Page 14 of Savage Vicious Heir: Part Two

My phone vibrates again.

Tally: Abi, please…

I start to text her back, but my battery dies, and I don’t have a charger.

I don’t have anything I need here really. But the solace is better than going back to All Hallows’, better than facing the aftermath of last night.

A fresh wave of pain hits me, but I swallow it down, forcing myself to inhale a deep, steady breath.

I can do this.

I can.

But I can’t do it without supplies. And with no way to contact?—

A thought hits me.

The landline phone, of course.

Pushing back the covers, I climb gingerly out of bed and head downstairs.

Maureen has done her job, making sure the house is stripped bare of my father’s belongings. Ready for when I decide to put it up for sale.

A decision I haven’t wanted to think about yet.

But the electricity and water are still connected. So hopefully the phone line is too.

With trembling fingers, I breathe a sigh of relief at the sound of a dialling tone. I dial her number, a number I know almost as well as my own, and wait.

“Hello,” her familiar voice comes over the line.

“Maureen, it’s Abigail.”

“Oh, sweetheart, how wonderful to hear from you, how are you?”

“I… I need your help.”

“Abi, what’s wrong? What happened?” Panic clings to her every word.

“Nothing, I… I’m fine.” The words get stuck over the lump in my throat. “But I’m at the house and I have nothing.”

“I don’t understand. Did something happen? Why aren’t you at school, sweetheart?”

“Please, Maureen, I’ll explain everything once you get here. I just need some basics. Milk, tea, some biscuits. Some toiletries.”

“Of course, I can do that. But sweetheart, tell me what’s happening, you’re worrying me.”

“I’m fine, I promise.” The lie tastes like ash on my tongue, but I swallow it down. “I just needed to come home for a little while.”

“Give me half an hour and I’ll be there.”

“Thank you.” I hang up and breathe a deep sigh of relief.

Maureen is the only person I can count on now. But even she has her own life, other responsibilities.

While I’m waiting for her, I wander around the big lofty house, trying to muster even a single good memory. But everything good is tainted by the loss. The pain and heartache and grief.

Once Mum was gone, life became bleak. The weight of my father’s illness looming over us like a dark cloud blotting out the remaining shreds of lights.

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