by Krystal Wade
“You saw?” Chris asked, gripping the doorframe.
“Who didn’t?”
Color drained from Chris’s cheeks and left his face looking like a pile of unrolled dough. “You might need to make room for me over there, Haley.”
Chris and Christine knew so little, so very little about the truth. But Haley couldn’t voice her concerns, not here, not in front of them. Anything she said would be infused with lies. She knew where Niles was, and she knew he’d probably die. Soon. “I’m fine. Sorry. I’m fine. It’s just…”
“It’s my fault.” Chris handed Haley a glass of water. “I told her things I should have saved for another day—like the day of the party.”
Christine glared at him. “And that was?”
Haley sipped the water and savored the coolness as it washed away the acids. “He’s the one who rescued me.”
“Oh.” The news planted Christine’s butt on the edge of the tub, gaze drifting back and forth from Haley to Chris. “Oh. Thank you. I don’t know what I’d do without this pain in the ass girlfriend of mine.”
“Any time, but I’m not sure she’s taking it well.”
“Well, you idiot—a.k.a, typical man—it seems you waited until she was in emotional overload before you fessed up.” Christine helped Haley to her feet and into her room.
“I don’t want to come in here.” Haley stopped and glanced around. She knew she was being watched. “Actually, let’s get the hell out of the house for a while.”
“I’m on house arrest. One of their laws. But you two go on. And don’t worry. If anyone comes and asks questions, I’ll vouch that there was a fight, but Haley went inside and stayed there all night, and Chris and Niles left in separate cars on friendly terms.”
“Best stalker ever.”
“I do what I can.” Christine leaned near Haley’s ear and whispered, “Make sure you brush your teeth first, babe.”
Oh God. Haley ran to the bathroom and took care of her teeth, ignoring the rat’s nest of hair on her head, the mismatched clothes, and smell. She’d shower later.
Chris met her at the door and helped Haley into her jean jacket. “Christine just left, muttering something about needing to be home if ‘they’ called. I’m assuming that’s code for her parents?”
“Yeah.” Haley stepped out into the night, checking both ways on the empty street before taking a seat in Chris’s car. “Christine’s parents are strict, unconstitutionally so.”
“She also informed me that my balls would be in grave danger if I hurt you.” He laughed and pumped up the heat in his Porsche to ward off the cold gripping the air. No more Indian Summer, no more hints of warmth. Winter raged, stealing leaves from trees, replacing dew with frost. The first snowfall would likely arrive soon. Weather is so weird, so wishy-washy. “I take it you’ve been hurt before?”
Haley shook her head. “Christine knows I’ve sworn off men, so I think she’s a little overexcited about this… paradise.”
“Sworn off men? So, what, you’re playing for the other team now? Because if that’s true, you’re sending mixed signals.”
“Not playing for the other team.”
They wound down dark country roads, passing an occasional car, headlights the only sign of civilization around for miles. Deer lingered on the side of the road, ready to dart out and cause an accident.
“Where are we going?”
Chris sighed. “Thought we’d just drive and clear our heads. We could go talk to my dad, maybe the police.”
“Oh.” Made sense, but why did those last two words ‘the police’ send a shock of nerves through Haley’s stomach?
“All this, swearing off men, because of Niles? I thought you broke his heart.”
She shifted in her seat. “Not because of Niles, not because of someone I’ve dated.”
Chris tapped the brakes and pulled onto the shoulder, allowing the car to idle. He took her hands in his and stared into her soul. He was so good at that. “Haley. What aren’t you telling me? You keep alluding to things, and I’d much prefer you just tell me the truth.”
Stupid big mouth. Of course Chris would want to know what she meant. How could Haley tell him she didn’t trust men when they could go from being amazing fathers to deadbeat dads overnight, with one drink.
“You can talk to me.”
No. No she couldn’t. Not inside the car. Haley pulled out of Chris’s grasp and got out of the car, left her cell on the seat, walked ten yards, twenty, thirty, farther and farther away from the Porsche, from microphones, cameras, and the psycho.
“Wait up.” Chris shrugged into a black hoodie, covering his pale blue sports coat, and fell in step with Haley. “I could understand if you said it was Niles who made you this way, after every rumor he spread—”
“Do me a favor?”
“Sure?”
“For the rest of the night, don’t say anything else about Niles, my family, or anything else. I just… I can’t…” Can’t let you be so wonderful when your family could be hurting.
“Sorry. I understand.”
“I don’t think you do. But you will.” Haley walked to the middle of the ditch along I10. Breathe in. Breathe out. “I can’t take it anymore. I’m about to go insane. You’re nice, Chris, opposite of everything I’ve ever thought about you. You deserve much, much more than me.”
“Haley?” Chris stepped closer.
She backed away. “Let me finish. There’s this man—”
“A man?” The muscles in Chris’s jaw worked hard, strained under the weight of an assumption. “If he’s hurt you—”
“Oh, hurt is an appropriate word, but it’s so much worse than that.” Haley gasped. “So. Much. Worse. He took Dad, forced Joce to do things against her will, tried to get me to do things I didn’t want to do, promised he’d hurt me, kill my family—”
“What?”
“All I had to do was get you out of the house without your parents.”
“Out of my house?” Chris’s stoicism cracked, and the corner of his mouth twitched. “Haley?”
“I tried, good God did I try, to do the opposite of everything he said. And he sent Dad’s finger to me, stuck it to my refrigerator while I’d fallen asleep on my homework at the kitchen table. My dad’s damn finger, Chris. He said he would make my sister pay. Every time I picked up the phone to call the police, you, anyone, he was there, torturing her, making her scream. Yet I still refused.”
“This is piss fucking poor timing to play a joke on me. Is this payback for what I told you about your mom?”
Haley shook her head.
“You’re not joking?” Chris took a step toward the car, glancing over his shoulder as if he needed to judge the distance, judge how much time it would take him to swoop in and rescue his family. He believed.
“Not a joke, not a prank. Everything I do he monitors. I broke the TV looking for bugs—and I found them all over my house, in my bathroom.”
“You’re admitting to helping someone hurt my parents, Haley.” Another step away. “How could you? They’ve never been anything but nice to you.”
“I did everything but help.”
Chris’s lip rose in a hideous sneer that made Haley flinch. No more violence.
“Why didn’t you call the police? Tell me? My dad? Instead you take us out and make us think you actually care, make us think you might not have fallen quite as far as the gossipers at our schools say you have.”
Haley assumed ‘us’ meant ‘me’. And nothing this town thought about her—or Chris—was true. Nothing. And she didn’t care. “He said if I acted out of character, said anything to anyone, they’d all die. What would you do if your dad’s finger showed up taped to your fridge while you were sleeping? Can you tell me? Can you provide me firsthand knowledge of how you’d react in my shoes? What the fuck, Chris? I’m telling you now because I’ve done everything wrong in his eyes, pissed him off. He said I obviously didn’t care enough about Dad and Joce, that he’d take Niles—kill my f
irst, someone I’d always remember. I was an idiot and actually believed I could beat him. I tried tracking him down, got tapes from the grocery store, visited the gas stations. I followed clues from sounds coming through the receiver when he called.”
“Kicking the pay phone?”
Haley nodded as an old truck raced along the road and blasted them with cold air as it passed. “Not my best moment.”
“So you used me?” Another step, another gap between them, another indication of how much Chris hated Haley for putting his family at risk.
She couldn’t blame him.
“Not even close.”
“Yet I’m here, with you, alone, and my parents are where? I have to go, Haley.” Chris ran back to the car, then slid behind the steering wheel and rolled down the window. “Right now. Get in.”
Haley hurried into the passenger seat and strapped in before Chris decided to take off and leave her standing in the middle of nowhere. He didn’t speak, just drove ninety in a fifty-five, eyes on the road, muscle in his jaw working hard.
How could Haley’s life be so horrific? So unfair? No mom, a dad and sister who hated her, and the one person who offered a chance of flying free, of finding a path into a brighter future, well, he currently couldn’t stand the sight of Haley.
He pulled his phone out, dialed a number, and waited. “Dad, hey. You and Mom home?”
Haley grabbed his forearm. “Chris.”
“What?”
“Be careful. There’s a, um, deer in the road, staring at you!”
Nodding, he continued, “You’ve probably already figured this out, but I lied when I said I was sick and going home. I went to Haley’s and finally told her the truth. Can you and Mom meet me for coffee? No, Haley can’t come. She’s… I think she’s mad at me. Yeah, I’ll give her time.”
By his tone, all the time in the world. Haley might never see Chris again.
He parked the Porsche in front of Haley’s house and got out, grabbed her elbow and dragged her down the street. “That first night when you showed up at my house, in that dress, and you danced and talked and laughed with me, it was all fake? All for this?”
“If I said no, would you believe me?”
Lips pursed and eyes narrowed, angry, fuming, Chris said, “Try me.”
For once, Haley deserved someone’s hostility. For once.
But she hated the way he looked down at her with narrowed eyes, as if he thought she was disgusting, horrendous, when only an hour ago, he’d admitted he wanted her. Wanted her. “I thought my sister was finally being nice to me and gave me that dress. I enjoyed every second of time I spent with you.”
“I have to go.” Chris left a trail of tread and white smoke as he took off down the street, revving his engine.
Haley stepped onto the front porch and heard someone curse. Goose bumps spread across her arms and legs, and she changed course and peeked around the side of the house, heart pounding wildly. A man in dark clothing and a ski mask ran toward the red apartment behind the main house.
Breathe in. Breathe out.
Not going in there. Not after telling Chris everything. The psycho probably wanted to murder Haley before she became more of a liability. This house had never felt safe, but now it screamed certain death.
Haley bolted across the street instead and found Christine sitting on the couch, staring out the window, arms crossed over her chest.
“You have some serious explaining to do.” Christine slammed the door and sat Haley down on the couch, standing over her with an attempted raised eyebrow. “You’ve got one boy wrapped around your finger—that you apparently just pissed off—one who would take you back if you blinked the right way, who you’ve had sneaking in and out of your house for at least the last week.”
Haley’s stomach dropped to her feet. “Sneaking?”
“Yeah, and I’m going to guess Chris figured you out and just took off. And here I really thought he’d be the one, the way you looked at him and him at you, and oh, Haley, shit. I swear I haven’t smoked anything for at least an hour and I already forgot about Niles.” Christine plopped onto the couch. “Who is this mysterious third guy? The one who ran off just now.”
No more lies. “Listen, I’ve been acting weird, right?”
“Batshit crazy.”
Haley grabbed Christine by the arm, ignoring the personal space rule. “This person you saw coming in and out of my window, what if I told you he has Dad and Joce, even Niles?”
Confusion wiped all expressions from Christine’s face. She blinked. “I’d say that you have even more explaining to do.”
“Someone’s using my family—me—to get to the Charmings. I just told Chris, which is why he took off.”
“Haley,” Christine said, hands shaking. “Haley, why haven’t you…? This is so like you to take abuse, so fucking like you.”
“You’re one to talk.”
“You’re lucky I don’t smack your face. Why? Why haven’t you asked for help? Told anyone?”
Gripping Christine’s small forearm harder, Haley said, “I’ve wanted to go to the police, but he’s watching me, listening, following. There are bugs all over my house and probably trackers on my cell. He cut off Dad’s finger and sent it to me.”
Tears flooded Christine’s eyes, and Haley fought hard to remain in control, to keep from cracking. “Look, I have all the evidence in my house. I’ll go home now and move it all to the safe. Just… can you handle going to the police and telling them I need help?”
“No way. I’m not leaving you alone.” Christine bounced her leg up and down, then pulled a cigarette from a pack in her jeans pocket and lit it. “What’s he look like? What’s he want with the Charmings?”
“I don’t know what he wants, Christine. And he’s male, six feet tall, maybe a little taller, pale skin, thin build. I’ve never met him. That description I got from convincing Foster’s to give me their security tapes.”
“Security tapes?”
Haley shook Christine. “These details aren’t important. Will you go to the police or not?”
“But you’ll be alone.”
“I’ve been alone a long time, Christine. A long, long time. I’ll be okay.”
She nodded. “I’ll go. Just… I love you, you know. I’m not the only one, either.”
“Thank you. I love you, too.” Haley ran home, wiping away tears from her eyes. Wary of the cameras, she went to the fridge and hid the finger-containing envelope beneath a microwaveable meal, then popped the frozen tray in the microwave and slipped the envelope under her shirt. Then she went to her room and kicked off her shoes. Haley sat on the bed and leaned forward, then pulled all the other envelopes from under the mattress. Who knew if the psycho watched now, but Haley wasn’t taking chances.
She threw the proof into Dad’s safe, along with the security tape from Fosters.
Haley prayed Christine could handle this, prayed Chris kept his parents safe, prayed she could find a way to move on without Dad and Joce, without Niles.
Because Haley knew she’d have to.
aley leaned against the cold, hard safe at the back of Dad’s closet and fought to even her breathing, chest empty and hollow. Letting go now would be so easy, just curl into a ball and sob for hours. She pictured what the police would do when they showed up to search the house for clues about Niles and found her in the fetal position. She how pathetic she’d feel for giving up, for not doing more to save her friends, her family. She pictured the awful things Chris would say about her to reporters.
Not giving up.
Never giving up.
Haley stood, trembling, and took a step forward—
The front door slammed, and glass crashed to the floor. The picture of Dad and Joce that hung on the wall right by the door. Had to be.
Haley swallowed hard. Deep breath. She’d face the psycho, even though he entered the house the same way Dad had so many times before, storming the castle, breaking things, setting every nerve on edge.
> “Ha-ley.” Dad’s voice. Dad’s slurred speech. Dad sounded furious.
Please, God. Please, keep me safe. She tiptoed to the closet door and peeked around the frame, then gaped down the hall. Dad stood there, straight and tall and glaring. Not searching but holding still, hands flexing at his sides.
One window in his room, but on the opposite wall.
Haley would never make it.
“Where you, piece of shit daughter?” The floorboards creaked. “Don’t love your family? Scrawny ass boy, either?”
Dad couldn’t be serious. He was free. Why wasn’t he going to the police?
She came out of hiding, stood in his room, and faced him. “Right here.”
“Look at this mess. You’ve caused.” Dad barreled down the hall, into Haley, and knocked her off her feet.
Gasping from the impact with the hardwood floor, Haley kicked and shoved and pushed, digging her nails into Dad’s sweaty skin. “Get off.”
“Must fix this.” Dad squeezed his left hand around Haley’s throat, the stub of his ring finger acting as a dagger and pressing into her esophagus, and pinned her arms down with his knees. He drew back his fist. “Teach lesson.”
“Daddy, please,” Haley choked out. “Please.”
He shook his head, hair dripping beads of water—or more sweat. “Joce, I’m coming. I’m helping.”
Dad punched Haley. His fist connected with her eye and made her ears ring; splitting pain tore down the center of her head. She couldn’t see. She couldn’t see anything other than his fury, the faraway look in Dad’s eyes, couldn’t help but wonder how he got so strong.
Drugs.
“Please.”
“Your fault. All your fault.” He drew back, but this time he punched Haley’s stomach, over, and over, and over.
No air. No air left in the world. No hope, no love.
Knees. Haley had knees. She knew she needed to use them, draw them up and force them into Dad’s groin. Haley kicked, pushed, thrashed, slipped away and ran to the kitchen. She pulled a pan out of a cabinet and gripped hard to the handle.
“I’m coming, Joce. Coming, coming, coming.” Dad grabbed the back of Haley’s shirt and hauled her around.
