Split

I'm Staying

Barry hadn't taken it well when I'd told him that I wanted to stay... and even worse when I told him that I wanted to see more of Dennis. I'd tried to reason with him but he was having none of it, saying it was wrong and that I was still a missing person. He was right, of course, but I didn't want to go. I finally broke and told him about my uncle and he listened in silence, his expression becoming unreadable.
I explained my situation with Dennis and reminded him of what he'd done for me, and Barry shook his head, "it's just not right, I don't know what you're on but you need to realise that Dennis was part of the reason that all these girls have died."

"He's different now... I just want to stay with you guys where I can actually have a conversation with someone where I don't feel like a freak!"

"I hope you're not basing that on this conversation, honey, you don't exactly sound sane..."

"I don't care what you think of me, I've made my choice."

"And what do you expect to do?"

I shrugged, "I'll stay down here."

"I work here, what if someone finds you?"

"I'll wear a disguise."

"A disguise?" He scoffed, "is that the best you can come up with?"

"I could just stay here during the day..." I said, quickly running out of ideas.
He just raised an eyebrow.
"I could go back out and tell everyone I ran away... I could tell them about my uncle and that I ran away when the girls were abducted..." he looked away, fueling me to continue with my plan, "Then I could tell them that someone else took those girls."

"Casey," he held my shoulders and looked into my eyes, a concerned smile creeping to his face, "I know you think that you're helping, but this is wrong. Maybe we deserve to be locked up... some more than others... but if we're a danger then we shouldn't be allowed to walk free."

"If I think you're a threat then I'll tell them."

"Then you'll be in trouble too."

"I don't care. I'm sorry but I'm not discussing it anymore, I'm not going."

Barry let me go and scratched the back of his head, "you're crazy... I need to try and get this mess sorted out... I don't even know what I'm going to do with them," he gestured into the hallway where the girls' bodies lay. He looked a little overwhelmed, "I don't know where to begin... just... stay here if you want... I need to get cleaned up and get ready for work."

He walked out, practically trembling with worry, and I sat down, wishing that I had a way of fixing everything... and that Dennis was here to talk to about all of this.