Chapter Seven
It’s been a long freaking day. The dream I had last night of Aiden is still plaguing my brain—and then to find out that he’s been spotted around town? Yeah, all I thought about at work was what I’d do if he showed up. He didn’t. But deep down, no matter how much I try to tell myself I hate him…
I wish he would’ve walked through those doors.
“Stupid, stupid.” I facepalm myself as fresh tears threaten to spill over my cheeks. I don’t want to be with him. I don’t want him in my life.
Liar. The word echoes in my head. I take a deep breath and push myself back up into a sitting position. There’s nothing I can do about Aiden. And besides, I haven’t heard any first-person accounts of seeing him. It’s all hearsay. So, there’s no point in dwelling on it. But here I am. Doing exactly that.
“Why can’t I just let you go?” I whisper toward the window for a reason I don’t understand. I get to my feet and walk over to the window, doublechecking that it’s locked. My head has been failing me, and the fact that I don’t remember opening it last night bothers me. But it is what it is.
As I click the levers forward to ensure that it’s locked, I hear something in the hallway outside. I freeze at the squeaking floorboards, and my stomach flips. I know that sound. It is the reason I always barricade my door shut. It’s the reason Aiden started sleeping in my room. It used to scare me and send a pulse of panic shooting down my spine.
However, I wasn’t afraid of him anymore. He only made me angry.
He”s creeping after the girls.
I jump into action and rush to the door, whipping it open and seeing exactly what I thought I would. Uncle Ron lurking outside of the girls’ shared room.
“What the fuck are you doing in the house?” I sneer, stalking right up to him.
“You need to go back to bed. I have every right to be in here.” He pushes his glasses up, but I see the surprise on his face. We haven’t exchanged more than a handful of words since the night Aiden almost killed him, and he had always avoided me. I’m too old for him.
“Get out. You don’t belong in the house.” My voice is sharp, and my confidence shocks him. “Get out.”
He makes an amused face as he reaches for the doorknob despite my demands.
“What’re you gonna do, Sara?” The mocking tone makes me even more irate than I was before. However, as I lunge forward, my mother appears in the hallway. I can’t tell if she’s drunk or not. Her graying hair is pulled up into a bun on her head, and her expression is perplexed.
“What are you doing in the house, Ron?” Her voice is crisp. She’s not slurring her words as usual. My heart skips a beat.
“My water isn’t working out there,” he says flatly.
“That’s not the bathroom.” She takes a step forward, eyeing me as she does. “You need to get back out to the pool house. You know you’re not allowed in here. Get out.”
“Oh look, the Walker women are ganging up on me,” he moans, sliding his hand over the front of his pants. “I think I might like it.” Disgust rolls over my entire body as he breaks into an insidious cackle. He’s toying with us, but the look on my mom’s face is pure shock. I follow her gaze to the tent in the front of his pants.
“Get out,” my mother whispers, her voice shaking. “You’re not allowed in the house. I’m going to go get Will.”
“Oh, get him, please.” Ron grins wickedly.
My mother calls for him, but I already know this will be fruitless. If he comes, he won’t do anything substantial. At best, he’ll make him leave. Worst case scenario, he’ll let him stay in the house—and then I’ll stay with the girls.
“What the hell?” Will appears at the end of the hallway, his eyes narrowing at the three of us.
“Ron needs to go back to the pool house,” my mother says, although I immediately notice the shift in her tone. She’s a doormat to my stepfather, and for good reason. Any time she stands up to him, she comes out of it needing an extra amount of concealer.
“Why are you in here?” Will asks Ron, and in that moment, the similarities in their faces are obvious. They’re both oval-shaped with a ruddy complexion, and I have no idea what my mother has ever seen in Will.
“Water’s not working in the pool house,” Ron replies, but he doesn’t sound as brave anymore, either.
“Yes, it is.” Will pushes past my mother, jarring her body as he does. “Why’re you really in here? I gave you permission to come in here only when I”m not around, didn”t I?”
“They baited me,” Ron reasons, glaring at the two of us. His eyes bounce between my mother and me, and he gestures to his pants. “You can see it for yourself.”
Will’s eyes widen. “My wife baited you?”
Oh no, no, no…
“She didn’t. I caught him outside of the girls’ room,” I speak up, ignoring the way my voice wavers. “Please. That’s not what happened. I caught him outside of the girls—”
“Shut up, Sahara,” my stepfather sneers at me.
“She didn’t do anything,” I cry out, but it’s too late. Will shifts his attention to my mother, rears his hand back, and slaps her. The sound of his palm connecting with the side of her face makes my stomach sick. I should’ve just gone into the girls’ room and never let this happen.
“You stupid whore,” he growls as he grabs ahold of her, shaking her hard by her shoulders. I lunge for Will, ignoring the way my mother shakes her head at me. Blood runs from her nostrils to her lips, and her eyes are hazy.
My head starts to spin as Ron slips back down the hallway, escaping the chaos that’s his fucking fault. Between the heartache that’s fresh again and watching Will beat down my mother for the hundredth time…
I explode.
“Leave her alone,” I scream at Will, my fingernails digging into the skin of his forearm. “She didn’t do anything!”
My attack shocks Will so much that he lets go of my mother, and she falls to the floor, her head in her hands. My heart skips a beat as he slings his thick arm, sending me backwards. My back slams into the wall, knocking the breath out of me.
Then the bedroom door opens.
“Go back inside,” I say quickly to Eliza as Will comes for me. I ignore the terror on her face as Will rears back once again, and this time—for the first time in my life—he hits me. Pain sears down my jaw, my eyes instantly watering as I see stars. The man might use the flat of his hand, but it’s with a force that might as well be a punch.
I suck for oxygen as my entire head begins to tingle. Oh my God, how does she handle this day after day… No wonder she drinks.
“That’ll learn you,” Will scoffs, spitting in my direction as a whimper slips from my throat.“Always known you were no better than your mother.” He spins on his heels and disappears down the hallway, leaving us there.
“Mom…”
She ignores me, pulling up the collar of her T-shirt to soak up the blood. Then she pushes herself to her feet, ignoring my gaze, and stumbles toward her bedroom. I know she’s going for a drink, and I don’t blame her. I understand the draw of the numbness it can provide.
It’s tempting.
It really is, but I don’t want to get lost in a vice.
I might never get out.
I take a deep breath, my head still pounding. The girls’ door is closed, though I don’t know when Eliza shut the door. I close my eyes for a few moments, listening to the throb in the side of my head. Is this what it’s going to be like now? Am I now free game for Will to take out his anger on?
Shuddering, I reach for the girls’ doorknob and turn it. It’s unlocked, as it should not be, and I push it open. All three are sitting with Eliza on her full-sized bed versus asleep in the two bunk beds on the other side of the room.
“Are you okay?” Eliza whispers, her face squinched and strained.
“We heard it,” Lilly adds, her blonde hair a mess around her delicate face. She’s only thirteen, and she’s beautiful—more beautiful than most. I know Ron gawks at her just as much as he does Eliza. The thought makes me sick.
“Sara?” Briar, the youngest at eleven, rubs her arms. “Please talk.”
“Sorry.” The word comes out thick and awkward. My face is tingling, and my left cheek burns while also strangely feeling numb. “I’m okay.”
“We heard you out there,” Eliza speaks up again, wrapping her arms around Lilly and Briar as I take a seat on the edge of the bed. “It sounded bad. He was out there, wasn’t he? He would’ve come in here?”
“I don’t know,” I say, not wanting to scare them—not when they need to be sleeping. They’ll be going to their biological grandparents’ house to spend the weekend. They’re lucky they have that escape. They’re just not lucky enough to live there. Their grandparents are both in their early eighties, and because of that, their health isn’t in good enough condition to have full custody of the girls. But they have them every weekend.
It’s a good thing.
“We put the chair under the door like you told us to.” Lilly gestures to the desk. “We had it there when we heard him out there.”
My brows furrow. “How often has he been coming around?”
They all exchange a glance that makes my stomach knot up. I suddenly don’t give a shit about my face. The understanding I had for my mother is gone, too. I’d never let washing my own misery away prevent me from taking care of Eliza, Lilly, and Briar. They’re my biggest reason to keep going.
“How often?” I repeat the question, my voice growing sharp. “Tell me.”
“I don’t know exactly,” Eliza answers, letting out a small sigh. “He hasn’t come into the bedroom or anything, but we’ve started hearing something creaking outside. We thought it was you at first, but then he started watching us a lot more—you know, I told you.” She pauses, meeting my gaze. “So, I started doing that thing you taught us. I lock the door and put something under it to jam it.”
“Good.” I nod, though it brings me very little relief. As long as we’re all living in this hell house, I’ll always be on edge. I lean forward and wrap them all up in my arms as my mind threatens to remind me of the positive memories that once existed in these walls—back when my father was alive.
And Aiden was here.