Dangers in the Dark

The Ending is the Beginning 22.4

Holly POV
Barbara's Penthouse

Barbara had procrastinated this conversation for the last half an hour since Lee requested, she begin to talk about it. Night had now covered the penthouse and the only light we had was the candle Barbara had lit; she said she preferred the warm light of the candle over the cold light of the ceiling lights, which I understood.

Since our conversation had begun, I had felt little calm over my dad's whole situation but now ... now I did. Selina had finally sent a message, an incredibly short one saying ... "he is fine." I assume she was talking about my dad but that had made me ponder why she would know that. Compartmentalising that information for a while, I poked at the slice of cake in front of me and waited for Barbara to begin.

Eventually Barbara told us everything that had happened, though she didn't look at either Lee or me for the entirety of this time. She stood by the window, watching outside life and spoke softly so you had to strain your ears to hear her.

"And then he left me," Barbara finished. "For a long time. Alone. And I slept. I don't know for how long. And then he woke me up. Road trip, he said. We were halfway there when ... when we stopped. He told me to get out of the car. I did. I didn't know what to do so I stayed there, waiting for someone to come past me. I saw lights coming and I thought I was going to get away. But it was him. He had you in the back of the car, Holly." Only now did Barbara glance over her shoulder at me, a sad look on her face. "I thought you were dead. I refused to get in the car until I could be sure you were alive. He let me be with you in the back."

"Then he carried on. I was so focused on making sure that you were okay that I ... I didn't realise where we were going until we pulled up their driveway."

"Go on," Lee encouraged, while I stared down at my half-eaten cake, my throat to tight to eat anymore.

"Well, then he chucked Holly into my old room for safe keeping, he said. And then he tied my parents up to a chair ... and, uh ... he told me to talk to them ... about my childhood issues," Barbara said, now leaning against her chair. "So, I did. I ... just ... told them whatever came into my head."

"And what came into your head?" Lee asked.

"You know ... just stupid kid stuff, I guess, like, uh ... my mom used to call me her little piggy when I was little," Barbara sighed, collapsing back into her chair. "They threw away my posters. Never nurtured my self-esteem. Just slowly ... steadily ... grinding away at my soul. Trying to make me ... disappear."

"That's not kid stuff," Lee replied quietly, as Barbara's watery eyes began to reflect my own.

"Maybe. I don't know if Jim ever told you, but my parents never approved of him or Holly," Barbara said, making me glance up at her in surprise. "Didn't think I was falling into a good relationship with a single father who couldn't hold a job. Said that Holly was bound to become a delinquent that would ... as they did so graciously to me ... tear the life from me. To be fair to them, they never met Holly or Jim, I wouldn't let them. All my life it has been like ... like ... my parents simply never understood me," Barbara continued. "They have no clue who I am. Even when I was killing them, they just gaped at me like fools. No understanding."

"Barbara, Jason Lennon killed your parents. You didn't kill them," Lee reminded Barbara gently, as I sat silent, processing what I had just heard.

"Yes, I did," Barbara nodded stoically. "I stabbed them ... several times ... and then I slit their throats."

At Barbara's confession, my tears seemed to part like the red sea, and I could suddenly see clearly again as I looked at her in shock. Only then, did I noticed her hand curling around the large knife she had brought through from the kitchen. And I knew exactly what she wanted. Who she wanted.