Chapter 7
I wasn't sure how long we drove before we turned onto what felt like the longest dirt road I'd ever been on.
I had a general idea of where we were—it was a small rural area where most teenagers around here spent hours driving dirt roads.
I was pretty sure Benji took extra roads to confuse me.
The road climbed and dipped, curved around bends, and climbed again.
Thankfully, the road was well-grated, otherwise I wasn't sure a Supra had any business on it.
We finally pulled up to a large house. It was a big two-story white home, classic-looking, with light blue shutters. There was a wrap-around porch on the ground level, windows all around. A couple of rocking chairs overlooked the driveway.
“Your new humble abode,” Quinnlyn said flatly.
“Cool,” I said to him.
“You always wanted to come to my house,” Benji said.
“Yeah… not as a prisoner,” I said.
Neither of them said anything. Quinnlyn’s truck pulled up behind us. Benji got out of the car and pulled the driver's seat forward. He reached his hand in to grab mine, and I quickly smacked it away. I didn’t need his help getting out of the car.
“Zay,” Benji said in a warning tone.
“I don’t need your help getting out, and I sure as hell ain’t running in the middle of nowhere,” I told him.
Quinnlyn let out a low chuckle next to me. My head snapped around, and I glared at him.
“What is so funny?” I asked him.
“Oh, nothing… Let’s go, climb out of here,” he replied.
I climbed out of the car, and Benji stood at the door, eyes locked onto me. Two figures walked out of the front door and stood watching the five of us. Joseph and Daniel were already standing around the car, all of them watching me.
As I looked at the figures on the porch, I recognized Ravik—and then the other one. The man from the gas station. The one who'd stared at my stomach.
“Who’s the guy next to your dad?” I asked Benji.
“My uncle—mom’s brother, why?”
“I’ve seen him before.”
We continued walking to the porch. Quinnlyn walked close behind me like before, though his hand wasn’t pressed into my back. The two men stood on the porch, arms crossed, eyes locked onto me. We walked up the sidewalk and onto the stairs.
“Where do you want her?” Benji asked.
“The room at the end of the hall upstairs. It's been outfitted for her," he said, clearing his throat.
Benji sighed. “Across from Daxyn’s—”
“He’s not staying here,” Ravik said, cutting off Benji.
“And my role in this?” Quinnlyn asked.
“You’ll stay with her day and night—”
“Excuse me… Sir,” Quinnlyn said, cutting him off.
“I didn’t stutter. There is plenty of room for both of you,” Ravik said.
“I have a fucking life. I shouldn't have to—” He stopped, exhaled hard through his nose. "Fine. But I’m tired of cleaning up your messes.”
Ravik’s hand connected with the side of Quinnlyn’s face. It whipped to the side, and he stumbled back.
“That is why you have been given this task, because you’re disrespectful and need to earn your place,” Ravik said.
“One day…” Quinnlyn said, barely above a whisper.
“One day what?” Ravik said, “you think you will lead, but you won’t, not while I stand here alive.”
Quinnlyn nodded slowly, staring at him. His hands clenched tight, the veins in the side of his neck pulsed.
“What about in a week and a half, when the moon is at its peak? Do you want me to stay in the room with her?” Quinnlyn finally said, breaking the awkward silence.
“Of course not. Someone will relieve you then, and on day one of waxing crescent,” he said.
I wasn’t sure what any of that meant. Why did he care about the full moon and the first day the moon starts to show light after a new moon?
“So, you want me to live with her? Why can’t Daxyn do this? Not trying to be disrespectful again, but it’s his child. I presume it’s one of the reasons why she’s being moved here,” Quinnlyn said.
“You know the answer to this. Now, Benji, take them to their room, and Quinnlyn?” Ravik said.
“Yes, sir?” Quinnlyn said. He was using manners, but there was a sense of loathing in his tone.
“I don’t want her out of the room for the next few weeks while we test things out, and if it comes to that, you don’t leave her side, and Quinnlyn—don’t question me again,” Ravik said.
He nodded before Benji walked into the house, and the two of us followed along.
As we walked through the door, there was a set of stairs that went up and another set that went down.
We went up the grey carpeted stairs. We turned right and headed down the hall, passing three doors, one on the right and two on the left.
At the end of the hall, there were two more doors, across from each other.
We went into the right room, and as I passed through the doorway, I noticed that there were two latches that could be padlocked.
The doorknob had double-key entries, locking from either inside or outside.
As we walked in, the room was large. There was a bed in the center, and at the far wall, there were three doors, spread out.
“Here is your new home,” Benji said.
“An upgraded cell, yay me,” I told him.
“I’m sorry,” Benji muttered.
“No, you’re not. Muttering it just ensures that,” I said.
He turned to walk out, then stopped and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a key on a small, braided rope and handed it to Quinnlyn.
“Good luck, bro,” Benji told him.
“Yeah… I’m gonna need it,” Quinnlyn said.
Benji walked out the door, closing it behind him. Quinnlyn entered the key in the doorknob and turned it, locking us in. I hadn’t moved from where I first walked in.
“There’s only one bed…” I said, eyes stopping on it.
He didn’t say anything, only nodding his head slowly.
I walked across the room to the door that was on the furthest left side, near the outside wall.
I pushed it open, and I felt along the wall until my hand found the switch and flipped it up.
A light flickered on, revealing an empty, narrow closet.
There was one pole that was attached that spanned across.
I turned off the light and pulled the door shut.
I walked to the next door, which wasn’t far from it.
I pushed the door open and flipped the light on.
There was a large bathroom, but there wasn’t much of anything in there.
There were a couple of folded towels that sat on the counter, and soap in a dispenser next to the handles.
There were two toothbrushes in plastic wrap, with a tube of toothpaste next to them.
A roll of toilet paper hung on the wall.
I flipped the switch off and stepped back into the room.
The last door sat almost against the hallway wall.
I stood in front of it and froze. I stared at the latch on the outside of the wall, with the unlocked padlock hanging open.
My stomach turned. This was what he meant by it was outfitted for me.
I closed my eyes and breathed in slowly through my mouth, then let it out.
I pushed it open and found the light switch.
It was a small room. This was once a nursery.
Lots of homes were built with a small room within the master room for the parents to be close to their child.
There was a twin bed with two pillows pressed against the left wall, and across from it was a television sitting on a small table.
On top of it, there was a VHS player. On the floor, next to the bed, there was some clothing folded up.
This was where they were going to keep me.
I stood in the doorway, frozen. The doe again.
Always the doe. Naive, timid, and shy. My knees collapsed under me, and to the floor I went.
I knew I should be happy that I was no longer in a dirty cement cell, but I was still a prisoner.
What did I do to deserve this? Why me? Tears streamed down my cheeks, and sobs escaped my mouth.
“Stop crying. You've had forty-one days to accept this,” Quinnlyn said with no emotion.
“Shut… the… fuck… up,” I sobbed out.
“That’s really what I’m asking you to do… but okay,” he said.
I stood, finished walking into the room, and slammed the door behind me.
“This should be fun!” he yelled out.
I sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the black screen.
Tears continued to pour down my face. I laid down, pulling one of the pillows into my arms, holding it tightly against my face.
I screamed into the pillow. He was wrong.
I might not be able to get out of here, but I didn’t have to accept this fate, nor did I have to make this easy on anyone. I cried myself to sleep, again.
My eyes shot open, and my entire body jolted—something pulling me awake. Standing in the open doorway was Quinnlyn, staring at me.
“That is fucking creepy!” I yelled out.
“While you were getting your beauty rest, they brought your tapes, coloring books, books, and lunch,” he said.
“It’s not appropriate to stare at people while they sleep,” I said.
“Didn’t stop me before,” he said, then shrugged his shoulders.
“Am I supposed to stay in here?”
“If you mean this closet? No, you can move around within this room, the bathroom, or the other closet,” he said.
“Okay,” I said.
I moved to get off the bed and walked into the main room.
There was a box that sat on the floor next to the door.
I could see the VHS tapes piled in there.
Something at the edge of my vision caught my eye, and I turned my head to look at the small loveseat sitting in front of the window.
My head twisted slightly. On each side, there was a table.
One of them had a stack of books, and the other had a plate of food.
“How long was I out?” I asked.
“A few hours, I demanded a few things for myself while you were sleeping,” he said.
“Hmm,” I said.
I walked to the loveseat and sat down on the side where the food had been, grabbing the plate.
It was still a paper plate, with plastic utensils.
Guess I still hadn’t moved up from that.
Quinnlyn walked to the window, pushed the curtain to the side a little, and looked out.
He had his back to me, and I stared down at the plate in my lap.
There were chicken strips, mashed potatoes, and carrots.
I couldn’t believe this was all happening. I couldn’t believe that I had twenty-seven more weeks. How was I going to survive this? I didn’t understand any of it. Why not take the baby from me after it was born? What had Quinnlyn done to deserve this punishment?
“Why do you stick around here?” I asked him, breaking our silence.
“Obligations,” he said, flatly.
“They clearly treat you like crap, and now you’re pretty much a prison—”
“I’m not a prisoner,” he said before I could finish.
“Well, not like me, but you’re trapped in this room with me,” I said.
“I’m not trapped—” he reached into his pocket and pulled out the key, “—remember I have a key.”
“Yes, but you can’t leave,” I said.
He sighed. “What are you trying to get out?”
“Oh, nothing. Trying to figure out why you let them treat you like this.”
“They don’t treat me like—”
“Ravik hit you,” I cut him off.
He let out a low growl, and something clicked—I was getting under his skin. Maybe this was my way out of here.