Page 49 of The One Before

Roman nods, but this time he doesn’t smile. “Sure does.”

Thirty-Six

Madison

The bathroom door slams against the wall, startling us both. Regina stumbles into the living room with one of our new washcloths pressed to her forehead.

“Are you okay?” Roman asks her.

“I need to go home,” she slurs.

He looks at me, then his sister. “I’d thought we’d stay a little longer. At least until Madison is ready for bed.”

“No, please,” I say. “I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure?” he asks.

Regina sways in between us. “Of course she’s sure. You’re a big girl, aren’t you, Maddy?” She lets out a painful laugh, then speaks sincerely. “Will you be okay?”

“Stop worrying about me,” I insist. “I’ll probably be asleep before you make it home.”

Roman takes Regina’s arm and swings it over his shoulders. She’s only putting weight on one of her legs and humming a wobbly tune as they make their way to the car.

Roman buckles his sister into the passenger seat and shuts the door. “Promise you’ll call if anything weird happens, okay?”

“I promise.”

I walk inside the house and lock the doors. I’m always alone during the day, but there is a different aura at night. Each creak in this old house is a little louder, and the room feels hollow. I carry our dirty dishes into the kitchen and wash them off in the sink. There’s more drinking glasses than anything, and I laugh when I think of Regina being so drunk. She puts effort into her tough exterior; it slipped rather quickly after one too many drinks.

By the time I’ve finished washing, my fingertips are pruned. Without the water running, the house is eerily silent. I walk through the house blowing out candles. For a moment, I wish Regina or Roman had stayed, or that Coop hadn’t left at all. That’s just my tired, paranoid mind, I know. By morning, I’ll feel better about things and braver for having gotten through the night.

Just as I’m about to walk upstairs, I notice a phone sitting on the coffee table. It’s locked, but I know it’s Regina’s because the home screen is a picture of Nectar. Man, she was drunk. She didn’t even remember to take her phone.

There’s a knock at the front door. I open it, assuming Roman has returned for the phone, but when I swing open the door, no one is outside. All I hear is the hushed sound of wind rustling leaves.

“Hello?” I call out.

“Madison.”

It’s her. The woman who claimed to be Anne Richards. She’s standing to the left of the front door, as though she knocked and lost her nerve. Like she was about to run away again.

“I’m calling the police.” I try to close the door, but she moves closer, stopping me.

“Madison, please. Just hear what I have to say.”

“I don’t care what you have to say.” I push her scrawny arms away from me. “My brother-in-law will be back soon. You need to go.”

“I watched them pull onto the main road and waited,” she says, dropping her hands by her sides. “They’re not coming back.”

I weigh my options, whether what she’s said is true or not. Even if I were to call the police, it would be another twenty minutes before they arrived. I’m alone with this woman, surrounded by nothing but darkness and barren fields. Fear rises, beckoning me to react, but forcing me to stand still.

“I know who you really are,” I say, as hatefully as I can.

“Please, just listen,” she says, calmly. There’s not an ounce of urgency in her voice. She’s the ‘Anne’ I remember. Calmed and poised and sincere. “You couldn’t possibly know who I am.”

“You’re Celia’s mother! The Douglases have told me everything you’ve done to try and hurt Coop over the years, and now you’re trying to hurt me!” I shout. Anger pours out of me. Although this woman looks like she can be trusted, I know she’s a fraud.

“This isn’t about that—”

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