Not Who You Say You Are

Chapter Twenty-Three

Wade is not used to this. He loves to have control but this is on an entirely new level. I watch as his face turns red and his grip goes shaky. The family turns around to look at him as they simultaneously scream and drop to the floor. He looks like he's about to spin out. His aim is erratic. He points it at me but any slight movement made by another member of the family sends the gun flying in their direction.

"Everybody stay fucking down!", he screams.

I am on the tile floor, face down. I gently move my head to look behind me. The door is so close. I think I could make a run for it without being shot. But no, I can't risk it. Even if I do get out, everyone I love is inside. I don't think he'd kill my parents or sister, but Wade has no connection to Miles. So, if something were to go wrong and Wade had to kill someone to prove a point, it would be Miles. I need to stay for him. But who am I kidding, Wade organised this whole thing. He watched everybody die, including his wife, and he knew the whole time. He would have no issue killing my family.

"Wade, what are you doing?", my Mother shouts from the floor.

"Just shut up!", Wade calls frantically. "Everybody just shut the fuck up!".

We oblige. Sweat pours from Wade's forehead and he slowly walks down the stairs, making sure the gun is locked and loaded on whoever he passes. I feel my whole body seize as he points the gun in Miles' face. Eventually, he makes it to the bottom. He walks backwards, his back to me as he points the gun at the entire family. I could tackle him. I could do it whilst he's distracted. I could end this for good. I slowly bring my knees to my chest and am about the stand up when he turns around. I've missed it. I quickly flatten my body against the ground, not wanting to cause any suspicion. Wade approaches me.

"Give me the keys", he says sternly, control coming back to him.

"I told you, I don't have them", I lie.

It seems like he believes me, which is shocking. For someone who desperately wants to be an actor, I'm a terrible liar.

"Wade please stop", my mother pleads. She needs to stop talking. All she's doing is aggravating him. With someone like Wade, you need to treat them as if they're a venomous snake. Stay still and quiet. Don't intimidate.

"Faye, enough", Wade says harshly. He's getting tired of her. Surely she understands not to speak anymore. "We're too deep now to stop".

I watch as a tear forms in Mom's eye and drips down her cheek. Even Dad looks terrified. But it's not the same as it's been the last two nights. This is betrayal. This is a realisation that someone you know is capable of doing truly evil things.

"You did this to your family?", a voice calls meekly. It's not my mother. It's Ivy. What is she doing? Why is she drawing attention to herself? Wade turns to her.

"You guys are barely family", he says. "Haven't spoken to you in ten years. Not really. We couldn't be further from family".

I mean, he's right in a way. The Quinns are not your average family. We don't all gather for fun. We don't meet because we love and miss each other. When we meet, it's like a business meeting. We meet because it's a socially acceptable thing to do. Because, biologically, we're family but the truth is, we don't know each other. Not really. Aside from Bonnie and Otis, everybody else in the extended Quinn family is a total stranger to me. And I know if we all weren't blood-related, we would never in a million years choose to be in each other's company.