Chapter 4 - The Walls Close In
“Julian?”
Sarah’s voice echoed from the top of the stairs. Footsteps began coming down the hallway.
Marcus instantly plastered the charming, handsome smile back onto his face. The transition was so flawless, so terrifyingly quick, that it made my stomach heave. He turned toward the hallway, opening his arms as Sarah walked into the kitchen carrying a basket of laundry.
“Hey, sis!” Marcus chirped, as if he hadn't just confessed to brutalizing his own niece. “I was just telling Julian I should probably head out. I have a dinner reservation at eight.”
Sarah smiled warmly at the monster in her kitchen. “Oh, leaving so soon? Are you sure you don't want to stay for dinner? I was going to order Italian.”
“Can't,” Marcus sighed, picking up his keys from the counter. “Client meeting. But I’ll swing by this weekend to see my favorite niece, okay?”
“No,” I said.
The word hung in the air.
Sarah stopped, looking at me with absolute confusion. “Julian, what’s wrong with you? You’ve been acting strange since you got back.”
Marcus chuckled nervously, moving toward the front door. “Julian’s just stressed, Sarah. Work’s been getting to him. I’ll let myself out.”
He grabbed the brass handle of the front door and pulled it open.
He didn't make it a single step outside.
Standing on the porch, illuminated by the porch light, were four uniformed police officers and Detective Aris. Their hands were resting comfortably, yet purposefully, on their duty belts.
Marcus stopped dead in his tracks.
“Marcus Vance,” Detective Aris said, her voice cutting through the evening air like a scythe. “You are under arrest for the physical abuse and battery of a minor. Step out of the doorway and place your hands behind your back.”
Sarah dropped the laundry basket. It hit the hardwood floor with a heavy thud, shirts spilling everywhere.
“What?!” Sarah screamed, rushing forward. “Officers, there is a mistake! This is my brother! He’s a real estate agent! What are you doing?!”
Marcus’s face contorted in sheer panic. He spun around, looking at me, realizing exactly what I had done. He saw the cold, unyielding fury in my eyes and knew he had walked right into a trap.
“He set me up!” Marcus shouted, pointing a shaking finger at me. “Sarah, Julian is crazy! He’s making this up to ruin me!”
Two officers moved past the threshold, grabbing Marcus by the arms and spinning him around violently. They slammed him against the wall of our foyer, kicking his legs apart. The metallic ratcheting of handcuffs echoing through the house was the sweetest music I had ever heard.
“You have the right to remain silent,” the arresting officer began reciting.
Sarah was sobbing hysterically, grabbing my arm. “Julian, tell them to stop! Tell them there’s a mistake! What is happening?!”
I gently pulled my arm out of her grasp. I looked at the woman I loved, knowing that the next sentence I spoke would permanently shatter the reality she lived in.
“It’s not a mistake, Sarah,” I said, my voice trembling with the weight of the truth. “He hurt Lily. She told me everything today. And I just got him to confess to it on a police wire.”
Sarah froze. The color instantly vanished from her face. She looked at Marcus, who was pinned against the wall, refusing to meet her eyes.
“Marcus…?” Sarah whispered, her voice breaking into a thousand terrified pieces. “Tell me he’s lying. Tell me he’s lying right now.”
Marcus just stared at the floor.
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Sarah let out a sound—a guttural, agonizing scream of pure betrayal—and lunged at him. The officers had to hold her back as she thrashed against them, weeping and screaming her brother’s name, asking him why.
I stood in the center of the chaos, entirely perfectly still. The monster was in chains.
