Cabin Fever | ✓

(26) Predator And Prey

Triple Update: If your notification took you here, go back to start at Chapter 24

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Marley shot from the couch like it was on fire, her phone clattering from her hands to the ground. With blurry eyes she dove for it with shaking hands, sprawled out on the hardwood floor with her head spinning.

"...a call request from inmate number...356891...Bob Hoover..."

Dad?

She was nearly hyperventilating, heaving for breaths as she held her phone with whitened fingers, trying to figure out how to feel, what to do.

Marley could hear the robotic female voice repeating the message again even with her ringing ears, as she stared at the numbers climbing on the call duration time numbly. After all this time of being behind bars, since the day she left camp, he's calling now?

What if it's an emergency?

What if he's going to mess with your head again?

If you don't answer now, he may never call again.

Don't give him the time of day.

He's going to be in jail for a long time, Marley. You can hang up anytime you want and that's that.

But what could he possibly want other than to be malicious?

This is his last chance to redeem himself, maybe he's trying to.

This is also his last chance to twist the knife.

Do it, Marley. Answer the phone.

Don't.

Do it.

Don't do it, Marley.

What's the real harm if you do?

She cried out in frustration and pressed the star key, shoving her phone to her ear while she curled up in a ball, hugging herself as tightly as she could - right there on the living room floor - as the buzzing sound of the line connecting ensued.

Her nails dug into her thigh as she waited with her stomach turning painfully.

The ringing stopped.

"I didn't think you'd answer, honey."

She exhaled shakily, her eyes closing as his voice hit her like a truck, after so long without hearing it, "Hi, Dad," she whispered.

"Nice way to greet your old man. My sincerest apologies for your car, it really wasn't my intention."

She bit her lower lip until it bled, "It's okay."

"Good. Well I'm locked up for now, probably a while. I've been told the house is still up and running. Your pig friend have a hand in that?"

She blinked her eyes at the ceiling so no tears would fall, "Yes. I n-need a place to stay when I'm done here."

"All alone in our neighbourhood? Sweetheart. You know there's a lot that goes bump in the night around here."

"What-what do you want?" She croaked tiredly, so drained after a few sentences.

"Just to see how you're doing. I think about you all the time, Marley. About how we used to be before you went off to that camp."

Predator and prey?

"Oh. Okay," she whispered, picking at the fabric of her jeans.

Her father's chuckle into the line made her shudder, "Why don't we just cut to the chase? I need money."