The Unexpected Twist - Marline (best books to read for young adults .txt) 📗

running up to him and beating him up myself.
“I... I don’t know.” I said lamely.
“Well, then I’m sure you’ll have no problem with it if I beat him up after all?” Liam asked sarcastically. I didn’t know what to say and tears sprang in my eyes. Why was Liam being so impatient with me? And why was I making such a big deal over Liam beating up Stan? All I could do was stare at Liam and silently beg him not to do it. I saw Liam’s eyes soften and he released Stan, who fell to the floor.
“I swear I’m telling the truth.” He said desperately. “You have to get out of here. The man is coming, probably to kill us all. If we are all dead then he will no longer have any witnesses.” At Stan’s words fear overtook me and threatened to take control over me. I was having trouble breathing when I realized that this murderer could be in this house right now, at this moment.
“Liam?” I said in a tiny voice. “Liam I’m scared.”
Liam walked towards me, gave me a quick hug and looked me in the eyes.
“I’m just going to take a quick look around. Don’t be scared, I’ll keep you safe.” Then, he turned around and grabbed Stan, yanking him to his feet.
“And you, come with me.” He said harshly. No! Liam don’t leave me here all alone! I wanted to scream but I couldn’t, my voice didn’t let me.
I stood there, in the middle of the room, too scared to move or make a sound and waited. Each second seemed to take an hour and my heart was beating painfully fast against my chest. Why was Liam taking so long? Why wasn’t he back yet? Had Stan beaten him up? Or was the murderer in the house? Breathe, Claire, Breathe. I urged myself.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when I suddenly heard a loud noise. I clamped my hand over my mouth to stop the scream that was threatening to escape my lips and stared at the door in horror. That was a gunshot. Then I heard another.
Oh no, oh no, this was not happening! For all I knew, Liam could be lying on the floor, bleeding to death and the murderer, whoever he was, could walk through my bedroom door any moment. I had to do something! If this person had hurt Liam then he was going to pay for it. Suddenly, my fear disappeared and determination took its place. This person was not

going to get away with hurting the man I loved. If he thought that, then he would have to think again because I was not the type of the person like in those movies where their boyfriend gets beaten up and they stand on the sideline begging the to stop. No, I was the type of girl who would jump right into the fight and beat the guy up.

I inched my way towards the door, without having any idea of what I was going to do. As quietly as possible, I opened the bedroom door and peeped my head out to look around the corner. The hallway was empty except for the plant that was sitting next to my bedroom door. And then an idea struck me; I could take the plant pot, seeing as it was the only thing that was remotely close to a weapon, and throw it down from the top of the staircase. Though with my aim- and luck – the plant pot would probably land at least 5 meters away from my target, I still thought that I should try. I picked up the plant pot and cradled it against my chest. I must’ve looked like a walking palm tree because the plant was at least a meter taller than me. And boy was it heavy. Stupid plant. I tried looking around the green leaves and slowly walked towards the top of the staircase.
With the plant still cradled against my chest, I looked over the railing. What I saw there caused my heart to stop beating and then start up again at an incredible pace. The scene below me was terrifying. A man, around 40 years old, wearing old torn jeans and a dirty brown T-shirt with a beard that covered most of his face, stood in the doorway with his gun pointed at both Liam and Stan. Apparently the shots I had heard was the man shooting the lock of the door. Liam and Stan both had their hands up in the air and the man had an evil grin on his face. He took a step towards Liam and Stan and his grin grew wider.
“Both of you, in the same house. And to my knowledge, the girl is here too. Things couldn’t have worked out better.” His voice sent shivers down my spine and tears of both anger and fear appeared in my eyes.
“I will first kill both of you, and then I will go after the girl.” He narrowed his eyes at Liam. “Where is she?” I took a deep breath and held the plant out in front of me, so that it was hanging over the railing and right above the murderer’s head. Goodbye plant, I whispered softly.
“Right here.” I said in a clear voice and the moment the murderer looked up, I dropped my palm tree. Or whatever type of plant it was. In slow motion I saw it fall to the floor and I could only hope and pray that it would hit the man. My eyes grew wider and wider as I saw the plant turn and spin away from the man, to land half a meter away from him. Oh no, this was the end, I was going to die. The man looked from the plant up to me and then started laughing.
“You foolish little girl.” He said. I closed my eyes, ready for what was to come but instead of a gunshot, I heard a grunt. I snapped my eyes open, wondering who had made the noise and then saw that Liam had used the moment of confusion to kick the man’s gun out of his hands and then land a few good punches. But the man was strong, and apparently used to fighting because he did not let Liam punch him mercilessly for long. He started punching and kicking Liam back and I screamed softly. Then suddenly, a third body was involved in the fight: Stan. It took me a second to realize that he was on Liam’s side because he was also beating up the man. And I was the only one who wasn’t doing anything. I was not going to be one of those girls who stood on the sideline watching a fight and so I ran down the stairs and was about to jump the man from behind when I heard Liam growl: “Claire, stay out of this.”
I huffed. “As if.” I said, right before jumping on the man’s back and wrapping my arm around his throat. The man started clawing at my neck and before long, he was gasping for air. I held my arms tight around him and Liam landed another good punch in his gut. A few moments later, the man passed out. I dropped my arms from around his neck and took a step away from him. Then I suddenly felt strong arms wrap around me, so tight that I could barely breathe. I smelled his scent though, and instantly knew who it was.
“Liam, I can’t breathe!” I choked out.
Liam placed his hands on my shoulders and looked into my eyes.
“Don’t you ever

do that again.” He said sternly.
I smiled. “A simple thank you would suffice.”
Liam didn’t see any humour in the situation. He shook me softly. “I mean it Claire.”
I looked at the ground and nodded. Liam placed a finger under my chin and lifted my face to his and then placed his lips on mine. He kissed me harshly, hungrily, as if he was terrified of losing me. Then his kiss grew softer.
“Never. Do that. Again.” He said between kisses. When he pulled away the situation finally sank into my brain and I couldn’t stop the waterfall of tears that cascaded down my cheeks. Liam wrapped his arms around me and I buried my head against his chest.
“I was so scared!” I sobbed.
“Shh, I know.” Liam soothed me, while running his fingers through my hair. “But it’s all over now. We’re safe. Shhh.”

Chapter 13

Liam called the police and they arrived within minutes. They arrested the murderer and, though Liam and I both begged them not to, Stan was also arrested and taken to jail. Liam and I were transported back to our houses. After the whole story was explained to our parents, I was sent to bed. After showering and changing, I lay down in my bed and pulled the covers over me. I lay there, staring at the ceiling, growing more terrified with every noise I heard. I would never be able to get to sleep this way. I rolled over and took my phone from my nightstand and dialed Liam’s number. He picked up on the first ring.
“Claire, is something wrong?” He asked panicked. I felt a little bad for making him worry so much.
“No, nothing is wrong. It’s just that I can’t sleep. And I’m scared.” I admitted to him.
“Do you want me to come over?” Liam offered.
“Yes.” I admitted, a little embarrassed. Liam laughed softly.
“I’ll be there in 10 minutes. If you hear someone knock on your window then don’t freak out, ok?”
“I’ll try.” I promised.
“I love you.” He said.
“I love you too.” I answered, before I hung up.

10 minutes later there was a knock on the window. Though I had promised not to freak out, I did jump a little at the sound. I inched my way over to the window and pulled away the curtain a tiny bit. I let out a sigh of relief when I saw Liam’s face. I opened my window and he crawled in, wearing track pants and a tight fitting T-shirt that accentuated his abs.
“Hey.” He smiled, when he was standing in my room.
“Hey.” I smiled back. Liam closed the distance between us and placed his hands on my hips.
“I missed you.” He said.
“You saw me this afternoon.” I reminded him.
“I still missed you.”
I smiled again. “I missed you too.” I admitted.
“Good.” Liam said before leaning in to kiss me. His kiss was soft and sweet at first but then it grew hungrier and more passionate. He pulled me against him tightly and without him asking to I opened my mouth to let his tongue in. My hands tangled in his hair and I moaned against his lips. Liam’s grip on my hips tightened and I wanted nothing more than to be closer to him. But I knew that I couldn’t, I would never do anything more than kissing before I was married and Liam felt the same way. Which is why I pulled away and then created some space between us. We were both breathing hard and I was aching to kiss him again. Liam grinned, knowing why I had pulled away and I looked away slightly embarrassed.
“Shall we go to sleep?” He asked. “It’s been a long day.” I looked back up to him and nodded. Liam pulled back the cover and I crawled into bed