Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Shenna
Hurley and I come to an agreement.
I’ll work at the store while Hurley leads a day hike.
He put his contact information in my phone and the exact coordinates for where he’d be that day. Not that I even know how to use coordinates.
The day drags a little because, it’s true, Jack doesn’t have a lot for me to do. We have a mid-morning rush when the tourists wake up, and again in the afternoon when tourists return from their daytime excursions. But overall, it’s a simple job, and I manage not to screw it up.
When Hurley doesn’t return at 6 like he promised, I start to get antsy.
Jack is about to lock up the store when I get a text from Hurley.
Hank and some of the guys in town want to throw me a bachelor party.
Did you tell them your wedding was yesterday and that you’re no longer a bachelor?
I’m still processing that people around town like me. Just say the word if you don’t want me to go.
No, sir. You’re not using your sea hag wife as an out. Let the people celebrate you. Be social.
We’ll be at The Rusty Elk for one, two hours tops.
I smile at the idea of him asking me permission.
I don’t mind.
Jack will take you to Hank and Clara’s house. She’s gonna keep an eye on you, and I’ll pick you up there later and take you home.
I finally get to see the mysterious mountain man lair.
It’s nothing special. Don’t get too excited.
It’s not the house I’m excited about.
Shenna, be a good girl.
To my surprise, Hurley ends the conversation with a pink heart emoji.
As Jack walks me over to Clara’s house a few moments later, some negative feelings start to creep up. He said he would have Clara “keep an eye” on me. Like I’m a child.
I don’t need to be told what to do or how to take care of myself. No one tells me where to stay or where to work.
“You’re quiet. Everything okay?”
I turn to Jack and give him the smallest smile, which is all I can muster. “I’m just wondering if I’m not cut out for marriage.”
“Ah, don’t be jealous,” Jack says. “It’s just a couple of old men taking Hurley out for a beer. I promise we’ll get him home in one piece.”
Obviously, Jack has totally missed the point, but I don’t feel like diving any deeper into the real problem. He wouldn’t understand.
“Hey, Jack,” I say as we’re about to pass my street. “I think I’m just going to go home and start packing. I bet I can have all my belongings ready to go by the time you all are done with the bachelor party.”
Jack hesitates as we stand at the end of my street. “Oh. Okay. Well, if you’re sure.”
“I’ll have Clara come over if it makes you feel better. I know you told Hurley you would drop me off at her house so I’d have company.”
Jack agrees to my terms. He goes his way, and I go mine.
Once inside my little apartment, it feels like I haven’t been here in weeks.
I pack up most of my things in less than two hours, and I don’t need Clara hanging around to help me, either.
See that? Hurley doesn’t know everything.
I start to feel sleepy, so I dig through my suitcase and pull out a pair of panties, my favorite long tee shirt and socks that I wear to bed. I curl up on my mattress and scroll on my phone until Hurley knocks on my door well after 10 p.m. I’m already half asleep but I bound out of bed and throw open the door, eager to give my husband shit again.
“I hope you cleared out a drawer for?—”
My words trail off at the sight of the man at my door.
It’s not Hurley.
He has the tall, doughy look of the man to whom my father promised me more than ten years ago. He wears the uniform of the cult I grew up in: a polo shirt, khakis, and a barely concealed holster on his leather belt.
My fiancé. Well, my ex-fiancé.
When my fight-or-flight instinct kicks in, I try to shut the door in his face.
But Derek Creevy acts fast, shoving his way into my apartment.
He snatches my phone out of my hand and shoves it into his back pocket.
I scream as he backs me into the corner of the room, one hand on his holster. “Where have you been, sweetheart?”
His sickly-sweet voice belies the evil brewing underneath.
“I’m not your sweetheart. See?”
I show him the ring on my finger, and he scoffs. “What’s that supposed to be? Did you get that from a gumball machine just to ward me off?”
“It’s true, Derek. I really am married. And my husband will be here any minute, so you should get out of here.”
“Nice try,” he says. “I think you’d better come with me.”
“What do you want from me?” I argue, searching the room for anything I can use as a weapon.
“I think you know.”
“The church is gone. The compound has been destroyed. The land sold off. The elders are all in jail, and everyone else is scattered. It’s time to give up. You lost.”
He shakes his head slowly and clicks his tongue at me. “The last remnants are putting things back together. The Prophet will have the last word.”
The mention of The Prophet makes my stomach churn. “It’s not too late to admit it was all a mistake, Derek. It’s okay to be wrong. You can just walk away. You don’t have to listen to what they say.”
This tactic does not work.
The next thing I know, I have a gun to my head, and the man I got engaged to at 13 is forcing me down the dark staircase and out the back door.
The last thing I see before everything goes black is Derek waving the gun around as he explains things to me. “One day you’ll thank me for rescuing you from this town full of drunks. It was too easy to get you back when the entire town is getting wasted at the pub. One day. One day, you’ll see.”
He slams the trunk closed, and I’m thrown into complete darkness.