Entry #516359, added on 06-20-07 @ 6:26 pm EDT
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| Chapter Fourteen | Entry #516359 |
I pull up in front of my house, leaving the food in the car so that I can unlock the front door. Turning around after leaving the door slightly ajar, my blood runs cold at the sight I see, which is two men walking up my front lawn toward me.
Without thinking, I turn to the house and begin to sprint for the door.
Before I can reach it, an arm goes around my waist, lifting me off the ground and forcing me back down again with my back flat on the damp grass. The breath is knocked out of me, and as I'm trying to get it back, the man who grabbed me, straddles me, pinning my body to the ground. He holds my arms to the side as I see the other man out of the corner of my eye, walking toward me.
As I begin to struggle, the other man pulls something out of his pocket. When I realize it's a syringe, I struggle harder, slamming my feet against the earth where the man was not sitting on them.
It's starting to rain now. The men seem to think this is funny and cast eachother amused glances, looking up at the sky.
I try to use it to my advantage, squirming around. "Why are you doing this?" I scream above the thunder.
The man astride me meets my eyes and I see nothing. His cold eyes are dead. "Beacuse you won't see reason," he hisses.
"Reason?" I shout, trying desperately to pull my arm closer and closer to my body so that the other scientist can't get the needle in. But he rips my arm away from my torso and I scream as he inserts the needle into my arm. "You're doing all this for your stupid science experiment?"
"It is not a stupid science experiment!" he bellows. "Can you even begin to imagine the things we can do with this? The things we could accomplish?"
"You mean, for yourself?" I start to ask. But I can't get my mouth to move. It feels just like it did when I was put into the MRI tube. Tears are pouring out of my eyes and the rain is sliding off my face. But just before I let go, I try my hardest to fight back. I writhe underneath him and scream as loud as I can before a hand covers my mouth.
I manage to turn my head so that my mouth is free right as I see a light so bright that I feel my eyes burn before I slam them closed.
When I open them again, there is no longer a man crouched at my side, but a dark form lying in a ball. On impulse, I move to sit up and notice that the other man has fallen back so that the other half of his body is on my legs.
I try to sit up, but my arms won't move. Nothing will.
Then the darkness covers me.
I wake to the familiar sight of a sky blue wall, partially covered by a black and white photo. I'm wonderfully warm and feel around until I find the hem of a blanket around my waist. I pull it up to my neck. I consider the tempting option of closing my eyes and going back to sleep, but decide against it. I stretch briefly then turn over on the squishy mattress. I hear hushed voices before registering the form lying beside me in bed.
Wren looks away from Sebastian, standing in the doorway, to meet my eye.
Without hesitation, I roll so that my body is askew on top of his and throw my arms around his neck. "Wren Stoner, where have you been?" I shriek in his ear.
When I lift my head to look at him, he's smiling. I blink, then push myself into a sitting position.
"I was in Phoenix," he finally answers. His amusement has faded. "I went to see my mother's old doctor. I was hoping that he would have some information that would help."
"Did he?" I ask.
He shakes his head, then looks at his hands, seemingly embarassed. "I didn't think they would come after you." He sends a quick nod in the direction of his bedroom door, and I look to see Sebastian examining us silently. "I asked Sebastian to stay here and keep an eye on you, but I was almost positive that they would follow me. They did at first, but I guess they came back for you when they found out that I didn't get anything."
"Are...are they...?" I can't bring myself to ask what I want to know.
Wren guesses what I'm thinking and nods. "I'm not sure what happened. It must have been the fear. And-" He cuts off.
"What?" I ask.
He shakes his head. "Nothing."
I give him a questioning look, but decide that it's not worth asking again.
"We thought it would be better to bring you here, since you have a tendancy to get death threats from doctors."
I push myself against his wall and bring my knees up to my chest. "How long have I been out?"
"Too long," Sebastian answers in a gruff tone.
Wren shoots him a look. "A few hours. Your mom will be wondering where you are."
"Doubtful," I mumble. "I don't think caring about me is on her list of priorities at the moment."
Wren drums his fingers on his knee, staying quiet.
"The FBI came by, you know." I was just trying to fill the silence.
Wren nods. "Sebastian told me. Not to mention, my aunt..." he trails off, shifting uncomfortably, and it's then that I notice that he moves one leg, but not the other under the sleek navy comforter.
"Wren, are you alright?" I reach out to touch his leg and he fliches away, giving me a perfect view of the left side of his face, which had been out of sight until now. A medium-sized bandage is attatched to his temple. It's stained with blood.
I reach out and hold his head still as I examine it. "Wren, what happened?"
His eyes sink to the blanket and I glance at Sebastian, hoping to get an answer. "You said they didn't go after you. How did you get these injuries? You should be in a hospital."
Wren pulls my hand from his face, folding them in my lap. "I saw them in Phoenix, but like I said, they disappeared. I started back early this morning, but right outside of Dallas, someone ran me off the road."
I was confused. "But if they were here, who went after you? And how did you get here?"
"I think it was Eric, but I can't be sure. As far as I can tell, he's still working for them. Sebastian came for me. That's why he wasn't here to help you."
I know that Wren isn't trying to undermine my ability to take care of myself, but suddenly I'm offended. "I don't need you to take care of me, Wren. I don't need the mute, either," I say, gesturing toward Sebastian. "I can do this on my own. It looks like the worst of them are gone anyway. You don't have to look after me anymore."
I stand up from the bed and Sebastian moves out of my way as I storm through the door. WInd blows my hair around when I step outside, having ignored Miss Caroline in my fury. The sky is gray with storm clouds, but it's still light outside.
I'm too angry to focus on anything but my house and the number of steps it's going to take to get me there, but when I feel two arms go around my waist, home is forgotten.
I'm quickly being dragged across the lawn toward an all-too-familiar black Escalade. My mind is still racing, thinking about the irony of the situation I find myself in.
As I struggle to get away, I see the curtains in Wren's window being pulled back. I watch Wren's shocked expression, then watch him race from his window as Sebastian comes to see what has upset his friend.
A part of me doesn't want to fight anymore. I'm still tired from my last encounter with these guys and I'm not sure how much more I can take. But I struggle anyway because not putting up a fight would make me even more pathetic that anyone could have imagined.
This time around, it doesn't take Eric as much effort to get me because, unlike his former employers, he doesn't mind carrying a gun, which he wastes no time poking into my spine.
"Bethany, I'm not like them," he hisses in my ear. "I couldn't care less what's going on in your skull. I just want the money."
He quickly binds my hands and shoves me into the passenger seat before slamming the door. It doesn't take long for my wrists to begin aching. He hops into his seat and locks the doors before passing the gun under my nose, into the glove compartment, which he promptly locks with a key that's attatched to the one he uses to start the ignition.
"There is no money," I waste no time in pointing out to him.
He puts the truck in gear before asking, "What the hell are you talking about?"
I don't look him in the eye, instead looking out his window as we drive away. Just before it's too late, I see Wren bolt out the door of his house and chase after us. But it's useless, Wren has a hurt leg which causes him to limp and Eric is going way too fast.
"I said," he repeats loudly. "What the hell are you talking about?"
I clench my jaw. "Whatever those guys were offering you, it would be kind of hard for them to pay you, considering they're dead."
This bit of information doesn't seem to faze him a bit. "You think there aren't other people who would want you?" He shifts his gaze to me for a second. "There are freaks like them all over the place. I'll just find the one with the least amount of concern for your well-being."
"What does it matter?" I ask. "If you just want to money, why do you care?"
"Because as much as I want that money, this is more than that now. Now, It's payback for what you stole from me."
I don't recognize the road we're on. We're driving through repetative backstreets that are surrounded by nothing except grass and corn.
"And what would that be?" I ask, like I care.
"My future wife," he answers, like it's so obvious.
I let out a snort of laughter. "Are you serious? You were still going to marry her after you turned me over to die?"
"It's not like she would of known. Your mom isn't the brightest bulb in the chadelier."
My head shoots toward him. "Don't talk about my mom like that."
"Oh, please, like you give a damn."
I'm fuming, wondering what makes him think something like that. But then he starts to say something else. "And then they sent that idiot Holland to take care of your little friend. If they'd sent me, he'd be gone." As he says this, he's glancing into his rearview mirror, and I look at the mirror outside my window. There's a red truck, that I recognize as Sebastian's, following half a block behind us.
"Stupid, boy," Eric mutters, bringing my attention back to him. "Why would he want a brat like you anyway?"
"You know," I say in a loud, confident voice. I'm hoping the heat-of-the-moment plan I just devised will actually work. "You really screwed up my mother, and she wants you to go down for it. It won't be long before I can't convince her not to go back to the cops."
Having taken as many twists and turns as he could, Eric has landed us on a long, straight strip of road with fields on both sides, the road fenced in by a wall of scattered trees.
"Like I care about what your mother does," he's saying, no longer paying attention to me. "We would still be together if it hadn't been for you. She was always taking your side."
"You know, Eric," I say again, cutting off his sob story. "You're going to go to Hell." Before I can change my mind, I reach over to grip the bottom of the sterring wheel, my hands cinched together at the wrists, and force it up, thankful that in his surprise, Eric has practically handed over the control. We jerk to the left and I crouch with my hands over my head as I feel the impact.
When I'm certain it's safe, I uncurl myself and look at the damage I've done. Eric is slumped over the dashboard, blood spilling from his head, the window in front of him cracked in a webbed design. We've gone head first into a tree, just as I hoped we would.
Without hesitating, I pull Eric's keys out of the ignition with my shaking hands. I find the small round key that unlocks the glove compartment and snatch up his pistol before hastily leaning over to his window and unlocking my door.
I shove my door open and keep the gun fixed on him as I get out. I stop a few feet from the open door and stand there, my hands shaking wildly, my eyes on Eric's unmoving body. I know he's not going to move, but neither am I.
I hear Sebastian's truck pull up behind me and listen to doors opening.
Wren puts one hand on my waist and the other over my hands. "Beth," he says in my ear. "Beth, it's okay, let me have the gun."
"He would've killed you," I mumble. "He would've killed both of us."
Wren nods and I let him take the gun and pass it to Sebastian, then let him unbind my wrists while my back still faces him. I shake off his hands and stomp in the direction of the empty field.
"What are you doing?" Wren asks.
My breathing becomes labored and I summon everything I can. I force myself to feel what I'd been too afraid to before, what I'd try to control.
The weather goes haywire. The wind blowing could be classified as furious and the rain is starting to splash under my feet.
"Bethany!"
Lightening is flashing all around and the ground beneath my feet quakes angrily.
"Bethany!" Wren latches onto my arm and spins me around to face him. "Beth, it's okay."
I try to avoid looking at his eyes, and I can already feel the calming effect he has on me wearing down on my emotions. "No, Wren," I shout. "Don't." I meet his eyes and see that the wind has blown the hair away from his face. Seeing both of his eyes, full of desperation to stop whatever I'm doing, hits me like a fist in the gut.
"Beth," he says quietly.
I struggle and pull my arm away from his grip. "Don't, Wren. I need to be angry. I'm sick of this and I need it to be over. It needs to end."
"What are you going to do?"
"I don't know." I stare at his eyes, shifting between blue and brown, and push away the urge to tell him I'll be fine, even though I'm not sure I will. Still trying my hardest to be angry, scared, nervous, sad, everything. I lean forward and kiss him on the cheek, the wetness of a tear transferring from my skin to his. He turns his head and our lips brush lightly. He moves forward, but I pull back and stomp away before he can say anything.
I feel his eyes on me as I storm to an empty spot. My emotions are circling me. I should warn Wren to get inside before things get as bad as I hope they will, but I know he won't leave.
Soon, I'm standing in the middle of a storm that's raging out of control. I can't see Wren anymore. The weather that was once covering the surrounding area is now only surrounding me. The wind and rain covers me like a cyclone, blinding me. It's starting to becoe painful. The rain is like little needles on my exposed skin and the light from the white-hot lightening blots is getting too bright, but I can't lose my eyes.
The light gets bright and brighter as the lightening gets closer and closer.
I gasp as there's a sharp pain in my head. Everything stops and I fall to my knees before everything goes dark |
© Copyright 2007 GryffindorGurl (UN: magicfreak11 at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.
GryffindorGurl has granted Writing.Com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.
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