Scream with Me

Chapter 23

Chapter 23

All of the revelations, lack of support, and all the anger suddenly didn’t matter to Maryanne anymore. She had to get her daughter out of the house before Danny killed them all.

Jensen moved to the window and opened it. “We have to move fast before the fire races up here to feed on the fresh air.” He was coughing around every word. The smoke filled the nursery to the ceiling and it was getting harder to see through it.

Maryanne’s father took her arm. “You first and then we’ll pass Anna over to you.”

For a split second, all she was allowed during this harrowing time, she stared at her father’s face and silently thanked him for finally being on her side. Before the smoke filled the room it looked like he was starting to believe in her too.

Remembering how she escaped from the room the last time, Maryanne grabbed Annalise’s car seat and strapped her in. “I got her.” She yelled over the nearing fire trucks. Thankfully a neighbor must’ve noticed the smoke too.

Safe from the flames Maryanne sat the car seat down and watched as her mother maneuvered out of the window next onto the lower hanging roof of the garage and down the gutter. Jensen was next and the second his foot reached the grass she was running toward him and into his arms.

“I don’t know what I would’ve done if you weren’t here tonight.”

“I got you and I’m not letting anything happen to you ever again.”

Maryanne cried into his shoulder and surrendered to his strong embrace. She mindlessly heard a fireman asking her father is everyone was out of the house. He answered yes and the firemen moved quickly to get the fire put out. Out of the corner of her eye she could see how high the flames were reaching the sky. There wasn’t going to be anything left.

It was hours later when the excitement died down. The neighbors went back to their homes and the cops finished taking everyone’s statements. The police department was made aware of Danny’s personal vendetta and how he set the fire.

The facts were too black and white for her parents to try and deny them and when the fire investigator confirmed the fire was deliberate they also gave up Danny’s name.  

“I can’t believe he was capable of this.” said Mrs. Hale, shaking her head and clasping her hand around her mouth.

Maryanne sat on the grass with Annalise in her lap. “You didn’t want to see it.”

“You’re right.” Her father interrupted. “It’s not easy for a person to admit defeat and admit when they are wrong about something that means a world of difference for the worst. It was easier to create plausible lies to stuff away the truth for your mother and we can’t blame her for being human.” He took a deep breath, when it exhaled his shoulders fell and he looked old and tired. “You should’ve told me the truth, Maryanne.”   

“You wouldn’t have believed me.”

“We’ll never know because you never gave me the chance. You saw me as the stubborn ogre you needed to hide from. I did love Danny but I’ve always loved you more. You painted me as the fool and the bad guy when I didn’t have any of the facts. I was told you and Danny gave into a moment of weakness and it was time to make that right in the Lord’s eyes.” He was furious, at her and mostly at himself.

“You saw I wasn’t happy. I didn’t want to marry him!” It was only hours earlier but it felt like a lifetime that her parents demanded that she do the right thing by Annalise and marry Danny. She hadn’t said any vows and she had barely said I do.

“I thought you were scared and that it was perfectly normal. I swear it on the Holy Bible I never suspect the abuse or drug use.”

Maryanne looked away from her father’s tearful eyes. He was right; she hadn’t given him a chance. When her mother didn’t believe her everything inside Maryanne’s world shut down and until Jensen she wasn’t sure she could ever let someone back in. After so many years of hiding in plain sight it was a relief to have the truth out in the open but it was also numbing. She didn’t know what she was supposed to do now. Admit she was wrong? Well that was obvious. If she could go back in time she would’ve fought harder to reveal the truth and confide in her father. She certainly wouldn’t have turned to drugs but back then painfully young and lost; the drugs were her perfect escape.

It was Jensen who broke the stilled silence between the Hale family. “It’s been a long night. We should get out of here and let the cops and firemen finish their work.”

“I spoke to the Dillard’s and they have a spare room they can lend us until we can make better arrangements.” Her father explained of their neighbors. The Dillard’s were an elderly couple with all their children grown and living on their own.

Jensen reached for Maryanne’s hand and helped her and Annalise off the grass. “No disrespect, Mr. Hale, but I’m taking them home with me. I need to make sure they are safe.” He stopped short of adding that her parents were part of the problem and put them all in harm’s way.

Her father’s first instinct was to get angry, his shoulders tensed and his mouth opened to reprehend Jensen only to stop short of doing so. There was no point to argue. Jensen wasn’t the bad guy they wanted to paint him as all because he looked different, he wasn’t the threat they should’ve been watching out for.

“Do you know the Dillard’s number?” her father asked in a soft voice, all the fight out of his system.

“Yes, sir.” The Dillard’s never changed their number and over the summer Maryanne had helped them out with household projects.

“When you’re rested and ready call us. We still have a lot to discuss.” It wasn’t a conversation any of them wanted to continue. It was ugly and painful yet necessary.

Maryanne agreed to her father’s terms and then glanced at her mother who was holding her arms cross around her middle and facing the street. The gap between them was still too big and looking at her now Maryanne couldn’t think of a thing to say. It wasn’t her job to try and make this easier. Trying to ease her parents concerns only got her into trouble in the past and this time around she wasn’t going to do it. This time her mother and father needed to figure out how to ease her concerns, her fears. It was their job.

She interlaced her fingers with Jensen’s waiting hand and together with Annalise in her arms they walked away.

Driving away from the house and the real nightmare of the last several hours Maryanne felt like she could breathe again. “I want to believe it’s finally over.” Four years of hell in which she never thought there’d be a way out. She was starting to believe in hope again, in some form of light at the end of the tunnel.

Jensen reached for her hand and held it tight while he drove with his other one. “I hear a but in there.”

“But,” she let out a long sigh and glanced at Annalise playing with her foot in the back seat. “he’s still out there.”

“He’s powerless, Mary. Your parents know the truth and the cops are looking for him. He can’t hurt you anymore.”

“After everything I’d be crazy to think he’s powerless. He’s out there and he’s planning something.”  

“Then we’ll be ready for it. I meant what I said, you’re not leaving my sight and neither is Annalise. We’re stronger than him and I need you to remember that.”

Maryanne’s eyes glossed and she closed them in hopes of stopping the tears. “You were right, I needed to tell my parents everything for them to finally listen but I wish you didn’t have to hear it all too.” As adrenaline ran out and the emotional turmoil of the night started to ease she was reminded of all the other details left unnoticed earlier, like Jensen standing in the room when she went into detail about the horrors Danny did to her.

Jensen sighed. “I don’t know how many other ways to say it. There’s nothing that’s going to change how I feel about you, nothing. I’m in love with you.”