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“You can’t imagine how bad it was. I can still see it. I don’t know who would do something so horrible.”
He moved closer, his concern evident in his eyes. "Tell me. It was more than a dream? This really happened?”
"Yes. It happened and it was awful. The phone calls were coming almost every other day. I had this event and I was glad it would be with the public. I always felt like I was safer in a crowd.”
“I think it’s the opposite in situations like this. It probably means more access to you. More chaos.”
“Yeah, I was naïve about how someone could take advantage of a big crowd to get closer to me. There was a private room set up off the lobby, where I could take a break if needed. I know it doesn’t sound like the kind of job you should need a break from, but it was a long day doing press and being on the road. I was tired, and I needed a moment to breathe every now and then."
“I wasn’t judging. I’m sure travel and talking with people all day must burn you out. What happened when you took a break?”
"When I walked into that private room, there were dead rats everywhere. Their heads had been cut off. Blood. It was disgusting. The door locked behind me. I was trapped in there for ten minutes until building maintenance could figure out how to get the door open. Someone had tampered with it. The whole thing was horrifying.”
As she recounted the details, fear gripped her once again, and Ben instinctively walked over to her bed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. She leaned into his comforting presence, her voice trembling with anger and fear.
"I feel stupid now, Ben. I should have taken it more seriously back then. We called the police, but nothing was done. The movie I was doing press for was about a contagion that was making people ill and was on the verge of being catastrophic. It ended up having some political undertones that pissed some people off. The police assumed this was in some way related to the storyline of the movie. A prank or some message about how it was divisive. I felt differently, but I didn’t speak up. And now... now Doug is hurt, and I can't help but blame myself."
Ben's voice was gentle but firm as he spoke. "Paisley, you're the victim in all of this. It's not your fault. You did what you could with the information you had at the time. Blaming yourself now won’t change anything."
Her anger flared, and she shook her head defiantly. "I don't want to be the victim anymore, Ben. I want to fight back. I want to do something. I can't just sit here and wait for them to make their next move. It could take ages for anyone to figure out who we are dealing with. Every minute I sit here, I am letting them win."
Ben's gaze locked with hers. The intensity startled her. She still felt disorientated from the fitful sleep and horrible nightmare. "They aren’t winning because they don’t have a next move. They can’t do anything to you here. I won’t let them.”
“I’m going to go crazy sitting here. Everyone has been so kind, and it’s absolutely serene, but every minute that ticks by feels like I’m going to crawl out of my skin.”
“That might be all the spiders I’m positive are crawling around this place.” Ben nudged her and tried to pull a smile out from the ashes of this burned out night.
“The spiders don’t help,” she agreed with a little pout. “When can we hear from Carmen? I want to get an update about Doug. I need to know if he’s better. Maybe then I can relax, but for now I feel like I can’t breathe. Leaving him in the hospital was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”
Ben looked conflicted. What she was asking was clearly not what he’d been instructed to do. Putting him in that position wasn’t what she wanted but she’d never gone this long without her phone. She felt completely disconnected from everyone who used to be a constant part of her life. She didn’t miss the social media or any fake stories that would pop up about her. But she wanted a funny meme from her friends or the hundred missed messages on one of her group texts all about nothing in particular.
With a long sigh, Ben answered. “I’ll reach out tomorrow. I know we’re supposed to be on radio silence, but I get it. Doug’s your friend. If it were me, I’d want an update too.”
"Sorry about the punch.” She gestured to his cheek. “Does it hurt?”
“I wish I didn’t have so much experience with fist fights. My younger days were full of them. That’s not counting all the times my brothers have clocked me over the years. I can take a hit.”
As she lay back down, exhaustion crept in, but before drifting off to sleep, Ben's question lingered in the air and she was glad to still hear his voice, even with her eyes closed.
"Tell me about the play you're planning. I’ve never been to any theater except the time my mother won free tickets to the Nutcracker when I was seven. I think I liked it.”
Ben settled back into his own bed. She missed his scent and his warmth instantly. "It's a play based on a fairy tale I heard when I was young. It's about a witch, a curse, and a princess who finds a way to save herself. No knight in shining armor. Just a bad-ass princess who figures it out for herself.”
“I bet she’s got a hell of a right hook if you’re the inspiration for that character.”
“I’m not exactly saving myself,” she sighed, rolling on her side to face him. “I wish I knew how to.”
“A little help isn’t a bad thing. And I think we’re going to give as much as we get from Cinderhill. I’ve got some ideas for this place. I have a feeling I should bring them up with King instead of Bailey. I think he’d be a fan of adding some modern updates. This place is cool but if we’re going to be here for a while, we could do some nice things people would love.”
“You think we’ll be here a while?” The panic had her eyes snapping back open. “How long?”
“I shouldn’t have said it like that,” Ben replied, backpedaling quickly. “I just thought maybe we could do a couple things to make this place even better since they’re being so welcoming to us. Maybe we could help with that pizza oven or a swing set for the kids to play on. We can leave them with something to remember us by. They can name it after us when we go. Because we will go. You’re going to get your life back.”
“However long that takes,” Paisley said in a far-off voice. There were no rats here. No threatening calls. No ominous notes. It was the strangest dichotomy of feelings. She was both trapped and free. Ready to run from here but relieved to be able to hide out too.
“I’ll stay up until you go to sleep,” Ben promised. “That’s what I used to like my brothers to do when I had a nightmare. It was the only good part about sharing a room with so many people. I never felt alone. Maybe for now, this little cabin isn’t all that bad. There is absolutely zero chance of either of us feeling lonely even for a second.”
“The snoring I could do without,” Paisley teased, clutching her blankets a little tighter. “But since you’ll wait for me to fall asleep, I guess it’s not that bad.”
