I neatly folded the last of my T-shirts and handed it to Kason who was sitting on my bed beside my suitcase. He neatly placed it in my bag for me. "I think that's the last of it," I told him, looking around for any of my things that I could have missed. "All that's left is things I'll use before leaving." He breathed with a single nod before zipping up my luggage.
A knock sounded on my bedroom door, making us both look up. Hazel stood there, looking nervous as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Can I talk to you Delilah?" she asked, looking between me and my boyfriend. "Alone."
I slipped her a kind smile, nodding, and glancing at Kason. He must have read my mind because he stood up from the bed to leave. "I'll see you in the morning, Babe," he spoke, gently pulling my head to him before he kissed my forehead. "Sleep well." We shared a loving smile before he walked past Hazel and out of the room.
Turning around, I grabbed my suitcases and moved them to the carpeted floor before climbing on my comforter and patting the space in front of me. My friend walked further into my room and sat down with me, anxiously fumbling with her fingers. For a long moment, I just stared at her as she blankly looked at her thumbs, gathering her thoughts, I presumed. "Why did you ask me about Macy?" she finally asked.
I leaned back into my pillow, biting my lip. "I was getting bad vibes from your brother," I admitted honestly, realizing that if her opinion about me changed, it didn't really matter because I was leaving with my original squad in the morning anyway. "Your mom told me about her disappearance and Sam had been acting really weird, so I was just wanting explanations, I guess..." She nodded once, still not looking up at me. "I'm sorry," I added, "I realize it's none of my business, and I know he's your brother...he just gives me the creeps." A nervous, guilty chuckle escaped my throat.
Hazel sighed loudly and pursed her lips. She truly was pretty with her long brown hair and brown eyes, and mocha freckles varying dots on her smooth skin. All I could do was stare at her as I waited for a response, hoping she wasn't offended by me priding into their lives. Being nosy was just a trait of mine. "You have every right to think that," she commented. I didn't know how to respond to that. A little bit of relief relaxed me. "He acted too normal after Macy disappeared...It's like she never existed. He took down every picture and got rid of all her stuff that was left here."
Tears prickled the bottom of her small brown eyes. Her chest rose and fell as she controlled her incoming emotions. "Hazel?" I asked softly. "Are you okay?" Something was off. Something felt weird. What was happening? What was she thinking?
It was only a short moment before she began talking again. "One night, I was sitting on my bed and heard shouting coming from Sam's room. I stood out in the hall and listened." The girl looked up at me and met my eyes. "Macy and Sam never fought," she informed me. "If they did, it was never witnessed. But this was bad. They were both shouting—and Macy was normally quiet and soft-spoken—she never yelled or got angry...I didn't hear the beginning, but she was accusing him of something.
"She was screaming at him and calling him a 'jerk' and a 'liar'. He told her to 'shut up' before she would say something that he could never forgive." Hazel delivered a quick sad smile before swallowing the lump in her throat. "...she didn't...She kept saying her family left because of him and everything that had happened to her was his fault. He just kept yelling at her to shut up...And she broke up with him...she said she was done with his crap and his issues, and she was leaving. I overheard him say that if she left this house then she'd never live to see another day of her life..." She looked back down at her fumbling thumbs, sniffling before wiping her nose with her hoodie sleeve. "She left." Her red eyes connected with mine, filled with horror and regret. "And Macy was never heard from again."
A boulder weighed down my chest as my heart pounded rapidly beneath it, trying to knock it off. "Do you think he?..." I couldn't finish the sentence.
Her shoulders bumped up and down once before she hesitated and nodded. "I didn't want to believe it so I never said a word to anyone. He's my brother, I love him, I don't want him going to jail. And my parents—I didn't want to have to tell them that I think he killed her—I don't even know if they would have believed me," she rambled. "So, I kept my mouth shut to protect him. I mean I never had any evidence or anything anyway, but my gut feeling told me that Sam killed, or hurt her, or something...But I had ignored that gut feeling."
"That's why you told me to always follow my gut feeling," I realized.
She nodded. "Because now it's too late for me to do anything about Macy. It's been over a year since she's been gone."
I shook my head immediately after her words. "You could still go to the police," I assured her. "You could still tell them what happened that night so long ago."
Hazel's brown eyebrows scrunched together, my words clearly taking her by surprise. "But would it make a difference?"
"Yes," I assured her.
"But it's too late for there to be any evidence."
"Hazel, that is evidence. Whether it's enough to lock him up, I honestly don't know, but it's definitely enough to reopen the investigation."
Her watery eyes shined with a little more hope. "Really?"
Grabbing both of her hands in mine, I nodded, making sure she was looking me in the eyes. "Yes."
Tears started streaming from her eyes and a sob escaped her throat. The next thing I know, she released my hands and throws her arms around me. She held onto me tightly. "This has been on my conscious for so long," she cried.
My lips tightened to a sad smile as she pulled away from me and wiped her eyes. "I'll talk to Daniel about it tomorrow," I decided. "He could give you someone to talk to in order to get it all handled."
A smile spread her cheeks as a weight visibly lifted off her shoulders. I'd never seen someone so relieved about something. "Thank you." Helping her with this made me feel so good. I loved the feeling of helping people. Maybe that's something that I could strive after for a career.
#
The dream started the same way it had the last time. Sam stabbed a knife into Macy's chest. She stared at him in shock. He twisted the knife. "I hope you forgive me, Darling." His words echoed as he lowered her to the floor. Her body and face morphed into me. Soon enough, it was me lying on the bloody, cement floor in front of him. "Forgive me Darling...Forgive me, Delilah," his echo changed. "Forgive me, Delilah; forgive me; forgive me..."
I jerked awake in a snap. Pure darkness enveloped me. I couldn't see a thing. For a long moment, I just laid there and took deep breaths. Why in the world did I keep having that dream? At least now I pretty much knew that Sam Piper played a hand in Macy's death. Another thought occurred to me. Why were my curtains closed? It was so dark I couldn't make out a single object. Every night I always left them open so starlight would enter the room, so I could see a little in case I needed to get up in the middle of the night.
There was a small weight on the side of my bed. Was I still dreaming? Maybe half asleep? I started to sit up and lean toward where I knew my nightstand was with a lamp on it. But before I could get to the light's chain to turn it on, a hand was clamped over my mouth and suddenly someone was on top of me.
I tried to scream but the person's palm was clamped over my lips tightly. My limbs flailed and I struggled against the person above me, but they were larger than I was. For a split second the hand on my mouth was lifted and I started to scream, "He—," but I couldn't even get the full words out before it was replaced with a cloth over my lips and nose. A pungent smell filled my nostrils as the hand held it against me. Nonetheless, I continued to fight against the body, but my screams were muffled, and I was overtaken by the larger figure. I struggled for minutes on end.
"Forgive me, Delilah," a voice spoke. There were those words again. Familiar, but not Charles. Just a moment later, I noticed my movements were growing weaker. I knew for a fact I could put up a better fight if I could only see in the darkness. Kason had taught me so much better than my performance right now and it made me feel weak and like a failure. My arms weren't pushing the figure away as strong as before and my kicks were getting limper. It wasn't much longer at all until my limbs were too weak to even lift and my eyes started closing. No matter how much I fought against whatever drug I was inhaling, I couldn't stay awake. After one more short breath, my consciousness drifted away.
***
Sooooo, yeah:) What do you think is going on?
Christmas is so close! For those of you who celebrate, what traditions are your favorite? Is there any that is unique for just your family? I'd love to hear them. My favorite is making and decorating sugar cookies with my sister:) I also just love relaxing in the living room on a cold evening with the tree lit up and a fire in the fireplace, and of course wrapped in a thick blanket with a book in my hand.
~Emily