Under her feet, the floor was covered with an old, algae green carpet with its fiber completely flat. Though the walls were white, there seemed to be a gloom in the house.
There wasn’t many decorations in the house, either. Besides the couch they were sitting on, there were only the ugly olive curtains with hideous red flowers printed all over and the small television in front of them.
She wasn’t expecting a grand house with antiques displayed all over the house, but there wasn’t a single picture or book. It felt like an empty shell, like the house was merely for show.
She had shrugged those thoughts off and turned to the girls.
The girls’ hair hung neatly around their shoulders, covering the nape of their necks, and their clothes appeared fresh and clean. They seemed to have just taken a bath, but instead of the freshness she’d expected, they appeared weary and somewhat demoralized.
Leah sat like a statue, blending in so well with the furniture in the background that she was almost invisible. Amy, on the other hand, sat quietly, but her hands were clasped so tightly that her knuckles were turning whiter than her already pale skin.
But what truly struck her as odd was how subdued the girls were. They kept their eyes on the floor, occasionally gazing outside as though they were daydreaming, but never directly at anyone—not even at each other.
Despite having acted out in the last foster home, she kept her behavior in check. Something about the house was weird.
She toed the line and did whatever Mrs. Moore told her in the first few days.
Things were normal then and Mandy never suspected anything was wrong. She merely thought Mrs. Moore ran her house with an iron fist, which was why the other two girls were always so quiet.
No matter where she’d gone, foster kids always stuck together. They would talk or warn each other about the parent and watch each other’s back. But Leah and Amy kept to themselves. They didn’t speak to her or each other. The only time she heard them speak was when they answered Mrs. Moore’s questions.
Mandy didn’t care how they behaved. She kept to herself as much as they did.
There wasn’t any point in making friends when she could be thrown out anytime.
What she didn’t know then was that she wouldn’t be discarded this time. Mrs. Moore was determined to keep her in the hell hole for as long as she could.
It didn’t take long for Mrs. Moore to peel off her mask. Just four days into her stay, the torture began.
Mandy fought hard. She screamed, yelled, and thrashed her hands about, but she was always overpowered in the end.
After a year, the torture became routine and though it was weird, Mandy got used to it.
She feared it tremendously; she couldn’t sleep and found herself listening out for the dreaded footsteps that would come up the stairs each night.
Even on the rare occasions when the she-devil decided to take a break, Mandy still couldn’t sleep. Her ears would be on alert for the slightest movement on the wooden stairs that creaked with each step. Still, despite it all, she grew to accept it as a situation she couldn’t get out of.
Her defiance, her stubbornness, her fights, none of it helped her.
In desperation, she turned to the people she’d grown to distrust—adults. She tried to ask for help, only to be turned down and scorned.
To top it off, her cry for help only made Mrs. Moore transfer more of the torture toward her.
To a fourteen year old, there was nothing else she could do.
She was sure the rest of her life would be subjected to the sadistic tortures of Mrs. Moore. She was sure she would die in the she-devil’s hands.
The only way she could make herself get out of bed each morning was to be angry.
Anger that gave rise to stubbornness and determination.
Her stubbornness kept her alive. Her determination to make it difficult for Mrs. Moore in whatever small, tiny ways gave her satisfaction whenever she succeeded.
She didn’t care if she died in the she-devil’s hands. At least, she was going down defiant.
Mrs. Moore continued trying to break her with all sorts of torture, but it only aggravated her rage.
When the checks from the government and the torture were no longer enough to keep Mrs. Moore happy, the she-devil decided to pimp them out.
The rage that had given her determination to live, supplied her with resolution to fight to her death before she became anyone’s sex slave.
She scratched and bit Mrs. Moore, swearing she would hurt the men so badly that they would come after her. The she-devil didn’t care much for her threats, but Mandy wasn’t going to give up. She fought so hard that Mrs. Moore got frustrated and eventually gave up, turning her attentions onto Amy.
Self-preservation should have been all that she cared about. She was safe and should be celebrating.
Amy and Leah never lifted a finger to help her whenever she was being tortured. In fact, they seemed relieved that the torture was geared toward her instead of them.
Still, she couldn’t let Mrs. Moore take Amy.
Amy had just turned seven. She couldn’t allow Mrs. Moore to do that to Amy. So, she fought and held onto Amy like she was her lifeline.
In the end, both of them were given a good beating while Leah quietly obeyed her orders.
She had never expected gratitude from Amy, but she never expected Amy to take Mrs. Moore’s side and turn on her.
She knew Mrs. Moore was trying to prove a point, to show her that being a hero didn’t bring rewards.
Mrs. Moore made Amy hurt her on purpose. The she-devil wanted her to know that no matter what she did, she was always the odd-one out, the one nobody would give a second thought about when discarding.
Amy, of course, did as she was told. She tortured her just as the she-devil did. Amy was clearly relieved that she was no longer the victim, and she didn’t care she was hurting someone else.
Evelyn clamped her jaws down and swallowed her tears as her hand moved over to her left shoulder again, feeling the bump of the scar that Amy had given her.
She was no longer the silly Mandy Shannon.
Each time she stepped into the shower, each time she looked at the mirror, she would be reminded that she should never trust or expect anyone to help her.
Evelyn continued to sit in the car, waiting for another fifteen minutes before she saw the reason behind her current situation.
Clenching her jaws, she grabbed her bag and got out of her car. She kept her chin up as she strode forward, her eyes focused on the pasty woman whose dark, haunting eyes stared right back at her.
Clad in a midriff, low-cut halter top, and a miniskirt that barely covered her bottom, the slim, petite woman leaned lazily against a lamppost. Besides the thick eyeliner and mascara she had on, she wore a sneer on her face as she watched Evelyn stalk toward her. “Hi, Mandy.”
That name irked her.
It made her feel small and weak. It reminded her of the helplessness she felt each night at the foster home, the hopelessness of her situation. But Amy brought up that name for the sole purpose of taunting her, and the same anger Evelyn once held on to survive gave her the ability to conjure up a smile.
As she drew nearer to Amy, Evelyn scanned the area around her, making sure there weren’t any threats nearby. “This is the last time I’m giving you money.” Taking out the wad of notes, she thrust it forward.
Evelyn already knew Amy wasn’t going to let her cash cow off, but with the memories of Amy’s betrayal fresh on her mind, Evelyn was itching for a fight.
“That was what you said the last time.” Taking the money from Evelyn’s hand, Amy licked her finger before counting the notes while her sneer grew more prominent. “Oh, come on. You have a good life now. Surely, you don’t want to ruin everything because of the past you had.”
“Amy, call me again, and I’ll kill you. You, of all people, should know I’m capable of that.”
She could see Amy’s jaws tightening, but i
t was only for a split second. Almost immediately, the fear vanished and the smirk returned. “Then you should do it now. Because, Mandy, I’ll be calling again,” she said as she waved the thick stack of cash in Evelyn’s face.
Irate, Evelyn slapped Amy’s hands away, spilling the money onto the floor.
The forced cordiality between the two came to an instant halt.
Amy scowled at her and Evelyn immediately knew she would be getting the fight she wanted.
Soon, each had their fingers digging deeply into the other’s arm.
Being taller, Evelyn was able to keep Amy at arm’s length, preventing Amy’s sharpened nails from clawing across her face.
Living life on the street had clearly toughened Amy. She was no longer the young, helpless girl who would cave to anyone’s commands.
Since Amy couldn’t get Evelyn’s face, her nails went for another target, scrapping lines and drawing blood from Evelyn’s arms.
With the adrenaline pumping in her body, Evelyn barely felt the pain. Evelyn pried Amy’s fingers from her arm and struggled to keep Amy’s hands from grabbing onto her hair.
Out of nowhere, a large brown handbag came between Amy and Evelyn.
As the handbag assaulted Amy’s face, Evelyn stumbled back, bringing the owner of the bag into her sight. “Kate!”
Kate continued swinging her bag at Amy, pushing her away from Evelyn, ceasing only when Amy fell onto the floor. Taking a step back from Amy, Kate turned back to check on Evelyn.
Evelyn’s eyes immediately shifted onto Amy; an experienced fighter would never take her eyes away from the danger.
While on the floor, Amy pulled out a pocketknife and flipped it open in an instant. Without much effort, she pushed herself off the ground, drew her arms back, and was ready to take a swing at Kate.
Kate must have seen the horror on her face because she turned around, instinctively raising her arms up before her face.
Still, flesh was by no means a good shield.
Evelyn lunged forward and collapsed onto Amy, sending both of them crashing back onto the floor. The impact on Amy’s head knocked her out cold. Evelyn pushed herself up and hurried back to Kate.
Kate was still standing with her arms in front of her face. A deep, slanted slash lay across both her arms while crimson blood streamed down from it.
“Damn it! Kate, you all right?”
Hearing Evelyn’s voice, Kate lowered her arms and stared at Evelyn. The pain must have finally gotten to her, and Kate turned to her arms briefly and cringed.
Evelyn couldn’t control the guilt ballooning in her, but that could wait. She had to get them out of here first.
“Listen, we need to go.” She looked over her shoulder at Amy again, making sure she was still unconscious. Then glancing around anxiously, Evelyn repeated, “We need to go. We need to take you to the hospital.”
She didn’t know if Kate’s silence was stemmed from anger or the remnants of shock.
Regardless, their commotion had attracted the attention of quite a few people. Though Evelyn was sure that minding-your-own-business was a norm in the neighborhood, and the money on the floor provided a good enough distraction, she didn’t want to risk it.
She cupped her hand under Kate’s arm and led her away from the unconscious Amy.
Kate followed her, but when Evelyn opened her car’s door, she suddenly turned away and got into a nearby cab instead.
When the fog of confusion lifted, Evelyn went after Kate and tried to open the cab’s door, but it sped away before she could reach it.
“Kate!”
Not knowing what else to do, Evelyn got behind her wheel and followed the speeding cab. She sped and ran the red light, determined to keep the cab within her sight.
She heaved a sigh of relief when the familiar sight of the woods appeared. She had never been this happy to see the creepy woods.
For the first time since Kate got hurt, Evelyn could finally process what happened. All the way here, she had been concerned of only one thing—not losing sight of the cab.
Now that her mind was off the chase, all sorts of emotions assaulted her.
First was frustration. Frustration with herself for being so consumed by thoughts of Amy and herself that she hadn’t realized Kate had tailed her.
Then came anxiety. She’d been so concerned about getting them out of the neighborhood that she didn’t get a good look at Kate’s wounds.
She never wanted things to end like this.
Evelyn had kept the blackmail from Kate so that she didn’t have to get dragged into this dark world of hers.
Her decision had completely failed and backfired.
Before today, she was certain her reasons for keeping the blackmail a secret were justified. Right now, she couldn’t even remember what her reasons were.
She should have just asked for help.
After so many years, she should have moved on from her past. Why was she still so frightened to ask or even hope that someone would help her out?
Kate wasn’t like any of those who had scorned her. She had always been there for her.
And Dan.
Dan had given her so many chances to ask for his help.
Still, she’d chosen to keep her lips sealed.
Because of her choice to keep her mouth shut, and to close the rest of the world out, she was going to lose her only friend.
Kate would never speak to her again.
Kate had told Evelyn how betrayed she felt when Lydia chose to lie and keep her in the dark about the investigation that eventually led to the fire.
Evelyn had been irate at Lydia, too.
Yet, when she was subjected to the same dilemma, she chose to do exactly what Lydia did.
She kept Kate in the dark and lied whenever necessary to keep the blackmail a secret from everyone.
Kate always gave her the space she needed, trusting that she would go to her when she was ready. This time, she chose to betray Kate’s trust.
As the mansion came into view, Evelyn could see Tyler pacing, then rushing up to the cab even before it came to a stop. She pulled up right behind the cab and stepped out just as Tyler shouted for Joseph.
“Joe!” Tyler yelled again while helping Kate out from the cab.
Evelyn took a step closer to Kate, but Tyler immediately moved between Kate and her. His back was facing her, and he didn’t take his eyes off Kate, but Evelyn got his message.
Nodding, she took a step back. She couldn’t blame Tyler. Like Lydia, she wasn’t the direct cause of Kate’s injuries, but none of it would have happened if it wasn’t for her.
With his arm tight around Kate’s waist, Tyler pressed Kate against him and led her into the mansion, nearly knocking into Joseph.
Joseph stepped aside for them to enter. “What the hell happened?” he asked when he saw the blood on Kate’s arm.
“It was me,” Evelyn said softly. “It was me.”
No one made any comments to Evelyn’s statement. Tyler’s attention was solely on Kate while Joseph ran back to get a first aid kit.
By then, Marianne and Mr. Sawyer had joined them in the living room. Marianne gasped and hurried over to sit by Kate. “Oh, Lord. What happened?”
Kate turned to Evelyn and said, “I don’t know.”
Evelyn could see the anger burning in Kate’s eyes before Kate returned her gaze to Marianne and rested her head on Tyler’s shoulders.
Evelyn watched as everyone took their place.
Tyler and Marianne were right beside Kate. Mr. Sawyer went out of the house and spoke with the cab driver while Joseph knelt in front of Kate and checked her wounds.
She was the only one standing around doing nothing.
She stood and watched for a moment, realizing how out of place she was. Kate had a new family now, and there wasn’t any place for a person like her.
“You’re lucky you didn’t get slashed on the ventral side of your arms. You could lose the ability to move your fingers,” Joseph said as
he turned Kate’s arms to examine the wounds. “This is going to sting.”
Kate winced as Joseph sprayed a generous amount of antiseptic over her wounds.
“What were you cut with?” Joseph asked.
“Pocket knife,” Evelyn answered immediately, turning all eyes to her.
“Was it rusty?”
Evelyn blinked and stammered, “I…I don’t know. Maybe…Is she going to be all right?”
Again, no one replied.
She pursed her lips and turned away from the group. She didn’t know what to do with herself; she couldn’t leave or walk away from them right now. She had to make sure Kate would be fine.
“We need to take her down to the hospital. The wound on her left hand is too deep. She needs stitches and she should get a tetanus shot, just in case.” As he spoke, Joseph bandaged the wounds. “This should slow the bleeding.”
Tyler’s brows were etched in a permanent frown. He nodded and was about to scoop Kate up into his arms when she stopped him.
“I’m fine, I can walk.”
“Ty, drive ahead. I’ll call the hospital to let them know to expect you.” Then, turning to Evelyn, Joseph said, “You’re with me.”
While Joseph called the hospital, Evelyn walked out to pay the cab driver, but he wasn’t there anymore.
“I’ve paid. Don’t worry about it,” Mr. Sawyer said and gave her a pat on her back. “Are you all right?”
Evelyn blinked as her eyes burned. “I’m fine.” She swallowed her tears and forced herself to smile.
“If there’s one thing I learned from life, it is that everything will work out fine in the end.”
“Thank you.”
Mr. Sawyer gave her an encouraging smile and went back into the house when Joseph came trotting out.
“Your arms have some scratches, too. Do you want me to—”
“It’s nothing. We should go.”
Joseph signaled for her to throw him the car keys. She threw it over without an argument and got into the car.
“What happened?” Joseph asked, his tone even, but Evelyn knew his dislike of her was probably doubling with each passing second.
She turned her head away, quietly trying to stop herself from crying. She took a moment to clear her throat before asking, “Will she be all right?”
Closing Books Page 10