Chapter 11: Gabby

GABBY

Ihugged my knees to my chest and cried as the little boy destroyed my room. He pushed over my dollhouse, knocked over the cart with my LEGOs, and threw everything in my toy box onto the floor.

"Stop!" I cried.

"I hate you!" he screamed and threw my favorite doll against the wall.

"What is going on in here?" my father demanded.

"He's breaking my toys," I whimpered.

"Come with me," my father said and grabbed the little boy's hand. "Gabriella, get this mess cleaned up. Now."

I woke with a start.

"What's wrong?" Byte asked and was immediately at my side.

"I don't know," I said and rubbed my hands over my face, feeling confused. "I had a dream, but I don't think it was a dream."

"What do you mean?"

"I think it was a memory."

"Tell me about it," he encouraged.

"I was little, maybe three or four, and I was in my bedroom at my father's house. A little boy was there, and he was destroying my room. My father came in and took him away, but he made me clean up the mess."

"Do you know who he was?"

"No," I said and shook my head. "I'd completely forgotten about him, but now I can remember him coming over to our house a few times. He was always so mean to me."

"Well, I think the events of yesterday are responsible for triggering the memory."

"Yeah," I agreed. "And I think the events from my childhood are responsible for my reaction to the events of yesterday. I'm sorry about that. I don't know what happened. I just couldn't make myself respond to anything."

"You don't need to apologize. Like I said, you've been through a lot in a short amount of time. I'm just glad you're talking to me now," he said, sounding relieved.

"It was weird. I felt like I was going to get in trouble, which is ridiculous because I'm an adult. But that's how it was when I was a child. If my father was upset, it was best to be quiet and, if possible, unseen. I guess the similarity between what happened yesterday and what happened when I was little triggered some childhood trauma response I was unaware of," I said and covered my face with my hands.

Byte gently tugged my hands away from my face. "There's nothing to be embarrassed about. Almost everyone in this club has something from their past that haunts them."

"Do you?"

"Yes, but it's—" he started, but was interrupted by someone knocking on the door, followed by Shadow barking.

He opened the door to reveal a smiling Harper. "I thought I heard talking in here. Are you feeling better?"

"Yes," I nodded. "Sorry if I scared you."

She waved her hand dismissively. "I was a little worried, but I knew you'd come around. There's breakfast in the common room if you're hungry."

I was hungry. I had barely eaten the day before and was ready to make up for it. "I am. I'll be there in a few minutes."

I wasn't sure what to expect when I entered the common room. Part of me thought I would be bombarded with people hugging me and asking if I was okay. To my surprise, everyone carried on as if it was business as usual.

I'd been pushing a piece of French toast around on my plate for a few minutes when Byte asked, "What are you thinking about?"

I exhaled heavily. "As much as I don't want to, I really should go back to my house to help clean up and sort through things. I need to know what needs to be replaced, and I'm the only one who will know if something's missing."

"If you don't want to go, you don't have to," Byte said. "Edge can send pictures for you to look through."

"I appreciate the offer, but I'll be okay. I can't sit here doing nothing while they're at my house cleaning up a huge mess."

"Are you sure?" Byte asked carefully.

"There won't be a repeat of yesterday."

"If you want to leave, say the word, and we're out of there. I don't care if we've only been there for five minutes."

"I will," I promised.

When we pulled into my driveway, Byte paused before getting out of the truck. I assumed he was going to ask me if I was okay again and was ready to assure him I was. However, that's not what happened. Instead, he picked up his phone and started typing.

"What are you doing?"

"Letting the guys know we're here. I didn't tell them we were coming, and I don't think surprising them is a good idea."

"Yeah, probably not," I agreed.

His phone buzzed with a message. "Okay, let's go."

Edge stepped out onto the front porch while we were letting Shadow out of the truck. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Gabby wanted to help with the cleanup so she could get an idea of what she needs to replace and make note of anything missing," Byte explained.

Edge nodded. "We started with the kitchen. We threw out all the food that was ruined, as well as any broken dishes. Anything that isn't broken is being run through the dishwasher before we put it back in the cabinets. But it's good you're here, because we don't know where anything goes."

"Thanks, Edge. I really appreciate your help," I told him.

"I'm sorry someone did this to you, but I'm happy to help," he said and looked at Shadow. "You might want to watch where he goes in the house. We haven't gotten all the broken glass and ceramic off the floor. On that note, you both need to keep your shoes on."

"Crap," I mumbled. I hadn't even thought about the possibility of Shadow stepping on glass shards. "Is there anywhere that's safe for him?"

"The kitchen's clear."

"Okay, he'll have to stay in there until we make more progress," I said. Since Shadow had been with us, he hadn't been confined in a room or limited space. I wasn't sure how he'd react, but there wasn't much I could do about it.

"He'll be fine," Byte assured me.

"All right, where should I start? I asked.

Edge chuckled. "It's your house. Start wherever you'd like. Frankly, it'll be nice to have you here to provide some guidance."

"I guess I'll start in the living room and work my way through the rest of the house."

As it turned out, the damage wasn't as bad as I initially thought. It was still bad, just not as bad. Initially, I thought virtually everything was going to be a loss. While some items were broken beyond repair, most things were only knocked over or strewn about. The kitchen definitely bore the brunt of the assault, with my bedroom coming in second.

I was in my room sorting through my clothes covering the floor when Byte interrupted me. "Are you hungry?"

"Now that you mention it, I could eat."

"Diesel's going to pick up something from the Mexican restaurant beside the grocery store. Do you want something from there or somewhere else?"

"I love that place. I'll have a taco salad, no tomato and no guacamole," I told him and walked over to the bed to get my purse.

"I got it," he said and closed the door before I could argue.

I looked at Shadow, who was resting on my bed, and shrugged. "Well, okay then."

Despite the extensive mess, cleaning up my room was much easier than I thought. Every single item of clothing I owned had been removed from a drawer or hanger and thrown on the floor. Since there was no way I was going to wear anything until it had been washed, all I had to do was gather the clothes and stuff them into laundry baskets and boxes.

I'd worked my way to my closet when Byte returned to tell me the food had arrived. "One second," I said and opened the hidden door in my closet. I'm not sure why I opened it, but it was a good thing I did.

"Byte," I gasped. "Look."

He quickly crossed the room and read the words spray-painted on the wall behind the false door. "I'll find you next time, bitch."

He pulled out his phone and snapped a few pictures. "We need to add this to the police report."

"Yeah," I agreed quietly. I tried not to let the words get to me, but I couldn't help it. The place that kept me safe had been discovered. It was the last semblance of security I had, and it was gone. What would I do if someone broke in again? Or when someone broke in again, according to the words written on the wall.

"Gabby," Byte said sternly. "They won't get to you."

"We don't even know who it is," I countered.

"Doesn't matter. You'll have someone with you at all times. No one will get to you," he assured me.

"I know," I said and swallowed thickly. "It was just a little jarring to see that my safe space has been discovered."

"Let's go eat," he said and gently led me out of the room, with Shadow following along behind us.

I stopped abruptly before entering the hall. "Is it okay for him to be out here?"

"It should be. We've gone over the floors at least twice with the vacuum."

We joined the guys in the kitchen for dinner. I looked around in awe. With the exception of the dishes waiting to be washed, my house looked almost normal. "You guys are awesome. I can't believe how great this place looks."

"We were glad to help," Edge said. "Have you been able to figure out if anything's missing?"

"From what I can tell, they didn't take anything."

"But they did leave a message in the hiding space in her closet," Byte said and slid his phone over to Edge.

Edge looked at the picture and passed the phone to Diesel, then to Ink. "They're going to find a lot more than they bargained for if they show up here again."

After dinner, I finished up in the bedroom while Byte loaded my baskets and boxes of clothes into the truck. Then we said our goodbyes and headed back to Croftridge. I was exhausted and had a long day of laundry to look forward to.