by S. N. Garza
“The most beautiful souls hide the darkest secrets. Her great grandfather was abusive. While I might not have liked her much, I never blamed her for using my brother as a scapegoat.”
“Scapegoat for what? Father would have never—
“He doesn’t know what he did to her. Gabriel, that’s why I never wanted Willow in Grifton Falls. If he ever got his hands on her—
“Father won’t let him harm her. God, he thinks more of Willow than he does of me. He’d never let George touch her.”
Not that it mattered. My blood runs cold as I rush off the highway and make the U-turn.
“That won’t matter. It’s in the open now. And your father just walked out of the room, leaving her alone with him. He is a monster.”
My skin feels as if it’s on fire. I don’t want to ask, but dread fills me as I ask, “What kind of abuse?
“The kind you pray never happens to your daughter. It didn’t matter to him. He’s a sick son of a bitch. Her mother hid a lot of pain. She was very good at masking it. And I think it goes deeper than that. As in, I think he was her father. There were… instances that… I can’t go into it. Now, I’m already on my way. Get her out of that room. That fucker must have taken her phone and while she knows how to take care of herself, being surprised is still an issue for her. She still freezes. Gabriel—
“Yeah, bye.”
I hang up and call Siri. “Call Dad.”
Everything seems to slow down and take forever as I wait for him to answer. On the fifth ring, he finally answers. “What is it, Gabriel? I’m—
“Get her out of that room now!”
“Whoa. What? What are you talking about?”
“Don’t fucking lie to me. Don’t let her be in that room alone with him.”
“As I said, what are you talking about?”
“Everett George is a child molester and rapist.”
“Gabriel, calm down. I’ve known Everett all my life, he’s never—
“Shut up. He sexually abused his daughter and got her pregnant with Annabelle. That son of bitch raped his daughter and daughter slash granddaughter, whatever the fuck.”
“You don't know what you’re talking about.” But there’s hesitancy in his voice which makes me think he’s listening now. Surely, he’ll believe that.
“Why do you think she left now? Are you willing to take the chance, dad? This is Willow. She’s my everything and I swear if he touches her, I’ll make sure you regret it. Isn’t she like a daughter to you?” And yeah, it kind of kills me to say it, but I know he loves her like a daughter and he’d never let anyone hurt her. Blood or otherwise. “Don’t chance our girl like that. I turned around. I’m on my way home. Knew this was a bullshit excuse to get me away. But if you don’t go in there now, you’ll fucking regret it. I swear to God, you’re a dead man. Don’t let him hurt the love of my life, dad. Don’t let him take her away from us.”
“FUCK! Bye.”
I don’t even get a word in when the phone dies and I do everything to keep my cool. I call Lock, but all I get is voicemail. Shit. They have practice. Fuck.
“Call me fucking ASAP. Big fucking problem and I was on my way to Dallas. I’m on my way back. Willow might be in some trouble. Can’t get into it, just… be ready, just in case and in the most brutal, lethal way.”
I hang up and it guts me, but I call Alann. No answer. Why is it that when you don’t need them, they answer, but when there’s a fucking emergency, no one answers? I can’t lose her. I leave a message on his phone, telling him to get to my house whenever he gets the message. Two hours.
The drive back is two hours. Two long, horrifying hours. I call my dad again but there’s no answer. This shit isn’t happening. Not to my girl.
God, please.
I hit the shit out of my console, and everything becomes blurry as tears burn in my eyes. I call Willow. Maybe… maybe.
When there’s nothing, something dies inside me. Knowing she’s in danger and I’m not there to protect her. The one person I’m not supposed to fail, and what the fuck am I doing?
Failing her. I should be there. And goddammit, I’m gonna give her a good, stern talking to about going with people she shouldn’t be going with.
Yeah. That’s exactly what I’m going to do. Right after I beg her for forgiveness.
My chest feels tight with fear. What if—no. Dad wouldn’t let anything happen to her. I know that much. God, help him if he lets anything happen to her.
I can’t get back go Grifton Falls quick enough.
Twenty-five
Willow
“Excuse me?”
I jerk away from him, this sudden fear eclipsing my entire body. I stand up, take a few steps back when he stands and this feral, predatorial glaze sparks in his gaze.
“Hmmm… no one really did tell you anything about me. That’s actually… very nice. I love surprising all my little girls.”
“I am not, nor have I ever been, your little girl.”
I can’t believe what I’m hearing. My stomach sinks, this urge to run around him and out the door is strong when he takes a step towards me and my legs hit the edge of a desk and I almost fall. That’s when the door to the room slams open, and Marcus rushes into the room.
“Willow, get behind me now, babygirl.” The look on Everett George’s face becomes twisted with anger and when Marcus says, “Now, Willow.” I can’t get over there quick enough.
A shot of fear rushes through me and I immediately run around this man and get behind Marcus who blocks my view of my great grandfather. I don’t feel so good and it takes everything inside me to keep myself from retching.
“Tell me you didn’t. Tell me you didn’t hurt the one person who meant everything to me.” There’s a menace in Marcus’s voice I’ve never heard before. Not even at his house when he got into it with his wife. This is a deadly, cold voice that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
I look over at Everett, who’s face is droll, as if what Marcus just asked him was some trifle of a thing instead of the ominous accusation thrown his way.
“Marcus, whatever are you talking about?” I can tell though; he knows exactly what Marcus is talking about. There’s a dark, evil glint in Everett’s eyes making me wish I was anywhere but here. I see my phone on the table and all I want to do is rush to it, and call Gabriel. Call Uncle Luke. Ask them to save me. Tell Gabriel how much I need him right now. Before I can move though, Marcus is there, wrapping an arm around my back and pushing me behind him, so I don’t have to see. I’m curious, but I’m also terrified, because I think I know where this is leading and if it is…
“You know exactly what I’m talking about. Discipline is one thing, but I never—,” Marcus stops, I hear him getting choked up and something inside me breaks at the heartache in his voice. I press my hand to his back, trying to give him support. My energy. Whatever just happened has made something change within him. Whatever had him bursting in here, coming to my timely rescue, for which I'll forever be grateful, this… this is what everything comes down to. “I always wondered why she really left. She only came back once.”
One side of Everett George’s lifts up and it makes my stomach bottom out. “Twice actually. And well, Marcus, you panted after her long after she left and met Jack Mason. How long were you fucking her before she finally said no? You sure that little bitch right there isn’t your blood?”
Repulsion fills my body at the thought Gabriel and I—
“She’s not. When Susan and I slept together, I always wore a condom under her request. I would have never done that to her unless she wanted me to. I never knew she sought out Mason as a savior. She knew I would have taken care of her. But you— you ruined her. How could you?”
“I didn’t ruin her. She’s my blood. I only broke her in. Kind of a family tradition.”
Fear awakens in every cell in my body. Broke her in? I don’t know if I want to know what that really means. It can’t be possible. Not my mother. And her
own? I grip the back of Marcus’s shirt tighter and he gives me a subtle glance and I see the regret marring his expression. He mouths, ‘I’m sorry, babygirl.’
With tears in his eyes, he turns back, takes a deep breath and says, “You raped your own flesh blood. You raped and molested your own granddaughter.” Then he straightens, “Oh, my god. Family tradition? What the fuck does that mean?”
It seems I’m not the only one being surprised by these revelations. At least Marcus didn’t know. Because if he knew or suspected, I’d lose all respect and care for this man. A man I’m beginning to think of as family. I know he’s estranged with Gabriel and Gabriel just can’t fathom why I’m so forgiving, but I have hope that everyone isn’t out to get you.
Until now. This… this is heartbreaking.
“It means exactly what you think it means, boy. All in the family. The only one tainted in my family, is her.” And he points to me and this ill-filling sensation washes over me.
“My God. Her mother was her sister, wasn’t she?” Marcus mutters, his voice in shock.
At first, I didn’t understand. Her mother was her sister? Then it really hit me, and I can’t keep in the sob tearing from my throat. Suddenly, it’s like I can’t breathe. Everything in my stomach is coming up and I cover my mouth. No way.
“I think I’m gonna be sick.”
I don’t hear anything else as I run out of the room, and I don’t know where I am with all the hallways, but I run anyway until I see a big archway and then I run across a large ballroom to a set of doors. And of course, it’s raining. I run outside, not caring and the bile in my throat finally frees and doesn’t stop until I’m dry heaving.
The paintings make so much sense now. The darkness. The pain. The hurt. Up until after I was born. Then the darkness wasn’t as dark. The house in the paintings, was this house. This house is evil. Evil in its most incarnate.
How could… everything I remember my mother ever saying to me, about living in the moment and treasure each moment… makes so much sense. How could any man—any father, do something so heinous? Atrocious. So evil?
I stand back up and I’m completely soaked. I want to get away from here. I need to get away.
I turn to go back in when he’s standing at the window. My great grandfather. Or just my grandfather. Which terrifies me more than anything. Would he have tried to do the same thing to me as he did my mother… her mother? What if I had lived here? Would? I stop, knowing I can’t think more on this… the thought makes everything blur. I shake my head, terrified and I turn, running straight into the wooded area behind this desolate castle.
Right into the pouring rain. Anywhere to be away from him. The things he’s done… cannot be undone. The atrocities that have been revealed can’t—he can’t get away with this.
When I hear my name being called, I jerk around, hoping, praying it’s not him even though I know it’s irrational. He’s too old to follow me out here.
In shape or not.
“WILLOW! Stop running! It’s me, Marcus!”
Relief swamps me. Thank God. I stop, look around but my hair is covering my face, and everything is a blur since tears are still falling from my eyes.
“Willow!”
“I’m over here!”
After a few minutes, I see Marcus running through the trees. It’s so dark and eerie out here. The water is still falling like crazy and when he gets a few yards from me, he stops, and a sigh of relief comes over him.
“Damn, girl. You scared me to death. Why’d you run?”
“I saw him, and he looked… I don’t know. I didn’t want to be anywhere near him.”
“Let’s go, babygirl. Time to get out of this place. I’ll deal with him another time.”
The thought makes my blood run cold, because I don't think he should be alone with him either. “No!”
“No? You don’t want to leave? Well, we need to get out of this damn rain, woman. You’ll catch your death. We both will.”
“No as in I don’t want you here alone with him either.”
His shoulders sag and a small smile twitched on his lips. “Does that mean you care?”
“Yes, of course I care, but it doesn’t mean I’m not mad. And I don’t know who I should be mad at. All this time.”
A sob rips through me and his feet eat up the distance until he pulls me in his arms.
“I never knew she was—it’s almost unbelievable. But I understand now. I understand why she made the choices she did. Come on, babygirl. Let’s get you in some dry clothes and get the hell out of here.”
We walk through the mud and the muck back to the manor where Everett George is still standing by the door.
“Get out of our way, George.”
“You do realize we still have business to attend to, don’t you?”
“For all I care, you can drop dead where you stand. You killed my girl. Killed her spirit. I always wondered why her mother was so young. And how she died young. Your doing as well?”
He doesn’t say anything. He looks right at me with his dead, blank eyes.
“Marcus?” I hate how weak my voice is, but I just can’t be in this devil-incarnate, creepy man’s presence. My stomach is churning something awful.
“Come on. I won’t let you out of my sight. I’ll show you to Susan’s room, so you can get some dry clothes on.”
Marcus makes a wide path around him and as we get further away, it doesn’t stop this feeling that he’s watching me. It’s like a hole in my back. Marcus is hyper alert as he walks us up a massive staircase, then down a dimly lit, yet pristine hallway until we’re standing in front of a stark white door with a girly sign that says, ‘What’s the password?’
I look at Marcus, who gives me this soft smile and he leans in, whispers, “Wafflicious.” I raise my brow, but I can’t help the smile twitching on my lips. “Don’t say a word. I always whispered that. Why stop now? She thought it was funny every time I said it. It was something that was just ours.” He lifts his hand up to cup my cheek, and his red eyes glisten. “I’m so sorry. I should’ve known. I’ll never forgive myself for not seeing what was right in front of me.”
I step into his arms and hug him tight. “Sometimes, Marcus, people must hit rock bottom, and learn the hard way, before they realize it’s up to them to save themselves from the situation they’re in. They can’t be told to get help or be saved. They have to want to get out. Maybe she didn’t have a choice. Maybe she stayed as long as she could, endured what she did for another reason. What would you have done if she told you?”
“I’d have killed him.” The fact he says this with no remorse, no hesitation, marks just the kind of man who loved my mother. One who would move heaven and earth for her. Uncle Luke said my father loved my mother deeply. So, two men loved my mother more than life itself and with all she probably endured, a part of me is relieved she didn’t have to endure more.
“Maybe it’s good she left. She loved you enough not to see you put in jail.”
“Loved me enough, but not enough to confide in me. How long was this happening to her before she got tired of it all? How long was he raping her before she said enough was enough?”
“Don’t forget she’s the victim. Would you have believed her?”
“Hell, yes I would have. He’d be six feet fucking under. And I’d have no regrets.”
“Thank you, but I think we’re exactly where we’re supposed to be. I’m not big on destiny, but I think we’re meant to be in this moment. It’s out there. Exposed. I don’t want him to get away with this. Whatever connections he has, there has to be some way to get heard.”
Marcus takes my shoulders, and pushes me back, “I’d use my entire fortune to see to it, babygirl. There’s no way he’s getting away with this. Let’s just get the hell out of here and regroup. I think I need a fucking drink. And frankly, so do you. Go on, now. There’s an attached bathroom that should probably still have towels. Clothes in the dresser and closet.”
“Tha
nk you, Marcus. I know you want to protect me—
“I promised your momma, Willow. If only I had known, this… I would have never brought you into this house.”
The men in my life. Ever the protective types. I reach up and press a kiss to his cheek. “I’m glad she had you. I’m also glad she found my dad. Sometimes life surprises us in every way imaginable. I’m meant to be with Gabriel, you know? You and your wife, who does love you, don’t look at me like that, I saw the way she looked at you when she first walked in. Big cartoon hearts were in her eyes. Until she saw me. She looks at you like I look at Gabriel. Y’all were meant to have him and he was meant to find me. Luckily, we didn’t grow up like siblings. He’s really hot. I might have been a kissing sibling.”
Marcus snorts, rolls his eyes. “You’re fucking weird, babygirl. Now, hurry up. This place is starting to creep me out and I want to get you out of here.”
I walk into the room laughing, thinking how Gabriel loves saying that line to me, but loving me anyway.
With one last look at Marcus, who gives me this rueful chagrin, I close the door and flip on the lights. This room doesn’t look sad or lonely though. It’s like any other teenage girl I know. A Green Day poster is on one wall, then numerous shelves filled with trophies. I walk up and see cheerleading, softball, soccer, volleyball. Wow. She really tried everything. Anything to not be here, I bet. I catch my breath, trying to hold in the onslaught of tears wanting to fall. I shake my head and walk to her dresser. Thankfully, I left my purse in Marcus’s car and I rummage through the few bottom drawers. One thing for sure, my mother was freaking petit, until I open the bottom drawer and there’s a few baggy items, a sweatshirt and pants with GFHS #7 on the front. Must have been Grifton Falls High School. I pull them out and there’s no way these would have fit my mother. And that number seven?
Must only mean one thing. They’re Marcus’s. “Marcus?”
I didn’t know if he heard me, but he opens the door slightly and says, “What is it? Are you dressed?”
“No, but I found some GFHS sweat clothes in here with the Saint number, any explanation as to why your shorts would be in here?”
