Monster

by Holly C. Webb

  Once I had handed Travis over to the medical staff, I hurried back into the bathroom, checking all the other stalls, but they were all empty. My chest grew tight as panic washed over me. Where the fuck was she?

  “Jax, it was him,” Travis mumbled as he tried to pull away from the two nurses who were literally holding him up when I stepped back out into the hallway. “I know it was him. He has her. You need to go and save her.”

  For a moment, as I stood there looking at my brother. I felt like I had floated up out of my body, and I was looking down at this whole nightmare unfolding. Was this really happening?

  Ally was gone. She was actually gone. My stomach heaved, and I wanted to be sick, but now was not the time. I shook my head, knowing that I needed to get my shit together.

  Then it hit me; the hospital was full of police officers. How could he have gotten past them, and what the hell were they doing to find her now.

  I pushed passed the hospital staff, heading down along the corridor, which was now a hive of activity, but it was all too little too late. I was beyond mad, right at that moment.

  “He’s got her!” I exclaimed when I saw Richie hurrying down the hall towards me. “He walked in here, passed your men, and walked her out of here. WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK! DIDN’T THESE ASSHOLES KNOW WHO TO LOOK OUT FOR.”

  “Jaxson,” Richie said, reaching out and touching my arm. “You need to calm down and take a breath…”

  “Richie, don’t tell me to calm down!” I hissed back angrily. “How the fuck did he get passed your men?”

  Before he could answer, a uniformed officer came up beside us and said that the two officers that had been guarding the stairwell at the far end of the corridor had been found unconscious. One was barely breathing.

  “That’s how he got her out,” Richie sighed as he turned back to me, answering my question. “The question is, where would he take her?”

  Just then, Travis was wheeled down the corridor on the gurney, looking so pale that it actually scared me. I hurried to my brother’s side to check on him.

  “Is he going to be okay?” I asked the doctor that was with Travis now.

  “He’ll be fine,” he replied to me, giving me a reassuring smile. “It’s just a concussion. He’s in the right place.”

  “But he’s going to be okay?” I asked, and the doctor nodded once more before I turned back to Travis.

  “You have to go find her, Jax,” Travis said as he reached up and pulled off the oxygen mask that was now covering his mouth. “You have to save her.”

  “I will, I promise,” I replied, giving him a forced smile. “Travis, I need you to think. Did he say anything that you can remember? Anything that might give us a clue where he would take her?”

  “I don’t know,” he cried in frustration, and I knew he desperately wanted to help me. “I think he said something about home, but I can’t be sure.”

  “Okay,” I replied, smiling at him once more before I returned my attention to the doctor. “Please take care of my brother, Doc.”

  “I will,” the doctor replied with a smile before he continued down the corridor with Travis.

  “I know where he is taking her,” I said as I turned to look at Richie. “I just hope we’re not too late.”

  Ally

  “What are we doing here?” I asked as Jacob pulled the car up outside the gates of our house. This was the last place I would have expected him to take us.

  There was a cop car parked on the street outside, and the moment they saw our car, the two doors opened, and the officers climbed out.

  “Don’t open your mouth, or I will kill them both,” he snarled at me under his breath.

  “Jacob, please don’t hurt them,” I begged, but I knew that nothing was going to stand in his way now, not even two police officers.

  When they reached the car, one of the officers tapped on the window.

  “Good evening, Officer,” Jacob said in a calm voice as he rolled down the window. “I’m just taking Mrs. Wallace into the house to pick up some of her things.”

  “We’ll need to see some ID,” the officer replied as he bent down and looked at me. I recognised him as one of the officers who had protected Jaxson and me the night I came home and packed my things. He smiled when he saw me, and I hated that I couldn’t warn him. “Good evening, Mrs. Wallace.”

  “Good evening,” I replied, glancing at Jacob briefly before my eyes met the officers once more. Suddenly the smile faded from his face for a moment, like he knew what I was trying to say with the look I gave him.

  “I’m sorry, Sir,” he continued, this time his voice quivered a little, and I knew he was scared. “I will need you to step out of the vehicle.”

  Jacob didn’t reply.

  Instead, a loud, deafening shot rang out, and the young office slumped to the ground.

  “OFFICER DOWN! OFFICER DOWN!” The other officer screamed into his walkie talkie, but before he could draw his weapon, another shot rang out, and he dropped to the ground too.

  “NOOOOO!” I screamed as I instinctively reached for the handle of the door, knowing I needed to help them. But before I could climb out, Jacob grabbed my arm; then, I could feel the cold metal of the gun press against my cheek.

  “Don’t make me kill you, Ally,” he said, his voice completely calm and cold.

  “You said you weren’t going to hurt anyone else,” I cried without turning to look at him. I was almost afraid to breathe, much less move.

  “They were in my way,” he replied, matter-of-factly. “I am done with people getting in my way.”

  Without saying another word, he keyed in the code for the gate, then drove up the driveway to our house, leaving the officers lying in the street.

  When he reached the house, he raised the gun once more.

  “If you try anything,” he said in a calm voice. “I will kill you. Is that clear?”

  “Yes,” I replied, my voice cracking with unshed tears. I quickly swallowed the grief that was now almost choking me. I refused to cry. I knew he was going to kill me, but I would never give him the pleasure of hearing me beg him not to.

  We both climbed from the car before Jacob led me into the house. I knew if I was going to survive this, I needed to keep him calm until help arrived.

  “I bet you didn’t think you’d be back here so quickly,” Jacob smirked as he walked further into the hallway before he turned to face me. “I bet the night you and lover boy came back here to collect your things; you thought you’d never have to come back again.”

  “Jacob,” I said, trying to remain as calm as I could, but my heart was hammering so fast, I could barely breathe. “Why are you doing this?”

  “Why? WHY?” He exclaimed, then laughed as he had completely lost his mind. “Why did you leave me?”

  “You know why, Jacob,” I replied, once more trying to sound calmer than I felt. “I know about Stroll. I know there was no stalker. Why would you do that to me? Why would you scare me like that?”

  “I NEEDED YOU TO NEED ME!” He yelled, surprising me with his answer. “I knew you weren’t happy. I knew Teddy was going to do whatever it took to make you leave. I loved you too much to let that happen!”

  “THIS ISN’T LOVE!” I screamed at him, unable to hold back my anger and fear. “THIS IS MADNESS!”

  “THAT’S BECAUSE YOU MAKE ME SO MAD!” He shouted back as he hurried towards me, pressing the gun to my head. “You get into my head, and you twist my mind…”

  He closed his eyes, and I held my breath, thinking he was going to pull the trigger. But he didn’t; instead, he dropped his hand as he released a long sigh.

  “I just want you to love me,” he whispered.

  “I did,” I breathed out as tears trickled down my face. “But you suffocated me. You took away everything that I was until all that was left was an empty shell. You didn’t want me to be your wife, Jacob. I was just your possession. I wasn’t happy…”

  “And I suppose he makes you happy,” he s
aid, cutting me off as he stepped so close to me that I could feel his breath on my face. “The bodyguard. Does he make you happier when he fucks you?”

  “Jacob, please,” I whispered, knowing that he would just get angrier again if he focused on Jaxson and me. “Why are you doing this?”

  He didn’t reply. Instead, he pressed the gun to my head once more.

  “WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS!” I cried, unable to hold back any longer.

  “Because I can, Ally,” he said, pressing the gun harder against my head. “Because I have lost everything. My home, my future, my career, MY WIFE! All because you couldn’t be the woman, I thought you were.”

  “We… we can try again,” I stuttered, but I knew in my heart he wouldn’t believe me.

  “You want to try again?” He asked, and for a moment, he sounded like there was a trace of hope in his voice. “But you don’t love me, Alexandra, do you? You love him.”

  “I do love you,” I lied, knowing it was my only chance.

  “YOU LIAR!” He screamed into my face. “You want him! You love him! I could see it written all over your face every time you looked at him, so don’t you dare lie to me now.”

  “Jacob, I’m sorry,” I cried, knowing I was running out of time. “I’M SORRY!”

  “It’s too late, Alexandra,” he said, as he grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the stairs, almost dragging me up them. “You will never love me as you love him. But if I can’t have you, neither can he. I want him to know how I feel.”

  We reached our bedroom, and Jacob threw me down on the bed before he climbed over me.

  “I want him to know what it’s like to not be enough,” he said as he raised himself over me as my heart hammered in my chest. “I want him to know he wasn’t enough to save you.”

  He reached down between us, and for a moment I thought he was going to force himself on me, but instead, I felt a sudden, sharp pain in my stomach that sucked all the breath out of my body.

  “Jacob,” I gasped, but he didn’t reply. Instead, he just smiled down into my face, his eyes holding mine. Then a second sharp pain ripped into my body, and I could feel the warmth of my blood oozing from my body, and I realised he’d stabbed me.

  “I loved you so much,” he whispered and pressed his lips to mine, before sinking the blade in once more.

  He climbed back from the bed and watched as I struggled to breathe. I realised he was waiting for me to die.

  “ALLY!” I could hear Jaxson calling from somewhere in the house, and instantly a look of panic filled Jacob’s face. He was out of time.

  He raised the gun towards me, and I knew he wanted to be sure I was dead before I could be helped, so I held my breath and let my body go limp.

  It took everything I had inside me not to move or cry out from the pain in my body. If I was to survive, I needed to push past all of that and remain perfectly still. I needed to make him believe he’d killed me.

  Jacob stepped closer to the bed, and I knew he was checking to see if I was dead. He stared at me for a moment, then brought the gun to his own head.

  A shot rang out, followed by a thud to the floor.

  I knew it was over. I knew he was gone, but still, I held my breath as tears burned my eyes.

  “Ally!” Jaxson's voice came from the door of the room. Moments later, he was climbing above me on the bed, pulling me into his arms, and finally, I allowed myself to breathe.

  “I’ve got you,” Jaxson whispered as he pulled me close to him before he called out. “I NEED A MEDIC!”

  Suddenly I felt cold and a little woozy. I looked up into his eyes, and I could see fear looking back at me.

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered, feeling myself growing weaker and weaker. “I should have listened to you.”

  “No, you don’t tell me you’re sorry, Ally,” Jaxson said, pressing his hand tightly against my stomach. “You have to stay with me.”

  “I feel tired,” I said, now gasping for breath, knowing that I was slipping away. “And I’m cold. Tell… tell my mom and dad I loved them.”

  “You’re going to tell them yourself, Al,” he cried before he shouted again. “HELP, I NEED A MEDIC!”

  “I love you so much,” I whispered as I could fight the tiredness no longer.

  “NO!” Jaxson cried, “You stay with me…”

  I closed my eyes and let darkness claim me.

  Chapter 28

  Jaxson

  “What the hell is taking so long?” I groaned impatiently as I continued to pace up and down the floor next to Travis’s bed. It had been over two hours since Ally had been taken to surgery, and I just wanted someone to come and tell me she was going to be okay.

  When I pulled up outside Ally’s house a few hours earlier, and saw the two injured officers on the ground, deep down in my heart, I thought that we were too late and it was all I could do not to fall apart. A couple of the officers that had accompanied Richie and me to the house stayed with the two injured men, while Richie, me, and the other officers made our way quietly to the house.

  As we stepped through the door, there wasn’t a sound and fear wrapped itself around my heart. Fear that I had let her down; fear I was about the lose the most important person in the world to me. I could barely think straight over the sound of my heart hammering in my ears.

  “Ally!” I called out desperate for her to reply but knowing deep down that I was probably too late. Still, I prayed for her to answer me. No answer came.

  Moments later, when the single shot rang out from upstairs, my heart almost stopped. Without thinking, I took the stairs as fast as my legs could carry me. If Ally was up there, then I needed to be up there too.

  “Jax, wait!” Richie called after me, but I didn’t slow down, much less stop. I just needed to get to her.

  When I reached the room, the first thing I saw was Ally on the bed, a pool of blood around her; her body still and lifeless. The moment I saw her, my heart shattered into a million pieces. I was too late.

  I slumped back against the door, trying my hardest not to fall apart, and it was only then I noticed Jacob’s lifeless body on the floor, a pool of bloody billowing around his head.

  But he was the last thing I was concerned about. My eyes found Ally once more, and for the briefest moment, I thought she moved.

  “Ally,” I cried as I ran towards the bed, and to my relief, she gasped for breath, and I hope that maybe I was not too late after all.

  By the time we got her to the hospital, she was unconscious and had lost a lot of blood. I held her hand the entire time, afraid if I let it go, I would lose her. Before they took her to surgery, I kissed her goodbye and begged her to come back to me before I finally let her hand go.

  I stood there in the corridor, long after she was gone, staring down at her blood on my clothes. Finally, I crashed to the ground and cried as I’d never cried before.

  “They will be here soon,” Travis said from his bed, where he watched me pacing up and down. “You have to believe that she’s going to be okay. You got to her in time.”

  “No, I didn’t,” I sighed, knowing there is nothing anyone could say right now to make this feel any less my fault. I promised her I would never let him hurt her again, and he’d almost killed her. “I should have never left her, not even for a moment.”

  “Jaxson,” Travis said, giving me a tired look. “Do you think it would have really made a difference? Think about it; if you were with her, he probably would have just killed you, and who would have saved her then.”

  “I didn’t save her, not the way I should have,” I sighed, knowing that my brother was trying hard to make me feel better. I also knew he was right. I do not doubt that if I had been in the bathroom with her when he came, things could have ended very differently. “I just want someone to come and tell me that she’s gonna be okay.”

  “Did you call Henry and Helen?” Travis asked, and I knew he was trying to keep me focused on something else.

  “I did,” I confirmed. “They
are driving up as we speak. I don’t know how I am ever going to face them when they get here. I promised them I would keep her safe.”

  “Jax…” Travis sighed, but before he could continue, the door to his room opened, and the doctor who had taken Ally to surgery came in, his face completely unreadable.

  “How is she?” I asked as I turned to face him.

  “She lost a lot of blood,” he began cautiously as I mentally braced myself for bad news. “It was touch and go for a little while, but thankfully, by some miracle, he managed not to hit any major organs. She has been given several litres of blood, and we’ve managed to stem the bleeding.”

  “So, she’s going to be okay?” I asked, holding my breath, needing to hear him say the words.

  “She is going to be fine,” he said, giving me a broad smile. “She should be up and ready to go home in a day or two. She was really lucky.”

  “Ha!” I laughed as a wave of relief washed over me. I hurried towards the doctor and hugged him tightly, unable to wipe the smile from my face. “Thank you so much, Doc! I can never thank you enough.”

  “It was my pleasure, Jaxson,” the doctor replied before he turned and smiled at Travis. “And you need to get yourself well and get back here. We miss you around here.”

  “That’s the plan,” Travis laughed, and I could hear the relief in his voice too.

  “So,” I said, pulling the doctor’s attention back to me. “When can I go see her?”

  “She’s in recovery now,” he explained. “But she’ll be getting moved to her room shortly. Once we have her settled, we’ll come and get you.”

  “Thank you,” I replied, feeling more relieved than I ever had in my life before. Finally, this was over.

  The sun was just rising when the nurse led me into Ally’s hospital room. I hurried towards the bed, taking her hand in mine the moment I reached her before I bent down, kissing her softly on the lips.

  “Thank you for not leaving me,” I whispered against her lips. Instantly, her eyes began to flicker before she slowly opened them and looked up into my eyes.