I open my mouth to argue but he’s inside the bathroom, the door shutting.
Damn it.My runaway plan is as hard to execute as Mission Impossible.
I flop back on the bed and take a deep breath. Sharp pain, lasting no more than a few seconds, stabs my shoulder blade and disappears as fast as it came. Remembering my scars, I touch my lower neck and rip off the bandages. A few specks of blood stain the gauze. I run my fingers on top of the wrinkled skin and grit my teeth. The scratch on my neck will disappear, but no bandage can heal my past.
Abi calls from downstairs. Does she have a key or do they leave the door unlocked? I’ll have to ask Alek. No way can we leave the door unlocked with Charlie still out there, waiting to put his hands on me. Although he doesn’t know where I am at this point.
The water stops running in the bathroom, and I sprint for downstairs. To talk to Abi, not because I’m trying to avoid the sight of Victor wearing nothing but a small towel.
Abi hugs me again. Her eyes drop to my neck and she studies the long pinkish scab. She asks me if I want some tea, which I gladly accept.
Abi’s so bubbly with her red-framed glasses and red T-shirt. She’s matched them, and they make the red in her hair stand out even more. Her thick hair falls below her shoulders. She’s a natural beauty. I like that she’s not trying to hide the many freckles on her face with makeup. Alek and Abi will make some beautiful babies.Aww!I can’t believe I just thought that. But I smile with teeth and all—something I haven’t done for so long that I thought my facial muscles had forgotten how to do it.
Chapter Eight
The entire day Abi, Alek, and Victor take turns staying with me in the apartment, filling me in about practices, classes, gossip from Abi’s sorority. I’m catching up on the last three years, for sure. But are they doing this on purpose?
And when the evening comes, the aroma of delicious food carries through the entire apartment. My stomach rumbles, and I’m ready to join the others for dinner downstairs.
“Tia, dinner is ready,” Abi’s chirpy voice calls, and the icy igloo I’ve built so carefully around my heart melts.
“Coming.”
My cell phone beeps in my hand and a text from my mom appears.
Mom: Don’t do anything stupid.
Not a message questioning how I’m doing, if I’m okay, where I’m staying. No. She wants to make sure I do what she says, what Charlie says. My knuckles crack as I squeeze the phone. Now I want to be alone.
While I’m frowning at the phone screen a second text appears, but this time it’s from an unidentified number.
Unidentified number: I’ll find you. YOU OWE ME! And you’re MINE, Firefly.
Despite not having eaten anything, heaviness settles in my stomach. Charlie won’t hurt Mom because she doesn’t know where I am. I squeeze my eyes shut. The good news is Charlie also doesn’t know where I am. The bad news is he won’t give up. I open my eyes.
I poke my head out of Alek’s room and shout, “I’m not hungry. You guys go ahead without me.”
I shut the door and curl up on the bed with my earbuds in. I hope Victor doesn’t saunter in here to “walk me downstairs.”
I focus on the multiplying tightness in my chest. I’m not sure how long I stay in this position. Darkness fills the empty space around me. Coldness hits at my core. I’m lying in a bed but don’t know where I am. A dark shadow of a man walks into the room, and I take off running. How did I get here? I recognize my surroundings because it’s the park near my mom’s apartment. I’m running toward the small space between the bushes and the tall fence where the homeless people usually sleep. I know they can save me. I’ve stayed with them on a few occasions. But before I can get there, two rough hands grab my shoulders and slam me onto a solid surface so hard that my head bobs up and down.
And now I’m back in the same bed, and the dark shadow is even darker. He’s looming over me, but his hands are around my neck, squeezing tighter and tighter. I can’t take a breath. I wave my hands, trying to fend off the attacker, but energy leaves me. My hands drop to my sides. I won’t survive this. Is there a point in fighting?
Suddenly, my body warms up, but I don’t know why. Hot flashes run up and down my spine, and my eyes detect light. Orange blazing light. It’s a fire. Huge flames come from the nostrils of a giant black bull. It doesn’t frighten me, but its blaze does. The bull charges and rams the dark shadow, which vanishes.
I gasp for air, but the unwelcome tension in my throat has now moved to my chest. I still can’t breathe. The warm drops of sweat leave burn trails down my face and neck. Why do I feel like my skin is shrinking, not able to hold my body? My bed is not a bed anymore, but raging flames. I’m burning. I am on fire. The bull has set me on fire while fighting off the attacker. I became collateral damage. It saved and hurt me at once. My body starts shaking so violently, I’m about to faint.
“Tia. Tia.” A familiar voice surrounds me, but I don’t see anyone. “Open your eyes, please.”
And I do as I’m told because my body follows the demands of this voice without a question.
Victor.
I blink and blink and blink. My eyes detect bright light filling the room. I gasp. Fire? My hazy brain starts making sense of the objects around me. Alek’s room. The bright light of the silver moon.
“It was a nightmare. A crazy dream.” My voice is groggy, my throat dry.
“You sounded as if you ran a marathon. I heard you panting. Hard. I had to check on you.”
