CHAPTER FOUR: Broken Promises

Rory's POV

I snatched the paper out of his hand and shoved it behind my back, “Don't meddle in my business! Stay out of it! Just stay out of my life!”

“Your business?!” he roared, his face turning an ugly purple as he stepped so close I could smell the sour gin radiating off his breath.

“You live in MY house! You eat MY food! I have every damn right to know what kind of shameful garbage you're dragging through my front door!”

His hand flew back, ready to hit me again, but I didn't pull back this time.

I took a step forward, tilting my chin straight up, my eyes burning into his with fury I didn't even know I possessed. “Go on,” I whispered, my voice shaking so hard my teeth clicked together. 

“Hit me. Do it. Hit me right now! See what happens this time!”

His arm froze in mid-air, his hand twitching. For the first time in twenty-two years, I saw a tiny flicker of hesitation in his eyes. I was so fucking done with him.

“You think I'm scared of you?” I spat, wiping a stray tear off my cheek with the back of my hand. “I am so sick of you!”

He slowly lowered his hand, his mouth curling into a sneer that cut deeper than any slap ever could. “Then get the fuck out.”

The words hit me harder than it meant to.

“Get out of my fucking house,” he barked, pointing a finger toward the front door. “You are not staying under my roof, carrying some bastard's child! You don't even know his name, do you? You can't even tell me who did this to you, because you're just a slut just like your mother!”

I didn't answer him, saying anything back felt like throwing dry grass onto a bonfire. I just stared at him for three seconds, letting the silence rot between us, before I turned and walked past him down the hallway.

I practically threw myself into my bedroom, slamming the door shut with everything I had left in my body, flipping the lock into place just a millisecond before his fist slammed against the wood.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

“Open this door, Rory! Who the hell was it?!”

I couldn't breathe, the air in my lungs felt like sand, choking me and burning my throat. I backed away until my heels hit the doorframe, then my knees just gave out.

I slid straight down the wood, hitting the floor and pulling my knees up into my chest. I buried my face into my jacket as his shouts turned into muffled rants as he finally stomped away down the hall, the sound of a bottle crashing into the kitchen sink signaling that he was done for the night.

In the dark of my room, I just lay there weeping until my ribs hurt. How the hell did I get here? A month ago I was worrying about final exams and dress alterations. Now I had no job, no best friend, no home, and a…baby inside me, created by a man whose face was just a blurry outline in my memory.

I pressed both hands against my stomach, whispering a promise within myself that I'd not let anything happen to my baby.

I scrambled off the floor, wiped my face with my sleeves, and pulled my dusty suitcase out from under the bed. I packed like a madwoman, I didn't care where I was going. I just needed out.

When I unlatched my bedroom door and dragged my bags into the hallway, the house was quiet except for snoring. My father was slumped sideways on the sofa, an empty bottle of gin rolling near his limp hand on the rug.

He looked pathetic. Old, miserable, and defeated by his own bitterness, looking at him one last time, I just unlocked the front door, pulled my luggage onto the porch, and walked out, promising myself I would never set foot in that house again.

×××

I dragged my bags down to the main road and flagged down a taxi. The driver, an older guy with graying hair, popped the trunk, loaded my stuff, and I slid into the backseat, staring blankly out the window as the city lights blurred past.

My phone vibrated in my coat.

Yanna.

My chest tightened instantly. I stared at her name flashing on the screen, my thumb hovering over the green button while my brain screamed at me to throw the phone out the window. 

But I needed answers. I needed to know if that video was real, or if there was some twisted explanation for why my best friend had handed me over to monsters.

I swiped answer, pressing the speaker to my ear. “Hello?”

“Rory! Oh my god, hey!” Yanna’s voice poured through the speaker, sounding normal as if she hadn't ghosted me for days.

“I am so so sorry I’ve been MIA! My phone literally died, then my mom had this huge drama at home and I had to travel out of town without my charger. I tried calling you as soon as I got back!”

I gripped the edge of the seat, playing along, “Right. Sure.”

“Are you okay? You sound weird,” she said, her tone shifting into fake concern.

“My dad officially threw me out,” I said quietly, looking at the driver's reflection in the rearview mirror. “I'm in a cab right now with all my stuff.”

“What?! He threw you out?!” Yanna sounded genuinely shocked, “That monster! Rory, listen to me, come straight to my house right now. You can stay with me for as long as you need, okay? Don't worry about rent or anything, just get over here!”

A tiny part of me wanted to believe her—wanted to believe the video was a sick edit, a nightmare, a misunderstanding. “Yanna, thank you, I—”

SCREECHhh…

The taxi suddenly jerked to the left, mounting the curb before swerving back into oncoming traffic.

“Sir?!” I yelled, leaning forward. “Sir, what are you doing?!”

The driver wasn't responding, his head was slumped sideways over the steering wheel, his hands limp, his foot locked down hard on the accelerator. The car was picking up speed, wildly veering across the lines toward a semi-truck blaring its airhorn.

“Sir! Wake up! Hey!” I started frantically tapping his shoulder, leaning over the seat to grab the wheel, but the seatbelt held me back.

“WAKE UP!”

“Rory? What's happening?!” Yanna screamed through the phone. “Rory are you okay?”

I was too terrified to answer, the headlights of an oncoming truck blinded me, illuminating the entire cab.

“NO! NO!” I shrieked at the top of my lungs.

CRASH.

The sound of twisting metal and shattering glass exploded around me as my head slammed hard against the window frame, the world spinning in upside-down circles.

Smoke, heat, the smell of gasoline and hot iron. I was pinned beneath the crumpled metal, my vision going dark, staring down at an expanding pool of my own blood.

That was the last thing I saw before my vision gave away.

×××

Beep. Beep. Beep…

The rhythmic sound of a machine was the first thing that drifted into my consciousness.

I opened my eyes slowly, my eyelids feeling like they were coated in sand. Everything was bright and blinding.

The walls were white and there was a light buzzing directly above my head. As my blurry vision slowly came into focus, I saw two figures standing at the foot of the bed—a doctor in a light blue coat and a nurse holding a digital clipboard.

The doctor noticed my eyes opening and offered a relived smile. “Ah, you're awake. Easy now, don't try to move too fast.”

“Where... where am I?” I slurred.

“You're in the emergency trauma ward,” he said softly, stepping closer. “You were in a very severe motor vehicle accident. How are you feeling?”

I instinctively tried to sit up to look at him, but an agonizing knife of pain flared up in my lower side, snatching the breath right out of my lungs. “Agh!”

I gasped, my hand shooting down, pressing flat against my lower stomach.

And then it clicked, “My baby,” I muttered, my heart racing, sending the monitor's beeping into a high-pitched frenzy. I looked up at the doctor, my hands trembling as I clutched my stomach through the thin hospital gown. 

“Doctor... my baby. Is my baby okay?!”

The doctor froze and the relieved smile on his face melted away, replaced by… silence. He looked down at the floor, then back at me, his mouth setting into a grim line.

No. No, no, no.

“Doctor, please!” my voice cracked, tears instantly flooding my eyes, “Tell me! Is my baby okay?!”

He took a slow breath, stepping right to the side of my bed and placing a hand on my forearm.

“I’m so sorry ma'am…” he said softly, “Due to the extreme blood loss and the severe shock impact from the crash... we couldn't save the baby.”