Chapter 17
Chapter seventeen
Haelyn
Ithought Jace would’ve assigned me some kind of security after everything started unfolding, but he told Zonnique she was responsible for keeping an eye on me.
I wasn’t too mad. That actually worked in my favor.
The last thing I needed was some armed man following me around while I still had Talia hidden away.
Sitting across from her, I watched as she ate peacefully, completely unaware of the real reason for my visit.
Talia chewed slowly, savoring every bite, while I silently counted down the final moments of her life.
That girl had no idea she was finishing her last meal and that once she swallowed the final bite, there would be nothing left for her but me.
I had spent most of that morning pacing my room, contemplating what to do about her and arguing with the voices until my head throbbed.
You can’t keep her forever.
She knows too much.
I had argued back every time, insisting there had to be another way.
Maybe I could move her somewhere else.
Maybe I could keep bringing her food.
Maybe, eventually, she would understand why I had done all of this and promise not to tell anyone.
The voices laughed at that.
By morning, they had worn me down.
Every excuse I made they tore apart and every alternative I suggested they found a reason it wouldn’t work. Eventually, killing her stopped feeling like a choice and started feeling like the only way to protect the life I had finally been given another chance at.
Despite the situation, Talia hadn’t threatened to expose me or done anything that made killing her feel deserved.
That was what made the decision so difficult.
I truly hated the thought of having to kill her.
But I couldn’t keep her there alive, and I could never let her go…
especially not with everything at stake.
I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees. “You know, Talia, you’ve been such a good, kept secret… but secrets don’t stay quiet forever. Well, not all anyway.”
Talia froze mid-bite, and I could tell she had finally sensed that something was wrong.
“Wh-What is that supposed to mean?” she stammered, her voice trembling with a mix of confusion and fear.
“I have to figure out what to do with you. You can’t stay down here forever.
” I paused. “Well, technically, you could. But I sure as hell can’t keep sneaking over here every other day, spending money to feed you, cleaning up after you, and worrying about whether you’re gonna make a run for it, especially once I get too big to physically stop you. ”
As I spoke, I rubbed a hand over my still-flat stomach.
“Being pregnant is exhausting as it is. I already have prenatal vitamins, appointments, and morning sickness to keep up with. Maintaining a captive was never supposed to be part of the pregnancy package… not for too long anyway. I also still have to make time for my man. Jace is not about to be competing with a hostage for my attention.”
A bittersweet smile tugged at my lips.
“I don’t want to kill you… really, I don’t,” I admitted, my voice softening with surprising sincerity. “You’ve actually been pretty cooperative lately. You’re kinda like a little house mouse—quiet, nervous, and always watching me like you’re trying to figure out whether I brought food or bad news.”
Talia’s eyes filled with fresh fear.
“But that’s the problem with mice.” I tilted my head as I studied her. “They stay harmless right up until they get desperate enough to bite… and I can’t afford to let you get that desperate.”
My hand slipped into my purse, fingers closing around the cold metal of the gun buried at the bottom. I tightened my grip and carefully pulled it free.
Talia’s reaction was instantaneous.
Her eyes widened in a mix of disbelief and fear, darting from the gun to my face, searching for reassurance.
“Oh, no! Please don’t shoot me! I’ll… I’ll go back to my regular life! I won’t bother you, I promise! Just don’t do whatever you’re thinking about doing! I won’t tell anyone! I swear!”
The abrupt voices that showed up were panicky and sharp enough to make my head throb.
She’s lying!
She’ll talk!
You know she will!
Plus, she’s nervous, and people get dangerous when they get nervous!
She’ll ruin everything.
She’s a problem that needs to be handled now!
“Stop it!” I yelled wildly, clutching my head. “Just stop!”
Talia’s mouth closed instantly.
Not you, the voices whispered.
Haelyn, she thinks you meant her.
“I know she thinks I meant her!” I muttered irritably. “That’s because all of you started talking at the same damn time!”
“Haelyn… w-who are you talking to?” Talia asked, her voice cautious and shaky.
The voices erupted all at once.
Oh, no!
She knows about our existence!
This is exactly why we told you to stop answering us out loud!
Now she’s looking at you… at us!
Make her stop looking!
Great! Now she’s going to think you’re crazy!
Think? She already knows!
Should we hide?
Where? We live in her head, idiot!
They screeched over one another so loudly that I could barely separate one from the next. One was crying, another kept repeating that we were “doomed,” and a third had already decided Talia was going to expose all of us.
Do something!
Fix it!
She can’t leave here knowing about us!
Their panic swelled until it felt like a room full of terrified people trapped inside my skull, shouting, sobbing, and blaming me at the same time.
I hastily turned my back.
I wasn’t worried about Talia choking me or trying to knock me unconscious with something.
Her hands were free, but her ankles were restrained, and she was too far away to reach me without moving.
The scrape of the chain against the floor would’ve warned me long before she got close enough to try anything.
I slowly scanned the room, studying every corner, every shadow, every place something might be hiding and listening. For a second, the darkness near the wall seemed to shift, stretching itself into the shape of a person before settling again.
“You shouldn’t say my name like that,” I spoke in an eerie tone.
“L-like what?” Talia stammered.
“Like you’re trying to give me away.”
A soft laugh slipped from my lips. It started as a quiet chuckle, then deepened into something darker as I kept my back to her.
“I’m not!” she rushed out. “Haelyn, I swear I’m not!”
The bulb above me flickered once, then twice, buzzing loudly through the basement.
I stared up at it.
“They know you know,” I murmured.
A strained silence followed.
“Who… who knows?” Talia asked carefully. “And what do they think I know?”
“The voices.” I briefly glanced back at her over my shoulder, smiling. “They know you hear me talking to them.”
“I… I don’t hear them!” she exclaimed quickly. “I only hear you! That’s it!”
I sighed. “That’s what they said you would say. You know… I’m their only family, and truthfully, they’re the only ones I have in my corner… literally.”
A bitter laugh slipped from my lips.
“They’ve been with me for a long time… longer than anybody else. They don’t like meeting new people, and they really hate sharing me. Sometimes they get jealous when somebody takes up too much of my attention.” I paused. “Oh, but they love Jace.”
My smile slowly returned.
“They’re very protective over me too… sometimes too protective.
They comfort me. They know every thought, every secret, and every person who’s ever hurt me.
They warn me when somebody is lying, acting suspicious, or knows something they shouldn’t.
” I lowered my voice. “And once they decide somebody is a threat, they don’t stop talking until I do something about it. ”
“I… I don’t know anything! And I’m not a threat!”
“They don’t believe you…” I let the silence stretch. “But I do.”
I spun around abruptly with a wide grin.
“Gotcha!”
Talia flinched so hard the restraints on her ankles rattled.
A laugh burst out of me as I pointed at her. “Oh, my God! You really believed I hear voices in my head?”
For several seconds, Talia only stared at me, her chest rising and falling rapidly.
“You… you were joking?”
“Obviously.” I rolled my eyes like she was the crazy one. “Girl, you should’ve seen your face!” I laughed.
Talia’s shoulders lowered, and she released a shaky breath that sounded almost like a laugh. Relief flickered across her face, but it didn’t erase the fear completely.
When me and Talia reunited, I confided in her about my time spent in Willowgate. She knew I was on medication and that I “supposedly” killed two people.
The jury is still out on that.
However, I never told her about the voices. That was one thing I chose to keep to myself.
Some secrets are too personal to share… especially when those secrets can hear you talking about them.
The voices in my head got louder, like bees trapped in glass.
Haelyn, are you serious?!
You believe her but not us?!
The betrayal!
I’m appalled!
After everything we’ve done for you!
We have supported every bad decision you’ve ever made!
That is not the point right now!
If you let her walk out of here and she rats on you, all of this will have been for nothing!
Think with your head, Haelyn, not your heart… preferably the part of your head where we live!
Think about Jace! You can’t lose him!
Yeah!
And she won’t just take him, she’ll take the baby too!
You’re right. After everything I’ve sacrificed and survived I simply cannot lose him again… not to Talia, not to Zonnique, not to nobody! I refuse to let anybody ruin this for me!
Then you know what you have to do.
I do.
“Haelyn, why are you doing this?” A tremor ran through Talia’s voice, revealing the hope she was trying desperately to hold on to.
My grip tightened around my gun as I turned around slowly.
“Talia, you really don’t understand. You’re too human for a world like this. People like you still cling to the idea that love and kindness can mend everything and that honesty saves people.”
My hand trembled with uncertainty as I slowly lifted the gun toward her.