Masked Mayhem (Fright Nights)

Chapter Four

Liam comes out of the bathroom with a grim expression on his face. We all heard her crying when she first went into the bathroom, but after she got quiet we got nervous. When Liam knocked and she didn’t answer he went in to make sure she hadn’t passed out or something, but then he disappeared behind the closed door too. If something had been wrong he would have called us for help, so Reynolds and I stayed on the couch, waiting as the minutes ticked by.

“She must be in some kind of shock, she’s awake but hardly aware. She’s just going through the motions.” Liam doesn’t offer up any more than that and I can’t help but wonder what happened in there. He’s in full on I’m in charge and taking care of every one mode so I have no doubt she’s in better shape now than she was before, but I don’t miss the haunted look in my friend’s eyes.

“So, are we tracking down that sorry piece of shit or what?”

I’m not surprised Reynolds wants to go hunting, I am a little surprised he waited this long to say something. I was honestly expecting him to go off halfcocked as soon as she started talking back in the trailer. He can be unpredictable at the best of times, but knowing that piece of shit put his hands on a woman is going to earn Adam a spot at the top of Ethan Reynolds’ shit list. That’s not a great place to be.

Always the voice of reason Liam shuts that idea down. “Now is not the time to go start shit, no matter how much fuck face deserves a good beating.”

He’s right, now isn’t the time, even if it would be satisfying. Adam is on all of our shit list’s now, which won’t end well for him, but right now making sure Zoe is ok is our top priority.

“What’s the plan here?” We obviously couldn’t just leave her at the festival, and Zoe said she didn’t have anywhere else to go or anyone to call, but we haven’t really thought past tonight.

“For now, we all get some rest, tomorrow we can sit down with her and come up with a plan, but she’s in no state to do that tonight.”

As we agree the bathroom door opens again and Zoe steps out into the hall. Reynolds slipped some clothes in there for her when he was getting the bath ready, and they completely swamp her in the cutest way possible. His shirt hangs down to mid-thigh where just an inch or two of his shorts are peeking out. She probably had to roll the waist band a million times to get the shorts to stay up. Her shoulder length hair is a darker shade of red than normal thanks to the water clinging to it, and without any makeup on she somehow looks more vulnerable than she did earlier.

The shirt sleeves cover the top half of her arms, but the scratches on her knees are visible, so is the bruising on her face. That son of a bitch needs his ass kicked for laying his hands on Zoe. She was always kind of shy and quiet, but the girl I knew didn’t have a mean bone in her body. In high school she was nice to everyone. She doesn’t deserve this, no one does. Zoe should be treated like the queen she is, but I don’t think she’s ever even been with another guy, so Adam is all she’s ever known.

Those two have been together since before we graduated high school. They got married a few years later, not that we were invited, but it’s hard to miss stuff like that in a small town. Fire burns through me when I wonder how long this has been going on. That bastard has probably been abusing her for years, there’s no way tonight was the first time. Not with the way she was talking back in the trailer, that was some deep seeded shit. That takes a long time to take root and build.

She looks so lost standing barefoot in our hallway, swimming in Reynolds’ clothes. I want to give her a hug and tell her everything will be all right, but I stay put. After what she’s been through I doubt she needs me invading her personal space .

“My room is down the hall, second door on the left. You can sleep in there.” Liam offers first, so I keep my mouth shut, no matter how much I like the idea of her sleeping in my bed instead.

Even after everything that happened tonight she can’t help but worry about everyone else. “What about you?”

“Don’t worry about me, I’ll sleep out here on the couch. Go get some rest, we can all talk in the morning.”

She hesitates for a moment then nods and disappears down the hall like a ghost. Liam was spot on, she must be in shock or something.

After we hear the door to Liam’s room close I can’t help but voice my biggest concern. “Do you think she’ll go back to him?”

Liam’s shrug isn’t exactly the answer I was looking for. “I don’t know, but I sure as shit hope not. That’s why we’re going to do everything we can to make sure she knows that’s not her only option.”

The next morning voices filter in from the kitchen and instead of ignoring them to go back to sleep I roll over and get out of bed. I hardly slept last night, but I’m sure I’m not the only one .

Zoe and Reynolds are sitting at the table while Liam pours himself a cup of coffee at the counter. Everyone already has their own cup, so I grab my mug from the cabinet and pour myself a generous amount. I’m going to need all the caffeine I can get to make it through today.

“Thank you, for letting me stay here last night.” Zoe has her eyes downcast, but I don’t need to see her face to hear the sadness in her soft spoken words. “I can’t believe I checked out like that but thank you for bringing me here and making sure I was ok.”

Like there was any chance we would have just left her there in the state she was in. Liam assures her we were happy to help and she’s welcome to stay as long as she needs. We all agreed last night that we don’t want her to feel like she has to go home to that piece of shit because she has no other options. That’s probably why she stayed so long to begin with.

When he asks what she wants to do next, or if she wants to press charges, she breaks my heart a little more with her answer. “I never went to the police before, there’s no point. Everyone here loves Adam, they would never believe me, and even if they did want to believe me, I have no proof. No evidence to give them or anything that would be useful. I just want to make a clean break and get out of here.”

Hearing she wants to get away from him is a great sign. Unfortunately, Adam made sure to do everything in his power to keep her close, leaving her with no options but to stay with him, until we got involved at least .

“I don’t have a phone anymore. He said I didn’t need one.” Shame fills her voice as she admits what her life has been like. “Adam kept a landline at his house so he could call to check in on me, but since he didn’t want me to have a job I never went anywhere without him. No phone, no car, no job or money of my own, no friends. I haven’t been on speaking terms with my dad for years and my sister lives in a different state.”

She’s been all alone for years. How did no one notice what was going on? Do none of his friends pay attention, or does everyone just ignore all the warning signs because Adam is a golden boy in this town?

“Don’t worry about any of that, all of that can be taken care of. What’s important now is getting what you need out of the house and keeping you safe. Like I said before, you’re welcome to stay here as long as you need while you get back on your feet. I promise he won’t be able to get to you here.”

She looks a little nauseous when Liam mentions getting stuff from her house. It must have been horrible to feel trapped there with him for so long.

“I do need to get some clothes and things, but what if he’s there.” Panic creeps into her voice at the thought. Her shoulders hunch in a little more, like she’s curling in on herself at the mere thought of having to face him again.

Reynolds jumps in and keeps his voice surprisingly comforting. “We can go with you, Red. He wouldn’t dare try anything with all of us there, and even if he did, he would never get through the three of us. We’ll be there the whole time to make sure you get everything you need so you don’t have to go back. If we need to, we can take a few of the trucks and find some boxes.”

She shakes her head. Eyes wide at the notion that we would put ourselves between her and Adam if he became a threat, and that reaction refuels my anger. People showing her compassion and being decent human beings shouldn’t be such a foreign concept.

“I don’t have that much; I should be able to get it all in a few bags that are already there. Are you sure you want to deal with all of this? It’s a lot of trouble for someone you hardly know.”

“We might not know you well, but that doesn’t mean we wouldn’t step in to help you. Men like Adam think they’re hot shit until they’re facing down someone their own size. Make it three and he’s not going to get anywhere near you, I promise.” She finally glances up at me and a soft pink colors her cheeks when I continue. “Even if you weren’t the sweet girl we went to school with our whole lives we would still be helping you because it’s the right thing to do.”