The Girl In The Cabin

Chapter Nineteen: Reckoning

I'm as shocked as everyone in the room when Maggie claims Zachary was the one who killed Lionel Carter. "Zachary?" Dan gasps, "You're lying! He got into an accident trying to save you and Charlotte. He never even made it here." Maggie turns to Zachary, "Should you tell them, or should I, Zachary?" Zachary stares up at Maggie, pure hate in his eyes. "Shut up, Maggie!" She shakes her head, "What are you afraid of?" Maggie turns back to Dan, "I'm sorry, Dan. I was never a good wife. I tried to be, but it's hard being married to a man who cares more about his job than anything else." Dan looks from his ex-wife to his brother. "Maggie...Zachary...what's going on here?" He asks. "Maggie–" Zachary's hands tighten around his wheelchair, "You don't know what you're saying." She glares at him, "Don't we? Everyone believes Lionel Carter was the worst among us." Dan nods angrily, "He was." She shrugs, "In a way, but so was I. I was a bad wife. A bad mother. A bad person. I was having an affair, Dan. I thought I had fallen in love with Lionel. I was even going to run away with him until everything with Elouise came to light. I always liked her...If I had known, I never would've started with Lionel to begin with. A man who takes a woman with force is evil." Maggie looks at Alex, "And his offspring carries that evil." I grab Alex's hand in mine and squeeze. I can tell he's uncomfortable facing the demons of the past. I resist the urge to embrace him. "Spare me your love stories." Dan scoffs. "What you don't know...is that Lionel wasn't my only lover," Maggie says quietly. The room falls silent. Once again, Maggie holds everyone's undivided attention. "There was also Zachary." She says quietly. "Shut up, Maggie!" Zachary roars as he turns to Dan, "She's lying, Dan! I'd never do that to you. She's a lying whore!" Maggie takes a step back, "It was raining that night. I had talked to Lionel only hours before. He begged me to run away with him, but I wouldn't. I couldn't. He had ruined Elouise and I still had Charlotte. I may have been greedy, but I wasn't blind. What he did to her was so wrong, I just couldn't. He threatened to come over, but I begged him to stay away. I had also talked to Zachary...who was furious. Furious because I had decided to stay with you, Dan. He didn't care that you were his brother. He even threatened to tell you. He even threatened to kill me."

"Stop this," Zachary says firmly, his body shaking with anger. "Hours went by, but the rain kept coming. I was scared. So was Charlotte. On a night when everyone should've stayed home, I ended up with two visitors."
"Stop it, now!" Zachary screams. "I couldn't tell who was at the door, but I knew they were angry. I'll never forget that loud knocking sound. I told Charlotte to hide and wait for her father, I didn't know what else to do. Then our dogs suddenly stopped barking... I tried defending myself with a knife, but it was no use. Zachary was in control from the beginning." Dan shudders and takes a step back, "You're lying. You're lying." He gasps. Maggie continues, "He pulled me by the hair and dragged me upstairs. I knew he was after her... He knew hurting Charlotte would be my greatest punishment. She was so scared. She couldn't believe what was happening. You were her uncle and you stabbed her! I couldn't move. I wanted to, but I couldn't. I failed her as a mother. After Charlotte was dead, he scorned me for cheating on him with Lionel. He thought he was my only lover. He said it was my fault...Charlotte's death was my fault." Zachary is rigid now as he screams, "Stop it! You lying whore!" Maggie ignores him, "And that's when Lionel showed up." Maggie's voice is detached as if she's telling a story about someone else. "He heard everything before he found Zachary on top of me." Maggie brushes away the tears from her reddened face. "Oh no." I gasp, bringing a hand to cover my mouth. "Lionel was a monster for what he did to Elouise, but I think a part of him really did care about me. He pulled Zachary off of me...I felt so dirty...so worthless after that. I watched the two of them struggle for the knife. Finally, Zachary stabbed Lionel. He stabbed him and then ran into the rain...as if that would cleanse him of his sins." Dan shakes his head, "That's impossible. Zachary was in an accident that night. He almost died trying to check on you and Charlotte."
"The accident was probably an alibi." I realize, "How do you know he didn't get in the accident after visiting the cabin?" Dan shakes his head, "My brother wouldn't cripple himself on purpose! He didn't sleep with Maggie." I turn to Zachary, "Then why isn't he defending himself?" Dan turns to his brother, "Say something, Zachary. Tell me she's lying." Maggie glares at her ex-husband. "You're supposed to be the sheriff. Do your job and arrest him. He murdered your daughter!" She yells. "Our daughter?" Dan demands, "Didn't you just admit to sleeping with anything on two legs?" Maggie shakes her head angrily, "I had a paternity test done. Didn't you ever look at the results?" Dan fires back, "Did you?" He turns back to Zachary and steps close to him, "If you can't defend yourself, I'm going to have to arrest you."