Page 24 of Secrets in Salem: Part One

Brad snorts, but Mac sends him a glower that used to terrify me as a kid. He turns back to me and asks, "What did she say, exactly?"

"Mentioned her dad being in high places and something about not letting me get away with talking to her as I did."

"Alright. And you don't know anyone else who'd do this? Your mother have any enemies? Someone she might have angered?" Mac pushes, looking at me with questioning blue eyes.

I raise an eyebrow and say, "Mac, you know Fraya is only home when she doesn’t have work. She doesn’t have time to gain enemies. When she is home, the only time she leaves the house is for grocery shopping or if it's completely necessary. She'd have to leave the house long enough to piss someone off so much that they would ruin my house."

He nods. "That's true. Alright, honey. We're going to look into things for you. In the meantime, do you have somewhere else you can stay for the night? Especially with the front door broken as it is."

I bite my lip and think about it. I could go to Adam's. I'm sure his dad won't mind. "Yeah, I have somewhere."

"Okay. We'll let you know as soon as we have something. See you soon, Low." Mac leans in to drop a grandfatherly kiss onto my head. It brings tears to my eyes that I have to blink away, my emotions barely hanging on to their reins.

Mac moves toward the door, but Brad pauses, his sleazy gaze running over my legs before he mutters, "We'll be seeing you, Wills."

My nostrils flare with anger, despising that wretched nickname, but I bite my tongue, watching him leave after Mac. Once they're gone, I let out a deep breath and lean against the counter, slapping my hands over my face and scrubbing.

"You okay?" Aleric asks, sounding closer than where he and Bishop had stood before.

I squeeze my eyes shut behind my hands before dropping them and saying, "Yeah. Or, I will be. Thank you both for staying and helping out and everything. I'm sure you have things to do though. I'll be alright."

They both eye me carefully before Bishop steps closer and asks, "Youdohave somewhere to stay, right?"

I swallow audibly but tell them, "Yeah, my best friend will have me for the night."

They both share a look, eventually nodding before Aleric says, "Fine. We'll check in tomorrow."

Just as I'm about to open my mouth to tell them they didn't have to do that, he turns and walks out of the house. Bishop sends me a smile before saying, "I left my number in your room. If you need anything, just call."

Surprised, I nod and watch him follow after Aleric. The moment my house is empty, I force out another breath and sag to the floor, losing the battle with my tears.

Chapter 13

Willow

After mymini-breakdown, I go in search of my cell phone. Aleric had used it last to call the police, so it should be downstairs somewhere. At least I hope so. I really don’t need to find out he tucked it away in his pocket and forgot about it. Not after the day I’m having. Thankfully, I find it on the broken arm of the couch. Snatching it up, I type in Adam’s number before pressing dial.

The phone rings, and rings,and rings.Eventually, it goes to voicemail, Adam’s dramatic greeting trickling through the speaker. I try again, only to be sent to voicemail once more. One more call ends much the same, and I finally concede to my defeat.

Dropping my head back with a tired groan, I quickly realize I’ll have nowhere else to go since one of the only people I can rely on isn’t picking up the phone. I wouldn’t be surprised if the idiot went too far with his lectures and is now in a heated debate with his father. The only other reliable person I could call has work in the morning and two kids to take care of in the meantime. I refuse to bother them with my problems when it's not necessary.

Grumbling, I resign myself to the fact that I’ll have to stay here for the night. Even though the house I’ve always felt comfortable in now feels tarnished and violated, I have nowhere else to go. I wouldn’t dare call Bishop, and I don’t know Micah well enough to ask such a big favor. Alone, I warily sigh and look for a screwdriver so I can reattach the front door, deciding as long as that’s in place, I’ll be fine. Wishful thinking, right?

It takes some time to find a tool and even longer to make sure the door stays in place and is lockable before I can even think about going to bed. I’m both completely drained and strung tighter than a harp string, worry for my Mom taking its toll on me. Is it possible she forgot to tell me she was going out just this one, horribly timed instance? Could it have slipped her mind to leave me a note or text me? Maybe she was in a rush. It doesn’t make sense though. That being thought… it could be a one off. Perhaps her phone died and she was in a hurry to leave. There’s a possibility I’ll get a phone call from her soon, letting me know where she is.

Looking around, I decide that cleaning up can wait until the morning. I don't have it in me to even entertain doing anything but sleeping right now. Exhaustion begins to worm its way through my body, and my brain can’t fathom having to clean everything before shutting my eyes for atleasteight hours straight.

Turning my back against the disaster, I head up the stairs to my room. I’m so thankful to Bishop right now when I see he’d managed to clear all of the photos from my bed and most of the floor. There are still pictures plastered over my walls, but I’ll take them all down tomorrow when I have the energy. Sleeping in Mom’s room makes me feel entirely too awkward since Fraya likes to have her own space, so my room it is. The Devil can watch me sleep until then. Fuck it.

With sluggish movements, I climb in bed and tuck myself under the cool comforter. As soon as my head hits the soft pillow and I’m wrapped from head to toe, unconsciousness claims me.

It feels like my head has just hit the pillow, and I’m fighting off a nightmare of the Devil actually watching me sleep when something wakes me. Groggily, my tired eyes go to my window, finding it still dark outside. Darting my eyes to the small alarm clock beside my bed, I huff a humorless laugh when I read that it's three in the morning. So much for eight hours of rest. What the hell woke me?

I receive my answer by a ghastly grating noise, clattering and clanging from downstairs. It's faint to begin with, but it gradually grows louder along with the beats of my overexerted heart. The sleep I'd been clinging to dissipates with a shaky breath, my body already trembling when a weird hiss followed by male laughter reaches my ears.

Burrowing deeper into my bed, I find myself suddenly painfully awake and alert. My breathing comes in quick pants, panic gripping me tightly in its sharp clutches. The silence in my room offers false safety, the sound growing louder until something smashes followed by the sound of someone scuffing the glass over the floor. Clattering and sounds of things breaking quickly becomes the soundtrack to my terror, and I curse myself for thinking I'd be safe here. I really am one of those dumbasses who gets killed first in horror movies.

How fucking stupid am I for staying here tonight? I should have gone to Cassie's or turned up at Adam's despite him not answering his calls. Or quite possibleanywhereelse but here. Maybe a hotel, motel,a park bench? Hindsight is such a bitch.

---