The Least Favorite Cameron

Chapter 32

As we pull up outside the stone wall around my house, John B. turns off the van and we all quietly hustle out. We peer up and over the wall and I see the faint silhouette of the large truck that just passed us.

"The cross has to be in there still, there's no way Renfield could have taken it somewhere else yet," Pope says angrily.

"I don't see Renfield, just Ward," John B. says reluctantly as he looks from me to Sarah.

"Well there's only one way to find out if its there," Sarah says as she positions herself to climb over the wall.

"Woah! You guys can't just go in there on a death mission," says JJ.

"We'll be fine! We just need to see if the cross is there, if it is, we'll drive the truck out before our dad can come back out," I say even though I am not convinced this will work.

"Are you sure about this?" John B. pulls me slightly away from the others and holds onto my hand tightly.

"We have to try. It will be okay, just wait here, okay? I love you," I say and he surprises me by kissing me for several long seconds.

"Can you guys take any longer?"

"Want me to perform your wedding vows while you're at it?" JJ and Pope's complaints make me giggle as Sarah and I climb over the wall and into our yard.

"You sure about this?" Sarah asks me nervously.

"Nope, but what do we have to lose?" I reply as we get to the truck and pull on the door handles but they don't budge. We both look up to each other knowing what we have to do. We have to sneak inside and get the keys from Ward. I turn to motion to the others that we're going inside and they become frantic. The boys all quietly yell not to and then resort to using some bird sounds to lure us back but we have to do this.

"Okay you go upstairs and look around, I'll check his down here," Sarah nods and tip toes up the stairs quickly. I slowly and quietly turn the brass knob of his study and it creaks slightly as I push it open. Once I get inside the room is dark and seems untouched. I looked through the desk drawers and everywhere I could think of but there were no keys. I quietly go back into the hall and towards the kitchen but freeze when I hear the fridge door open. I peek around the corner and see Rose reading a magazine at the kitchen counter. She didn't look like she would be leaving anytime soon. I decide to go upstairs and help Sarah rather than risk being seen by Rose. When I get up there, the only thing I hear is the shower running in dad's room. I don't see Sarah anywhere. Maybe she couldn't find them either and went back downstairs? Something told me to check his room one time though just in case she missed it. He was in the shower so I was in the clear. The master bedroom was huge, a king size bed with fancy pillows in the middle. Both Ward and Rose had walk-in-closets and his and hers sides of the bathroom. On a decorative chair laid out was dad's jacket and I searched the pockets and then I felt it. The cool and rigid metal of keys. I quietly pulled them out worried that they would jingle together and alert him. I squeeze them hard in my hand and quickly rush back down the stairs and outside. I don't see the boys anywhere though when I get back out there. I also don't see Sarah. I ran to the back of the truck and prayed that the key would fit into the lock and it did. I pulled open the big doors and I could see it, the cross, covered in some tarps. But then my focus shifts to a dark jacket on the ground next to it. It takes me a second to process it and I have to hold back the scream that nearly escapes as I stare at Renfield's body. I can't catch my breath and I turn to lean on th e truck for support but I jump when I feel something else.

"Gracie, hunny, I really wish you didn't do that," my Dad said as he grabbed me and dragged me inside. He clamps a hand over my mouth and pulls me through the hallway and into the stairwell that leads to the wine cellar. Once down there, he pushes me inside and locks the door, leaving me trapped inside a room with lots of wine and no windows.

"Dad, open the door! Let me out! You can't do this! Please!" I scream and pound on the door but nothing works. I hurl several bottles at the doors but nothing.

"Gracie, I need you to calm down. Calm down and we can talk and I'll let you out," He says and his voice is so calm, it enrages me even more.

"Open the damn door now!" I scream and pound on the door so hard that my hand feels like it's broken.

"Ward, what the hell is going on?" I hear Rose's voice quietly and frantically talking to him.

"Rose, please! Please let me out!" I felt claustrophobic. I needed John B. and I needed to know what happened to Sarah. I needed to know why he had killed another person.

"Gracie, I'm going to go get the key. I need you to calm down though, okay?" Rose's voice while it drove me insane gave me a small sliver of hope to cling to. While she could support Ward doing everything else, maybe she drew the line at holding children hostage. I sank to the floor trying to push away the panic attack that fought to take over me. This is a nightmare, I am living in one of my nightmares.

I hear footsteps coming down the stairs and then the key turning in the lock. I burst through the door and ran right into Rose who stopped me.

"Sweetie what happened?" She says in a sweet voice which I don't completely believe. She's never this nice. She does whatever Ward wants her to, she wouldn't let me out of here.

"Dad, he-he killed someone else! There- there's a body in the truck outside!" I say to her as she holds my arms trying to steady me. It all feels wrong. I turn and see the small teaset Sarah and I used to play with when we were little and look at Rose confused.

"The tea will help calm you down," She says and picks up a cup and the pot.

"I don't want any fucking tea, Rose! Dad killed someone again! Where is Sarah?" I scream at her and her facade slips for a moment as I see her get angry with me.

"Gracie, just sit down, have some tea, calm down, I will go get Sarah. Your dad locked her in her room," She says and pours the tea into a small cup and places it in my hand. I was so thirsty, we had been running around all day and I hadn't eaten or drank anything. Rose slowly gets up and heads up the stairs and I take a sip of the tea, I guess it couldn't hurt. I didn't realize the extent of how thirsty I was till I started drinking it. I chugged the cup within seconds. Maybe it was because I hadn't had anything all day but I felt so light headed, no, I felt exhausted. Like if I closed my eyes I'd fall asleep right there. Something was wrong.

"R-Rose," As I tried to talk it came out as barely a whisper. My body felt light as a feather and I could barely keep my eyes open. She drugged me. Rose actually drugged me. I guess her and my dad were meant to be together.

"I'm sorry, Gracie," Rose says as I see her come back into my line of vision, only there's three of her now. I don't know what she gave me but I felt like I was hallucinating. The different versions of Rose all blurred in front of me as I fought myself from falling asleep and if I hadn't been drugged I would have thought I was insane. Insane because, I could have sworn I heard Rafe's voice as my eyes finally shut.