The attic - Chapter 20

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Moira was totally startled. Her heart was racing and she heard the television being turned off. Dead silence fell upon the house and she assumed that Vincent had heard the commotion in the kitchen. She waited for him to come to the kitchen but realized that he was too clever to fall into this trap. 

"What do you want Mr. MacCrae?" was all she was able to say and struggled to breath properly.  She didn't want him to see that she was scared out of her mind and took a deep breath and then moved over to the table.  

She pulled out a chair and asked him to sit down too.  She didn't offer him anything and wanted him to leave as soon as possible.  

"I don't have time for chit chat.  I just came to fetch Vincent.  Where is he?"

"He is not here at the moment."

'When will he be back?"

Moira stared at the man in front of her. There was a slight resemblance between him and Vincent and Moira suddenly wondered what his mother looked like. Moira wondered how such an attractive person could have such an ugly personality.  

"I have no idea.  My husband took him to see the psychologist....so that she can try and fix what you messed up!" Moira said angrily.  

"Listen here lady. I don't have to listen to this nonsense." 

Alister stood up and made his way to the hallway, but Moira jumped up and tried to stop him from entering the rest of the house.  With one arm movement he pushed her out of the way and she hit her head on the side of the door.  Blood was streaming down her face in a matter of seconds.  When she finally came to her senses she stood up and followed him while shouting for him to get out of her house. 

It was an awkward situation.  Allister went into each room, but Vincent was nowhere to be found. Moira felt very relieved when he turned around and walked back towards the kitchen.  She was totally helpless against this big man, and she shuddered to think what he did to Vincent.  

Allister turned around at the kitchen door and said: "You can't hide him from me forever....I will be back!" He slammed the door behind him and Moira was left in a panicked state.  She poured herself a tot of whiskey in a coffee cup and swallowed it quickly to calm her nerves.  She looked for her phone, but couldn't find it and realized that she left it in the living room.  She was too stressed out and grabbed her cigarettes. She went outside to the porch to smoke and just lit the cigarette when Billy's truck flew into the driveway. 

In a matter of two minutes he was on the porch with her and pulled her onto his lap.  He held her tightly and try to calm her down.  

"Moira what happened to your head?" Blood was still gushing out of the small wound and Billy quickly took off his shirt to press it against her head.  

"What did the bastard do to you?" he asked angrily and she has never seen him this angry in his life. 

"How did you know to come so quickly?" Moira asked through the sobbing and Billy told her that Vincent called him.

Moira sobbed even more because she had completely forgot about Vincent.  

"We need to find him, what if he ran away again?"

"Don't worry, he is safe.  He is hiding in the attic. That was the only safe place I could think of, come, we have to get you to a doctor. I will call Vincent."

Vincent was also in a state of panic. It was a struggle to get him down, but Billy convinced him that it was safe.  They could both see that he had been crying, and Billy felt terrible for not being there when all this happened.  He drove them both to the emergency room and Moira got four stitches on the side of her head.  She looked and felt terrible.  The doctor checked out Vincent too but he seemed to be fine, except for the shock.  The nurse gave him some sugar water to drink.  

When they were finished at the hospital, they drove straight to the sheriff's office.  

Moira opened a case against Alister and they discussed the situation with sheriff Jones. Billy promised to stay at the house until the whole ordeal was over.  

They stopped at the diner and ordered takeaways because Moira did not want to be seen in public like that. It was also safest not to have Vincent out in the open, because they did not know when Alister was in the area.  

It was an extremely difficult situation to be in, but neither of them cared because their main goal was to keep Vincent safe.  At home Vincent went back to watching television and Moira took a shower before eating in the kitchen with Billy. Billy wanted her to rest a while, but she said that she felt fine and joined him in the kitchen. 

Billy made her some coffee after lunch, and they discussed the whole situation without Vincent in the room.  

"We need to find out why Vincent is so scared of Alister. I can clearly see that he is not a man to be taken lightly, but there must be a reason why he is keeping Vincent captive, and for sure there is some abuse involved."

Billy nodded. 

"I think that it is time for us to find out the truth. We have been walking on eggshells for the last two weeks, but perhaps it is time to get the hard truth. Vincent needs to tell us why he is so scared of Alister and what happened to him during his time in captivity."  

Moira sighed and nodded.  "I can't go on like this. I really want to help him, but I need to know what we are protecting him of."  

Billy wheeled into the living room and asked Vincent to join them in the kitchen.

Moira poured him a glass of milk and left some cookies out for Vincent.  He took a seat opposite them and took a sip of milk.  

Both Billy and Moira explained to him that they really cared for him and that they wanted to help him, and then told him that it was important for them to know what they are up against so they can help him fight this. 

Vincent took a deep breath.  He looked very vulnerable and scared, and the story that Vincent told them was not something that they ever wanted to hear from a child, and it was very clear why Vincent ran away.  When Vincent finished telling them everything he asked if he could go back to watch television.

Both Billy and Moira was extremely shocked by what he had told them and when Vincent left the room, he poured them both a stiff whiskey to get over the shock. Moira made a recording on her phone of the whole conversation and planned to play it to the psychologist the following morning.  

No court or anyone else would let a child go back to a place of neglect and abuse and they both hoped that this was the solution to everything. 

-To be continued-

Chapter 1 - https://steemit.com/fiction/@giantbear/the-attic-chapter-1

Chapter 2 - https://steemit.com/fiction/@giantbear/the-attic-chapter-2

Chapter 3 - https://steemit.com/fiction/@giantbear/the-attic-chapter-3

Chapter 4 - https://steemit.com/fiction/@giantbear/the-attic-chapter-4

Chapter 5-  https://steemit.com/fiction/@giantbear/the-attic-chapter-5

Chapter 6-  https://steemit.com/fiction/@giantbear/the-attic-chapter-6

Chapter 7-   https://steemit.com/fiction/@giantbear/the-attic-chapter-7

Chapter 8 -  https://steemit.com/fiction/@giantbear/the-attic-chapter-8

Chapter 9 -  https://steemit.com/fiction/@giantbear/the-attic-chapter-9

Chapter 10 - https://steemit.com/fiction/@giantbear/the-attic-chapter-10

Chapter 11 - https://steemit.com/fiction/@giantbear/the-attic-chapter-11

Chapter 12 - https://steemit.com/fiction/@giantbear/the-attic-chapter-12

Chapter 13 - https://steemit.com/fiction/@giantbear/the-attic-chapter-13

Chapter 14 - https://steemit.com/fiction/@giantbear/the-attic-chapter-14 

Chapter 15 - https://steemit.com/fiction/@giantbear/the-attic-chapter-15

Chapter 16 -https://steemit.com/fiction/@giantbear/the-attic-chapter-16 

Chapter 17 - https://steemit.com/fiction/@giantbear/the-attic-chapter-17

Chapter 18 - https://steemit.com/fiction/@giantbear/the-attic-chapter-18

Chapter 19 - https://steemit.com/fiction/@giantbear/the-attic-chapter-19