Exhaling, I spin around and grab a menu.
“Andrew, isn’t this far of a distance for you to travel?” With the black plastic menu in hand, I glance over his head, but he’s here alone.
The dirty flannel jacket he’s had since I was young stares back at me, and I refuse to make eye contact with him.
“It’s not every day you hear your little stepdaughter is allowed out into the open. Had to see it for myself. I didn’t believe the guys down at the bar, but here you are in the flesh.”
I grit my teeth and plaster my customer-service smile on as I push the menu across the counter. “The special of the day is—”
“I’m not here to eat, Kitty Cat. I came to collect the debts you owe me.”
Tearing my gaze from the stark white countertop, I look into his deep brown eyes, noticing the fine lines etched by time. The sneer on his face fills me with unease.
“I don’t owe you anything. I left in good standing when you kicked me out. Don’t you remember?” I bite the words out, and he leans against the counter.
The scent of his greasy, thinning hair coming closer, along with the same soap that’s haunted me most of my life. A faint smell of years-old cigarettes woven through his jacket fills mynose, and flashes of the past spin through my mind, but I’m not that little girl anymore.
“Oh, she’s gotten a spark back. Can’t wait to extinguish that.” He winks at me before turning on his heels and leaving the diner.
The spark is nothing more than the monster that lives inside of me, alive and wanting to feast on the retaliation of what is owed to her. Payment for every ounce of torture, paid in full bytheirfear for once. My moral compass is dissolving and I worry a little.
“It’s pretty quiet. You can clock out, love,” Debbie says from behind me. I bite hard on my lip, centering myself. “You okay?”
I shake my head no, glancing at her short curly hair. She inches closer and circles me with her arm, hugging me fiercely. Debbie smells of sweets and a faint scent of cleaning products.
She’s the motherly figure I’ve needed and wanted my entire life. No one has ever known the truth about my biological mother. She was a whore who skipped out with the newest dick in town and left me with that monster.
“I’m okay.”
“Nope. I’ll call Burke. Sit in the back, girly-pop. Was it the old fucker that was in here?”
I nod as she leads me to the back.
“Alright, he’s not allowed to come back. Let’s wait for your ride.”
I told you I’d be back to steal everything good in your life. Mark my words, Kitty Cat. I wasn’t lying when I said I’d collect.
Andrew’s voice wakes me from my sleep, and when I glance at the end of the bed, he’s standing there as clear as day.
Scream, and I’ll kill the knight in shining armour next to you. Come on down here; show Daddy how much you missed him.
Bile rises in my throat, and I scramble back on the mattress toward the headboard. I swear his sharp nails are digging into the skin on my ankle. A shriek escapes me as his hand circles my calf, and I kick out.
“Clara, wake up. Come on, it’s a dream.” Burke’s strong voice breaks through the haze, and when I open my eyes again, no one is in the bedroom except the two of us.
Light creates shadows on the wall as he turns on the lamp. My heart pounds against my ribs, and I burrow myself into his arms.
“It’s okay, Dragonfly, I’ve got you.”
He’s been calling me this name for weeks, but it still makes me stare up at him like he has two heads.
“Dragonflies, spiritually, mean change, transformation, and strength, and if that isn’t exactly fucking you, I don’t know what is.” He strokes my hair as I cling to his shirt.
“It’s kinda dumb.” I laugh, breaking the tension in the room. My jaw hurts from clenching my teeth, and I do my best to breathe past the nightmare that rocked through me.
“What happened tonight?”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m sorry for waking you.” I pull away from him, but he doesn’t let go of my hair. The soft glow of the nightstand lamp covers his face, and his icy blue eyes gaze down at me.
