Flame

Chapter Seven

When the doorbell rang, Davina almost choked on her orange juice. Two days had passed since she arrived back home and no one had come to burst the door down like she was expecting so when the thought settled down that morning, as expected, it came back when she heard that familiar chime. Her stomach bubbled as she stared at the front door from the kitchen, terrified to even walk towards it.

Finn found me. He's here to kill me.

Her mother ran down the stairs in a hurry, gathering her hair together to tie it into a ponytail. She had been getting ready to go to the supermarket and by the way she was dressed, in her usual tee shirt and leggings (she considered grocery shopping as a workout), she was about to be on her way. Not noticing Davina's presence in the kitchen, beaming at her every move like a tiger does its prey, she glanced into the peephole before opening the door. Davina couldn't see who was on the other side because her mother was blocking the view. "Hi, can I help you?"

"Uh, yeah, um," the person muttered and immediately Davina's heart skipped a beat, "I'm Reese. I don't know if Davina has told you about me but-"

"You're Reese?" her mother interrupted, of course she did, she always had a habit of cutting people off mid-sentence without meaning to. "Davina has told me so much about you."

"Really?"

"Yes! She absolutely adores you."

For God sakes, Mom.

"I'm assuming you heard about what happened," her mother said in a hushed tone after a small silence which Davina could've guessed was filled with Reese opening and shutting her mouth, trying to not make a comment that would have given a horrible first impression.

"Yeah...she hasn't been answering my texts and I got really worried. I'm sorry if me showing up is a burden but I had to come and see how she's doing."

"It's not a burden at all. Come in," she scooted to the side to let Reese enter before shutting the door behind them. "Davina! You have a visitor!" She turned around and noticed her daughter standing beside the refrigerator with a horrific pale face. "Dear God, Davina, I didn't see you there. Sorry for yelling." When Davina failed to reply, her eyes fixated on Reese who had been standing awkwardly off to the side, her mother quickly grabbed her purse and keys from the island that was in the middle of the kitchen. "I'm gonna head on out. Text me if you need anything."

The tension in the air was suffocating. So many different emotions were piling on Davina's heart as she continued to stare at Reese. Those familiar butterflies in her stomach were there, tickling every inch of her skin. It was how Reese always made her feel but she also carried guilt buried deep in her chest; she regretted the fact she never attempted to reply to the hundreds of worried text messages. Then there was the humiliation. The pin that all the red strings of feelings were connected to; she was raped. Everyone knew and it would be the first thing they think of each time they lay eyes on her.

Reese managed to be the first to speak after a long, dreadful minute of silence. "I had to talk to the police yesterday."

"You did?"

"Yeah," she said as she slowly walked into the kitchen and now that they were closer, Davina saw how exhausted the girl appeared with her slightly thinner frame and the heavy purple bags below her dull eyes. Reese stood on the opposite side of the island so that they were face to face and she placed both palms on the surface anxiously. Davina wondered why she looked so...miserable. "I kept asking Miss Falls for your address after you left but she refused to and wouldn't tell me why you were gone. Then when the police told me about what he did to you, I literally got on my knees and begged her so I could see you."