The Crash

by Freida McFadden

His intentions could be entirely innocent. Maybe he’s visiting a friend in the building. Maybe he’s an undercover cop. (Not likely.) Maybe he’s… Well, I can’t think of what else someone might be doing here at nine thirty in the evening. My point is he isn’t necessarily here to mug me.

I am nearly eight months pregnant.

I avoid looking at him, like I’ve learned to do over the years with dozens of other creepy men, but I can feel his eyes following me.

He is not, by the way, the father of my unborn child. He’s not my boyfriend either.

Soon, I’m going to be rich beyond my wildest dreams. And it’s all because of the baby growing inside me.

asked Dr. Google, and I didn’t like anything they had to say. It could be a blood clot in my lungs. It could be heart failure. It could be tuberculosis.

That’s why I don’t even feel one scrap of guilt about the payday coming my way.

I’ve been having nightmares.

Simon slipped something into my drink. And then when we got back to my hotel room, he… Oh God.

callllllled it

“Smelled him? Tegan, is there…do you think there’s any chance you could just be, well, imagining this?”

Fucking hate men

I get an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach.

This man is going to kill me. But not before he does whatever he wants to me.

I’ve listened to enough true crime podcasts to know where this is going.

Well obviously you have not actually listened to enough true crime

I’ll be out of here by the morning at least.

you literally wont be

Anyway, I’ll be at the hospital by tomorrow morning.

After all, Hank can’t keep me here forever.

he literally can

“If you light a candle before you chop onions, it burns off the toxins so your eyes don’t water.”

fr?

And when she got very sick near the end, Hank and I converted our basement into a hospital room for her.

Then I press it. I’m not interested in talking to Angela again.

???

Not that I thought about it. Not recently anyway.

im pretty sure i watched a criminal minds episode just like this

Poor me—I’m too fertile, I’ve got too much money in the bank, and every time I eat a slice of chocolate cake, I lose two pounds!

valid crash out

and I ended up fishing out two tablets of Benadryl.

girl

“Of course. I’m not mentally ill.”

i beg to differ

Of course, I have no intention of calling for an ambulance. She’s not leaving her basement anytime soon. But the longer I can keep Tegan happy, the easier this will be.

girl you crazy

She’s terrified of him, which is a bit ironic since he’s the one who wants to bring her to the hospital. But she doesn’t know that.

She’s risking her own safety by incurring his wrath in order to protect me.

YOU ARE SO DUMB