Chapter 5
FIVE
REID
I open my eyes and stare up at the ceiling, trying to figure out why I just heard my ex-wife’s voice.
A nightmare? Perhaps. Most divorcees would probably say that any dream that features elements of their ex-wife qualifies as a bad one.
But something feels off. I’m not totally convinced the voice was in my dream. It felt closer. It felt more real.
But it can’t have been.
Sadie doesn’t live here anymore.
I share my bed with Luna now.
I look to my right, to where I expect to find my new partner lying beside me. But she’s not there. That causes me to look towards our ensuite bathroom, but I don’t see a light on in there, nor hear any noises, suggesting she isn’t in there either.
Where has she gone?
A quick check on my bedside clock tells me that it is just after midnight, so I calculate that I have been asleep for around an hour or so. Nowhere near enough rest to prepare me for another day, but at least I got something. But what about Luna? Why isn’t she able to rest?
‘Daddy?’
The small and surprising voice from the doorway gives me a fright. It’s Ruby, my dainty daughter, in her baggy pyjamas, holding her favourite teddy bear and looking sleepy. I guess something woke her too. Then I see her brother appear behind her.
‘What was that noise?’ he asks me and that tells me I was not dreaming. My children heard something too. That fact, along with Luna not being where she should be, makes me get out of bed quickly. I’m starting to sense danger.
‘Everything’s okay,’ I say to the little visitors in my bedroom, but that’s more because I’m trying to be a good parent and ease any worries they might have, rather than I know it to be true.
The truth is, hearing unexpected and unexplained noises at this time of night is rarely a good thing, so now I’m worried too.
I’m worried that there might be an intruder downstairs.
If so, is Luna okay? Or is she in trouble?
I’m just about to call out for her when she speaks.
‘Reid,’ she calls, but her voice is low and weak-sounding, as if it took a lot of energy for her just to make that sound.
It came from below, so I rush to the top of the stairs, closely followed by Arthur and Ruby, who are sticking tightly to me.
Just before I look down, I hear Luna utter my name again, sounding even worse than she did the first time.
Then I look and I realise why I thought I heard Sadie a few seconds ago.
It’s because she’s here.
‘Mummy!’ Ruby cries when she sees what I see.
Sadie’s limp – and possibly lifeless – body is lying at the foot of the staircase.
Standing just past her, with her back to the wall and a hand over what looks like a bloody wound on her arm, is Luna.
She stares up at me, her face pale, eyes vacant, looking like a ghost wandering the halls of the house at witching hour.
‘Mum?’ Arthur says, confused.
Then his sister takes off, scampering down the stairs towards the stricken Sadie. Arthur rushes after her and I follow them, uncertain about what exactly has happened but certain that it is very, very bad.
‘Is she…?’ I say to Luna, but she doesn’t answer me. She just watches the children as they reach Sadie and try their best to wake her up.
They pull at her arms and touch her face and call her name. They’re only doing what any frightened child would do if they saw their mother struggling, but I suddenly worry they might be doing more harm than good.
‘Leave her alone. Give her some space,’ I cry. ‘Mummy is hurt and she needs to rest while we get her some help.’
Without knowing what caused this scene, I cannot be sure that Sadie hasn’t injured her neck or spine or some other part of her body that would not react kindly to being poked and prodded by two worried children.
That’s why I make Arthur and Ruby retreat so that the next person who touches my ex-wife is a trained paramedic.
Or at least the next person after me. That’s because I cannot resist. I have to check for a pulse. So I do. I place my hand on one of Sadie’s limp wrists and try to detect a heartbeat beneath her skin.
Can I feel one? It’s hard to tell if it’s hers or mine. I’ve never had to do this before. It looks a lot simpler in the movies. But not so simple in real life.
‘Is she dead?’ Luna whispers to me, conscious of the kids, and when I look back at her, I see genuine fear on her face, as if the question hangs heavy on her but she had to ask it anyway.
‘Daddy?’ Ruby says, tears in her eyes. I quickly pull her in for a hug, leaving Luna’s question unanswered.
But what can I say? I can hardly say yes when the kids are here.
But I can’t say no and potentially give them false hope.
The truth is that I don’t know what state Sadie is in, which is why it’s imperative that we get somebody here who does.
I know we need an ambulance here ASAP. But first, I need to know why it’s needed in the first place.
‘What happened?’ I ask Luna, approaching her and seeing that the injury to her arm is bad. It looks like she has been cut. There is blood everywhere. One of her wrists looks damaged too, possibly broken. Sadie might be in a bad state behind me, but Luna hasn’t fared much better.
‘She broke in,’ Luna tells me, still looking shaken.
‘What?’
‘I heard a noise so I came down to check, and she attacked me with a knife,’ Luna goes on, her voice low but not so quiet that Arthur and Ruby can’t hear her.
I want to move my children away so I can talk to Luna freely, but I can see that there is little chance of them leaving their mother’s side, so I gently lead Luna into the kitchen instead.
When I do, I see a chaotic scene and I’m glad the children haven’t seen it too.
There’s blood on the floor. For some reason, there is also a pair of hedge clippers sitting on the breakfast bar.
‘She came in through the garage,’ Luna tells me, still clutching the wound on her arm, one that I now realise is a stab wound.
‘Maybe I forgot to lock the door. I don’t know.
But just as I came in here, she was coming in too and she had the hedge clippers with her.
I was scared and asked her what she was doing, and she said she wanted to get rid of me so she could have her family back. ’
‘Oh my god.’
‘I tried to get her to calm down. To see sense. I asked her to put the clippers down and she did. I thought it was going to be okay then, but she suddenly grabbed a knife and lunged at me and she stabbed me. I panicked and we fought, and I must have hurt my wrist trying to stop her from stabbing me again. Then she left the kitchen and ran. I feared she was going up to you, but she slipped before she could get there. She banged her head on the way down and hasn’t woken up since. ’
It’s a harrowing tale, told by a woman who is clearly traumatised. All I can think to do after hearing it is to wrap my arms around Luna and give her a hug. Except I can’t do that because she is seriously hurt and I don’t want to make her feel worse.
‘I’m calling an ambulance right now,’ I say. ‘And the police too.’
Luna doesn’t stop me. She tries to stem the blood flow from her arm. But just before my call to the emergency services can connect, she speaks up.
‘I’m worried about the baby,’ she says.
‘It’ll be okay,’ I reply, but I don’t know if that is true and now Luna is crying.
I have no choice. I have to try and hug her. She needs it. So do I.
As I embrace her, I’m as worried about our unborn child as she is and while I didn’t endure this frightening experience, I feel as scared as she must be. That’s because I’m scared of all the unknowns.
Why did this happen?
What will the consequence of it all be?
Is our baby really okay?
How will my children process this?
And, of course, the obvious questions that the police will want answering just as much as I do:
One, how could my ex-wife do something as terrible as this?
Two, will she live to be punished for it?