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“I…erm…no. I…I’m looking for Harris Orson. I…I’m not sure if this is the r-right place,” she stuttered. She was pale and looked terrified. I was taken aback by her asking for me. It made me look closer. There was something familiar about her, but the image on my cell was black and white and not the clearest. “Am I….is this the right pl-place?” she asked even more quietly. And that was when I realised. My heart jumped in my chest as I realized who sat at my front gate.
“Evie?” I gasped. It couldn’t be.
CHAPTER 7
EVIE
It had taken me longer than I expected to find a house I thought could be the one Harris had described to me in his letter. I had bypassed the lake he mentioned miles back, and since then there had been nothing but trees, mountains, road, and snow. Then, just as I started to despair it was a terrible plan, I had seen a car pull out of a small track that led into the forest. With no better options I followed the lane and found myself in front of a huge modern house nestled in the middle of the forest.
For a while I’d just sat and stared at it. It was huge, a mixture of wood cladding that perfectly meshed with the tall trees that surrounded it and white, modern stone. It was surrounded by high fences and fancy looking gates were locked in place before me.
Harris had always had a nice home. His dad’s business made the family wealthy and their house was similar in size to ours when we were kids, but this seemed so much grander. Did Harris really live here?
“Only one way to find out,” I uttered to myself. I had come this far. I couldn’t back out now, but a part of me was terrified if I pressed that buzzer and got Harris involved in all of this, he would end up the next victim of The Number Killer. Was I making a huge mistake doing this? But it was my only choice. Either I trusted that I had taken enough steps to keep Soloman off of my tail, and went to Harris, or I returned to my miserable, lonely, terrifying life. And that wasn’t really a choice.
I crept forward slowly in the car and opened my window, instantly shivering when the icy cold wind blasted in at me. I pressed the buzzer on the gate before I could chicken out, then I waited, my hands shaking violently the entire time.
“Can I help you?” a voice asked. I was hoping to instantly recognize Harris’s voice, but that wasn’t him. This voice was almost croaky and a little hoarse sounding. “Are you lost?” the voice asked. I took a shallow breath to try and steady myself. I wasn’t great with strangers since getting away, but I really struggled to talk to men. I knew it was crazy. Not every man I encountered was out to hurt me, but for some reason my brain didn’t accept that.
“I…erm…no. I…I’m looking for Harris Orson. I…I’m not sure if this is the r-right place,” I said as calmly as I could, my shaking hands clutched together to steady them in my lap.
There was silence for several moments and I started to panic, sure I had come to the wrong place. What if this guy was a psycho who saw his opportunity. I was offering myself up to him on a silver platter. Or in a shitty Camry. But either way. This had been such a stupid decision. Of course I wouldn’t just find Harris’s house from the few details I remembered.
“Evie?” The sound of my name paused my rapidly spiraling thoughts and I looked back to the camera as tears filled my eyes. My name. He had said my name.
In Boston I had given a fake name to get my cleaning job and on the forms for my apartment. Amy. That was the only name I had heard other than ‘Eight’ since I left my mom at the door of our house that night I was taken. Just to hear someone call me Evie – it meant so much. It was like I had needed to hear someone else say it to know I really did exist.
“Yeah. Harris? Is…is that you?” I whimpered as I fought not to cry.
“Evie? What are you doing here?” he asked, and I could tell he was shocked. Of course he was! I just turned up out of the blue, having not seen him for almost eight years, looking like crap and bursting into tears. I’d be lucky if he opened the damned gates.
“I…I need your h-help,” I admitted as more tears fell down my face. “Please…can I…will you let me in…please Harris?”
“Shit. Yeah. Yes, of course. Drive in,” he stuttered, then the gates started to open automatically. I swiped at my face to wipe away the tears, then drove through the gates and onto the drive, coming to a stop at the front of the vast house.
The front door swung open just as I opened the car door, and I paused and just watched as Harris stepped out. Or at least I thought it was him. He didn’t look like I remembered. He seemed taller, though he couldn’t truly have grown after I left him. Maybe it was the sheer size of his body that made him seem taller, because he was huge now. He was in dark blue jeans and a white button-down shirt, but the shirt was stretched over huge shoulders, biceps, and across a broad chest that was almost double the size I remembered it being. His legs were wide too, and his waist was trim. His hair was no longer the messy, floppy mass I used to love to run my hands through. Now it was cropped pretty short and styled messily. His face was tanned, and even from where I was paused I could see the small scars that ran up from the collar of his shirt and up onto his chin on the right side. They didn’t detract from his handsome face though. He still had that same, strong angular jaw and he was watching me with his sharp eyes, which I knew were the most perfect and unusual shade of jade green.
He folded his huge arms over his chest as he stood at the top of the steps waiting for me to move, and I realized I was staring too much. I stepped out and closed the door, but I couldn’t bring myself to move around the car. I needed that safety between us until I was sure I was safe with him. He didn’t look anything like the guy I had known and loved. Was ‘my Harris’ still in there?
“Hey,” I greeted lamely as I looked up to him. I had to place my hand on the car to steady myself because my legs were like Jell-o.
“Hey,” he replied as he studied me hard. “How did you find this place?”
“I…your letter. I remembered the n-name…of the lake. I had to drive around f-for a while, but I guess there aren’t many places around here,” I shrugged.
“You didn’t write back.” He looked hurt as he said that and I felt terrible for letting him down, even though I never got chance to write him back. I had meant to, but then I got the job with my dad and the interview of my dreams, and I got sidetracked. Then I was taken.
“I…I couldn’t. It…it’s been a tough few months,” I sighed, then scoffed. A tough few months? Really?
“What’s going on, Ev? What are you doing here?” he asked as he unfolded his arms and took a step closer. I instinctively moved to the side, then felt crappy about it when he clearly noticed and looked hurt.
“I’m sorry. I….I didn’t mean….I….fuck!” I cried as I leaned forward to rest my head against the roof of the car. I was such a fucking mess.
“Ev, talk to me. I won’t come closer. I’ll stay right here. Just tell me what’s going on,” he pleaded. Hearing him call me ‘Ev’ was a balm to my soul. He was the only person who ever called me that and I didn’t realize how much it meant to me until that moment.
Hearing the softness in his words soothed me, even if his voice was completely different to how I remembered. Something had clearly happened to his throat, leaving his voice a little hoarse and scratchy. I lifted my head and looked at him – really looked at him. His eyes were soft as he studied me with concern, his hands held out before him, trying to calm me and assure me he’d stay back. It was a flash of the kid I remembered and it reassured me and reminded me he wouldn’t hurt me. Yes he was different, maybe even rougher around the edges, but he was still Harris.
“I’m in a huge mess, Harris. I…I didn’t know where else to go,” I admitted, my lip wobbling as I fought not to cry.
