by Erin Trejo
“You about ready?” another voice says behind me. I cringe. I know that voice. When he steps into the room I nearly vomit. His cold eyes assess me before moving to Riley. March. The asshole who was fucking with me and Dez at the apartment. A chill moves down my spine as he steps toward Marc. He glances down at him like he’s the biggest piece of shit in the world before kicking him in the ribs. Marc just groans. I try to scream but it’s no use.
“Yeah. I’m done here,” she says swinging the bat one last time. She stomps from the room and I’m dragged out behind her. I try to think. What can I do? How can I get away from them? I can’t run. There are too many of them. I try to look around to see if they are taking Marc too when I’m thrown in the back of a van. I hit hard, my hip screaming in pain. A man climbs in behind me, grabbing my leg. I try to kick him but it’s no use. A small but heavy bracelet it attached to my ankle.
“Are you crazy! Why are you doing this?” I cry as I sit up and hold my stomach.
“Try anything stupid and that bracelet blows. You and your baby can kiss your asses goodbye,” she smirks and walks off.
“Are you insane?” I scream.
“Shut up, Temple!” March roars. I jolt when I see Marc being carried out of the house. He’s tossed into the back like I am before the doors slam close. Scooting across the floor, I grab his head and pull it into my lap. I check his pulse. I try to check his eyes. He isn’t dead.
“Marc? You have to wake up. Please,” I cry, begging him. He groans but his eyes never open. Crying some more, I lean down and press my lips to his. “I’m sorry. God, I’m so sorry. I love you so much. I shouldn’t have pushed you. Please just wake up!” Someone bangs on the wall that has been built between the front and back trying to shut me up. I cradle his head in my lap as the van bounces and turns. I don’t know what the hell is happening. I don’t know what she wants or why March is involved. I don’t know anything and I feel useless. A few more turns and Marc’s eyes slowly begin to open. My heart races when he looks up at me, tears falling down my cheeks.
“Oh God,” I cry. He shifts, lifting his head before moving toward me. He grabs my face in his hands, kissing me. Wrapping my arms around him, I pull him closer as the tears keep spilling down my cheeks.
“You gotta run, baby. When I tell you, you gotta run, yeah?” I shake my head and pull away from him.
“I can’t. She said this would explode,” I say pointing to my ankle. Marc moves quickly, looking it over before cursing under his breath. He climbs back up and sits next to me, holding me against him.
“Do what they say. I’ll figure out how to get us out of here. Don’t give them a reason to hurt you, do you understand me?” I nod my head but I don’t want to let him go. His hand moves over my stomach pressing down gently. The baby moves under his hand.
“I’m scared,” I whisper.
“You’re strong, Temple. Do what they say and don’t let them see you break. You can do this. I’m gonna get us out of this, I promise you.” He turns his head and places a soft kiss to my forehead. He holds me in his arms as the van shifts and moves. We bounce around the back until it finally slows. My heart jackhammers inside of me. I don’t know where they are taking us. I don’t know what’s going to happen to me, the baby, or Marc. I don’t want to let him go. Squeezing him tighter in my arms, he squeezes back.
“I love you, I love you,” I repeat the words over and over. His muscles tighten, cord tighter.
“I love you too, baby. More than you know. Just be calm for me, yeah?”
I nod my head when the back doors are yanked open, I scream a little. His strong hold eases the panic but only slightly.
“What the fuck is this shit?” Marc growls when March and a few more guys stand in the back doors.
“This is payback, asshole. You fucked over my boss and now I’m here to fuck you back,” March says.
“Your boss? Thought you ran the show. I should have known better,” he hisses with the hint of humor. In seconds, the men climb in the back of the van. Marc moves immediately trying to fight them off. He can’t. Not when there are so many of them. One of them reaches for me and I scream.
“You fuckin’ hurt her, I’ll kill you!” Marc roars. His voice thunders through the van but the men just laugh.
“So worried about her, are you? What about me, Shaft?” Riley steps into view and all I can think is how I can claw her eyes out.
“You set this shit up?” he asks her. “Why? Tell me why? I have done anything I can for you and that baby!”
“I know you have but you chose her!”
“I didn’t choose shit! You let that get to your head. You let her get to your head! Who was there first, Riley?” he asks and I feel my heart break in half. I know he’s just trying to get her to calm down and be rational but that doesn’t make it hurt any less.
“I was.”
“Who has my baby inside of them?” Another blow to my chest.
“Me,” she says looking up at him with tears in her eyes.
“Then why are you doin’ this? Why can’t we just calm down and talk about this?” His voice calms as everyone looks at her. Is she in charge here? Is this all about her? It can’t be. They all told me she was a nobody.
“You chose her. You took her to your house, Shaft! You never took me there!”
“I made that room for you, Riley. Didn’t you see it?” Her eyes hold unshed tears. I think he may be getting to her.
“There were two rooms,” she says softly.
“Did you think I wouldn’t want my other baby? Come on, Riley. You know me better than that. I love kids.”
“You don’t want her?” she asks nodding toward me. Marc doesn’t even turn to look at me.
“No. Just my baby.” His words burn a hole through my chest. Whether they were true or not just hearing him say that wrecks me. Riley smiles and moves closer to the van, her hand on her stomach. Just when I think she’s about to give in to him, it all changes. Instead of hugging him, she pulls her hand back and slaps him across the face.
“Are you kiddin’ me?” he roars trying to fight the men that hold him back.
“You are such a good liar, Shaft. You think I’d believe anything you say? No, there’s only one way to keep you and that’s without her.” Her eyes meet mine, but like he told me to do, I don’t let her see me break. Everything happens in a blink after that. We’re both jerked from the back of the van and shoved toward a small house. Marc is yelling at Riley, trying to reason with her. It does no good. None of it does any good. She ignores him and as we’re shoved into the house another surprise awaits. Greg.
“What the hell?” I ask when I see him. Marc looks over at me a little confused.
“Miss me?” Greg asks ignoring Marc altogether.
“You son of a bitch! Is this all your doing?” I hiss as I try to pull out of the guy that holds me arms. I jerk and pull but it does no good.
“Calm down, Temple.”
“Fuck you, Greg! You piece of shi-” The word doesn’t even finish leaving my mouth when his hand slams across my face.
“Don’t fuckin’ touch her!” Marc growls and tries to fight the other men. Greg just chuckles.
“Look, I’ll make this easy and clear all upfront. Temple, you were never shit to me. You were a pawn. A toy, something I could use. How do you think I knew where to get all those kids from?” I’m confused. I narrow my eyes and try to figure this out when he blows out a breath.
“Your work. You had access to all that information.”
“I never looked up anything like that.”
“No, you didn’t but it was all there. Obviously I didn’t go after children that had been born recently - that would be too obvious, but with the records from your work I was able to track a majority of them. Most of the women lived in the same homes as they did when they had the baby. It was easy. Almost too easy,” he says shrugging his shoulders.
“You piece of shit!” Marc roars. Greg moves his hand through the air and
the men move to pull Marc down a hallway. He fights and screams the whole way but my mind is still trying to catch up with what he’s said.
“Why? What does that have to do with Riley? Or me?”
“You were just part of the job. Access to what I needed. Riley, she came to me and offered her assistance as well. At first, she wasn’t even pregnant but that came later.”
“The baby isn’t Marc’s?” I ask more to myself.
“No. Well, in her mind it is, but truly that baby could belong to any number of men. She was pulling at straws to begin with.”
“She is really pregnant?”
“Her miscarriage paperwork was planted there. Don’t ask me why, I don’t get in the middle of that woman’s twisted bullshit. I’m just as shocked as you are that she’s truly pregnant to begin with.”
“What do you want with me?”
“Me? Nothing. I don’t want anything with you aside from maybe the child you’re carrying. This is all Riley’s plan. I agreed to help her since she helped me,” he says as if it’s no big deal. Riley smiles like she’s won and it makes my stomach burn. She walks over and runs her fingers over my stomach both making me sick and pissing me off. I want to snap her neck.
“You are all mine now, Temple. Greg promised.”
“You’re sick,” I hiss.
“Sick or not, you’re still mine.”
Twenty-Eight
Shaft
If my memory is right, we’ve been here for two months. Hell, I don’t even know if it’s right or not. I’ve tried to break free, tried everything I could think of. I’ve been shackled to this floor the whole time. I’m allowed to eat, I have a small bathroom and a cot. God, I want to see Temple. I think about her day and night. I’ve tried sweet talking Riley but it does no good. She doesn’t fall for it anymore. My chest aches from not having her near me. I’m sure the guys are losing their fucking minds too. I know they are looking for us. I lean my head back and close my eyes when the door opens. Sitting back up, Riley walks in looking like hell.
“You okay?” I ask her not really giving two shits after what she’s done but I need her to think I do.
“I’m not feeling well.”
“The baby?” I ask nodding toward her stomach.
“I don’t know.”
“Riley, let me help you. Let me help you with my baby,” I tell her. My stomach sinks just saying the words. She looks up at me with tired eyes before sitting on the small cot.
“Something’s wrong, Shaft. I can feel it,” she says softly. I shift, trying to get closer to her but she eyes me and I know that in seconds she could have those assholes back in her so I don’t move anymore.
“Come on, baby. Just take this shit off me and let me help you. Our baby needs us,” I tell her. Acid burns the back of my throat as I let those words linger. Us. Fucking hell. She shakes her head quickly, shoving off the cot. I don’t know if she notices but the keys are lying there.
“I can’t do this. I don’t feel good, Shaft!” she screams before turning and leaving the room. I wait. It feels like my heart beat could be heard around the world as hard as it’s slamming in my chest. When she doesn’t come back in, I grab the keys off the bed and start trying each one. I hear screams. Horrific screams that sound like someone is being killed. I work faster. I need to find Temple. I need to see that she’s okay. When I finally find the key, I shove off the floor as more screams fill the still air. Rushing from the room, I follow the sound down the hallway. Shoving the door open to the last room, I see a nursery has been set up. What the fuck is this? Glancing around quickly, I see Temple covered in sweat, panting. Riley is across the room on her hands and knees screaming.
“Marc,” Temple’s voice cuts like a knife through my chest, tearing me apart. I move quickly, untying her hands and legs before she throws her arms around my neck and cries.
“It’s okay, baby. God, I love you. I love you.”
“I love you.”
Riley’s screams pull our attention once more. Temple moves out of my arms and toward her when I grab her and pull her back.
“What the fuck are you doin’? We need to get out of here,” I tell her, clenching my jaw.
“She’s in labor!”
“So?”
“So, I can’t just leave her to do that on her own. What about the baby?” When the words leave her mouth, I nearly lose it. It isn’t mine. I’ve heard that much but still, it is a child. I nod my head and release the grip on Temple.
“What about you?” I ask moving next to her.
“My contractions aren’t as close as hers,” she says.
“Fuck me. You’re in labor too?” I can’t believe it. It’s too early. She isn’t due for another month. This isn’t happening but Riley screams again and all thoughts leave me. She’s on her back, her legs spread. I look down and there it is. A baby in Temple’s arms but Temple doesn’t move. She sits there, holding the baby in her arms as sobs shake her body.
“She’s dead,” Riley whispers.
“What?”
“I knew she would be. She stopped growing a few weeks ago. The doctor told me to have her removed but I couldn’t,” she cries.
“Jesus Christ,” I mumble as Temple moves to hand Riley the lifeless body. She takes her baby in her arms as Temple crumbles to the floor in pain.
“It hurts,” she cries. I move next to her when I see the knife on the floor. Moving quickly, I cut the bracelet from her leg and toss it toward Riley. She doesn’t move, she’s too lost in her lifeless child to think about us but I know those assholes will be back soon.
“Temple, we gotta move, baby. We gotta get outta here.” She cries but looks up at me and nods. I lift her and move her toward the door when I hear the front door close. Cursing under my breath, I take her back into the room, closing the door behind us. Riley is humming some lullaby as I shove the window open.
“You have to run, Temple.”
“It hurts, Marc,” she cries.
“I know baby. I know it does but you have to okay? For our daughter. You gotta get her out of here, yeah?” She looks up at me with tears streaming down her cheeks and nods. I lift her once more and put her body out the window. Her feet hit the ground and she shoves her hand into her mouth. Her hands hit the wall of the house, blood trickling down her hand. I know she’s trying not to scream. This is fucking with my head. I can’t help her. I can’t take it away for her. A few seconds later, she looks up at me and I nod.
“I love you.”
“Love you too, babe. Run that way. I’ll find you,” I tell her. She turns and starts toward the trees when I hear March. I watch her until she gets to the tree line when the bedroom door flies open. March’s eyes move from me to Riley and back.
“You lose, motherfucker,” I roar before going at him. I swing, taking him down quickly before grabbing the knife. I plunge it into his chest before Greg comes in.
“The baby?” he asks ignoring me and looking at Riley. She’s so fucked in the head right now that I don’t think she could respond if she had to.
“You son of a bitch,” I roar as I rush toward him. In the back of my mind I know there’s more men somewhere but they clearly aren’t here right now. If they were they would be in here in seconds. That thought causes my stomach to ache. What if they saw Temple run? What if they are after her? Fuck!
The knife slips into Greg’s chest easily, blood flowing over my hands. He quickly falls to the floor when I turn and grab the device that was attached to Temple’s leg. I can’t believe it’s been months. Fucking months and I couldn’t find a way out of this shit. I feel like a goddamn failure. I failed her and our daughter. I shake my head and take one last look at Riley before moving through the house. Once I’m near the front, I fumble around until I find a gun. I know there’s one here somewhere. They are just like me in some ways. Thank fuck they aren’t as smart as they thought they were when I find one stuffed in the drawer by the front door.
Tossing the device on the floor,
I open the front door and step out onto the porch. Taking a deep breath, I turn and aim. Riley’s still in there with her dead child. I could get them out. I could save her at least. Shaking my head, I pull the trigger, hitting the device. The blast could be felt for miles. Turning on my heel, I run as fast as I can. My body is weak from being chained to the floor but that doesn’t stop me from running.
“Temple!” I scream her name as I go. Through the trees, the crunching of sticks. I need to find her. She’s out here, I know she can’t be far.
“Temple! Fuck! Please answer me!” I keep running until I hear her. Her cries pierce the stillness out here.
Twenty-Nine
Temple
My body trembles. I don’t know if it’s from exhaustion or what I saw. Her baby, her poor baby was dead. Tears still leak down my cheeks but my body gives out as I fall to the ground. Pain shoots through me as I kick my pants off. I know this baby is coming and having her on the dirty ground isn’t ideal but what else can I do.
“Oh God!” I cry out as another contraction tears through my body.
“Temple?”
“Marc?” I scream his name and glance around trying to see him. I can hear the sticks crack, leaves crackling in the distance and when he comes into view, I nearly faint.
“Jesus, Temple. Can you move?” I shake my head and bite my lip to keep myself from screaming louder. The pain is intense. I watch Marc pull his cut off and drop it to the ground before pulling his shirt over his head. He moves to position it under my legs as I watch him.
“We can’t have her out here,” I cry. It isn’t sterile. It’s out in the middle of nowhere. We can’t do this.
“We don’t have a choice,” he says kneeling between my legs. I want to laugh. This is a funny sight to see. This man ready to deliver his own baby. “You’re gonna have to tell me how to do this, babe. I have no fuckin’ clue what I’m doin’ here.” When he looks up and his eyes meet mine, I nod.
