Surviving Him (21 page)

“What the fuck are you doing?” I yell.

“Looking for you, bitch. Looks like I fucking found you,”

he laughs, hissing in our direction.

“Why are you doing this? You don’t need to do this shit, Ian. Why can’t you just let me go? Move on, find someone else, and let me go. I’ve been happy for the first time in forever and I’m so sorry if that hurts you.”

The thought of him doing all this to someone else makes my stomach turn. I feel sick. How am I ever going to get us out of this shit?

“I don’t give a fuck, you stupid, ugly, fucking bitch,” he spits at me, and starts to lift his gun in the air, pointing it in my direction. I stand, rooted to the spot. I can’t move or speak.

Oh my God, oh my God, oh my fucking God. Calm the fuck down, Dana. Think. Think! Ian is moving slowly into the basement and away from the bottom of the stairs, with his gun still pointed in my direction, his eyes glistening with anger and what could only be described as totally losing it. Big time.

He moves around the room with his back against the wall. We moved at the same time, trying not to provoke him. Everyone follows behind me just as smooth, but trembling inside, utterly terrified.

Next, we hear voices, and a lot of footsteps upstairs. Someone is calling my name. “Dana.”

Then.

“Katerina.”

I ignore the noise coming from upstairs and keep my eyes on Ian, when he advances on us. At his movement, Rose swings her bat with everything she has, hitting Ian full force in the side of his head. He drops to the floor like a sack of potatoes. She leans over him.

“You will not shoot my best friend or hurt anyone else. Let’s go.”

We grab the kids and bolt up the basement stairs, run up another set of stairs and into my bedroom, and I shut the door behind us.

I am hyperventilating, walking round and round the bedroom, trying hard to be quiet, but I can’t calm myself down. I burst into full on girlie tears. Rose comes towards me and throws her arms around me, and hugs me tightly. Every one of us shares a group hug.

We hold on so tight to each other, breathing in sync, hearts racing together, trying to calm down and think about what in the hell we are going to do next.

When Waff’s phone starts buzzing in her hand, she answers straight away.

“Yeah. Thank god,” she sighs, then carries on talking.

“Upstairs, third door on the right. Hurry up.”

She finishes the call.

“Lee, Logan and his brother are heading upstairs right now.”

She smiles at our confused, tear-stained, exhausted faces.

“Really?” Kayleigh beams at everyone.

Then Waff’s phone vibrates in her hand again. She stares down at the screen and smiles a toothy smile. She answers quickly.

“Yeah. Nice one.”

The call ends and she heads to the bedroom door. She yanks it open, and there stands Lee, Logan, and Logan’s brother, Declan.

Rose whispers in my ear, “Where have you been hiding that one? He is so hot.”

She blushes ever so slightly, while her eyes shift back to Lee. I run towards Logan, pulling Kayleigh and Amy with me.

Logan’s eyes rake over my body from head to toe, doing a full body scan, checking for any injuries. He also examines Kayleigh and Amy. When he’s satisfied that we are ok, he pulls us all into his arms.

“Glad nobody’s hurt.” He cuddled us in a big bear hug.

A voice is heard from behind the three hot men. “Everyone ok up here?”

There are more policemen in the building. Logan and Lee both speak to the police, as do all of us, explaining about how my idiotic ex-husband had broken in and scared all of us to death. That he shot the first two policemen that had come to help us. They tell us that the building is being searched and there is no sign of Ian anywhere. It seems that he has done a disappearing act once more. The policemen advise us they will do a full search again, inside and outside, just to make sure. They will also search outside in the streets. The constable speaks in what sounds like a different language into his radio, giving Ian’s description to other constables. I don’t understand a bloody word except for the description part.

We give our statements down at the station. It takes two hours. Two fucking hours. Apparently, it’s a busy night in Manchester; a lot of the constables are out on calls and also searching for my crazy ex-husband, who is running around with a gun.

One of the staff from Women’s Aid, Pam, joins us at the station. Pam informs us that we will all have to be transferred to another refuge as soon as possible. This is to make sure we are safe and remain that way. The building we call home will remain empty for now. This has been done for the health and safety of everyone. It hasn’t go down very well with the girls and me, as none of us know where we will end up, what our future will hold. This also means being split up from one another. We’ll get a call in the morning to find out where each of us will be placed, but for tonight we will be staying with Lee and Waff.

I follow Lee and Waff into his living room. Everyone is silent behind me, all deep in our own thoughts.

The huge fireplace is so warm and inviting, the heat hits me instantly. I sit down on the sofa nearest to it with my babies, and watch the flames dancing. It is the only sound in the room. Rose, Annie, Logan and Declan sit with us. Waff and Lee sit down in front of the massive fireplace on their huge rug, while Mandy, Katy and Vicky are seated on the sofa opposite us. The room remains deadly silent, with just the sound of the fire roaring in the background.

Waff stands up and ventures to the kitchen. She comes back a few minutes later with a huge tray full of cups, a teapot, a mini milk jug, a sugar bowl and a teaspoon.

“Tea anyone? Nothing like a nice cup of tea to make things better,” she offers while pouring out the tea into the cups.

I glance up and catch her eyes on mine, a warm, but concerned look in them. She smiles, bringing me out of my jumbled up thoughts.

“Tea would be lovely, thanks, babe,” I tell her, looking at her warm eyes and affectionate smile.

Logan curls one of his muscly arms around my back into my side, and pulls me into him. He presses his firm but soft lips into my temple and whispers softly into my ear, “Stop worrying, babe. We’re going to work something out.”

I ignore the sensation fluttering deep in my core at his contact. I reach up and take my cup of tea from Waff. Kayleigh and Amy have fallen asleep. I think that the heat from the fire has knocked them clean out. They are cuddled together along with Annie, who still clings on to her teddy, on the sofa.

Logan, Declan, and Lee all stand in unison and walk to the kitchen, while Waff sits down on the opposite sofa and sips her tea.

“Get a good night’s sleep tonight girls. Everything’s gonna work out fine. I’m gonna do everything I can to help each and every one of you. I promise you that, you have my word on it.” Waff tells the room.

“Thank you so much for having us tonight. I don’t know what we would have done, or where we would all be right now. We sure as hell wouldn’t be together.” I say.

“I’m really worried as there’s not gonna be much of a chance of any of us being placed anywhere near each other. We’re more like sisters now than we are friends.” I say.

I look down and take another sip of my tea.

“Like I said, Dana, I will do everything I can to help you all. You all can stay here tomorrow night too, so we have a bit more time to get things organised.”

I have no idea what she is talking about. I know she will keep her word and try to help, but I doubt that she can do anything to keep us all together. I have that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach and that burning feeling in my throat, so I push it back down my throat again. I don’t want to cry. I can’t cry, not with a house full of people.

Rose is staring into the top of her cup, quiet, seemingly deep in her own thoughts.

“Dana, babe. Everything happens for a reason. Maybe, I was meant to stay where I was.”

I turn to face Rose, completely gobsmacked by her words, while she is thinking the unthinkable. I can’t believe my ears, that she would even think for a second she should be back with that monster. Thinking that she deserved all that he gave her, not now, not after everything we’ve all been through and shared with each other.

“Don’t you even think that for a minute, chick. He’s never gonna change, I know that and you know that. You’re just thinking it would be easier. I know you’re scared, but think about how you felt when you wanted to get away, how hard it was.

“You and little Annie deserve so much more than what you’ve had from that excuse of a man. Get those thoughts you’ve got right out of your fucking head and don’t let them back in. Do you understand me?” I tell her, while waving my arms around and pacing the floor without realising I’m even doing it.

Five sets of eyes fixate on me, like I have just grown another head during my rant.

“Dana, I know you’re right. I was thinking out loud again. I’m just so scared about what’s gonna happen, not just to me and Annie but to all of us.”

Rose looked down at her cup and took another sip of her tea. I paced the floor a while longer until I sat down and drank the rest of my tea.

“I’m gonna get the girls up to their beds if that’s okay with you?” I ask.

With that Waff approaches us and picks Kayleigh up in her arms, while I lift Amy up in mine. Rose gets Annie and we carry them up the stairs. We put them together in the huge four-poster bed in the guest room that Kayleigh and Amy shared last time. After tucking them all in, I pull the door closed and zone out for a second. My heart is breaking for them all. My gaze shifts to Rose and Waff who are still staring at the floor. Rose has tears in her eyes and Waff throws her arms around both of us, giving us a big bear hug. She tells us everything is going to be fine, that we needn’t worry about things anymore. We then make our way back downstairs to the living room while Waff shows Katy, Mandy, and Vicky to their room.

Katy gives me a huge kiss on the cheek and a cuddle before she goes bed. She quietly tells me, “Everything will be okay.”

She smiles slightly in a half grin.

We say goodnight and sit back down on the sofa in front of the fire, when Lee, Logan and Declan come through the door to join us. We sit in silence for what feels like an age, all deep in our own thoughts, and I fall asleep.

The aroma of bacon and eggs fill the air when I open my eyes. I am in the huge four-poster bed, my stomach growling at me to get my arse up and feed it. Logan isn’t in bed, and I wonder where on earth he has got to. I enter the bathroom, wash my face and make myself more presentable. I look like death warmed up when I see my reflection in the mirror. I haven’t been able to sleep properly after waking up several times in the night. I take the robe that is hanging on the back of the bathroom door and wrap it around me. I head downstairs to feed my ever growling belly, and to make some coffee. I also want to know where everybody is.

The smell of bacon fills my nostrils. I find Waff running around making everybody breakfast.

“Hey, chick. Oh you look like you need more sleep. There’s coffee in the pot, help yourself, gorgeous.”

I go to the kitchen counter and pour myself a much needed coffee. I watch Waff do breakfast, super chef style.

“I didn’t sleep that well, chick. My mind was working in overdrive. Are the girls up yet? Where’s Logan and everybody else?” I ask while appreciating my caffeine fix.

“Kayleigh, Amy, Annie, Rose, and the rest of the girls are in the living room watching a movie. Logan, Lee and Declan have gone out, doing what I think is men stuff.”

Men stuff? Really? I wonder about the men stuff until Waff shoves a full English breakfast in front of my face; sausages, eggs, bacon, tomatoes, beans, potato scones, black and fruit pudding. Heaven on a plate my belly tells me. I join the others in the living room and find Kayleigh and Amy on the sofa. I give them the biggest hug ever and tell them how much I love them.

“I love you both to the moon, the stars, all the way around and back again, you know that right?” I whispered into their hair, while they wrap their arms around me so tight. I don’t ever want to let them go.

“Breakfast is ready. Waff’s made a full English breakfast, and it smells and looks delicious.”

Then I realise that the men stuff the guys are doing, would be Lee smoking a joint outside, away from the kids.

We make our way to the kitchen. I grab another coffee and dig into my breakfast.

My phone starts buzzing in front of me. I press answer and hear my mum’s voice. After fifteen minutes of my mum telling me how worried she was, and listening to her panicked ranting, I manage to calm her down. She tells me how much she loves Kayleigh, Amy, and me. I promise to call her back as soon as I have any more news.

While I was saying goodbye to my mum, Rose received a call from the refuge staff, telling her that we all had to meet up in the other office in town.

With that Logan, Lee and Declan come into the kitchen, looking a little dapper for this time of the morning. I gaze up at Logan and drink in the sight of him.