Heart of Light

by T. K. Leigh

  “I don’t think so, Jolene!” He raised his leg and kicked her in the back.

  She collapsed on her stomach, sharp pains coursing through her. She wanted to scream out, but refused to show fear.

  “Did you forget about our little arrangement?! You’re mine! I come over when I want to and I expect you to be here! And what happens?! I came over late Friday night and you weren’t here!” He raised his leg and kicked her aggressively in the stomach.

  She curled up protectively and coughed up blood. She didn’t know how much longer she could put up with his assault on her body. She was fairly certain she heard a few bones crunch under the force.

  “Please. Stop!” she begged. “No more. Please.”

  He stalked over to her, violently grabbing her by the hair again, raising her off the floor.

  She howled, her head throbbing from the pain of him viciously pulling her across the living room and up the stairs.

  “Oh no, Jolene. There will be more. There will be so much more. And I don’t need to remind you what is at stake if you don’t do as I say.”

  “What is at stake?!” she shrieked, her face flaming. “What?! That you’ll tell Tony where I am?! That you’ll attempt to get Cam’s license revoked?! Go ahead! Then he’ll know that you’re the cold-hearted bastard you truly are!”

  He threw her body against the wall, slamming her head. She slid to the ground.

  “I traded one prison for another!” she cried. “My life is no different here than it was in Chicago. So please. Go ahead. Tell him where I am. I’m done living in fear of you. Or of him.”

  He knelt down in front of her, running his hand against her cheek. “Is that what’s going on? Are you scared of me?”

  “I used to be.” She glared at him. “But I’m not anymore. I’ve been through hell and back. You can’t break me. I was broken years ago. So go ahead, you fucking sorry excuse for a man. Give me your best shot. But know that I am done lying idly by while you do whatever you want. You like a girl with fight in her? Well, you’ve found one.”

  “Oh you think so?” he asked, a hint of amusement on his face.

  Slowly nodding, she met his eyes. “Yes,” she said quietly.

  He smirked. “Well, that’s too bad, princess, because I don’t.” He grabbed her head with both hands and smashed it hard against the wall.

  And the darkness was back.

  ~~~~~~~~~~

  CAM STORMED INTO HIS house. He should have known it was too good to be true. How stupid could he be? He poured his heart out to her, but it was a front so that she could have a place to stay on the beach while she earned money sleeping with anyone who would have her. He wondered how many times she had a man upstairs in her bed while she flirted with him on the front deck, batting her eyelashes. She was good. He fell for the act, but that’s all it was…an act.

  But what about the cuts and bruises? Would she really go so far as to inflict those injuries on herself? Shaking his head, he ran up to his bedroom, not wanting to waste any more time thinking about her. Tossing more clothes in his bag, he thought about how he needed to get off the island again. Everything reminded him of her. The woman who stole his heart. The woman who deceived him. The woman who wasn’t worth his time.

  “Whoa! Where are you running off to?!” Benny called out when he saw his friend race down the front steps of his house, throwing a suitcase into his car.

  “I’ll be at my office if you need me!”

  “How was your weekend with Tomorrow?!”

  Cam glared at him, not wanting him to see how hurt he really was. He was devastated. He didn’t know if he’d ever rebound from this one.

  “Okay. Fine. We’ll talk about it later. I’ll let you go.”

  Cam sighed. “Is there a reason you came over?”

  Benny shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. Nothing important. Just another one of Elsie’s hunches and we all know how those turn out.”

  Cam nodded, jumping in his car and speeding down the road, wanting to get off that island as fast as he could.

  ~~~~~~~~~~

  JOLENE KEPT WAKING UP, opening her eyes and staring at a dark figure moving through the room. Sometimes it would be light. Other times it would be pitch black.

  “What’s going on?” she mumbled, her voice barely audible.

  The shadow returned to her, brushing her hair off her face. “I’m sorry it has to be like this, princess. But you haven’t given me any other option right now.”

  She tried to move her arms and legs, but was unable. She was restrained in some way. Screaming out, she prayed that someone would answer her desperate pleas for help.

  The shadow forced her mouth open, placing two crushed pills beneath her tongue. “That’s a good girl. Don’t worry. You won’t remember any of this when it’s all over.”

  Jolene’s world turned dark once more as she trembled in fear of the shadow at night.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  BEGIN AGAIN

  JOLENE OPENED HER EYES, her head throbbing. Her entire body ached and she had no idea how she made it into the bed or what day it was. The last thing she remembered was getting her heart ripped out of her body by a pair of brilliant silver eyes. She should have told Cam everything and made him see David for what he truly was…a twisted individual that shrouded his misgivings with religion, although she doubted he had stepped foot in church without his political advisor’s urging in quite a while.

  Sitting up, she clutched her stomach as an excruciating pain shot through her. She took a deep breath, trying to forget about it. She looked down at her body, barely able to focus on anything through her fuzzy vision. Throwing her legs over the side of the bed, she attempted to stand, collapsing on the floor and screaming out in anguish. Squinting, she could faintly make out her incredibly swollen and blood-covered legs.

  Crawling on the hardwood floor, she dragged her body to the bathroom, using every ounce of strength to raise herself up and look in the mirror.

  “No, no, no, no, no…!” she cried out, unable to recognize the distorted face that stared back. Falling to the floor, she felt sick to her stomach and retched into the toilet. There was no way she could possibly hide what had happened to her, even though she had no idea what that was.

  Inching back out to the bedroom on her hands and knees, she looked around the room, searching for some sort of sign of what happened. But no memory came to her. She collapsed onto the floor, sobbing uncontrollably, wishing that the sick fuck that did all this to her would have finished the job.

  ~~~~~~~~~~

  CAM CANCELED ALL OF his patients’ appointments that entire week as he moped around his office in downtown Jacksonville, his heart aching from everything that he had learned about Jolene. He couldn’t believe he didn’t see it sooner. He wondered how many other men she had blackmailed in the past.

  A gentle knock interrupted his thoughts. “Go away. I’m not feeling well.”

  “You don’t look too well, either.”

  His eyes flung open when he heard Elsie barge into the spacious room. She flipped a switch and forced light to flood the dark, depressing area.

  “Elsie, what are you doing here?” he asked, shooting up from where he was lying on the couch.

  “You need to watch this, you fucking prick,” she spat as she set up her laptop on his desk.

  “What are you talking about?” He got up and made his way toward her, his eyes settling on a video that she had on the screen. It looked like a security camera feed of the back hallway at the bar.

  “Audio’s a little shitty, but you’ll get the gist.” She hit play and Jolene appeared, leaving the staff room and walking down the hallway, an uneasy aura about her. His heart broke a little more, watching as she swayed her hips in that way that he had grown accustomed to seeing since he met her.

  “Elsie, I can’t watch this. I can’t even bear to look at…”

  She abruptly hit pause and stood up, her dark eyes on fire. “You will watch this,” she hissed. “I
want this fucking video permanently ingrained in your goddamn memory.” She sat back down, getting ready to start the video again. “I don’t even know why I’m doing this,” she mumbled under her breath. “You don’t fucking deserve her.”

  She hit play and Cam held his breath when the same man from the other day appeared on the screen, grabbing Jolene’s arm as she tried to walk past him. The music from the bar was loud, but he had stopped her right near the camera so Cam was able to make out their dialogue.

  “Where do you think you’re going?”

  “I need to get back to work. Please.”

  Cam could hear the fear in her voice. He could feel it in the way she stood there, her eyes wide. He felt sick to his stomach when he saw the man push himself on her, not allowing her to leave.

  “There’s something I need to discuss with you about our little arrangement.”

  Cam’s face flamed in anger when the man ran his tongue across Jolene’s neck. Shaking his head, he hit the spacebar on the laptop, pausing the video.

  “I can’t watch any more of this,” he pleaded, looking at Elsie. He knew he wasn’t going to win with her.

  “No! You’re going to watch it! I want you to feel ashamed for what you did.” She hit the spacebar hard, taking out her anger and frustration with Cam on her laptop.

  “I want the key to your house.”

  Cam let out a quiet sob, his mind racing as he continued to watch the video, bile forming in his throat. It felt like Marley all over again, how he stepped aside and let that man enter their bedroom nearly every night, ignoring her pleas and cries for help.

  “This arrangement will only work if you’re available when I need you to be. And I’ll need you to be home every night, unless I know that you’re here.”

  “People will get suspicious…”

  “Do not talk back to me, Jolene. You forget that my secrecy depends on you playing along. It could all fall apart for you at any minute so don’t test my patience. Understand?”

  “Yes.”

  “Yes, what?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “That’s a good girl. Now go back out there and act normal. Your life depends on it.”

  “Elsie, how did you find this?” Cam asked, turning his apologetic eyes to her.

  “I always had a bad feeling about him. I noticed it back in June. One morning when you were talking to her, I saw a government car drive by and she tensed up. She wouldn’t say anything, but that didn’t sway my suspicions. It was by pure dumb luck that I had to go through some of these videos for my dad. Apparently, some of the DJ’s equipment went missing one night. Imagine my surprise when I stumbled on this.”

  Cam sighed dejectedly, his shoulders slumped forward. “I’m a horrible person. I believed him…”

  “What happened? I want your version and not Benny’s third-hand account.”

  “That guy…” He pointed to the laptop screen. “He was sitting in her living room when we got home from the Keys. He said that she had been blackmailing him for sex and money in exchange for her secrecy. He came off all righteous, saying that he had seen the error of his ways. I was so hurt by the words coming out of his mouth that I actually believed him. She was on her knees, begging me not to go. I saw the fear in her eyes then, but I ignored it because his words were like a knife to my heart.”

  He shook his head before standing up abruptly. “Shit!” he exclaimed. “I need to go over there! I left her alone with him! Have you spoken with her?!” He looked to Elsie, his eyes frantic.

  “No,” she responded. “I’ve stopped by, but she didn’t answer and the door was locked. Benny mentioned that you thought Jolene was cheating on you. I thought it seemed odd, but it wasn’t until I found the video that I got confirmation that this guy’s a low-life fucking scumbag.”

  “Fuck! Call Benny. Tell him to get over there!” He ran out of his office and, within moments, was on the freeway heading back to Amelia Island and his Jolene.

  ~~~~~~~~~~

  BENNY KICKED OPEN THE front door of the beach house, shouting Jolene’s name as he ran up the stairs, a sinking feeling forming in his chest when he noticed a few blood stains on the hallway walls and floors. He stopped in his tracks when he walked into the master bedroom. The sight that greeted him made him sick to his stomach.

  Snapping out of his murderous thoughts, he rushed into the room, grabbing a blanket. “Come on, Tomorrow.” He covered her naked body and tried to wrap his arms around her trembling frame as she lay curled up in the corner.

  “Don’t touch me!” Jolene screeched, fighting against a pair of strange arms. “Haven’t you already done enough?!”

  He quickly withdrew from her. “Hey. It’s me. It’s Benny. I’m not going to hurt you. I want to help you, but I need to know what happened. Can you tell me that?” He knelt next to her, trying to soothe her with his calming voice.

  She opened her puffy eyelids, her chin quivering as she clutched the blanket close. It was the only warmth left in her life. “I don’t know. The last thing I remember is Cam throwing money at me.” Sobs overtook her body from the memory. She could still see it clear as day. She could see the hurt and pain etched on his face, and it was all her fault. “Everything after that is a blur.”

  “What do you mean? Why did Cam throw money at you?”

  “He hates me. He saw me for who I am. Just a fucking whore!” she exclaimed through her tears.

  “Shhhh. He doesn’t hate you,” Benny assured her, trying to get her emotions under control. “We need to get you to the hospital. You need someone to check you out and maybe they can help you put the pieces together about what happened.”

  “No!” Jolene shouted. “I can’t go to the hospital. He’ll find me. And they’ll hurt Cam, too. Please.” She attempted to roll onto her back, screaming out in anguish as she clutched her ribs.

  “Jesus. You can’t seriously think that you can avoid seeing a doctor. Someone attacked you. Can you remember anything? You can trust me. If you don’t want me to say anything, I won’t.”

  “No. I just need to get out of this house. Take me to Elsie’s. I’ll be fine there. I can’t be here. He’s dark. I don’t think I’ll make it if he comes back. I’d rather die on my own terms than his.” Her entire body began to shake at the thought of enduring any more horror. “Please, Benny,” she whispered. “Just make it all stop. I don’t want to…”

  “Enough of this talk,” he said softly. He wanted to hug her, to comfort her, but knew that she would overreact. He wanted to put a bullet in the head of the person that did this to her. He could only imagine how Cam was going to feel when he saw the state she was in. “If you don’t want a hospital, that’s fine, but Cam may insist on it. He’s on his way here.”

  She closed her eyes, a glow spreading through her body at the mention of that name. “He was my light, but the darkness came back,” she mumbled.

  Benny shook his head in confusion before raising himself up to search for a first-aid kit and put together an ice pack.

  “He can’t be here,” she muttered again. “It’s too dark. It’ll extinguish his light.” The world began spinning again. Nothing made sense. How come she couldn’t remember anything? Her brain was blank. She tried to force a memory back to the surface, but nothing came. All she could remember was flashes of time and the shadow at night.

  She closed her eyes, trying to shut out the pain…the pain of Cam’s beautiful silver eyes and the hurt she caused him. She tried to stay awake, but she couldn’t. She cried, hating her body for betraying her. If she fell asleep, he would come. He always did. He would never leave. And she would never be free again.

  ~~~~~~~~~~

  “WHERE IS SHE?” CAM asked hurriedly when he ran into the living room of the beach house.

  Benny turned around from the refrigerator, holding an ice pack. “She’s upstairs,” he said quietly. “She passed out. I tried to get her into the bed, but I didn’t want to touch her. When I tried, she screamed and flailed against me,
so she’s curled up on the floor.”

  “Okay. I’ll go check on her.” He turned toward the stairs.

  “Cam. Wait,” Benny said, his voice raised.

  He spun around to face him.

  “I hope you realize that this is all your fault. This wouldn’t have happened…”

  “Damn it, Benny! Don’t you think I realize that?!” he shouted. “The entire drive here, that’s all I thought about! I can’t ever remember feeling so much guilt in my life. She was begging me to stay…to not leave. But I was so hurt when I…”

  “When you thought the worst of her without so much as giving her an opportunity to explain? You’re smarter than that, Cam.”

  “I know! And now she’s up there in pain and it’s all because of me. So, I’m sorry. Okay?”

  Benny handed him the ice pack. “You do realize that you may be spending the rest of your life making it up to her, right?”

  Cam nodded, giving him a hopeful smile. “That’s the plan.”

  He climbed the stairs, pausing briefly outside the door to the master bedroom. Inhaling, he walked into the room. It looked as if it belonged on the set of a horror film and not in a tranquil beach house. Furniture was thrown all over the place, some pieces broken and destroyed…the obvious result of a fierce struggle. Restraints were attached to the bed frame. Blood was smeared on the ground from the bed to the bathroom. And in the corner lay Jolene, curled up into a ball, blood streaking down the legs sticking out from beneath the blanket she had wrapped around her body.

  He walked toward her, a peaceful look on her badly beaten and swollen face. He tried to hold in his tears, but he couldn’t. Nothing could have prepared him for that sight. And it was even worse because he didn’t do anything to stop it. He pretty much threw her to the proverbial wolves.

  Leaning down, he gently enveloped her in his arms, carrying her into the guest room across the hall, not wanting her to be in the room of so much trauma.