Page 109 of Tailored for You

There was a warrant for her arrest, but no one could find her.

Still, it was a constant worry she’d sneak back in and come for Harper, or me. Day by day, that worry eased, but I knew it would always be present in some way until I knew she was out of commission.

One day, I’d tell Enzo to find her. Then I would tell him what I wanted to do with her.

We drove slowly down a dark street, streetlamps flickering, giving an eerie vibe. The area was deserted.

The neighborhood was run down. Chain-link fences lined the sidewalks, blocking entry to the boarded-up buildings. A broken-down car, with its front and rear bumpers missing, was parked half on the street, half on the pavement.

Enzo stopped the car in front of a small house on the corner. The lot was larger than expected, a strip of overgrown grass running between the cracked pavement and the disintegrating stoop.

The house itself was falling apart. The front door hung off its hinges, a section of siding was missing, showing the boards beneath. Windows were boarded, and the ones that weren’t had been smashed in, sharp glass shards left on the sill.

Enzo climbed out, came around, and opened my door. I stepped out into the chilly night, eyeing him warily.

“Where are we?” I asked.

“I have something to show you,” Enzo said and ushered me into the house.

The stairs creaked as we walked up them. It was dark and dank inside. The air was stale, like there hadn’t been anyone here in years.

“A lot of horror films start this way, right before you lose your mind and go on a killing spree” I whispered.

“What are you talking about?” Enzo stopped walking.

“Haven’t you seen any horror films? It always starts with the wife,” I said, rolling my eyes.

“Well, let me know when you’re ready for the ring.” Enzo turned and headed toward the back of the house.

My stomach flipped. That was the third time he mentioned a ring. I wasn’t ready for that yet, but soon, I knew I would be.

He opened the door to the basement and hesitated. “Once you see what’s down there, if you want nothing to do with it, then we walk away. You know nothing. You saw nothing. It’s up to you.”

“Okay. Just saying, I think that’s verbatim something a man said in a movie right before he ran through the city with a machete,” I said, and followed him down the steps.

“I need to monitor what you’re watching. It’s putting wild ideas in your head.” Enzo huffed out a laugh.

I hit the bottom, and Enzo turned on the overhead light. It flickered, barely lighting up the room. But what it did light up made me freeze.

A woman was tied and gagged to a chair in the center of the room. Her usually long brown hair had been cut short and was matted, darker with grime. Cuts lined her arms and dirt streaked her face.

Apple looked at me with so much hate in her eyes. I almost took a step back to get out of her line of sight.

Almost.

But then I remembered myself, where we were, and what she had done to me.

All the fear and anger that had lived in me for the weeks she tormented me came bubbling up. The woman who had spread lies about me, making it nearly impossible to make friends with any of the moms from school.

The woman who did everything she could to demean and belittle me whenever she could.

The anger overwhelmed me, blinding me to anything else. I marched across the room, raised my closed fist, and slammed it into her face.

The impact hurt my hand, but I ignored it, hitting her again.

I grabbed her face, gripping it tight between my fingers, and made her look at me.

“This ends now. No one will ever see or hear from you again.” I pushed her face away and backed up. I didn’t bother removing the gag. There was nothing she had to say that was worth hearing.