Kasey Laine

by Dionndra Reneé

  With Austin now helpless, it is time for Kasey to return to character. She has to step away from the part of herself that took pleasure in plunging the knife into Austin. She rushes to the phone to dial 911. She pulls herself together. Even though she very much acted in self-defense, she cannot show any sign that she enjoyed what she did.

  At first, the altercation felt like a horrible dream. When Kasey examines the destruction in her home, it fully sinks in that this situation is really happening. It is not a dream.

  Chapter Twelve:

  She Can Run

  but

  She Cannot Hide

  J ennifer sits at her desk in her office. She flips through the pages of a newspaper and takes a sip from her coffee. This is around the time of the morning when she meets with Kasey at the front desk to give her the day’s agenda. She sneaks in some girl talk, as well. She leaves her coffee on her desk, picks up the agenda and exits her office. When she arrives at the receptionist’s desk, someone other than Kasey is sitting there. Since joining the firm, Kasey has only missed one day of work; it was for jury duty.

  “Where’s Kasey?”

  The temporary receptionist looks up at Jennifer. “I don’t know. I’m filling in today. The regular girl is sick.”

  “Okay. Thanks.” Jennifer walks back to her office and sits at her desk. She puts the phone on speaker and calls Kasey’s number. The call goes straight to Kasey’s voicemail. Jennifer ends the call, concerned. Kasey is obsessed with her cell phone, and it is always on. She picks up her phone again, this time not on speaker. She re-dials Kasey. It goes straight to voicemail again, so she leaves a message.

  “Hey Kasey. I heard you were sick. I wanted to give you a call just to check on you. Let me know if you need anything.” Jennifer pauses for a moment. “Call me. Feel better, sweetie.”

  Still damp from a hot shower, Kasey covers herself with a towel. She enters the bedroom. Her voicemail machine beeps from three new messages. She smiles, comforted, when she hears Jennifer’s message. Then she plays the next one.

  “Kasey---Kasey. Pick up the phone. I’m so sorry honey. Just talk to me please. Please.” Austin’s message ends. Kasey’s peaceful expression fades. Despair sinks in as the third message plays.

  “Pick up the phone. Kasey, we’ve got to talk. I love you so much. I was an idiot. I need you. Please pick up. I love you.” Austin begins to cry and stumble through his words as the message continues. “I just got home. I’m alone. I need to talk to you. Things got out of control, but we can work on it. Please—Please.” The voicemail ends.

  Kasey goes to her closet and slowly chooses an outfit for the day. Her right hand is still bandaged from the night before. She unwraps her towel and lets it slowly glide off her body, revealing the abrasions and bruises from Austin’s assault. Her back and hands hurt as she struggles to put her clothes on.

  Once dressed, Kasey walks into her bathroom to glance in the mirror. She gradually raises her head, afraid of what she might discover. The woman who loves to look in the mirror has not yet mustered the courage to do so. Looking at the terrible bruising and scars around her neck, Kasey feels immeasurable shame. She does not want to believe the bruises are real, but touching her tender wounds confirms the reality of the situation. She was abused last night.

  Following a long, hard look in the mirror, angry tears begin to fill Kasey’s eyes. Examining the results of Austin’s brutality enrages her. Kasey’s anger boils to a dangerous level. She slams the medicine cabinet shut, shattering the glass from its mirror. She steps on some glass as she storms out of the bathroom. Her anger numbs her ability to feel any pain from the glass.

  Back at the office, Felecia walks into Jennifer’s office with a stack of papers in her hands. Completely focused on her cell phone, Jennifer is unaware of her entry. Felecia sees an opportunity to get a rise out of her normally alert friend. Felecia playfully drops the stack of papers on Jennifer’s desk to startle her. Jennifer jumps in her chair and gasps. Upon noticing Felicia, she chuckles. “Holy shit, you scared the hell out of me.”

  “I’m sorry. I had to. I’m sorry.” Felecia shares a laugh with her friend, then resumes a professional demeanor. “Here’s the briefing for next week.”

  “Thanks.” Jennifer stands up and sifts through the paperwork.

  “Hey, have you heard from Kasey? We were supposed to go to lunch today, but I haven’t seen her.”

  “Well, she’s out sick today. There’s a temp in for her. I tried to call her twice, but I haven’t gotten a response.”

  Jennifer’s concern is evident, so Felicia decides to comfort her. “Well, she’s probably okay. People get sick.”

  “Yeah, maybe you’re right.” Jennifer lightens up a bit. “I was gonna swing by her house after work and check on her. You wanna come?”

  “Definitely.” Felecia was thinking of checking on Kasey herself.

  Inside Kasey’s house, trash bags have begun to proliferate. Half-empty food containers litter different parts of the living room, which is a complete mess. Normally obsessed with the order of things in her home, Kasey sleeps on the couch in the midst of the disarray.

  There is a knock at Kasey’s front door, loud enough that she is startled from her sleep. A partially eaten container of melted ice cream splatters onto the living room carpet, making a huge stain on the carpet. As the knock at the door continues, Kasey unwillingly sits up. She rubs her eyes and looks around. She looks with disinterest at the ice cream spill, which would normally send her into a fit of anger.

  Jennifer and Felecia wait patiently outside. Felecia holds a bowl of soup. The front door opens just enough for a sliver of Kasey to appear. Jennifer immediately reaches out to hug Kasey. After seeing Kasey’s disheveled appearance, she pulls back with a grin. “Hey...eeeew. What happened to you?” Unaware of Kasey’s fragile state, Jennifer is just engaging in a bit of their usual teasing. Kasey walks away without uttering a word, leaving the front door wide open. Jennifer and Felecia walk in. Jennifer closes the door behind them.

  Kasey walks into the living room. She steps over the spilled ice cream and flops back onto the couch. She stretches out on her back and puts a pillow over her face. Felecia and Jennifer are flabbergasted at the mess in her home.

  “How are you feeling, sweetie? I brought you some soup.” Felecia walks over to an end table to put the soup down. Used tissue and food wrappers cover the end table. Felecia scrunches her face up and changes her mind. “On second thought, I’ll just go to the kitchen and get something to put this in.” She takes the soup to the kitchen. “And maybe I’ll find something to clean some of this mess up.”

  Jennifer sits down next to Kasey on the couch. “What’s wrong, girl? This place looks a mess.” Kasey offers no response. Jennifer shouts to get her attention. “Kasey!” When she still does not reply, Jennifer reaches over and yanks the pillow off of her. Her eyes widen when she sees the bruises on Kasey’s neck.

  “What happened to your neck?” Not waiting for an answer, she immediately sets off to look for Felecia. Kasey’s eyes well up with tears. She begins to cry uncontrollably. Jennifer calls out to Felecia, who rushes back into the living room. Then Jennifer turns back to Kasey, now feeling even more alarmed. “What in the hell happened to your neck?” She calls again for Felecia, unaware that she has already returned.

  “What’s going on?” Felecia walks around the couch to see what the commotion is about. Now face to face with Kasey, she observes the bruises for herself. She covers her mouth with her hand, gasping from shock.

  Jennifer grabs Kasey’s arm. Kasey’s arms are still tender with bruises. She jerks her arm away. “Ow.”

  Gently, Jennifer pulls up Kasey’s sleeves. Seeing more bruising, she recoils in horror. Felecia, trying to restore calm, walks over to Kasey. She kneels down directly in front of Kasey. “Who did this to you? Tell me what happened. You can tell me.” She is nearly whispering.

  “Please tell us,” Jennifer pleads.

  Grief-stricken
tears run down Kasey’s face. “I don’t know. It all happened so fast.” There is a moment of silence as she gathers herself to speak. Felecia and Jennifer lean in closely.

  “We were having such a romantic night. Then he just snapped. He just went into a rage. I’ve never been so scared in my life.”

  “That son of a bitch,” Jennifer utters out loud. Austin’s violence outrages her. Worst of all, she was the one who encouraged Kasey to go out with Austin. Though she is not at all to blame for the situation, she feels a considerable amount of guilt.

  “Wait…who did this?” Felecia does not want to believe Austin is the person who put such bruises on her friend’s body.

  “Was it Austin?” Jennifer already knows the answer, but asks anyway.

  Kasey bows her head and nods.

  “That motherfucker.” Felecia joins them on the couch.

  Kasey sits up and rustles her hands through her hair. “I don’t know what to do. He won’t stop calling. I’m going crazy.” She feels sullen and desperate.

  Jennifer and Felecia lean in and hug her firmly. If one of them hurts, they all do. Jennifer strokes Kasey’s disheveled hair. “Don’t worry about anything. Everything’s going to be okay.”

  Felicia nods. “You always have us. That’s what we’re here for. When you don’t know what to do, we’re here to help. Come with us.”

  Thinking about it, Kasey knows she is better off where Austin cannot locate her. “I don’t know what I would do without you two.” The three friends share another embrace.

  Sometime later, Jennifer and Felecia have packed Jennifer’s trunk with some of Kasey’s belongings. Kasey walks out the front door holding more of her belongings in a bag. Felecia walks over to her and takes her bag. They get into Jennifer’s car and pull out of the driveway. This is the first time Kasey has felt peace in days. Hopefully under Jennifer’s roof, she can get away from the drama and return to some state of normalcy.

  Just as the car disappears into the darkness, Austin appears from behind a bush next to Kasey’s house.

  He watched them pack Kasey’s belongings. He watched them talk in the living room. He saw the entire thing. In his eyes, they are trying to take Kasey away from him. He will not stand for it. He stares into the darkness as Jennifer’s car disappears down the street. He is more determined than ever to get Kasey back. Kasey is his one, eternal love. She can run, but she cannot hide.

  Chapter Thirteen:

  The Power of The Mind

  K asey sits on the couch next to Jennifer’s son, Brent. He snuggles under a blanket next to her while she holds the remote. She has been staying with Jennifer for the past couple of days. For now, she seems to have returned close to her normal self; she has even laughed a few times. Being around Brent has helped tremendously.

  “Okay…what do you wanna watch?”

  “Something scary.” Brent shows a big, toothy grin.

  Kasey laughs. “I don’t think so.” Jennifer would kill her.

  “You can say that again.” Jennifer enters the living room holding a bowl of popcorn. “There’s no way I’m letting you watch a scary movie.”

  Brent scowls. “Aw, mom.”

  “I don’t wanna hear it. It’s not happening.”

  Jennifer hands Brent the bowl of popcorn as she sits next to him. Kasey hands her the remote. Jennifer flips through the channels until she finds an animated children’s movie. Kasey laughs to herself. Despite all she is going through, she finds peace in her time with Jennifer and Brent. She watches Brent eat his popcorn and giggle innocently at the movie. His sprightly presence has a calming effect on her. She rests her head on a pillow on the couch. Before she knows it, she has drifted off to sleep.

  As Kasey coasts into a deep sleep, her surroundings become unfamiliar. She is unaware of her unfamiliar surroundings, because she is still asleep. Instead of the couch she fell asleep on, now she is lying on a bed that seems to be made for a child. The bed is so small; she has to curl into a fetal position to fit on it. The room is poorly kept, with weathered walls and rundown furniture. Unbeknownst to her, Kasey is in Austin’s childhood bed. Unfortunately, this is the same room where Austin’s mother was murdered.

  A thunderous knock at the bedroom door awakens her. Kasey jumps out of her sleep. Discovering her strange surroundings, Kasey freezes. She scans the room, trembling. Initially, the knocking sound came from the bedroom door. After scanning the room, she realizes that the knocking is not coming from the bedroom door anymore—it is now coming from behind the closet door. Kasey’s eyes widen as she notices the closet door shaking. It looks as if it might come off the hinges.

  Kasey rises to her feet and makes her way to the bedroom door. She keeps her eyes on the rumbling closet door as she walks to the bedroom door. Looking for an escape, Kasey rushes out into the hallway. A powerful white light fills the entire hallway. While shielding her eyes, Kasey walks down the hallway. Even though every instinct tells her to run away, she continues down the hallway. As she walks into the blinding light, it swallows her whole. The powerful light leads to a white, empty room without windows or furniture. Suddenly the room begins to spin.

  As the room spins faster, and faster, Kasey becomes dizzy. She covers her eyes with her hands, as nausea takes over. After a few moments, the spinning suddenly stops. Within an instance, things almost feel deceptively normal. After the spinning stops, Kasey slowly removes her hands from her eyes. The fear in her heart fizzles away as her eyes open. She stands alone in the room, confused. As she turns to walk away, she unexpectedly bumps into someone. It is Austin, who was standing directly behind her. As Kasey screams helplessly, Austin looks at her with dead, maniacal eyes.

  “Going somewhere?”

  Kasey wakes up screaming.

  She looks around to find herself in Jennifer’s living room. She sits up and runs her hands through her hair. Her nightmare leaves her shaken. She cautiously makes her way to her feet. The heavy bags under her eyes continue to darken with each passing day. Kasey rubs her eyes as she walks out of the living room.

  “Good morning,” Jennifer greets Kasey with a smile. She and Brent are at the table eating breakfast. Kasey waves, without looking up.

  Jennifer watches Kasey drag herself across the kitchen. “Did you have a rough night?”

  Kasey nods as she sits down. She rests her head on the table, and tries to fall back asleep.

  Jennifer taps Brent on the hand. “Baby, go take your cereal in the living room.” He takes his bowl of cereal and mindfully walks out of the kitchen.

  Jennifer lightly touches Kasey’s arm. “What’s wrong?” “I just had a bad dream.” Kasey still rests her head on the table.

  “Was it about him?”

  Kasey nods silently.

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  Kasey shakes her head.

  “Why don’t you go out and have some fun? It might make you feel better.”

  Kasey drops her head and begins to cry quietly.

  “Sweetie, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to push you or…”

  Kasey interrupts. “It’s not that---I don’t know. I just feel like I’m going crazy. Like, I see him everywhere. I feel followed. I’m losing it.” Kasey wipes tears from her cheeks.

  Brent runs into the kitchen. “Mom, come on. Practice starts soon.” He is fully dressed for practice, and he cannot contain his excitement. He runs out of the kitchen to get his baseball bag.

  Kasey smiles and stands up. She wipes away the rest of her tears. “We’ll talk when you get home.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah, I’ll be here when you get back. I’m just going to work out and take a bath. Hopefully that will relieve some stress and make me feel better.” Kasey offers a smile.

  “Okay, well practice won’t be long. Maybe we could go out to lunch and talk then?” Jennifer stands up.

  “Okay, I probably need that.” Kasey stands up and hugs Jennifer goodbye.

  Feeling slightly better about leav
ing Kasey by herself for a bit, Jennifer chugs the rest of her coffee. She places the mug in the sink and heads out with Brent. Kasey washes the dishes and goes up to her room to change. She is looking forward to a workout; working out has always been an excellent way to relieve her stress. When she works out, she can tune out the world and escape. She walks down the hallway to Jennifer’s in-home gym, and gets on the treadmill.

  After running for a bit, Kasey gets on the squat machine. Her back faces the door. A creaking sound in the floor startles her. She looks over her shoulder. When she sees nothing, she continues her workout.

  After working out for another thirty minutes or so, she heads for the bathroom to clean off. She sits on the side of the tub, holding her iPod in her right hand. Her body still bears scars from her altercation with Austin. She places her iPod on the edge of the tub. As the hot water runs, she gets undressed. A dark silhouette moves past the open doorway. Just as the dark silhouette disappears, Kasey turns around. She leans over and pushes the door shut.

  Once she is settled into her steaming bath, Kasey places her headphones in her ears. Then, Kasey puts her iPod back down on the edge of the tub. A lace blindfold over her eyes is the finishing touch on her soothing getaway. She wiggles along with the music as she sings happily. She is as relaxed as she has been for a while.

  Suddenly, the door creaks open. She thinks she hears a noise. She quickly snatches her blindfold off her eyes and her headphones out of her ears. She is all alone, yet the door sits wide open, along with the window. She is pretty sure both were closed when she got into the tub. The curtains ripple gently, though it is not windy outside. She scans the room again and sees no one. Deciding that her mind is playing tricks on her, she tosses her iPod on the floor and rises to her feet. She wraps herself with a towel. Then, she carefully steps out of the tub and walks over to the mirror.