Sleep Tight, page 13
I looked up and saw her shirt was torn at her stomach, her white undershirt peeking through, her usual wavy hair was now tangled into knots. The heat of my anger was reaching out and clutching onto me like a vine. “Make him regret that he ever even looked at you.”
Ava’s green eyes widened, and I lost myself in them. So much that Pax had gotten up without me noticing. He headed straight for the closed window and hurled his body through it, shattering it. I rushed to the window and looked down; he was already limping away into the trees. He wasn’t going to get away that easily. I put my leg over the windowsill and was about to jump off when a hand on my arm stopped me.
“No, don’t jump. You’ll get hurt.”
Ava gripped my arm tightly. Her wide eyes showed concern, and I forgot that she didn’t know I could easily jump from this height and not get hurt. My hand grabbed hers and I gently pried it off my arm.
“I won’t get hurt. Trust me.” I jumped off before she could do or say anything else and landed lightly on my feet, running into the trees after Pax.
A trail of blood was heading straight into the forest, I followed it knowing he wouldn’t be able to get away, he was hurt which meant he would be slow, I would catch up to him in no time.
I quietly walked along his trial and listened for him. But there was nothing. He couldn’t be that far ahead of me, yet I wasn’t hearing him struggling. With the way he was limping I should be hearing him. I kept following his trail for another minute before it stopped.
I looked around the ground confused and even circled around, maybe I had just lost his trail.
Nothing. He was just gone. The blood and disturbed dirt stopped, as if he were just swallowed into the earth. It made no sense.
I ran my hands through my hair in frustration as I made my way back to the house. How did he just disappear like that, there was no way he could have gotten away with his injuries. Could he have gotten help from someone? Maybe he had an accomplice? No, that didn’t make sense. This was strange, even for me.
Ava ran towards me as I turned the corner and reached the front of the house. She ran straight into my arms and hugged me tightly.
She whispered. “You’re okay.”
She was on the tip of her toes and the top of her head just reached my chest. My arms were pinned at my sides by her arms so I couldn’t hug her back, even though I wouldn’t have been able to since I was in shock that she was hugging me.
Her warmth was calming, but just as it was calming me, she quickly pulled away as if realizing what she was doing.
Her cheeks were flushed but I couldn’t tell if it was from embarrassment or from the adrenaline.
She cleared her throat. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that. Thank you for helping us.” She rushed out the words.
I wanted to say that she didn’t have to apologize, I wanted her to hug me again, but she didn’t like me in anyway other than being a friend. I knew that.
“Why did you run off on your own? You should have told me, how many times do I have to tell you that you can’t go off on your own anymore.” My anger was back.
“Are you kidding me? You want to lecture me right now?” she scoffed and crossed her arms.
“Yes, I’m going to lecture you. Why are you being so stubborn Ava. You shouldn’t have come here alone.”
“I wasn’t alone,” she said annoyed. “My tia Lusila was with me.”
I rolled my eyes. “You know what I mean. You can’t go off on your own.”
“And you can’t control me. This was something I didn’t want you to get involved in. Not another mess.”
I understood then what she meant. She was trying to keep some sense of privacy in her life. Things had been changing for her drastically and this was something that she wanted to keep for herself, to deal with it in a normal way. But she couldn’t have that anymore. She needed to understand that. We couldn’t risk any of them getting hurt.
I wouldn’t risk her getting hurt.
“Why didn’t you at least tell your brothers?”
“Because I didn’t want them getting hurt. I love my brothers and I’d do anything to protect them. Even if that means putting myself in danger first.”
One thing I noticed about her right away, she was selfless and courageous. When it came to the people she loved, she would protect them against the world, put them first before herself. She would die for them without any hesitation. A dangerous and admirable quality.
After everything she just went through why was I such a jerk to her? She was bringing out something in me that I didn’t understand.
I opened my mouth to apologize but was cut off. Daniel called out to us from inside the house, Ava quickly turned away from me and ran back inside, I followed right behind her. Inside Layla was kneeling next to her sister who was now fully awake.
“We need to get her to a hospital.” Layla gently reached out and moved her sister’s hair out of her face. Ava knelt down beside her and grabbed her hand.
“Boys help us carry her out to her car.” Ava said.
Jesse and Daniel moved to either side of their aunt and gently lifted her up. We all walked out of the house and put her into the black sedan. Layla quickly sat in the back with her. I stopped Ava, gently grabbing her shoulder. “Give me your car keys. I’ll make sure to take your car back.”
She nodded and handed me her keys. “What happened to Pax?”
“He’s gone. I’ll explain it later, just go on and make sure to get yourself checked while you’re at the hospital.”
“Thank you, Elijah. Seriously. You keep saving me.”
“Stop getting into trouble and I won’t have to anymore.”
She smiled up at me and nodded. “You got yourself a deal.”
One minute we’re mad at each other and the next we’re being friendly. This was a complicated friendship. Ava got into the car and they drove off.
I headed back to the main house.
“What happened? Is Ava, okay?” Dad asked when I walked into the door. Everyone was standing there waiting for my answer.
“She’s going to be okay. She went to the hospital with her brothers.”
“The hospital? Did they get hurt?” Mom asked. “We should go see them now.” She headed for the door.
“Whoa, they’re okay mom. Ava’s aunt and mom have some head injuries. But Pax got away. He assaulted Ava.” My hand curls up into a fist as the scene comes back to me.
Mom gasped and dad’s eyes narrowed and darkened.
“We have to go out there and look for him.” Blake said. Olivia quickly agreed, everyone was upset and wanted to make him pay.
But he was long gone.
“That’s going to be harder than you think,” I ran my hands through my hair. “I went after him into the woods, he had jumped from the second-floor window and cut himself, I followed his trail of blood but then it just disappeared.”
“Disappeared? What do mean?” Dad asked.
“Let me show you.”
I exited the car and walked around to mom and dad, Olivia and Blake pulled up next to us. I pointed towards the back of the house. “He went that way. Follow me.”
As we got closer to the tree line, I pointed out the trail of blood. We followed it until we ended up at the same spot, the blood was slightly pooled, but no other trail followed it. Dad knelt and studied the blood. Mom circled around looking for the trail.
“It has to keep going. How did he just disappear here?” Mom asked puzzled as she kept circling around not convinced.
“I’m telling you, he just vanished. It’s as if the earth swallowed him.”
“No. He wasn’t swallowed. He had to be taken. Maybe he was picked up by someone.” Dad said.
“That’s what I thought but it’s not possible. I wasn’t that far behind him. I would have heard it, plus there’s no tire tracks. In fact, there’s no tracks of any kind at all.”
Dad stood up and wiped his hands. His brows were scrunched together as he kept his gaze on the pool of blood. He didn’t understand what happened, none of us did.
“This had to be the Kryps. They had to have had something to do with this.” Dad finally said.
“If that’s true, what would they want with him?” Mom asked.
“I don’t know.”
We all gazed into the pool of blood and wondered: What were they up to?
A nurse flew by me as I stepped out of the elevator, almost colliding into me, I struggled to hold onto the coffees in my arms, slightly spilling one on my shirt. I sighed in defeat and kept on walking until I reached tia Lusila’s room.
Jesse walked over and took two coffees from my hands, passing one to Daniel. I passed the last one to mom and she smiled at me as I sat down next to her, she took my hand and squeezed tightly.
“The doctor just checked in on her. Says she should be ready to go home by tomorrow.” Mom said.
Tia Lusila was sleeping, her lashes fluttering, and her brown curly hair spread out behind her on the pillow. Mom had her head bandaged but she insisted on being by her sisters' side even though the nurse recommended her to stay in her room.
The police came and took our statements and would be on the lookout for Pax. Until he was found mom would never be safe. He had an obsessive side to him, and he would never stop trying to hurt us.
“I just want you all to know that I am so sorry for how I've been treating you guys. There's nothing I can ever say or do to make up for how I hurt you. My own children.” Mom sobbed into her hands and I hugged her tightly.
“It’s okay.” I whispered.
She jerked away from me. “No Ava! It’s not okay. Nothing about what I did is okay. I’m stupid. I’m blind. I’m not worthy of being your mother. I don’t deserve your love.”
I reached for her when we all heard a voice.
“My head is killing me.”
We all looked to the bed. Tia Lusila was awake, she looked around at the room in confusion. “Am I in a hospital?” She looked at us now with narrowed eyes. She hated hospitals.
“Yes Lusila, you have a concussion and some bad bruising.” Mom said quickly wiping her eyes trying to hide her tears.
But tia didn’t even notice, she was too busy being upset at the fact that she was in a hospital.
“Why did you guys bring me here! You know how I feel about hospitals Layla.” She tried getting up from her bed, mom ran over and pushed her back.
“Calm down. They said you could leave tomorrow but you need to stay here overnight.”
“No. I won’t. I feel fine.”
Mom sternly looked at her and narrowed her eyes. “I don’t care, and I won't hear it. You are going to stay in this bed for tonight or else I’ll have them come in here and strap you into your bed.”
Tia Lusila looked at mom and smiled, she looked at us and let out a small choked laugh. “Now that’s my sister,” she looked back at mom. “I missed you.”
Mom started crying again and bent down to hug her tightly. “I am so sorry. I put all of you guys through so much.”
They hugged for several minutes, neither of them saying anything, only crying. I looked at Jesse and Daniel and we smiled at each other. Tia Lusila finally had her sister back. She would have never given up on her. But I had.
I should have fought harder for her. What kind of daughter was I? I needed to be better. And I would. Never again would I leave her to face anything alone.
“Are you okay?” Tia Lusila asked mom when they finally pulled apart. She looked at her bandaged head and gently touched it.
“Oh this?” Mom gently pushed her hand away. “It's nothing, just a scratch.”
Tia Lusila looked at us. ‘How about you guys? Are you okay?”
Jesse laughed and came up to the bed and took her hand. “Always worrying about everyone else. We’re fine tia. We aren't the ones in a hospital bed.”
“Oh yeah don’t remind me please. Let's just all pretend were at my house in my room.” She closed her eyes and laid back onto her pillows for a second before bolting up. “Where’s Pax?”
Mom looked at me before answering. “We don’t know. He got away.”
“What? How did that happen? Have you told the police yet? Are they looking for him?” Tia Lusila rambled on.
“Take it easy tia.” Daniel said.
“Don’t worry the police know and they're looking for him.” I tried reassuring her. But we all knew we should be worried.
“And Elijah is looking for him too, don’t worry.” Jesse said casually. I looked at him with wide eyes. Now tia would want to know who Elijah was and I didn’t feel like explaining a lie.
“Who is Elijah?” she asked.
There it was.
“Oh, he’s just a good friend of ours. He’s been letting us stay with him and his family.” Jesse said.
“Wait you guys aren't staying at the cabin anymore.” Mom crossed her arms. “Why not? Did Amelia and Joseph kick you guys out?”
“No, they didn’t kick us out.” I said quickly.
“Well then why are you guys staying with someone else? And I know you guys don’t know them that well. You say their friends, but you guys never mentioned them until I saw them in Ava’s hospital room.” Mom was annoyed.
“Wait Ava was in the hospital? When was this? And why wasn’t I told about this?” Tia Lusila looked concerned. She crossed her arms and waited for an answer.
“It was weeks ago tia and it was nothing. I hurt my wrist a little. But I’m fine now.”
“It was not nothing Ava,” Mom turned to her sister. “She was attacked at Jesse’s birthday party. And they still haven't found who it was.”
“Mom.” I looked at her annoyed.
“What? That’s the truth. And I can't believe they still haven't found the guy.”
“Why didn’t you guys call me! That’s something so serious. Do you know who the guy was? Was it someone you know?” Tears were forming in her eyes, the worry for us close to spilling out.
I felt so bad lying to them about who or more like what it was that attacked me, but they would never believe me if I told them and it was best to leave them out of that world.
“No, it was just some stranger,” I said.
Jesse and Daniel looked at me and raised their eyebrows. We were the only ones who knew what had happened that night. But it had to be kept secret. “I’m fine though tia seriously. Please don’t worry.”
“Of course I worry! My sweet niece got attacked and no one told me about it! How could I not worry?” She lifted her arms in annoyance.
Guilt ran through me, we should have told her, but I didn’t want to worry her or explain what happened. But not telling her was only making her more upset.
“I’m sorry. You are right, I should have called.” I said in defeat.
“Don’t ever do it again. And I'm talking to all of you. Don’t push me out.” She looked at us with pleading eyes and we all felt a new rush of guilt. She thought we were trying to leave her out but that was not happening.
We all rushed to her and gave her a group hug. The love I had for my small family was pouring out in that one hug, locking us all in.
The time came to leave the hospital. Again.
We pulled up to the driveway of the house. The front door already replaced, Elijah and his dad had made sure to replace any broken doors in the house.
Tia Lusila was going to stay with mom. She wouldn’t leave her side until Pax was locked up for good. We walked in behind mom with tia at her arm. They stopped in surprise.
“It’s all cleaned up.” Mom said.
The room was clean. The broken furniture, glass, and beer cans all gone. It was a home again.
Mom turned to us. “Did you guys do this?”
The three of us nodded at the same time. “We snuck out during the night, we wanted you guys to come back to a home.” Jesse said.
Mom smiled and hugged each of us tightly.
“And the door? You guys replaced that too?” Tia asked.
“No that wasn’t us, that was Cass and Elijah.” Daniel said.
“Well, I have to meet these guys. They really seem to care about you. A little weird but nice I guess.” She smirked at us and moved to the couch. Mom helped her sit and turned to me.
Oh no. I was in trouble, even though I had no idea what I had done. She gestured for me to follow her, we went outside to the front porch and she closed the front door behind us.
“Why did they fix the front door?” She asked right away.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean why are they being so nice and generous to you, your brothers. Now me.”
“They’re just really nice people mom. They wanted to help us.”
“No. People aren't just nice for no reason. Nothing in this life is free Ava. Haven't I told you that a million times.” she started pacing back and forth. “I don’t want the new doors.”
I scoffed. “So, you want them to take off the doors? You need a front door mom.”
“I know I need a front door, Ava.”
“Then keep the front door.”
“That's not the problem. I don’t want to owe them anything. I don’t know them.”
“Then just pay them back for the doors.”
She rolled her eyes. “That’s not what I mean!” She put her hands up to her head, clearly annoyed.
I understood what she meant but I couldn’t let her know that I had already tried to avoid accepting anything from them, but they wouldn’t take no for an answer, and now I knew why.
“Why are they helping you guys so much.” She asked, her eyes focused completely on me now.
“I don’t know mom. Like I said they're just genuinely nice people.”
“No. They want something from you guys. I know it.” She quickly started shaking her head. She was losing it.
“Mom calm down. What could they possibly want from us?” I lied. And she could see right through me.
“Your dad always said you couldn’t lie. He was right. I know your lying to me.”
My breathing slowed down at the mention of dad. She hardly ever spoke about him. In fact, she hadn’t mentioned him since he died. Anytime we wanted to talk about him she would run away and lock herself in her room, completely shutting us out.
