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Whatever, I won’t worry about the stupid details. I know we’ll make it happen, whatever it takes.
CHAPTERFOURTEEN
Luna
I was up really late talking to Brennon, so the sun was not just streaming but glaring through the open window of my bedroom once I was finally ready to open my eyes. I love sleeping with my window open in the summer. Love the soft, rose-scented breeze caressing my skin and the gentle warmth on my skin. But right now, it’s mainly noonday heat that’s hitting me.
I get up to close the window, thinking I might just give Brennon a call right after, so we can pick up where we left off last night. The phone rings while I’m still fiddling with the window latch, and the smile that stretches across my face makes my cheeks ache.
Brennon was thinking the same thing as me!
I pick up, not even checking the caller ID, saying, “Good morning! Miss me, did you?”
The man on the other end clears his throat, and it’s enough to make me realize my mistake.
“Hi there, Luna. It’s Aaron,” he says. “I just wanted to let you know that Kevin was released last night. I only just got the call. Otherwise, I would’ve let you know sooner.”
My heart is racing, black spots are swimming before my eyes, and my throat feels like a fist is gripping it. Kevin’s fist. Exactly like it did that night he almost killed me.
He’s been out since last night! And I slept with the window open!
Realizing that sends me into an even deeper panic, the kind that makes it impossible for me to even try to breathe.
“Stay safe,” Aaron says. “And call me if you need me. Anytime, day or night.”
“Thank you,” I manage to choke out. “Thank you for everything.”
“I wish I could do more for you,” he says.
“You’ve already done so much,” I tell him. “Thank you.”
I know I’m repeating myself, but what else is there to say?
“Maybe he won’t come after you again,” he says. “You gave him quite the punch on the nose. And he’s a coward underneath it all. Just like all bullies are.”
I wish I could take comfort from his words. But I know that Kevin won’t rest until he makes me his. I’m already running around the house, locking and shutting all of the windows.
I thank Aaron again and let him go.
Then I get to work on turning on the alarm system. It was actually Brennon’s dad who helped me set it up about three years ago, and I’m happy to find everything still works even though I haven’t used it in over a year. I hated having the alarm system turned on. It made me feel like a prisoner in my own home. But it wasn’t until about four months into Kevin’s sentence that I actually dared to switch it off and keep it off.
Now I’m breathing hard, my heart still racing, as I sit in my darkened living room, checking the feed of the outside cameras on an app on my phone. And I feel like a prisoner again. Like a sad, lost, scared prisoner. In my own childhood home.
I hate it.
I won’t let Kevin have this power over me. Not ever again. He’s won if the mere mention of his name sends me into this fearful state.
So I call Stacey and set up a lunch date. Then I shower and dress and almost turn off all the alarms before leaving the house. But I’m not that brave yet. Soon I will be, but not yet.
Stacey’s already waiting for me in the breezy backyard of the Over Easy brunch place where we decided to meet. Her hair is freshly dyed—still platinum blonde but with turquoise highlights that bring out the color in her eyes, making them glow and sparkle like the ocean.
They darken considerably as I give her my news.
“Oh, my God, Luna,” she says. “I’m so sorry.”
She’s as shocked as I was when I first heard the news, so understandably, she has trouble speaking.
“But I’m not gonna let that bastard control my life anymore,” I assert with more bravery than I actually feel deep down. “Free or not, he’s not gonna run my life.”
