Wicked Games (Student/teacher)

Chapter 25

Hayden was led downstairs by Alex. She remembered the posh carpets of his mansion. "Oh Hayden!" his mother exclaimed when she entered the room. She held Hayden in a tight embrace but quickly pulled away, "Oh heavens dear! You're so thin and pale. Come, let's get you something decent to eat, that hospital food couldn't have been appetising at all." Hayden paused, "Hospital?" She turned to look at Alex and then back at his mother, "I wasn't in a hosp-" Alex quickly cut her off, "What she means to say is that she's not very hungry right now and would like to rest." His mother frowned, "But I thought you just went upstairs to wake her. After all, she has been resting since she arrived yesterday. It's alright Alex. Come now dear." She motioned for Hayden to follow her and turned to leave the room. Hayden followed but was cut off when Alex grabbed her by the arm, "Don't say anything." Hayden nodded and scampered after the blonde.

"Here's some tea," she said, placing a cup in front of Hayden. The woman watched as Hayden's hand shook violently while she held the cup to her mouth. Hayden quickly placed the cup on the table and was met with a look of concern and worry. "What happened that I had to go to the hospital?" Hayden dared to ask although she feared Alex may be listening. "You were in a car accident, dear. Don't you remember?" Hayden remained silent but soon questioned some more, "What happened with the car?" Alex's mother shifted in her seat, "You were speeding and rolled the car. Your body was thrown out into the cold and you nearly died of hypothermia." Flashing images of Hayden chained up and yelling appeared in her mind before she pushed them aside. "You were in a coma for three months," she said. Hayden looked up at her but the room fell silent and a loud buzzing filled her ears. "Excuse me," Hayden said before leaving the table. Hayden strolled around the house, looking at family portraits that hung upon the walls. Alex seemed so normal but he wasn't. She knew she was afraid of him but she was more afraid of Reed. Alex saved her and for that she was grateful. She knew that if she didn't obey him, something bad would happen and so she remained silent. She strolled further and hummed softly.

Hayden couldn't sleep. Alex had his arm around her and lay asleep beside her. The room they were in was a clear indicator of his wealth. After being in that grey room, Hayden couldn't sleep and so she carefully got out of the bed. She looked around at books and trophies which rested on a shelf. As she passed his desk, the first three letters of her name caught her attention. She spotted what appeared to be a black portfolio lying on the surface with a pile of books placed over it. She moved the books to see her full name written on the portfolio. She opened it to see images of her scattered all over the pages. She was with her friends and family in some and alone in others. Some were of her at home or in public places and others of her asleep in bed or in class. She turned to check if Alex was still asleep before she went through the pages. The images grew more disturbing with every turn of the page. It started out with harmless images of her to ones of her getting changed or laying in bed. There was one of her in her bedroom at her parent's house where she was standing upon a ladder with a portrait in her hands. She remembered that day; she tried to hang the portrait but couldn't manage to do it on her own and so called... She couldn't remember who helped her, probably her dad. She turned the page once more to find images of her and Reed together. They were seated in a café or bistro. Below it was one of her speaking to him alone in his classroom. The last one disturbed her the most: her and Reed were in bed together. How could she have been with that monster? Alex turned over and so Hayden quickly restored the objects to their original positions before climbing back into bed. Hayden tried to make sense of it all; the hospital story, the blurred memories of that grey room and now this.

Alex helped Hayden when she couldn't manage to put her sweater on. Her shoulder blades were protruding from beneath the clothes and when she turned to look at him, he saw that her cheekbones were too. "Go join my mother for breakfast downstairs, I need to run an errand quickly. I'll be home soon." Hayden nodded. She noticed Alex had placed a few syringes and needles into the duffel bag he had on the dressing table. He placed a kiss on her forehead and it was all she could do to keep herself from moving away from him in disgust. He grabbed the bag and left the room. Hayden followed. She watched as his car left the property and she quickly followed in one of the vehicles that were unlocked. She was grateful that the keys had the same logo as the car which made it easy to identify them amongst all the others. She tried to look inconspicuous as she stealthily tailed him. She followed him on a dirt road through the woods. It couldn't have been more than a ten minute drive from his house. His vehicle slowed and so Hayden stopped around the corner. She got out the car and followed Alex as he disappeared into an abandoned barn. It had an old, rusted look to it but still very stable. It had a little building built onto the side of it. The vibrant, green trees shielded the barn from the grey clouds above. Little puffs of smoke formed in front of Hayden as she breathed. She spotted some old, rusted tools lying haphazardly on the ground and decided to pick up the crowbar.

She crept into the barn and hid behind an old tractor. A loud shrieking of metal sounded when Alex opened what appeared to be an old horse stable. She dared to get closer. "Here's your breakfast," he said. "What are those for?" She recognized the other voice immediately. "Just a little something to keep you calm," Alex replied. Hayden watched as Alex prepared a needle and approached Reed. She leapt forward with the crowbar and smacked Alex over the head as hard as she could. He fell to his knees and turned with a wild look in his eyes. A sudden rush of adrenaline gave Hayden the strength to kick Alex in the ribs. Reed was chained to the wall. It brought back memories of when she was chained for days with her hands above her head and her feet barely meeting the ground. Hayden held onto the crowbar as tight as she could as she brought it down on Alex with all her strength. She yelled out as she continued to hit him. Blood ran down his face. "Hayden, stop!" Reed continued to yell at a wild Hayden. She stopped and stared down at Alex who laid on the ground, holding a hand up for her to stop. "I hate you!" she yelled until her lungs felt as though they may bleed. She kicked him once more before she took the keys from his pocket and unlocked Reed's cuffs. Alex soon got to his feet and held the crowbar in his hands. He grinned at Hayden, "You shouldn't of done that.” She didn't care that he had her only hope in his hands, she lunged towards him. Reed could barely keep himself from falling over as he watched Alex grab Hayden and place his arm around her neck. She had her back pressed against his chest. He bent down to whisper something in her ear but she stared at Reed. Reed's eyes motioned towards the needles which held a colourless liquid. Hayden's eyes followed until they landed on the needles which were withing her reach. She grabbed one and swiftly stabbed Alex's leg. He yelled out in pain but tightened his grip. Hayden's face turned an alarming shade of red as she clawed at his arm. "You're choking her!" Reed yelled. She looked as though she might soon lose consciousness when the drugs took their toll on Alex. He stumbled backwards after his arm fell from Hayden's neck. She gasped as she took in a deep breath. She quickly picked up the crowbar and hit Alex over the head, knocking him out. Reed tried to hug her but she wasn't sure of what was real and what was a lie and so distanced herself from him. They locked Alex in the cell the same way he had Reed and decided to inject the last two doses of the effective drug before they alerted the cops.

The cops found the barn, the pictures and Hayden and Reed's statements compelling enough to sentence Alex twenty five to life on a number of crimes. As expected, his family was devastated. Hayden felt sorry for them. It would take a lot of time before they accepted their son's condition.