I'm A Mess || l.c

19- Thriller

It had been almost a week since we had come back from Florida. A week of keeping my mouth shut about what I saw that night. My friends were still mad at me, obviously with good reasoning. I didn't listen to them about getting the police involved. When did I ever listen to anyone?

Today, James was taking me to his house to introduce me to his family. It was dangerous to continue to associate myself with him, I knew that, but I couldn't help myself. I was insane. Truly, utterly, out of my mind. Somehow, I managed to convince my sisters that I had a great time in Florida and that there was nothing to worry about James. Maybe I should have been considering acting as a career, not medicine, since I was so great at it. To make matters worse, on the ride to James' place, he informed me about his dad's criminal history; he got released from jail just a few months ago. Of course, he didn't tell me the reason; I didn't bother to pry. Was there anyone in this family who was actually normal? I wouldn't have been surprised if his sisters went down the same route as him or their dad. This was all too much for me to handle but I was surprised with how well I carried myself on the exterior.

"But there's nothing to worry about now, Lauren. Those days are way past him," James explained about his dad, almost sounding as if he was trying to convince himself. "They're great people and I seriously can't wait for you to meet them."

He parked his car in the driveway and, as I unbuckled my seatbelt, I felt a strange sinking feeling in my stomach. Stay calm, Lauren. It will be over before you know it.

*

After meeting James' dad, Harris, whom I did not particularly like the second we shook hands, and Claire and Marissa, his sisters, we all sat down at the dinner table to feast on spaghetti bolognese, mashed potatoes, and a variety of other delicious, aromatic foods. I was starving, but also too afraid to really eat anything as Harris consistently glared at me. No one else seemed to notice. Or maybe they were pretending not to? No Lauren, stop making things up and stop stressing yourself out even more.

"So, Lauren, I heard you want to go to medical school in the future?" Claire asked as she scooped more of the mashed potatoes onto her plate.

"Yup, that's the plan. How about you? What do you guys want to do after school?" I asked.

"That's amazing. Marissa and I are thinking of going to dental school actually." Dental school. They could commit a lot of crimes there with those instruments.

Lauren, snap out of it.

I smiled, not being able to come up with something to say as Harris once again looked at me strangely. This was quite possibly the most awkward dinner I've had.

*

As I got up to go and put my empty plate in the sink, Harris got up and followed me as well. I almost wanted to turn back around and sit down but I didn't want to create a scene, so I continued walking to the kitchen, trying to ignore the fact that my heart rate was going up.

"Did you like the food?" he asked.

"Yes, I did, it was so delicious. Thank you," I responded with a shaky voice, my back still facing him. My palms started to sweat, and I gulped. Why was I getting the feeling that something bad was going to happen?

"You sound nervous, darling," he said, his voice suddenly deeper than it was before. I froze and tightened my grasp on my plate.

"What's wrong?" he whispered right next to my ear. I jumped slightly and immediately let go of the plate, watching it smash into pieces. What was he doing?

"I-I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to drop my plate. I-I'll clean that up right now!" I exclaimed.

"You will not move an inch," he blocked me from moving any further, holding a knife to my throat.

"W-What are you doing, I said I was sorry. Please, I'll clean it up," I pleaded. I should have known something like this was going to happen. I mean, my life was practically a thriller movie. Assuming he previously went to jail for murder, I wouldn't have been surprised if I was his next victim. All for a plate, though? That seemed a bit excessive.

"What did I say? YOU WILL NOT MOVE AN INCH!" he snapped.

At that moment, I saw James walk past the kitchen from the corner of my eye. Did he not hear his dad yelling? Where was he going?

"JAMES!" I yelled. No response. I shouted out his name once again, and then Claire's and Marissa's.

None of them came to my rescue.

Harris smirked as he watched my eyes widen with fear when I realised that they were all probably in on this. Memories of all the times I spent with James played like an insanely fast movie in my mind. Was all of this so-called relationship just so he could bring me to his house one day and get his dad to kill me? No, things like that didn't happen in real life, right?

This had to be a prank. As if I was going to die tonight.

Right?!