Abigail, this is your mother…
10
Reading over the message my mum sent has me reeling.
Abigail, this is your mother. You really shouldn’t leave your sister alone to go traipsing all over the countryside with your kidnapper. Are you sure you can trust those animals to keep their hands off her?
What the hell… She knows we aren’t at Ringo’s?
But how?
It’s just past six in the morning, and we are approaching the location we snuck off from hours earlier, so I wait until we stop, and fly out of the car, hitting call on the number.
“Abbey, wait!” Ringo barks, but I ignore him, hurrying across the grass to the gate in the fence we went through earlier, only to find it locked, but the moment the call connects, I stop walking anyway.
“I was expecting an abusive text, but a phone call is much better,” my mother snaps through the phone, and I grit my teeth, clenching them so hard I fear they will shatter.
“Tahli is none of your concern!” I snarl, and my mother scoffs.
“On the contrary. She is. You are. And so is little Bobbi.”
I stiffen, my feet suddenly feeling like lead.
“Bobbi is dead,” I snap, and my mother laughs, although there’s very little humour in it.
“Nice try, Abigail, but I know she’s alive. A little birdy told me so.”
My knees practically give way at those words, and as I start to tumble, Ringo catches me, once again always there when I need him.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I practically whisper as Ringo carries me in his arms, cradled to his chest.
“Of course you do. Cut the BS,” she snaps, her tone impatient. “We know Bobbi is alive and well, and soon enough, I will have my granddaughter in my arms, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
“Stay the fuck away from her!” I yell into the phone, only for her to start laughing at me.
“Unlikely, but I suppose we could come to an agreement.” She sighs, and I want to reach through the phone and gouge her eyeballs from her head. “Like, give Tahli back to me and I’ll consider walking away from your bastard child.”
“What?! No way! Why would you think I’d ever let either of them go to you? You’re fucking crazy!”
“It’s TahliorBobbi. One or the other,” she snaps, and I get a little satisfaction knowing I’m annoying her.
“Or what?” I snap back as Ringo walks over the top of the ridge, carrying me down the path into the thick bushland.
“Or there will be consequences. Just be thankful I’m giving you a choice, but bear in mind, this offer won’t be on the table for long. After that, you can say goodbye to both your sister and your daughter.”
I open my mouth to speak, but I’m too shocked to string two bloody words together.
“You see, I know you’re finally understanding me now,” she says smugly. “I’m giving you options. Now, the obvious choice would be to hand over Tahli so you can keep your daughter, but the thing is, do you really think you’re fit to be a mother? You’ve killed people, Abigail.”
I stiffen, and flashes of faces rush through my mind. Some I knew. Some I didn’t. But all are covered in blood.
“You’re a monster,” I choke out, saying it to my mother but feeling like it’s really meant for me.
“Me?” she scoffs. “I’m not the one who killed your father, Abigail.Youdid that, didn’t you? So who’s the real monster here?”
My dad’s face jolts into the forefront of my mind then. The tears that flowed from his eyes as he revealed the ugly truth about our family. How I wanted him dead for letting awful things happen to me. And how I left a gun so he could do it himself.
I may not have pulled the trigger, but I was definitely the one who killed my dad.
