"Can we walk for a few minutes guys? I want to see all the decorations." I ask them. Agreeing, we walk up one side of the street then back down the other before we make our way back home.
"Guys, did we forget to turn the lights off when we left?" I ask.
"No, I was the last one out. I know I turned everything off," Sam says.
He gets out of the truck first telling us to stay put and let him check things out. I watch him open the door to our apartment and walk in.
"Come on Leah, let’s go inside."
"He said to stay here," she says adamantly.
I’m not listening. I climb out of the truck and make my way to the front door with Leah right behind me. As soon as I walk through the door I see Sam coming downstairs. The whole place is trashed. The couch is slashed. The TV lays on the floor shattered to pieces. The food that was in the refrigerator thrown everywhere.
"They must have come through the sliding door in the kitchen. I haven’t looked at all the damage upstairs yet, and whoever was here is gone," Sam tells us both. All three of us walk upstairs. My room is the first bedroom we come to and the door is open. Sam goes in first and I bump into his back from his abrupt stop. He quickly spins around blocking my view with his body, trying to back me out the door.
"What the hell, Sam? Let me in," I demand.
"Sweetheart, you don’t need to see anything. We need to call the police."
What in the world is he talking about? I force my way past him, And I really wish I hadn’t. Hanging on my wall above my bed is my sonogram picture. It’s pinned to the wall with a pocket knife and the words GET RID OF IT OR I WILL, written in blood red paint.
My knees go weak and bile rises into my throat. Luckily Sam catches me before I fall to the floor.
"Who would do this?" Leah asks. I start to shake and then cry.
"I’ve had someone messing with me since school started. First flowers, then the notes. Someone was even in mine and Leah’s dorm. I haven’t said anything thinking whoever it was would stop, and I thought they had. I’ve not had a note show up for several weeks now," I sob.
Sam bends down and picks me up and sits me on my tattered bed. "Why didn’t you say anything? You should have told someone, Alba."
"I know, I know. I thought maybe someone was trying to play a prank on me at first, and when I stopped receiving notes and figured they had moved on."
Leah grabs my hand and tells me, "We need to call the police."
I look up at both of them with red eyes and a tear-streaked face, "No, take me home."
"Alba we have to—”
"I want to go home!" I interrupt Sam.
Kneeling down in front of me, he brushes my hair from my face before speaking, "Alright, but Leah is driving you. I’ll stay here and call the police." He looks at Leah, "Pack her some clothes, if you leave now you can make it by 10:00pm at the latest."
I watch Leah gather what she can that’s not shredded and shove it into a small suitcase she found in my closet.
Get rid of it or I will.
The image of those words keeps repeating over and over again in my head. Why would someone want to hurt my baby?
"Come on Alba, let’s go. I have what I could find. Let’s get you home." I hear Leah speak, but it sounds muffled like I have water in my ears. I let them lead me to the truck, and Sam buckles me in and tells Leah to call as soon as we get there. I sit there in the passenger’s seat staring out the window.
I haven’t stopped crying the entire time we have been driving. I think I’m almost to the point where I have no more tears left to shed. My eyes hurt. My head hurts.
We arrive in Polson, "You’ll have to tell me which way to go. I’ve never been here before," Leah states.
I quietly give her directions until we pull onto the long dirt road leading to the clubhouse. I don’t have to worry about someone letting me in because the club put up a new security gate complete with keypad and code en
try. Bella told me it was installed a month ago thanks to Logan’s dad and she gave me the code in case I ever needed it and right now I’m thankful she did. I give Leah the code to punch in and the eight-foot gate slowly slides open and then closes as we pull through. After parking at the end of the building I climb out spotting my sister’s car. On autopilot I make my way inside.
I’m barely in the door a second when I see my sister running towards me with a smile that quickly falters, "Alba, what’s wrong?" She asks as she pulls me in for a hug. Looking from Bella my eyes connect with Gabriel’s and I pull my coat tighter.