Haunted - Sunny Wolfe Page 0,1

grabbed her by the shoulders and spoke.

“Beth, look at me. Beth, it’s me Roman. Look. At. Me.”

She looked up. Her appearance was so different. Apparently, while I was with the police, someone was able to wash her because her blue hair was straight and all the doll makeup was gone, thank goodness.

“What’s wrong, baby? Tell me.”

“Dddddd…” she mumbled.

I turned toward her friends and swiftly looked them over. I knew what was wrong with her right away once I looked at the little girl. No one else would, but I did. No one had told Eve and Phoebe what had happened to Beth. I looked down at the little girl holding a doll—a nice porcelain doll, the kind that Jason had in his room. I couldn’t imagine how many times that was all she had to stare at while he had her tied to that fucking bed.

“Phoebe,” I spoke. “You need to take your daughter and her doll out into the hall.”

“What?” Phoebe looked at me as though she was going to pound my head with her purse. Obviously, Phoebe felt I had no right to tell her to go anywhere. I looked imploringly to Eve. I knew she was the cool headed one from the stories that Beth told me.

“Eve, Beth had some…trauma from the kidnapping. I will explain everything if you just get them out of the room. Please, for Beth.”

Eve’s eyes widened. I knew they had no idea what happened to Beth, but from the tone of my voice, Eve gathered something horrible had happened to her friend and she moved as quick as lightning.

“Come on, Phoebe. Let’s just wait out in the hall for a second or two. Beth looks like she could use a breather, and I’m sure that Roman will let us in on everything we need to know.”

I bowed my head in thanks to Eve as she took Phoebe’s shoulders and escorted her out of the room. As they were leaving, I heard Phoebe say a few choice words.

“Where does Mr. Roman Reed get off on telling me what to do with my best friend? Who the hell does he think he is? I don’t give a flying fuck if he is her favorite singer or not. He looks like a pompous ass to me. It’s his fault she’s even here.”

“Phoebe, that’s not fair. You don’t even know the whole story yet. He was the one who was held captive with her. He knows what she’s been through. We need to respect that and wait until we can hear his side of the story. Just give him a chance…yeah?” I heard her say to Phoebe outside the door.

The nurse was waiting to come in. She watched the whole scene play out. She gave a warm smile to me and then to Beth.

“Ms. Lowe, I am going to give you something that will help you calm down.”

Beth’s eyes looked to me and I nodded my head. The nurse smiled and gave Beth the dose through her IV.

“Thank you.” I didn’t know how to act. Everything was just so clerical and formal with all the nurses and doctors. I wanted answers, but would anyone tell me?

“Can you tell me what her condition is?”

“I am so sorry, Mr. Reed, but I am not allowed unless you are immediate family.”

I gave a curt nod.

“I can tell you we are taking real good care of her.” She gave me a huge smile. “If you need anything, let me know.”

I nodded.

“By the way, I am a huge fan of your music.”

While being captive, I’d forgotten about the fans. I gave her a tight smile and said, “Thank you. Can you shut the door on the way out?”

She nodded and left the room.

I climbed onto Beth’s bed and cuddled her against me. I started singing something soothing to her, and she melted against me. Beth told me that my voice could soothe her when she was in a bad mood. That was one reason she was a fan of mine. I wished it was because she knew on some level that I meant safety to her even though it was furthest from the truth. If it weren’t for me, she wouldn’t be here. If I were more of a light sleeper, she wouldn’t have been raped. Fuck! I was the worst thing for Beth, but selfishly I didn’t care because she was the best thing for me.

After Beth fell into a deep sleep, I left the room. I found Phoebe and