Contingency
Leyla
Ihide in the corner, and my breath hitches as I hear a car pulling up outside. I can’t decide if I want to scream for help and risk it being Simon again— or do I stay here, and go to that place that Daddy once told me to go to? Why am I remembering him right now? Why does my head feel so fuckingfuzzyevery time he comes to mind?
I close my eyes for a moment and open them again with a frown on my face as I look at my tiny pocketknife, my hand gripping the worn metal handle. I know what I have to do. I know what needs to happen.
I stand to the side of the door and hold my breath as I hear the locks jingling. I scrunch my brows, only focusing on what I need to do. It’s silent for a moment, but I watch the door as it swings open. Flinging myself in front of the door, I lunge towards the man in the doorway and stab the knife into his left shoulder. The feeling of theblade puncturing flesh makes my stomach flip in a familiar way that makes me dizzier than before. Instantly, there’s a pained groan and then the lights flick on.
My eyes connect with the man in front of me: Cameron Curtis. He’s standing there, crimson pooling on his white shirt. My eyes widen in shock, and I drop the knife onto the ground.
No. What have I done?!
“Cameron!?” The word escaping my lips doesn’t sound like my voice. I’m confused, disconnected, and horrified all at once.
“What–Leyla—FUCK!”he groans out as he presses hard on his shoulder where I had stabbed him. I stabbed Cameron,myCameron. My heart is racing and I stand there fully panicking, unsure of what to do.
He closes the distance between us as I’m still frozen in place from the whirlwind of emotions inside me. Cameron grabs my face, looking at me and he’s saying something, but I don’t hear a single word. I’m fucking horrified. I mumble something unintelligible, but he’s just looking me over. He’s making sure I’m okay.
He’s worrying about me, when I just fucking stabbed him, my boyfriend. No... not boyfriend. I don’t think I could honestly tell you what we are at this present moment, because he’s the man who killed my parents. I still think I’m in total shock because all I want to do is just be held by him. Just want to be in his arms. I want him– holy fuck I stabbed him.
“C-Cam…” I stutter out, as the fog that sits in my head clears ever so slightly. He’s looking at me with his emerald eyes and I don’t know what to do.
I don’t know what’s happening.
“I’m here, Cherry. Don’t worry, baby girl, you’re safe now.” Cameron’s voice is so clear and calm, I can’t help but collapse into his chest.
“S-Si-Sim–” I attempt to get out but it’s clear that words are not going to be happening any time soon. Cameron wraps me up in his arms and gently squeezes me into him. It’s as if the whole world melts away at that very moment and I don’t ever want it to end. I really hope it never does end, honestly.
“I know, baby girl. I know it was Simon, and I promise you, he won’t ever hurt you again,” Cameron whispers into my bloodied hair. Right, my head is tender still from Simon hitting me. Maybe that’s why I’m so confused— but I doubt it. This is all just too fucking much.
“He hurt you?” Cameron’s voice is so low it’s nearly unrecognizable, his fingers touching the blood. “What did he do? Show me, baby girl; show me where he hurt you.”
My whole body is suddenly hit with tremors as the sobs take over. He looks at me, asking again where I am hurt. I don’t have it in me to answer, words fail me still. He grabs my chin, forcing me to look at him. His eyes are pitch black right now and I can’t tell if it’s from pain when I stabbed him, or if it’s just from the fact that Cameron Curtis isn’t here right now; this man in front of me is the man who killed my parents.
“Baby, he’s gonna be back any moment and I know you have no reason to trust me, but I need you to trust me right now.” Cameron’s voice is pleading and it burrows down into my soul. My heart is so fucking heavy and my head follows suit, but nevertheless I nod. I know what he did, but that won’t stop the fact that Simon will never leave me alone until he’s gotten what he wants. AndCameron is probably the only one who could ever stop him. Cam sets me back up in the chair, my eyes constantly going to his shoulder where the blood seems to have stopped. I cannot believe that I fucking stabbed him.
I sit in the chair as he wraps the ropes around my wrists once again, also handing me my now cleaned pocketknife. Cameron takes root in the back corner behind some boxes, knowing that Simon will be back soon. Cameron pulls out his phone, his brows furrow but he looks back at me. “Zack says he’s on his way, baby girl. This is all gonna be over soon.”
I don’t reply, but the door opens and Simon’s face flies to mine, and the tremors return to my body. I close my eyes, not wanting to look at him.
“What a good girl, waiting for me like I told you to.” His voice is laden with malice as he walks in towards me.
Suddenly, flashes of the night my parents were murdered cloud my mind. All of my life, I’ve lived with this fog surrounding the event but in this moment, there are sparks of pure clarity. I can see the wood grain floor speckled with blood. The empty stare in my mother’s eyes as she lay on her bed, already growing cold. A boy, only a couple years older than me, staring me down as I hid in the depth of my closet and praying he doesn’treallysee me.
Cameron.That blonde boy with the big green eyes…
It was Cameron and a man who I can only assume was his dad. Images keep flickering through my mind, a man with a gruff face and dark eyes yelling at little Cameron. The sound of my own father, who had never been a man who took shit from anyone or feared anything, begging for his life.Begging for his life— and itthrills something inside me. My heart is pounding; hoping, waiting, praying for it to happen.
But then the boy and his dad are out in the hallway, and I can’t let this moment pass. If they leave me with my dad and without my mom, nothing good is going to happen to me. Somethingvery, verybad will happen. Daddy will blame me somehow, someway. He always does.
My memory jumps then to me standing over my father as he was tied up on his bed and a bloodied knife in my hand.
It was me.I killed my father—not Cameron,me.I had been desperate for that night to be the end of him so that I could stop living every day in fear.
I let out a soft gasp as the memory slams into me. I can’t let Cameron take Simon out, I can’t let him take the blame for something that I know that should be mine to claim.Not again.It’s the least I can do. A sense of resolve settles over me as I look towards Simon, a confident and assured grin settles over me.
Moments pass in what feels like slow motion, a realization dawns on me and I now know what I have to do, Cameron can’t be the one to kill him.
