Chapter 3 Snow
SNOW
Impossibly loud banging wakes me the next morning.
My one day off and Caleb decides it’s the perfect time to do some sort of construction.
Burying my head under the pillow, I wait out the flurry of bangs and sigh deeply.
When silence falls, lingering tendrils of my dream try to tempt me back to sleep and I ache to follow them.
Sleeping forever on my day off would be blissful.
Yesterday was the shift from hell after being so late, but there was one good thing.
That dinner with Xander.
He’s a strange man.
Often quiet and straight to the point, there's something cold about him that puts a lot of people off.
I hear them discuss in hushed whispers about how disconnected he seems to be, how cold he is with people and abrupt when things aren’t going his way.
But I see how highly his patients speak of him, how he treats them and involves himself in their care afterward.
There’s warmth in him, and I glimpsed it yesterday when he thanked me for dinner.
Replaying that moment over in my mind draws me into a warm dream that’s immediately interrupted by another flurry of banging.
“Caleb!” I yell with my eyes closed, hoping that will make him stop.
What the fuck is he doing?
Lifting my head, I blearily check my phone to see it’s just after eleven in the morning.
Not too early, but considering I didn’t get home until four, I’ve barely slept.
Each bang amplifies my fury until I’m out of bed and dragging on jeans so fast that they burn my thighs.
Storming out into the apartment, I pause in the kitchen and glance around.
“Caleb, what the fuck are you doing?”
No answer.
The living room is as empty as the kitchen.
Did I dream it?
Am I that sleep-deprived that I just dreamed up—
BANG-BANG-BANG!
The terrible noise rises from the front door and my heart jumps into my throat.
If he locked himself out again, I’m going to leave him there. I’m sure I have earplugs somewhere in my room.
“Who is it?” I call as I approach the front door.
“That you, Caleb?” calls a gruff, unrecognizable noise.
Great. Someone looking for Caleb can’t be good news.
Sighing and fighting a yawn, I open the door but as soon as the latch slips free, the door is kicked open with such force I’m flung back against the coat rack.
“What the—what are you doing?”
Someone’s on me, a man with curly hair and a thick beard that grinds against my cheek from how hard he’s pressing against me.
Fatigue vanishes in an instant, replaced by terror as the man seals a bony hand around my neck and presses so hard that my tongue jerks in my mouth.
“Where the fuck is Caleb?” the man barks, his foul breath washing over me and further restricting my limited breathing.
“I—” My head pounds suddenly, my heart racing, and my nails claw at the bony wrist as the man presses harder and harder. “I d-don’t know—”
A shadow moves past the thin man as my vision blurs.
Heat flushes over my body, erasing all touches of the cold November air that blows in the door.
The stranger doesn’t relax, even for a second, but just as darkness threatens to take me from a lack of air, the pressure is gone.
I collapse to the floor, gasping and coughing at the muddied boots of my attacker.
“Place is empty,” grunts a second voice, and a second pair of boots comes into view as I retch on the ground.
“You see Caleb, you tell him we’re looking for him, understand?” The first voice drifts down from above. “If I have to come back here, then I don’t care who I’m taking my pound of flesh from. I’m getting it one way or another.”
Wheezing, I scramble away on my hands and knees and collapse against the wall while both men turn and exit my apartment.
Through hot tears, I see their blurred forms make their way down the path and into a blue car, then they drive off as if nothing had ever happened.
“Oh my… Oh, my God!” I blink, and the tears spill while the deafening silence of my apartment alerts me to how alone I am.
Even the street outside is bare and gray thanks to the overcast clouds.
What the fuck just happened?
Scrambling to my feet, I slam the front door and lock it, then I rush to the bathroom, tripping over myself in desperation.
My red cheeks stick out like gleaming lanterns in the watery light and a red ring encircles my throat.
Swallowing sends sharp pains down my neck and my tongue is too fat for my mouth.
“The police,” I gasp at my reflection. “Call the police!”
It’s a scramble to find my phone in my bedroom but as I dial 911, a hand suddenly slaps my phone out of my hand.
I scream as it lands on my bed and turn, expecting one of the attackers to still be here, but I come face to face with Caleb.
My closet door hangs open behind him.
“You were here this entire fucking time?” I scream, slamming both hands into his shoulders. “You were hiding in here? You fucking coward, what the fuck?”
Caleb slaps my hands away with a grunt. “I was asleep.”
“Fuck you, no, you weren’t! You were hiding while your friends fucking attacked me?”
Caleb brushes me off with a scoff and leaves my room, but I follow him all the way into the living room.
“What the fuck is going on?”
“They’re not my friends,” he grunts, dropping down onto the couch and grabbing the remote.
“Are you serious?” Lunging at him, I snatch the remote away. “You’re just going to sit there and watch TV after I was attacked by people looking for you?”
“They’re gone, aren’t they?” He glares at me. “Give me the remote.”
“You fucking asshole. I’m calling the cops.” I throw the remote at him and it hits his chest, but when I turn back to my room, he’s suddenly on his feet dragging me back.
“No cops! Are you trying to fuck shit up for me?”
“Get off!” I wrench my arm free, but he hangs on like an iron manacle.
“Call the cops and I’ll tell them you’re fucking crazy and attacked yourself, then me.”
That stops me dead in my tracks.
Slowly, I turn to look at him.
Once upon a time, his green eyes and blond hair framed a face I loved with all my heart.
Now I’m facing a stranger who has no qualms about hurting others to get what he wants.
“You’re insane,” I whisper, so shocked that the tears can’t even fall.
“Whatever. But I mean it. You call the cops and they’ll lock you up.” He releases me and slumps back to the couch while I stand, frozen, in the doorway.
“I was just attacked. How can you say that? How do you not care?”
“Look, they’re just looking for a little money, that’s all. I’ll sort it. Stop being so dramatic.”
“A little money?” Moving closer, I stand between him and the TV he’s so desperate to watch. “How much?”
“Move.”
“How much, Caleb?”
“I don’t know. A bunch. You kept nagging and nagging me about rent, so I sorted it but to do that, I had to borrow some money.”
Realization dawns like the cold wind rattling the windows. “They were loan sharks?”
“Sure. If that’s what you want to call them.”
“Caleb, what did you do?”
“It doesn’t fucking matter and it’s none of your business! Now get the fuck out the way!” Anger suddenly surges in his eyes so I sidestep the TV, my body trembling of its own accord.
“Caleb, those kinds of people are dangerous, and in case you forgot, I still live here. It’s my business!”
“You’re welcome to leave,” Caleb snarls.
“You know I can’t afford to do that!”
“If you stopped saving for that stupid trip to go and see a family that doesn’t even want you, then you’d be able to.
Then both our problems would be solved.” There’s nothing but cold indifference in his voice, but just as it settles, there’s suddenly warmth, and he looks at me like how he used to each time he wanted to win any of our arguments. “I’ll sort it. You know me.”
I can’t fall for it again. “You’re an asshole.”
“I’m sorry.” He sighs. “Maybe that comment was uncalled for.”
“You think?” I snap heatedly as frustration builds to overflowing. “I haven’t seen my family in years. You used to support my trip to see them.”
“I do. But, like, they don’t come and see you, so really, is it even worth the effort or the stress of having all that cash sitting there and not touching it?
And if you want to leave so bad, then I’m not going to stop you.
The only person stopping you is you so really, it’s your own fault you were even here today. ”
How did I love this man?
How did I think he was my Prince Charming ready to give me the perfect life?
He’s a manipulative dick and he’ll hold his ground with his bullshit story if I do call the cops.
Unable to say another word to him, I storm off to my room and sink down onto the bed, fighting back tears.
Caleb getting in with loan sharks is definitely something he would do, but it’s unbelievable that he would hide in here while they were kicking down the door and leave me to deal with them.
I can’t stay here. I’ll suffocate.
A quick 911 text to the group chat with my girls gives me a solution.
Lunch in an hour to catch up with those who are lucky enough to have a day off aligned with mine.
I dry my tears and grab my coat, but when it comes to leaving the apartment, I can’t do it.
What if they’re still out there, waiting for me?
What if they’re hiding and follow me to the cafe for lunch?
The cold handle warms against my palm the longer I hold it until Caleb trudges into the hall with a yawn. “The fuck are you doing?”
“Leaving.”
“I’ve heard that before.”
“I’m going out, you dick. Not leaving forever.”
“Shame.” He scoffs and trudges into the kitchen while scratching his chest.
The hiss of a beer can opening gives me the fuel I need and I wrench open the door, uncaring whether they’re waiting for me in the street.
This day can’t get much worse.