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Without another word, she climbed into her old battered Opel Corsa and drove away. I waited for Darren to pull away from the house in his Volvo before I dropped my head in my hands, right there on the ground, and let myself cry. I sobbed uncontrollably, unable to contain myself a second longer. I cried for my broken home, for my fucked-up family, for my little brothers, but mostly I cried for Joey, for self-destructing and detonating the one good thing he had in his life.

A little while later, I heard a car engine in the distance, coming closer, bright lights lighting up the dark street. When it parked up outside the house, I couldn’t stop the spark of hope from springing to life inside of me.

Sniffling, I wiped my cheeks with my hands and stood up. “Joey?” I called out, straining to see who was behind the tinted windows. “Is that you?”

The driver’s door opened and he stepped out, all blond hair and smiles. Except it wasn’t Joey’s blond hair, and it wasn’t his smile.

No…

“Hello, Shannon.”

The air escaped my lungs in a pained whoosh and I sagged, feeling my heart stop dead in my chest before restarting with a violent thud. “N-no.” Shaking my head, I staggered backwards only to lose my footing and land on the ground in a heap. “You’re n-not supposed to b-be here.”

Dad stepped into the garden and walked toward me. “I live here, remember?”

Fear exploded in my chest, paralyzing my limbs and locking me into place.

“Come on.” Stopping in front of me, he glanced down at me, eyes bloodshot, body swaying, and smiled. “Give me your hand,” he said, holding his out to me. “You should be in bed.” The smell of whiskey hit my senses like a tidal wave, bringing with it a tsunami of painful memories. “I’ll help you to bed.”

He’s back to finish you off.

You should have kept your mouth shut.

Get away now, Shannon!

Jumping into action, I pulled myself onto my hands and knees and half crawled, half stumbled toward the front door, with my heart pounding so hard it hurt. “Help!” I screamed, slamming my hand down on the door handle and falling into the front hall on my hands and knees. “Mam!” I shouted, gasping for air as my skin crawled with the familiar feeling of dread. “Mammy!”

“What?” Mam came barreling out of the kitchen, only to halt in her tracks when she saw who was standing in the doorway behind me. “Oh my god.” She pressed a hand to her chest and staggered backwards.

“Hello, Marie.”

“Mam.” Shaking violently, I scrambled across the floor on my hands and knees and clung to her leg. “Mam!”

“Teddy,” Mam croaked out, shaking as much as I was. “You’re not allowed to be here.”

He held his hands up. “I only want to talk to you.” He took another step inside the house, swaying on his feet a little as he moved. “I’m not going to hurt you anymore, darling.”

He’s lying.

I shook my head. “Mam, no, don’t listen!”

“You need to go,” Mam gasped, backing up and taking me with her. “You need to leave now.”

“Marie,” he said in that coaxing voice of his, slurring his words. “We’re a family.” He closed the door behind him and turned the lock. “We need to be together.”

“No.” Mam shook her head. “No, no, you need to go now.”

“Are the children in bed?” he asked, ignoring her pleas as he slipped the house key into his pocket. “That’s good.” He took another step toward us. “It’s best they stay asleep.”

“Teddy…” Mam’s voice cracked. “Please don’t—”

“It’s okay, Marie,” Dad coaxed. “We’ll all be together again.”

This is bad, Shannon.

This is really bad.

You need to get out.

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