When wrong feels so right

by Mia Ford

  I made my way downstairs, quietly, avoiding the parts of the stairs I knew would creak under my weight. When I was downstairs, I reached for the lights, and froze. No. No lights. I could make my way through the house in the dark. Deep down I knew it didn’t matter if the lights were on or not, but for some odd reason, I didn’t want to risk it.

  I stealthily made my way to the end of the hall, pulled on my sneakers, and then backtracked to the garage door. My car was snuggled up in there, and I began to think of ways to get it out without making a racket while opening the garage door. Nothing came to mind, and I realized that the only solution was to act fast. Once the garage doors began to roll up, the machinery would definitely wake Bobby up. That is, if the growl of the car engine didn’t.

  Screw it. You’ve come this far. By the time he realizes what’s going on, you’ll be halfway down the block.

  I bit my lip, fiddled with the car keys, and decided to go for it. I opened the driver’s door, put the key in the ignition and turned. The engine purred like a cat, thankfully causing less noise than I had hoped. The garage doors were a different matter, though. The minute I clicked on the automatic opener, the cogs squealed in protest before turning slowly and bringing the doors up. I quickly got in the car, closed the door, and drummed my fingers against the steering wheel.

  “Come on, come on, come on,” I whispered. I half expected the garage lights to come on and Bobby to rush up in front of the car, stopping me. When did I become so afraid of my own brother?

  I began to think that I might be getting used to running away from places in the middle of the night.

  As soon as the doors had risen enough for me to drive through, I shifted the car into drive and raced out, clicking the ‘closed’ button as I exited the driveway and turned right down the street. I briefly caught sight of a police cruiser parked outside the house on the other side of the street. Were they there for us?

  I didn’t care. All I wanted now was to get to Andy. That’s all that mattered.

  I drove down Davis Road well over the speed limit, hoping I wouldn’t run into any trouble on the way. I kept my eyes glued to the road, only briefly glancing in the rearview mirror, making sure no one was following me. Every now and then, a pair of headlights would pop up, then turn right onto one of the side streets and disappear. For most of the drive, I was alone.

  I rushed past the STOP sign on Maple Road, again ignoring all traffic rules in favor of getting to Andy as quickly as possible. I reached for my phone, thinking it best to call him and let him know I was coming. For all I knew, he might not even be home. My hand searched my pockets, and I began to panic when I found nothing. I slammed my fists against the steering wheel, realizing that I had forgotten the phone back in my bedroom.

  You’re already making stupid mistakes. This should be a sign. Turn the car around and drive back home.

  No. A hiccup, that’s all this was. I didn’t need the phone. Andy would be home. Where else could he be? Of course, he was home.

  I turned onto Silo Road, entering Juniper Hill and resting a little easier now that I was closer to my destination. I glanced up at the rearview mirror, saw nothing, and eased my foot off the gas pedal. I wasn’t in a rush anymore. I turned left into Silo Circle, cruising the car around until I found a parking space close to Andy’s apartment complex. I caught sight of his Nissan parked a few plots away and let out a relieved sigh.

  See? He’s home. There was no reason to worry after all.

  I stayed in the car for a few seconds, resting against the headrest and scanning the parking lot. I turned around, looking at the entrance into Silo Circle, waiting to see if any other cars would be driving in behind me. When I was sure I was alone, I turned the engine off and climbed out of my car. I gave the parking lot another quick scan, and then hurried towards Andy’s complex.

  I climbed up the stairs, moving quickly and forcing myself not to look back, as if doing that would somehow make Dennis materialize out of thin air and come after me. I reached the third floor, hurried down the hall, and rang Andy’s doorbell. The graffiti ‘asshole’ had been painted over, the fresh coat still glistening in the fluorescent light. I waited for a few more seconds before ringing the bell again.

  A woman opened the door, and I took a surprised step back. She was naked except for a pair of lace panties, and my eyes dropped to her breasts before I quickly looked away and up. She was leaning against the door, obviously very comfortable in her nudity.

  “I’m sorry,” I stammered. “I must have gotten the wrong apartment.”

  “Who are you looking for?” the woman asked.

  I forced an uncomfortable smile. “No one, I’m sorry,” I said quickly, glancing up and down the hall, trying to understand how I had missed Andy’s apartment. “Definitely the wrong address.”

  Only, I wasn’t convinced. None of the other apartment doors looked recognizable.

  “You’re Andrea, right?” the woman asked.

  I froze, looking at her in confusion. How the hell does she know me? I nodded.

  “Are you looking for Andy?” she asked with a smile. My heart immediately skipped a beat.

  “Andy Stetson, yeah,” I said, my voice barely audible.

  “Oh, then you’ve got the right place,” she said, opening the door to let me in. “He’s inside. Sorry, you caught us at a bad time.”

  I felt my heart drop, and my stomach twisted and turned, bile rushing up into my throat. I felt like gagging, my eyes wide and my jaw dropping. “I –”

  “Don’t worry, I think I can wake him up,” the woman said. “Come in, please. Don’t stand outside in the cold.”

  I took a step back, slowly shaking my head.

  The woman frowned, but her smile never left her face. And there was something in her eyes. Something insane and unpredictable. “What’s wrong?”

  I shook my head with more vigor, fighting back the tears that were stinging my eyes.

  “Oh, sweetheart,” the woman cooed, but I could tell there was nothing warm about the gesture. “Did you think he was alone? I’m so sorry.” She didn’t sound sorry. Quite the opposite, actually. “But Andy’s rarely alone, you know? And most of the time, he’s with me.”

  A tear raced down my cheek, and I could tell that she noticed, because her smile widened. “You still want to come in?” she asked, her tone a little more challenging.

  I bit my lip. I couldn’t stop shaking my head, my mind spinning in disbelief. How could he? How the fuck could he?

  I raced down the hall as fast as I could, away from the apartment and the naked woman, away from the bastard I had snuck out of the house to check up on because I actually cared. That son of a bitch! Bobby was right about him!

  “Bye!” the woman called after me. “I’ll let him know you passed by.”

  There was this undertone to her words, as if she were letting me know that she had the upper hand; that she had gotten the grand prize and I had come in close second. It made me want to scream out in anger, but I bit my tongue and rushed down the stairs, crying freely now, longing for the comfort of my car. I suddenly wished I had stayed home, locked behind my bedroom door where I was safe, and the world was a little less cruel.

  I should have listened to Bobby. I should have listened to Bobby.

  I kept repeating the thought like a mantra, as if somehow it could give me some sort of comfort against the stabbing pain I was feeling in my chest. I clawed at my shirt, trying to reach in through my chest cavity and grab the pain, pull it out and throw it aside. It hurt so much.

  I was almost at my car when I heard footsteps behind me. I turned around, and just when I thought the night couldn’t get any worse, I gazed into the smiling face of my husband. Dennis was standing a few feet away, arms crossed over his chest, his eyes flashing with rage. There was a nasty cut above his right eye, and his lower lip was swollen. Andy’s handiwork, obviously.

  “Hey there, baby,” he said, his words muffled because of the swollen lip.

&nb
sp; “Dennis,” I gasped.

  “Did you actually think I’d let you out of my sight?” he asked, taking a few steps towards me, forcing me to take a few back. I bumped into the side of my car with nowhere to go.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “I saw you leave the house,” he explained. “Of course, I had to be careful because of that fucking police cruiser, but I wasn’t worried. I had a feeling you’d come here.” He came closer, closing the gap between us quickly. “You see, after my little fight with your boyfriend upstairs, I followed him. Found out where he lived. And when you left the house, I took my sweet time. I knew you’d come here. Checking up on lover boy?”

  He grabbed my hand, twisting it hard and forcing me to scream out in pain. “You came to check up on him, but me? No! I don’t deserve your sympathy, do I? I came all the way to this asshole of the world just to find you, and you don’t even care about how I’m doing, do you?”

  “Dennis, you’re hurting me!” I screamed.

  “Oh, I’m going to do so much more than that, you cunt,” he hissed. “I’m taking you home, and when we get there, I’m going to fuck you up so bad, Quasimodo wouldn’t come within an inch of you.”

  I lashed out, scratching at his eyes. I could feel skin tear, and he yelled in pain and surprise, jumping back. I didn’t hesitate, jumping at the opportunity to get away, and raced towards my car. He caught up with me, though, grabbing me by the hair and pulling me back. I felt strands tear from my scalp, and I screamed in pain. He latched on hard, and when I turned around and tried to scratch at him again, he grabbed my wrist and twisted it.

  My knees buckled, and before I knew what was happening, he grabbed me and slammed my head into the side of my car.

  I fell to the ground in a heap, the world around me spinning out of control until everything went dark.

  Chapter 16: Andy

  I woke up to the sound of fists slamming against my door.

  I sat up with a start, and instantly regretted it. My head spun, making me instantly nauseous. I leaned over the side of my bed and threw up, the whiskey coming back out the way it had gone down, along with my breakfast. My throat burned, and the stench made me throw up again. I wiped my mouth with my arm and looked around my room. I was naked, although how I had gotten to be like this was completely beyond me.

  “We have visitors, baby.”

  When I saw Hannah walk into the room, it all came rushing back to me like a tidal wave. I jumped out of bed, rushed towards her and grabbed her by the neck, pushing her against the wall. He raged inside me burned like wildfire, and I wanted to slam my fist into her face.

  “You drugged me!” I spat. “You fucking cunt, you drugged me!”

  The slamming continued, breaking my concentration as I realized that I had not been dreaming it. Hannah slapped my hand away and pushed me back, gently massaging her neck. “Go open the door, you asshole.”

  I pointed an angry finger in her face. “Get dressed and get out before I kick you out and you could walk home naked!”

  I grabbed my jeans from off the chair by the door, slipped them on, and left to answer the door. The knocking was now coupled with the bell.

  “I’m coming, I’m coming, calm the fuck down!” I yelled at the idiot outside.

  I swung the door open, and Bobby raced inside. “Is she here?” he demanded, looking frantic. Behind him, just outside the door, stood Jeremy and another officer I didn’t recognize.

  “Is who here?” I asked.

  “Andrea!” Bobby yelled. “Is she here?”

  I frowned in confusion, suddenly just as worried. “What? You mean she’s not with you?”

  “If she were with me, would I be looking for her, you jackass!”

  “You were supposed to be watching her!” I yelled.

  “Fuck you, Andy!” Bobby countered.

  Jeremy stepped inside. “Okay, can we all calm down?” He looked at me. “Andrea didn’t stop by here?”

  “Oh, yeah, sure she did,” I said, my tone laced with bitterness. “This is the face of a man who knows exactly where she is!”

  “Actually, she was here earlier.”

  We all turned to Hannah, standing half naked at the door to my bedroom, still massaging her neck. She was looking at me I anger, her eyes shooting daggers.

  “What are you talking about?” I asked.

  “She came here about an hour ago,” Hannah spat. “She was looking for you. I opened the door for her, and when she saw me, she just took off.”

  That last bit was said with a small smile, and I quickly understood what Hannah was getting at. I immediately knew what Andrea must have thought seeing Hannah like that.

  “Great, Andy, just fucking great!” Bobby yelled.

  “You little bitch,” I cursed.

  Hannah only shrugged, and I made for her, my hands balled into fists. Jeremy stopped me, quickly pulling me back. “Slow down, cowboy,” he warned.

  “This is her fault,” I hissed. But Jeremy wasn’t looking at me. Neither was the other officer. They were both staring at Hannah’s breasts. I quickly looked to Bobby for support. “She drugged me!”

  “Save it!” Bobby spat. “Her car’s outside. Where the fuck is she if she’s not here?”

  “I have no idea!” I shot back, pulling on a shirt and shoes, getting ready to go out and look for her all over town if I had to. “Do you think she walked back home?”

  “I swear to God, Andy, if anything happens to her, I’m going to fucking kill you!”

  “No one’s killing anyone,” Jeremy said, still staring at Hannah.

  I smacked him across the back of the head. “She’s a crazy bitch. Keep your eyes off her before she drugs you, too.”

  “Can you quit it with drug thing?” Bobby yelled.

  “Call her phone.”

  “She doesn’t have her phone!”

  “How did you fuck this up?” I slammed a fist into the wall, ready to beat Bobby to an inch of his life for being so stupid.

  “If you hadn’t been convincing my sister that you liked her, while the whole time fucking Crazy Hannah, maybe none of this would have happened in the –” Bobby’s cellphone rang, cutting him off. “Chief! Anything?”

  Bobby’s eyes went wide, and he stared at me with a frozen look of shock on his face.

  “What is it?” I asked frantically.

  “My truck! Now!” Bobby ordered, pocketing his phone and racing out of the apartment.

  I stopped Jeremy when he began to give chase. “Her!” I said, pointing at Hannah. “I swear to you, Jeremy, she drugged me. Check the glasses and the whiskey.”

  I didn’t wait for him to reply and quickly raced out after Bobby.

  ***

  Bobby was doing eighty on the Boston Turnpike, weaving through the scant traffic like a madman, on more than one occasion almost driving off the road and killing us in the process. I didn’t tell him to slow down, though. The minute he realized Andrea had left the house, he had called everyone, asking them to call him if anything at all popped up.

  Apparently, there had been a car accident on the 44 heading towards Manchester. The description of the car matched Dennis’s.

  “What the fuck were you doing with Hannah anyway?” Bobby was yelling. “You told me you were through with her!”

  “I am,” I yelled back. “She came to my house, pretended to care about the fight I had with Dennis, and then the bitch drugged me.”

  “You actually believed she was being your friend?” Bobby scoffed. “How fucking naïve can you get?”

  “Can you shut up already?” I shot. “I get it, I fucked up, now keep your eye on the road and try not to get us killed before we reach Andrea.”

  “I swear, when this is over,” Bobby spat, shaking his head in anger. “I’m going to beat the shit out of you.”

  “More driving, less talking!”

  Bobby swerved past a car at an exaggerated angle just to throw me against the door and upped the speed. In the distance, we
could see the distinct glow of flames, and my heart instantly dropped.

  No one had said anything about a fire.

  ***

  It really was Dennis’s car.

  We arrived at the sight of the accident before any police or fire fighters had, which would have struck me as odd if I had not been jumping out of the truck before Bobby even stopped, racing towards the overturned vehicle. Flames engulfed the hood, igniting the wheels and making their way through the rest of the car. There was only one other car by the side of the road, a man waving frantically at us as I ran towards the crash site.

  “They’re still in there!” the man was shouting. There was manic laughter coming from the car, sounding a lot like Dennis. “I tried to help, but the flames, man, I was scared!” the man went on. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t!”

  I didn’t reply and pushed past him, racing towards the car and quickly falling onto my stomach, looking inside to assess the extent of the damage. Dennis was fully conscious, laughing like a madman and shaking from side to side like he was listening to some techno beat in his head. Andrea was strapped in her seat, her hands tied together, her hair falling over her face.

  “Lover boy!” Dennis screeched in glee. “Lover boy to the rescue!”

  I ignored him, reaching in through the broken glass, carefully not to cut myself, and checked Andrea for a pulse. I found it, but it was weak. I checked her seatbelt, tried to unbuckle it, but got nowhere. Bobby slid onto the ground beside me.