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We rushed outside and split up. I moved towards the better lit area around the garages, knowing I’d be able to see better there, with my limited vision, than if I went further into the darkness of the front yard.
I checked both garages were locked, thinking she could have slipped inside one if we’d forgotten to lock them, but both were secure. I moved over to the far fence line, waving my flashlight around the flower beds there, and wishing we still had a covering of snow so her footprints could lead us right to her.
I shone the beam of the flashlight down the side of the garage, but instantly dismissed it, sure Evie wouldn’t fit in the tiny gap that ran between the side of the garage and the fence line of the property. Then I heard a tiny squeak and instantly lit the area again. I could hardly believe my eyes when the light caught two, wide, terrified eyes looking right at me.
“Here!” I yelled as I ran over. The gap between the wall of the garage and the fence was not even a foot wide and Evie was squeezed in there so tightly. I knew she had to be badly cut up from getting in there.
“Evie?” I said softly. I could see she was trembling badly and she had clamped her eyes shut now. She was clearly terrified and I didn’t know what to do. She was just out of my reach and there was no way any of us were fitting in that gap to get to her. “Evie? Can you hear me? It’s Aleks.” I ran my flashlight up and down, looking at her body for injury as I spoke. Her arm closest to me was covered with blood and it was dripping from her finger tips. Her bare legs were smeared with blood and dirt too. She was dressed in shorts and a t-shirt and had to be frozen. I hated to think how long she could have been out here without us knowing, terrified and alone.
“She’s in there?” Harris gasped as he leant in above me and looked at her.
“How did she even fit in there?” Nick asked as he did the same.
“I don’t know, but we have to get her out. She’s bleeding and her body temperature has to be way too low by now,” I told them as I tried to weigh up our limited options.
“Let me try and talk to her,” Harris said, and I happily stepped back to let him in.
I turned to look for Kailan and found him leant against the garage door, his head in his hands as he pulled at his hair. I walked over and grabbed his hands, pulling them free of his hair.
“She’s bleeding. I…I hurt her. I did this,” he whispered as he looked up at me, his eyes filled with guilt and glassy with tears.
“We don’t know that. She has night terrors of her own. This could have nothing to do with you, but even if it does, it’s not your fault, Kailan. You can’t control what you do while you’re asleep. She’ll understand. She knows exactly what you’re going through.”
“We were so stupid to think we could make anything work with her. What were we thinking? Look at us!” he cried. “We’re too fucked up! All we can ever do is hurt her. We should have realized that!”
Before I could say a word he turned and ran back into the house, I looked to where Harris was working to coax Evie out and considered what Kailan had said. There was no denying we were messed up, but the thing was, so was Evie. We were kindred spirits, weren’t we? If anyone was going to understand what we were all going through, it was her, just as we got what she was dealing with. No. I wasn’t ready to give up yet. It wasn’t going to be easy, but I liked and cared for Evie way too much to just give up. I was sure together we could find a way to make things work. We had to because I was falling fast for her, and I knew I wasn’t the only one.
CHAPTER 21
EVIE
Fear had a complete grip on me as I clamped my eyes closed and fought the images that were playing on a loop in my head. I could feel his breath against my face as he screamed at me again and again.
“SAY IT!” I could feel his hand at my throat, feel every injury he had inflicted throbbing with angry, agonizing pain all over my body. “Beg me, eight! Beg me to make it stop and it will. This can all be over.”
The smell of damp and mold is filling my nostrils, mixed with the iron scent of my own blood as the warm sensation of it dripping down my abdomen again chills me. He’s going to kill me. I know that, but it will not be because I gave in. It will not be because I gave him permission to do it.
“Evie, please sweetheart,” a softer, calmer voice cuts into my hell. I held my breath, listening for it, wanting the safety and comfort I knew deep down that voice carried with it. “Look at me. I’m right here. We’re all here. You’re with us, not him,” the voice pleaded. I felt a touch against my finger, another pinkie linking with mine and squeezing tightly.
A squeak of relief and overwhelming emotion slipped from me at the gentle touch. I dared to open my eyes, terrified Soloman would be before me when I did, but it wasn’t Soloman who stared back.
“H-Harris?” I whimpered. He smiled gently, though it didn’t hide the worry all over his face. I tried to look around, but wherever I was, there was barely space to move my head.
“What happened? Where are we?” I gasped as a whole new wave of fear rushed over me. I was freezing cold, my body vibrating violently with shivers, my teeth chattering so hard, it was rattling my skull. My body was aching and throbbing, and it was dark. I was pressed into a tiny space, and clearly outside somewhere.
“I’m not sure, sweetheart. We found you here. Something must have scared you. Can you come to me? I can’t get in there to get to you?” he asked.
I closed my eyes as I realized I had once again freaked out and done something ridiculous. I just hoped I hadn’t hit anyone this time.
“Aleks? Can you get closer to her?” I heard Harris ask. When I opened my eyes and turned, Aleks stepped forward and leaned into the tiny gap as much as he could.
“Hey honey. Fancy seeing you here?” he joked, making me laugh through the tears that had started to fall. “You gonna come out of there?” he asked with a sad smile.
“I can’t. I…I th-ink I al-ready died of…of em-barrass-ment,” I stuttered, my words broken by how hard my teeth chattered.
“Nothing to be embarrassed about. At least not with us. Come on, malenka. We need to get you warmed up and check those cuts.” I tried to look down at myself to see where I was cut, but the space was too small.
I tried to move my feet, but they were literally wedged between the wall and the fence at my back, the rough surfaces digging into my bare toes and heels.
