Am I going to end it?She feels sick considering the concept. She feels sick about not ending it too.
She won’t know until she sees him.
…and that would require her to go home.
Home, to the very same place that Gage has a key to, and can come see her whenever he feels like it.
Minnie lies back on the sheets and closes her eyes, trying to find strength.
She gave a thief the key to her front door. The irony is not lost on her.
Chapter 12
It takes a few days, but she eventually goes back to her townhome, no longer willing to put up with the way her family seems to be walking on eggshells around her. Her father, regretful and awkward. Her mother, distraught and disappointed. Ariel, pitying and horrified.
Enough is enough. Minnie has had it.
The first night back in her own home is unpleasant, full of ghosts in every shadow, and the fear of someone entering her windows fills her mind until sleep can’t find purchase. She finally finds rest in the late hours, but jerks awake multiple times, dreaming of the gun clicking against her face.
The controlling sensation of a man’s hand on the back of her neck.
By morning, she’s cranky, worn, and empty. She is ill-equipped to handle what happens next.
Time seems to stop when a knock comes from her door, announcing the presence of an unexpected visitor.
Minnie doesn’t often get visitors. None, aside from Ariel and Gage. She knows this visitor is unlikely to be Ariel, considering they just saw each other.
No, it can’t be him. It’s too soon, Minnie finds herself thinking frantically.I’m not ready.
You’ll never be ready.
For a moment, she can’t breathe. Her lungs freeze up and she forgets what it means to inhale. Blood is rushing in her ears, and all she can seem to hear is her heart pounding like a tribal drum. Flashes of memory hit her, of gunmetal, gloves, and menacing masks. The way people screamed and cried in terror, and how Minnie sobbed and begged for her life repeatedly.
It all feels likenow. As if the past has chased her into the future and found her again.
She’s frozen still and can’t get up to go to the door. Maybe if she’s quiet enough, he’ll go away.
The knock sounds again, nice and gentle, not abrasive the way someone who doesn’t know her might do.
He has a key. Usually, he just comes in. Minnie is glad that heisn’t.
“Minnie? Hey, it’s me.” Gage’s voice washes over her and she feels like crying all over again. She loves his rusty voice, and now she feels like she should hate it. How can she still hear his voice and warm to it? “I know you were at your parents for a bit. Marlin told me. After that crazy mess at my place. Real shitshow, yeah? But, I figure you’re back now. And, I mean, I’m back.Obviously.” He pauses, and she can almost imagine him shifting awkwardly. There’s no golden confidence in his tone this day. “I’m kinda embarrassed about the whole thing. Didn’t expect that shit to go down with you at the crib. Minnie? You around?”
Face him. Don’t be a coward. Don’t be a mouse for once in your life. Be a powerful gazelle. You can still run when danger comes, but gazelles are elegant when they do it, right?
Steeling herself, Minnie pushes the idea of Minnie Mouse away and tries to be a tougher version of herself. The version of Minnie that she wants to be, a Minnie who is brave even when afraid. Within a few heartbeats, she opens the door and finds herself staring up at the man who ruined her.
Seeing him is like staring at a warzone for her.
“Hey.” She’s got nothing else on her tongue ready to speak aloud. He towers over her, but she’snotgoing to let that scare her. It didn’t scare her so much before, but now that she knows what he’s capable of? Well. That casts him and his appearance in another light.
He looks at her pale, drawn face, notices the way she doesn’t let him in the door the way she always does. “Hey, princess.” His grin is careful, unsure. There’s a fading purple bruise on his face. “I wanted to check in on you, to make sure you’re okay after what happened the other day. I’ve been worried.”
“Were you really?” Minnie asks numbly, her mind filled with horrible memories, flashing about like alarms in her skull. How can she ever believe anything he says to her ever again? He knew about their shared past. And he saidnothing.She searches his eyes, trying to see which Mask he might have been.
Which of her tormentors was he?
The grin dies a slow little death. His face goes to stone as his hazel eyes try to pick her apart. “What do you mean? Of course, I was worried about you. You’re…” He stops and looks away, rubbing at the back of his tattooed neck.
