, I couldn’t help the tears that had begun to fall. Nothing seemed to be stopping them; they were like a leaking tap that you couldn’t fix.

Everything I once knew was about to change forever.

Pulling up outside his place, I mentally set my emotions in check. I grabbed the blood bag I had stored in a small cooler box and put it in my handbag. My hands hadn’t stopped shaking; it actually felt like my whole body was trembling, like an electric current was pulsating through me.

I glanced up at the front door and saw Jacob was there waiting for me in the doorway. He was like a hawk, always watching and waiting for its prey. Putting on a fake smile, I began to set this plan in motion. As I stepped out of the car, I thought the night air was cooler than usual. I didn’t know if it was just me, or if it really was the weather.

I arrived at the door, ready to greet Jacob, who was standing there with a stone cold look of disapproval on his face.

“What’s wrong, baby?” I asked, acting all doe-like.

“You’re late, dinner has been ready for the last ten minutes, and you can’t even bother to call or text me and tell me you were going to be late?”

“I’m sorry. I got held up. Melodi needed some help with a few things.”

“Save your pathetic excuses for someone who actually cares.” After that punch to the gut with his vulgar words, he turned and stalked back inside. Just what I needed was him in a foul mood. But, there was a plus side, maybe it would work in my favour.

I walked in, closing the door behind me. I kept having to remind myself to breathe because I was so frightened of what was going to happen. For all I knew he would kill me for real, or do some serious damage, and then I’d be stuck in the hospital for who knows how long and I wouldn’t have an opportunity to get away.

“Smells delicious in here, baby,” I announced as I walked into the kitchen. His dining room adjoined it. The dinner table was set perfectly aside from the horrid carnation flowers that sat dead centre. He was taunting me as he knew I despised this type of flower. He went all out with the gold rimmed crystal goblets filled with a lush pink bubbly wine he had just finished pouring. I doubt he would have done this, or even cooked the dinner himself for that matter. It was probably prepared by one of his lady maids that he employed. I guess when you’ve got money you can have what you want without worrying about consequences.