Page 21 of Sleepless Pact

“I’m awake.Give me a second.”I lift my hands to rub my eyes but then feel them tied together.Of course they are.My arm throbs from where I was poked with the needle, and I guess I really am the worst at running away.

Slowly, my eyes adjust to the light, and when they do, I see my mother standing over me.

“Leave us,” Mother snaps at Gary, who obeys her order and leaves us alone.“You’ve gone and done it this time.”She tsks while I wiggle to sit up.I’m back in my old room on my hard bed, and my body aches.

She paces at the foot of it while looking disheveled and worrying her hands together.We might not leave the house much, but she’s always put together.Not this time, though, and I can see changes in her.That’s when I notice my room is different too.Almost everything in it is gone, and I can see a padlock on my door.My heart sinks.

I’m never getting out of here.I want to scream and cry, but it will do nothing.I’ve learned that lesson the hard way before.Being tossed into Dr.Butler’s psychiatric ward is beyond miserable, but I think that’s the point.It’s my punishment for being crazy.At least that’s what lingers in the back of my mind.When I’ve been admitted, I do feel crazy.

I hated it there, and it never helped with how my mother treated me.She says that everything she does is for my own good and that she loves me.She tells me I’m her little girl, but I don’t want to be her little girl anymore.

“Start from the beginning,” she says and abruptly stops pacing.

She’s ready to hear what I have to say, and normally I do what she wants.On the rare occasions when I’ve pushed back, she’d call it one of my episodes and threaten a visit from Dr.Butler.

“I ran away.What else is there to say?”I can’t tell her about Phillip.She might try to talk to him.I’m not going to further tangle him in a mess that isn’t his.He was so good to me, and I won’t do that to him.

I should have left Phillip earlier.I hate that the last time I saw him he looked at me with anger and confusion.At least I got that taste of him before it all came crashing down.It’s a memory I’ll play over and over again when I need it most.

“This is not a time for your games.”Mother walks over to a box sitting on the floor.“What have you gotten yourself into?”She drops it onto the bed, and I see the box is filled with all the jewelry Phillip put on me.I try to reach for the ring, but she yanks the box away from my grasp.

Without thought, I lunge for it, and when she tries to pull it farther away, the box goes flying in the air.I’m already in motion, and before I can stop myself, my body collides with hers.We tumble onto the floor and I scream, trying in vain to break my hands free from the cloth tied around them.It burns my skin, but I don’t stop even as Mother tries to get up.I hit her with my shoulder, and she falls back down.

Our eyes lock, and for the first time ever I see fear.She’s actually scared of me.

“Gary!”my mother screams.

He comes rushing into the room at the same time I see all the jewelry scattered across the floor.When I spot my ring, I grab it, hiding it in my palm.Gary helps get my mom to her feet, and she backs away from me.

“You’ve gained weight,” she scolds, and I glance down at myself.I’m in Phillip’s shirt, and his scent is still on me.

I’m not sure what she expects me to say, so I don’t bother with a response.Right now, I’m feeling stronger than normal.Even with the trace of sedative in my blood, I’m not weak like before.

“You have a call,” Gary informs her.

“It can wait.”She scoops all the jewelry off the floor then tosses it back into the box.

My eyes burn at the sight of Phillip’s precious gifts thrown around like junk.

“I think you’re going to want to take this one.”Gary glances at me.“It’s the man we think she was staying with.”

A wicked expression crosses her face.“Yes, I think I will take that call.”

“Mom.”I get to my knees on the floor and hold my hands in front of me, begging her to stop.“He didn’t do anything.It was all my fault.Please leave him alone.”

“Since you won’t tell me what you’ve been up to, I’ll have to hear it from him.”

“No!”I scream, but she’s already heading for the door.

It takes me a second to get to my feet with my hands tied together, and by then the door is already closed.The sound of the padlock on the other side echoes in my empty heart.

ChapterSixteen

PHILLIP

“I’ve been expecting your call.”The woman on the other end of the phone is cold and not at all who I pictured Audrey’s mother to be.

“Where is she?”I squeeze the steering wheel in my hand and try to remain calm.She’s on speakerphone, and being surrounded by her voice is unsettling.

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