Hello Everyone! OK so the last chapter you guys finally got hear from the kidnapper and what her intentions are and why she did what she did and I have to say lol, you guys are hilarious lol. Some of you got it and some of you are close but need a little bit of a push in the right direction. I loved reading all your reviews and guesses on who it could be lol, especially zeejack lmao. Thank you all so much for the positive response. I was a little apprehensive about it because I didn't know if you guys would be down for something like that but you liked it so thank you very much :) I also want to thank everyone that continues to read this story and those that favored it and follow it, new and old, thank you. Also, I'm sorry this took so long, RL is serious and I just entered my senior year of college so you know how that goes lol.
This chapter is more of a filler chapter and it basically sets the pace for the rest of the story.
I want to thank my lovely beta Reesie for being amazing and for being the best beta and the best friend on the world - Love you much girl, thank you for putting up with my madness lol.
Ok I'm done rambling,
On to chapter 9
Mercedes lay in her bed with her feet propped on a few pillows as she watched the ratchedness that is The Maury Show. Mercedes wouldn't be caught dead watching a show like that, she didn't even know they showed it in Ohio, but there she was, lying in bed watching another woman accuse another man of being the father. She rested her hand on her 9 month pregnant belly while she shook her head at the mess of it all. So Shantelica was accusing Ray Ray of being the father of her baby Appleonia. Ray Ray says she's a hoe and that she slept with everyone in their town, Shantelica says that Ray Ray was her first and that they were in love. Surprise! Surprise! Ray Ray isn't the father! Mercedes rolled her eyes as she flipped the channel.
Sam walked into his bedroom as his wife continued to absentmindedly flip through the channels. He didn't say anything as he took in her form, a small, loopy smile gracing his beautiful face. In the last months of Mercedes pregnancy, he had caught himself staring at her for no reason. Mercedes was simply glowing. She was wearing a pale pink maternity dress that complimented her chocolate skin and her hair was bone straight with a part in the middle. Without saying a word, Sam removed his jacket and shoes and climbed into bed with his wife. He draped an arm over her large belly and placed his head on her chest, the sound of her rhythmic heartbeat was like music to his ears. Mercedes got tired of flipping through channel after channel, eventually turning off the TV and placing the remote on her nightstand in a huff.
"TV shows suck now." Mercedes said with a pout which made Sam laugh.
"Yeah, they do. There used to be that good show Glee but then that shit went to hell once Amber Riley left. I mean, it just nosedived, especially after they broke up the relationship she had on the show with Chord Overstreet."
"Yeah the show was never the same after that. But I guess it all worked out. They got married and now they have their own show on bravo with her friend Chris Colfer. I forgot the name but I know the tag line is 'We make Culture.'
"Yeah… it's actually a pretty awesome show." Sam agreed. "I made something for you." Sam got up from the bed and walked over to his computer desk. He came back to the bed, IPOD and Beats Headphones in his hands.
"I made you a playlist baby." Mercedes smiled wide at her adoring husband. It was the littlest things that Mercedes loved most about Sam. When he would randomly just pick up flowers for her or just call her during the day to see how she was doing or when without even telling him that she had a bad day, he would come home and run her a bath or give her a foot massage. He stretched the headphones as much as they could and placed them on her belly. Mercedes took the IPOD from Sam to look at the song selection. Her giant smile was quickly replaced by a frown.
"Sam…what kind of playlist is this?" She asked him.
"What? It's a good playlist. I made it for you myself." He replied.
"Sam… this isn't a playlist for a baby." Mercedes shook her head.
"Yes it is!" He countered
"Sammy… Star Trek: The Final Frontier? The Star wars theme? Jurassic Park? Baby… this is a playlist for you." Mercedes paused and then her eyes grew as wide as saucers before she threw her head back, and let out a laugh so loud, she snorted.
"Full house? Sam! I… can't…believe…you… put the theme…to…full…house…" Mercedes said in between laughs. The look on Sam's face made the situation even more hilarious.
"Mercy…it's not funny… I worked really hard to put this playlist together…" Sam said with a pout. "Besides, the song has sentimental value. Remember that was the only thing we could watch when we first moved in? Remember how we couldn't get any other channel and that's all they played?"
"Aww baby, come here." Mercedes stretched her arms out to Sam, but all he did was cross his arms across his chest in defeat. "Sammy… baby I'm sorry. Of course I remember. It was either Full House or I Love Genie or the Munsters. Come here baby, I'm sorry. "Sam walked over to his side of the bed, into the arms of his wife. They were quiet for a moment, just enjoying each other's company.
"Whatever happened to predictability?"
"Shut up, Mercy."
"The milk man, the paper boy, evening T.V"
"Stop singing the song, Mercy."
"You miss your old familiar friends, but waiting just around the bend."
"I'm warning you, Mercedes Patrice."
"Everywhere you look!"
"Mercedes!" Sam jumped up and began to attack his wife with his pillow. She tried to block it out but with her huge, pregnant belly, she could barely move. She put her arms up in defense and she giggled loudly.
"Oh!" Mercedes yelled as she grabbed the sides of her stomach. Sam immediately stopped the assault and looked at his wife with a frighten glare.
"I'm sorry! Did I hurt you? Are you going into labor? Do you want me to call the doctor? Your mother? Kurt? Oh my god Mercedes! Talk to me!" Sam remarked in a frantic tone.
"Wait…just give me a second…"Before she knew it, a loud burp escaped her mouth. Mercedes covered her mouth to stop the giggles. "It must have been those burritos I had with Tina earlier."
Sam shook his head and laughed at his wife. Leave it to her to nearly give him a heart attack. He laid down back down and rubbed her stomach.
"How are you today? Has she been a handful?"
"Well, she seems to like sitting on my bladder all day. Do you know I've made 5 trips to the bathroom in the span of 10 minutes? That isn't normal Sam."
"Aww baby, don't worry. We got just one more week, and then she'll be here with us, not letting us sleep." He paused and then said. "I can't wait to hold her." Sam had a faraway look in his eye and a small smile graced his face. He couldn't believe he was going to be a father. It was all happening so fast! It seemed like just yesterday they were getting married and now they are starting a new phase in their lives.
"This is nice." Mercedes remarked as she ran her hands through his short blond hair.
"Yes… it is…"
"We might as well enjoy the silence now because once this one comes home, there is no sleeping and if she is anything like you, we are definitely not getting any sleep." Mercedes laughed as Sam turned around with a frown.
"What do you mean anything like me?" He asked.
"Babe… if she has your energy and your love of all things dorky, then I can expect to be woken up in the middle of the night to watch midnight screenings of The Twilight Zone."
"Mercy… are you always going to hold that against me? I said I was sorry! I couldn't sleep!
"Yeah, Yeah, Mr. Evans, whatever you say."
Mercedes and Sam hadn't stepped into a police station since they had reported Annabelle's disappearance. The Lima police department had assured them that they would try their hardest to find Annabelle, but the search had been a dub. They had questioned everyone the couple knew, people they didn't know and everyone in between but no one ever gave any credible information. Every sound in the police station seemed to be amplified. The sound of Mercedes heels clicking on the tile floor, the incessant ringing of the telephones, the sound of the bars of the jail doors slamming shut, everything was front and center.
In all the years that Detective Martinez had been on the force, he had never had to deal with a case like this. Sure he's arrested people for drugs and robberies and all sorts of other crimes but the abduction of a child? Never.
Detective Martinez led them to a private room, where they could talk in amongst themselves. The couple took a seat at the table next to each other while the detective sat across from them.
"Mr. and Mrs. Evans," He began, "I brought you here today because there is a possibility that we might have a lead in your daughter's abduction."
Mercedes and Sam looked at each other and then looked back at the detective. "What do you have?" Sam asked.
"Well, we have reason to believe that the person, who took your daughter, might have moved back to Lima."
"How do you know that?"
"We received an anonymous tip this morning from someone saying they know who the person is and that they might have moved back into town. They also told us that Mercedes should be very careful now that she is pregnant again. "
"What? Do you think whoever did this is going to harm our new baby?" Mercedes asked.
"At this point Ma'am, we have to take as much precaution as possible. Obviously this person knows you still live in Lima and that you are now carrying another child. It's best if we don't take any chances." He replied.
"So you're telling me, that there is a possibility Annabelle might be in Lima?" Sam asked.
"It is a very strong possibility, Mr. Evans."
The couple was silent as they let the news sink in. this was good and bad news. Good because they finally had something to go on. Bad because they knew that they still weren't out of the woods. Annabelle still hadn't been found and until she was, they couldn't let their guard down.
"Mr. and Mrs. Evans, we have spoken to every single person we can think of. The only people that we haven't questioned are your close friends. Do you think that maybe they had anything to do with this?"
Mercedes face hardened as she looked at the detective. Was he serious? Their friends? Taking their baby? No.
"No detective, our friends wouldn't do this. We see them all the time; we speak to them all the time. Why would they do this?"
"Well, its public knowledge that your friends Santana Lopez along with her girlfriend Brittany S. Pierce, Kurt Hummel and his fiancée, Blaine Anderson, have been fighting with the state of Ohio to give them the legal right to adopt children as same sex couples. Could it be a possibility that maybe, they have ill feelings toward you and your family and maybe they have taken Annabelle?"
Mercedes rose from her seat in anger, "Are you insane? You are accusing our best friends of taking Annabelle? These are people who I consider my family. Kurt and I have known each other since Pre K. Yes, they have been fighting the state, but that has NOTHING to do with Annabelle. They loved her just as much as we do. They were just as hurt as we are. You don't know them, you don't know anything! Instead of questioning us, why do you go out and find my daughter?"
"Mrs. Evans please calm down! It was just a question! We can't be too sure about certain things; we have to look into everything." Detective Martinez begged.
Mercedes was livid! How dare this bastard accuse her friends of taking her daughter? Who the hell was he? Where did he get the nerve to actually say that? Mercedes stormed out of the private room with Sam on her heels. She practically ran from the police station to the car parked outside. She jumped in the car and slammed the door. The nerve of that man! How dare he? Mercedes beat the steering wheel in frustration; she was imagining that her steering wheel was the stupid detective. Mercedes nearly drove away when she realized that she was alone in the car, just then the door swung open and Sam climbed in.
The couple was silent as Mercedes drove them home. Sam was just as mad as her but she reacted before he could. Just like Mercedes, he considered his friends family. They are always there for him, back in high school when his parents lost their jobs and they were homeless for a while, Sam had to sell most of his possessions. His beloved guitar that he grandfather had given to him, a priceless heirloom, went to some random pawn shop for a measly one hundred dollars. When the glee club found out, they all chipped in and bought it back for him. He had to grow up at an early age, he didn't get to do most of the things that regular teenagers got to do. While they party their lives away every weekend, he was delivering pizza's just to be able to make enough money to buy groceries for that week. Glee club had been a godsend to him; Mercedes had been a godsend to him. She had stopped by every day and helped out as much as she could. From babysitting to making the family dinner to carpooling, she helped with everything. He could go to them for everything. When he needed a large dose of reality, Kurt and Santana were right there, when he needed bro time, he had Mike, Blaine, Artie, Finn and Puck to count on. When he needed a female's perspective on things, Quinn, Tina, Brittany and Rachel were his go to girls.
They took the loss of Annabelle almost as hard as they did, they had all immediately falling in love with the little girl, each taking turns helping babysit her while Sam and Mercedes worked or went to school or needed to just get away. The idea that one of their friends would actually take Annabelle was absurd.
Finally arriving at their home, Sam got out of the car first and went around and helped Mercedes out. They walked towards their home but Sam paused at the door.
"Babe… do we tell them what the police said? About being cautious around our friends?" Sam asked.
"I think we should tell them, they have a right to know how the Lima PD is operating. I mean really? They had the nerve accusing my damn family and shit. I'm not standing for it. I am worried about Santana though, she might flip and kill someone, she's already on edge with this whole fighting the state thing, and this might send her over."
Before Sam could respond, the door swung open, revealing Santana with Beth on her hip.
"Wheezy! Guppy! I was wondering what happened. Come on in and fill us in."
They walked in the house and followed Santana towards the living room where their friends still sat. Sheila and Mary had appointed themselves in charge and decided to cut the party short, sending all the guest home with apologizes and cupcakes.
Mercedes made her way to an empty chair and sat down; Sam stood behind her and began to rub her shoulders.
"So, what happened?" Artie asked.
"Well… the police might have gotten a lead. There is a possibility that, the person who took Annabelle might have moved back to Lima, so Annabelle might actually be close." All the friends began to talk at once, each speaking over each other.
"Well this is good news, isn't it? I mean. You guys finally got something. But yet… you seem upset, Mercedes. What's wrong?" Tina asked.
Mercedes took deep breath, "Well… the detective insinuated that… Annabelle might have been taken…by one of you guys…"
"What? That is insane! Who do they think took her?" Rachel asked.
Sam swallowed the lump in his throat and then he said, "Well… they think Santana and Brittany along with Kurt and Blaine might have taken Annabelle."
"What?! They accused us?! Are those detectives crazy?" Kurt jumped up from his seat and began to pace around the living room. Blaine tried to calm him down but he was just as upset as Kurt.
"Kurt, baby, please calm down." Blaine begged.
"No Blaine! Those stupid fucking cops! How can they even fix their mouths to say we would do something like this? Don't they know anything? Don't they know how much we are ALL affected by this? I mean really? How can they be that stupid?"
"That's crazy guys. I can't believe they actually said that. I can't believe they actually think one of us would take Annabelle." Puck said.
Santana shook her head as she made her way over to Mercedes. She kneeled in front of her and took her hands in hers.
"Mercedes… you are my best friend. You are more than a best friend. You are my sister. You've been there for me whenever I needed you. You were the first person I came out to; you let me stay with you when my family kicked me out. I could turn to you for anything and I know you would never judge me. My entire life, I've never had someone care about me the way you do. I've never had someone look out for me the way you have. To take me under your wing the way you have. I've become a better person because of you and all of our friends.
Those cops… they're idiots for thinking something like that. Annabelle meant the world to me, the day she went missing; it felt like a giant piece of my heart was gone. I watched you deliver her. I hugged her minutes after she was born. I looked into her eyes and I saw this light, this presence. I saw you and I saw Sam. I want you to know that I would NEVER do something like that. Ever. Watching you two go through this is so painful and it kills me because there is nothing I can do to stop it. I wish I could make this go away for you. I wish I knew who the person was so I can hurt them for hurting the only people in the world who care about me so much. You two are the reason I'm fighting so hard. I want what you two have. I want to see that light; I want my child to look at me the same way Annabelle looked at you. I watched you after you gave birth. I saw how you looked at her, like she was this delicate doll you got for Christmas. I want that. I want that delicate doll. I am so sorry Mercedes. I am so unbelievably sorry this happened to you." Santana breaking down in front of everyone to everyone by surprised. She was always so strong willed and so hard edge that when she finally did show her softer side, no one is ever prepared for it.
A tear slid down Mercedes face and she looked at her friend. "Santana, I could never think that about you. Never in my wildest dreams would I ever think you would take Annabelle from us. EVER. And the same goes for Kurt, Blaine, Brittany and all you guys. You guys are my family and family sticks together." Mercedes bent down and wrapped her arms around her friend, assuring her that, no matter what, they will always be friends.
"Annabelle Marie! Get in here and eat your breakfast!" Mercedes yelled from the kitchen in her home, towards her daughter's playroom down the hall. When Mercedes and Sam purchased the house, they had discovered the empty room and didn't know what do with it. They had their bedroom and the extra room for their baby and of course the laundry room but what on earth were they going to do with an extra room? It was in fact Brittany who had come up with the idea to give Annabelle a playroom because, "No Princess should have to share her living quarters with peasants." Annabelle spent hours in that room, playing dress up and hosting tea parties with all her dolls and stuffed animals. She loved that room so much; they had no choice but to add a bed to it because she refused to sleep in her own room.
"Now Mercy, you know dang well you don't have to tell that child to eat anything." Sam said while walking into the kitchen with his work boots in hand. He set them on the floor and took a seat at the table.
"I know, but she's been in the room all morning and it's going to get cold." She paused and looked at her husband with a sad smile. She had hoped that they could spend the day together at home. Since she had the day off, she wanted to just stay in with her family and watch movies or something but since Finn was on his honeymoon, Sam had to fill in for him.
"Sammy…" she cooed as she sat in the chair next to him and ran her fingers through his hair. "Do you really have to go in today? Can't they get someone else to fill in for Finn? You aren't the only person working at Hummel's Tires and Lubes."
"I know baby, but you know Burt doesn't trust that many people with his shop, especially after he hurt his back. Besides, we need the money. It's only for a couple of hours ok? I promise I'll be home as soon as I can." They shared a sweet kiss that was quickly interrupted by their daughter as she nosily made her way into the kitchen, teddy bear in tow.
"Morning, Bellabear." Sam smiled fondly at his little girl. She still wore her onesie Minnie Mouse footed pajamas and her hair stuck out in every which way. Her bright green eyes were shining and her cheeks showed a bright hint of pink, signally that she had been having one heck of an adventure in her playroom.
"Mownin Daddy." She said with her mouth full of waffles.
"What do my girls have planned for today?"
"Well, nothing really. We might head out later; maybe do some shopping or something? By the way, when you get home, we need to talk about the p-u-p-p-y."
"Mercedes…" Sam gave her an alarmed look as his eyes darted to his daughter who was trying to feed her teddy bear some of her waffle.
"Sam…she's three, she has no idea what we're talking about." Mercedes shook her head at him as she drank her coffee.
After finishing breakfast, Sam kissed his girls goodbye and went off to work, leaving Mercedes and Annabelle to their own adventures. After doing the laundry and cleaning up the house, Mercedes decided to go into town and run some errands. Buckling Annabelle into her car seat, the two girls set off for their journey; happily singing along to nursery rhymes in the car.
"Mama! I'm Hungwy!" Annabelle exclaimed from the backseat. That child was a bottomless pit. For a three year old, she could out eat anyone; even Puck.
"You are? Well alright, let's stop somewhere and get you some ice cream or something ok?" She asked her daughter.
"Ok Mama." Mercedes drove around looking for a place to eat, but couldn't find anything but a gas station with a Dunkin Donuts attached to it. "Well I guess this will do for now, at least we can get food and I can add some gas to this car." Pulling into the parking lot, Mercedes parked as close to the entrance as she could. Walking hand in hand with her daughter to the Dunkin Donuts, they continued to sing nursery rhymes together, getting fond looks from the other customers.
Mercedes walked up to the counter and smiled at the server. "Hello, can I please have six dozen glazed donuts and six dozen strawberry frosted donuts for the little one here." Mercedes ran her hand through her daughter's curls as the cashier rang her up.
"Mama looks! Ice cuwem! Mama let's get ice cuwem!" Annabelle let go of her mother's hand and ran to the fridges where the ice creams and the ice cream cakes were. She pressed her face against the cold door, making her nose itch, eliciting a giggle from her.
"Bellabear, I'm already getting you donuts besides we have ice cream at home."
"But mama… I want ice cuwem now!" Annabelle whined.
"Annabelle Marie I said no."
Mercedes turned back to the cashier and apologized. "How much are the donuts?"
"They are 3.99 plus tax ma'am. Would you like anything else? For an extra dollar you can get a small caramel latte."
"No, I think I'm ok." as the cashier rung her up, Mercedes dug into her bag and handed her the credit card. It took Mercedes less than a second to discover her daughter wasn't by her side.
"Annabelle? Baby? Annabelle come on! Mama doesn't have time to play hide and seek!" Mercedes walked around the Dunkin Donuts but didn't see her daughter anywhere. A feeling a dread came over and she continued to walk around the establishment.
"Annabelle Marie Evans! This is NOT funny! Come out right now!" Mercedes ran outside to her car but she wasn't there either.
"Annabelle!" She continued to scream her name but all she got was silence in return. She ran back into the Dunkin Donuts, frantically asking everyone if they had seen her daughter but everyone said no. Mercedes felt the room spin as vile began to gather in her throat. The faces became hazy as her knees got weak. This couldn't be happening! No! No her child! This wasn't happening. This had to be a dream. Mercedes pulled out her cellphone and called her husband.
"Sam! Sam baby! She's gone! Annabelle is gone!
The next day
Mercedes walked down the small, narrow halls of Miss Holliday's day care center. She began to reminisce about the first day she took Annabelle there. She had been so anxious about it, she wasn't used to leaving her daughter with strangers but bills are bills and they needed to be paid. She talked it over with her husband for nearly a month before they decided that Annabelle needed to be in a place with other children, it was all in the process of growing up.
On her first day, Sam had opted to stay in the car, something about not being ready to see his little baby off in the world, but all it earned him was a side eyed from his wife. As Mercedes walked hand in hand with her daughter to the establishment, it felt more and more like she was walking in cement. Was she really ready for this? Leaving her with someone she doesn't know. Mercedes didn't believe in outside babysitters, she always left her daughter with either her mother or mother in law or her friends, she just didn't trust strangers.
Finally stopping in front of the classroom door, Mercedes began to straighten out her daughters clothes, choking back tears as she realized that first the first time in three years, she wasn't spending her day with Annabelle.
"Alright baby girl, this is it. Now don't be scared ok. If you have any problems, just tell Ms. Holliday and she'll call me and I'll take you home." Mercedes leaned down and kissed her daughter's forehead, her natural scent, along with the lavender lotion and body wash that Rachel got her, invaded Mercedes nostril.
Annabelle placed her chubby, little hands on her mom's face and kissed her nose like Mercedes always did to her.
"Mama… don't be sad. I'll be ok. I'm a big guwl now. I gotas go with big kids and leawn. I love you mama." Mercedes grabbed her hand and held tight to it, almost as if, if she lets go, Annabelle would float away forever.
Mercedes hadn't even noticed she was crying until she saw the tears stain her blouse. "Get a grip, Mercedes," She chastised herself. For a moment, Mercedes completely forgot why she was even in the school when she heard Tina calling her name. Tina had asked Mercedes to meet her at the day care so they can pick up Tina's sons together and then head to lunch to have a girl's day. Tina knew that she needed a major break after the emotional shit storm that was Annabelle's birthday. Tina's heart broke for her best friends and she cried all the way home, when she finally got in, she hugged her children for nearly 5 minutes.
"Mercy, I was wondering where you were." Tina said.
"Oh, I was just walking the halls. You know, reminiscing. It's been so long since I've been here. Is Ms. Holliday in? I want to say hello and thank her for Annabelle's birthday gift." Mercedes asked.
"No, Holly is out because of some family emergency, so until further notice, they got a sub. Here she comes right now." Mercedes looked up to see a young blond woman walking in their direction.
"Hello, I am Natalia Young; I am subbing for Ms. Holliday until she comes back." Mercedes looked at the woman up and down, taking in the fact that although she had a young body, her face was anything but. She also took note, that Natalia looked very familiar. Mercedes never forgot a face; it was an ability she was very proud of.
"Hello Natalia, I am Mercedes Evans." She greeted her as she shook her hand.
Natalia's eyes grew wide. "Oh my god, you're Mercedes Evans! Oh my god I heard about your daughter! I am so sorry. I am a mother myself and I would kill if someone did to me what they did to you."
Mercedes gave this strange woman the once over, that nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach. She had seen her somewhere; she couldn't stop the feeling that she had seen Natalia somewhere. Sensing the tension, Tina decided to just cut the conversation short and head on out. Bidding a fair well to Natalia, Tina instructed her son's to hold hands as she dragged her friend out of the day care center.
After dropping off the kids with Mike at the playground, Mercedes and Tina headed off to have lunch at Breadstix. After placing their orders, they sat around in awkward silence.
"So…" Tina began. "How have you been?"
Mercedes took a deep breath and then said, "Stressed, tired, exhausted all of the above. I thought with this pregnancy I would have a sense of peace you know? It might calm me down a little but all it's done is make it worse and now with this news that Annabelle might be close and now I have to look out for my unborn baby… it's like I can't catch a break. I want my life back! I want to be able to sleep at night. I want to wake up in the morning and not be in the second circle of hell. I feel my life falling apart again. I feel like the little bit of rope that's holding on to me is about to snap." Mercedes ran a hand through her hair in frustration.
Tina nodded her head in understanding, "When was the last you went to church?" She asked.
Mercedes thought about that question. She hadn't been to mass in a while and a part of her knew that she should but she just couldn't bring herself to step foot in a church.
"It's been a while… after we lost Annabelle, for a long time, I felt myself angry with God. I found myself questioning my faith and my beliefs. How could God let this happen? Why would God let this happen? Sam and I are good people. We pay our taxes on time and we don't eat pork or anything like that and yet… here we are, Annabelle is gone and now I have to worry about the safety of my unborn baby because some psycho has some sort of vendetta against us." Mercedes took a deep breath and then said, "But then I realized… it isn't God's fault. God didn't do this, someone with an unhinged mind did. I can't be angry with God because he gave me Annabelle and he brought me to Sam and he brought me to you. I could never be upset with him because he gave me all of these beautiful things I cherish. I just wish I knew what to do, I wish he would just give me a sign. Something, anything, really." Just then, Mercedes gasped loudly and nearly knocked her soda over. It was her! The little girl from the supermarket! She was standing outside of restaurant and she was looking right at her! Mercedes jumped up from her seat and ran outside, Tina yelling behind her.
Reaching the outside of the restaurant, she faced the little girl with wide eyes.
"It's you! You're the little girl from the supermarket! What happened to you? I turned my back for a second and you were gone."
The little girl shrugged her shoulders in a nonchalant manner. "I got scared, so I left."
"Who are you? Why do you keep following me? What do you want?" Mercedes asked in a desperate tone. Before the little girl could answer, the door to the restaurant opened and Tina came outside.
"Mercedes! What is going on?"
"Tina! The little girl!" Mercedes turned around and saw that the little girl was gone.
"What little girl? Mercedes? What little girl?"
Mercedes shook her head, "No, No, No! She was right here! I spoke to her! She was right here!" Mercedes turned around and grabbed Tina and shook her.
"What little girl? Mercedes, you're scaring me."
"The little girl from the supermarket, I just saw her! She was standing right here! And just like at the supermarket, when I turned around, she was gone." Mercedes exclaimed
Tina furrowed her eyebrows in worry, "What little from the supermarket? You never told me about that."
"My mother and I went to the supermarket yesterday and I saw this little that looked just like Annabelle. She looked just like her, Tina! I swear! And she was right here! I spoke to her Tina, she's real."
Tina was silent and then said, "Mercedes, why don't we cut this day short and go on home? I have to get dinner starter for Mike and the boys." Tina grabbed Mercedes hand and escorted her back to into the restaurant to gather their things.
After being dropped off, Mercedes walked into her empty home and straight to her bedroom. Exhausted wasn't even the word to describe how she was feeling. She needed to get out she needed to be as far away from Lima as possible. Everything reminded Mercedes of Annabelle, there was nowhere in town that didn't remind her of her precious daughter. And then there is the little girl. Who is she? What does she want? Why does she keep popping up everywhere?
Mercedes heard the front door slam along with her name being called, indicating that Sam was home from work. His heavy footsteps could be heard all over the house. Mercedes climbed into bed and wrapped the bed sheets around her; she hadn't even taken off her shoes.
"Baby? Where are you?" He called out. He walked up the stair and to their bedroom to find her covered head to toe on their bed. He wordlessly walked over to his side of the bed and climbed in with her. Her eyes are closed and her breathing is steady but he knows she isn't asleep, Mercedes hated covering herself entirely, she always said she felt like she was suffocating.
"Cede? I know you're awake." He said while bopping her on the nose, which caused her to giggle. She opened her eyes and looked at her husband. She leaned over and gave him a small kiss on the lips, brushing her nose with his.
"Hi, Sammy," She smiled.
"Hi, Mercy," He smiled back.
They stayed in silence for a while until Sam reached over and pulled the sheets back. He pulled her close and placed his hand on the small of her back.
"What's going on?" Sam asked as she laid her head on his chest and wrapped her arms around him. It felt nice to hold her, even though her protruding pregnant belly made it somewhat awkward to put his arms around her.
"I saw her again." She said in a whispery tone.
"Saw who?"
"The little girl, I was at lunch with Tina and…I saw her Sam. I don't know who she is or what she wants but she keeps haunting me. I think I'm losing my mind. I don't know what to do." Mercedes closed her eyes as Sam ran his hands through her silky hair. What could he say? He had heard of things like this but he never thought they would happen to his wife or anyone he knew.
"Do you want to talk to Dr. Ferguson about it? Maybe she can help?" He asked her.
Mercedes silently nodded her head as she closed her eyes and snuggled with her husband. For the first time in a while, she felt at peace and calm, she knew eventually that good feeling would go away, but right at that moment, she couldn't help but cherish it. Mercedes looked up at her husband to say something only to find him fast asleep. She smiled softly at the serene look on his face. She knew he must have been exhausted and tired from working at the tire shop all day not to mention dealing with the stress of their everyday lives.
She leaned and ran a hand through his short hair and kissed his lips softly. Snuggling back with him, she closed her own eyes and relaxed, letting sleep over take her body.
So...YAY or NAY? did you like it? hate it? A lot of people have questions about the little girl and what she means and if that's really Annabelle or if its Mercedes mind that's messing with her. All of that will be answered in the next chapter.
Also, I debated about whether I should end it here or add something else but I figured I'd give you guys a simple ending instead of a cliffhanger lol.
So, let me know what you guys thought by leaving me a review.
Much love,
Tay :)
