Chapter Thirty-One
Harley - Present Day
Don’t worry, Little Magpie, I’m here.”
Nothing on this entire planet could have prepared me for the feelings I felt when I finally saw Quinn and the scene that was set before me.
Nothing could have prepared me for the moment it hit me that I was too late to save her from the ECT therapy.
Nothing could ever have prepared me for the devastation I felt when I heard her whimper the word ‘Mummy’ in her most vulnerable moment, knowing that that monster of a woman was never coming back to get her. She didn’t care enough.
But the moment that obliterated my entire soul? Was hearing the word ‘magpie’ come from her lips before she passed out again.
I drop down to my knees in front of the makeshift bed she lies on, her head on the lap of a girl I’ve never met. Shadows dance across her face from the limited light in the room.
“Who are you?” I ask, my tone steadfast despite the emotions racing through my veins. X stands behind me with Ted at his side. I turn to look at him in an attempt to hide the fact I’m blinking away my tears.
“I’m Rhiannon. We’re… Friends.”
“Hi, Rhiannon. A friend of Quinn’s is a friend of ours. I’m Harley. This is X. And this,” I gesture to Ted to come and join me, “is Ted.” He pants by the side of me, and Rhiannon picks up the cup of water and puts it in front of him.
“Here, boy, have a drink,” she says. “You can’t be here. If Richard or Darla see you, there will be consequences. They’re watching. How did you even get in here? There’s an electric fence?”
I look over my shoulder at X, but his vision is transfixed on Rhiannon. Not the time to let your dick lead, bud.
Ted finishes his drink and walks towards Quinn. His tongue laps at her face as if he’s trying to wake her.
“Don’t worry about those two. They won’t know we’ve been until after we’re gone. There are no cameras within the property for them to watch, and the electric fence is off. Can you tell me what’s happened?”
“She was taken to the treatment room earlier and given ECT therapy. I heard her crying before it happened and then again afterwards, but the patients can’t get out of here and over to there. I was stuck. I couldn’t help her.” Rhiannon sobs as she recounts what happened earlier on.
I reach out to comfort her. “I’m going to check the rest of the building,” X says.
“Be careful of Richard. If he spots you, she’ll be punished for it.”
“No, she won’t. She’s coming with me. What brings you here?”
“My parents died a few years back, and I had a mental breakdown. I was sent to the hospital, and Dr Stephanie found me. She told me everything would be okay, that she would look after me. I’ve been here ever since.”
“You’ve been here for years?”
She nods. “I’ve had no way of getting out.
We’re under constant supervision. No visitors allowed.
No contact with the outside world.” She shrugs.
Almost like what I said earlier finally sinks in.
“Hang on. So there are no cameras for them to watch? I’ve been told since the day I came here that they were hidden in places we would never find.
And the fence isn’t alive? I could have left? ”
For once, I’m at a loss for words. “This is my life, now,” she mutters, melancholy sinking in.
X walks back through the door. “Not on my watch, Little One.” Her head shoots up as if his voice commanded her attention, a small sparkle in her eyes. He looks at me, and I smirk. Little One, hey? “Whatever thoughts are going through your head right now, keep them to your fucking self, H.”
I hold my hands up in surrender. “As if I would ever…”
“Everyone that’s in the building is asleep. Or at least, it seems like they are.”
“What do you mean?” I ask him.
“Well, they didn’t even stir. Not one of them.”
“Dr Stephanie drugs us in the evenings to make sure we sleep.”
Ted drops next to Rhiannon, his head on her lap, pawing at her for attention.
It’s a distraction technique we taught him to enable us to keep the transitions from place to place as smooth as possible.
There are a lot of feelings and emotions in an extraction; some really want to go, others are still in denial.
And when the kids are involved, he’s priceless.
“So how have you managed to be here for Quinn?”
“I told her today I’d come and find her after dark. I squirrelled my evening meds so that I’d be awake when they brought her back. Usually, I take them for the escape, but when I met Quinn in the cafeteria, something just drew me to her.”
“She seems to have that effect on people.”
I reach out and touch my knuckles to Quinn’s forehead. She's cold and clammy, but her hair is soaked to her head.
“How has she been for the last few hours?”
“In and out. Lots of crying. Nightmares. She’s been mumbling incoherently like she’s experiencing flashbacks. I’ve tried to comfort her by stroking her hair or her back, but I don’t think it’s helped.”
“It’s helped, trust me.” I nod at her reassuringly.
“Little Magpie…” I keep my voice soft so as not to startle her. The last thing I want is her waking up scared and having to start from the beginning again.
Nothing.
“Little Magpie, I need you to wake up for me.” I stroke her cheek.
She stirs.
“Come on, Magpie, you’ve got this. Wake up, baby.”
A whimper comes from her as her eyes flutter open.
A moment passes, and then recognition floods her face as the whimper becomes a sob, and before I know it she’s flinging herself at me, her arms are wrapped around my neck, and I’m pushed on my ass.
I circle my arms around her waist and whisper in her ear.
“Ssssshhhh. It’s ok, Little Magpie. I’m here. I’ve got you.”
She sobs. And sobs. “You came for me. “
“Always, Little Magpie,” I whisper in her ear.
“I can’t stay here. Please don’t make me stay here.”
“I’m not leaving you here, Magpie, don’t worry. You’re coming with me.” Her sobs quieten; she continues mumbling the odd words that don’t quite make sense, and she passes back out.
I take in the surroundings of the room and the absolute filth she’s been living in. I stroke her hair as I rock back and forth.
“We need to get going. The last thing we need is a confrontation with Richard, whoever he is,” X says.
“He’s one of the head nurses. There are two of them. Him and Darla. The doctor only comes in for procedures. Other than that, we’re basically in our rooms or being forced to exercise.”
“Being forced?” His eyes turn molten.
“Yes. For one hour every day, we must be on the move for the entire hour. Quinn collapsed earlier today because of it. She begged them not to make her. She even asked for an aid, to make the movement easier, but Richard laughed at her.”
“Why do they force you to exercise? What happens if you don’t?” he asks her. I notice with every question he’s inadvertently moving towards her.
“I’ve never refused. But others have. They have really strict rules here, and punishments can vary.
They rob you of your senses, lock you in dark, padded rooms, or withhold hydration and toilet privileges.
When you’re here, you’re expected to be the perfect weight for your height.
The more overweight you are, the less you're fed and the more you’re forced to exercise. ”
X crouches next to Rhiannon, all the while I refuse to let go of Quinn.
She whimpers occasionally, but she’s dead to the world, and it’s probably for the best. “I can only imagine the things you’ve seen and endured in this place, Little One.
Trust me when I tell you, you’ll never be at their mercy again. ”
I smile into Quinn’s hair.
Who knew the key to turning X into a marshmallow was locked away in a facility in the middle of nowhere?
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” she says.
“Everyone breaks their promises. They leave. Why should I believe you’re no different?
” Her expression darkens. She’s fiery. He’s got his work cut out for him, and I’m here for it.
About time he put in some work instead of lazing around watching The Vampire Diaries fucking traitorous prick.
“I just am. You don’t have to believe me. I’ll show you.”
“You can’t show me if I’m in here. I told you, I have nowhere to go.”
“Well, I’ve got the perfect solution for that.” He stands up.
“Ted, leave.” Ted lifts his head, looks at him and practically rolls his eyes, before dropping his head back onto Rhiannon’s lap.
Both Rhiannon and I burst out laughing.
“Ted, move.” He points in the direction of me. Nothing. Ted doesn’t even so much as move his head this time. “Fucking dog. Ruining my meet-cute here, Ted. Sort your fucking dog out, H.”
“Ted. Come.” He immediately comes trotting over, and X shakes his head in exasperation.
“You couldn’t just do me a solid this one time?” he asks me.
“Sorry, bud. I love to watch you struggle.”
“You fucking wanker.” He sighs as he puts his torch back into his belt, makes sure it’s secure and undoes his jacket. “Here, Little One, put this on.” He places the jacket over her shoulders, encouraging her to put her arms in, before doing the zip up to her chin. She shivers.
“What are you—” He bends down, scoops his arm under her legs and lifts her up into a fireman's carry and stalks out the door.”
Ted looks up at me expectantly. “I guess that’s our cue to go, bud.” I place Quinn back on the bed before standing up and mimicking X’s actions so I can safely get Quinn away from here.
“Ted, come.” He trots alongside me. I turn in a circle, taking in my surroundings to make sure I’m not forgetting anything, but there’s literally nothing here except for the poor excuse for a mattress she’s been sleeping on.
The anxiety that had been previously crawling through my skin has subsided now that I have her in my arms. But there’s a sense of failure that I couldn’t get to her before Stephanie did.
The feelings and emotions wrestling inside of me are impossible to compute.
Relief. Happiness. Terror at what could have been.
Then the emotion I’ve been hiding from for most of my life smacks me in the face.
“You’re safe, Little Magpie. I’ll never let anyone hurt you again.”
I walk through the door in the direction we came to catch up to X.
We make it to the van with no issues. There’s been zero activity from the main house since we’ve been here, but if what Rhiannon said is true, then it’s not surprising. Richard and Darla are probably off Netflix ‘n’ chillin’.
“Put me down!” X does as Rhiannon asks, and if looks could kill, he’d be a corpse. “What about everyone else?” she asks. “You can’t just leave them.”
“We’ll come back for them, but right now, you two are our priority,” I say as I place Quinn in one of the back seats and pull her seatbelt around her.
“They’ll come looking for us. They’re not just going to let you take us and let it go. They have paperwork that says we’re theirs to do with as they please.”
“Look at me,” X commands. He places his hands on her shoulders.
“I know you have no idea who we are and what we are doing here. But I promise you, they won’t be able to find you.
This is what we do for a living. And if, in the rare event they manage to figure out where you are, I’ve got one hell of a right hook to keep them at bay. ”
“We will tell you everything you need to know, but first, we need to get you both to a safe space. We have a few hours before the sun comes up and they presumably start waking everyone up, so the more distance we can put between them and us, the better.”
“Fine,” she says. “I’ll trust you. But I’m watching you. Don’t make me regret it.”
I stand at the side of the van watching their exchange in absolute awe. He’s like this rock-hard-no feelings asshole that’s all of a sudden turned into a fucking teddy bear for this little firecracker he found by chance. I’ve never seen him act this way towards a woman. It’s… fascinating.
“Right, you two, enough flirting. Time to go.”
“I’m not—” she says.
“We weren't,” X says at the same time.
“Yeah, yeah, and I’m not secretly in love with my soon-to-be-patient. Pull the other one.”
Rhiannon gets in the front next to X, whilst I climb into the back with Quinn. I’ve just gotten her back; I’m never letting her out of my sight again.