“Ah, I see. You’re not entirely comfortable yet. No worries, that’ll wear off too.” His words come across as nonchalant as his posture. How can he think he can just force me to be what he wants? I need to get out of here. Think Fallon. I need a plan.
And my phone. My phone.
I slowly slide my hand to my back right pocket, where I always put my phone. Jesse gripes at me for it because I’m always sitting on it. The little trickle of hope in having my phone is lost when I reach my flat, empty pocket.
“Looking for this?” Marcus holds up my phone, and I sigh. “Come on, Fallon. I can’t have him finding you here.”
He takes the phone and drops it on the floor before stomping on it repeatedly. I twitch with every crunch of the glass and plastic as he destroys what might be my only way out of here. Once he’s done, he kicks the pieces of the phone over to the other side of the room. “There. That should do it.”
“What are you doing Marcus? Where am I?”
“Home,” he says gesturing with his hands to the house. As he drops his arms, he shrugs. “Well, part of it. I’ll let you see the rest when I can trust you not to run.”
“This is not my home. You’re fucking crazy if you think I’m staying here,” I grit out.
“It will be. It’ll be easier if you just accept it. I can give you a good life, Fallon. Besides, it’s not like you have much of a choice. I won’t let you leave,” he says sincerely, like what he’s saying isn’t out of the ordinary. Like this entire situation isn’t some part of the Marcus freak show.
But it is. This entire situation is my worst nightmare come to life. It’s the dream that wakes me up night after night. It’s the laugh that haunts me. It’s the face I see every time I close my eyes. But instead of waking up and it all being just a dream, I’ve woken up and it’s all real. Very real. If I couldn’t feel my pulse pounding in my ears right now from both fear and rage, I’d double check it to make sure I was alive.
“So what? You’re going to keep me here? Hide me away and pretend I’m here by choice? You know he’ll look for me. He won’t stop until he finds me. And then what are you going to do? You’re never going to get away with this,” I say, mustering the little bit of hope I can find in me. I can only pray that Jesse finds me, quickly.
“ENOUGH! You are mine. Not his. You were never his,” he yells. “It’s time that you figure that out. Do you think you just happened to accidentally find this town? Or Jesse? That wasn’t an accident. All it took was a bird twittering in the right ears. You’re here because I wanted you to be.”
I lean forward. “Figure this out.” I spit at him and it hits him square in the face.
His pulls back slightly, closing his eyes as if he’s gathering his patience. I watch him wipe the spit away with his hand slowly. So slow, in fact, that I jump forward, taking advantage of the moment and the element of surprise to run towards the door. And I almost make it; I’m nearly there when I feel his arms snake their way around my body. I’m airborne as he wrestles me, kicking and screaming, back to my corner, like a child in trouble. He tosses me down on the hard surface, knocking the air from my lungs on impact.
“If you want them to stay safe, you will behave. And I don’t just mean your mother. I mean them all,” he says breathlessly before backing away from me and exiting the room with a slam of the door and the click of a lock. I wince, knowing that lock is the only thing keeping me from running out of here.
His words begin to replay through my mind, and I freeze. He said them. He wouldn’t go after Cason and Jade too, would he? They aren’t a part of this.
What are you saying Fallon? He killed your child. Burned your house down with your mother inside. Of course he would. He would do anything to get his way.
Cason drove us. It took everything I had to relinquish being in command behind the wheel. Fallon missing has my control slipping. I can’t say it out loud, but I think Cason knows it. He can see it even if the others don’t.
I can’t be honest. If I falter . . . if I lose control, I don’t know if I could ever get it back.
I shake my head trying to rid myself of the thought.
No one can see me slipping. You can’t slip.
I gave Cason this one without a fight. Normally, driving calms me. The feel of the wheel under my fingers, the motion of making the car turn the way I direct it to, the speed . . .I’m in control of my destination, and with that the impossible can happen.. But without knowing where Fallon is, my control has begun to waver, and today I just need to focus on her.
I know that right now even driving wouldn’t calm me. I’ve had my eyes on Jordan for a while. His loyalties have been . . . questionable. In other words, he’s been toeing the line, and I’ve been waiting for him to cross it. Looks like he finally did, right under my fucking nose, and I was too fucking blind to see it. It’s just another way I’ve failed Fallon. If I’d
