Homecoming

Chapter 10

I took a nap and when I woke up, Fynn was still gone. My cramps had subsided, but I was worried that I may have to call the doctor if they got any worse. I wasn't due for another 4 weeks so I was trying to hold off on accidental birth for as long as I could. I sat up and sighed as I grunted in discomfort. My pregnancy was, in earlier weeks, so easy, but the bigger I got the worse it got.

"Jesus, kid." I complained to my stomach, standing up and looking around Fynn's quiet home.

It was dark and gloomy, not filled with the laughter it usually had. I moved towards the pictures on the wall and as I was admiring Fynn's once young face, I jumped to the sound of my cell phone. My hand flew to my heart and I closed my eyes as I processed the ringing and taking a long inhale.

"Hello?" I answered into the phone, not bothering to check the caller ID.

The line was silent.

"Hello?" I repeated.

The silence continued and then I heard a low, husky breath before the line disconnected.

I looked at my phone in shock and then my blood froze as I read Jason's number on the call log. In my head I was counting all the locked doors. One, two, three... the thought trailed as I counted and then the phone rang again and I stared at his number play across my phone. In a feared daze I missed the call and watched as another rang out loud swiftly after the previous. I answered in a flurry.

"Jason." I breathed into the phone.

The breath sighed in relief, "Julia."

"Why are you callaing me?" I asked firmly, not playing into the voice.

He chuckled in a strange way, "How many locks do you think Fynn has holding you inside?"

My breath hitched in my throat and the air constricted around me. His fists smashing through our bathroom door flickered behind my eyes and I turned to rush to the bathroom before a slow knocking played at the door. I turned and looked down the dark hallway as the knocking continued.

"It will be easier if you let me in." He nearly cooed the song at me as his knocks became harder.

"Go away!" I shouted, my heart rate escalating.

"Julia, open the door, please." He continued, his voice becoming condescending as he began to pound, the door rattling with each hit.

I grabbed the bat Fynn kept from high school in the closet and stared at it in my hands before I moved as far from the door as I could. I couldn't run with how pregnant I was and trying to seal any other exits was worthless. I wondered briefly if this was how we ended. If Jason would go as far to really break down the door and then the lock shattered, the wood blowing away from the door handle. The door opened slowly, and the light shined around Jason's silhouette in the doorway. I hid behind the corner and breathed in relief to myself. He hadn't seen me.

"If you would just talk to me." Jason said in a firm huff, the sound of him patting dirt from his shirt.

The sound of his heavy footsteps proceeded towards the corner slowly and I held my breath as they echoed loudly. I wondered when Fynn would bust through the doorway and felt another cramp in my stomach. In a panic, I looked down at my stomach.

"Found you, Dove." I heard him say.

I looked up as he snatched me by the arms, yanking me forward. I fell forward and held my stomach, reaching out to catch myself with the other hand. I heard a snap and fell to my shoulder roughly. Pain seared through my bone and I felt the warmth leave my face as my brain screamed, my lips paralyzed. I stared at the ceiling as the color throbbed against my eyes and Jason looked down at me. As I internalized my screams, I noticed the red smeared across his shirt, fresh wet mud across the edges of his boots. As he knelt beside me, I felt the cold of the wet fabric touch my shoulder. I smelled the pungent, rust of blood.

"Jason!" I screeched out, sucking in another breath.

He reached down and touched my face, smearing the blood on his hand across my cheek. I cringed and he grabbed my jaw, pointing my face towards his. He smiled that disheveled smile and I watched as madness crossed his eyes. He didn't have to say what he did. I knew why Fynn wasn't here and I wailed out in a new pain.

"You think I wouldn't find out?" He said in a fury.

I stared at him in confusion, pain making the scene swirl around me.

"Remember when we went for testing? You wanted a baby so bad." He stared at my stomach with a new hatred.

The scene mixed briefly before my eyes. Handing him a cup, handing me paperwork. We had both been checked, but I had never opened the papers because I became pregnant before we got the results. I had tucked the results away in a drawer and forgotten about them. The realization hit my eyes as he stood up over me.

"Who is the father?" He asked, no emotion behind his firm demand.

I remembered the one night. The one night I had tried so hard to forget about. The feeling of the strange man's lips across my skin. I remembered the way I snuck from his house, unable to comprehend what I had done. I had convinced myself that because we were on a break it would never come up. I had forced myself to forget and, in a way, accepted I had done no wrong.

"You don't know?" He said in disbelief, moving backwards stumble.

"Jason." I whimpered, ashamed as the pain reached a new height.

"I've ruined everything. I tried to be better for you. I tried to believe this for you, and you don't even know who it is. You can't even give me an answer." He fell to his knees.

The dark walls spun around me and as the blackness surrounded my eyes, the cramping worsening in my abdomen, I watched as red and blue lights built brighter in the window and the events moved swift. The lights came into the broken doorway and lit up the living room as Jason stared at the floor on his knees. I breathed in panicked relief as Jenson busted through the door and pointed his gun at Jason. His eyes were wide at the scene before him and I watched his eyes play over my broken arm and his mouth moved as he commanded Jason to his feet, hands behind his back. Ringing sounded between both ears and paramedics rushed in, kneeling before me. I let the darkness take me.