We were asleep in the recliner beside Emily's hospital bed. Eden slept on top of me, curled in my lap. I held her as she cried in my arms. Emily woke screaming because of the pain and a nurse rushed in and gave her a shot of something through her IV that instantly calmed her. Nurses popped in and out of the room every few hours to check Emily's vitals and to give her more pain medication.
Easton and Elizabeth arrived around six thirty A.M. Their arrival came with a flurry of activity. Eden's parents brought Hollywood glamour to the small town of Ravenwood. Easton and Elizabeth will never be without designer labels and luxury. Casual attire doesn't exist to them. The only thing casual about Easton's tailored charcoal gray Armani suit is the missing tie. His salt and pepper hair curls away from his chiseled face and the platinum Cartier watch gleaming around his wrist is worth half the nurse's yearly salary. Elizabeth has on an emerald green Prada dress. She's draped in a thick black shiny fur coat and there's a web of glittering diamonds around her throat. They wrapped me and Eden in a massive hug. I was expecting them to smell like champagne and caviar and saltwater from yachting on the Mediterranean. They didn't. They smelt warm and clean and familiar. Elizabeth kissed Emily's cheek and Easton held Emily's hand. They had a team of bodyguards. Easton assigned everyone at least one personal bodyguard. I had to talk him down to none for me. He only accepted because he didn't want to argue in front of his daughters.
It's midafternoon when Emily's eyes flutter open. She coughs and groans. Everyone perches up. Elizabeth and Eden rush over to her bedside while Easton and I hang back.
"Do you need more pain medicine?" Eden asks.
Elizabeth grabs Emily's hospital bed remote and presses the button for the nurse. "Let's get the nurse in here."
Emily blinks. She rubs at her eyes and stares down at the IVs in her arm. "Did Abel survive?"
"Yes," Eden says. "His room is right next to yours."
Emily's blue eyes swell with tears. "I want to see him."
"Alright, honey," Elizabeth says.
A nurse comes in and checks her vitals. Dr. Camilla comes in next with her mint green scrubs and stethoscope curled around her neck.
She smiles at Emily, flashing white teeth against rich brown skin. "It's good to see you up. How are you feeling?"
"I hurt everywhere. When can I see Abel?"
"You will see him soon. On a scale from one through ten, how bad is your pain level with ten being the absolute worst."
Emily trembles. "I want to see Abel."
"Calm down, sweetie," Elizabeth says, brushing Emily's hair away from her face.
Eden wipes at Emily's cheeks with Kleenex. "He's sleeping, Emily. When he wakes I'll make sure you see him."
Emily nods at her sister.
"I'll make sure you see Abel as well," Dr. Camilla says. "He's recovering just as much as you are. You both are very lucky to be alive. You and Abel were hemorrhaging when the medics brought you in. You lost a lot of blood."
Easton's jaw clenches "What did that freak do to her?"
"She was stabbed in her right shoulder, left forearm, and right thigh. There were lacerations on her radial artery and femoral artery. I went in and sutured both arteries closed. It's a miracle that both arteries weren't completely destroyed. She has no nerve damage. But recovery may take a while. Now back to my question. On a scale from one to ten how bad is your pain?"
Emily's head falls back against the pillows. Her gaze goes distant. "Ten."
"We're going to get you some more Dilaudid and it's going to make you drowsy and sleepy. You're probably going to sleep. But before I give it to you, do you think you can talk to the detectives? Do you think you can answer a few questions for them?"
Emily nods.
"They're on the way," Dr. Camilla says. A nurse hands the doctor Emily's chart. "Do you think you can manage some food?"
"I'm not hungry," Emily mumbles.
"We can start you off with something light. Do you like Jell-O?"
Emily nods.
The doctor scribbles something on Emily's chart. "I'll have the nurse bring you Jell-O and more liquids."
Dr. Camilla goes into detail about how to take care of her wounds and daily recovery. The nurse brings Emily a strawberry Jell-O cup and a plastic spoon.
The detectives come through the door and they introduce themselves to Emily. They ask for consent to record. Emily agrees.
"We need your help, Emily," Rain says. "What do you remember from the night of the attack?"
"It started off great," Emily says. "Abel took me to the amusement park. We had fun. We rode the carousel, ate funnel cakes and corndogs, and talked a lot. We went to his cabin. I was relaxing in his bedroom when I heard a crash and a gun shot and a scream. I got out of bed and walked up the hallway." She pauses and briefly shuts her eyes. "A person wearing a clown mask was standing above Abel. Abel was shot in his chest and he was bleeding. I grabbed my cell phone off the mantel and ran back to Abel's bedroom. I called nine-one-one and locked the door and went inside the bathroom, locking that door too. I opened the bathroom window and escaped." She inhales but bursts into tears. "I left Abel there with that monster. I shouldn't have left him."
Eden and Elizabeth comfort Emily with pats and hugs until she calms down and finishes her statement. "I ran into the woods. I found a hallow in a tree and hid there."
My hands fist. I have to force my fingers to uncurl. I can't believe they went through that horror.
"My phone died. I tried to keep quiet but I saw that clown searching for me through the trees. He was getting closer and closer. I was so scared. I cried. He heard me and I ran. He chased me through the woods. I came out of the clearing and saw a car at a red light. There was a little boy in the backseat. He saw me but his parents didn't. They were arguing and the music was blasting out of the speakers. I screamed but they couldn't hear me. The little boy tried to tell his mother but she ignored him. I was so tired. I tried to limp to their car but the light turned green and the car took off. I was shoved back into the woods by the man wearing the clown mask. He pushed me to the ground and we fought. He had a knife. A butcher knife. He stabbed me. I screamed and fought some more. He wanted to slit my throat but I fought him. He stabbed me again and again. I passed out from the sheer pain of it all and woke to him crying and cuddling me. He tossed the knife and held me. He called me pretty doll while he was rocking me."
Easton looks away and shakes his head. There are tears in his blue eyes.
"He told me that he didn't want to kill me but he lost his temper because he was upset that I was with Abel. I heard sirens and he ran off."
"We're sorry this happened," Darrius says. "We're going to do everything in our power to catch the culprit. Do you remember any specifics about the man that assaulted you?"
"Like height, weight, race, eye color and hair color," Rain clarifies.
"He's taller than me. Maybe five-ten. He was slim but muscular and strong. It was dark and his identity was hidden by a clown mask. He was dressed from head to toe in black. I couldn't tell his race or eye color nor hair color. All that stands out is that creepy clown mask and the butcher knife."
Eden and Elizabeth continue to pat her.
"Do you remember any specifics about the clown mask?" Rain asks.
"It was an evil clown rubber latex mask, but the mask didn't have any outrageous hair attached to it. The face of the clown was painted white. The clown's face had wrinkles. The nose was big and red so was the hellish smiling mouth. It wasn't like an ordinary Halloween clown mask. The mask didn't have any whacky features. It was plain and terrifying."
Detective Darrius stops the recorder. "Thank you, Emily. You've been brave and strong through this process."
She stares at him with haunted eyes. "I shouldn't have left Abel."
"You got away and called for help," Rain says. "You both would've been dead if you stayed. You did the right thing."
"Don't be hard on yourself," Darrius says. "You and Abel will survive this."
***
Ella and her husband Bobby and her four year old son Brant are in Ravenwood by seven pm. Eden and her parents and I decide to let Ella and her family stay with Emily for a while. We have a big family and it's only fair to take turns staying with Emily. All of us couldn't stay cramped in her hospital room. We walk past the police and guards standing at Abel's and Emily's room door. There are reporters and cameras outside of the hospital's entrance. We're led out the back exit. We dash into a black SUV that's waiting by the curb. A matching SUV full of bodyguards trail behind us.
"There are so many reporters and people outside," Eden says. "It's starting to feel like the California Circus I left behind. I don't like this."
"It's not going to be like this forever," I say.
"We're going to leave California in California," Easton says. He checks the time on his wristwatch. "You both are coming home with us. You're going to shower, eat a proper meal, and get some sleep."
"I have a home in Ravenwood," Eden says, frowning. "I don't need to go to that ice mansion. There's no need."
"There is a need, Eden," Elizabeth says. "It's not safe and the person that harmed Emily and Abel is still out there."
Easton's face hardens, every line and crease etched with frustration. "My children's safety is my number one concern. I don't care that you dislike the luxury of our home here. Our home is well equipped to keep everyone that occupies it safe. You and Angel will stay with us while the detectives do their job. I don't want to hear another word about it, Eden."
Eden shuts her mouth and shakes her head. She stares out the darkly tinted windows as we leave the hospital and reporters behind in the rearview.
The SUV slows and comes to a rest at the massive black iron gate. Beyond the gate is the Jolie Fleur Estate—a colossal French chateau mansion built in 1916. The Estate would've been a museum if the Willmores didn't purchase the historic home in the eighties. This is where Easton and Elizabeth lived during Marilyn's pregnancy. We each have our own luxurious room in this twenty bedroom estate. This house doesn't exactly feel like a home. Everything is too opulent, shiny, and cold. It does feel like a museum for the extravagant and we are the ceramic figurines on display.
The gate splits open and we drive down the long driveway and reach the courtyard with a three tier stone fountain in the center.
"Get inside and take a hot bath, Eden," Elizabeth says, looking over at her daughter. "After your bath come down for dinner. Chef Dawson is fixing your favorite: shrimp scampi and lobster rolls."
"We will see you both inside," Easton says. It sounds like a grave demand to be followed. The sharp angles of his face are severer under the glow of the moon.
Easton and Elizabeth make their way up the stone stairs and through the heavy wrought iron doors, disappearing into the mansion. Their bulky guards quietly following behind. If Elizabeth were to throw her fur coat on the ground and toss off her diamond necklace I'm sure someone would be assigned a job to specifically pick them up.
"I don't want to stay here," Eden says, staring straight ahead.
"We'll be safe here."
She gazes at the mammoth house. "I'm not so sure."
Eden grips my hand as we enter inside the white marble foyer. There are white marble columns, white marble statues, and white marble floors. We come upon a grand curving staircase that ascends to the balconied second floor.
Eden squeezes my hand as she stares up at the large dazzling crystal chandelier. It's lit with a ton of lights and sparking crystals. "Don't let me lose myself in all of this grandeur."
"Being with Easton and Elizabeth is like eating fine chocolate. Everything's sweet and decadent. Everything's rich and luxurious. I find the positives of being around them nowadays. Basking in negativity serves no one."
"But sweet chocolates can rot your teeth and give you stomach aches."
I squeeze her hand back. "I won't let you fall down the rabbit hole."
"I've already fallen. I just ask that you fall too and pull me out."