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Eric
Valerie isn’t home when we return from church, and that worries not only her dad and my mom but also me. I know whatever was in that envelope is the reason she didn’t stay for the service. I search her room but find nothing. Either she hid it well, or she never came home to leave the envelope in her room in the first place.
I run downstairs, ready to go looking for her when she walks in the front door.At first, I’m relieved, but then annoyance wins. “Where have you been?”
She widens her eyes. “I went to the pharmacy. What’s with you?”
I rub my face and look away. Fuck. I’m not acting like myself, but I never do when Valerie is involved. I usually know where I stand with people, but when I’m with her, I’m lost.
“Val, honey. We were worried.” Her father joins us in the foyer, saving me from having to answer her question.
“I wasn’t feeling well, so I went to the pharmacy to get Pepto-Bismol.”
“Honey, why didn’t you call me? I could have stopped and gotten it for you.”
“It’s okay, Dad.” She shrugs.
I see the pharmacy bag in her hand, but I don’t buy that she went only there. That’s her cover. Where the hell did she go?
“Will you be able to work tonight?” Mom asks her.
“Work where?” I ask.
“I’m waitressing at the mayor’s party,” Valerie answers me then glances at my mother. “Yes, I’ll be fine. Besides, I’m looking forward to it. It’ll be a nice distraction.”
Keith and Mom look at her with compassion, but her statement makes me sick. She doesn’t need the distraction because Hansen is dead. She needs it because of what he did to her. I wish I could make her forget or at least carry the pain for her.
Mom turns her attention to me. “You should come, Eric.”
I scoff. “Attend a stuffy party? Pass. I’d rather watch horror movies all night.”
Mom grimaces, but it’s Valerie who replies, “Halloween is over.”
“Not to me, sis. Halloween is an all-year event in my world.”
She rolls her eyes. “You’re such a weirdo.”
A weirdo who you like to fuck.The thought makes me smile.
* * *
Idon’t see Valerie for most of the day. I stay in my room, waiting for the opportunity to snoop in her bedroom again. My chance comes when she heads into the shower to get ready for the mayor’s party. I’m beginning to appreciate the fact that Keith doesn’t believe in locks. Valerie would for sure have locked her door.
I don’t have to look long to find the damn envelope. It’s still in the inside pocket of her coat. I have to bite the inside of my cheek until I taste blood to stop the scream that wants to rip from my throat. These are pictures of Valerie’s rape. It happened in a cabin in the woods, and someone was standing outside, watching and documenting it for later. That’s why I couldn’t find Hansen and Valerie at the party. He took her to a secluded location.
I replay the scene of Valerie and Carol at the church. Valerie’s face turned ashen when she saw the contents of the envelope, and then they both glanced in Carol’s father’s direction.
Son of a bitch.
My nostrils flare as I take deep breaths, trying to slow my accelerated pulse. Mark fucking Warner, the model citizen of Stanmore, was part of the whole thing. I put the pictures back where they belong and get out of Valerie’s room before she catches me there.
I couldn’t find a target last night, thanks to Valerie’s delicious interruption. But now I don’t need to search. Carol handed one to me on a silver platter—well, not me, but that’s a technicality. I don’t feel sorry that she’s going to lose her asshole father one year after her brother met my blade. If she gave those pictures to Valerie and indicated that her father was the one who took them, it’s because she wants Valerie to do something about it. Maybe she’s also his victim.
To keep up appearances, I get comfortable in the living room and put onScream, one of my favorite slasher movies. I want Mom and Keith to see me at home doing what I said I would. Valerie is the first one to come downstairs. I look over my shoulder and watch her put on a different coat than the one she wore for church.
“Leaving already?” I ask.
“I have to be at the mayor’s house before the guests arrive.”
