Little Red

SEVENTY

Pulling up to her grandmother's house, Dani parked the cruiser a little ways away from the home as to not bring attention to Alice and notify her of her presence. Dani pulled out her phone to text John and inform him of why the car had stopped before she sent a quick text to her parents and brother to let them know that she was okay and got out of the car. As soon as her foot touched the ground, Dani immediately had to grab onto the door to stop herself from falling as she was hit with an instant wave of dizziness.

You will not win again, Little Red!

Her jaw clenched as Henry's voice suddenly filled her head.

"Get out of my head!" she said through gritted teeth while forcing herself to stand up straight.

A short cry then left her mouth as the dizziness increased, and she fell back against the truck as her body felt completely weakened. "Stop it!!" she shouted. "Leave me alone!!"

This is not a battle you want to fight, Little Red!!

"You won't take him from me," Dani mumbled as she again forced herself up and pushed against the truck to walk towards the house. "Fight it, Dani...He needs you to fight. You have to fight it!!"

Staggering up to the front door, Dani's discomfort was quickly replaced by uneasiness as she paused in front of it.

She hadn't been back to the house since the night Henry had been released from prison.

Her eyes glossed over with unshed tears as they scanned over the memorials that still stood in the front yard, and blinking them away, Dani slowly raised her hand before hesitating just as her fingers brushed over the knob. A surprised gasp left her mouth, however, as a loud shout suddenly came from inside the house followed by a thump, and her eyes widened as she had quickly recognized the voice to belong to Mikey.

She had been right.

Without a second thought, Dani's expression darkened as she leaned back and kicked the door open. Slowly, she stepped inside and let her fingers trail over the light switch before sadness took over her as she realized that it wouldn't work.

No one lived in the home anymore.

Using her memory as guidance, Dani carefully took a step forward into the living room and threw her arms out as extra help.

And against her better judgment, she shouted out, "Alice!!" as her hands brushed against the wall of the house, "I know you're here, you conniving little bitch!! Come out and face me!!"

A surprised yelp then slipped past the girl's lips as a hand suddenly grabbed onto hers before she was yanked into the person's arms, and figuring it to be Alice, Dani quickly threw her elbow back to hit them in the stomach.

And the sound of a male grunt instead of a female one from behind her caused her eyes to widen as she turned around in his arms.

"Mikey?!"

"Shh," Mikey whispered back before Dani was pulled into a room.

Though it was weakened due to the darkness of the house, her eyesight could just barely make out Mikey's silhouette as he closed the door behind them and turned around. Relief flooded through Dani's features as the moonlight from the window shone in on his face.

"Mikey!!" she said with a soft sob while throwing her arms around him.

Mikey immediately responded with a tight grip on Dani's back as he buried his head into her shoulder and said, "Dans...you're okay."

Another soft sob left Dani's mouth at the sound of his voice before she pulled back to capture his lips in hers. "I'm so sorry," she said. "I'm so sorry baby, I'm sorry."