Cast The Die

Chapter Twenty-Eight

"Your Dad handed the money over" Cole said, putting his phone in his pocket and sitting back down on the sofa. "Your parents are at home. Jen and her parents are fine and so is your boyfriend" Boyfriend?

"I don't have a boyfriend" I said, confused. "Jacob's not my boyfriend"

"Okay" he said. I can't believe he gave them the money. Does this mean it's over? Even if it is and I'm allowed to go home, do I really want to? Nothing will be the same anymore. Did my Mum know about it the entire time? Is that why they were getting a divorce? How long has it been going on for? It's now Thursday evening which means I've been gone nearly a week, I'm technically a missing person. I miss my friends, I miss my parents, I miss going to school. I'll never have a normal life again once this is over, the whole town will know about my Dad, it'll be on the News and people will throw eggs at our house. My Dad, William Davis, the lawyer and the drug dealer. Maybe I should run away, get on a plane and never come back, start a new life away from everyone and everything I've ever known. I can't leave my Mum behind, or Jen. Jen would know exactly what to do right now, she always knows what to do.

It's 9pm, despite how much sleep I've been getting recently, I'm surprisingly tired. Perhaps it's all the new information my brain has consumed in the last hour, I need to sleep and think in the morning with a clear head. I need to pull myself together first, I can't have a panic attack every time I'm alone.

"You should get some rest" he said. "I'll take the bedroom on the left opposite the bathroom, you can have the en suite" he started walking towards the stairs and I followed. He flicked a switch and the stairs lit up, the downstairs lights went off and I started to panic. It's happening again, I reach for the bannister and take a deep breath, when I look down the hallway there's someone sat on the sofa. The silhouette starts to move, getting closer to the stairs. I feel like I'm choking and the pain in my chest returns for the second time today. He's getting closer, I can see his bald head, I can see the bullet hole above the root of his nose, blood trickling down his face and onto the floor. I close my eyes. This is not real, this is not real, this is not real. I open my eyes and he's there. I can feel his breath on my face, I can smell the blood dripping from his wound, he brings a gun to my head and my body starts shaking.

"Macey!" Cole shouted. "Macey!" he's shaking my shoulders. The man is no longer there and I'm crying, again. "What the hell happened? You were just staring into space; you weren't even blinking!" I don't want him to think I'm crazy. Maybe I am crazy.

"I'm okay. I thought I heard something" I lied. Am I going crazy?

"You're not okay. You can't be okay after what you just went through" he said.

"I said I'm fine" I snapped and turned to walk up the stairs.