Page 6 of Roped in Chaos
I stare out the window at the other houses across the street. Their lives are just continuing on, and I’m sitting here at a loss for what to do. My phone starts vibrating non-stop. I’m sure it’s been flooded with texts and calls since the incident, but also with social media notifications and emails.
I quickly swipe up on the screen and enter my code, preparing myself to see the onslaught of ‘I’m so sorry’ and ‘Prayers’ that will fill my screen. Messages are pouring in, but as my eyes scan what’s coming through, they catch in the image set behind the apple on my homescreen. I flip to the last page and drop my phone like it’s on fire. It’s definitely not what I originally had it set as. Instead, it’s a picture of me, passed out on the bed, and there’s a knife to my throat.
I try to breathe through the tears that are forming in my eyes. I shakily pick my phone back up and look at the picture when I notice there’s something else in the picture. It’s a note that’s been written. I go to my camera roll, and there it is, the same picture as my home screen. I zoom in on the note to read it.
“Do not tell anyone what happened, or we’ll come for you next. Leave the house and don’t look back,” I read aloud.
Oh fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.I told. I called the police, and there’s a whole investigation, and I have to get out of here. Shit doesn’t make sense, but I’m not about to sit here and make it worse for Hannah.
I jump out of the chair, wipe my eyes, and start shoving all my shit into the luggage.
“Hannah!” I call out.
“Yes…” she says opening the door, “What the fuck is going on?”
“I have to go.”
“No shit. I can see you have to go. But wait. Where are you going? How about you just breathe for a second and tell me what’s happening.”
“No. No, I can’t stop. I have to go. I need to go see a lawyer so I can figure this shit out and leave this goddamn town.”
I have to keep Hannah safe, I have to keep myself safe. Holy shit, this is all fucked.
Chapter5
S.O.S
Esme
I’m sitting in the lawyer’s office, twiddling my thumbs. I didn’t have an appointment, so I have to wait for the person in charge of Daddy’s will to become available. I keep looking at my camera roll, willing the picture to disappear. Who the fuck took this, and why didn’t I wake up?
Before I continue asking myself any more questions, a door to one of the offices opens.
“Esme?” he asks.
“Yes.” I stand and walk toward him. He holds the door open for me, and I look around. The walls are pretty bare, except for hisJuris Doctordiploma hanging on the wall behind his desk. There are two plush red leather chairs that he gestures for me to sit in.
“How can I help you?” he asks as he sits in his chair.
“I need to know what’s in Daddy’s will and how to get anything he left me.”
“He left very specific instructions. It seems it was just updated a few weeks ago.”
“It was? Well, what does it say?”
“It says everything is to be left to you if something were to happen to him, but also that you were to receive it once there was a letter from your grandparents stating you went and worked on their farm for two months? Weird stipulations, but I guess I’ve seen weirder. Do you have the note? If so, I can go ahead and get started on the next steps.”
I lean forward and gawk at the man in front of me, gripping the edges of the seat to keep myself from flying out of it.
“It says that?”
“Uh, yes?” he replies.
I fall back into the chair. “Of course he did,” I murmur under my breath.
“Excuse me?”
“Oh, nothing. Okay, so what am I supposed to do in the meantime? I don’t have the note yet, I wasn’t supposed to go until after graduation.”
