I looked around for Charlie who seemed to have disappeared. There was no way I would be able to stop them if they fought so I had to try to defuse the situation.
“She doesn’t look like yours. Otherwise she wouldn’t have been over here flirting with my dick.” The words were barely out of Chad’s mouth before he was flipped over the weight bench by a fierce right hook from Keiran. I was pretty sure I saw a couple of teeth fly too.
“Stop! What the hell do you think you are doing?” I grabbed onto Keiran’s arm to stop him from pursuing Chad who was still laid out on the floor, motionless. He ripped his arm away and glared down at me, his face a mask of uncontrolled fury.
“Get your shit and let’s go.”
“What? No.”
“Monroe!” he roared and I nearly jumped out of my skin. His temple was throbbing again and he looked ready to strangle me. Charlie had finally appeared and was attempting to revive Chad.
“I can’t leave my job. Are you insane?”
As soon as the words were out I was hauled over his shoulder and being carted out of the door. A gym full of people and no one stepped forward to stop the unstable teen. Unbelievable. His challenger was double parked outside with the engine running. Something told me he was already planning to do this. It made me long for the Keiran who bullied me from a distance.
“Why did you come here? I told you I was working,” I said while he dumped me into the backseat. A second later I heard the locks engage and he was walking back inside the gym. I unlocked the door and tried to open it but it wouldn’t budge so I tried the other and it did the same. Did he freaking child lock me in?
I contemplated kicking the window in for payback but knew that I wouldn’t get far before he caught me so I climbed into the front seat and by the time I was opening the door, he was walking back out. I hurried back into the backseat but it was too late. He’d already caught me trying to escape.
“How long have you been working there?”
“A year. What gives you the right to jeopardize my job like that? I could be fired.”
“I already took care of that.”
“What?”
“I told them you quit. You aren’t going back there.”
* * *
I told my aunt I had really bad stomach pains and couldn’t talk long when she called. It was partially true although the real reason was more because of Keiran. He watched me like a hawk when I talked to her and I didn’t want to risk my aunt detecting something wrong so I kept the call short.
He immediately left when I ended the call, saying he had to go out of town, but took my car keys with a warning to stay and that he would be back. I didn’t understand him. Why go through all that trouble to find me if he wasn’t going to stick around? I thought for sure he would demand sex although I didn’t think my body could handle another night like last night. I could feel the soreness between my thighs even now.
I thought about calling the gym and apologizing for what happened and maybe even begging to keep my job but the humiliation was too fresh so I put it off for tomorrow and decided to do homework instead. I had to stay ahead so I wouldn’t fall behind. I wished my parents could see me now. They were so devastated when I was diagnosed with dyslexia. It was one of my clearest memories. I learned that it wasn’t the end of the world when I realized that the disability to learn normally didn’t mean an inability to learn. One thing it did make me do was appreciate learning and education more. It was why I want to become a teacher. Dyslexia wasn’t something that I could outgrow but it was something that I could conquer.
I was in the living room searching for my favorite writing pen my aunt bought me on one of her trips when I noticed the corner of something black peeking out from underneath the couch near the side table. I bent to pick up the object, realizing it was an envelope addressed to me.
There was a birthday card inside so I flipped open the card and what I saw caused my heart to stop and I felt gut punched. Inside was a picture of a little girl.
A dead girl.
Her hair was blonde and she looked to be no more than six or seven years old. The edges were ragged and worn from time or rough handling so the picture might have been a few years old. The bleeding hole in her head had me fighting back the need to vomit. I inspected the card but didn’t see any sign of a signature or idea of who the card came from. My mind raced to figure out who the card could have come from and how it got here.
The break in!
It was the only thing that made sense. Since then I have argued over the reasons why someone would break into an occupied house. They did it to leave this note. I searched the picture for a clue but came up empty. I was sure I’d never seen the girl before so why would someone leave me a picture of her corpse?
When a realization centered in my mind the envelope fell from my hand and drifted to the floor. This would mean the break in wasn’t random. Oh shit. I picked up the card and flipped it over to inspect the back and read the words that sealed my fate.
This is your only warning.
Chapter Twelve
Regret and nervousness had me looking over my shoulder once again. “I shouldn’t have come. Why did I let you talk me into this?”
“Calm down, Lake. It’s Saturday and it’s just a football game. He probably won’t even be here. But if he tries to bully you we’ll leave, okay?”
How did I tell her that it wasn’t bullying I was worried about? That Keiran was using sex and death threats to torment me now? I agreed to come out here because I owed Willow and I missed her. Besides Keiran said he was going out of town. He didn’t say when he’d be back but I assumed it was for the weekend because I haven’t heard from him since he left me stranded in my house.
The house that had been too quiet and the guilt that was weighing in on me, not to mention the creepy birthday card all also caused me to break out of my cage. The house I shared with my aunt used to be my safe haven, but Keiran had managed to turn that against me as well.
I still haven’t told my aunt about the break in after she called again to check in on me. With her tour, I didn’t want her to worry or worse, cancel, so I put it off for now. Besides, I still believe that if she was gone she was safer where Keiran couldn’t get to her.
“Okay,” I finally replied as we entered the gate. There was no going back now, I thought as I released a heart breath. “But aren’t you avoiding Dash?”
“Yes, but I refuse to let him keep me from living.” Willow was right of course but it wasn’t that simple for me.
Keiran now controls every aspect of my life. Actually he always has. Every decision I’ve ever made for ten years began and ended with how best to avoid him, even though he always found me. Just like I knew he would tonight. I came because I owed Willow. Despite her understanding, I know it hurt her.
The area around the football field was crowded with what seemed to be the entire town as well as surrounding towns. Bainbridge usually had a great turnout because our school’s athletics are the best in the state. I’d only ever been to one game before and that was when Keiran was in juvie and Willow begged me to go with her.
“Do you see the crowd? Maybe you won’t even run into him, if he’s even here.” But what about the hundred or so other people in the past who would run to tell Keiran whenever I was in the vicinity? How did I dodge them all? “Sheldon wants us to meet her at the concession stand. She said it’s urgent,” Willow said looking at her phone with a frown.
It took us a while to maneuver through all the people but we finally made it to the concession stand that was also crowded by people. The smell of popcorn and hot dogs greeted me as we approached. Sheldon was standing there in her green and white cheerleading uniform with a bottle of water in her hand.
“Hey Sheldon.”