“Myles?” she cries.
She goes to look back down at Declan’s lifeless body, but I stop her.
“Don’t look at him, Mina. Keep your eyes on me. Focus on me, okay. I need you to come over here with the knife.”
She glances at the blood-coated blade. She reaches for it, butthe sight of so much blood hits her with the reality of it all. Her fingers grasp the air as her body curls in on itself again.
She just killed someone. Whether it was in self-defense or not, she took someone’s life, and it’s breaking her.
“Mina! Look. At. Me!” I snap with a bit more anger in my voice than I mean to. “Grab the knife.”
Her fingers slowly uncurl as she grabs the knife and turns back to me.
“Good girl. Now, come here.” My voice is calm, but firm. It keeps her attention locked on me, not letting her mind wander.
She crawls behind me. Her body is bruised, naked, and covered in multiple people’s blood. I can feel her fingers run down my arm and slip under the ropes. It takes her a few seconds to cut through the thick rope, but when it's loose, my fingers begin to tingle as the blood starts to circulate.
I quickly untie the ropes around my ankles, then drop to the floor beside her. I pull her into my arms and set her on my lap. She collapses against my chest as she begins to have another panic attack. Her body shakes as she sobs against me. Her fingers dig into the torn fabric of my shirt.
We need to get out of here, but I don’t know where. Where could we even…Fuck. The house. We can go to the house.
I cradle her in my arms as I stand. She curls into me, tucking her face against my throat as she wraps her arms around my neck. I can feel her body starting to calm. Her sobs are becoming quieter, and she’s no longer trembling in my arms.
I grab hold of one of the stage curtains and rip it down. I drape it over her to cover her body as I carry her to my car. I fumble for my keys, trying to balance her with one arm and my knee. I finally get her door open and realize she’s asleep. Her body finally gave in to the overwhelming emotions from tonight.
I gently place her in the passenger seat and recline it so she’s flat, then buckle her in. I take a moment to look at her. This beautiful woman has managed to become everything to me in a day. I tuck a strand of her blood-soaked hair behind her ear before gently kissing her on the forehead.
She sighs as she turns onto her side and brings her legs up onto the seat. I adjust the torn stage curtain to cover her better before quietly shutting the door.
I climb into the driver’s seat and glance around the surrounding area. No one’s here yet, but they will be soon. They’ll see the bloodbath waiting inside. Hopefully, by the time they find it, Mina and I will be long gone.
The drive to the old house is silent except for her soft breathing. I had reached over to brush her hair out of her face, and she grabbed my hand. She’s held it ever since. When we pull into the driveway, it’s as if the last twenty years never happened. I close my eyes and remember every day back then. Adam and Angelina let me live in the pool house out back. It was small, but it was perfect for me. It had a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and living room. It was all I ever needed.
I step outside and breathe in the familiar scent. The breeze blows and catches the scent of the Magnolia treesout in front of the house. The sweet citrus scent wraps around me, and I can feel the tears threatening to fall.
I glance back at the car to the sleeping woman inside. I need to get her cleaned up and then into bed. I look back at the main house and shake my head. I’m not ready to go back in there…Not yet.
I open her door and unbuckle her belt. She turns over in the seat, and I lift her back up into my arms. Her arms instantly wrap around my neck as I walk us back to the pool house. I’ve had crews here to clean both houses and the grounds multiple times a year for the last twenty years. You would never have guessed this place was abandoned all these years. A piece of my life, frozen in time, twenty years ago.
I manage to get the door open and flick on the light. The dull yellow glow casts shadows around the room. It illuminates my tiny chunk of the world just as I left it. I can’t help but laugh at the giant box of a TV with a built-in VHS player. Oh yeah, that shit’s old.
My old PlayStation 2 is still hooked up. The black controller rests on top. The one with the chunk taken out of the rubber covering on the joystick. I think that was from the time Adam and I were playing Tony Hawk’s Underground 2. Adam lost and threw the controller to the ground. He always was a sore loser.
I continue further into the house. The kitchen is clean, but still holds pieces of my past. A phone number written on a napkin is tacked to my wall. I still remember that night. Adam forced me to go out to the bar a week before they left for vacation…A week before they died.
Adam said I needed to start looking for someone to settle down with. We were only twenty-one, but Adam fell in love fast and married Angelina within a year. He said he just wanted me to be happy. We ran into a woman we went to high school with. Mandy? Brandy? I glance at the aged napkin. The name is hardly legible, but I can still see the faint lines of a name. Brenda.
Adam insisted I get her number. I never called her. I felt nothing when talking to her all night. She was boring. Too full of herself. And dear god, she wouldn’t shut up all night. Every time I tried to say something, she would cut me off. It was then that I decided that if I didn’t feel something, even the slightest spark, with someone, then I wouldn’t even entertain the idea of a second date. I’d rather not waste anyone’s time.
I glance down at the woman in my arms. From the moment I laid eyes on her, I felt sparks. I felt the pull of a connection…One that can never happen.
I look over the kitchen once more and notice a worn photograph magnetized to the fridge. I walk over and realize it’s one of the last pictures I have with all four of us.
Mina yawns and stretches in my arms. Her soft whimper as she tucks her face back against my chest drags me from my past.
“Time to get you cleaned up, Sunshine.”
I walk us down the hall and push open the door to the bathroom. Thankfully, the cleaning crew was kind enough to do laundry whenever the linens got stale. I had them come in less than a month ago when I made the final decision to sell this place.
