Little Red

SIXTY TWO

Later at night, as Mikey was fast asleep beside her, Dani carefully wiggled herself out of his arms and put on one of his shirts before walking over to the door that led to the backyard. Turning her head over her shoulder, a breath of relief left her mouth to see him still asleep as she unlocked the door to walk outside. Sitting on one of the lounge chairs once she'd walked over to them, Dani sighed again and leaned back to look up at the night sky.

"Um...Hi Mr.B. Hi, Grandma Neenie. I um...I haven't really done this in a while so, you'll have to forgive me if I'm a bit rusty," she said with a small laugh and looked down at her fingers. "I miss you guys...like a lot, and I thought it'd be enough when I said goodbye, but...it's not...and it never will be."

A lone tear fell down her cheek before she wiped it away and exhaled deeply.

"I feel...lost...and scared. Two things I haven't felt since I was ten years old. Everyone wants me to tell them what's happening, but I feel like I can't because I can't even explain it to myself," she shook her head, "I thought that with Henry finally out of our lives, everything would get better again...but it just feels like everything is getting worse. I have this stupid claw mark on my side. I can't sleep anymore. I can't eat...I can feel my body slowly giving out because of it, and to top it all off...I can hear him. I feel him all around me, but I can't see him, and that's what scares me the most.

To know that he's always there. That he's always watching...I keep trying to tell myself that it's all in my head, you know? But how can it be in my head if Frankie is saying he's seen him in his closet, and my dad is having the same exact nightmares that I'm having? It doesn't make any sense..."

Dani shook her head again as tears began to form in her eyes.

"And I don't want to cry about it because crying does nothing but spur him on. It makes him feel feared, and I don't want to give him the satisfaction of that."

A sudden bout of coldness then caused Dani to shiver and look around with a frown to see that no tree leaves were moving, and her eyes narrowed as she shivered again before she brought her knees up to her chest and closed her eyes to calm herself down.

"You can't leave me alone for one second, can you?" she asked and opened her eyes, only to gasp in shock as Henry Wolff sat right in front of her.

"No. I'm afraid not, my Little Red," the man said with a smirk.

Dani's eyes widened at the sight of him as her heartbeat began to increase before she frantically turned her head around to the bedroom door, and the feeling of a hand on her leg immediately caused her to tense up.

"I'm afraid your precious lover boy is still asleep...and besides, this is our time now, Little Red."

Slowly, Dani turned her head around to face him as her chest moved at a rapid pace.

A pout formed on Henry's lips as he noticed the movement and said, "Oh no, no, no, my little beauty. I'm not here to hurt you."

"Then why...are you here?" Dani asked as she tried to get her breathing under control. "What did you do to my body in the hospital?! You had my family terrified!!"

"Well, considering what I saw tonight, I'd say one person was less worried than most," Henry said with a smirk.

Dani's eyebrows furrowed at his words before her features fell as she mumbled, "You didn't..."

"Oh, I did," Henry said in amusement. "You are quite the lover, Little Red. I can see why he's so addicted to you. Though I will admit, I am a bit jealous..."