Lost and Found (A Novel) (21 page)

The door swung open then revealing Delia and Hugh at the doorway. “What are you doing?” Delia screeched angrily. Her round face red with anger.

Dale let go of Hayley who ran towards Delia. As Hayley came up to her, Delia raised her hand and gave Hayley a tight slap. “Delia...” Hayley whimpered, tears pooling in her eyes.

“You insolent child! I took you in and this is what you did to me? It wasn’t enough that you seduced my husband, now my son too?” Delia shook her head in disbelief.

“No, Delia...I did no such thing. Please...you have to believe me.” Hayley pleaded.

“Believe you? Are you saying that you are totally innocent?” Hayley nodded her head furiously. “That both my husband and son are at fault?” Hayley stopped nodding and blinked her eyes. “That I do not know how to take care of them such that they would prey on innocent young girls?” Hayley took a step back from Delia, the fear now apparent in her face as she watched Delia turned into someone she did not know. Rage had taken over Delia so much so that she had lost all common sense and was blinded to the facts before her. She did not for once think that by accepting Hayley into their life, her family would one day be turned upside down. Her husband was one thing, now her precious son, that was crossing the line. Grabbing whatever was nearest to her, Delia began her assault on Hayley to vent all her pent-up anger.

It was close to midnight when the Fracasso’s family car finally made a stop at a deserted road far in the countryside. If Hugh and Dale had not put a stop to Delia’s beatings, Hayley could have very well lost her life at her hands. Turning around to Dale who was seated in the backseat with a battered Hayley, Delia motioned for him to bring her out. “Just leave her here.”

“But mom, what if the police found out?” Dale asked. His whole family could be in trouble for what they did to Hayley.

Delia turned to face Hayley whom she knew was still conscious even though her eyes were half-opened. “Listen here Hayley. I don’t ever want to see your face again and don’t you dare mention about us to anybody, you understand? You owe me that much at least. I will tell your social worker that you have run away on your own.” Her eyes traveled back to her son and flicked her hand impatiently. “Now go before anyone drives by.”

Dale pulled Hayley out of the car and threw her by the roadside. He smirked as he looked at the state she was in. Bending closer so that his mouth was beside her ears, he whispered his parting words. “Be very careful dear Hayley. I am not done with you yet. The next time I see you, you can be sure that I will finish off what I started earlier in your room.” With that, Dale walked back to the car which drove off without a moment’s delay, leaving Hayley in a cloud of smoke.

Annetta was already about to fall asleep when the soft rapping on her door jerked her awake. It was unusual for her to have any visitors at this hour and so she debated whether to leave it alone for fear that it could be a potential thief. The rapping did not go away and after a considerable time had passed, she could not contain her curiosity any longer and cautiously made her way to the door. Pulling her curtains aside, Annetta tried to see who was at her door but could not make out anybody, yet the rapping persisted. Opening the door slowly, Annetta gasped out in shock when she saw a badly beaten up girl wearing only a pajamas, lying at her doorstep.

“Please, help me...” The girl whimpered. Annetta did not waste any time in pulling her into the house as gently as she could and calling Wilburn, who rushed over to her house. Together they decided that it was best to bring the girl, whom by now had lost consciousness, to the doctor. It was a week later, when the girl was much better, that Annetta learnt her name was Hayley. However, Hayley remained tightlipped on what had happened to her. She clammed up each time the doctors or councilors tried to find out information about that night from her and she was adamant about not making a police report.

Seeing that the girl had no one else, Annetta decided to take her in and did her best to help her recover. Although physically her bruises and cuts were almost gone, emotionally she was still unstable and was placed under psychiatrist observation. Slowly, Hayley recovered and soon their life together fall into a routine. Hayley was as grateful to find Annetta as she was to find her. That fateful night, Hayley had only crawled her way towards the nearest house hoping to get some help but she got more than that. Now, she finally had someone she could fall back on, one who treated her like a real daughter.

Bit by bit, Hayley began to tell Annetta her life story but made her swore to secrecy. Only Annetta and Hayley’s psychiatrist knew her real story and it was also for that reason that she supported Hayley’s decision to change her name and appearance as a measure to protect her from Dale’s threat. And so, with the help of Annetta’s friend in the legal profession, Hayley Price became known as Caelie Pierce.

CHAPTER 16: PRESENT YEAR

Wilburn sat beside Caelie’s bed in the hospital room, holding her limp hand. He watched her pale sleeping face with sorrow in his eyes. She had not yet regained consciousness since the incident two days ago and Wilburn was getting very worried. The knock to her head was harder than he had thought and the doctor had warned that she might have a concussion. When she would wake up would depend entirely on her will strength.

“Oh Caelie...please wake up. You need to open your eyes dear.” He implored to no reaction. Leaning back on his chair, Wilburn rubbed his temple tiredly. He did not know the full story of Caelie’s past but he knew that she was Hayley previously. Both Wynne and that man had referred to Caelie as Hayley so they must have had something to do with her past, which she had determinedly wanted to put behind her. If so, then Wilburn would need Wynne to tell him what had transpired between them that led to that incident. Wynne had came over every day to check on Caelie and had been turned away each time by Wilburn, claiming that Caelie had not yet woken up. There was no way he would let Wynne visit Caelie before he knew the whole truth.

Caelie’s eyes shot open suddenly and she started gasping. Her whole body then trembled violently as if she was going into shock. Wilburn stood up hurriedly with horror, pressing the call button repeatedly for help. He tried to stop her body from trembling to no avail and she was not responding to him calling out her name. A nurse came in, took one look at what was going on before running out and bringing back an army of nurses and doctor. Wilburn was swiftly ushered out of the ward to wait anxiously outside along the corridor.

Dale sat dejectedly with his head in his hands, leaning against the table waiting for the visitor that had came to visit him. He had not expected to have anyone bothering to even come since his relationship with his divorced parents had been estranged and the only one he was close to was the one who had landed him in police custody. His head looked up when someone pulled out the chair opposite him and sat down. His eyes lighted up with hope when he saw that it was indeed Wynne who had came to see him.

“You came.” He stated.

Wynne nodded his head briefly, his face still impassive. Dale could sense that he was still unhappy over what had happened. He fell silent, waiting for Wynne to speak.

Wynne took in the state of his best friend. The once proud man who always dressed up to the nines whatever the occasion was had now been reduced to a miserable looking man in prison clothes. He was angry at what his friend did to Caelie but a part of his heart still felt for the person whom at one point he even considered to be a brother. Thus, the purpose of his visit. To hear for himself the reason for Dale’s actions. Not that there was anything that could justify his beastly behavior, Wynne at least wanted to hear his side of the story.

“I just want to know why Dale?” Wynne asked, his voice sounded resigned to Dale’s ears.

Dale looked down at his hands for a moment before returning his gaze to Wynne. “You know how strained the relationship between my parents was before they finally decided to get a divorce?” He watched as Wynne nodded his head slightly. “And you know about the girl I told you...the one who betrayed my mom and caused my family to fall apart?” Again Wynne nodded his head. “That was the reason I had many flings with young girls who threw themselves at me Wynne. They are just looking to have a good time.” This time, Wynne just stared at him.

“But why target Caelie?” Wynne asked in a tight voice.

“Why indeed.” Dale gave out a sarcastic laugh. “Because my friend, Caelie is Hayley, the girl who started all this. You understand now?”

Wynne shook his head slowly, processing the information that Dale had just relayed. He did not believe that the Hayley he knew would go around seducing men. Not after what her father tried to do to her. “Hayley is not that kind of girl, Dale. Perhaps you had misunderstood the whole situation.” He tried to reason.

Dale bristled. “What are you saying, Wynne? That I do not know the situation that happened to my own family?” He hissed.

“I know Hayley.” Wynne said forcefully. “I even told you all about the girl I met years ago! She is not that kind of person.”

“You knew her when she was only a child. Of course, she would look innocent to you. I knew her when she was older, when she was more aware of her surroundings and knew exactly what she was doing!”

“I still don’t believe she’s like-”

“Gosh Wynne! Don’t you see it? She is a cunning girl who had manipulated you. What m-”

“Enough!” Wynne banged his hand on the table in anger. He sucked in his breath and released it slowly to calm himself down. Dale was clearly pushing him to his limits. He looked at his friend. Not even a morsel of remorse was evident in his face for what he did. He was still as vindictive as ever. It was a pity that he had never seen for himself the true person whom Dale was before this. Pushing back his chair, Wynne stood up.

“Is that it? You are leaving me now? You are just going to walk away from your buddy, the one you have known for years just because of a girl you only knew for a short while? Is that what our friendship is worth?” Dale spat out harshly.

“You just don’t get it, do you?” Wynne sighed, shaking his head. “I trusted you, Dale. I told you all about the one person who matters to me. The one I have been looking for all these years and when I thought I had found her, who did I go to? You, Dale. I went to you for help. Why? Because you are my friend, whom I had trusted the most. One, I thought I knew I could count on. And what did you do? You stabbed me behind my back.”

“Wynne, I did it for your own good. I wanted to show you what she was like and protect you from her.”

“No, Dale. You did it for your own benefit. You could have come to me and told me the truth the moment you knew she was Hayley. We could have talked it through and worked things out. That was what our friendship was worth. But you chose to take matters into your own hands to your advantage. I trusted you and you betrayed me. Tell me Dale, what good is a friend if you no longer trust him?” Dale stayed silent, and for the first time since Wynne came, he could see a hint of regret in Dale’s eyes but it was too late. “Goodbye Dale.” Wynne turned around and walked out of the room, leaving a stunned Dale to think through his words.

Wynne walked along the corridor towards the room that Caelie was in. He had not had the chance to see her since that evening. He desperately wanted to see the state Caelie was in for himself but Wilburn refused to let him in. He hoped that Wilburn would somehow relent that day. He knew what happened was all his fault but it was beyond his control. He had never expected Dale to hold a grudge against Hayley. Up ahead, he saw Wilburn stepping out of Caelie’s room with a worried look on his face. It turned painful when he saw Wynne.

“Wilburn, what’s wrong?” Wilburn only sighed in response. “Please, can I see her? Even if it is just for a moment?”

“Come with me, Wynne. There are some things that we need to talk about.” Without waiting for an answer, Wilburn started walking towards the elevator. Wynne glanced longingly at the door before following Wilburn with heavy steps.

The two men sat in the cafeteria with a cup of coffee each and Wilburn wasted no time in grilling Wynne about what had happened. He listened attentively as Wynne told his story of how he met the young Hayley until his visit to Dale that morning. Wynne looked expectantly at Wilburn for some reaction after he had finished but Wilburn only sipped his coffee silently. From what he had heard, Wilburn roughly understood now what had caused Caelie to turn up in such a condition that night years ago on Annetta’s doorstep.

“I’m really sorry for what happened to Caelie, Wilburn. I really am. It was never my intention to hurt her.” Wynne finally said to break the silence.

“It is not my forgiveness to give, Wynne.” Wilburn stated lightly, putting down his cup. “The one whom you should be apologizing to is Caelie.”