by Ford, Mia
I stumbled and staggered up to my feet. Hearing his insane tirade stirred up an anger and a rage in me that had been boiling for a long time. I was over it. I didn’t care how much money I had to give him to make him go away or what I had to do to get away from him, I was going to do it.
“You are crazy,” I said. “I want you out of my house. If you don’t leave or you lay one more finger on me then I will call the police and have you punished to the fullest letter of the law. Just try to see if I’m joking.”
Ted just looked at me. His face was calm and peaceful. It was almost serene. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought he was happy and content. But I could feel the tension in the air. I began to feel encapsulated in fear. I broke out in a cold sweat. It dripped from my forehead into my eyes and I wiped it away.
I was proud of myself for standing up to him. It was like awakening from some sort of coma and remembering who I really was. I’d let this man take away my identity and it would never happen again.
“What did I tell you?” Ted asked calmly. “I guess you will only learn one way.”
With that Ted walked towards the twins.
I didn’t know what he planned to do but there was no way I was going to let this bastard touch my children. I’d hide them where he could never find them if I had to.
I rushed at him. I thought I was fast but he was faster.
Ted whirled around, lowered his elbow, and pushed into me. I flew across the room like a ragdoll. My body was out of control. I flailed my hands trying to grab something to stop my fall, but my bruised feet were not working properly. My heels hurt so badly that I could barely walk.
I suddenly had the sensation that I was falling. The floor below me was rising towards my face. I commanded my arms to move in front of me to at least soften some of the blow, but nothing happened. I was free falling with no safety net.
My head collided with the nightstand hard just above the temple.
For a moment I felt no pain as the hurt already throbbing inside of me began to subside. But a second later it was replaced with a sharp, stabbing pain in the center of my brain. I heard a constant, loud beeping in my ears, like a phone that would not stop ringing, and I saw darkness.
Beneath the beeping sound I could hear movement and a voice, but I couldn’t make out what was being said. Ted was talking to the kids. Now he was moving. NO! NO!
I tried to move. I tried to say something, but the pain in my head would not let me. I could barely even think or make sense of what was happening around me.
I heard footsteps as Ted returned. Opening my eyes, I could fuzzily make out that he was taking one of the twins out of the crib and then carrying him out of the room.
“I….no…” I moaned. I wasn’t sure that sound had even come out of me, but the pain was suddenly worse. Every single thing I tried to do made this nightmare far more severe. I had to get up. I had to help my babies. What was going on? Where was he taking them?
A few moments later I heard Ted’s footsteps again. The fuzzy haze surrounding my head and fogging up my eyes was getting slightly better. I could now make out that Ted was doing something around the room. Tossing something… kicking some things over...?
He was moving around rapidly. What was he doing?
“Wait…” I managed. “What…”
Ted stopped and smiled at me. It was ghastly. I would never forget that evil smile for as long as I lived.
“Sweet dreams,” Ted said.
Then he left the room.
And all was quiet for a moment. This silence was followed by a couple metallic clicks.
I tried to stand. My legs were so shaky, and every time I tried to balance, the pain in my skull grew more immense. I tried to hold my head with my hands to keep it still and steady, but it was to no avail. The nausea and the pain were inextricably linked together. I felt like I was drowning.
And there was something else now… a weird smell… something charred…? Charcoal…? Matches…? Yeah… that was it… someone had lit matches…?
Smoke.
The room was being engulfed in smoke. It was thick and smelled horrid, but somehow it had the unintended side effect of pushing enough adrenaline through my body that I was now much more awake and aware.
But I was still hurt. I might have had a concussion. I felt like I was stuck between being asleep and awake and I couldn’t get out of it no matter what I did.
The room was on fire.
I could clearly make out the bright flames that were rapidly engulfing the nursery.
Ted had set the place on fire. My God…he really was out of his mind. He was trying to kill me.
Somehow I found enough strength in the panic that I felt and pushed myself off the ground enough to stumble blindly towards the door. I grabbed the doorknob and twisted hard but it refused to move in my hand.
I tried it again even harder, but it was still not budging. The door was locked.
Balling my fist tightly I pounded on the door as hard as I could. “Help me! Please! SOMEONE HELP ME!”
I knew my screams were futile. The only one who might still be there was Ted. I’d sent the staff home and there was no one who lived nearly close enough to the huge acreage of my family’s estate who had a chance in hell of hearing me. My only hope was that someone might see fire, but by the time they did I would surely be dead.
I tried to think, but panic and injury had robbed me of my ability to reason. It was all over. My life… everything I cared about… all of it was about to be gone.
But it might not have been all bad. I would finally be with my parents. I’d get to see them again.
The twins…
My boys… they’d grow up without a mother. They would never even remember me. I would be like a ghost who had never existed in their minds. They probably wouldn’t even have pictures of me to look back on. My poor boys… would they be ok? Would Ted at least take care of his own children?
No. I didn’t believe he would.
And I wasn’t about to let him take them away from me.
I tried to move, but couldn’t. It was over. My mind had already resigned itself to the fact that death was unavoidable. It was imminent.
The pain. I suddenly felt searing pain on my skin. It was too much to take and my body almost involuntarily leapt upwards trying to get away from it. I tried to scream. I thought I was, but I could hear nothing except the crackling of the blaze. I saw nothing but a fiery hell on earth. And I could feel nothing but burning agony as my skin began to melt off my bones. And then the bones started to char beneath them.
And now I couldn’t breathe. Was the fire melting my insides too? It was only a matter of time. I was bouncing around as best I could, my body out of control, my mind trying to wish it all to be over, and the pain growing less somehow as my brain took me somewhere else where I could embrace peace.
I fell to the ground now. The fire continued to rage. My face was melting right off my skull and I no longer cared. The smoke invaded my lungs to the point that I was almost unconscious now. It would be all over soon.
“Come on baby girl! Don’t give in! You must escape!”
Mother? Mother… are you here?
I knew it was impossible. My sweet mother was gone. But… could it be…?
“You must fight! You can do it!”
I could hear my own mother’s voice in my head right then urging me to fight on. I was vaguely aware that she was not really there. She was gone. I was not hallucinating--at least I didn’t think so-- but to this day I can still hear her voice as clearly in my head as if she were standing right beside me.
I had to move. I had to live.
She wanted me to move on. My boys needed me! My boys! I had to get to my boys…!
Covering up my mouth with my shirt to shield it from the smoke I made my way over to the other side of the room. There was a window there with no balcony. It was just a solid thirty foot drop to the ground. The fall might seriously injure me and it could kill
me in my weakened state if I landed wrong. But it was better than burning to death and it was the only chance I had.
I picked up the nightstand that I’d hit my head on. It was heavier than I thought and at first I stumbled, almost dropping it. But I tried again, this time grunting and putting every single muscle I had control of into it.
I slammed the piece of furniture into the window and the glass shattered all around me. The tiny fragments of glass pelted my body much harder than I thought they would and I instantly felt myself being covered in tiny cuts, like being attacked by a swarm of bees all stinging me at once. I ignored the pain and looked out the busted window.
The sweetness of fresh air was more precious than any amount of money I’d ever laid my eyes on. I took several deep breaths and then without thinking--which would have given me time to talk myself out of it and let the fear take back control—I flung myself out the window.
The ground flew at me swiftly. I barely had time to react or think about how I was going to land before I was pelting off the hard dirt below.
The air was gone. I couldn’t breathe. A tight pain wrenched itself around my midsection and squeezed like a boa constrictor wrapping tighter and tighter around me. I’d landed on my side. My arm felt like it might have been broken, or possibly just dislocated.
The impact shook my head sadistically. My stomach lurched harder and I emptied the contents of it on the ground.
I lay there a few minutes waiting for my breath to return and trying not to vomit anymore. I was out of the fire. I was out of the smoke. I was going to be OK. But I was hurt. I was hurt badly. I needed help. Ted had taken my children and most likely left with them. My family’s house was burning to the ground behind me.
My legs wobbled and shook with resistance against my will as I forced my body to its feet. With the first step I took I instantly realized that my ankle was probably broken. I hadn’t even noticed the pain until then, but the moment I put weight on it the ankle buckled and a knife-like pain began to cut into my skin.
I cried out, almost thankful for the pain awakening me a little bit. I could breathe now, but it was still very forced. My eyes were wide open and I could see the road at the end of my long driveway. I had to make it. I had to go now.
Pushing myself with the toughest amount of iron will I could summon, I moved slowly across the yard. I decided to walk along the driveway keeping in the grass rather than on the actual pavement of the drive in case I fell. The ground was much softer.
By the time I arrived at the road I felt like I’d been blown up and the pieces stuck into some kind of a huge blender. I was moving on pure fumes at this point. I had no energy left. My body was broken. I was beaten. I was scared.
The cool air against my burnt skin somehow made it burn hotter, as if I was still stuck in the fire. What would become of me? Did I really want to live this badly? I was burnt over most of my body. I was a freak now and I’d never be able to go anywhere. People would laugh and point. My business would go under. Who would buy cosmetics from someone who looked like me?
I could never let my precious sons see what a monster their mother now looked like.
My life was over. I might as well have been dead.
I reached the road and stumbled to my knees, mostly from exhaustion, but a good bit just from defeat. I should have stayed in the fire and let myself burn. My life was over. I was over.
Ted had won. He’d always win. No matter what I did.
As I sat there on my knees crying, the tears stinging my charred flesh, I suddenly became aware of the lights ahead of me. Lights? Headlights…
Someone was coming. A car.
They were slowing down. I thought they were going to stop.
My last memory is of the road coming back up to hit me in the face before everything went dark.
I thought the nightmare was over, but in reality it was all just beginning.
Chapter Eighteen
Ted
The lake house had been like a home away from home for me ever since Leia and I had started dating. It was a quiet refuge about two hours north. It was peaceful, full of serenity, and there was some of the best fishing this side of paradise. The lake was picturesque and huge. It was a great place to canoe, or even pop out the motorboat for a little joyride.
I came up here way more than Leia realized when I just wanted to get away from her and the kids. Sometimes I had parties up there and sometimes I entertained women. It was a good enough location far enough from home and out of the public eye that I didn’t have to worry too much about being caught.
Of course now, I would never have to worry about that.
I still couldn’t believe I’d finally done it. It had all gone down exactly the way I dreamt it could. Since the first month of our marriage I had toyed with the idea of killing Leia and having it look like some kind of an accident.
And the fire had been a nice touch. I hadn’t originally thought of something that violent, but she’d pissed me off at exactly the wrong moment and she had to learn the lesson. It seemed the easiest thing. Fire destroyed everything and it would have covered up any evidence. The story was simple. I’d come up here for a fishing trip with the boys and Leia had decided to stay behind to get caught up on some work. Things weren’t going as well as she’d liked at work (which was always the case; it was a big company after all) and then she’d plugged in the old lamp she’d had since childhood--which I told her had a short in it—and it had sparked and caused the fire.
It wasn’t a perfect plan but from everything I’d read and all the forensic shows I’d seen about fire deaths; it would have been good enough.
Of course I knew I might come under some scrutiny in the beginning. After all, I was the husband, and I did have a motive that anyone could see. That motive was money, which was the number one reason spouses killed each other. But nothing could be proven and soon it would blow over as a careless and tragic accident.
And then all the money would be mine and I would be free as could be to do whatever I wanted with my life. It was that simple.
So, when the phone call I was expecting came in to me, I was rehearsed and ready.
“Hello?” I answered on the third ring.
“Yes, um… Mr. Ridgeway?”
“Speaking.”
“Yes, sir. My name is Detective Theiss. I’m with San Diego PD.”
“Um… yes…” I answered, trying to emphasize concern in my voice.
“Sir, I’m afraid I have some bad news. There has been a tragic accident.”
The detective went on to tell me about the house fire and how there had been a lot of damage.
“Oh, my God…” I said forcing myself to cry. “How much damage?”
“Well, according to the Fire Marshall, most of the second story was destroyed.”
“My wife! Leia! Is she ok?” I asked, my voice rising desperately. The tears were really flowing now as I got myself worked up.
“Your wife? She was here?”
I was a bit startled by the question. They hadn’t found her?
“Um… yes… I mean… she hasn’t been feeling well and had some work to catch up on. I’m up at the lake house with our boys. She decided to stay behind.”
“Well, sir. We didn’t find any residents here or signs of anyone.”
I didn’t know what to make of it. Was it possible that she was so burnt up they might take days to identify her body amongst the wreckage? Several questions were going through my head, but I kept my cool and tried to act natural.
“Oh, that’s a relief. Maybe she stepped out for a bit or went to a friend’s house. If something happened to her---“
I allowed my voice to break as I cried into my fist.
“We will keep searching. And if you could give me a list of her friends and their phone numbers, I can start contacting them. Don’t worry. We will find her. Can you come back here quickly?”
“Yes. I’ll leave right away.”
I ended the call with th
e detective, wiped my eyes, grabbed the twins, and packed the car back up. I was on the road within thirty minutes.
My head was filled with swirling thoughts that made me very uneasy. Was it possible that Leia had somehow escaped the fire? There was no way. She was knocked out almost cold. The tip of that nightstand had struck her on the temple. She couldn’t even talk, let alone stand up. With as much lighter fluid as I’d used she would have been totally engulfed in fire within minutes.
She had to be dead.
But what if? What if she’d escaped?
Even if she had escaped she would have been near death and probably found somewhere on the property, her body burned beyond recognition. I should have poured the lighter fluid directly on her. Then I would have been certain. But I was in a hurry and I just didn’t think of it. I was almost laughing at the way she fell to the ground in a stupor. Just thinking about how she tried to talk and stand up was hilarious to me.
By the time I got back into town I was feeling a bit better about everything. I was convinced that she was dead and gone. If they didn’t find her in the house than she would turn up on the property somewhere most likely scavenged apart by animals. We were close to the mountains. Sometimes at night packs of coyotes could be heard running around howling at the moon.
“She’s toast,” I laughed as I pulled into my driveway.
Chapter Nineteen
Leia
I woke up to a brightly lit room. I expected to feel pain and nothing but. The moment I opened my eyes the events of what I’d just been through roared through my mind. The fire was all around me. The smoke was too thick… I couldn’t breathe… I was burning.
And then I was falling.
And then… then… what?
I’d gone somewhere. I couldn’t think where, though.
My eyes hurt but I kept them open, ignoring the pain as I blinked back and forth trying to let my sight and my head adjust to where I was.
