Heart Shaped Lies

Chapter Eight

The sheriff had Hannah  moved to a safe house within an hour. The police had not recovered either of her parents' identifications, and assumed they were in the stolen car. Which meant whoever had done it had access to their home address. And everyone knew who had done it. At first, she had refused to go.

"He's going to find me anyway," she had sobbed in Sawyer's arms.

Finally, after much persuasion and Sawyer swearing to be by her side every second, Hannah  relented. 

The safe house sat in a wooded area away from the street. Hannah  sat stonily at the small kitchen table. Sawyer searched through the fully stocked cabinets, offering to fix Hannah  several things without getting a response. Finally, he slumped into the chair across from her and reached for her hands.

"You have to eat, sweetheart."

She said nothing. 

"Please, Hannah . Eat something."

Still, no response. Sawyer squeezed her hands. 

"Baby, it isn't your fault." 

Hannah 's eyes flashed, and she exploded, yanking her hands out of Sawyer's grasp. 

"Don't say that to me! Because it is my fault! If they had never taken me in, they would still be alive! They're dead and it's because of me! Next, it'll be you! I wish he had killed me ten years ago and been done with it!" 

Sawyer jumped to his feet. 

"Don't ever say that! They loved you, regardless of all of this. They knew what could happen and still loved you. You have to hang on, Hannah . Don't let their deaths be for nothing." 

Hannah 's face fell, and she sank to her knees on the floor, weeping. Sawyer knelt beside her, holding her against him and crying with her. Hannah  felt as though she had aged a hundred years in the past three days. 

"We'll get through this, baby. It'll be over soon. Nothing else is going to happen." Sawyer knew his words did nothing to ease the pain that shadowed Hannah 's face. 

"It will be over soon," Hannah  said softly. "When we're all dead."

                                                                                   * * * * 

Hannah  refused to sleep. It had been almost a full twenty-four hours, and she stood by the window, staring out into the front yard. She could vaguely make out the outlines of police officers among the thick brush, watching, waiting. 

"Hannah , please, lay down," Sawyer pleaded from the bed. Hannah  turned to him. 

"He knew who they were. He has their car. He's out there, Sawyer. I can feel it. They aren't going to be able to stop him when he comes for me." 

"Baby, you need to relax and rest. Why don't you go take a bath?"

Hannah  nodded slowly and headed for the adjoining bathroom. She turned the hot water on full blast and undressed. The bathroom filled with steam as a sudden dread clenched her chest. She opened the bathroom door. "Sawyer?"

He was there quickly. 

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" 

"Yeah. I was just checking on you." 

"I'm fine, baby. I'm not going anywhere." 

Sawyer planted a kiss on her lips and went back to the bed, leaving the bathroom door slightly ajar. Hannah  lowered herself into the bathtub, comforted by the sound of Sawyer's soft laughter at some sitcom that was playing on the television. The laugh sounded forced, but knowing he was right in the next room and still awake gave her some peace of mind. She relaxed in the hot water, her eyes drooping shut as the need to sleep suddenly overwhelmed her. 

She didn't notice as the bathroom door closed. 

"Hannah ," a voice whispered. 

Hannah 's eyes snapped open. That voice...that was her mother's voice. Her mother that had been dead for more than a decade. There, standing at the foot of the tub, was her mother, exactly the way she had looked before she died. Her pale skin, her fair blonde hair, her sapphire eyes. 

Hannah 's breath caught. 

"Sawyer!" She tried to scream for him, but her voice came out barely a whisper. 

"Don't be scared, honey. I'm not going to hurt you," her mother said softly. 

"This isn't happening. I must be dreaming. You...you're dead," Hannah  managed to say.

The ethereal figure knelt by the tub. 

"I am, Hannah . I came here to warn you."

"Warn me?"

"You're right, honey. He's coming for you."

"Is there any way to win, Mom?" Hannah  asked, choking back sobs. 

"That all depends on you, my love." 

"How? What do I do?"

Her mother straightened, her lips parting in silent terror. "He's here." 

With that, she vanished. Hannah  scrambled out of the bath and slipped, dropping heavily to her hands and knees. Her body shook with fear. She gasped in a lungful of air and shrieked wildly.

"Sawyer!"