"Mr. Voynovich?" I ask when he opens the door.

"What do you want?" He eyes me with disgust.

"Meri," I answer truthfully. "I came to get Meri."

"Well, too bad," he snaps. "She came back of her own free will, and she's my step-daughter. Until she turns eighteen, I have legal jurisdiction, and you're trespassing."

"Sir, please..."

"Oh, now it's sir, is it? If I recall correctly, you kicked me out of your house and punched me before that. Give me one good reason not to call the cops or be off my property in five seconds."

"I can't give you a reason... Please... I just want to hear from Meri that she wants to stay. If she does, I'll leave it be."

Petre narrows his eyes and stays quiet for a long moment. "Fine. Wait here."

He slams the door in my face.

"Is everyone in this place like this?" Min asks, as he hurries up the steps to my side.

I agreed to let him drive when I became too stressed out.

"I don't know about everyone. Petre is a snake, though. And he acts like it when he doesn't see a reason to trick people."

"Ah..." Min rubs his hands together and blows into them. "Is he getting Meri?"

"Yeah."

"You think she wants to stay?" Min asks.

"No."

"Sheesh, little bro... No need to be so sharp. I'm just asking."

"Whatever," I say, folding my arms as the door opens.

Meri stands there in a robe. Her eyes are puffy, and her makeup from last night is smeared. "Milan?" she asks, looking from me to Min.

"Meri, are you okay?" Concern floods through me, washing away my initial intention to just take her and go.

She looks back at Petre as he comes up behind her and then looks back at us, biting her lip. "Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Satisfied?" Petre asks.

"No. Are you coming back to school?"

She nods, looking away. There are obvious tear stains on her pale face, and her hair isn't even brushed. Meri never lets herself go like this.

"Do you want to stay here?"

Her eyes widen as she looks at me, and I see the haunted, terrified look in them. Then she seems to realize something, and she looks down at the porch, clenching her fists. "Yes." Her voice wobbles as she says it.

I step forward and take her hand in mine. "Meri... Is he hurting you? Has he touched you at all?"

She bites her lip and shakes her head quickly. A tear slips from between her lashes and drops down her cheek. "You should g-go..." she stammers, turning and fleeing into the house.

"Look what you've done," Petre growls. "You've gone and made her cry."

"Looks to me like she's been crying for hours now. What'd you do, you low-life rat?"

"Nothing. Do you want to be arrested for verbal harassment of my daughter?"

"Step-daughter," I snap. "She's your step-daughter. I swear, if you've touched her at all, I'm going to kill you. She's been through enough, you cold-hearted wretch. You put her through more, and I..."

Min grabs my arm and tugs me away. "Sorry about that, sir. My brother can be a bit hot-headed at times. He's not serious. Once he cools down, he'll be back to apologize."

I grit my teeth. Like heck I will... If an apology is my fist connecting with that pretty nose, then yes. I'll be back to apologize.

"Come on, Milan. Now." Min pulls harder, forcing me to take the first step away from the house.

"I don't need the apology. Just don't come back, and stay away from my daughter!" he snaps, slamming the door.

I feel my thin self-control snap as I whirl about and storm back to the car.

Min climbs into the driver's side and glares at me. "Have you lost your mind?"

"Me? Lost my mind?" I laugh bitterly. "You dragged me away so that I couldn't do anything. That low-life was lying. I could see it in her eyes when I asked. He said something or did something. He's probably punishing her for answering any questions at all. Or just punishing her for the fact that we cared enough to come for her." I clench my fists and bite my lip until I taste blood. Punching anything in the car is not advisable, so I need to hold it in until I have a safe place to blow up.

"We're going home. We'll wait until she's turned eighteen, and when she does, we'll help her disappear. Christmas break is up come Monday. By then, she'll be eighteen, and we can get her out of there," Min placates.

I glare at the windshield. "Let's just go home before I decide to punch something," I growl.

***

My fists connect with the punching bag steadily as I hold off the angry tears and screaming. I force my body to the brink in order to alleviate the silent suffering inside. If Meri was here, she'd know how to help... But if Meri was here, I wouldn't be in this state. Hatred bubbles inside as I slam my fist into the bag one last time and then grab it to keep it from hitting me in the face.

I sit down on the floor and rub my eyes with a defeated sigh. While I understand why Meri lied to me, I wish she hadn't. It would've given me an excuse to help her. To force Petre to let me take her like I did once before.

But she's locked up in that mansion with a monster because I didn't do something sooner. Her haunted, tear-filled eyes torment me as I sit there in the dim light of the workout room in the basement. The basement where she never wanted to come because it brought back too many bad memories.

Suddenly, I feel empty, and I get up, jogging up the steps to the main floor. I can't be down there right now. It feels so void of her presence. My feet take me to her room. I wander in and take in the familiar sight. Everything is neatly in its place. Her desk is clean just like mine, and the bed is neatly made. Her closet door is ajar, and I notice that she keeps her clothes in order of color and type. I never noticed that before.

A vanilla scent hangs lightly in the air, and I smile sadly, remembering when I gave her that perfume to cheer her up. She'd been thrilled to have it. It sits on her bedside table now. I walk over to the bed and sit down. Instantly, I feel closer to her. We've made so many memories in this house even though she was only here for a few short weeks.

Closing my eyes, I lay back on the bed and clutch one of her pillows to my chest. It smells like her with its gentle scent of vanilla and the mint hair products she uses. I remember when my mom and I took her to get some different essentials.

My mom wasn't going to bring me, but Meri insisted. She'd only been with us for a week, and she didn't feel safe without me. My mom never had the heart to deny Meri anything. She always gave her everything and then some. Meri rarely asked for anything.

I smile, tears dripping down my cheeks, as I remember how hard it was to get Meri to tell us what kind of shampoo and conditioner she liked. She kept telling us that it was alright, and she didn't care. Finally, my mom managed to coax a preference out of her. She really liked the minty, fresh smelling shampoos and conditioners.

It was a struggle finding her clothes too because Meri didn't want us to worry about her. She kept insisting that her old clothes would be fine, and she didn't mind that they were worn out. We didn't need to spend money on her, she said. My mom finally compromised and took her to the consignment shop to buy clothes. Meri immediately felt better when we weren't in a more expensive store like Macy's or JC Penny's.

Memory after memory assaults me as I curl up on her bed and cry quietly. At some point, my mom walks in to check on me, and I feel the bed dip as she sits down next to me. She doesn't talk. She just strokes my hair and rubs my back, letting me grieve as I need to.

She stays with me until I fall asleep in Meri's room, holding her pillow and wishing that her loss wouldn't be real. Wishing that the pain would just stop. Wishing, most of all, that she would be back with me where Petre can't hurt her. But it's all wishful thinking right now, and that's what hurts most. I know I could lose her forever. Oh, Meri... I think as I drift off. Why didn't you stay?

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