Prescient

Chapter 35

I took the shifter and smashed at the lock Michael had bolted to the cupboard door but it wasn't going to come off.

I had known that.

"Shit," I cursed and let the shift fall the floor with a clunk. The second the tool slipped from my hand something flashed before my eyes. The shifter hitting the floor, me crying out in frustration, the lock breaking apart in front of me.

I cried out, grabbing my head as a pain shot from the centre of my forehead and seemed to rebound all around my skull and before my eyes, the lock on the cupboard door seemed to explode with some invisible force.

I had a moment where I was sent back in my memories to that day at work when something had gone flying off the shelf and there was no doubt now how it had happened. It wasn't a ghost. It wasn't the apparition of Kaylah.

It was me.

I couldn't explain it and I was terrified. I looked at Noel who was staring at me, eyes wipe and mouth gaping.

"How... did you just? Can you...? You didn't tell me you could..."

"I didn't know. I never have done anything like that before."

Shaking, I stepped forward, swiped the lock out of the way with my foot, and slowly opened the door.

There she was.

Just as I saw her when the apparition of her appeared in my bathroom. Immediately I started to unwrap the bandage that was wound around her face.

The moment it was off, Kaylah looked from me to Noel, to her step-dad lying face down on the floor.

Her eyes went wide.

Her skin paled.

She opened her mouth to say something but for a moment words failed her.

Then they came.

"What have you done? You've killed my dad."

"No, he's not dead," I replied and started to untie her feet. The knots were tight and done up well.

"But he will be soon, won't he? You'll finish him off as soon as you kill me, won't you? That's why you've let me see your faces isn't it? Because you don't care. I'm dead anyway."

"We're not going to hurt you, Kaylah," I said. "We—"

"Well, what do you want with me? Why have you been keeping me here?"

"We did not kidnap you," Noel put in, gently moving me aside to have a go at untying the knots himself.

"We have to get you out of here and call the police before Michael wakes up," I added, starting on the rope tied around her hands.

"We can't just leave him here," Kaylah cried, tears now streaming down her face. "Who hurt him? Was it you two? Was there someone else? The person who took me. Did they hurt him and get away from you?"

My heart hurt.

She didn't have a clue what was going on. She had no idea it was her step-dad who took her and her love for him was blinding her from the obvious equation of two plus two right in front of her.

"We have to go, Kaylah," I said, finally getting her hands untied just moments after Noel had freed her legs. "The police will come to get Michael."

I got to my feet, offering a hand to Kaylah to help her up.

"The police? I don't understand. He needs an ambulance."

"I'm sure they'll bring one too, but we have to get out of here," Noel said. "We'll get you home safely and then your mum can call the police and the ambulance to come to get Michael."

"Kaylah, don't you see?" I said, placing my hands gently on her shoulders and looking into those lost, terrified eyes. "It was Michael who brought you here. Your step-dad was the one who kidnapped you."

"What? No, that can't be right. He would never hurt me."

"He did take you Kaylah. I'm sorry, but it's true. He wasn't planning on hurting you, he just – look, I'll explain it all to you in a moment, but first, we have to leave."

I slipped my arm around her shoulders and tried to guide her towards the door, but she didn't want to budge.

"Come on, Kaylah," I urged.

"How do I know you're not lying to me? How do I know you're not the ones who took me and now you're moving me somewhere else because Michael found us?"

"We're not lying to you, Kaylah. We're helping you," I said.

"I don't know that. I mean, who are you? How did you even find me?"

"I'll explain everything to you in the car, I promise. Just, please, come now."

Maybe it was something in my face that convinced her. Maybe something in my voice. Maybe she just figured she had no other choice.

Whatever the reason, she resigned to the situation and came with us. We went out through the front door this time, no need to use the back. Kaylah and I went ahead and Noel followed closely behind, continuously checking behind us to make sure Michael didn't get up and follow us.

Out the front, I checked the street address of the house before we left. Then once we got Kaylah to the car, we drove her halfway across the other side of town to drop her only a block away from her house.

I had explained everything to her.

Everything.

I told her all that had transpired between us and Michael; the reason why he had taken her and locked her up and then the rest had all just kind of flowed out of me. The truth. I don't know why I felt I could tell her everything, but somehow I just knew I could trust her. There was a kind of bond between us and in a way, I knew she felt that too.

After all, I'd spent the better part of the last three months dreaming of her; the better part of the last two weeks trying to figure out what happened to her.

To find her.

To save her.

"You can't tell anyone the truth about me, or Noel," I said as we pulled the car up.

I was sitting in the back seat of the car with her and now I looked her dead in the eyes, hoping she understood just how important it was we remained anonymous.

"What you need to tell your mum the moment you walk through that door, is to call the police and ambulance – send them to the address where Michael had you.

"Now, once Michael is taken care of and talks, he's going to describe us to the police. I want you to tell them you can't really remember much about us and just describe us as the opposite of how we are.

"Tell them we were both fairly tall, my hair blond, Noel's black, and that's it. You don't remember. As for the car we got you into, say it was too dark to tell the colour, just describe it as big, maybe black or dark blue."

Noel's car was a small, green sedan.

"Okay, I understand," Kaylah replied, tears were rolling down her face and I knew what was about to happen next.

She threw her arms around me. It was the second time it'd been hugged that day and once again it felt kind of nice. This one told me I was appreciated.

"Thank you," she sobbed. "Thank you so much."

"Okay, go on now Kaylah," I said, a horrid stinging in my eyes I wished wasn't there. "Get back to your mum."

She got out of the car and ran.

Down the street and around the corner, she fled back to her damn-near perfect existence and I smiled, relieved I had finally closed the Kaylah chapter of my life.

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We have reached the part where everything has all fell into place and now just a little left to go to wrap it all up. Hope you've like my story and if so please don't forget to vote on every chapter.

Ta-ta for now, but not for long!