Page 46 of Chance
A blood-chilling scream was loud enough to raise the dead.Sitting up, I reached for my gun, already on my feet, scream after scream echoing in the night.When I opened my front door, the screams were louder.Other doors were ripped open.Elias ran out in a pair of sweats, his gun drawn, Sammy at his side.Her own gun was up, ready to shoot anything she deemed a threat.
“What the fuck is going on?”
“Is someone being murdered?”
“Is she okay?”
Our tenants were out of their apartments, scared, concerned, phones out, a few with their own guns I wasn’t sure they knew how to use.They ran to the railing, looking over to where the screams were coming from.
“Evie,” I whispered, running downstairs, sweat already coating my body, my heart in my throat.She kept screaming, louder and louder, the closer I got.Everyone on the first floor was already out of their apartments, blocking my way.
Shoving them aside, I finally made it to number four, my gun lifted as I burst into the apartment, ready to end anything and anyone who was making my precious peaches scream.What I found made zero sense to my brain.Reid stood off to the side, his face pale, his eyes huge, mouth moving, but I couldn’t hear anything he was saying.I couldn’t hear anything but Evie’s screams.
Everly was on her knees on the floor in front of Evie, who was screaming and rocking.Tears spilled down both women’s faces.Everly sobbed something, a plea, as she tried to hug her sister.And Evie kept screaming.Louder.Louder.
Someone bumped my shoulder as they came in behind me, moving forward without hesitation.Sammy dropped down beside Everly, her gun nowhere in sight.“Do you have anything in case of emergencies?”she asked.
Everly shook her head.“No, no.She refused to let me fill the prescription.It was too much for her.She was afraid because…” She didn’t finish, didn’t say what her twin was scared of.
Evie’s screams and rocking continued, her tears coming faster.How she still had a voice after everything was a miracle.Seeing her like that made it hard to breathe.Everly wasn’t helping.Neither was Sammy.I didn’t understand what was going on, but standing there doing nothing wasn’t an option for me.
Placing my gun on an end table, I dropped down onto the floor behind Evie, pulling her into my lap.Her screams made my eardrums ring.I lost the battle with my own tears.She was helpless and hurting—that was all I knew, all that mattered.She needed me.
Keeping my arm tight around her middle, I rocked with her, pressing my face into her hair, squeezing her close to my chest.The level of her screams slowly began to lower, but only because her voice was fading.Time meant nothing as I held her, rocked her, whispered to her that it was going to be okay.
Around us, I caught snippets of low conversation.
“It’s a panic attack.She needs the door open, Reid.”
“I’m sorry.I know you said that, but I didn’t think this would happen.”
“What happened to her to cause this kind of reaction?”
“Her father kept her locked in his house her whole life.”
“How did no one question that?”
“He homeschooled her.She was completely isolated, except for our birthdays when he had to bring her for our court-appointed meetups.”
Everything became a little clearer.Evie’s reasons for being haunted by her father.Her venom when she said she wasn’t sorry he was dead.Why she was so attached to her sister.Her total innocence, not just kissing or sex, but life in general at times.
At some point, flashing blue lights appeared outside.Reid and Sammy went to speak to the deputy, while Everly stayed close by.She didn’t try to take her twin from me, didn’t tell me I didn’t belong there, that it was none of my business.When I looked at her, she was still crying, her eyes full of so much despair, more tears spilled from my own.
“Is this the first time this has happened?”I whispered.
“No, but it’s the worst,” Everly admitted.“All of this is new to her.It’s overwhelming.She thinks she has to be strong all the time so I won’t worry, so she can be normal.God, I don’t know how to help her.Nothing’s working.”
“Nothing.”
I jerked, my hold on Evie tightening.Everly and I both looked at her, surprised she was no longer screaming, cautiously optimistic that she was coming out of the panic attack.
“Nothing,” she muttered again, her voice raw, hoarse after screaming for close to an hour.
“Wh-what, Evie?”her sister asked, brushing trembling fingers over her tear-soaked cheeks.“What’s nothing, sweetheart?”
“Me,” she whispered, staring ahead sightlessly.“I’m nothing.William always says it.Every day.I’m nothing.He won’t shut up.”
“Oh, Evie,” Everly breathed.
