𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 || 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐇𝐚𝐰𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐞

Eleven

❥ 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐈 𝐖𝐎𝐊𝐄 𝐔𝐏 𝐀𝐆𝐀𝐈𝐍, 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐂𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐍 𝐁𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄.

"Morning." I snapped my head to the side to see Jameson sitting in the corner. "How you feeling?"

I sighed. "Fine," that could be a lie, but I decided to omit that. "What about Avery?"

Jameson stood up, inching closer to me and kneeling by the bed. "I just checked on her, she's doing fine." When I shifted to face Jameson, I felt a sharp pain in my abdomen and I grimaced.

Jameson noticed. "You sure you're doing okay?" he eyed the area I was clutching my stomach. "You don't look fine."

"Where's Grayson?" I asked, ignoring Jamesons question. He stood up and gave me a knowing look.

"I wouldn't count on him coming by," he said.

My stomach twisted into a knot. "Oh."

Grayson had his faults, and he may have not been perfect, but not showing up to make sure i'm OK? After me and Avery almost got blown up?

Speaking of—

"Jameson?" I asked. He turned around right before he was about to leave the room, a small smile casting on his face.

"Yes?"

"Who did it?" who tried to kill me and Avery? The color drained from Jamesons face, and for the first time ever since I had come to Hawthorne House, Jameson Winchester Hawthorne didn't look like he wanted to play Tobias' games.

"Now now," he swallowed hard, "later."
—
❥

Hours later, I was finally cleared to walk around Hawthorne House, but that was it. I was getting an extreme case of deja vu because this happened when I got shot.

"Look who's feeling better!" Xander wrapped his arms around me and squeezed me tight.

"Trying to kill me?" I said through shortened breaths. In reality, I had never been happier to see Xander Hawthorne. Somewhere along the way, he had become one of my favorite people.

"Only when we play monopoly," He winked.

I looked past Xander before turning back to face him. "Where's everybody else? Is Avery—"

"Fine? Yes." Xander put his hands on my shoulders. "A sleeping beauty? Also yes." He let go of me and started to walk down the corridor. "We're playing scrabble downstairs. I expect to see you there."

I didn't have to see the look on his face to know it was a smug one. I hate scrabble.

Walking towards the stairs, I paused when I remembered my phone was still in my room. Before I could make it to the door, a hand wrapped around my mouth and my scream of horror was suffocated.

"I'm really sorry," Thea. "But they took Rebecca, and better you than her."

Snap.
—
❥

"Evelyn," A voice said. Somebody was shaking me. Kicking me, maybe? "Ev, wake up."

Avery.

I opened my eyes to see a blurry Avery looking back at me, her eyes wide and frantic. I went to reach for her but stopped when my hand wouldn't move. I looked at my hands that were tried behind my back.

I was stuck to a chair.

"I'm so glad you two are finally awake." Sheffield Grayson came into view, and my heart nearly dropped at the sight. My mind was working in all sorts of ways, like how I even got—

Thea.

"If you're worried about your friend, Rebekah," he said, "she's been released. Unfortunately for you two, that might not be the case."

Avery attempted to pull her hands forward but was suppressed by the rope. "What do you want with us?"

"I wanted nothing." Sheffield pulled out a knife from his pocket, his gaze fixated between me and Avery. "But since my good friend on Hawthorne Island couldn't do the job, I had to finish it."

The bombing, the attack— it was all Sheffield Grayson.

"You," I said.

"It was really more your father's doing." Sheffields face contorted into a smirk. "He sent you to Hawthorne Island to die, and now? He's left me to do the honors." He looked towards the door. "You can come in."

And then, Toby Hawthorne— harry— emerged from the dark. Avery said nothing, and I felt a sharp pain in my chest.

No Grant. Not only did he try to kill me, he didn't care to show his face to me.

"Harry," Avery said.

Toby smiled at his non biological daughter, but regardless of blood— he looked at her with love you had for your child. More than Ricky Grambs ever had.

"Now that we're all here," Sheffield said, "we can get on with this! Any last words?"
—
❥

a/n:

writers block is real esp when you don't get half the plot of the book ur writing for (I literally finished the series thinking Avery was related to the Hawthorne's)