Chapter 13

**Memories Resurface**

I never imagined that I would get caught up in the same emotional tempest that I vowed never to return to. But here I was, sitting across from Jake in the faint light of the cabin's fireplace, the shadows dancing across his sharply defined features as the light flickered. Unspoken words, unrecognized feelings, and wounds that had never completely healed filled the air between us.

Once, he was everything to me. Then, all of a sudden, he had turned into the thing that had broken me.

The cabin's wooden walls shook in the howling wind outside. We had been forced to seek cover here by the storm, and neither of us had anticipated that we would wind up here together. The humor in the universe was perverted.

Jake's eyes were unreadable as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Emma."

My chest constricted as he uttered my name as if it were holy and heavy. I wanted to despise him. The rage that got me through the years without him was something I wanted to hold on to. But it was impossible to keep my defenses completely intact because of the way his eyes softened and the gentle plea in his voice.

With a voice as icy as the blizzard outside, I responded, "You don't get to do that." "After everything, you don't get to look at me like that."

His jaw twitched a muscle. "I am aware of my hurt."

Hurt wasn't even close to covering it. Unbidden and merciless in their clarity, the memories came flooding in.

Rewind.

My hands were shaking as I held the letter I had written but had never intended to deliver to Jake as I stood outside his house. The unvarnished honesty of my love for him, the confession of my feelings, poured out onto those pages. I wrote everything down in the hopes that he would comprehend what I couldn't express out loud because I've never been excellent with words in person.

My heart pounded against my ribs as I knocked. Then, with an inscrutable face, he responded.

I couldn't contain myself any longer and shouted out, "I love you." "Jake, I'm not sure when it began, but it's real. It has always been genuine.

The ensuing hush was deafening. He shook his head after that.

"No, Emma."

Two words. My world fell apart at the age of two.

"I can't," he said, sounding tight as though rejecting me had caused him bodily pain.

I wanted to know why. I wanted to plead for a reason. But this was a decision, and I could see it in his eyes. And he was there already.

I, therefore, took the only action possible. I turned to leave. And I didn't turn around.

Today

But here we were now. The past is clambering to the surface, trapped together by the storm.

In a wounded voice, Jake confessed, "I was a coward." "I believed I was keeping you safe."

I laughed resentfully. "Are you defending me? Jake, from what? Me? My own emotions?”

His face was etched with frustration as he combed through his hair. From me, Emma. You didn't think I was good enough. I reasoned that you would find someone who could offer you what you deserved if I pushed you away.

I gave a headshake. "You have no right to judge my worth."

He fixed his hard, unwavering gaze on mine. "I now understand that. However, I was too frightened at the time.

I felt the oppressive weight of his words descends upon me. Even though I wanted to believe him, after everything, I couldn't just give him my trust.

The silence between us was filled with the crackle of the fire. My heart pounded. There was still the attraction, burning as intensely as ever. Attraction, however, was insufficient. Not without faith.

Jake leaned back on the couch and moaned. "Emma, I never ceased thinking of you. Not even for a day.

"So why didn't you return?" I hardly raised my voice above a whisper.

He paused. "Because I knew I wasn't worthy."

Fighting the sting behind my eyes, I averted my gaze. This was not what I was expecting. For him. For the storm that is raging inside of me as well as outside.

Then the cabin reverberated with a loud crash. Both of us leaped to our feet.

"What was that?" With my heart racing, I inquired.

Jake walked tensely toward the door. "Remain here."

Like the devil, I would. He carefully eased the door open, and I followed him, seeing nothing but blackness beyond. Even though the wind was howling, I felt a chill from the eerie quiet below.

Then a shadow moved as Jake took a step forward.

Not the wind alone. Not merely a light trick.

There was something out there or someone.

Jake turned to face me with a somber gaze. "We're not by ourselves."

The air was pierced by a harsh, guttural roar that echoed through the trees. My breath caught, and I moved toward Jake out of instinct. His body was a wall of muscle and attentiveness as he stiffened.

With fierce eyes searching the darkness, he said, "Get inside."

"No chance," I retorted. "What on earth is that?"

The shadows moved once more before he could respond. A figure with amazingly smooth, almost predatory motions arose from the treeline. My heart pounded. Despite being tall and covered in darkness, the figure's movements seemed strange too quick and too quiet.

Jake shoved me from behind. "Go now."

I started to argue, but my blood became cold when the person entered the low light leaking from the cabin doorway.

Not just anybody did that.

I believed I would never see that person again.

It wasn't merely the past reappearing.

It was looking directly at me.

The man's dark eyes shone with an almost predatory glimmer, and his lips twisted into a smile. "It's been a while, Emma."

Jake became rigid all over. "Why in the world are you here?"

The shadows behind him stretched like ink as the man stepped forward slowly. "You didn't believe that you could simply abandon everything, did you?"

My blood was freezing. The voice. The existence. There was no way.

"Michael," I said in a whisper.

Jake jerked his head in my direction. "Are you familiar with him?"

My past crashed into me like a tidal wave as I swallowed hard. "He's my—"

But Michael lunged before I could finish.

Michael's hand effortlessly lifted Jake off the ground by wrapping it around his throat before he could even respond. Jake's hands clawed at Michael's hold as he choked but to no avail.

Michael had superhuman strength.

His lips formed a slow, sinister

smile. "Emma, didn't I tell you?" In the firelight, his eyes shone brightly. "I never intended for you to get away from me."