Haven

7. Debt

She was going to need a new lock.

The door was hanging wide open, moving gently in the breeze, and Norah sat in the middle of the floor, knife resting on her lap. She hadn’t slept. Her body had shut down and for most of the night she had sat and stared at the broken door. It was an old door, made of dark brown wood and it had a single deadbolt lock. The connection on the frame was hanging by one screw, but the hole for the lock was practically intact. The guy had to be crazy strong to be able to be able to tear the lock out.

For the fifth time, Norah wondered if maybe she hadn’t locked the door. She ran through her bed routine again from the evening before, hoping to remember everything but she couldn’t remember for sure if she had locked the door. The sun was beginning to rise, the dark slowly turning grey and rather than calling the police, she was simply thinking of how to change the lock.

To be honest, Norah had had enough of the police. They had torn her home apart after Adam turned himself in and what could they do about a break in when the suspect had vanished? They could keep an eye on her, but she didn’t want that. She hadn’t got a good look at the intruder and she had no details to give them, so it was hopeless trying to catch him.

Her other option was to pack her bags and run, a thought which had crossed her mind more than once through the night, but a large part of her didn’t want to run. After being terrorised by Daniel, this intruder’s threat just didn’t leave the same residual fear that Daniel’s had. The initial fear had faded and she was simply left feeling tired, and over all the bullshit life kept throwing her way.

Looking at the ocean, she decided she would stay; she wanted to prove to herself that she was no coward. Bellvale was all about turning over a new leaf and that included not running from her fears. Standing up, she placed the knife on the table and got dressed in blue jeans and an old band shirt from her teen years. Grabbing her wallet, she headed out the door and wedged a piece of wood under the base to stop it moving.

Rather than drive, she chose to walk, hoping the fresh air would wake her up and bring her back to reality. She still felt a little numb but the crisp morning air was slowly taking effect and with it, her brain started pounding her with questions – why would someone consider her a threat? Why would someone tell her to stay away from Olivia? What had Olivia and her family done to be considered dangerous?

 Norah hit the main road and walked on the bitumen, since the road was quiet. Norah had only ever met Olivia, she hadn’t seen any of her other family, so it wasn’t as if she had any ties to them. And she had only been in Bellvale just on a week now, so she barely knew anyone. Questions of Rylan still lingered, and she wondered if he had something to do with it but she put them aside. She wasn’t sure if they were connected but right now she could only focus on so much crazy at a time.

The ten minute walk into town took longer as she tread a snail’s pace. The morning fisherman were heading out onto the wharf and she waved blindly to them. She passed a few children running to the bus stop behind her. She hadn’t seen many children in the town, and she wondered where the school was. Surely such a small town didn’t need a school bus?

Instinctively, Norah found herself walking towards the café and she stopped in her tracks. The sign for the Twilight Café swung in the breeze, creaking on the old hinges and cursing her cowardly ways, she stepped away and crossed the road. Maybe it would be best if she stayed away today. She was getting braver but she wasn’t that courageous yet.

Baby steps.

Continuing on, she headed for the hardware shop a block up from the café. There were no other customers at this time of morning and she looked for a sign which would point her towards door locks when she walked in.