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“You son of a bitch. You and your family are murderers. You ruined my family. Ruined it. My mom was killed by your society, wasn’t she? Wasn’t she?” I was screaming and crying. The emotions were impossible to hold back. I couldn’t pretend to agree with him. Couldn’t keep calm. Not anymore.
“I really was hoping you wouldn’t make that connection. Yes, your mom was sacrificed. That’s why we knew at least one of her children would be too. Because of her sacrifice, my mother was able to have me.” He was rationalizing, trying to make me understand. That it was all for a greater good. He brought my wrists to his chest, pulling me closer. “I know your pain is unimaginable right now, baby. But we can get through it. Now you and I can start a family when the time is right. If you hadn’t seen all this happen, if your sister really had disappeared in a swimming accident, we would have driven back home and gone on with our lives. Together. We can have that again.”
I barely held back the hysterical laugh that bubbled in my chest. He’d been brainwashed. He truly believed that this was the way of life. It was the way of life in his family. He really thought we could grow old together like nothing had happened. A cold sweat slid down my back at the thought of being with him.
There was no way I could lie my way out of it. He knew me better than almost everyone. With a jolt of pain, I realized he did know me better than anyone. The only other person who completely understood me was Lacey. But she was dead. Because of him and his family.
He’d pick up on my lie right away. I had to get away. Not just for myself, but for all the women who had died at the hands of his family and countless others. I needed to go to the police. To make this public.
Swiftly, and as hard as I could, I slammed my knee into his groin. He grunted and fell to his knees. He finally released my wrists, and I pushed him to the ground before racing to the door. Pulling it open, I slipped out and started running down the hallway toward the stairs.
I leaped up the steps and was about to fling the door open but stopped myself. I needed to be quiet. There were more people here, and I couldn’t fight my way out. Slowly, I cracked the door open and peeked out. The lights in the kitchen were off, and there was no one in there that I could see. Knowing I didn’t have long until Alex caught up, I pushed the door open just wide enough to fit through and shut it quickly.
Grabbing a chair from the small kitchen table, I shoved it under the doorknob of the basement door. It probably wouldn’t hold, but it would at least slow him down. I silently made my way through the kitchen and dining room to get to the front door. I reached for the door handle and abruptly pulled my hand back. What was the plan when I left this house? There was nothing but forest around for miles. Alex had said that he’d grown up here. He knew this house and most likely the forest around it.
With a sinking feeling, I tried to clear my mind to come up with a better plan. The truck. If I could get the truck keys, I wouldn’t need to run on foot. The keys were probably in Lacey and Jamie’s room. My heart sank. I thought Jamie had brought us to this place. That he was the one to run from. I hoped he had escaped. Or was alive, at least. I glanced out the window and saw the truck still in the driveway. I needed to go upstairs to get the keys.
A roar of laughter sliced fear through me. A light flickered from under the door that led into the great room. From the sound of laughter and talk, it was all the men who’d been downstairs. I tiptoed past the door and made my way up the stairs. Once I was at the top, I slowly peered around the corner to see if the hallway was empty. The dim bathroom light was the only thing lighting up the long hallway, and I couldn’t see the end. As I glanced back down the stairs, I weighed my options. Either sneak out the front door and through the woods or hope there was no one at the end of the hall. I wouldn’t make it far in the woods by myself. I took a deep breath and started down the hall.
