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My heart thumps as I head to the bed and lift the corner, listening out for voices in case they find me. My fingers reach for the diary that is hidden in a hole in the mattress. I wouldn’t put it past Mickey to search my room and so I cut a hole in it and use the bedsheet to cover the gap.
As my fingers close around the familiar hard object, I almost weep with relief. It’s still here.
I waste no time and grasp it tightly, placing it down my panties at the back just in case Mickey is outside. I don’t trust anyone with Reggie’s diary, it’s too precious for that.
I have no emotion at all as I glance around the room for one last time. I won’t be back. If the last two days have taught me anything, it’s that I am stronger than I thought I was.
My time here is done. I should have left the moment I turned eighteen, but why would I when Reggie was alive, and I thought things were normal? It’s only now I realize they never have been. Not since my father left.
Everything I need is in this diary. Old photographs litter the pages that are all the reminders I need of the two people I miss the most. We are getting out of here today and hopefully, so is my mom. Despite everything, I want her to get the help she needs just as I am getting the help I need from Mikhail.
I say one final farewell to my old life and with a sigh, I turn my back on it. Wait in the car. I don’t need asking twice.
As I retrace my steps, I hear loud voices and my heart shivers with fear. My breath hitches as I move silently toward the sound, and I stop and peer around the corner and see Mickey being manhandled from his bedroom. He is tanked and yelling, “What the fuck is going on? What’s happening here?”
I can’t see my mom and hope she’s okay. She must be frightened and despite everything, she does love this monster. I watch Damien and two other guards march Mickey into the living room with three guns trained on him and I get a fleeting sense of justice as I watch him being led to damnation.
I should walk away and turn in the other direction, but I need to see this. I want to see this and so when they move inside the living room, I flatten against the wall and move silently toward the open door.
“Who the fuck are you?”
I hear Mickey yell and Mikhail says in a voice that sends shivers down my spine, “I’m your worst nightmare, Mickey.”
“I don’t even fucking know you.” He says angrily.
“But I know you.”
My heart bangs inside me as I peer around the corner, and I notice Mickey on his knees with a gun trained to his head as Mikhail stands by the window, looking down on him with derision.
“Just so you know, Lilli no longer lives here.” He starts by saying and Mickey laughs darkly. “That fucking bitch. What’s she gone and done now?”
I gasp as Mikhail crosses the room and punches him hard around the head, an arc of blood flying from Mickey’s busted nose, his scream of pain causing my lip to curl in disgust.
“Don’t ever call her a bitch in my company again, you disgusting piece of filth.”
Mickey howls, and I stare at him with deep loathing.
Mikhail grasps his hair and forces him to look up at him and hisses, “Men like you disgust me. You hide behind women pretending you’re tough. You use them to make you money through fear and intimidation and ruin their lives in the process.”
“She loved it.” Mickey hisses back and says foolishly, “Whatever she told you is lies. She loves playing dirty with me, just like that whore of a sister of hers. She probably wishes I’d shown her the same attention. I fucked her sister because she asked for it. Always looking at me with her doe eyes, wanting what her mom had, and testing my limits. I gave it to her alright, several times and she paid me back by fucking men for money, just like your precious Lilli was destined to do.”
I can’t help myself and as Mikhail raises his hand, I step inside the room and yell, “You lying bastard!”
I am so angry I want to take Damien’s gun and shoot the liar myself.
Mikhail doesn’t appear surprised to see me and says gently, “Come here, Lilli.”
My legs shake as they decide which way they should go, to the car or right by his side, to stare into the eyes of a deranged monster.
Mickey laughs out loud and hisses, “I get what this is. The bitch has found another man to leech off. What’s she giving you, her virgin cunt, in exchange for a ticket out of here? She is no different from her sister.”
“Stop talking about Reggie. You don’t get to say her name.”
I can’t even cry; my tears have no place here.
It’s as if the frightened girl in me takes her hands away from her eyes and is surprised that the bad guy is nothing but a coward. He doesn’t frighten me anymore. I’m stronger than I was and so I move to Mikhail’s side and smile at him with gratitude. He saved me in so many ways and I will not walk away from this.
“You okay, baby girl?” He whispers against my lips, and I nod. “I will be. Thank you for asking.”
