Chapter 332: Friday Night
*I told you; you’ll never leave me. – Mitchell*
Shiloh had gone to have dinner with her cousin. Typically, she would invite Gertie, but she never accepted the invitation. Tonight, no invitation was issued. Shiloh apologized saying that there was some family business that they needed to discuss.
Gertie was not offended. She never accepted the invitation. She had only met Shiloh’s cousin and grandfather a few times. They were both friendly and kind. But there was something about them that scared Gertie. She had no intention of ever willingly spending time with either man.
Besides, tonight, Pagan was having a cookout. Maybe she would go over there. Who was she kidding? She was going to go over there. She felt guilty every time that Cookie flirted with her. But she felt excited and beautiful also. And Karan never got jealous.
Shiloh agreed to meet her there when she got home. Since it would just be them and not her mother, stepfather number two, or was it three, or any of her siblings, Shiloh would be okay. Dealing with her mother and her husband was always hard on Shiloh.
Gertie didn’t know all the history. Or even if there was any animosity between Shiloh and this stepdad. But she knew that there had been something bad between Shiloh and the first. Or was it the second and the current one was the fourth? Whatever number he was, Shiloh simply called him *The New One*.
The sun had already set for the day and the street lights were on when Gertie was about to go across the street when she heard the sound. It was at the main entrance for the living quarters. Like someone was kicking the door.
“Open the fucking door, you worthless bitch!” Mitchell yelled.
Nervously, she picked up her phone and called Shiloh. “He’s here.” She sobbed out when her friend picked up.
“Where? Nico, I need to go.” Shiloh said at the other end of the phone.
“The front door.”
“Take the back staircase down to the basement. Lock the basement door. If you absolutely cannot stay there, use the basement exit and go to Pagan. I’m on my way.”
Running down the hall, she pushed open the hidden panel door and pushed it close behind her. In her rush, it did not close completely. Gertie kicked off her bright red heels before starting down the stairs.
She had to stop on the curved staircase to get her flashlight on her phone to turn on. Fear and nerves made it hard to get the right button clicked. Finally, it turned on. Just before the hidden staircase was illuminated in light, she saw that the door was not completely closed.
There was a crashing sound that came from the hallway and then another a few minutes later. Hurrying back up the stairs as quietly as possible, she pushed the door closed. All the light from the house disappeared, but she did not hear the soft click to indicate that it was latched.
She could only pray that it latched as she stood on the landing listening to the man who she thought that she loved tearing up her friend’s house.
“I know you’re here!” Mitchell bellowed and she backed away from the door.
“Shy, hurry.” Gertie pleaded quietly with her friend as she slowly and quietly made her way down to the basement.
“Your freak friends aren’t here to save you!” Mitchell yelled above the sound of breaking glass.
There was a large crashing sound emphasized by the shattering of more glass and porcelain. Doors were flung open followed by more destruction. Gertie heard him try to get into the terrarium room. Shiloh kept the wrought-iron door locked due to city regulations. And her babies were expensive.
“Is that where the bitch keeps her fucking money?”
Just as she finally reached the bottom of the stairs, the top of the stairs was flooded with light. Fear held her rooted in place for a moment. Unable to breathe. Unable to move. Unable to stop the tears.
“I’m going to fucking kill you, slut.” Mitchell warned as he started down the stairs.
With the trance broken, Gertie ran through the large metal doorway. She tried pushing the thick steel door, but it was held open with a door stop. She had pushed just enough that she couldn’t get it out.
Pushing with all her might, she tried to move the door back to get the stop out. It did not budge going either direction.
Mitchell’s shoes came into view at the top of the doorway. Abandoning the door, forgetting her uneasiness of the basement, she dashed over to the outside door. Flipping the locks, Gertie pushed it open and ran out onto the ramp.
Halfway up, her stocking feet slipped out from beneath her. Landing hard on her knees and hands, she heard a pop in her left wrist. Gertie scrambled back to her feet, ignoring the pain in her scraped knees, she ran out onto the driveway.
“PAGAN! COOKIE!” She screamed as loud as she could. “HELP! SOMEBODY! PLEASE!”
A hand grabbed the back of the sleeve of her red wrap shirt. The sound of material ripping was the only warning she had before the cold air hit her skin.
“You’re only making this worse for yourself.” Mitchell warned as she ran as fast as her knee-length black pencil skirt would allow.
Gertie turned towards the large grassy yard and angled herself towards Pagan's house. She felt Mitchell’s hand on her hair and screamed as loud as possible. He flung her to the ground. There was a snapping sound this time as she landed on her left arm.
Her loud scream of pain echoed around her as she began to sob and beg for help. There was another scream just before his fist connected with her cheek.
People were yelling. Whatever was being said made no sense as his fists rained down on her face and body. Just before darkness swallowed her, the darkness was filled with flashing lights and there were several loud strange sounds. It was like a dog was yelling and then barking and then yelling again.
Her last thought was that this was probably Cerberus welcoming her to hell.
