Page 47 of The Beyond
Hewasthankful. Every day he checked his emails and calls, and every day he found most of his work had already been handled. Everyone in the office assumed that he was on a retreat with the boss. They wondered how he’d gotten lucky enough to meet the man in the first place. Most of them asked if this meant he was getting a raise when he returned.
At this point, Scott was just hoping that they would survive the next few days.
After lunch, they all disappeared into their separate rooms or different corners of the big house. He followed Selene down to their room. While she lay on the bed, scrolling through her phone, he clocked in on his laptop and checked messages.
He hadn’t meant to fall asleep, and when he heard Selene crying, he jerked awake.
She was asleep next to him, her body curled tight into a ball. In her sleep, tears rolled down her cheeks as soft whispers escaped her lips.
Setting his laptop aside, he gathered her in his arms.
“It’s so cold,” she murmured.
How many nightmares had he comforted her about over the years?
He wasn’t one to complain about the past. Yes, their lives had been hell. Yes, they’d suffered and had gone to bed cold, hungry, or scared on more than a handful of occasions.
He hadn’t suffered with nightmares. Selene had.
The older she got, the worse they seemed to be. Now, as he held her against his chest, she seemed to relax and calm down.
Her tears soaked his T-shirt as he glanced towards the windows. It was dark outside. How late was it?
He didn’t want to move to look since she’d finally settled back asleep. Or so he’d thought.
“Thank you,” she said a few moments later. “I didn’t mean to wake you.” She shifted to look up at him.
“It’s okay.” He brushed his hand down her hair, stroking the soft tresses and enjoying the feel and smell of her against him.
“We were at Shelly’s,” she said, and he winced.
“That was a shithole.” He pulled her tighter.
“I’d just learned how to fly.” She sighed and rested her head against his shoulder. “You’d just joined the basketball team.”
He remembered. Remembered the crush he’d had on Jenny Lipton, one of the cheerleaders. Jenny was nice enough to share her lunches with him since most days they went without.
It was the first year he’d put Selene’s well-being and needs aside for his own. In an extremely selfish act, he’d let her fend for herself most evenings.
He’d believed she was safe since Shelly Lenard was drunk most of the time and ignored them.
That had lasted until the night he’d come home early from practice and found Selene in the hall closet. Shelly was passed out drunk on the sofa, her large dress hanging off her as if she’d been in a fight.
He hadn’t known what Selene had been going through in the past year. Not until that night. He’d spent most of his time away at basketball practice and jumping from party to party with Jenny that year.
When Scott had found Selene locked in the hall closet, she was tied up with the vacuum cleaner cord and gagged with a large dirty rag.
After untying her, he’d packed up their stuff and had stolen Shelly’s truck and driven back to the home, where one of the workers had called the police.
Shortly after that, they were placed with the Lindseys, and everything had changed for them. He had changed.
His life was no longer just his. He had failed Selene, and he swore he would never do that again.
“Yeah,” he said now. He kissed the top of her head as the weight of everything that had happened to her, the hell she had lived through while he had been trying to get laid for the first time, had the guilt stinging all over again. “I remember.”
She shifted until she was looking up at him. “It wasn’t your fault.”
His fingers were still tangled in her hair. He nudged her closer until their lips met.
