I wasn’t going to let them take my baby.
No, not again!
I got up with new strength. I started reading every time they told me to do so on the camera. I put my bucket at the top of the stairs and tried to act normal as if the stench that was coming out of my body wasn’t mine. I had to be set free. I couldn’t live like this any more and in time I would get my high school diploma and then do a side job or something until Carl came for us. Everything seemed so simple, unlike last time.
Before, I’d been sixteen with a boy who said that he loved me and, the moment he slept with me, he told me that he had to go away. I cried with him as he told me that he was joining the army. I didn’t realize until after that it was all a lie. He had used me, but Carl was different. He wasn’t like Isaac. Not one little bit.
“I think that the demons are leaving you, my child.” Dad spoke through the camera and I nodded like an obedient child. I had to get away from here. Have my baby and, in time, I would come back for Mia. She was only fifteen months old, but in time she would forget about this life. Only think about the good things, like the love that Carl and I shared. I had to think of Carl as being real. I bet he was sick to the stomach, worried about me disappearing and, as the doors closed, I felt as if there was a ray of light shining above. Even though I knew it was only the kitchen light.
“Come here, my child.”
Really? He was calling me his child after he’d locked me in the cage?
“You are being released from hell and, once you finish school, you will go to Kansas like you did once before.”
That was the real name for the cage. Hell. When Dad talked about Hell, people thought about the one that they described in the Bible. They never knew that Dad had created his own version, the one that he used to lock me up in for a day or two as a child, but as I got older, when I fell pregnant that was the first time that I slept in there overnight.
Dad said that abortions were a sin and that there was no turning back from murder. But kidnapping and holding someone against their own will apparently didn’t seem to be an issue.
I’d hated him when he first put me in hell.
I’d despised him even more when he told me with a smile on his face that everything that Isaac had ever told me was a lie.
And I abhorred him when he said that Mia would be brought up as his daughter and not mine.
“One condition, Michelle.”
I couldn’t talk. I felt so weak, my body was cramped and I didn’t know how long I’d been locked down there, but it felt like an eternity.
“If I ever hear of you talking to that boy, you’ll go back to hell and next time I won’t even think of letting you out.”
I nodded but I had my own way of dealing with the matter. He wouldn’t get a chance to put me in there, never ever again.
Chapter Eighteen
Carl
Faith sent me a text in the morning that Michelle was coming to school. It had been two weeks since I’d last seen her and so much had happened since then. I had gotten the college offers that I had wanted and there was nothing to stop us being together. I didn’t know if I could wait four years. The idea that her dad had been hurting her made me not want to wait. I spoke to my dad about it and he said that his sister in New York would look after Michelle if that was what Michelle really wanted, to get out of Stowe Peak.
My mom was more worried about going against Father Roger. She talked about not being able to show her face in church again after what we’d done, but dad ignored her and I had a feeling that when I went to college I wouldn’t be the only one leaving town, so would he.
Everything seemed perfect until lunch time. I couldn’t believe that, today of all days, I had no classes with Michelle. Once again, I couldn’t concentrate or think about what to do, only about protecting her. As soon as the lunch bell rang, I ran to the hall. I wasn’t expecting to see Michelle straight away, but as I waited, I saw both Harmony and Faith. Then I saw the girl behind them was dressed from head-to-toe in a cloak. I wondered what he had done to Michelle, and I couldn’t help but run over to her to rescue her from this madness.
It needed to stop today. Her parents didn’t love her. Not the way that I did. No, this was a punishment for something they did in their past lives and they were taking it out on her. Was I the only one that saw the bags under her eyes and, as she took the hood off her head, I froze and took in her pale complexion.
What had he done to her?
I marched up to her, wanting her to know that there were options and she didn’t need to live this way, but she brushed past me as if I didn’t exist. I grabbed her hand.
“Let go of me,” she whispered in a voice so soft, as if she was unable to speak.
“Michelle?” I wondered if it was another girl with dull blue eyes that was standing in front of me.
“Let go of me,” she repeated, and then I was completely lost. I didn’t know what to do. I wasn’t going to let go of her. Not today. Not ever, and she knew that.
Her eyes gazed on the floor as if I wasn’t standing in front of her.
Then she spoke, with confidence, and said something that I never expected to hear from her lips.
“I am a whore. I need Satan’s demons to leave me. They come when you are near. Please let go.” I dropped her arm. I didn’t know what had happened. Had her dad brainwashed her somehow?
Everyone was staring, but I didn’t care. Something had happened and she needed to wake up from this nightmare coma that she was living in.
With both hands I held on to her, trying to reassure her that it was all going to be okay.
She undid the buttons on her cloak and there, in front of everyone in the dining room, she dropped her cloak. Her body had the markings of the signs of the cross on her breast, her stomach and her legs. She was naked underneath her cloak and I gathered it and wrapped it around her body as she started to cry.
Mrs. Turner rushed to her rescue and told me to let go off her. I protested, saying that she had to get out of here and that her dad was abusing her.
Michelle shouted, “He never did it. I did it to myself, because I’m a whore.”
No one spoke; it was as if everyone in the dining hall had disappeared. Everyone was in shock as Mrs. Turner covered her with the cloak. They watched as Michelle left the hall and Faith spat at me as she left.
Was this really all my fault?
Was I really the bad guy?
Dwight came up to me and said, “Please just leave her alone.”
I left the dining hall, unable to eat. The love of my life had turned into a former shadow of herself and as I hit the men’s restroom, I slumped to the floor and I started to cry.
Chapter Nineteen
Michelle
After what happened in the dining hall, I had been excused from church. Mom stopped going to choir practice and, apart from going to school, I had no contact with the outside world. I had been stealing one dollar from her purse every couple of days. It was just a matter of time for her to notice and I had even told Faith about my plans. She had an allowance from her parents and she said that she would help me escape.
She had become a real best friend. I used to hang out with both her and Harmony just because they were considered decent girls that I was allowed to interact with, but after I went back to school, they welcomed me with open arms.
The irony of it all was, even a couple of the cheerleaders started to be nice to me. It was as if the whole school didn’t mock me for what had happened; they surrounded me with love and kindness, something that I’d never had the whole time I had lived in this Stowe Peak.
Real friends.
People that cared.
I knew that going to stay with Grandma wasn’t an option. Even she was scared of Dad. Heck everyone was and the best way to be free from him was to disappear.
“Faith told me what’s going on. I can give you around ten bucks per week,” Harmony held on to my hand to reassure me that she was going to help me.
“I can’t believe you need to go,” Faith interjected. They were picking on their fries as if they had lost their appetite along with me.
I knew I was pregnant and needed to keep my strength up, but I was in a dark place. The only light that would shine through would be leaving town. I had to get as far away from here as possible, and I had to believe that otherwise I had no hope.
My life would never change and I would just be stuck forever. It had been one week since Carl had seen me naked, since I had told him to leave me alone. I’d expected him to fight for me. But, he didn’t and we were strangers once again.
I hated it, but I knew that it was the only way for my plan to work. Then again, I didn’t expect either Harmony or Faith to help me out and they were going out of their way to do that.
“Graduation day!”
“What?” I was sweating under the oversize sweater and pants that mom made me wear. I was no longer allowed to wear dresses. Apparently, my dresses were leaving nothing to the imagination, unlike sweaters and pants at the end of spring. It just made me look stupid, but I had to play along. In a few weeks I would be out of there, but if I disobeyed him and he stuck me in Hell, then they might go through my room and find the money that I had stashed away. Then I wouldn’t be given another opportunity, seeing as school was coming to an end. I couldn’t afford to do that, I just kept reminding myself that I had to play along. Just for a little while. It would be worth it in the end.
“Okay, so we’ve got family going from Iowa and New York,” Harmony nodded, “I can get them to give you a lift to wherever you want to go.”
I sighed, “Guys.” I looked around to make sure that no one was listening, I had to confess to them that my only plan was to leave. “I don’t even know where I’m going. I wanted to search in the library but I couldn’t because of my student pass. It would log that I was looking for shelters and then they would tell my parents and then…”
Faith said, “Michelle, that’s what we’re here for. Both of us.”
They both squeezed my hand from across the table.
“Okay, so when I get home, I’ll look at shelters and see which route my family are taking and which one can accommodate you.”
“And Mia,” Faith whispered and I wondered why for so long I had kept it a secret. Sitting down with them, planning my escape route, I realized that they could be trusted in more ways than I had ever given them credit for.
I had heard a rumor about Carl standing up to my dad with his dad. Then, his dad was threatened by the sheriff or something like that about crossing the state line with his gun and he didn’t have a permit for that. I didn’t know the whole story, but as much as I wanted to talk to Carl I couldn’t, but ever so often, when we were in the dining hall, I would look at him. I would relive the moments that we’d shared, like a couple that didn’t have a care in the world. I used to pretend that no one was looking at us, it was just us sharing our lunch. Talking. Having fun, like real couples do. In four years it would come back. I knew it would.
Harmony sighed as she followed my gaze, “You know that he can’t know about it now. Or even after?”
I quizzed her, “Why not after?”
Faith said, “Because he will be the first person that they will suspect helped you. If he knows where you are, he could be followed or anything. Whereas Harmony and I would never risk it. We know how to get around things like this and how to be careful.”
“Yeah, he’s just too emotionally involved. Maybe in time when he comes home during the holidays or something I will tell him if I get the chance,” Harmony reassured me.
But, she was right and I thought about my dad. Would a few months go by and he would just be forgiving and never look for me? Nah, he was a man of vengeance. I had seen him carry it out with people that had double-crossed him.
“What about you guys? I should never have gotten you involved,” I took my hands and covered my face. There would be consequences for them too.
“That is why,” Faith took a deep breath, “This is the last lunch we will have together. You will give us the combination of your locker and we will deposit the money every Friday morning, before anyone gets to school. We’re going to carry out a scene now.”
Harmony remembered something. “When I find out the best place for my family to drop you, I will talk to my cousin who comes here every five years. He’s cool, young, and good at keeping a secret. I will put the instructions in your locker when it’s all sorted. You don’t have to worry about anything.”
And they both stood up and shouted abuse at me as they walked together arm-in-arm out of the dining room. I watched and tried to protest, but I was never good at acting, unlike them. Harmony winked as she went through the door. Carl stood up and I knew that he was going to see if I was okay. Dwight held him back and shook his head. Again, Mrs. Turner came over to rescue me. Again, I cried in the dining hall, because once again I was alone. I officially had no one to talk to, but the only good thing was the fact that I would be free.
I smiled at her and said, “I think that I just want to graduate in peace.”
She smiled at me and said, “You will do so, my dear, and then this nightmare will be over.”
She didn’t realize how true her words were, only after graduation would this whole nightmare be over.
Chapter Twenty
Carl
Today was so darn hard. I saw Harmony and Faith flipping out at Michelle over something. I didn’t get it, why would they desert Michelle in her time of need?
I’d kept away, knowing that she had them. I tried to grab them to find out if there was a way that they could resolve their differences.
“Michelle needs you, Faith. Why are you leaving her?”
She shook her head, “You don’t understand. Michelle needs to be left alone.” She inched herself closer to me as we stood by her locker.
“If she talks to us and we talk to you, then it could get back to her dad,” her eyes shifted from left to right, but I knew what she was going to say.
“She would be punished.”
Faith nodded, “Exactly. This way it’s just safer for her.”
I sighed, “I’ve got an aunt that she could stay with. I even went to the house one time to try to get Father Roger to set her free, so that she could get away from this place.”
Harmony was behind me, I didn’t even realize it until she said, “They would find her eventually and besides, I don’t think Michelle is strong enough to leave this place.”
I defended her. “But she is, her weakness grows because she stays in this place. In that house. That’s the issue.”
Harmony sighed, “Maybe.”
That surprised me, because I’d thought that she was the logical one in the group and would know that Michelle’s problem was her dad, pure and simple.
“What about Mia? Could she stay with your aunt too?”
That was the one thing that I had thought about, but then that would be a burden. “I’m not sure if she could take her sister.”
Faith shut her locker and she cupped my face. “Sometimes, you’re too handsome to be stupid.”
Harmony blurted out, “Sister!” And threw her hands up in the air as she walked away from me. I stood there and knocked the back of my head against the locker. Harmony was right. I was trying to save Michelle’s dignity. Paint a picture of her being so pure and untouched until we’d got together, but the truth was that Mia was her daughter and not her sister.
Even Michelle had admitted it to a certain degree, yet I’d chosen to ignore that part. My aunt was good and she would consider them both. I was confident about that; Michelle just needed to leave and I called my dad and told him the news, that it had to be both Mia and Michelle at my aunt’s.
He told me the news, but I couldn’t hear him properly, because of the school bell that was ringing so loud. I finished class and called him from outside. It was against the rules using our mobiles in school, but I didn’t care.
&nbs
p; “Your aunt is getting married,” Dad said quietly. I could tell that he was as shocked about the news as I was and he went on to say, “She says that Michelle can stay with her, but she’s not sure for how long.”
That wasn't really a plan. Michelle would need time to heal. She couldn’t move in with her and then the following week or month live by herself. The old Michelle, the one that I’d fallen in love with might have, but the new one that had been broken into so many pieces…. I just couldn't see it happening. Besides, if my aunt was talking about getting married and that was the reason she wasn’t sure how long Michelle could stay. This meant that adding Mia into the equation wasn’t really an option.
“Son, you still there?”
I whispered, “Yes.”
I found it hard to have a conversation, as other kids came out into the yard, I thought about getting off the phone and coming up with a plan B. Right then I couldn’t think of one and it made me sad.
“Dad, catch you later. We can talk properly then.”
He agreed, “Take care son.”
To say that my relationship with my dad had grown over the last few weeks since he had started standing up to mom was an understatement. I knew that he was trying to do right not only by me, but Michelle too.
My aunt didn’t know Michelle; it wasn’t fair to expect her to take both of them in, but I needed a solution. The more I thought about one, the more I just drew a blank and it made me so darn mad. I felt useless.
Pathetic.
I had nothing to offer Michelle, only my heart. There was another option, one that I knew would mean a heavy sacrifice on my part. I would have to give up going to college and maybe just get a job. I had to.
It would be the right thing to do.
It was about time that I thought about someone else other than myself. I loved Michelle, there was no two ways about it. I could get a job in a diner or something, and try to support her and Mia. I could do it, if I really tried.
The Quarterback's Love Child (A Secret Baby Sports Romance Book 1) Page 6
