I was flying and didn't find it the least bit abnormal. My eyes were closed as I floated backwards slowly without a care in the world. My fingers trailed through the light, watery clouds. There was not a sound to be heard, only peaceful silence. Opening my eyes leisurely, I saw vivid pinks and oranges rippling throughout the surrounding sky. I felt like I needed to worry about something, but couldn't put my finger on it. It was nice to be so relaxed and carefree. Was there a time when I wasn't this untroubled? I took in a deep soothing breath and brought my hands up to rest at the back of my head. This place is nice, I think I'll stay here, I decide.
I didn't know how much time passed until I noticed it. A sticky, wetness was seeping onto my fingers from behind my head. I frowned and brought my hands around in front of my face.
Blood.
Frantically, I wiped at the back of my head again and came away with even more blood. It was gushing out at a frightening pace. Kicking my legs, I began to panic and cry, trying to press down on my head to stop the flow of blood. It wasn't long before it was oozing down my neck and my torso, staining my clothes with a grim, dark red.
No. No. No.
I'm going to die, I thought to myself just before gravity decided to collapse on top of me like a ten ton weight. I plummeted downward through the sky at an alarming speed, madly clutching at the fading clouds. I couldn't breathe. I was bleeding to death. I was going to smash into the ground and break every bone in my body.
I tried to scream for help, but no one would have heard me from this high. All I could do was fall. The colour seeped out of the sky into a dark grey. From every angle, darkness was pushing in, like 4 walls trying to trap me. Catching a glimpse at the ground nearing, I screamed so loud that it tore my throat. Seconds from death, the dark walls caught me and my eyes shot open, awake.
For second, I was calm.
Just a dream.
An absolutely terrifying dream, sure, but only a dream. I should get out of bed and call to see how Isaac is.
I twisted around to the left in the pitch black, but my knees abruptly hit metal. Wait, was I sleeping with my knees up? Wait… Trying to stretch my legs out fully, I hit the same clink of metal against the bottom of my shoes. Shoes. What? Wait. Metal.
No.
No.
No.
It must be a dream.
Just a dream, Emily.
My hands were by my sides. I slowly brought them up to my face and stretched them out either side of me. As soon as my palms met the cold surface only a foot away either side, it got incredibly hard to breathe. I bit my lip and moved my hands up the sides of the walls and over the top of my prison, as if I was trying to push out away from my face. I could feel small indents under my fingers, as if the metal had been scratched away at hastily. Shit. Shit. Shit.
Like a trigger being pressed, the memory of Mr Lahey's voice in the graveyard replayed in my mind. His fingers digging into my shoulder. Something hard knocking me out.
Oh my god.
Please.
This isn't happening.
Panic was bubbling in my chest. Breathe. My lip wobbled and tears stung in the backs of my eyes. Oh god. Try and stay calm. You're okay.
No. I'm not. I'm in the freezer. The one from Isaac's basement. The one from my vision. As I realized what an idiot I had been for disregarding this vision as an actual event that would happen in my future, I burst into tears and screamed at the top of my lungs. I thought it was just a clue to helping Isaac out. Not- Not this! I screwed my face up and began to lose control of my mind. Panic was washing over me, fast and frightening. My heart was pumping as if I had been running for miles. And then I lost it completely.
I started to thrash my legs about, kicking and whacking up and down with my feet as much as the enclosed space would let me. I screeched and squealed until my throat was as torn as it had been in my dream. With my hands, I scratched and punched the lid of the freezer, gagging when the paths that my fingers scratched matched the indents already made. The metal walls were suffocating me with extreme panic. This is Isaac's nightmare. And now it's mine too.
"Help me! Please! Let me out, please!" I yelled through painful, wrenching sobs. I bashed at the lid again and again and again in the darkness. Nothing. "Please! Please!" I needed to sit up. I needed to breathe.
A rough attempt at shoving at the lid caused my head to lift and smack backwards. I gasped and the tears stopped instantaneously from the pain. I went into shock, my eyes widening and my mouth falling open, not breathing, not seeing. Feeling with my fingertips, I managed to twist and touch the golf ball sized lump on the lower left side of my skull. My nightmare wasn't as fictional as I thought.
I felt all the blood rushing to my face in a hot flush. And the next second, I had passed out for the third time in a matter of hours.
…
My parents sat at the breakfast bar together. My Dad munched on cereal, still half in his pyjamas, whilst Mom was already in her scrubs, ready to leave for work. There were bags under her eyes and her lips were pursed and red from being picked at. Her tired eyes rested on my empty coffee mug that was set before my seat at the table.
"…I can't stop worrying, Nate," Mom whispered, her voice cracking hard on my Dad's name.
He looked up from his spoon and used his free hand to cover hers.
"She'll be fine," was his reply.
"But she lied about going to see Jane! We have no idea where our daughter is! Does that not bother you?! T-that's it. I'm going next door to see the Sheriff," Mom stands up forcefully, but Dad grips her hand with his and gazes at her a heartfelt, sad expression.
Mom stutters for a minute before a thought comes to her. "Wait. This is about Cassie, isn't it? That's why you let her go last night. It's happening to Emily too."
Dad's eyes fall back to his cereal. He brings both hands to his eyes and rubs them wearily.
I want to hear more, but a sudden whoosh of colour blurs the scene. It fades to the hospital, where Isaac sat up in his bed, chewing on his fingernails. Although he looked a lot better after a nights rest, his expression was nothing but anxious. He stares at the shadows moving on the other side of his blinded window. His cell phone rests in his hand, hidden at the edge of the covers.
A doctor and a cop enter the room. The doctor gives Isaac a reassuring smile and checks his clipboard.
"Alright, son, no need to be scared. I'm just here to ask you about your injuries and how you came to get them," the cop steps forward. I see a dilemma behind Isaac's eyes flicker only for a moment.
"Fell down the stairs," he says deliberately, nodding his head for certainty, "Hit my face on the cupboard at the bottom. Loads of stuff fell on me. Completely my fault."
The cop pauses, as if he doesn't quite believe it. Then he rests his hands on his hips and stares into Isaac's eyes.
"Anything else?"
"No, sir," Isaac clenches his jaw. His opportunity to speak up about his Dad passes. No! What is he doing? He could have told the police and been put in safe custody, but instead… The vision focuses on Isaac's cell phone where it shows me that his Dad was on the other line, listening in. But… what? Why did Isaac want his Dad to hear that? In a wash of confusion, my consciousness brings me around gradually.
…
I awaken and the immediate throbbing pain in my limbs causes me to wince. Relief floods through my bones when I realise that I am curled up in the corner of the basement, no longer trapped inside the freezer. As I try to sit up, my head spins and I try to bring my hand up to steady myself – except I can't. My hands were bound by metal handcuffs that were only slightly loose. Strong enough to bind me, slack enough that it wouldn't leave a mark. I shakily breathe in and shuffle so that I'm sat leaning against the cold wall, stretching my legs out in front of me. This is insane.
The basement has one singular light bulb hanging from the ceiling. It rocks faintly from side to side in time with the footsteps from the floor above. I inhale precariously in waiting. The door at the top of the basement stairs opens. Each wooden step creaks under his weight. I follow him with narrowed eyes and a set jaw, telling myself over and over to not cry. Don't show weakness. It'll only give him more power.
Isaac's Dad reaches the bottom step before even glancing in my direction, as if he'd forgotten I was there.
"Oh, you're awake. I apologise for the cuffs. Just a precaution, in case you aren't as smart as I've heard," he says nonchalantly, dusting his hands off on his button down shirt. He's dressed like a smart, well-respected man, not the insane psychopath that he is. Which is probably what makes him scarier than the Alpha. Peter's werewolf form shows his true self, whereas here, I had no idea what the man in front of me was thinking.
"Let me go," I growl, but my voice wavers so I sound like a scared child.
"We've not had a chat yet, Emily," Mr Lahey says, as if our conversation was happening over a cup of tea. Pacing over to a wooden chair at the side of the room, he brings it to the centre and places it down facing me. The legs of the chair scuff the floor uncomfortably, before he sits down and surveys me like a puzzle piece. All of my plans to scream and kick and battle him off fly away under his grey eyed stare. There's no way I'm fighting my way out of this one.
"Now, as to what you were doing in my graveyard at midnight is not an issue really. I can take that on the chin. But what you and my son are doing… now that I can't let go unpunished," Lahey puts his fingertips together and leans forward.
I open my mouth to protest. All he has to do is raise his eyebrows slightly and I shut up.
"I received word last night that Isaac had been taken to hospital. I found this odd, because I had told Isaac that if he ever bothered the emergency services with his issues then, well there would be… consequences. Who's going to believe an awkward, stuttering kid? So I wondered, what would have made him travel all that way? He couldn't have biked all that way or called an ambulance. There was one option left: You. I have been keeping my eye on you ever since I noticed you and my son becoming close."
Lahey leans back and sighs. He takes off his thin rimmed glasses and polishes them on the hem of his shirt. My heart is in my throat – I daren't interrupt.
"I thought to take you aside last time you turned up on my doorstep and have a… word. You see, you can't be friends with Isaac. If you knew how pitiful he really is, well, you'd be running in the other direction-"
"I know who he is," The words escape my mouth before I can think it through, "He deserves better than you."
Lahey stands up suddenly and the wooden chair rockets backwards and crashes to the ground. Fear wells up in my stomach. I flinch back and try to make myself as small as possible against the wall. Oh god. Please.
"As I was saying," He places his glasses back on his face and clears his throat meaningfully, warning me to never interject again. "I began to see that there was no separating you. I saw Isaac changing. He was becoming preoccupied from his studies. He wanted more freedom to socialise, leaving less time to concentrate on what was important." He wrinkles his nose as if disgusted by the idea. "I would have settled with just giving him a warning. But then you had to take him to the hospital and ruin it all."
"I- I didn't- It was my-"
"Mother, I know. I did ask the question when the hospital rang. So I guessed what your plan had been – you take him to your house, where two very capable doctors live and patch him up. He moves in with you and you live happily ever after!"
A heavy silence weighted down the room as Lahey stared at me, flames of rage flickering in his eyes. His mouth twitched slightly. All of a sudden, he bends down to pick up the wooden chair by one of its legs. He throws it at the wall with an angry shout and it splinters into pieces.
"You tried to take my son from me. And that is inexcusable," Lahey puts emphasis on every words and takes a few slow steps towards me. I couldn't think. A ringing sound was echoing in my mind rendering me useless. I thought I was going to throw up and burst into tears at the same time.
Two feet away from me, Mr Lahey stops and tilts his head. I almost sob from relief that he didn't come any closer. This guy is a maniac. I cannot believe how long Isaac has had to cope with him.
"Anyway," he breathes out loudly and claps his hands together before continuing, "Luckily, this is all going to work out okay. You see, I let Isaac know this morning where you were and how easy it was for me to… step in. So he agreed not to tell the authorities about what happened to him. He's going to come home and things will go back to normal. Good... However, that leaves me with one problem. What's to stop you from talking? You were probably close to blabbing to your parents yesterday. But that cannot happen. I will not lose any more of my children."
Any more? Did Isaac have a brother or sister? Oh god. Lahey closes the distance and crouches down so his face is the same level as mine.
"You're not going to let that happen, are you, Emily?" He asks sweetly.
My heart thumps against my ribs. All the fear that had been building was reaching panic levels. I tried to open my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. I wanted to scream in his face and tell him that no way was I letting Isaac return to this hell hole.
"Let me give you more of an incentive." The smile on his face stretches further. "You don't stay away from Isaac and the state you found him in yesterday? That'll be child's play compared to what'll happen if you even think about opening that mouth of yours."
His left hand comes out of nowhere and pounds into the wall right next to my face. I flinch and let out a tiny, pathetic squeal.
"You're going to keep your distance. No more of this teenage-romance-daydream that you've got yourselves wrapped up in. You're going to keep your mouth shut. Yes? Let me hear you say it, come on. I haven't got all day. I've got to go and visit my son in the hospital." He removed his left hand from the wall and cupped it around his ear mockingly.
"Y-yes, sir," I have no choice but to whisper in reply.
He stands up suddenly and brushes down his shirt casually. He digs in his pockets and brings out a set of keys. Spinning them around his finger, he shrugs and continues on his speech, sounding rather pleased with himself, "That wasn't so hard was it? Isaac cares too much about you to let you get hurt, and you care too much about him to let him get hurt. So you're both going to do as I say. Simple. You're at a disadvantage when you start to love. Remember that."
He bends down again and I flinch away out of instinct. Lahey chuckles at how scared I am and sets his face in a grin.
"Give me your hands, you pathetic girl. Now," he commands. I follow his orders without hesitating.
His rough hands cover mine as he unlocks the cuffs binding my hands.
When the handcuffs are off and set down on the floor next to me, Lahey keeps my hands in a vice grip and forces me to meet his stony gaze, his face only inches from mine.
"Just remember what I can do, girl. I'll know if you break your word. Remember this... Now get out of my house."
I gulp and shake all over, feeling fear like never before. He lets go and leaps up, digging in his pocket again to bring out my cell phone and my car keys. He throws them onto my lap and storms away without another word. Each stomp up the stairs shakes the whole room. I hear the front door slam.
I don't move until a good amount of time has passed, sitting in complete shock. The conversation repeats over and over in my mind until the images are burned into my memory. Exhausted from all the running and panicking I did the day before, I find it hard to get to my feet. My head throbs every time I attempt to stand. My fingers feel the lump on the back of my head: still sore. I probably have concussion. And I shouldn't be driving. The hospital seemed like a bad idea – they'd ask too many questions. I'll just wait until my parents get home and they can look after me.
I remember the vision of my parents and the conversation with Peter last night, and suddenly feel less excited about going home. My parents have been keeping something important from me. I need to know who Cassie is and what happened to her.
For now, I need to get out of here and wrap myself up in my bed. It surely takes up a good half an hour before I conquer the steps up to the ground floor. I exit the house and don't look back. Surprisingly, my car is sat waiting for me, parked up across the street. The thought of Isaac's Dad driving my car here from the graveyard knocks me sick. I troop on, with feet that feel like jelly.
The drive home was slow, but I hardly remember any of it. Auto pilot had taken over. All I could think was how safe my bed would feel when I was curled up in my covers with my curtains shut and my door barricaded shut.
I parked up and had to take a minute to rest my head in my hands before moving again. On the edge of a migraine, I forcefully got out of the car and slammed the door shut. As if on cue, my Mom ran out of the door, gasping with happiness. Before I could even speak, she had run over and flung her arms around me protectively.
"Mom," I muttered, wishing that my arms weren't trapped at my sides so I could wriggle out of her grip.
"Oh Emily, I've been so worried! Where have you been? Are you okay? Oh, never mind that now. Come on, let's get you inside," Her words spilled out and I couldn't help but give her a tiny smile.
Mom leant back and cupped her arm around my waist, leading me towards our front door. Dad was stood in the doorway watching me with a downhearted expression on his face. I gave him a look that told him: I know about your secret. The edges of his mouth tugged up sadly.
My bed was going to have to wait. There's a conversation that I need to have.
A.N.
Yes, I'm getting through these chapters fast! I think Teen Wolf being back on tv has made me hurry up and given me a burst of inspiration. This chapter has felt a little touch and go – I didn't know how far to push the violence in the basement scene, but I think I've got the balance right. I wanted it to be quite scary for Emily, but not enough to really hurt her.
Anywho, thank you for the follows and faves for this story! I'm glad you're enjoying it, be sure to review!
Until next time :) x