Page 56 of Forgiving Fate

Risking her slapping me in the face, I move to sit closer to the recliner. Her eyes track my movement and when she doesn’t react, I sit right in front of the chair, my knees touching the plush fabric. I lean forward and rest my arms on my legs, my hands brushing against the fabric inches away from her feet.

Allie’s arms wind tightly around her knees, her hand resting a few inches above mine. “Hekilled them right in front of me afterhe…did things…and made me watch. Dad begged forhimto take him and leave us. Mom screamed and tried to fighthimoff, while begging for a reason why. Andhejust smiled and laughed ashetook them away from me. Afterheleft them there to take their last breaths, I had to stand there and—Fuck!”

Her body shakes and I hate that I cannot do anything. Part of me wants to tell her to stop, but the other piece wants to believe that this could be a step in the right direction.

Or maybe you’re forcing her and pushing her in the wrong direction.

Ignoring the voices in my head, I inch my hand closer to her, my finger brushing her blanket covered foot. Her eyes track the movement, but she says nothing. She just watches as tears stream down her face.

Fuck. Maybe this is the wrong idea.

“Allie. You don’t—”

Allie rapidly shakes her head. “I can do it.” Taking a deep breath, she continues, her voice full of sadness and hurt. “Hemade me stay there and watch as they reached out for each other. They were too far away, but they managed to lock pinkies and twist to look at each other. Their eyes darted from each other to me and I think I was screaming, but the room felt dead silent.

“Mom was the first to take her last breath, and as Dad took his, he looked over to me and mouthed ‘I’m sorry’. And then he wasgone. My knees gave out and all I heard was the laughter of thatassholein the corner.

“I don’t know how long I sat there, but finally the laughter stopped andhewalked over to the door and told me you can thank your best friend, Logan. She is the reason you are here. She is the reason your precious parents are gone. And now that they are gone, you are going to tell me where she is, and maybe, just maybe, I’ll let you go free, Baby Doll.”

As the words leave her mouth, her head drops to her knees and shakes take over her entire body. Loud sobs echo throughout the house and before I realize what I’m doing, I grasp her pinky in mine.

Allie’s head shoots up and I move to pull back. “I am so sorry. I don’t know what came over me. I swear it will never, ever happen again.”

Her bloodshot, almost white eyes lock on my pinky intertwined with hers and she does something completely unexpected. She tightens her pinky around mine and drops her head back to her knees.

Shock overtakes my body, and I freeze. Not wanting to move but also not wanting to disrespect her boundaries, I try to pull away, thinking this may just be an in the moment situation. But when I do, she tightens her pinky around mine again, not lifting her head from her knees.

I nod, even though she cannot see me. And tell myself that I will stay here until she lets go because after everything she just told me, I know that her road to normalcy is far in the future. And so is her relationship with Logan. I knew it was bad, but not even my darkest of thoughts could have imagined it would be this bad. Or that such anassholewas capable of that level of psychotic behavior.

I’m not sure why I feel so compelled to be her friend or person to lean on, but at this moment, I’m glad I am. Because if that wasthe first of many secrets this girl holds inside her mind, I don’t even want to think about how much darker it could get.

Chapter Twenty-One

Landon

Something is off. Ican feel it.

And I have no idea why. But something in me is telling me I need to be by her side. Even if that means just being in the same room as her.

Today is the first Christmas without her family, and she is sitting all alone in that cabin. I know Logan and Mom invited her over, but she’s not ready. I considered not even going to family Christmas, but I knew she would get upset if I skipped.

I love my family, but sometimes when I look at Logan, I feel a sliver of guilt. If I had found Mike sooner, I could have stopped him before he got to her. Before he gave her an awful head injury on top of the emotional trauma that is keeping her from her job.

Not once has she blamed me, but I still feel it. Just like I feel the dozens of others. Every moment my mind isn’t numbed by alcohol, I feel them.

So going to family Christmas, I thought it was going to be a good distraction from just sitting at my computer searching for more victims or sitting in silence with Allie.

But the longer I sat there, I kept getting this feeling that something was wrong. Something more than her normal pain and heartache. I don’t understand it, but something was telling me to check on her. So I said my goodbyes and bolted out the door.

I slide on the ice in the driveway as I reach my truck and drop my keys.

“Fuck!”

Quickly, I find my footing, grab my keys, and hop into the truck. Luckily, my tires have more traction than my feet do and they glide over the icy drive with ease. As soon as I am on the nice plowed roads, I pick up speed and make my way towards her.

I round the corner, my skin tingles and I feel like I just rolled in fire ants.

Fuck. Not now.

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