Two years earlier...
I hopped into Mr. McCarter's patrol car, feeling super antsy.
I didn't bother packing anything. I mean, what's the point if I'm probably just going to be brought back here again?
It's been a decade since I've seen my dad. My mama always told me I'd never see him again; she'd always say it in the cruelest way, and it always left me crying.
"So where is he? My dad? How far away is he?" I ask, firing off questions before Mr. McCarter can even sit down and buckle up.
He chuckles amusedly but doesn't answer, which makes me tense with anticipation.
"Mr. McCarter?" I ask tentatively, frustration building at his silence.
"He's in Savannah, Georgia," he finally says, still looking ahead.
"Savannah, Georgia? As in the most haunted city in the United States?" I squeak out, disbelief evident.
His eyebrow quirks, and his head tilts slightly, lips pursing as he takes a deep sigh through his nostrils.
"That's the place... the question is, do you still want to go see him?" he says with more resolve.
I sit there for a moment, contemplating the choice.
On one hand, he abandoned me and my mom. He knew what she was becoming and left us behind. On the other hand, I was asleep when everything happened. I went to bed, and when I woke up, I was at my Aunt Denise's house, and my mom was crying.
I remember feeling very confused as I tugged at her shirt, asking her persistently where daddy was. She never answered; she cried even harder, tugging at her hair.
Eventually, my aunt led me away from the scene and took me back to the room where I woke up. She put a movie on the old TV, and the VHS started its journey through Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
We spent the next month at her house, and dad finally came to visit. Denise had caved and told my dad where we were because she saw something was wrong with my mom. But that led to the biggest fight between my parents, and dad was forced to leave.
Everything escalated in the following months when Denise suddenly passed away. I'm fuzzy on the details because I was very young, but still. Dad never tried to come for me after that! He called mom, but he never came for me. And after the calls stopped, mom became super angry and vengeful, and I was always on the receiving end.
The first time she hit me, I was in a state of perpetual shock and couldn't understand what I did wrong.
Eventually, mom and I went back to dad—but everything was always so tense...
"Helang, we don't have to go. This is your decision; a big one at that," Mr. McCarter hesitantly prompts, breaking my train of thought.
I take a deep breath, mentally pulling on my big girl panties. Granted, I'm a nervous mess inside, and I'm sure he knows it—but I give him my best smile and a big thumbs-up.
"Are you kidding me? Let's get going!" I say, adopting that animated tone. He chuckles, shifts the car into gear, and we head off.
I take a deep, liberating breath and pray that this time, I won't be disappointed.
As we start down the dirt road, Mr. McCarter turns on the radio, and Lana Del Rey's "Country Roads" fills the speakers, and I begin singing along.
Out of the corner of my eye, I barely catch a glimpse of him smiling.
"You sing beautifully, Helang, like a siren," he says gently and in awe.
I blush briefly and smile at his compliment.
"Thank you," I reply bashfully when the song ends.
"You're welcome, Helang."
I absolutely love "Take Me Home, Country Roads," but inside, I feel a shadow of sadness because, when I think about it, I don't even know what a home really is.
.
.
We drove a total of twelve hours, and by the time we arrived in Savannah, Georgia, it was nighttime.
To be honest, knowing this place is extremely haunted, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared.
Mr. McCarter called my dad, got the address, and I decided to doze off.
I was shaken awake after half an hour to see that we were driving onto my dad's land.
"Hey, kiddo. We're here," he says as I yawn and stretch my tired, stiff limbs.
When I finish stretching, I take in the scene: a cabin surrounded by trees.
I gulp and try not to imagine Freddy or Jason popping out of those trees to end me, and I shiver.
"You wouldn't happen to have a floodlight? Or the sun, preferably?" I squeak with wide, frightened eyes.
His head flies back, and deep, bellyache laughs fill the silence.
"Not gonna lie, I had the same damn thought. It's too dark out here, and I could probably easily blend in!" he says, grabbing his cell and dialing my dad's number.
After a few moments, he answers, and I swear—I'm not exaggerating—-we're hit with the brightest floodlight in existence.
I cover my eyes, mumbling a few unintelligible curses and seeing nothing but a giant white spot behind my eyelids.
"I see the light!" I dramatically declare with my eyes still closed.
"I don't..." Mr. McCarter jokes, causing me to burst into giggles.
"Bullshit!" I bark through laughter, and he finally joins in.
"It's been a while since you've laughed so hard. It suits you," he says softly with a smile.
After a few moments, as our eyes adjust, he squints in my direction and tells me to wait in the car—he's going to speak to my father.
I probably dozed off again—how I managed with those blinding lights, I have no idea—but I wake up to see my father standing outside the cruiser, the door open.
"Dad?" I ask cautiously through blurry eyes. He nods, and tears swell in my eyes—emotions I wasn't prepared for flood my chest, and I wail, flinging myself into his arms.
"Dad...daddy...I missed you!" I say through sobs and hiccups.
He holds me tight, and I breathe in his musky pinecone and axe scent, and the floodgates open. I bury my face in his chest as he hugs me back with a father's fierce love, while I cling to him crying. He drops to his knees and weeps.
"Don't let her take me again, daddy... I promise... I'll be good..." I sob, wiping my snot and tears onto his shirt.
"I'll never let you go back to your mother again, Helang... god, I'm so sorry... I tried to find you, but she kept disappearing... I tried... I tried... don't cry, babygirl..."