Safe (28 page)

Panic filled my body. The tears were coming to the surface, but I tapped them down. My hands were shaking along with my body. I had to get away from him.

When the car behind me suddenly began coming around me, I didn’t dare look out my window. And when the car pulled in front of me and kept going, my body finally began breathing again. Oh my God. I thought for sure that was him.

The police car turned off the side of the road, and the lights faded. Relief washed over me. It wasn’t him. It wasn’t him. My heart was still pounding out of my chest, and that panic was still so strong.

I willed myself to calm down, but it was very hard to do. I reached down to turn my iPod off and when I looked up, someone was standing in the middle of the road.

The panic struck in full force. I turned the wheel as sharp as I could to avoid hitting whoever was in the road. I heard myself screaming.

Everything went black.

I wouldn’t accept it. I didn’t believe for one minute that Sadie was done with me. After everything that had happened these last few weeks, there was no way she was done with me.

I sure as hell was not done with her.

I shouldn’t have walked away even after she told me to. I should have banged on that fucking door and made her tell me what I did wrong.

I should not have left her by herself. I knew firsthand what leaving her alone looked like. I never wanted to see Sadie like that again. But when I called Lauryn, she said that she’d be home soon. So I knew Sadie would be with her, even though I really wanted to be with her.

Damn it!

I plopped on my couch, staring at the TV that had nothing playing on it. What the hell was I to do now?

Three hours later, my phone began singing some country song that Sadie had programmed into it. Lauryn’s name came up on the display.

I answered immediately. “Lauryn?”

“Is Sadie with you?” Lauryn’s voice was panic-stricken.

I felt the heat rise in me. “No. I told you. I dropped her off at home like three hours ago. What’s wrong?”

“She’s not here.”

What the fuck? “What do you mean she’s not there? Where did she go?”

“I don’t know!” Lauryn yelled at me.

“Wait. You’re just now calling me, three hours later?”

“I just got home, Landon!”

“Lauryn, you said you were on your way home!” Now I was yelling.

Lauryn’s voice quieted, “I ran into an old friend, we started talking, and well, I’m just now getting home and she’s gone. If she’s not with you, I don’t know where she is.”

“Lauryn, calm down she probably just went for a drive. We had ... I don’t know what we had, but she wasn’t happy with me.”

“Landon, her room is a fucking mess—clothes everywhere, her laptop and iPod are gone. She’s not answering her cell. I think she left.”

“Left, as in back to Michigan left?”

“I don’t know, and I can’t get ahold of my parents or my brother to ask. I don’t know what to do.”

Holy shit. I freaked her out so fucking much she took off for home. How the hell did that happen. What the hell did I say that was so wrong to make her go? Hurt and ache filled my body. She couldn’t have left. She couldn’t have left me. We didn’t even talk about this. And she left?

“I’m on my way over. Keep calling your parents.”

“Okay.” Lauryn’s voice sounded if she was crying, but I didn’t have time to console her. I would see her in a few minutes.

Rushing out to my truck, I threw it in drive as I called Renzo.

“Landon, what’s up?”

“Sadie’s gone. We don’t know where she went.”

“What do you mean gone?”

I told Renzo everything that was going on.

“Maybe she just needed some time away from ya,” Renzo answered.

“Yeah. I thought that, too, but the panic in Lauryn’s voice told me something else is going on. Remember Sadie came here because she needed a change?”

“Yeah.”

“I know there’s more to the story. I’m going over to Lauryn’s to see what else I can find out.”

“Be there in five.” Renzo hung up.

I called Lukas next and explained everything.

His response, “Be there in five.” One thing was for sure: I could always count on my brothers.

Pulling up to Lauryn’s house, I could see her pacing through the window. She had the phone pulled up to her ear. I didn’t even knock, I just went right in. I was only able to hear one side of the conversation, which I believe was to her mom.

“She’s not here.”

“I mean she’s
not
here. Her shit is packed, and her car is gone.”

“Mom, what’s going on?”

“Fine. Hurry Up!”

Lauryn pushed the screen on her phone and threw it on the couch.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“I don’t fucking know. Mom knows something, but won’t tell me on the phone. She’s on her way here. She’ll be here in a couple minutes.”

Lauryn kept pacing the living room, back and forth. She was driving me fucking batty. She had the phone up to her ear repeatedly calling Sadie, leaving her a message to call her back, and then she’d do it again.

Renzo and Lukas walked in the door, also not knocking. It seemed we all felt pretty at home here.

“What’s going on?” Renzo asked.

“Don’t know. Waiting for Maggie to get here.” I replied.

Both Renzo and Lukas sat on the couch. Renzo’s eyes were focused on Lauryn. He watched her pace back and forth never once breaking contact. Lauryn was in her calling Sadie world and didn’t even notice.

The door opened and Maggie walked through.

Lauryn rushed to her. “Mom what is going on?”

Maggie shut the door, and I got up to join in them.

“Sweetheart, I really don’t know, but it’s not a good thing that she went home.”

“It’s because of that guy, isn’t it?”

Maggie let out a deep breath. “Sarah doesn’t know for sure what’s going on. Sadie was with a guy, Rob, for a very long time, and he’s bad news. Sadie was sent down here to get away from him.”

“Sent … down here?” I asked.

“Yes. She agreed, but she didn’t want to leave. I don’t know what sparked her to go flying home. I need to call Sarah.”

“Is she gonna be okay, Mom?” Lauryn asked quietly. I watched as Renzo walked up to Lauryn and wrapped his arms around her. Lauryn began sobbing.

“So it’s been a few hours. She couldn’t have gotten that far, but we’ll never catch up to her. You need to call her mom and let her know she’s coming.”

Maggie nodded and began plugging away on her phone. “Sarah?”

“Sadie is on her way there … No. I don’t know why she took off.”

“I do,” I interrupted.

“What?” was said in unison, all eyes pointing at me.

“I did something today, and I’m not sure what, but she was pissed when I left her here.”

“So you think she left because of you?” Lauryn asked.

“What other reason could there be, especially if that asshole is there.”

Maggie returned to the phone, relaying my words, “She left at least five hours ago.”

“I don’t know.” Maggie turned to me. “All right. Let me know when she gets there.”

Maggie hung up the phone and turned to us. “She’ll call when she gets there.”

“So what do we do? Just wait?” I asked, not feeling at all patient.

Maggie’s arm wrapped around me. “Yes. We wait.”

Pain. My head, arm, shoulder … everywhere, there was pain.

“Uhh,” I grunted, barely audible.

“Oh, hey honey, come home to visit me?” Rob’s voice cut through me.

My eyes could barely open, but I could see Rob standing over me in his uniform, smiling down at me. I felt as though I was laying on leaves or dirt, but I had no idea where I was.

Blow after blow. I could feel every single one. His kicks to my ribs and head were becoming more forceful. “You stupid bitch, thinking you could keep away from me.”
Kick
.

I knew I needed to stay awake. If I didn’t, it would all be over. Maybe this was what I needed, for it to all be over.

My eyes began to cross.

Bam
. To my head.

Kick
. To my ribs.

My arms were so weak I couldn’t wrap them around myself. I tried my best to curl into a ball, but then he began kicking my back.

“You fucking whore!”

Kick
.
Kick
.
Kick
.

The pain was unbearable, but as it continued, I started to feel numb, and I knew that was bad. But I couldn’t fight back, I couldn’t move. There was nothing there.

I kept taking blow after blow. A lone tear fell from my eye. I knew this was the end—the end of Sadie McKenny. I didn’t want to die like this. But I didn’t want to live like this either.

Sadness encroached me. I would never see Seth again. I would never tell him or Mom bye. I would never tell Macy how much she meant to me.

I would never tell Landon I was sorry for the way I acted. I would never tell him how I felt about him or how much I cared about him.

This was it.

Rob suddenly stopped his assault and leaned down to my ear, “I need to fuck you so you know who you belong to bitch.”

No … no! If I had to go like this, I did not want him to do this, but I couldn’t move.

He rolled me over to my back, but I kept my knees against my chest where they were. “Come on, honey, you know you want this.”

“No,” was all I could croak out.

Rob pried my legs away from my body and placed his knees on them to hold them down. The tears continued to flow down my face.

“Oh, look the bitch is crying … boo-hoo …”

Rob began to unbutton my shorts and pull them down. He only got so far since he was pinning my legs down.

I turned my head and opened my mouth slowly. I tasted the tang of iron in my mouth. I knew I was bloody. I couldn’t stop the tears. I couldn’t find my words. I was just there. I couldn’t escape like before. I. Was. Just. There.

“Fuck!” Rob yelled.

My head slowly turned to the bright headlights coming our way. We must be close to the road. Hope washed through my body.

I felt Rob remove himself from on top of me, but his foot made hard contact with my stomach. I could feel my body jump from the ground, but then I heard the best sound—his footsteps retreating. His boots were crushing the ground, but running farther away.

I looked around at my surroundings, willing something in my body to work. But nothing would. I couldn’t roll on my side. My arms didn’t want to go anywhere. My legs were like sticks.

I knew if I didn’t do something, I wouldn’t be found.

“He-lp …” My voice was soft and croaky, but I tried again. “He-lp …”

Nothing.

“He-lp …” My tears kept falling, and hope was slowly fading away when no one answered me.

There were no more lights or sounds. I didn’t know where Rob was, but I prayed he wouldn’t come back, even though he was the only one who knew where I was.

“Sadie!” I heard a woman’s voice calling my name from far away.

“Help.”

“Sadie!” I heard again.

I willed my body to move, but nothing.

“Help,” I kept croaking out.

The voices, now I heard several, were calling out to me. “Sadie!”