Chapter 30: NOW - The Safe Room

I stand in the doorway, staring at an empty living room, frozen in utter terror. It must take me several seconds to feel the cold air flooding the house, but once I snap out of it, I realise the front door is wide open.

I rush through the hallway, tripping over my feet, and find snow blowing in from outside. I grab a pair of boots and yank them onto my feet before stumbling into the cold.

“Sophie?”

I slam the door behind me and head out, sinking deep into almost a foot of snow. The tracks are obvious, giving me a starting point and some hope that they haven’t gone far.

Why has Emily taken my child?

Who is she?

The coincidences are stacking up now, from the electricity going off, to the open window and the broken landline. I may have allowed someone into my house who means me harm. Did she cut the phone line? Did she mess with the fuse box? After all, she was alone getting changed for a while. Could she have slipped down to the cellar to sabotage the electricity? I can’t say for sure that I kept an eye on the kitchen the entire time.

Or did she let someone else into my house who did all of those things while I was distracted by her?

I regret not grabbing a weapon, a knife or something heavy, because if I need to fight to get my child back, I will. I have just a distant streetlight ahead, and the light from the house behind me. Luckily, those tracks are not easy to lose in this heavy snow, even in the night.

“Sophie?”

The tracks lead down to the road. What is Emily playing at? It’s not like she can get far with my child. There’s no vehicle aside from a snow plough that could get through our road right now.

“Emily? Sophie?”

I reach a dip in the landscape where the shadows are gathered. I lose my footing, hurtling down a slope, lost to the dark, and hit cold concrete below the snow. My palm scrapes on a sharp stone, and the wind gets knocked out of me, but I haul myself up.

“Sophie?!” My voice is a screech, as eerie and high-pitched as an owl in the early hours of the morning.

Breathless now, I carry on, finally out of the shadows and closer to the streetlight. There’s movement up ahead, two figures.

“Sophie! Stop! Emily, stop!”

I try to run along the tracks already left by Emily, slowed by the thick snow. One of the figures ahead stops and turns towards me. Judging by the height, it has to be Emily. I think I hear a voice, but it’s muffled by the snowflakes still coming down thick and fast.

“What?” I call back.

There’s nothing else for it but to keep chasing. The snow comes down harder, making visibility an issue but I’m sure I’m getting closer. Finally, I hear the sound of crying. Sophie! It’s her, and she’s sobbing. Emily’s voice is also in the distance, trying to soothe her. The rage is an electric pulse shooting through my body. How dare she try to steal my child? How dare she?

I’m just a few feet away now. There’s Emily, and she’s opening her mouth to say something. I shove her to the side, almost pushing her off her feet, grab my little girl, still in her thin PJs and slippers, and pick her up.

I turn to Emily, standing to the side, her face in a shocked ‘O’ expression. “What the fuck were you doing with my child?”

She takes a step closer. “Amber, it isn’t⁠—”

“Do not come any closer to me. Get away!”

“Amber, please. Sophie ran off and I chased her. That’s all. I swear.”

Sophie is sobbing in the crook of my neck. I feel the tears running down my skin.

“Bullshit.”

“It’s true!” she insists. “Ask Sophie. I don’t know what happened but one moment she was asleep, and the next she was running out of the house. I think she had a nightmare and took off.”

“Sophie? Sophie, sweetie.” I stroke her hair, trying to calm her, but she won’t stop crying. “I don’t believe you,” I say to Emily. “Sophie has never, ever done anything like that before.”

Emily bites her lower lip. “Okay, but Sophie has also had a really stressful day. If she was ever going to do this for the first time, it would be tonight, right? After we thought someone had got into the house, and the power cut.”

Sophie cries. “It isn’t true! You said play hide-and-seek.”

Emily shakes her head. “She’s lying. You saw yourself what an overactive imagination she has. I mean, she thought she saw a ghost.”

I take a step away from her. “Are you with him?”

She frowns, like she doesn’t know what I’m talking about. “Who?”

My voice comes out deep, almost like a growl. “You know who I mean.”

She shrugs. “I really don’t. I haven’t got a clue. Listen, Sophie was asleep, then she woke up with a start, like she was having a nightmare and ran out of the house. That’s what happened. She even put the code in at the gate. How else could I get out here? I don’t know the code!”

But I was barely listening to her now. “How do I know the power cut wasn’t you? My landline isn’t working either, and that could have been you, too. How long have you known Peter?”

“Peter? You mean the man stalking you? I don’t even know what he looks like. I swear I’ve never met him. I’m married and just moved here. Everything I said is true. I’m pregnant and… and my husband hit me.” She runs her hands through her hair. “Jesus, Amber, you have to believe me.”

I take a step back, shaking my head. “I can’t believe you. Not after this.”

Her eyebrows raise. “I saved your kid and this is the thanks I get? I ran out here in the freezing cold to make sure she was safe and this is what I get? She was… she was so much faster than me in the snow. I was terrified something might happen to her.”

I’m backing away now. “You should go home, Emily. If that’s even your name. I’m sorry, but I can’t allow you back in my house.”

“What?” She reaches out, pleadingly. “Amber, don’t do this. I… I can’t go back there.”

Her wet hair clings to her face, the bruise just visible under the streetlight. If I turn away and walk back to the house, I could be leaving an abused pregnant woman in the middle of a storm. In any other situation, I would never do that. Being stalked has made me obsess over my own survival, but not to the point where I wouldn’t help someone in need.

I sigh. “I can’t trust you, I’m sorry.”

She wipes her eyes and nose. “Please, Amber. Sophie.”

I slowly back away from her, my voice trembling. “I’m sure your husband has cooled off now. I’m so sorry, Emily. You should go to the police first thing in the morning. I…” I shake my head. “If you’re telling the truth about who you are.”

Her voice cracks. “I am.”

“I’ll come to your house and check on you in the morning. Okay?”

“Fine.”

I don’t want to turn my back on her now because all the trust is gone. I keep backing away, watching her face contort into a scowl.

“He’s probably going to kill me tonight, but what do you care? You’ve been a victim of male violence and you’re turning away a survivor? Shame on you!”

“Don’t…” I try to ignore the sick feeling in my stomach, continuing to move away from her.

“If I go back, he’ll beat me, and if I stay out here, I’ll freeze. Fuck you, Amber. Fuck you!”

“I’m sorry. I can’t… I can’t trust you anymore. Sophie comes first.”

Emily shakes her head and stomps off in the other direction while I slowly trudge back to the house, carrying my half frozen, terrified daughter. Is Emily right? I let out a long, slow breath. I can’t put the life of a stranger above the life of my child. I just can’t. I have to do what’s best for us.