The Last One Home

Part 14

Lana wished she knew what the grinning man planned to do with her and her mother. The man was capable of murder as he had proven when the shots rang out. So why not just kill them as well?

He had come in and out of the room multiple times. He always moved with a purpose, but never said a word. Both women screamed when he suddenly grabbed Mrs. Landon by the arms and forced her out of the room. Lana could hear both sets of footsteps descending the stairs. Her mother fought him the entire way.

Lana thrashed in her restraints, hoping by some miracle that they would let go. They held fast and she only succeeded in tearing the skin at her wrists. Biting her lip, she whimpered with fear. A wave of sickness snaked into her belly and a crushing weight situated itself over her sternum. With tears in her eyes she wondered if this would be the last time she would see her mother alive. 

Lana was still thinking about her mother when she heard the voices downstairs. They were muffled but she was certain that her mother was one of them. Was her mother talking to the grinning man?

Brimming with hope, Lana wondered if her mother would be able to reason with the man. Maybe he hadn't just come to kill them. Maybe there was a way out of this.

The voices downstairs began to rise in pitch. It sounded as if someone was getting angry. Now both voices were shouting. There was a dull thud. The scrape of chairs on the floor. Then nothing.

Lana craned her neck listening intently. Still no sound. The muscles in her neck began to tremble. It was as if she might be able to hear better if she got a centimeter closer to her mother.

She willed herself to hear her mother's voice, or her light footsteps ascending the stairs but nothing ever came. She wouldn't accept that this was it. Maybe her mother had just been knocked out? Maybe she was being held at gunpoint and didn't dare say a word. Regardless, she would see her again.

Lana clung to that shred of hope. She knew that if she didn't, she may as well just give up. Just keel over now instead of waiting for the grinning man to do it. So she clung to that hope and the miniscule comfort that it brought. Right now it was all she had.