AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Rest up,” the voice says. “And welcome to the rejuvenation center.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Vanessa
My husband isn’t dying, and he’s supposed to be dead. It’s not that I meant to kill him; I just didn’t mean to keep him alive, either. To remedy the latter, I’ve placed duct tape over his mouth to help with the moaning, and I’ve tied his left leg to the gas pipe to remedy the situation where he tries to drag himself up the stairs. Needless to say, he’s probably not going anywhere. Fingers crossed.
I’m just finishing re-patching his neck, something I learned from hunting with my brothers back when I was a kid, and they were forced to take me along hunting with them because if they left me alone, I’d only get into trouble. My older brother’s foot got caught in one of those claw traps—nasty things, they are—and it was six-year-old me who had to get him out. I had to patch him up using his T-shirt. Blood soaked all the way through. It’s pressure that stops the bleeding, and I learned the harder you press, the faster it clots.
The doorbell rings, and I rush to the door to find Gina with a sleeping Matthew in her arms. “Don’t worry,” she says, lowering her voice, her eyes sca
nning for Sean. “They just asked him some questions and put him in religion class with the others. Nothing else happened.”
I take him from her arms. “Don’t ever touch my son again.”
“Vanessa, listen to me. They know you let Matthew play with technology.” She says it like the very thought is poison, like she can’t bear to let the word roll off her tongue. “You should be very careful.”
“Thank you for the warning.” I’m jostling my son in my arms. I’m tired, it’s been a long day, and he’s heavier when he’s sleeping. “I’d better get him to bed,” I tell her finally. I can’t let on that anything is wrong.
After I place Matthew in his bed, I begin deftly packing a bag. I’ve always meant to have a ‘go bag,’ but it was too risky. If Sean had found it, it would have been the end of me.
Things don’t look so good for me as it is. If they send me back to the rejuvenation center, with Sean half dead in the cellar—or at least I hope he’s that way—there’s no one to care for Matthew. If they find him, the rejuvenation center will be the last of my worries.
I throw a few pairs of jeans and several chunky sweaters into my bag. There’s probably not much use for the designer dresses or heels where I’m going. That’s not to say that I know where I’m going, exactly, only that I have to go.
First things first: I have to make my husband dead. Somehow that seemed easier before I saw all the blood, when I still had the resolve. Now Matthew is home, and they haven’t hurt him, and now I’m thinking this is all one big misunderstanding, and that maybe I can fix it even if I know I can’t.
I’ve just finished packing Matthew’s things when my cell phone rings. Adam’s face pops up on the screen. He wants to FaceTime, but I decline it and answer the call the old-fashioned way.
“I need to see you,” he says.
I wait for him to go on.
“It’s about Melanie. Can you come to my office?”
“Now?”
“No, next week,” he sighs, long and heavy and grossly breathy. “Yes, now.”
“I can’t,” I tell him, keeping my voice calm and even. “Sean’s out of town, and Matthew’s asleep.”
“Sean’s away?”
“Yes.”
“Where is he?”
“Golfing in California, I think…”
“What do you mean you think?”
“You know how he is. Sometimes he doesn’t say.”
“Hold on a sec,” he says. When he comes back on the line, which seems to take forever, he clears his throat. “Huh,” he replies. “That’s interesting. He didn’t mention he was going out of town.”
I let the silence hang in the air.
“We’re supposed to meet tomorrow.”
