The Unwanted Bride Of Atticus Fawn

I’m about to respond when there is a knock on the door. Two vampires enter when my mother opens it

for them.

“Where is the girl?” My mother demands.

“The girl?” One of them asks. “We thought that you hired someone else to get her.”

What the hell? Why would they ask such a question? Were they not the ones that had taken her today?

“What are you talking about?” My mother, demands as she looks between them. “Why would I hire

someone else?”

“We were waiting for her, ready to do the job you hired us to do, when four men grabbed her and

drugged her. We weren’t the ones that took her.”

“What?” I shout.

If they didn’t take her, then who were those men that had kidnapped her?

“Are you sure that’s what you saw happen?” My mother asks. “Are you trying to get more money out of

me? Is that what this is? If that’s your aim, you can just keep her with you. I have no desire to give to

any more money.”

They pull out their phones and show us their video footage of the incident. “We got a video of the entire

thing. She was kidnapped but not by us. We don’t know who those men were. But they had tattoos on

the back of their necks.”

Tattoos on the back of their necks? Who were these people, and what did they want with Autumn? Did

she have more enemies that I didn’t know about? I wish I could give those people a hug for making my

life so much more easier now that she was out of it.

“Maybe this is a good thing.” My mother says. “She’s out of our hands, which means that she’s not our

trouble anymore. You can focus on getting closer to Atticus now that she’s out of the picture. You also

need to get closer to his family. They play an important role in all of this, and you know that by now.”

But was Autumn truly out of the picture? What would happen if she randomly showed up?

Whoever kidnapped her was no ordinary person. No one would risk entering the academy and seizing

one of the wealthiest and most popular students.

Autumn’s parents were important people, and so were her in-laws. She wasn’t any average person. We

took a risk to hire men to kidnap her, but who else would want revenge so badly that they would also try

and take her?

Did the Fawns have more enemies, or was this an enemy of Autumn’s family?

“Who do you think is responsible for her disappearance?” I ask my mother. She would have a better

idea than I did.

“I’m not sure, but I think the tattoo on their neck can help us figure it out.” She says. “They all have the

same tattoo, which meant they were involved with the same people.”

I’m about to ask her another question when she stops me.

“Get to the hospital now.” She commands. “You need to show the Fawns how much you care about

Atticus. Now that Autumn is gone, they will need someone else to marry their son. What better option

than you?”

She was right. I didn’t have any time to waste. Atticus needed me now that Autumn was out of the

picture. We would have a beautiful future together without her in it. That is until my mother stepped in

and destroyed his family for good.

I called Dante and asked him to pick me up. I made my way back to the fake house and waited for him.

He doesn’t take long to reach.

I can see how troubled he looks. Atticus was his brother, after all. And their relationship hadn’t been the

best because of me. Either way, he would be in pain just like me now that Atticus was in the hospital.

This time was a lot worse than the last time. Atticus’s injury was able to heal within hours the last time.

He wasn’t going to be so lucky this time. He had a lot of broken bones and ribs. There was also a nasty

injury on his head.

His body was filled with cuts from windows smashed by the crash. I saw the image of the crash all over

my phone, and it wasn’t a pretty sight. I knew Atticus was a good driver and wouldn’t have crashed like

that unless someone was responsible for it. That’s how I knew my mother had been behind the

accident. It still bothered me that she hadn’t listened to me. He was the one person I begged her not to

hurt. She had agreed, until now. Until Autumn. This was all Autumn’s fault. If she had stayed out of his

life, none of this would have ever happened. Ever since she became his wife, Atticus has constantly

been in danger. Now that she was gone, he would be safe once more. I would do a better job at

protecting him than she had done. He would realize soon enough that he would be happier with me.

Dante holds my hand, “he’s going to be okay, Anya. My brother is going to be okay.”

When we arrive at the hospital, the scene outside is not the best. My mother would have been happy to

witness it. This was what she wanted. For the Fawns to be this unhappy.

They were all crying and praying that he would come out okay. Nothing was promised yet, even though

my mother seemed convinced he would be okay.

I looked around me.

Autumn’s parents are also here, frantic for their daughter. They were busy making calls and trying not

to panic, but they weren’t doing a good job at that.

“How does a child get taken away from an academy so easily?” Her mother screams. “Who took my

baby?”

Her father is trying to console her, but he looks like he knows more than he’s saying. They both do.

Calls are being made. They’re sending out searches everywhere for her. I’ve never seen anything like

this before. Everyone was getting involved for her. News of her disappearance has spread like crazy.

There were hundreds of articles already published. There were also hundreds written about Atticus and

the accident that was caused while he was trying to save her.

. . . .

A day passes, then another. And another. Atticus hadn’t awakened yet. His body was still healing from

all of the trauma it had suffered. I hadn’t left the hospital like my mother had asked me to. I was trying

my best to make his family like me. I knew how much they weren’t fond of me, but I might try to do

better. This was for my mother. I had to do it for her. And I also wanted to do better for Atticus. Maybe

then he would see me as the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

There was also no news about Autumn, and I was beginning to hope for the best. Maybe they had

killed her and gotten rid of her.

Then she would be out of our lives for good, and everything could go back to the way that it was before

she got married to Atticus and destroyed everything that I had worked hard for.

“He’s awake!” Clarissa shouts. “Atticus is awake!”

Everyone jumps up from the waiting room with tears of joy. We don’t waste any time as we rush into

the room.

She was right. He was awake and aware of everything that was happening around him.

I was scared, scared of how he would react when he realized that Autumn was no longer here. He’s

searching the room, looking at everyone. His mother rushes forward and hugs him, “I’m so happy

you’re awake, son. It’s so good to have you back with us.”

His father does the same, showing him how much he loves him. The rest of his family does the same. I

let them have their moment; this was what my mother taught me. I had to act more like Autumn if I

wanted them to like me.

Atticus doesn’t stop searching the room, and I know that he’s looking for Autumn. I’m surprised,

however, when his eyes light up when he sees me.

“Anya.” He says with a smile. “Come here.”

We’re all in shock.

I walk forward, and I’m even more surprised when he wraps his arms around me, “it’s so good to have

you next to me again.”

I watch the blood drain from everyone’s face.

I understood what my mother meant now when she said that she was giving me another chance. She

was confident I would have Atticus again because she knew this would happen.

It felt good to have his arms around me again, to feel his love for me. It felt like the past when he wasn’t

in love with Autumn.

I hugged him back tightly; I wasn’t about to let this opportunity escape me.

When Atticus falls asleep, we all exit the room to talk to the doctor.

“What’s going on?” His mother demands. “Why does my son still think he’s in love with Anya? He

doesn’t look like he even remembers that Autumn is his wife or that she was kidnapped.”

The doctor sighs, “We were afraid of this happening. Atticus got hit more in his head than in any other

part of his body. The damage was so bad that even his body’s ability to heal quickly couldn’t do a good

job at it. He has temporary memory loss. It may even be permanent. Only time can tell if Atticus will

remember his time with Autumn or not. But for his safety, I urge you not to remind him of her. The

trauma may be too much for him. Give him time to heal before you tell him about his wife.”

This was even better news for me. Now Atticus would know nothing about his marriage to Autumn. I

had him back right where I wanted him to be.

Could this day get any better for me?

“We’re going to have to remove all of the pictures of Autumn from the house and anything that would

remind Atticus of her.” His mother cried. “We have to protect him. That means all those articles about

them must come down. I don’t care what we have to do to make this happen, but I want it done by the

time Atticus gets his phone back. Inform everyone at the academy what’s happening. Let them know if

anyone mentions his marriage to Autumn that we will do everything in our power to make their lives

miserable.”

“Atticus would want to remember her!” Clarissa screams suddenly. Her words echoed throughout the

quiet hospital. “We can’t keep this from him. We can’t let him believe that he’s still in love with Anya.

He’s married. Autumn is missing. We can’t put up an act now; we need him to remember her! If he had

a say in any of this, he would want us to tell him the truth.”

“Clarissa!” Mr. Fawn scolded her. “This is a hospital; you can’t be shouting. I don’t want Atticus to hear

you; you need to be quiet.”

“How can you be so normal about this?” She demands. “When he remembers Autumn, he will never

forgive you for not telling him about her. He got into that accident trying to save her; he would expect

the same from his family!”

“No one said we are going to stop searching for Autumn!” He exclaimed. “The search will continue, but

we must keep Atticus out of danger. We must ensure that his body doesn’t go into shock if anything

triggers his memory of her. You also need to do the same as the rest of us. If you care about him, you

will keep him from finding out about her. Just until we are sure that he has fully recovered.”

Clarissa looks distraught, and seeing her like this makes me happy. How much worse would she feel if

she knew what I did? The men that kidnapped Autumn weren’t amateurs. She was most likely dead by

now.

And I couldn’t be any more happier than I felt right now.