Slow Agony (18 page)

“That’s why I’m here,” said Griffin.

“Why didn’t you call the police?” she said.

“The man said not to,” said her mother.

Christa rolled her eyes. “So? He’s a criminal. Why would you listen to him?”

“He threatened to kill you if I did,” said Beverly.

“Well, he can’t do that, can he?” said Christa. “Because I’m here. So, we should call the police now.”

Griffin stood up. “No.”

“No?” said Christa.

“Why not?” said Beverly.

“These people...” He turned to me for help.

I shrugged at him. I didn’t know what to say.

“The police wouldn’t be able to handle them. They have certain... abilities.”

Oh, he was referring to the serum. If the police got Marcel, they’d find out sooner or later that he could heal, and that would create all kinds of problems. There was an agreement amongst all of the ex-assassins from Op Wraith to keep the serum secret. They were afraid of being taken in by the government and sequestered or studied or forced into the army. I would have said they were paranoid two years ago. But two years ago, I didn’t know about corrupt arms corporations either.

I spoke up. “The important thing is that Christa’s okay.”

“No,” said Christa. “I still don’t get why we aren’t calling the police.”

But Beverly shook her head. “Maybe we should listen to your brother. He knows who these people are.”

Christa turned to him. “That true?”

He grimaced.

“Leigh’s right,” said Beverly. “The important thing is that Christa’s okay. And now that you are, I realize that I’m starving. How about some sandwiches, everyone?”

I jumped up. “I’ll help.”

Christa narrowed her eyes, but she didn’t say anything.

“Thank you, Leigh,” said Beverly, opening the refrigerator. She handed me a head of lettuce. “Would you rinse this for me?”

“Sure,” I said, taking it.

“Christa, can you slice a tomato?” Beverly held up the vegetable.

She took it from her mother and made her way over to me.

I was taking off the ring that Griffin had given me before I rinsed the lettuce.

“That’s a pretty ring,” said Christa. “Where’d you get it?”

“Umm...” I twisted to look at Griffin. We’d been going to tell his mother about our engagement, but we hadn’t because of everything that had happened. Was it still a bad time?

Griffin smiled at me. “Actually, that was the reason I called, Ma.”

“Hmm?” Beverly was taking lunch meat and cheese out of the refrigerator.

“Leigh and I are, um, engaged.”

Beverly nearly dropped the cheese. “What?”

Christa squealed. “No way! That’s awesome.”

Beverly shut the refrigerator and set everything down on the counter. “I thought that the two of you had split up.”

Oh. Of course Griffin had told his mother when we broke up. Had he told her about the abortion as well?

“Put the ring back on,” said Christa. “I want to see it on your finger.”

I obliged her.

“I think it’s so cool that you didn’t get a diamond. This is so much prettier.”

Griffin rubbed the top of his head. “Well, we split up, but we’re not split up anymore.”

Beverly laughed. “Obviously not.” She held out her arms to her son. “Get over here. You too, Leigh.”

I set down the lettuce. The next thing I knew, I was being mashed into a hug. Beverly managed to hug both Griffin and me at the same time. Her embrace was strong.

And then Christa piled on too.

We all were close. I loved it. I’d never had family moments like that when I was younger. My father was always distant, my mother was gone, and I didn’t have any siblings. I closed my eyes, savoring the moment, feeling all the love pour out over me.

“Griffin,” said Beverly, letting go, “go down into the basement and find us a bottle of wine. We’re celebrating.”

He disappeared from the kitchen.

Beverly grabbed both of my hands. “I’m so glad you two worked it out. Griffin wouldn’t tell me what happened, but it was obvious he wasn’t happy without you.”

I felt shy. Part of me wanted to tell her everything. Another part of me wanted to keep it all inside, because I was afraid she wouldn’t be so nice to me if she knew what happened. I just blushed and looked away.

“He’s been through a lot,” said Beverly. “He lost his father, and he acted out as a teenager, and I wasn’t enough for him. I know he can’t be an easy man to love—”

“Oh, Beverly,” I said. “It’s not like that. He’s very easy to love.” I peered after him.
Well, most of the time, anyway.
“What happened between us was complicated.”

“But it’s better now, right?” said Christa.

I smiled. “Yes. It is.”

Beverly hugged me again. “Well, I couldn’t ask for a better daughter-in-law.”

When we pulled away, she was brushing tears out of her eyes. I felt my own eyes prick. This was too much. I’d never experienced anything like this before. I loved Griffin’s family.

Griffin reappeared in the kitchen, holding two bottles. “I didn’t know if you wanted red or white.”

“With roast beef sandwiches? Red.” She laughed.

He hoisted the bottle of red. “You want me to open it?”

Beverly nodded.

Griffin set the red wine on the table. “I’ll just take the other bottle back downstairs, then.”

“Okay,” said Beverly. “Oh, Griffin, do you want mustard, mayonnaise, or both?”

“Both,” he called over his shoulder.

And then his phone rang.

He froze.

I froze. No one knew that number except the twins, and they’d only call if there was some kind of trouble. It figured, didn’t it? We couldn’t have any time where we were happy before Marcel sailed in and ruined it.

Griffin dug the phone out of his pocket. “Hello?”

I could see from his posture that something was instantly wrong.

He turned, eyeing his mother. “What do you want from me?” he said into the phone.

I rushed over to Griffin, but he held out a hand to stop me.

“Bastard,” he whispered into the receiver. He hung up the phone, white faced.

“What?” I said. “What happened?”

“He can see us,” said Griffin. “He described my mother’s outfit perfectly. He told me that she was holding a mayo jar. He’s close.”

“Is it Marcel?”

He nodded.

“What is he going to do?”

“He said that he could shoot me now, but he doesn’t want that. He wants me to come to him willingly. And if he has to kill everyone I care about to convince me to find him, then he will.”

I swallowed.

Beverly was still holding the mayo. She looked flustered. “What does that mean, Griffin? Who is this man?”

“It means we call the police,” said Christa.

“No,” said Griffin. “No, I’m not risking that. Any sign of the police, and he’d start killing everyone.”

“Well, then what are we going to do?” said Christa.

“We need to go someplace where there aren’t any windows,” said Griffin.

“Windows?”

“The basement,” said Griffin.

“What?” said Christa. “For how long?”

“The basement’s finished, Christa. There are two bedrooms down there. It’s not going to be a hardship.” He glared at her.

“I don’t see why we’re not calling the police.” She folded her arms over her chest.

“What about the sandwiches?” said Beverly.

Chapter Eleven

“No,” said Christa, throwing a pillow down on the couch in the basement. We’d been hiding down here for days on end, and she wasn’t in a good mood. “We’ve watched everything on Netflix anyway.”

“No, we haven’t,” said Griffin. “Stop whining about everything.”

“Griffin, I’m missing class,” she said. “And there’s not much class left. We’ve been down here a week and a half. Because of you, I’m not going to graduate.”

“Look, Christa, which is more important? Graduating or not dying?”

“The guy’s bluffing,” she said. “And besides, I still think we should call the police.”

“He’s not bluffing,” said Griffin. “Trust me. He doesn’t do that.”

“But you haven’t heard from him,” she said. “And what are we supposed to do? Stay down here forever? Eventually, we have to do something.”

Griffin shook his head. “No. Now, shut up.”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh my God.”

“Griffin, be nice to your sister,” said Beverly. She was on the other side of the couch, using the remote to scroll through Netflix choices.

“I swear,” he said. “I feel like I’m still thirteen years old.” He got up from the couch and stalked out of the room.

I thought about going after him, but I didn’t. He’d want me to agree with him, and I wasn’t sure that I did.

By all rights, it shouldn’t have been so horrible staying down here in this basement. It had once been a separate apartment, and the previous owners had rented it out. That meant it had a full kitchen and bathroom in addition to two bedrooms and this living room. In fact, this living room was the one the family always used to watch TV. The one upstairs was for entertaining, not relaxing. So, it seemed like we should have been comfortable down here.

But we’d been down here for so many days, it was beginning to feel like a prison.

Christa went after her brother. “Come on, Griffin, you can’t keep us down here.”

Uh oh. She was going to bother him until he got really mad, wasn’t she? I better go after her now.

Shooting an apologetic look at Beverly, who seemed tired and worried, I left the living room too.

Griffin and Christa were in the kitchen area. There were no windows down here, so the light was too bright and artificial.

“Christa,” I said, “maybe we should give Griffin a moment.”

“Why?” she said. “He’s still going to be irrational and controlling in a moment, isn’t he? Are we going to stay down here forever?”

“I don’t know,” said Griffin. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Call the damned police,” she said.

“I can’t do that,” he said. “It’s not possible.”

“Maybe we should call the twins?” I said.

“No, I’ve gotten them too messed up in this as it is,” said Griffin. “I’d rather they stay safe.”

“We really can’t stay here forever, Griffin,” I said.

“Thank you,” said Christa.

He glared at me. “Not you too.”

“Listen, Griffin,” said Christa, “I’m going to get my period. And I’m out of tampons. So, what are we going to do then, hmm?”

Griffin made a face. “Don’t be disgusting.”

“I’m not,” she said. “Hell, I’m sure Leigh’s going to get her period too. Will you get tampons for her?”

I guessed I should be getting my period at some point, shouldn’t I? When had I had it last? It was so much easier to remember when it was supposed to come when I took birth control pills. But since those damned things had failed me, I’d switched to something called a NuvaRing. I put it in at the beginning of the month and took it out three weeks later. Of course, sometimes I forgot to take it out, but that was no big deal, because I’d get my period, which would remind me to take it out.

The last time I’d put one in was...

Oh shit.

I was supposed to put one in, but Marcel had killed Naomi, and I’d had to run. I’d been understandably distracted. But that meant that I’d having unprotected sex with Griffin. The first time was two weeks ago, which was... two weeks after leaving Thomas... which was the perfect time for ovulation.

I bit down hard on my lip and started out of the kitchen, shaking my head.

“Hey, Leigh, where are you going?” said Christa.

“Um, I need some time alone,” I said. I shut myself in the bathroom.
Fuck
.

Late that night, I tiptoed out of the room that I was sharing with Christa. Beverly had the other room to herself, and Griffin was sleeping on the couch in the living room. I crept through the darkness to find him.

“Griffin,” I whispered.

I couldn’t see much. He was only a blob of darkness on the couch. He wasn’t moving. I got closer and shook him. “Griffin.”

He stirred. “What?”

“I need to talk to you.”

“Leigh?” He sat up and reached over to turn on the light. “What’s up?”

“Um...” I took a deep breath. I started to pace in front of the coffee table, my hands clasped together. “We might have a slight... situation, you and me. I don’t know. I mean, we’d need to find out for sure, and I don’t know how we’d do that without getting out of here, which you don’t want to do, so...”

Griffin threw aside his covers and got up. He took me by the shoulders. “What are you talking about?”

“I started this new kind of birth control that was supposed to be better, because I only had to put it at the beginning of every month, and I didn’t have to worry about remembering pills?”

His face darkened. “Are you saying...?”

“I sort of forgot to put it in this month.”

“Leigh, are you serious?”

I swallowed. “Marcel was shooting my best friend in front of me. Birth control wasn’t exactly my top priority.”

He sat down on the couch.

“Anyway, it might be nothing, because we didn’t really do it very much this month. But, I mean, it would be time now for my period, like Christa said, and it hasn’t come, and...”

He dragged a hand over his face.

I chewed on my lip. “Say something.”

He sighed.

“Griffin, are you mad?”

“No,” he said, but he kind of sounded mad.

“I swear I
meant
to put it in. I didn’t do this on purpose.”

“Give me a second here, doll.”

“I knew I should have gotten the IUD. But Naomi had one, and she said it was awful, and that she had her period constantly for six months, and I didn’t want that to happen, so I thought the NuvaRing was a good compromise. And now, I feel like a complete idiot—”

He grabbed my hand and yanked me down on the couch next to him. “Keep your voice down. You’ll wake everyone up.”

I closed my mouth and stared down at my hands, feeling confused and scared and ashamed. Just like last time. I’d told myself it would be better with Griffin here. But he was mad at me, and his presence didn’t make one bit of difference.

He squeezed my hand. “So, what should we do?”