Page 3 of No Escape

CHAPTER ONE

Valerie shook her head.

She still couldn’t believe that it had all come to this.

She was sitting by a table next to a large bay window, her fingers drumming nervously on the polished wooden surface. The view of early summer stretched out before her on the other side of the glass, the sun casting warm, golden hues on the meticulously maintained gardens.

The gentle rustle of leaves in the breeze offered a sense of serenity, but the last two months of unease refused to abate. It had been the darkest time she had ever known.

In that time, she had cut herself off from those around her, steeling herself against the emotional connections in her life. It was the only way she felt she could survive.

Now, she was taking the first tentative steps toward letting those connections back in again. The only question was: Would her dearest friends and family forgive her?

Valerie looked up as footsteps approached from a nearby doorway. The steps were strong and forceful and might otherwise have caused apprehension, but she had heard them before, just not there in that place.

A tall, familiar figure then entered the room, lit by the glow of the sun. His posture radiated confidence and strength, but beneath the handsome exterior, the man’s brown eyes carried with them a deep fissure of pain and hurt.

It was Tom, Valerie’s fiancé. He smiled gently from the doorway. Valerie noticed the nervousness in this. It was a smile that was plastered on. Not one that had come easy.

Valerie felt tears fighting to come through, but she did everything she could to avoid them. She had fought so hard to become more stable, and despite this emotional reunion, she feared that all that good work could so easily be undone.

Tom walked over to her with a concerned expression on his face, taking a seat at the table. The sunlight streaming in from the window highlighted the worry lines on his brow. To Valerie, he somehow looked a little older now.

Silence hung heavy between them, as if the words they needed to say were weighed down by the gravity of their situation. The last time Valerie had seen Tom was months before in the comfort of her apartment. He had walked out after Valerie was weighed down yet again by another case, chasing another killer at the expense of her personal relationships.

He had walked out to clear his mind. But Valerie had hidden a terrible secret from him. The secret that she had feared the most. She was slipping into a deeply painful psychosis, teetering on the brink. She’d finally fallen over the edge when she heard her mother confess to a terrible deed under hypnosis.

She had killed Valerie’s father.

Finally, Tom broke the silence. “Valerie, why haven’t you let me see you? It’s been three months, for God’s sake. I’ve been worried sick.”

Valerie hesitated, her eyes cast downward as she searched for the courage to tell him the truth. She had always been a strong woman, but the events of the past month had shaken her to her core.

“I… I had a nervous breakdown, Tom,” she confessed, her voice barely a whisper. “I didn’t want you to see me like that. I didn’t want you to see me out of control. I thought you might run away. That fear has been tearing at me for the last two years, never mind the last three months.”

Tom’s face softened, and he reached out to take her hand. The warmth of his touch was both comforting and reassuring. Valerie felt a shiver run through her as she finally looked into his eyes.

“I wish you would have told me,” Tom said gently. “I could have been there for you, Val. You don’t have to face these things alone.”

Valerie’s eyes welled up with tears, and she blinked them back, trying to maintain her composure. “I know, Tom. I just… I felt like I was losing control, and I didn’t want to drag you down with me.”

Tom squeezed her hand, his eyes full of understanding and love. “Valerie, it’ll take time. But I… I’m here now.”

Valerie was uncertain whether he meant it. The words were kind, but there was a deep hesitation in the way he said them. She was sure he was conflicted, and he wasn’t the only one.

He smiled, his kind eyes staring into hers with compassion.

Valerie felt a surge of gratitude for the man sitting before her, and she couldn’t help but smile through her tears. But, even as she appreciated his understanding, a pang of conflict stirred within her. The uncertainty of building a life with Tom while her mental illness threatened to consume her left her feeling anxious and hesitant. As they sat there, hand in hand, she tried to muster the courage to face whatever challenges lay ahead, but she still felt the unending precariousness of her future pressing down on her.

“Tom, there’s something else you should know,” Valerie said, her voice trembling slightly. “I was only recently moved here to Shady Pines. Will Cooper and Dr. Robertson pulled some strings so that I could be in the same facility as my sister. They thought it would be good for me. Better than being in the same place my mother was.”

Tom’s eyebrows furrowed as he absorbed the information. “You’ve been at Barlow Psychiatric Hospital this whole time?”

Valerie nodded, her eyes filled with a mix of sadness and determination. “Yes, it was awful, but I asked to stay there so I could keep talking to my mother. Dr. Robertson obliged, more than I thought he ever would, to be honest. There… There are things I’ve kept from you, Tom. For the longest time I’ve wanted to tell you them, but I need you to be patient. It’s about my family, about me, about the person I’ve always been. It will take time, but I hope you’ll be patient. I know I have no right to ask that…”

Tom leaned back in his chair, trying to process the weight of Valerie’s revelation. “That’s a lot to take in, Val. But I just want you to know that I’m here for you, no matter what. Even if we didn’t work out, I would still be your friend. Always.”

That stung. She knew now that he was contemplating not being with her. No matter how understandable, she felt on more precarious ground than when he had first entered the room.

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