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A knock on the door stirred me from a restless sleep.
For the first time since the crawl space, I’d dreamed of Betty. The warmth of her hands around mine clung to my skin. Her sense of calmness and strength radiated from inside my weakened body.
I begged her, again, to take me with her. I was alone with no one left who I could trust.
“Life is difficult right now,” she’d said, “but it won’t be forever. Stay strong, sweetie. Nothing is as it was supposed to be. You can fix it, though. You must if you ever want to move on.”
“I’m tired of being strong,” I argued.
“I know, dear,” she said before disappearing into the darkness. “Soon.” The word carried softly through the cold, dead air like the first raindrop in an impending storm.
“Soon, what?”
She was gone.
Another tap, tap on the door.
The heat of Newbie’s body burned the skin on my back and hip, where his heavy hand laid. His leg on my thigh trapped me in place. I opened my mouth to tell him to get off of me—nothing came out. I attempted to shove him off with my hand—only my pinky finger moved. I was awake but immobile.
I summoned the courage Betty offered me while I slept. Whether I’d seen her ghost or not was up for debate. The irrefutable truth was, real or not, the idea of her was all that stood between me and defeat.
Newbie brushed my hair off my forehead with his fingers. “Ah, good, you’re awake. Let’s see who’s at the door, shall we?” His breath was sticky on my ear.
I blinked several times with nervous, horrified confusion. I couldn’t run, couldn’t speak, couldn’t scream, couldn’t hide. He had the power to throw me into a casket, bury me alive, and there’d be nothing I could do to fight against it.
Newbie opened the door. A fresh, early morning breeze chilled my skin.
“Yes. Okay,” Newbie said.
My ears and eyes strained to hear a voice, to see a face. The voice was nothing more than a murmur, and Newbie’s body blocked my view of the stranger.
“We’ll be there soon.” The door shut, trapping me in that motel room like a wild bird in a cage. Newbie crouched down to see into my eyes. “It’s time. Everything will be better soon, I promise you.”
He lifted me into his arms, bouncing me until he had me situated comfortably against his chest. With every step he took closer to the door, sunlight bathed him in its yellow hue.
He looked beautiful, angelic, but I knew otherwise. There was nothing holy about him. There couldn’t be for him to do what he’d done to me—drugging me, keeping me in the dark with the police.
How foolish I was. He’d never reported anything. Why would he? Somehow, he was involved.
That truth rippled through my soul like a pebble in a swamp.
He opened the door, walked us out without closing it behind us, then carried my nearly lifeless body down the steps and to my car. He propped me up in the front passenger seat and buckled me in before rounding the hood to get in himself. The car sputtered to life after a couple of failed attempts to start the engine. We turned right out of the motel parking lot.
He was taking me home.
“Everything’s going to be okay now, Erin. You just wait and see.” He patted my knee twice. “It’s been impossible keeping this a secret from you.” The thumb on his right hand tapped the shifter in nervous fits. He steered with his left hand. “Now that the time has come for you to learn the truth, I admit I’m a little anxious.”
“Why are you doing this?” My head had lolled to one side when he turned out of the parking lot. I’d found my voice but not the control of my body. I watched his profile as he registered my question.
“Oh, good, you can speak again.”
Sunlight reflected off passing cars like camera flashes. “You didn’t answer my question.” My focus turned down to his lap, avoiding the blinding light on my drugged and weary eyes.
“All in good time.”
He drove the rest of the way in silence. From my window, I watched as flags and outdoor mats welcomed me back into a neighborhood I thought I’d said goodbye to forever.
A white house with black shutters and an empty driveway beckoned us with a thin, crooked finger. Newbie followed the guidance of the beast, luring us back into the devil’s lair. This time, there’d be no escape.
After Newbie parked and opened my door, the blood in my veins no longer weighed me down like a thousand pounds of sand. I was weak and wobbling as I got to my feet. He gripped my elbow to save me from falling.
I scanned the neighbor’s lawns nearby. No one was outdoors. Other than the blue jays, squirrels, and chipmunks, I doubted anyone would hear my cries if I tried to scream, nor would my legs hold me if I tried to run.
Newbie guided me along my walkway and up the few steps to my front door. Our feet covered the black letters on my doormat, welcoming us home. We’d come back, though neither of us belonged there.
Newbie knocked once, paused then knocked twice more. The door swung open.
“There’s my sweet girl.”
Fate had brought me home.