Chickadee's Pain

   The road was wet from the heavy rains that fell like sheets from the sky. The last two days have been nothing but rain. As the car pulled into the driveway, a puddle splashed up around the windows. Eileen felt that it was about time the rain stopped. Flood watches were in effect, and nothing appeared that it would stop. As she looked up to the dark house, she noticed a shadow moving across the lower windows. Something was off.

    Eileen grabbed her phone, and quickly dialed her ICE contact, the in case of emergency contact in her phone. Harold picked up and sounded irritated.

    “Eileen, why are you calling so late?”

    “There is something wrong with my home. Someone is inside, I think. I saw the shadow across the living room windows. Someone is inside. I don’t dare go in. I just got home.” In a panic she grabs her purse and rummages through waiting.

    “Eileen, stay in your vehicle, lock the doors I am on my way.” This made her sigh in relief. He was coming to save her, again.

    Eileen sat back into the seat with a reassured sense of safety. That shadow, her interest was piqued when the shadow stopped in the window. They can’t see me, I know this. Still, why is someone in my home? This thought trailed off as Harold pulled up beside her. The lights on the pickup were turned off, so as not to alert this possible break in that people were home.

    As Harold walked to the driver’s side window, to speak to Eileen, he noticed the window open. He stopped dead in his tracks hoping to not alert the person to his movement. Once the shadow left that window, he moved quickly.

    “Eileen, we need to figure out who is in there and call the police. You were right there is someone in there. “

    “I know. I am just afraid of what this is. I am not into playing games. I don’t like this type of thing. Flight or fight isn’t my strong suit.”

    “Just call the cops, and we will go from there. Do it, now.”

His words were stern, but she knew he meant well. She was just as fearful as he sounded. Eileen called the dispatcher and gave them the information. The woman on the other end said that the cops were five minutes out. Eileen noted that and said she couldn’t stay on just in case. Where the light on the phone could alert the person inside. They hung up and Eileen sat with Harold and waited with bated breath. This couldn’t be happening.

The officers pulled up behind Eileen and Harold, guns drawn.

    “Are they still inside?”

    “Yes officer,” Eileen stated with heightened panic. Her palms had begun to sweat profusely. The clammy feeling caused her to rub them repeatedly. She silently prayed this was a sick joke. Harold wrapped his arm around her to help her feel a sense of safety, knowing that was a long shot. He was just as scared.

    The officers moved quickly watching every angle until they were at the front door. One used the key code that Eileen had given him. He noticed there were no signs visible of forced entry. So that left a lot of questions. They both looked up towards the window closest to the door, to see the shadow move again. Knowing they were still inside; the officers opened the door with careful silence. One went to the left, and one to the right. Harold could hear them say Freeze, police. This repeated about five times. Then silence. Eileen began to cry, and Harold pulled her in closer. She sobbed softly into his chest. Suddenly, her phone began to ring, the number was blocked. Timidly she answered it,

    “Hello?”

    “Life is all fun and games isn’t it, Eileen?”

She put it on speaker hoping Harold could listen as a silent witness.

    “Who is this?”

    “At this point, that is not important. You have five minutes to get into your house, or these officers will be tomorrow’s headlines.”

    “But… wait…” she trailed off as the line went dead.

    “Is that whoever is inside right now?” Harold knew the obvious, but he still had to bring her brain back around.

    “Yes, I must get in there. He is going to kill them. Still, all fun and games? Why that phrase?”

    “Let’s go together. Call the dispatcher back first, let them know to stay on the line with you just in case. “Eileen called back and was thankful to have gotten the same dispatcher. She was willing to stay on the line as Eileen and Harold walked inside, in hopes of saving the officers.

    As Eileen stepped through the door a wash of panic and anger came over her. Her body began to tremble. How was this possible? Standing in the middle of the living room was her father, and the two officers. This was impossible because he had been dead for six years. How? This is impossible. This can’t be real.

    “Hello songbird, how is my chickadee”

    “This is wrong, you are dead! Why are you in front of me?” The officers were tied up and taped in silence. Eileen took notice of everything around her. It all made her uneasy.

    “ I am here as you asked, please let them go.”

    “No, that won’t happen chickadee. They are going to stay right where they are. You are going to come over here and give me a hug.”

    “No, this can’t happen you are dead. I saw you in the casket you are dead.”

    “All fun and games chickadee, all fun and games.”

    “Until when? Until someone is dead?”

    “Now chickadee, don’t be like that. Here is how this will go. You are going to get me the family lock box, I know you have it, your mother left it to you. Then you are going to give it to me with the key. This man with you, is staying with me and these officers. No one else will be notified or I will make headlines with all of you. Understand?”

    “Why do you want that so badly? Why aren’t you dead? This isn’t making sense.”

    “It’s all fun and games, now go get it now!”

    Eileen felt a cold chill run down her spine as she left Harold’s side to walk upstairs. Once she opened her office door, there was a note on her desk. It stated, Chickadee, there is no reason for you to keep the family box, now take it off the desk, and bring it to me. You are only alive, because your mother protected you, as she protected this box.

With lustful thoughts your father.

    This brought back too many memories. Then the click happened. That phrase, its all fun and games until Chickadee bleeds. She remembers him saying these words to her over and over as he took advantage of her body. Was she just born to please him? This thought hadn’t crossed her mind for six years. This must end; she grabbed the box and the key and opened it. As the top popped up, she saw what was inside. The envelope on the top stated hush money. The paperwork beneath were newspaper clippings from before she was born. Each one had her father in cuffs, for everything from rape to murder. She took quick photocopies of everything and replaced the real articles with copies. She quickly moved around the office to put things in the box to replace the items she found inside. There had to be a reason her mother kept these things locked up. A reason she died to protect it. As Eileen finished, she locked the box back up and ran downstairs.

    “Here, this is what you wanted. Here you go.” She handed the box over with the secondary key. She watched her father’s face drop. There was money, I was sure of it, why just papers?”

    Eileen shivered as the cold feeling ran down her spine again. Her father had not only killed these people, and faked his death but now, he was there for her. She began to cry.

    “Oh chickadee, that isn’t necessary. I take it you read these articles. I know you must want to know why. I can’t tell you that. I had to die to make it look like I was no longer around. So, they, as he motioned to the two officers, would stop arresting me. Now these two have heard too much so they need to die. You now know who I am, and you will have to be in the obituaries as well. Who is this?”

    Harold was standing behind Eileen with a death stare in his eyes. This was all too much to take in. There was no understanding, he saw the body himself, and yet here he stood. As he watched the man move towards Eileen he stiffened.

    “Don’t touch her. She isn’t your problem, don’t touch her.”

    “I will do as I please, she knows this. Now I asked once already, who are you to her?”

    “I am her best friend. She is my world, stay away from her.” Hearing this Eileen started softly sobbing again. She loved Harold, and never had that conversation with him. She could feel him tense behind her and the look on her father’s face was that of disapproval.

    “Don’t touch him I don’t care leave us out of this. Eileen felt a flash of bravery knowing that Harold loved her, and that the dispatcher was still on the line. The radios buzzed with the words on scene. How many are inside, the dispatcher stated three and two officers nonresponsive. The man is armed and dangerous. It is the town rapist. Be aware, he isn’t dead. Then the radios died.

    As the door was left open, several officers came through screaming hands up police. A wash of relief came across Eileen as she knew this should be the end. Her father stepped aside thinking that he could escape. This wasn’t the case. She spun away from him and handed the detective the real articles. Including his death announcement and obituary.

    “You are under arrest, this ends here.” There were medical papers, stating that Eileen had been sexually assaulted throughout her entire childhood. There were thirty reports or more just in her medical records. The officers were ordered to arrest him, and her father was pointed towards the door where swat was waiting. This was finally the end of the game. Eileen was finally safe. They cuffed her father and led him outside. Others moved quickly to undo the officers, and free them from their bindings.

    As everyone walked out, Harold turned to Eileen, “why don’t you come stay with me?”

    “I guess so. I never thought it would be a possibility.”

    “At least a few nights, until the courts close the case on this man. You don’t need to be alone.”

    These words struck Eileen in a way she never thought possible. Her heart jumped and the butterflies started in her abdomen. Was this reality?

    “I will be right back. Eileen walked back upstairs, to grab some clothes and personal items. She had a sense that this may not be the end. As she was putting her things in a bag, those words came back to her. “Its all fun and games, until chickadee bleeds.” Eileen couldn’t shake the fear, or the coldness in her spine. She now understood why he always used those words. It was all fun and games until she was dead.

    The steps from her room seemed to take forever. The looming feeling was too strong. Harold met her at the bottom of the stairs and took the bag from her. No words were necessary, the look on his face was enough to say let’s go. They walked out and relocked the door. Harold changed the code settings, just in case. The box was in her bag, and that was going to be for her benefit. Harold looked at her as she climbed up into the truck.

    “We will come back tomorrow for your car. Let’s get you settled for now.”

    “That sounds good. Thank you for everything.” Harold backed out of the driveway, and they were off. This was a good feeling; Eileen knew that she was finally going to be safe. The man in her head, wouldn’t be able to touch her again. It really was too close for comfort. She still couldn’t wrap her head around why she couldn’t shake the darkness feeling from her body. Still, she shook it off.

    Once they arrived, she stepped from the truck, and Harold knew she was weak. This was all too much. He helped her into the house and sat her down on the couch. He told her to make herself at home. Eileen didn’t want to move. She was still shaken to her core. As Harold locked the door behind them, the detective called her from the precinct.

    “Ms. Eileen, is this an okay time?”

    “Yes, what is going on?”

    “He is cleared in and will be here for a while. These clippings, how did you still have them?”

    “My mother was murdered five years ago; she I guess had been collecting all of them over the last forty plus years. I had never opened the box until he demanded to have it tonight. I had no idea what was in it. I have my medical records, and you can make a copy of everything, but I would like to have the originals back if possible. What exactly is he facing?”

    “Ma’am he is looking at twenty-seven counts of rape, thirty counts of murder, including your mothers. Also, for you breaking and entering, and attempted murder of two officers. Keeping the dispatcher on the line gave us his confession in the recording so we don’t have to get one from him directly.”

    Eileen felt another wash of relief. This would put him away until his last breath if the other inmates allowed him to live that long.

    “What do I need to know about court?”

    “The district attorney will be in touch with you about that. For now, just relax. Let us do our best to close this chapter for you.”

    “Okay, thank you.”

    Harold sat beside her and wrapped her in a hug. He held her as she cried. The emotions were running at full tilt, and she couldn’t control them. This was a chapter, she figured was closed six years ago. Then the monster came back, and the articles, the charges how many people had he killed? She knew he was a rapist; it was what had happened to her as well. Still, how many others were victims of his?

    She and Harold fell asleep on the couch and woke to a call the next morning. “Is this Eileen? “

    “Yes, this is hello?”

    “This is the District Attorney; I am calling to let you know that you are one brave and smart woman. I am impressed you got the confession without realizing you were doing so. This is an open and shut case. With as many times as he has escaped us in the past, we have him now.”

    “Thank you. I am happy to close this chapter. He was a monster my entire life, I just never knew how bad he was until I saw the articles. What is hush money? There was an envelope, and…”

    “Hush money to keep your mother quiet is all we can figure. The fact she saved it and kept it for you is something else. Know you are safe, and we will do all we can to make sure he never gets out again.”

    Eileen smiled for the first time in her life. She knew this was it. She knew she was going to be okay. There was no way he was ever going to get near her again. After the phone was hung up, she pulled the envelope from the box. She and Harold started counting it.

    “There is over seven hundred thousand dollars here.” Harolds mouth dropped, Eileen was in shock.

    “What are you going to do with it?”

    “Well, I think I am going to sell off momma’s house and move. Where, I have no idea, but I want to get away from the memories.”

    “Away from me?”

     “No, you can come with me…” Harold chuckled. That sounded like a happily ever after given the darkness in the last twenty-four hours.

    “How about Florida? Warm, sunny, and full of life. We can buy any place we wish with this.”

    “That is a plan.” Harold knew she was finally letting go of all the pain and suffering she endured through life. It was finally over. They got up, and gathered everything they could manage from Harold’s house, then went to get her car. She packed up just what she could carry, and they left. Leaving behind the pain, the torture, the heartache. All of it, in the rearview, not to be seen or lived again. Eileen made a call to the local realtor. The house was going up for sale with everything in it as part of the sale. Harold made a call at the gas station just out of town to do the same thing. To them, that was the final seal.

    Eileen pulled her shades from her purse and put them on. Knowing that Harold could see her in his rearview. Here was a brighter chance in life. Here was to forever, and here was to new beginnings. In her mind, she could see her mother’s smile. That was something she missed. It made her feel warm, and as if her mother approved of this move. The fact Harold was with her ride or die, was going to be a chapter. She had everything she could ever have dreamed of, going with her to Florida, forever.