Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 71348 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71348 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
Not wanting to look at my name written in his handwriting any longer, I folded it and put it in the pocket of my pajama pants. I wasn’t ready for whatever was inside. Would he add a goodbye note to the insult of money? If that was what he had left for me, I was sure whatever was left of the Madeline I had once been would shatter.
“I can’t,” I whispered to no one.
Unable to move, I stood there, staring at nothing. I didn’t know for how long. When the sound of a car door closing caught my attention, I was snapped out of the numbness I’d been allowing to consume me. Moving quickly, I ran to the knife block and pulled out the largest one. Looking at it in my hand, I wondered if I would even know what to do with this. But something was better than nothing.
Glancing around for a place to hide, I went to the pantry and opened it quietly. I stood among the shelves stocked with staples, knowing this wasn’t good enough.
Sitting on the floor, I pulled my legs up and curled into a ball until I fit under the lowest shelf in the corner. There was no knock on the door, no doorbell, no sound at all. I listened carefully, but with my heart hammering in my ears, it was difficult to hear anything.
How had this become my life? Hiding in a pantry?
Once, I had been brave. Even when I wasn’t sure how we were going to eat, or where we would sleep, or if my dad was going to come home and pay the bills, I was tough. I handled things. But that girl had never known the real monsters that walked among us.
The time ticked by slowly, and my legs began to cramp up. My stomach growled, and my neck hurt from being bent for so long. There was still no sound inside the house.
How long could I stay like this? What if it had simply been someone who had gotten lost or seen a black bear and wanted to go get a picture? The roads in the mountains were narrow, and if someone had taken a wrong turn, they’d need a driveway to turn around in, although they wouldn’t have gotten out of their car. Perhaps it had been a package.
My legs were asleep. Staying like this was ridiculous, wasn’t it?
Moving as quietly as I could, I stood back up and opened the pantry door a crack to peek out. I listened and scanned the area I could see. It was silent in the house. Completely still with no sign of life other than my heavy breathing and pounding heart.
I stayed still for a few more minutes with the knife still clutched in my hand, waiting before slowly stepping out of the pantry. It was all as I had left it. Nothing was out of place. I started to let out a sigh when a sound startled me. The knife fell from my hand as I screamed. It was while I jumped back away from the point of the knife to protect my feet that I realized it was the sound of the air conditioning unit kicking on.
Closing my eyes for a moment at my own ridiculousness, I cursed. I was losing my mind. I had to get a grip. I could have cut my toes off.
I opened my eyes and bent down to get the knife, then walked back to the block to return it. My attention turned to the front door, and I looked outside the glass window beside it, silently reassuring myself that I was fine. My eyes spotted it then, making me feel even more ridiculous than I’d already felt.
A silver Mercedes SUV was parked outside. Leave it to Melanie to choose a luxury vehicle for my rental car. I had known it was going to be dropped off. Saxon had told me this. Why hadn’t I thought of that before acting like I was in a bad horror film?
My phone dinged, alerting me of a text. It was from Saxon.
Just got a call from the rental car place. They said the car was delivered. Should be a silver SUV. Mercedes, I think.
I texted him back.
It’s here. Thank you. I don’t know what I would do without your parents helping like this. I swear I will repay them and you one day.
I saw the dots appear on the screen that he was replying, so I waited. They went away, and nothing came through. He was driving. I needed to leave him alone.
Setting the phone back down, I placed a hand on the pocket where Blaise’s letter was tucked.
Eventually, I would be strong enough to open it, but that day was not today.
Two
Madeline
My eyes flew open, and I lay there in the dark, looking around. The moonlight was enough for me to see the bedroom clearly as my eyes focused.