CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
Donna barely gets 2 feet in the door before she gasps her hand flying to her chest. "What the fuck."
I step in behind her and she starts walking again, from the doorway I can see the decorative wall she had between the living room and the dining room has been completely destroyed. The little ornaments have been shoved out onto the floor in either direction, there's a pile of ceramic on this side of the wall which was clearly the angel's she'd been collecting since she was born, the first few dozen had been gifts but she'd started buying her own when she hit teenage years.
The TV's been pushed off its stand and is lying on its back on the floor, the worst part of it is that the table it sat on has been broken and the legs are protruding from the screen of the TV. The sofa cushions have been ripped open and the stuffing is all over the room, the curtains pulled from the tracks and piled in the middle of the room and it looks like almost every liquid in the house has been poured over them, I can smell the bleach, dish washing liquid, milk and oil from my position in the doorway.
Stepping further into the room I see that the family portrait on the wall has had black lines spray painted over it and I silently hope all it needs is re-framing.
Stepping into the dining area we're faced with a dining table that's been turned upside down, the legs have been twisted off and are sitting in a pile in the middle, it looks like it may just need to be reassembled. The play area in the room has been demolished, the half-wall that Donna had had built has been knocked over, there's plaster dust over everything, the toys have all vanished but the smell of melting plastic gives me an idea of where they are. The marker pens that were in the play area have been used to decorate the walls, there's random scribbles and drawings all over the place. I see my name a few times and Jax's, there's other written words but they're so messy it's hard to read them.
We turn and look into the kitchen, neither of us are game enough to walk in there, the cupboards have all been ripped open, some of the doors are hanging off their hinges. It looks like every single piece of kitchenware has been dropped from a height. There are no plates, bowls, glasses or cups left in the cupboard. The pots and pans are all either on the stove full of plastic toys or in the oven. The oven door is open, there's thick black grime over the whole thing. The fridge has been moved across the room, its plug ripped from the wall, the food that was in both the fridge and the freezer has been piled on the bench, the bags have been slashed open and any jars have their lids discarded. From where we are standing it smells like there's been a liberal use of bleach in here as well.
Through the kitchen we can see into the laundry where it's clear the washing machine has been loaded full of pot plants and turned on. There is muddy water over the floor. The dryer's door is gaping open but there's a pile of dog biscuits falling from it onto the floor.
Donna's face is blank while Opie looks angrier with each room his wife sees. It's obvious he'd already seen the carnage, but seeing it again through Donna's fresh eyes is making it hard for him to regain his composure. Mid-way down the hall he stops and violently punches the wall, a fist shaped hole being left behind. Donna starts to complain but then she notices the holes that are all the way down the hall.
I'm following them as they see the destruction my life has brought to their house, I'm surprised when we bypass all the bedrooms and they head to the bathroom, but I guess that Donna thought it might not be so bad. It's clear as she opens the door that it's had just as much attention as the rest of the house. The toilet bowl has been pulled off the floor, there's a massive puddle of water where it was and I'm guessing that Happy's visit to the curb earlier was to turn off the water. The bathtub has been filled with everything that was in the room, there's a thick layer of shampoo, conditioner, liquid soap, toilet cleaner and god only knows what else in the bottom, there's piles of cosmetics from the cupboard dumped on top of that, the draws they were in thrown in the tub for good measure. The shower door is broken and only hangs by one hinge.
Donna steps out of the room and crosses the hallway, opening the spare room door she moves to the side to let me see.
It seems the entire room has been turned upside down. Everything that I had has been shredded. The clothes that were in the suitcase have been shredded and left in a huge pile on the bed. The bedding has been ripped off and piled in the corner. Almost every single inch of wall space has my name, Craig's name or a heart on it with 'forever love' written in them. The dressing table has been tipped forwards, it's resting on the chair from the corner, the draws hanging out towards the floor and I can see he's even written in them. The bed has huge slashes in it but I absently notice that my pillow is missing. Doj's bed is the only thing in the whole room that seems like it hasn't been touched, as I step into the room I realise it hasn't been touched because it's saturated with urine. I feel nauseous but I know this is not going to be the worst room for Donna.
I shake my head, "I'll find what I can salvage in a minute."
Tig rests a hand on my shoulder, "I'll do it."
Leaning my head against his hand for a second I take a couple of breaths. "Thanks Tiggie."
We step down the hallway and into the master bedroom. The hope that Craig hadn't touched this room vanishes the second I see the pile of clothes on floor. It looks like he's only shredded a few things and looking at the pile it only takes a second for me to twig what. "D, those are only the things you've worn round me."
Donna's head snaps in my direction like she'd forgotten I was there. Looking back towards the pile she picks up the item on the top, holding it in front of her I can see it's the silver top she wore at the clubhouse. She turns back to me and I can see the fear shining in her eyes, "But that means he's been watching the whole time."
I expect her to be furious with me and when she rushes over I brace myself for her to punch me, scream at me, push me out of her house but I'm stunned when she pulls me into her arms and starts crying, "What's he going to do if he gets to you Sarah?"
I pull back and look her in the eyes, "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."
She sniffs a few times and seems to regain control of herself. Besides the small pile of material on the floor their room seems to be intact. We turn to go out and see there's writing on the wall. Stepping backwards so we can read it I feel a tear slide down my face when I realise what it says 'You can't keep her safe. She's mine, the sooner you give her to me the better, for all of you.' Underneath the sentence he's tacked a few photos and I recognise the images as having been taken over the past few days.
Jax comes over to me; obviously realising I'm about to completely loose whatever shred of control I have left. He leans down and rests his head on my shoulder, "He will be dealt with. Trust me." The look in his eyes almost completely evaporates the angry feelings I had, he looks so worried that his hair may possibly turn grey between one second and the next. His eyes are tight around the edges and his mouth is turned down at the corners.
I turn my head and look at him; his face is only inches from mine, "I do trust you Jax."
"Good." He nods, standing up straight.
"Donna, pack, now." Opie says.
"In a second Ope, I need to see the kid's room first." Donna argues stepping round her husband like he's a matchstick and I stifle a giggle.
She goes to the twin's room and throws the door open. Not even a second passes when her legs give out and she ends up in a pile on the floor. I run over and peer through the door, "Thank god."
Not a thing in the room has been touched; everything is exactly where Donna left it a few days before when she packed for their stay at Grandma's.
Donna gets to her feet a minute later and steps through the door, running a finger over the edge of the dressing table. "I wonder why he left this room alone?" she murmurs.
"I don't know D, but Ope's about to have a heart attack. He wants us out of here in 5 minutes." I say, tugging her towards the door.
I re-entered my room to find Tig there shoving handfuls of my underwear into my emptied suitcase, "Do I get proper clothes to?" I ask teasingly from the doorway.
He grins over his shoulder, "Why would you want them when you have this?" Hanging from the end of his finger is the tiny purple lace G-string and bra set that I'd brought at Victoria's Secret.
"Gee, cause I'd like to go out in public." I say, snatching it from his hand. "I'll finish here now thanks Tig."
He shakes his head, "Gotta stay with you for protection."
"Yes Tig. Protection, not perversion." Jax snaps from the door, it's obvious from his stance that he saw Tig touching my underwear and the green eyed monster on his shoulder didn't like it. I turn towards the wardrobe and feel a grin split my face, knowing that he's jealous helps a little with the simmering anger, but not enough for me completely let it go.
I find a rubbish bag in the corner and after turning it inside out I put all my shoes in it, tying it closed I open the wardrobe and find the bags of clothes I've just brought are still completely untouched, along with the other 2 boxes of my clothes and pull them out.
"Car please?" I ask handing one to Jax and one to Tig. "I'll be right behind with the suitcase." They walk to the door and I grab my suitcase in one hand and the bag of shoes in the other.
One more trip has everything of mine in the car, half the boot is filled and Opie, Happy and Donna have just brought out the first lot of their bags.
A little over 5 minutes later we're back in the Caddy. The boot has been jammed full of as many clothes as we could fit in bags in that time, everything in the house of huge sentimental value that wasn't destroyed has been pushed into the back seat as well, along with the rest of the kids clothes.