A Complete Family

I Seek Justice

I was about to go near Hailey when the door suddenly opened. I quickly went underneath the bed. Hailey just stood there, dumbstruck.

“Hailey, what are you doing here? I thought I warned you never to enter this room!”

It was Mr Adams. I was scared now that my hands were shaking.

~What if he finds out we went through all those stuff?~

“Why’d you do it, dad? Was it easy for you to kill two innocent women and to kidnap me?” Hailey yelled at him.

“Hailey,” he said as I heard footsteps.

“Don’t touch me!” Hailey yelled once more.

Mr Adams cleared his throat.

“How could you? I loved you like my own father!”

There was silence.

“Did mom find out about the truth? Is that why you injected something on her at the hospital? Is that it, huh?”

“She was going to tell you, Hailey. You were the only one who loved me. I couldn’t afford to lose you even if you’re not my real daughter.”

Both of them were sobbing now.

“I’m sorry, Hailey. I’m so sorry. I loved you so much. I got so attached to you. It felt like I was really your father,” he added.

“And you kept all of this for ten years? Haven’t you thought about Shannon who missed her mother? She never had a complete family because YOU WERE TOO SELFISH TO LIVE ON YOUR OWN,” Hailey kept yelling at him.

I wrote a text message to Tammy. I thought she could help us. It was the only way.

“I wish you get hit by a train so you’ll know how it felt when you hit my mother, you psychopath” Hailey muttered.

“What did you say?”

“You heard me,” she yelled.

I heard footsteps. It was as if Mr Adams was coming closer to Hailey. Suddenly, Hailey screamed. She was struggling to breathe. And I couldn’t see her shoes touch the ground. Then, I panicked. I got out from underneath the bed and faced my doom.

“Stop it!”

Mr Adams looked at me with anger as he was choking Hailey, lifting her up the ground.

“You heard, didn’t you?”

I nodded with courage. He chuckled and threw Hailey away who was now unconscious. He reached for his right back pocket. Then, he drew a knife. He pointed it towards me as he muttered, “Then, I guess I’m going to have to kill you just like I did to your mother and her sister.”

I walked backwards until I had nowhere to go to.

“Please, Mr Adams. This doesn’t have to end with bloodshed. You can just surrender to the police. No one has to die tonight.”

“And what, Shannon? Rot in a cell for the rest of my life?”

~I can’t believe I’m saying this, but he’s right. Nobody wants to rot in a prison cell. That’s why criminals always try to escape.~

“I know you don’t want to give up, but you’ll only hurt the ones you love especially Hailey.”

Somehow, I made him realize the truth. He looked at Hailey who was still flat on the floor. When I had the chance, I tried the knife from his hand. He didn’t let go of it. We ended up struggling who was going to take the knife. When he got hold of it, he almost stabbed me but someone tackled him from behind. And he stabbed my saviour instead. As soon as he got up from the floor, he looked at Hailey once more and left in a hurry.

I managed to take a deep breath. I went near the stabbed person and touched him. I took a look at him and tears flowed from my eyes.

~Why did you do it? You didn’t have to save me.~

It was Craig. I checked for a pulse, but I didn’t feel anything. He wasn’t even breathing.

“Craig, breathe. Please. You can’t do this. You can’t leave me like this.”

But my screams were all I heard. Craig was no more. Then, I heard police sirens and screams from below, but I couldn’t just leave Craig and Hailey alone. Mr Adams might come back. I hugged Craig like there was no tomorrow when suddenly …

“Shannon”

I looked at Craig’s face. He was still not breathing.

~Who could have called my name?~

“Shannon”

This time I looked up and found Craig standing in front of me, his spirit I mean.

“Craig?”

He smiled.

“What are you doing standing here? Go back to your body now!”

He just stood there and laughed.

“Shannon, you know I can’t do that anymore.”

Tears kept flowing from my eyes.

“Please don’t leave me, Craig. I love you.”

He smiled.

“I love you too, Shannon. And don’t worry. I won’t leave you. I’ll always be beside you.”

Then, he suddenly vanished.

I heard someone calling my name. It was my father.

“Shannon, are you okay?” he asked as he hugged me so tight.

I was still crying when he arrived. Alexander who was with him checked on Hailey who was still unconscious on the floor. He called for someone from the outside. After a few minutes, some paramedics went inside the room and helped Hailey, placing her on the stretcher. Another paramedic checked on Craig who was lying beside me. He looked at his watch and called on to his co-workers.

I heard him say, “You better call the others. This one’s dead.”

As they tried to pull him away from me, I held on him tighter.

“Shannon, you’ve got to let him go,” my father said.

When I heard him, I felt weak and just let go of Craig.