She had been left alone for the evening, and that was the first mistake.
Jenny could feel something in the air that night and had begged Maggie not to leave her. Maggie had insisted that everything would be fine – she left plenty of snacks within reach and was only heading out for a couple of hours with her boyfriend. Jenny knew her sister had more than earned a chance to blow off some steam, so she had resigned herself to the idea.
That was when she knew she had messed up.
When the thunderous knock pounded on the door, Jenny jumped out of her skin. She snatched the TV remote from her lap and muted the TV she had been mindlessly watching Tom & Jerry reruns on. She cocked her head, listened, then heard it again.
It was harder this time, making her heart thump. She wheeled herself toward the door and wished she could reach the peeper, but that was another thing the asshole drunk driver had made impossible for her. Suddenly, she really begrudged her life.
“Who is it?” she asked.
“Your sister sent me here to pick up some clothes,” the man said.
“Some clothes? For what?”
“She’s been in an accident.”
“What?”
“She’s okay, but she’s in the hospital and needs to stay a few days.”
Jenny didn’t think after that. She reached out of her chair and flicked open the latch. Hurrying to find out more about Maggie, she twisted open both the locks – a necessity in this neighborhood – and pulled open the door.
That was the second mistake.
The man stormed in like a blur. His leg kicked out and struck her wheelchair. Jenny rolled back and tried to balance herself, but she couldn’t turn the wheel quick enough. The chair toppled. She hit the bare wooden floor with a thud, the glasses falling off her face with a smash. Jenny whimpered and whined, turned, and saw the man storm toward her.
“Please,” she said. “Don’t hurt me.”
The man only laughed at her. He stopped moving only to hold his gut as he doubled over in hysterics. She couldn’t see his face with her blurred eyesight, but that didn’t end the humiliation. She was useless, lying on the floor like injured game. She tried to crawl away, but the chair was on one of her legs. It weighed her down. Pinned her there like a bounty.
By the time the man stopped laughing, Jenny had been able to do nothing but cry. She thought about Maggie and wondered if she was really in the hospital. She thought about Logan and prayed he was there to help her. Finally, she settled enough to realize the truth.
This man was here to hurt her.