Confined

by Barbi Barnard

  “I’m going to bed,” she announced. “Goodnight,” I call to her as she headed toward the stairs.

  “Night,” Steve echoed.

  “Nitey Night,” she replied.

  I wait a few minutes to make sure she’s really gone upstairs. When I hear the toilet flush and her bedroom door shut I say, “She keeps asking me when you’re going to move in.”

  Steve laughs and shrugs, “And what did you tell her?”

  “That it will be a while before anyone does any moving anywhere, that you and I are taking it slow. I don’t know if she gets it, but that’s what I told her.” I sat up, shut off the TV and turned on the radio. In the fireplace, a log broke sending a shower of sparkly embers up the chimney and out into the night. The heady scent of seasoned wood fills the living room with its intoxicating scent; add to that the radio and low burning candles and suddenly the mood has dramatically changed. There is an electric charge to the room that wasn’t here a few seconds ago; my heart begins racing in my chest.

  Steve looks at me, meeting my eyes. He holds my gaze as he leans toward me. “I want to try something,” he breathes. “Tell me if you need me to stop, okay?”

  Hypnotized, I nod and mumble, “Okay.”

  With hands lighter than air, he grips the sides of my face and pulls it oh so gently toward his. I feel the involuntary reflex to panic and fight it; I take great pains to remind myself that I’m safe. Steve must sense my hesitation because he stops, his fingers pressing into my cheeks, his lips centimeters above mine.

  “Remember, tell me to stop if you need to,” he says, his lips brushing against mine, tickling me.

  I nod, my lips brushing his like the softest kiss of a butterflies wings. I close my eyes slowly and take a deep breath then lean into him. His lips molded against mine, soft and warm, pressing and prodding.

  I slide my hands up around his neck, sliding them over the back of his head where his hair tickles my fingers. Steve slides his hands back, cupping the side of my head. He pulls his lips from mine and stares down at me. “Are you okay?”

  I nod and lean toward him, anxious to try more of that. “That,” I say. “Was my first real kiss. I’ve never been kissed that way before.”

  Steve’s jaw dropped. “Are you serious?”

  I nod. “Yes. I’ve never been kissed.”

  “I want to be your last first kiss,” he smirks and leans down to kiss me again.

  I feel like a teenager making out with her boyfriend on the couch while her father fiddled around in the basement. The rush makes me giddy, it made me want more than just a kiss. I fumbled in the near darkness, reaching for the button on Steve’s shirt.

  He immediately pulls away and grabs my hands. “What are you doing?” he asks.

  “Trying something new,” I say.

  “JoJo, are you sure your ready for that?”

  I glance down at my hands ensconced in his and shrug. “There’s only one way to find out, isn’t there?”

  “I don’t think we should try that until we’ve both had a chance to talk to Dr. Conrad. There might be some things we all need to talk about before we do that.”

  I pull my hands out of his and place them in my lap. My sudden high is abruptly gone and I feel… strange. “I guess you’re right,” I whisper.

  “That’s my girl,” he says and drops a light kiss on my forehead. “Don’t you think for one second it’s because I don’t want you. If I thought giving you want you wanted was what was best at this moment, I’d have carried you upstairs myself. I just don’t think we’re ready for that step yet.”

  I nod. “You’re probably right,” I tell him.

  “Probably. It’s getting late, I should head home.” We both stand, Steve stretching. I click on the lamp and head for the front door. “On the other hand,” he says sliding on his jacket. “You can look at it this way, you didn’t freak out. That’s progress, right?”

  “Yeah, progress.” I open the door and we step onto the porch. “Can I have some more progress before you go home?”

  He chuckles and pulls me gently toward him. “Of course you can.” And with that he leans down and kisses me softly, his tongue rubbing against mine in a series of lazy, but oh so sexy circles. “How was that?”

  “Progressive,” I grin at him.

  Once more, he drops a brief kiss on my lips and tells me, “good night,” before jogging down the steps and out into the dark.

  As I’m shutting the door, the phone rings. I quickly lock the door and rush into the kitchen to answer it. “Miss me already?” I giggle into the phone,

  Chapter Nine

  “No bitch,” I hear rasped in reply. “But I bet you’ve missed me.”

  I liked the darkness, it was easy to hide, and when you spent so much time living unnoticed, well the dark, it accepted you and passed no judgment. Not like people.

  Over the last few months, I’d kept to the shadows, standing just outside the light watching her change before my very eyes. She grew braver and stronger, she grew closer to that damn cop and further away from me. Then tonight, tonight she sat in her living room kissing the cop, letting him put his hands on her.

  The world went black as I stood there watching from the other side of the windowpane. I waited; watching, biding my time until the pig left, then I'd dialed her number from the new cell phone.

  I heard her gasp and waited for her reply, but none came. Then the light in the kitchen went out and I thought she’d hung up, but I could still hear her breathing on the other end. I smiled in anticipation, anxiously waiting for her to say something, anything.

  I wanted her to curse at me, to call me names, beg me to leave her alone, something. However, she said nothing. In fact, she hung up. There was a click and the line went dead, I pulled the phone away from my ear and glanced down.

  Call ended the screen flashed at me. I pressed the end button and shoved the phone back into my pocket. Fucking bitch, I thought glancing up at the second floor window that was now glowing with a soft buttery yellow lamplight.

  At the window, the curtains fluttered and JoJo’s face peered out, squinting into the darkness presumably looking for me. Part of me wanted to step out into the light, end the game right now and watch the shock rock her body. I know who she thought I was, but when she found out it was me, well let’s just say it was going to be one hell of a surprise.

  Back upstairs, the curtain dropped back, the light extinguished leaving me once again in the dark. Next door, the pig’s bedroom light turned on. A few seconds after that the porch light turned on, the front door opened and the cop jogged across the lawn.

  The cop, he was becoming a problem. I needed to get rid of him and by get rid of him I meant permanently. Every time I turned around there he was, cozying up to JoJo or comforting JoJo. It pissed me off.

  Like now, he jogged up the porch steps and knocked on the door. A moment later the front door opened and JoJo stepped aside to allow the cop in. He closed the front door behind him. I need to get her alone, to spend time with her, just her and me. It won’t be like before; there won’t be other people around to steal what should have been mine.

  The night of the party comes to life in my mind – yes, I was there - Outkast is blaring on the radio, the sound of people talking and laughing is almost overwhelming. I see JoJo; she walks right by me as if I don’t even exist. I suppose to her I didn’t. Fuck, I still don’t.

  She would have to pay for that, for ignoring me for all these years, then for fucking those assholes then running off to California. I would make her pay, then I would make her love me. And she would. She would love me; she’d love me more than she loved that douche bag ex-husband of hers and more than the pig who follows her around.

  In the living room, a light turns on, the television follows, and I creep toward the house, a ghost in the night. As I approach the window, I can hear the canned laughter of a sitcom rerun. On the other side of the wall, the pig giggles along with the television audience then, during a lull i
n the ploy, JoJo announces she is going to bed. He tells her goodnight then the room is quiet.

  A plan forms in my head. Break in the back door, the cop comes to investigate the noise and meets the knife I always carry with me. It would be easy. Too damn easy, actually and therefore, no fun at all. The thought of killing the cop, of committing a murder so horrible that people did not dare to venture out at night in fear of running into me, made me dizzy with lust. Killing the cop was inevitable, especially if I wanted him permanently out of the way.

  Upstairs, the bedroom light went out letting me know that JoJo was safe and snug in her bed and her boyfriend was fair game. I reached for the knife I kept holstered at my waist, the handle of the Smith and Wesson was cool in my hand as I crept along the side of the house, heading toward the back door of the house, following the plan in my head.

  The back door was probably the fastest and least conspicuous way in and out. I took the stairs two at a time, reaching into my back pocket for the pair of leather gloves stashed there. My hand slid easily into the soft gloves and once I had them on, I reached with one hand for the doorknob and the knife with the other.

  Just as I suspected, the door was locked. I turned and raised my elbow, preparing to break the pane of glass when suddenly the quiet black night erupted into a cacophony of whooping sirens and flashing lights. An ambulance followed by a fire truck and a couple of cop cars hauled ass down the streets.

  Shit, I thought, watching as the emergency vehicles screeched to a stop in front of JoJo house.

  Run, my subconscious urged, however my feet were rooted to the porch. I was so fucked. So fucking fucked.

  Chapter Ten

  The wailing of emergency vehicles jolts me out of sleep. My eyes pop open, alarmed at the flashing lights illuminating my room. Without a comprehensible thought, I throw myself out of bed, grabbing my robe off the back of the door.

  “Steve?” I call, almost tripping down the stairs.

  “I’m okay,” he called back softly, the click of the front door sounding behind him. “It’s Mrs. Frederick from across the street. She had a heart attack. They’re taking her to the hospital now.

  I collapsed into his arms and let out a shaky breath. “How terrible, is she going to be alright?”

  “She should be” he said wrapping his arms around me. “We’ll have to wait and see.”

  I buried my head into his chest and relished the safe feeling he provided. It was like a safe harbor; a place that I could go where no one and nothing could touch me or hurt me. In his arms, it was as if anything was possible. It was the one place where I felt the safest.

  “You look exhausted; you should probably get back to bed.” holding my arm I let him lead me.

  I nodded, yawning. It was late and I knew that I was going to have trouble going back to sleep. After that damn phone call, calling Steve who agreed to spend another night of duty, keeping watch over my phone lines. I headed toward the stairs, reaching for the banister, taking each step one at a time. My mind immediately went back to the call. Who the hell could it be? I wondered for the umpteenth time since the calls began. Moreover, what did they want from me?

  I won’t lie, I was so glad when the calls stopped. I really thought that whoever it was had finally found someone else to bother. I mean, I know that sounds terrible, but I was just really glad he’s decided to leave me alone. Then they started again.

  I pushed open the door, gazing longingly at the bed sitting in the center of the room looking warm and inviting. I grabbed Steve’s hand and tugged him toward it. “Lay with me?” I asked, sliding into the cool sheets, the comforter soft and inviting.

  Steve nodded and sat down beside me on the bed. “It’s been a weird night, huh?”

  “It has,” I murmured in agreement, laying my head on his chest. “I’m waiting.”

  “For what?” Steve interrupted.

  “Well…” I trailed off.

  “Well?” He prompted.

  “The rule of threes. Two bad things have happened today, I’m waiting on the third.”

  “There’s no such thing as the rule of threes. Its coincidence; coincidence and nothing else.”

  I stared out the window, the flashing red and amber lights hypnotizing me. “I don’t know,” I disagreed. “It just feels like, well, like there’s gonna be one more bad thing before the night is over.”

  Steve ran his hand down my arm. “I don’t think you have anything else to worry about; and even if you did have something to worry about, you still wouldn’t. I’d protect you.”

  I closed my eyes, relishing the safe and secure feeling as it washed over me again. I still couldn’t believe how dramatically my life had changed these last few months. I was lighter, happier, and free of things that had previously held me hostage. I could lay in bed with the man I was starting to love and not feel threatened. I could laugh and be happy and not worry about what was going to happen next.

  I felt like I was living in an Aerosmith song, I didn’t want to sleep because I didn’t want to miss a moment of this life that I had. In the last few seconds before I fell asleep the security and utter happiness washed over me, sweeping me under and swirling around me and despite being harassed over the phone by some crazy weirdo, I’d never felt happier.

  ***

  A blood-curling scream roused me from what was a restful sleep. I bolted up, as did Steve, and we looked at one another, completely alarmed. “What the hell?” he said.

  “Emma,” I cried hopping out of bed.

  Steve followed and we rushed down the stairs. I skidded around the corner and into the kitchen stopping short. “Oh my god,” I gasped. “Emma, come away from that.” I reached for her arm, my fingers trembling.

  “Jesus Christ,” Steve gasped as he stepped into the room. “JoJo, take Emma into the other room.”

  I pulled Emma toward me and guided her out of the room. “Come on, sweet pea.” With my arms around her, I guided her into the living room and sat her down on the couch.

  Absentmindedly I turned the TV on and handed Emma the remote. “Stay here,” I ordered. I turned and went back toward the kitchen, fear, and anger swirling together in my stomach.

  The disgusting scene in the kitchen made my stomach turn. The back door stood wide open, trembling slightly in the breeze. The floor was a lake of red blood pooled in a giant circle in the middle of the room; red spray speckled the walls and lower cabinets. Bits of glass glittered in the blood from where the intruder broke in. In the center of the mess laid a piglet with its fleshy body slit from one end to the other.

  On the wall, scrawled hastily in blood was a brief, but chilling, sentence: THE COP IS NEXT.

  I glanced away, my heart breaking at the tiny life that had been sacrificed to scare me. Steve met my eyes, his face mirroring mine: wide-eyed and speechless. I had so many questions, but words failed me. Instinctively, I reached for the roll of paper towels and bent to clean up the mess.

  “Stop,” Steve ordered. “Leave it be. Go get Emma and take her to my house. You two don’t need to see this.” He handed me his house keys and pushed me out of the room. “I’m going to call the station, get CSU down here, get this taken care of and cleaned up.”

  I took the keys, fighting the urge to cry, Crying wasn’t going to stop this from happening, crying wouldn’t solve anything.

  “Why is this happening?” I asked as a strangled, panic-stricken cry escaped. Hysteria bubbled its way up my throat, threatening to overpower the fleeting sense of calm I’d still managed to cling to.

  Steve shrugged helplessly. “I wish I knew,” he said crossing the room and wrapping his arms around me. “But just like I told you last night, I’ll keep you and Emma safe. Now, please go over to my house so I can call the station and have a team sent out here to check for finger prints and evidence.”