by Sara Schoen
“What about you?” I asked in a worried tone.
“I will be fine, please just run. I’ll protect you,” Damien said, as he lightly pushed me forward. “Now run.”
I took off running as he told me to, but I made the mistake of looking back. I had turned around just in time to see Steve point a gun at Damien before the shot rang out. Damien’s body fell to the ground as Steve laughed. I fell to my knees and started crying. Steve continued to laugh as he walked over to me. I suddenly felt like I was being shaken and I roughly woken up.
“Audrey, wake up please!”
“What?” I cried as I finally woke up and looked at Damien’s terrified expression.
“We’re here. Let’s get inside,” he said, but I could tell that’s not what he originally planned to say.
He had been on my side of the car when I woke up; I must have been completely out if I didn’t wake up the first time he tried to wake me up. Damien held his hand out for me to take and he led me to the house. I noticed it was another one story house, but there were trees surrounding us. We were isolated, and I wasn’t sure if that was good or not. Damien led me into the house and pointed out a bedroom, but I walked toward the couch. I curled up in the corner of the couch and forced myself to stay awake. I didn’t want to sleep again, my dreams were just confusing me even more, and now I was terrified to lose Damien.
"You've had another nightmare. Come here and I'll protect you the rest of the night," Damien said as he settled onto the couch next to me. His arms wrapped around me, and just like in my dream I felt safe.
Chapter 18
We had only been at the new home for a few days when I got sick. I skipped meals because I couldn’t hold them down, I was sleeping most of the day and only getting up to rush to the bathroom before I got sick. It wasn’t restful sleep because of the nightmares that I was plagued with, and most times I kept Damien up with my screams. I hadn’t been able to stay asleep for more than a few hours, but would be so exhausted that I’d pass out a few minutes after waking up. I could hear Damien talking to himself sometimes when I woke up. He never leaves from my side except to go to the bathroom, because every time I wake up he’s there either awake or asleep.
While I sleep and continually wake up, I hear him having a debate with himself. He isn’t sure if he should take me to a hospital or not. If he takes me he is captured and sentenced to death for taking me, and if he doesn’t I could get worse. I could hear the strain in his voice, he wasn’t sure what to do, but he didn’t want me to get worse. He just didn’t understand that I didn’t want him to go to jail.
“I could just drop her off and leave, but then I wouldn’t know if she was okay and it would kill me,” he muttered to himself as I drifted out of another round of sleep. “I could take her in and stay with her, but I know the police would take me away from her before she got better,” he continued. He hadn’t noticed that I had woken up again.
“Why not just let me stay here?” I asked with a hoarse voice, it was scratchy and hard to understand.
“Because you’re really sick, Audrey.”
“But I think I’m getting better. I’m hungry,” I said as I forced myself to sit up on the couch.
“I’ll get you some soup,” Damien said with a weak smile.
He knew I was doing this for his benefit and that I wanted to make him feel better; he could see past my facade. I had tried before to convince him that I was fine before. I went into a sudden coughing fit and wasn’t able to stop. My chest was sore afterward from the force of the coughs; it felt as if I was trying to cough up a lung. I told him I was fine to travel in the morning, but during the night I got sick. I threw up repeatedly during the night and constantly felt nauseous. So we stayed for longer than he wanted.
“Here’s your soup,” Damien said as he handed me a small soup to-go cup.
He had to go to town twice already because he hadn’t been planning on staying here this long and I wasn’t in any shape to travel. Every time he went into town it created a danger for us. Someone could spot him and call the police on him. He’d either never come back, or Steve would come while he was gone and take me away. Neither was particularly a good thought while I was sick because I stayed up worried about him and myself.
I glanced at the soup in my hands and for the first time felt genuinely hungry. I drank the entire thing in one sitting and sat there with a pleasant smile on my face.
“Don’t get cocky, remember the last time you did that. You threw up for an hour. I was hoping you’d take it slower this time. I’ll have to cut the soup in half next time,” Damien said with a comforting smile.
“Sorry,” I whispered with a sullen tone.
“Don’t be sorry, Audrey. I’m glad you’re feeling better. I just don’t want you to rush it. I’m going to take care of you, you’re fine,” Damien said, lightly grabbing hold of my hand and offering me a gentle smile.
“Thanks. I’ll be fine to travel in a few days. I think most of the sickness is gone now.”
“Don’t push it, Audrey. It will just make it worse in the long run,” Damien pleaded, as his fingers lightly grazed my face as he moved a piece of hair out of my face.
“I think I’ll be fine, though,” I pushed the topic. I couldn’t hold us back much longer, Steve was still out there and he had a remarkable ability to find us, it was creepy.
“We’ll see in a few days then. For now, please get some sleep and don’t worry, I will be here to protect you from all those nightmares,” Damien said with a smile that made my heart melt.
I could see the love in his eyes he had for me and had the overwhelming urge to tell him that I loved him and kiss him. He had told me once that he loved me, and continued to show it, but he hadn’t said it since. I wondered if it was because he said it to calm me down, and I couldn’t stop myself from saying it now.
“Damien?” I asked to get his attention.
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“I love you,” I said quietly as I quickly fell asleep again. The last thing I saw was his stunned expression before I passed out into a blissful sleep.
My eyes snapped open to reveal a courtroom. I glanced around the room to see Steve Bennett standing up in front of the crowd. I was in the back of the courtroom, completely unnoticed and seemingly just a witness.
"On thirteen counts of kidnapping we find the defendant, guilty. On seven counts of murder we find the defendant, guilty. On one count of sexual abuse we find the defendant, guilty," a young woman said from the jurors’ box before sitting back down.
"It has also been decided that the death penalty will be accepted in this case. Steve Bennett you'll be held in a maximum-security prison until your execution date can be arranged. Court is adjourned," the judge stated with a slam of her gavel as Steve was led from the room.
"I'll be back for you, Anna!" Steve called as he was pulled out.
I shook my head in disgust. This is the broadcast that had been shown on television for the last few months. They showed the case repeatedly to remind people that Steve had to be taken off the streets for good. Too bad they didn’t think that when they let him out of prison to find his copycat and me.
Just as I was about to walk out of the room I saw my mother stand up with my father right next to her. They held hands as they walked out with looks of relief on their faces. The crowd had been waiting for them to move before they filed out and watch my parents leave with the torture behind them. I was about to follow them when the crowd blocked my way.
It took a long time before I found my parents again. My father was overly excited and dragging my mother out of the courthouse. They ran to a car that was parked in front of the building that I was able to slip into unnoticed.
"Where are we going Garrett?" my mother asked with a laugh.
"It's a surprise," he stated with a mischievous smile on his lips. I could now see why my mother thought we looked alike when we were plotting. My father and I had the same mischievous look in our eyes and with o
ur smiles.
I watched my parents the entire time as the scenery flew by. The landscape and town didn’t mean anything to me, but my jaw dropped when we stopped at a lake. The stars shine on the surface like a mirror and caused them to dance along the gentle lull of the lake. It took my breath away; it was how my mom described their proposal.
"This is beautiful. I love it here," I heard my mom say from behind me as I got caught up in the sights.
"I bet I can make you love it even more," My father stated confidently, but when I turned around I saw Damien on one knee with a small box in his hand.
"Audrey, from the moment I first met you I knew you were the one for me. I’d never had the confidence to pick up some stranger in the bar before, but there was something special about you. I know you didn’t like me locking you in the house, but I saved your life a few times and we were able to push past it. Now I want to keep you in my life, will you marry me?” Damien asked with love filling his gaze. I wasn’t able to hold it back anymore from saying it.
"Yes! Yes, I'll marry you!" I screamed as I jumped into his arms and held him tight. After a few moments he moved me slightly in order to show me the ring. The ring had one large diamond in the center then had three smaller diamonds on each side with a thin silver band.
"Here's to a happy life with the one I love," Damien said, just before he kissed me and woke me up from my dream.
I turned around to see Damien sleeping in the chair, but contorted so that he could face me while he slept. It was in that moment that I realized that we both truly cared for each other, too bad it took this mess to bring us together. It made me wonder how my parents felt. My mother had been sexually abused repeatedly, and my father had watched numerous girls go through the same fate, but they were happy together. It was as if having each other erased all the bad memories and kept the good ones.
Damien looked so peaceful while he slept, and I was suddenly taken over by an overwhelming urge to be close to him. I got off the couch, and sat with him in the chair. I curled up on his chest and felt his arms move to wrap me tightly to his chest. He didn’t wake up, but he held me as if he knew who it was and didn’t want me to leave.
I’ve never felt so cared for in this moment, but it also made me wonder that if my parents got married after they made it out of Steve’s hold, what's going to happen to us if we get out of this?
Chapter 19
“Damien?” I asked, as I poked him awake.
“What? Are you okay? Is there something wrong?” he asked as he jerked awake. His eyes filled with fear as he scanned the room and then finally looked at me.
“I’m fine, don’t worry. It’s time to go though.”
“Go where?” Damien asked, wiping the sleep from his eyes.
“We need to get on the road. We need to move before Steve finds us or someone in town calls the cops on us.”
“We can’t leave until you’re better, Audrey. I already had this conversation with you,” he groaned in frustration. I wasn’t easing up on him in my demands to move. If we didn’t move we’d be caught—I had a bad feeling about staying here.
“Damien, we have to. It’s not safe here!”
“It’s not safe here? Do you have an idea what Steve’s house was like? I was supposed to leave you there and never come back. I was about to as well!” he yelled, and then paused to let the words sink in.
“You were going to leave me there?” I asked, as tears prickled at the top of my eyelashes.
“I was, but then I saw what he had planned. You were supposed to die in that fire, Audrey! I couldn’t leave you there, so I took you with me and gave you a real chance at freedom. The only reason I even came back was because I can’t lose you. I hoped that by letting you go you’d see you’d want me too, but I ran you straight into Steve’s grasp. I couldn’t stand the thought of you getting hurt, so I brought you with me. Now we’re both stuck running,” Damien said as he slouched back into the chair.
“Where are we right now, Damien?”
“We’re near Charleston. Why?”
“We need to go south. Get on the highway and travel south, we can get away from Steve and we can fix this!” I cried as I saw how hopeless he looked.
“How? How can we fix this, Audrey? Because I can’t see a way to fix this.”
“My parents would know, they’ve done this before. Maybe they can help,” I suggested. I hadn’t told Damien that I talked to my father yet, but maybe telling him could help us in this case. “Please, Damien, let me try. It’s either this or I keep bothering you to travel.
“You have one chance. No specifics, just tell them our problem and see what they say,” Damien said in defeat as he handed me a phone from his backpack. My confusion must have shown on my face because he quickly wiped it away. “It’s only for emergencies. I haven’t turned it on since my parents died.”
I simply nodded and turned on the phone. Damien got up and left the room, leaving me alone with a constant drone of ringing.
“Hello?”
“Mom?” I asked once her voice came over the phone.
“Audrey, your father said you called him. He says that this Damien person is the one that took you, but now he’s helping you, is that true?”
“Yes, it’s true. He’s helping me get away from Steve. We are actually hoping to move again soon.”
“Steve is there?”
“Not right now, but he’s following us.”
“Tell me exactly what you told your father.”
“Damien and I are being chased by Steve Bennett. Damien is on the news now, as the kidnapper, but he’s not working with Steve anymore. Damien got me out of Steve’s old house as it was burning to the ground. Just before that news story came out Damien let me go, he gave me a chance to escape. I spent a night in the woods, and that’s when Steve found me. Without Damien I would have been taken by Steve,” I explained, hitting the high points on the conversation.
“The police think they are using Steve to get you back home, but they don’t understand what he really is,” my mother stated, more to herself though.
“Dad said that the police are in on it. Do you think that purge really got rid of all of his supporters? I can tell you that whatever Steve is doing, it’s not to get me home. He’s after you and me. If he captures me he is going to trade me for you. If that doesn’t happen, he’s just going to keep me,” I said as a stray tear ran down my face.
“It’s okay, Audrey, you’ll get through this,” my mom said as a way to let me finish my story.
“He tried to take advantage of me, like he had done to you. Damien knocked him out before he could start. We’re on the run now, planning to head south away from Steve. We can’t go back home because then Steve will have both of us in one spot and know where we live.”
“That’s fine, I understand. I’m sorry you’re going through this Audrey, but you have to pay attention to what I’m going to tell you; it could mean life or death.”
“Okay,” I whimpered.
“You need to toughen up. You need to fight for yourself and know that Damien isn’t always going to be there for you. It’s okay to fall in love with him, and I’m not surprised it happened, but the hard part is to tell if those feelings are real or if you’re forcing them. Trust me, I understand.” I heard my dad in the background say hey in protest for my mother’s remarks.
“I know these feelings are real. I tried to fight them for a while, but couldn’t,” I said with a small smile, not surprised she had figured out that I had developed feelings for Damien. “That’s fine, but you can't let feelings get in the way, you need to focus. That's why Garrett and I split up, because we had to focus on ourselves, and we couldn't do that with the other person around because we would be too distracted worrying about the other person.”
“What are you saying mom?” I asked curiously.
“Splitting up is something you may have to think about if you want both of you to survive. Sadly, that's what it comes down to sometimes."
“I will think it over.”
“Good, now worry about yourselves and get out of the area. You’ve got to be around my old hometown. Where are you?”
“I can’t tell you any specifics, ask Dad, I told him last time.” There was a pause for a few moments before my mom answered again.
“I know where you are, and I have to tell you to be careful there. It’s not as safe as you think it is. Take your father’s warning and beware of the cops. Sometimes they aren’t there to protect you.”
“I understand.”
“We have to make this end, Audrey. Do whatever has to be done, and just remember sometimes to keep both of you safe, you have to split up, but you also have to stick together when it counts.”
“Good bye, Mom.”
“I’ll see you soon, Audrey,” she said, as she hung up and left me sitting on the couch alone.
“What’s the plan?” Damien said as he slid next to me.
“We move out tomorrow.”
"Then we'll need a plan on how to show he isn't a changed man who's helping, but still the same disgusting murderer and kidnapper we know him to be," Damien spat, as he pushed off the couch and then turned around to help me up.
"What if it doesn't work?"
"Then you and your mother could very well be in for an undesirable life."
"Then let's just get out of here and finish this off, hopefully," I said, trying to liven the mood.
“Deal, we can move in the morning. Let’s get some sleep before moving tonight,” he said, as he looked me over to make sure that I wasn’t showing any signs of sickness. “You’re sleeping in a bed tonight to make sure you rest well.”
“But you sleep in the bed since I’ve been sick.”
“Then I guess you’re sleeping with me tonight, beautiful,” Damien said, as he leaned in and kissed me. It was a slow sensual kiss that sent sparks and shivers up my spine. I just knew that Damien felt it too as he leaned in for another.
