Scream with Me

Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Danny Burwell was tall with dark brown eyes and dark black hair cut short around his head. He was in his late twenties, wore polite smiles, and dressed to impress with pants rather than jeans and tucked in shirts rather than t-shirts.  Women always liked what they saw with Danny and men always respected him.

Maryanne saw a monster, the one you feared hiding in the shadows ready to attack when you were alone, and the one that liked to play on your fears for sadistic pleasure. She stood there and felt like she couldn’t breathe as every part of her body froze. She had always liked to forget he existed and numbed her pain with drugs when that wasn’t possible. She never thought about the moment she’d see him again.

“Maryanne.” Her mother plastered on her fake smile that couldn’t hid her anger. “You’re finally home, how was school?” the older woman was trying to pretend everything was fine in front of company. How nice.

“Fine.” Her answer was automatic. “What is he doing here?” she tried to avoid looking at him but her racing heart and sickly film of sweat across her skin from fear wouldn’t allow it.

Her father stood from the couch where he had been seated next to Danny. “That isn’t any way to treat company. Danny was my best student back home and he’s come to catch up.” before the move Martin Hale had taught up and coming ministers, Danny had been one and now he was full fledged to take on the church himself.

Maryanne would’ve laughed at the insanity of it all if she hadn’t been so scared. Danny was a man of god, yeah right. “I have a lot of homework I should get to.”

“It can wait.” her mother held onto her arm. “Danny has come all this way and you two used to be pretty close if I remember correctly.” She said the words so sweetly only proving furthermore how clueless she was.

Maryanne choked back a sob and tried to hold on to her frazzled piece of strength. She opened her mouth to again find a way to get out of this when Annalise’s cry broke the silence. “No.” she whispered as her heart filled with dread.

“Who’s that?” Danny asked. “Mr. and Mrs. Hale you’ve added a new baby to the family?” his charm was easy going, he was a pro masking his true identity.

“Well yes in a way.” Her mother answered.

“Mom, no.” Maryanne looked up at the woman who had always been too naive and wished just once she could see the pain she was in.

“Nonsense dear, Danny is like family.” She patted her daughter’s arm and turned back to their guest. “The little one you hear crying is Annalise, our granddaughter. I’ll go get her and see what the fussing is about.” She dropped her hold on Maryanne.

Maryanne ran after her mother. “Mom, no. I don’t want him to see her.” she tried to reach for her child who shouldn’t have to face the evil Danny carried. “Mom please.”

“You’ve been gone for a whole day and now you’re here acting like a lunatic, what is wrong with you?”

“Please don’t do this to me.” Maryanne cried all the tears she couldn’t keep fighting. “Leave Anna with me and you go visit with Danny.” Her heart cracked painfully every time she was forced to say his name.

“Get ahold of yourself.” She chastised before leaving the room with Annalise in her arms.

Maryanne wiped her cheeks as she ran after her mother again, there was no way she was leaving her daughter alone with the three of them. No way in hell. She came up behind her mother quick enough to grab Annalise before she could be stopped. “I’ll hold her.”

Mrs. Hale shook her head and continued back into the living room with her hostess smile. “Here’s the latest addiction to our beautiful family.”

Those chipper words made Maryanne sick to her stomach, she held Annalise closer and hoped the little girl would fall back to sleep and wake when this nightmare was over. “She’s been feeling sick, I’m going to lay her back down.” With Anna in her arms no one could try to stop her. “Oh baby I’m so sorry.” She tearfully whispered as they stepped back into the nursery. “I don’t know what I’m going to do.” She wanted to run back to her crutch but she was sane enough to know that wasn’t the answer. Getting back on drugs would only hurt the plans Maryanne had promised her daughter. Now matter what she had to stay focused or forever be stuck in this cursed existence.

She laid the sleeping child back in her crib and tried to come up with a solution. She knew they were going to invite Danny to stay for dinner if they hadn’t already. She also knew she wasn’t strong enough to sit through that without cracking at her fragile seems already stretched too thin.  

“Maryanne.”

She kept her body blocking the crib to protect her daughter. “What are you doing here?”

“Your parents told me how strange you’ve been acting so I offered to come and talk to you.” he shut the door behind him.

Maryanne felt the walls starting to close in as her fear grew into a thick air trying to suffocate the small breaths she could take.  “There’s nothing to say.”

He stepped closer. “She’s mine isn’t she?” he motioned to the sleeping child.

“Stay away from her.” she was terrified but even so she was going to fight for her child. There was no way she was going to let Danny touch her.

“Relax, you don’t want to wake her do you?” He grabbed her by the arms quickly after taking the last step to where she stood blocking his way. “I’ve missed you.”

Maryanne focused on Annalise’s bear on the floor and tried to stay in this moment. She couldn’t let herself remember because that would send her down a dark path she was trying so hard to veer from.

“Look at me.” he pinned her against the wall and flattened his body across hers to get a reaction. “You’re not going to keep me out of my child’s life. I’m going to tell your parents and their going to want us to do the right thing. You know what that is right? We’ll get married and raise Annalise in a two parent home.” he believed all the delusional horrors coming from his mouth.

“Don’t say her name. She’s not yours, she’ll never be yours.” Her endless tears fell free but even so she vowed to be strong and fight even if it had never worked in the past she couldn’t stand by and let him win without some fight.

His grip across her wrists tightened hard enough to snap the bone if she moved the wrong way. “You’re mine and always will be. I saw her eyes and I know how old she is, she looks like the both of us.”

“You can’t tell them because then you’ll have to confess to getting me pregnant at fourteen. You can never atone for that.” Maryanne took a small glimmer of satisfaction in telling him that.

“Haven’t you learned already I always get what I want? I came back here for you and our daughter is an added bonus.”

“No.” she cried as he head raced with a way out of this. She did know very well he always got his way and if she didn’t find a way out of this she and Anna would both be doomed. “Let me go.”

“Your mom is worried about making some perfect dinner and your dad is always trying too hard to impress. No one is going to come save you.”