Bloody Surprises

With my eyes pressed closed I waited for the unwanted kiss…but it never came. I opened my eyes and found myself on the couch. My mother and a police officer- the one who carried me out of the house- were looking at me intently.

“Oh thank god,” she said and came to kneel beside me. I shrugged off her hands and tried to sit up.
“What happened?” I asked. She frowned; the policeman remained silent.
“You fainted,” she said softly, “I found you on the floor.”
“The box; where is it?” I asked suddenly.
“Here,” she handed to me; it was empty aside from the red rose.

No thumb, no blood, no evidence. Ah crap. Maybe I imagined the whole thing? Could it be possible that it was just the rose in the box? Am I going cuckoo? Nah my imagination wasn’t that complicated. I stayed silent as I stared at the rose.

“Who’s it from?” mother asked.
“Um…a guy,” I said; I couldn’t tell her the truth, “A secret admirer.” Well I wasn’t exactly lying either.
“Does he have a name?” she asked; she didn’t believe me. Why do mothers have to be so observant??
“Peter,” I said; Peter Pan.

I forgot to mention that my hair still looked blonde- because I wore a wig. It’s a good thing to because he would’ve seen the transformation. The guys from the district said that the week that I’m here I should still look the same just in case he was watching. If only they knew.

“Miss Hathaway,” the officer said at last breaking the tension, “I’m here to take you to Mr. Montgomery. I will be with you on the plane and till you reach his door.” Well yippee I feel like the Prince of Wales. NOT! Those guys have to be kidding right? It’s like being babysat by the law; ugh. But Howard did get in my house. I didn’t say anything; I just got my bags, said goodbye to everything (literally) and got in the dark SUV. I was pretty sure that Howard was watching; he wouldn’t hurt mom- he wanted me. I would take off the wig in a restroom on my way to “Mr. Montgomery’s” I was sure as I love chocolate that I wasn’t gonna call him ‘daddy’ or ‘pops’. Oh hell no.

The entire trip was a blur; the only thought in my head was that I was imposing on my dad’s safe life. I was going to bring my problems to meet his wife, his kids and probably a pet goldfish. We swapped cars and took tricky roads so I was of course completely lost. I was actually expecting some fat guy but I got a good-looking man so I stood there and gaped when I saw the man, the house and Porsche. Oh. My. God.

Mr. Montgomery was a rich dude!!!! The house itself was a mansion painted in an off white color with flowers all over the front; the Porsche was a sapphire blue and the guy; well my dad had dark brown hair slightly grey at the temples, his eyes were kind and grey. He was taller than I expected and a lot more fit. He smiled a bit hesitant when we pulled in and down the driveway. I ripped off my wig and fluffed my bangs, took a deep breath and opened the door. I wasn’t what he was expecting either.
He took in the hair, the dark clothes and my very morose expression. Detective Willis gave his my bags and took me ‘ciao!’

There was a very awkward moment. It was his wife who saved the day. She came through the front door gracefully; she was beautiful, blonde and looked a lot like my mother.
“Hi, you must be Luciana,” she said and offered her hand, “I’m Audra.” I shook her hand.
“It’s Regan for now,” I said still in shock of how much she looked like mom.
“I really should say that you grew out your blonde hair Regan,” she said with a puzzled look. I shrugged; I had to explain everything; Howard, the murders, the threat, the stalker.
“Do come in,” she said and helped my dad with my things. Inside the house was something that would be on MTV cribs. She pointed to the couch while my father handed off my things to a butler; wow.
“Okay well I should explain,” I began as they sat.

They listened to my whole story, not asking questions or anything. I gave them a very detailed description of what he did to Annalisa and only dimmed it when I saw Audra turn green. My father’s face grew very hard when I repeated what Howard had told me on the floor. I left out the stuff that happened at home.
“You mean that bastard’s coming back for you?” this was the only time he spoke since I got there.
“Yup,” I said. Audra got up; “Should we warn the kids as well?” the question was directed at me.
“It depends on how old they are,” I said before my father could respond. As if on cue three boys waltzed into the room.
“This is Devon, he’s six,” the boy looked like his mom (and me); he smiled sweetly and went to sit.
“This is Thomas, he’s thirteen,” this boy had red hair and green eyes; he smirked and then sat.
“This is Evan, he’s eighteen,” she said and I gave a startled glance. He was a year older than me.

“Oh he’s adopted,” Audra said catching my expression. Evan grinned; he had dirty blonde hair and pale blue eyes.
“Hi,” I said to them all, “I’m Luciana but you have to call me Regan for now.”
“You have a pretty name,” said Devon. He was absolutely adorable.
“Thanks,” I smiled, “Okay um you see there’s this guy that’s after me so I have to kinda lay low. Do I still have to go to school?” I asked. My father nodded; crap. Devon had a thoughtful expression. A random thought fluttered through my head, “If that bastard touches this boy I swear to god I will sever his like Mrs. Andrews,” I was startled.

“You should get some rest dear you look exhausted,” Audra said, “Evan can you show her to her room please?”
“Sure Audra,” he said and got up. I followed. When we reached my door I let out a startled gasp.
“What the hell?” Evan muttered; my door had a red rose (with thorns) stuck to it.
“He’s been here,” I whispered, Evan glanced at me and then his face grew icy. I think he saw fear, fury and grief. I could never get away could I?

The note was halfway under the door. ‘I look forward to seeing you Lucy, with love from Howard,’ was written in bold red script. He found me; my new family was in danger. They were in danger because the blood on the rose was fresh. He was still here. This was it; this was our last battle. He wasn’t waiting till I grew up. I didn't know if I were ready or not.