“Bridget?” Ariel’s voice was unsteady as she glanced nervously between the two of us. Well, three, I suppose, although when her eyes landed on Ana I thought she was going to throw up.
“…Hey Auntie.” I forced a smile on my face, but she wouldn’t stop with that incredulous glare. I wanted to tell her that I was the victim as well – hence the handcuffs - but the way I was appraising Ben’s gash made this much less believable. Damn Damn Damn. I knew I shouldn’t have come back for him.
“What’s going on here? Who are you?” My stepmother’s sister was always very reserved, and right now I could tell she was using years of practice to keep herself from having an emotional breakdown. Those were Ana’s specialty, not hers.
I quickly stepped in before Ben could introduce himself. “Auntie Ariel, this is…Ben. He -”
Ben lurched forward suddenly, jamming a cloth over her face and holding it there. A small yelp slipped through her lips before she sank to the floor.
“That was a close one.” He stuffed the cloth back in his pocket as I regained the ability to speak.
“What the hell is wrong with you?!” He had begun to mop up the mess himself, and paused to stare at me.
“Bridget, calm down.”
“I will not! You just knocked out the only slightly sane person I know!” A fire of rage kindled in my core, devouring the small amount of kindness I had felt a moment before.
“Bridget, listen, she’ll be fine. It’s just a little chloroform.” He looked genuinely alarmed, as if the fact that this didn’t happen to me every day was a shock.
“No, you listen, mister. I was just beginning to feel comfortable, but you had to go and ruin it, didn’t you?”
I could tell the words stung, but I didn’t care. This was the last straw and even when he shrunk back like a frightened animal, I didn’t let up.
“Please, I – I don’t understand. What’s wrong?”
My jaw nearly dropped to the floor, the anger flaring up deep within me. “What’s wrong? What’s wrong?! I’ll tell you what’s wrong. You kidnapped me, drugged me, handcuffed me to your car, killed my stepmother, and drugged my aunt. Honestly, I’m not sure I can deal with any more of this.”
To my absolute shock, a tiny smirk pulled at the edges of his lips. “Well there’s not much else to do, unless you’d like me to kill your aunt.”
“This isn’t funny!” I screeched, appalled at his callous attitude.
“Okay, okay. I was just trying to lighten the mood a little.”
“I’m almost positive we’re past that. What are you going to do about this?” I gestured to the dead and unconscious bodies on the floor. He shrugged.
“Clean it up and make it look like she overdosed, in Ana’s case. Ariel’s going to be tricky…maybe we’ll just put her in bed or something.”
My head spun and I closed my eyes, desperate for the normalcy I realized long ago I could never experience. “I can’t deal with this. I’m leaving.”
“Bridget! Wait!” He caught up easily, seeing as he wasn’t lugging 100 pounds of metal with him.
“Get away from me.” My voice was sharper than our kitchen knife, and seemed to hurt him more as well. He cringed, but held my shoulders steadily.
“Bridget, I love you.” The words shocked me and I faltered in my anger for a moment. No one had ever said that to me before, not even when I was little, and the weight of it made me stagger. His passionate gaze bore into me, and as much as I wanted to, I couldn’t look away.
“No Ben."
“I will never let you go.” His deep blue eyes were ice, freezing me on the spot with no hope of future movement. No words came. We just stared at each other for an endless moment.
Then the tears came. Everything came crashing down on me, a wave of emotion that drained out through my eyes. Shaking sobs rocked my body, and I lost the strict control I had worked to harbor for so long. His arms wrapped around me and I couldn’t even bring myself to shrug him off.
“Shh…it’s okay.” Ben held me in his arms, and I realized for the first time how nice it was to be comforted, how warm life became when someone loved you.
“Oh my god…” It was all sinking in as I dropped to the floor, just inches from the threshold that led to my freedom. Ana was dead. She would never hurt me again, never come home drunk or high, never stink up the house with her cigarettes or bring back some dumpy boyfriend she met on the street. She was dead. And Ben had killed her.
Just like that, he had snapped. Lost control. I was convinced he had a condition, but that didn’t change the facts, the what-ifs. What if, the next time he loses it, I’m the one who gets hurt? As lovely as this affectionate sentiment was, I couldn’t lose sight of who was proving that feeling. He was still a criminal, no matter how sweet he seemed or what he did in his spare time. Common sense trickled back into me and I tried to free myself from Ben’s deceiving embrace.
“Let me go!” I thrashed in his arms, startling him and loosening his grip enough for me to break through. Ben fell back, stunned and hurt.
“What…what are you doing?” I was prepared this time, looking away before he could con me with that puppy dog look.
I also realized that getting anywhere was impossible if you were handcuffed to the door of a truck. Sighing, I tried my best at my own dissembling.
“I – it was uncomfortable…” I held up my wrists. “…you know, with the door. My hands hurt.”
“Oh! Sorry. I wouldn’t of even handcuffed you in the first place – especially if I knew you were going to destroy my truck – but I thought….I thought you’d run away.” He pulled a miniature key out of his pocket, clicking it into the cuffs and twisting it with delicate precision. They popped open, sweet relief washing over my wrists. “There, better?”
“Much, thank you.” I rubbed the area, sniffling back tears from earlier. Doing some quick thinking, I looked up over my lashes. “I think there’s lotion in the bathroom cabinet, could you get me some?”
“Sure. I’ll be right back.” My vulnerable state apparently gave him the sense that I wasn’t going anywhere, and he slipped casually down the hallway.
Big mistake. As soon as he was out of range, I pushed off the floor and tore down the grey driveway. Tiny shoots of green peeked through the cracks, tickling my bare feet. The air was infused with warmth, its embrace replacing that of my former captor. Muscle and sinew worked in harmony, propelling me forward into freedom.
I heard his voice shouting from far behind me, vain attempts to bring me back. The roar of the truck engine made me realize that if I stayed on the road he would find me. After a moment’s deliberation and a short breath, I veered off into the deep woods, hoping I had made the right decision.
Another fast-paced chapter and the action keeps coming, but I do hope that these next few chapters will be a little slower and more reflective. I feel like in these last few chapters, there have been more captures, close escapes, crazy outbursts, and chloroform drops than in a James Bond movie. Time to kick the subdued suspense into gear.
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