Chapter 22: Confused

                                    

                                          
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As Sophie's eyes flashed open, she regretted it as the searing light burned her eyes. Sophie groaned.
                          
What happened? And where was she...
                          
Sophie quickly sat up and saw that she was in a hospital bed. At first, Sophie was confused, but then memories flooded her mind.
                          
Grady and Edaline!
                          
Sophie now remembered what had happened. Edaline has been stabbed and Grady had gone missing. Nothing made sense to her. No one would answer her questions as they came to check up on her.
                          
Why was she in a hospital bed anyways?
                          
After what felt like hours, Sophie finally heard a familiar voice coming from outside the room.
                          
Grady's.
                          
When Grady came in she screamed, "Dad!"
                          
Immediately, he came over and gave her the tightest hug ever.
                          
Sophie didn't know when, but she started crying. She was crying so hard that she soaked up Grady's whole shirt with tears. She didn't seem to care in the moment. Grady hugged her tighter and kept whispering that everything was going to be alright.
                          
Eventually, when Sophie had no more tears left to cry out, so she pulled away to look up at her dad.
                          
"Dad what h-happened?" She managed to ask.
                          
"I don't know if I can tell you...now," Grady said.
                          
"What do you mean?" Sophie demanded.
                          
Grady sighed. "Sophie, do you know why you're here?"
                          
Sophie shook her head.
                          
"You are here because you passed out from shock. If I were to explain everything, who knows if you are going to pass out again."
                          
"So...you're admitting that there is bad news?" Sophie pressed.
                          
Grady hesitated. He opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it.
                          
"Dad, I can handle it. You are just going to make me worry more if you don't tell me."
                          
Grady sighed. "You're right. Where to start is the question."
                          
"Start with the beginning."
                          
"Well, you went to the Vackers house," he started. "And Edaline was just doing the laundry in the basement while I was watching TV. All of a sudden I heard a crash. It sounded like glass had shattered."
                          
Sophie gasped.
                          
"I got up and called Edaline's name, but there was no answer. I ran to the basement and on my way I saw that our windows were broken. There was no one there, so I was confused. When I ran in the basement I saw," he stopped there and looked away like it was too much for him.
                          
Sophie put a hand on his arm for support.
                          
He took a deep breath. "I got there and saw...Edaline on the ground with a knife stabbed in her stomach."
                          
Sophie let out a cry. 
                          
Edaline!
                          
Sophie felt so much guilt in that moment. She had completely forgotten about her mother and didn't even bother to ask Grady how she was when he first walked in.
                          
Grady looked in her eyes, "it's okay Sophie. So much must be on your mind. I know you care, nothing to be ashamed about," Grady said, as if he read her mind.
                          
That still didn't make Sophie feel any less guilty.
                          
"Are you sure you want me to continue?" Grady asked.
                          
Sophie took a deep breath, "yes."
                          
"So I saw Edaline and ran over to her. She was barely breathing and she looked into my eyes. She managed to rasp 'behind you' before she went unconscious. I didn't know what she meant, but when I looked behind me...there was a man. He laughed and he told me that it wasn't over and that he would be back."
                          
"What's not over?" Sophie asked.
                          
"I'm not sure, that's the strange part."
                          
"Did you see what the man looked like?" Sophie asked. 
                          
"Not really, he had some dark jacket that covered his face. But that's not all Sophie."
                          
There was more?
                          
"After he left, that's when I called you. I didn't want you to come home and worry if we weren't there. But, that was a mistake."
                          
Sophie gasped. "So it was him when we heard that crash and then I fainted when I saw Edaline?"
                          
"Yes...I didn't think he would come back so soon. That's when I left you guys to deal with him myself."
                          
"I thought something happened to you," Sophie said, tightening her squeeze on his hand.
                          
"Nothing did...but something else happened."
                          
"What? Did he hurt you?"
                          
"No...it's strange. He wanted information."
                          
"What kind of information?" Sophie asked.
                          
"He said he would hurt you guys if I didn't tell him."
                          
"But, what did he want?"
                          
Grady took a deep breath, "he wanted to know the address of where your parents used to live."