The Dollhouse

Chapter 43: A Visit from the Detectives

The doctor could only hold the police off for so long before they made their appearance, that and the vultures, better known as the news and media outlets.

I knew the vultures were outside the hospital. I didn't have to go to the window to see. I could tell in the hushed whispers I heard from doctors in the hall. My ears had grown ever so keen and I felt like if I held my own breath long enough I could hear nearly every word they spoke to each other. It's how I knew the cops, or detectives actually were on their way up before Dr. Carlisle could come in the room to tell me.

"I can stay in the room if you'd like, if you would make it more comfortable," he told me as he stood at my bedside tapping haphazardly on that damn clipboard he always had. The tapping was fraying my nerves. I longed for silence. I longed to be alone. I grew tired of the endless stream of nurses and doctors that came to my room.

"I'll be fine," I replied back, eyes glaring at the clipboard.

"Okay, if you need anything while they are here, even just for a break from them, use your call button," he told me and left the room after I gave him a weak thumbs up.

Seconds later the revolving door that was mine opened once more and in stepped two detectives.

Moments later dual footsteps of the rectifies came to my bedside where they hen ceased. I kept my gaze forward, staring at some HGTV show that I watched for so long that the episodes were beginning to repeat themselves.

"Miss Merona," a deep voice to my left called out.

I turned to meet the deep blue eyes of probably the most handsome cop I had ever seen. Under different circumstances a red flush would have crept up my cheeks, but now I felt nothing. It would not bother me one bit to never see anyone ever again. This world was cruel and I had had enough of it.

"Miss Merona," the cop called a bit more firmly to me, and I could sense something in it, annoyance, aggravation perhaps to me again breaking my from my thoughts. Trust me buddy, you're aggravating me too.

I gave him a side-eyed glanced and grunted back in reply, "Yes?

The detective behind him finally spoke up and asked. "How are you feeling? Do you feel up to answering a few questions?"

"If I must," I returned with an unimpressed stare as I took the two detectives in.

"Good. I'm Detective Morales, this is my partner Detective Evans," he told me. The other cop, the one who asked if I was feeling okay, had round belly and short stature sent me a quick smile and awkward wave while the other kept his serious annoyed expression.

"Miss Merona, you've been a missing person for quite some time. Before you went missing you had reported to our precinct that someone was stalking you. Is that the same person who held you captive all this time," Detective Morales asked taking out a small notebook from his blazer's pocket.

"Yes," I simply answered not wanting to dive into what my life had been these past few months.

"Our other detectives reported that the alias your abductor used was Liam O'Connell, did you ever discover his real name," the handsome, but annoying detective asked. His voice was cold, detached, like he wanted to be anywhere but here, as if he had somewhere better to be. I desperately wanted to yell at him to go then, but I didn't want to seem crazier than I actually felt.

"No," I answered again with a single word.

"Can you tell us where he held you?"

"No."

"We found you not to far from the McDermott estate. Was this the location he held you," Detective Morales asked as Detective Evan's produced a picture of Liam's home.

I went to nod and regretted it when my neck ached back at me. "Yes," I rasped, coming down from the sudden burst of pain.

"We went up to the house, to see if anyone was there that knew anything about the crash, about your disappearance, but we found the home burned down. Do you know anything about that," he asked clearly eyeing me in a way that he knew I did.

"No," I lied causing the two detectives to look at one another.

"Miss Morales," Evan began. "We are here to help. We are just trying to hear from you in your own words what happened. You can speak openly and honestly with us."

As if, I thought thinking back to Abby crawling up those stairs as I slammed the door, sealing her fate. My lip tried to jerk up into a smile, but I quickly pulled it back down and licked my lips.

"I don't know anything about a fire," I snapped leading Evan's pudgy face to grimace at my reaction.

Detective Morales clearly wasn't buying it and continued. "We found the bodies of a few individuals in the home. Would you be able to to tell us the identity of them?"

There was no point in lying here. They would identify them eventually anyhow with DNA.

"I don't know the last  names of anyone, so I doubt anything I will say will be of help to you Hannah, was Liam's sister.  Laurel was an ex-drug addict that Liam took before me. Abby was his high school sweetheart. He kept us in the home, told us we were his dolls," I began my voice beginning to fill with palpable rage as I continued. "We had to do everything he asked. And if we didn't we were beaten or worse."  Detective Evans' face began to grow pale as he realized what the worse statement alluded to. "For some reason, he really took a liking to me. His obsession for me is what killed the other girls."

"And how did you escape," Morales asked, his face remaining stoic and unchanged from what I had just told him.

This was the part I was dreading speaking aloud.

"After he killed Hannah, I got out through a door she had opened. She knew things were escalating after he killed Laurel and Abby and so she agreed to finally help me. She had a key and got a knife that she had given me to defend myself so we could escape, but Liam killed her too. I made it outside and I ran but he caught me and so I had to kill him," My monotone voice answered, the side of my lip itching to pull up in a grin. The last day in the hospital had really darkened my mind now that I was safe and had time to reflect. I didn't regret a thing and though it should scare me, that made me finally feel 100% free.

The two detectives looked again at one another and I could see on Evan's face that something was up from his wide eyes and arched brows.

Morales cleared his throat and set his notebook back into his jacket pocket.

"We did not find the body of this man called Liam, only the girls," he grimly states looking deeply at me for my response.

My eyes widen. My heart rate increased to a horrific level. My fingers tightly grip the bars of the hospital bed as the skin of them turns ghastly white.  And then I scream. And I scream. And I scream until Dr. Carlisle rushes in and has to sedate me.

The nightmare has not ended, only changed its setting and this plot I fear will only be more horrific than the last.

The End

What?! It's the end! Say it ain't so!!

I actually had planned on writing maybe 2 more chapters, but I felt that this was a good place for the story to actually end once I wrote it!!

There will be a short epilogue to follow. I hope to have it up in a few days.

Also, anyone see that character tie in to The Hunter and His Prey. 😝 it's always my goal to have a character from previous stories tie in to each book I write. Anyone know why Detective Morales is so grumpy!! Shh... don't answer here. Better yet, if you don't know go and read The Hunter and His Prey to find out why. 😜

What did you think of this chapter and this book over all??

Thank you so much to all of you have read this from beginning to end. This will be my first completed story on WattPad and I am so excited!

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Much love to you all!!