“Little pig, little pig, it’s time to die!” He cackled.
I tried to focus on his face, but my vision blurred, and I couldn’t make out his features behind the shock of dark hair that fell over his brow.
Then, as quickly as my attacker appeared, he was gone. With a flash of movement, he leaped off the stage and disappeared into the crowd.
Screams erupted from the audience.
Heavy footfalls hit the stage floor as people scurried to my aid.
I curled into a ball and closed my eyes, whimpering, the pain so intense it stole my breath.
Dizziness swirled in my head. Faster. Faster.
I breathed in slowly, then back out, trying to fight off the pain, only vaguely aware that the floor beneath me was rapidly pooling with my blood.
“Easy, Annika,” a kind voice murmured. “Just relax, sweetheart. Help is on the way.”
Someone had just stabbed me numerous times while chanting an altered version of part of a children’s story in my ear.
I had one final thought before I passed out.
Who hated me enough to want me dead?
A car door slamming from outside jolted me out of the past.
I sucked in a breath, slowly puffing it back out.
Later, we’d learned my assailant had drugged the security team by lacing the water jug with some type of sedative that had made them slow to react and easy for him to get past them and up onto the stage. His brutal attack had abruptly ended my performance and shocked everyone. The cops had searched for him for days after the concert, but somehow he’d escaped. He still hadn’t been found all these months later.
I’d been in the hospital for weeks afterward, then home recuperating for several months after that. My most serious injury was a punctured spinal cord where he’d stabbed into my spine, which had resulted in a rare condition called Brown-Séquard syndrome. An incomplete spinal cord injury, Brown-Séquard syndrome occurred when one side of the spinal cord was injured. As a result, muscle weakness or paralysis occurred on one side of the body and a loss of sensation occurred on the opposite side. In my case, the injury had affected the right side of my spinal cord in my lower back, so I experienced paralysis on the right side in my hip, leg and foot. On my left side, I had loss of pain and temperature sensation in my hip, leg, and foot, but I still had muscle control on the left side. The rest of me, thankfully, was unaffected by the injury and functioned normally.
I couldn’t walk on my own due to the paralysis on my right side, so the wheelchair was my best mode of transportation. The doctors believed my prognosis was good, since I was young and healthy, though they couldn’t state with any actual certainty whether or not I would walk on my own again. Only time would tell if my right side recovered fully. I was still undergoing treatment that included physical therapy sessions. The doctors had informed me to not be impatient, that it could take up to two years for ongoing neurological recovery. I had decided I wasn’t waiting that long to get back up on stage, so tonight—against my family’s urgings—I’d done just that.
Knowing my attacker was still out there unsettled me, especially since I hadn’t gotten a look at his face.
I shuddered in remembrance of the attack, closing my eyes on a deep inhale.
Braving the world and going back on stage tonight had given me a small sense of accomplishment, helping me to overcome my fear. My family had enlisted extra security tonight to ensure my safety, but as far as I knew, no threats had been detected. My concerts generally lasted around seventy or eighty minutes, with a short intermission, and sometimes a meet-and-greet afterwards where fans could say hello and I autographed items for them. Tonight, the meet-and-greet had been canceled out of fear that my attacker might return and take advantage of the situation. My Papa and Uncle Pavel had whisked me out of there so fast, I’d barely had time to finish playing the final song before I was escorted out the back door, stuffed into the back of the waiting SUV, and transported down the road toward home.
I wasn’t about to let my attacker beat me. Piano had helped me through a difficult time in my childhood and had later grown into my passion. The keyboard was my sanctuary. Piano was mylife. Without it, I didn’t know where I would be today.
I gave a little shake of my head to clear my troubled thoughts.
My family had been extremely overprotective of me since the “incident,” especially Papa and Uncle Pavel. They wouldneverlet anyone they didn’t trust near me or onto the property. The mysterious man I’d fantasized about over the years, the same man who’d sent my pulse racing out on the porch minutes ago, must have some other reason why he didn’t want me to see his face. No way could he be my attacker.
The door flew open behind me.
I jolted, my heart bouncing, and spun my chair around as Efrem entered the house.
Grinning, my little brother came forward, leaning down to kiss my cheek. “Hey, sis, I never got a chance to congratulate you with that huge crowd swarming around tonight. You werebrilliant.”
Warmth and affection spread in my chest. “Thanks, Ef.” I patted his arm. At twenty-two, Efrem was the youngest in our family, a sweet young man with a gentle, easy-going nature. Everyone liked him. He never lacked for female companionship, rarely going anywhere without a girl on his arm. That was my little bro. A ladies’ man through and through, but not in a man-whore type of way. My brother was a romantic. He loved women and was constantly searching for “the one.” I hoped someday he found her.
I wanted to ask my brother about the man on the porch, and I wanted to do it before the rest of the family came in. Sure, I could have asked about the man years ago, but I had feared I would get the guy in trouble if I took too much of an interest in him, so I never had. Ef would tell me about the guy, and he wouldn’t tease me like our cousins might. He wouldn’t make a big deal out of it. He wouldn’t tell Papa I was curious about one of their soldiers. Ef understood me when no one else did. He just let me be me. Was it weird that I was closer to my brother than I was to any of my female cousins? Probably. But it wasn’t their fault. It wasmine. My cousins were great. I’d just always felt different. Like I didn’t truly belong anywhere. Thankfully, my piano saved me when my thoughts got too dark or depressing.
“Who’s that guy out there with Timofey? I’ve seen him around, but I’ve never met him before.”
Ef scrunched his brow. “You mean Adrik? You’ve never met before? I can introduce you to him if you want.”