Chapter 46
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
RAVEN
U gh. All I want is to fall flat on my face into my bed and never get up. My shift at The Wandering Raven was long.
Pulling into my driveway, it takes every last bit of my energy not to fall asleep in my car. Maybe I should have let Knox and Griffin give me a ride rather than insisting I’m Miss Independent and don’t need a man to drive me everywhere. I’m paying for that stubbornness now.
The only thing that gets me to move is the fact that my bed is way more comfortable than the driver’s seat. So in all my zombie glory, I get out of my car and trudge up the sidewalk.
A shadow moves in my peripheral vision, and I turn my head to see what it is. Across the street in the empty lot is a dark figure blending in with the trees. My back tenses as my stomach twists. Squinting, I try to get a better view, but the person runs away.
As fast as possible, I unlock the bolted door and rush inside, locking the door behind me. Resting my back against the wood, I breathe deeply to slow my racing heartbeat.
Glancing around, I find Lucy passed out on my couch, snuggled under a thick blanket. The only light on down here is the lamp on the side table, casting the living room in a dim glow.
Kat was right. Lucy is a godsend, and she’s a very hard worker.
She’s a senior in high school and was more than happy to take on this babysitting job.
She has only one more class to complete, which means she’s on track to graduate early.
She’s slept here a few times but normally leaves when I get home.
“Lucy, I’m back.” I tap her shoulder to wake her up, but she doesn’t move. “Lucy? Are you okay?” She doesn’t even blink.
I place two of my fingers on the side of her neck, checking for a pulse. When I find it, I rest the back of my hand on her forehead, and I check her temperature, which feels normal. The shadows on Lucy’s face shift back and forth in time with her breathing.
Peeling back the blanket, I check for anything that looks amiss. In the rustling, something drops to the floor. I let go of the blanket and squat down, looking for the fallen object. Under the coffee table, I find an empty syringe.
My hand trembles as I reach for it. Every muscle in my body goes numb, and my stomach sinks as I pick it up and find the plunger pushed all the way into the barrel, leaving no trace of what was in here behind.
I scramble to check Lucy’s arms, looking for track marks, but find none. I didn’t think she’d have them, but you never know.
Above my head, a rhythmic creak echoes through the ceiling. A cold sweat coats my skin, and my pulse skyrockets.
Creeeak. Creeeak.
Automatically, I pull out my phone and send a quick text to Griffin and Knox, then dial 911.
With the phone held to my ear, I step carefully and slowly through the living room, scared I’ll make a noise. My grip on my phone turns my knuckles white.
The operator answers quickly. “911. What’s your emergency?”
Tremors rack my voice as I whisper my reply, “I just got home from work, and I think there’s someone in my house.”
Creeeak. Creeeak.
“What’s your address?” Her tone is calm, a contrast to my own. I have to repeat my address twice because of the whimpers that I’m unable to hold back.
“Do you or anyone else need medical attention?”
“Yes, I think my babysitter, Lucy, was drugged. She won’t wake up.” I try to keep my rasping breaths mute but fail.
As I head up the stairs, the operator directs me. “Ma’am, I want you to go into a room and lock the door. Cops are on the way.”
Creeeak. Creeeak.
With each ascending step, my stomach sinks lower and lower.
“I can’t. My son, Noah, is upstairs.” I keep my volume low.
“Police will be there soon,” she assures me. “I need you to get somewhere safe.”
“Not without Noah,” I insist.
I reach the top of the stairs, and all the blood drains from my face as I realize the noise is coming from Noah’s room.
“Where are you now?” she asks.
“I’m upstairs. I think the person is in his room.”
“Don’t go in there.”
“I have to.”
My head spins as I turn the doorknob and open the door. It’s like an out-of-body experience. I can’t hear anything else the operator says. Words muffle through the speaker, but they don’t register. Tears leak out of my eyes as I finally come to know the true meaning of fear.
My phone slips from my grasp, landing on the floor.
Noah’s room is swathed in darkness, but small streams of light from the streetlamp outside illuminate bits and pieces.
A breeze from the open window causes the light blue curtains to dance.
A woman in a hospital gown sways back and forth in a rocking chair with a lump in her lap as she hums a familiar tune.
As she rocks, the resounding creak reverberates from the wood of the chair.
The poor lighting reveals the profile of her face, and I realize I know her.
“Alice? Alice, what’s going on?”
I scan for Noah but find his bed empty. His covers are pulled back, and another empty syringe lies on his pillow.
No…
Alice begins to put words to her melody, and the chills covering my body become painful.
“Rock a bye baby, in the sweet bed,
When the man comes, the child will dread.
When the man leaves, the child will cry,
And down will come Noah, down from the sky.”
Please no…
A step closer, situating me in the center of the room, uncovers what rests in her lap.
Noah.
And a gun.
One of her arms cradles Noah’s head, and her other rests on his stomach with the small gun in her hand. The barrel points at Noah’s sleeping face.
My hands stretch forward as I plead, “Alice, don’t hurt him. Please. Not him.” I’d rip my heart from my chest and serve it to her on a platter if it meant she’d let him go. But it’s as if she can’t hear me…
Just like Seth.
“Rock a bye baby, in the sweet bed,
When the man comes, the child will dread.
When the man leaves, the child will cry,
And down will come Noah, down from the sky.”
With another small step forward, Alice’s hand holding the gun swings in my direction. The black hole of the barrel aims at my chest.
“I’ll give you anything you want. Anything. Just let Noah go.”
Alice’s head steadily turns to me. An ear-to-ear smile covers half her face as if someone permanently etched it into her skin.
Just like Seth.
Her eyes are blown wide, wider than what is normally possible. Healed cuts decorate her arms. Those weren’t there seven years ago.
A crash from downstairs causes me to flinch. It’s followed by shouts.
“Raven! Raven! Where are you?” Griffin’s voice shines a tiny light on the fear darkening my sight.
I open my mouth to answer, but Alice brings the barrel of the gun to her lips, using it like someone would their index finger.
“Shhhhhh.” Then she trains the gun back on Noah, standing with him propped against her shoulder and walking to the open window beside her.
A tremor vibrates through my body, weakening my knees. I have to lock them to keep myself from collapsing to the floor.
Heavy footsteps thunder up the stairs, but their tempo has nothing on my racing pulse.
“Raven, what’s going…” Knox’s words trail off behind me as he and Griffin take in the scene unfolding in Noah’s room.
“Please, Alice. Hurt me. Point the gun at me. Not him.”
She looks down at Noah and continues singing.
“From your slate rooftop, down to the wood.
By now you can tell, I’m up to no good.
One little shove is all it would take,
To see how sweet Noah’s small neck would break.”
Whimpers fall from my quivering lips. “D-don’t. Take me. Please, Alice. Pl-please.” I’ve survived so much, lived through so much. I’ve been able to keep going, but if I lose him, I won’t come back from that.
I take another step forward, but she stops me with a shake of her head.
“Sunshine, walk backward toward me.” His tone is gentle, but it doesn’t calm me.
“No, no, I c-can’t. Not without Noah.” I can’t stop the stutter in my words.
I have to make up for everything I missed, all the time lost. I need to see him ride a bike for the first time. I need to see him graduate from high school and college. I need to witness the happy life he builds for himself.
“Trust us,” Knox implores.
Alice starts in on another verse.
“Rock a bye baby, in the sweet bed,
When his fate comes, the child will dread.
Oh, God.
My vision blurs, tears obscuring my sight.
When the night ends, the mother will cry,
And down will come Noah, down from the sky.”
“Now,” Knox commands. His demand sounds directed at me, but I discover quickly that it’s not.
A million things happen in the flash of a second.
Arms wrap around my stomach and haul me backward into a solid chest. A powerful, large body bolts past me.
Alice starts to let her body lean out of the open window.
Her arms stretch out at her sides, and Noah is still resting on her chest. I lurch for Noah, but the steel bands caging me hold me in place.
The person reaches Alice as her feet begin to leave the floor, ready to take Noah with her.
His reach is just enough to snatch Noah from Alice, but he doesn’t have time to reach for her.
Alice wears that same smile all the way to the grass outside, her body is cast in flashing red and blue lights.