by M Dauphin
“GODDAMMIT! All these years!?” I hang up and run faster.
Molly
Evie is sitting in her chair, staring at me. Every now and then she looks over at Brian and smirks. Each time, they hit her again. She isn’t giving any information away, though. No matter how hard they beat her. Every hit makes me want to puke. Tears were streaming down my face. How can she not be crying?
“STOP IT!” I yell. “STOP, JUST STOP!”
“Your little bitch friend is behind all of this and you want me to stop torturing her? All she has to do is give away where the money is and we will let everyone go. You know she has the money hidden?! All because it is apparently my fault her dumb ass father is dead!”
“Never,” Evie says through her bloodied mouth. “You are the reason I had to grow up without a father. You are the reason that I had to leave my mother alone. You are the reason everything is fucked up. I will NEVER tell you. I’d rather die.”
“Very well.” Brian shrugs and nods at his man in the corner. “This here is Phil. Not a very exciting name, but I assure you he is the best at his craft. What’s his craft you might ask? Making peoples wishes come true, one might say.”
I start screaming. Still stoic, Evie sits there. Not showing any sign of giving in.
“Tell your parents hi for me. I should have wrote them more,” she whispers right when the gun was raised to her head.
“Brian, NO! STOP THIS! SHE’S JUST A GIRL LET HER GO AND WE WILL WORK-”
My pleas are muted by the gunshot that blasts through the room. Everything falls silent as Evie’s body slumps forward.
Tatum
GOD DAMNIT that was a gunshot. I will burn all of those fuckers if they touched one wild hair on her head. Heading up the side of the house while keeping to the shadows, I wait for the right moment. Glancing through the windows on my way made me aware of at least three male figures inside the house. Fuck. My men had specific instructions not to enter the house. I sneak a peek on the front porch and my suspicions are redeemed when I see the security detail laying in a puddle of blood. Dammit! How many more people have to die over this?!
Beyond pissed, I walk back to the dining room window and glance in. My heart sinks when I see a lifeless female slumped over a chair, but lifts a little when I see my Molly still alive, being yelled at by Brian. I can only make out a little what he is saying, but by the sounds of it he’s pissed that Evie was involved and he still believes without a doubt that Molly knows where the money is. It’s when he hits her that I lose all control. Not just one hit, three pistol whips to the face. No screams leave her, but I know how much pain she is in. One of those hits is enough to put me down, three could be deadly if done right. I run for the front door and barge in, shooting his two men point blank before they know what hit him.
When I walk into the dining room, I see Brian and his gun resting on Molly’s temple. I need to keep my cool. This man is nuts. He might actually do it if I can’t talk him down.
“Nate, so glad you could make it to our show.” Brian smiles and reaches toward Molly. “Isn’t she just so wonderful to agree to be the lead in this little adventure?”
He reaches down and rips her shirt down the front. I can hear the blood boiling in my veins and I’m about to rip him apart.
“Tell us what you want. You know me. You know the money I have. Tell me and I’ll make it worth your while to walk away,” I growl.
It’s a low blow, giving in, but she is mine. No one will ever point a gun at her again. No one but me is allowed to rip her shirt.
Ever again.
Brian laughs at me.
“You really think I’d take that from you knowing who you are? I wouldn’t ever be safe another day in my life!” Brian reaches and grabs one of Molly’s tits and I flip.
“Don’t fucking touch her again!” I raise my gun and cock it, knowing full well that this may not end well.
20
Molly
I should have bit him when he ripped my shirt. The asshole is just doing this to raise Tatum’s hackles and it’s working. Then, he grabs my tit and I want to kill him. Apparently so does Tatum because the next thing I know he’s getting ready to shoot him. No. I will not let him have Brian’s blood on his hands. I need to do something to stop this before it goes too far.
“Tatum, stop!” I yell.
“What the hell, Molly, this man has his hands all over you, he’s been beating you, and you don’t want him to suffer?”
Oh my god, I hope he forgives me.
“No,” I choke out the hardest lie I’ve ever had to say.
“What?” He lowers his gun and looks at me. The saddest look I’ve ever seen.
“I can’t see you do this to the man I used to love. The man who fathered my baby. The man I still may be able to love one day.”
I can’t look at Tatum anymore so I chance a glance at Brian. It’s working! His grip on his gun as softened and he’s looking at me in a whole new light.
“What are you saying, Molly?” Tatum growls. Ooh angry Tatum. Note to self: don’t make Tatum angry.
“I’m saying that…. Well, this was fun, but if Brian will have me, I’ll show him where the money is.” Looking into Brian’s eyes, I add, “We can have it all, babe.” I grin my best fake grin, hoping that Tatum sees through it and Brian believes me.
“Fuck that, Molly,” Tatum says.
“No, really, I think I believe her, Tatum. Molly wouldn’t have even been with you had she known I was still alive. She loved me with all her heart. This whole thing was just a giant misunderstanding, really.” He starts to untie me. The moron really is untying me! I am shaking at this point. Fear that I have lost Tatum is coursing through my veins and I can’t look at him right now. I just need to be untied and standing before I make my next move.
One. Rope. Left.
Unfortunately, that rope was my leg rope and in order to untie it, Brian goes between my legs to reach around… and plants a kiss right between my legs.
Tatum yells. I hear a shot, but it misses the target I’m guessing, as Brian stands and whips around to slam into Tatum. He isn’t a bigger, or a more muscular man, but sometimes you just have to have the right leverage. Tatum goes down, hitting his head on a nearby table and falls to the floor.
Brian grins like he just won gold and turns to me.
“Now, where was I?”
He continues his trek to untie me, all the while I can’t take my mind off of Tatum lying on the floor.
As soon as I’m untied, I wrap my arms around Brian. God he stinks. It’s good I have no feelings towards him, it makes what I’m about to do a lot easier. I grab him, like I am trying my hardest to get him hard. He grunts and backs up.
“Hey now, baby, there’s time for that later.”
I laugh. “Sorry, but it’s been so long since I’ve had a real man. I need to remember,” I try to say in my most sultry voice. It’s so hard pretending with Tatum right there. I don’t know if he’s conscious or not, but it makes me feel like I’m going to puke.
Brian looks at me for a minute before flicking his gaze over to Tatum, then grabs my hair and pulls. Maybe I’m not that great of an actress.
“You think I’m buying that, bitch?!” he yells, then throws me against the couch and comes towards me. Leaning down, too close for comfort, he adds, “You were never that type of girl, Molly. I’m not gonna fall for that.”
“You untied me, though, so obviously you did fall for it.” I spit at him. Probably not the best idea, but I’m on my last hope. If I stall long enough maybe Tatum will wake up. Wake up, damnit!
“Whore! I should have done this last time I had you.” Brian backhands me, still holding his gun. He moves his hands lower towards my pants and starts undoing them. He has me trapped against the couch and I have nowhere to go. I can’t knee him from my position and my hands are being held by his. Pushing his way into my panties, I start to yell and squirm. I’m so light headed and in so much pain, but I don’t give up. I ca
n’t give up. I’m not his anymore.
“Oh god, Molly, you were always so wet, so tight.” He’s kissing my neck now, talking low. I’m crying and squirming, trying to get out from under him. He grabs me and I scream. NO! This is not how tonight was supposed to go! He removes his hand and starts to use it to unbuckle his jeans. Jesus, this is actually happening. I can’t take this. I have to fight!
In one moment I feel his hold on my arms slipping and I make my move. It may get me killed, but I have to try. I pull my arms free and start punching him, the pain in my arms feeding my anger towards him. He moves back, astonished that I had the balls to attack him. I’m standing now, just a few feet from a seething Brian. I think everything in my body hurts, or it should, but I can’t register that right now.
“That was a bad move, you cunt,” he growls and plows into me. I go down swinging, but he won’t stop hitting. I can’t feel the pain anymore, just the pressure from all of the punches. He keeps yelling and hitting. I wish this would all be over.
“You weak bitch, let our DAUGHTER DIE! If you had any sense you would have killed yourself years ago!! NOW you are hiding MY MONEY from me!”
The hits continue. I see Alice and what our family would have been. I see Tatum smiling at me in the park and feel that initial twinge of love that I felt just a few days ago when I first laid eyes on him. I remember it all, and in my darkness I cry for what might have been.
Then all I see is black.
Tatum
Dammit my head hurts.
I slowly open my eyes and take in my surroundings. Ok, I’m still at Molly’s house. God, it’s so bright here. Where is she?
Then the panic kicks in. I hear the fall, the fight, the grunts. I pray to God that I’m not too late. I push myself up to see Brian straddling an unconscious Molly, glaring at her.
“You bitch, I’ll make sure you never forget tonight.”
He starts to rip the rest of her clothes off, at the same time preparing himself.
I. See. Red.
Literally, flames feel like they are coming out of my fucking ears.
That motherfucker. A guttural scream comes from me; a noise I didn’t even know I could make.
Brian twists around to meet my gun facing him. I shoot. I don’t even think, I just point, aim, and shoot that fucker right between the eyes.
I’ve never been so clear in my whole life as when the decision to kill him came over me. I never thought I’d be able to love again after what happened in my past. I blamed myself for so long and thought that I didn’t deserve a shot at a happy life. Molly has changed that all. The fact that he has already done lord knows what to her, knocked her unconscious and was about to do more, just put a nail in his coffin.
He slumps over and I kick his body off Molly. There’s still a pulse, but it’s light. Fuck. She has so many bruises and there is so much fucking blood. Grabbing my phone, I call my father. He makes the arrangements and within ten minutes I have people at the house to help me. That’s the thing about my father, police don’t ask him questions, even in this part of the country.
They take Molly to the hospital and I trail behind the ambulance, the whole time cursing the workers who thought they could keep me away from her. When she wakes up from this, (when, because ‘if’ is not an option) I will never stop showing her how much I love her.
I rush into the hospital when I finally park and ask to see her. More like demand, but these damn nurses don’t know the amount of panic they are going to see if they keep me from her much longer.
“Mr. Savage, Ms. Ward was taken directly into surgery. You will have to wait in the waiting room since you aren’t family.”
“Fuck that. The woman I love was just beaten, sexually assaulted, and now is in surgery and you aren’t going to give me anything else to survive on?” I growl at her. I’d hate to make a scene, but I’m Nate Fucking Savage. I don’t wait in waiting rooms.
The doors open and my father comes strolling into the hospital.
“Son, be a good sport and take a seat before you get yourself kicked out,” He says.
I watch him talk quietly to the nurse while I storm across the room to find an area to pace. There will be no sitting until I see my Molly.
***
After what seemed like hours of pacing, the doctor comes out to speak with us. He looks exhausted.
“Mr. Savage?” He glances at me, then over at my father who doesn’t rise from his seat. He gives a nod towards me and the doctor walks over to me.
“Please let me see her, doc. I have to. I can’t… I don’t know…. Oh my god, don’t tell me she died!” I say, not quite sure what happened to my cool that I thought I was keeping. I was asking questions faster than a twelve-year-old girl on a caffeine high.
“Calm down, Mr. Savage. She’s doing just fine.”
Those words. ‘She’s doing just fine.’ Four of my favorite words at this very moment. I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding and sit in the nearest seat.
The doctor continues. “She had massive amounts of contusions on her body and there was swelling on her brain from the hits that she took. Whoever did this to her seemed hell bent to kill. Your girl has a strong will to live, though. She isn’t awake yet, but you can go see her. Just know, she looks very... rough right now. We had to drill into her skull to help the swelling recede. She may not notice you when she wakes up, but that is just a side effect from everything she has gone through and she should regain memory soon.”
“Thank you, Doctor. You don’t know what she means to me. Can I see her now?”
He nods and points me in the right direction. On my way out of the waiting room my father stands.
“Go tell her, Son. Don’t let her get away. And give her my best.” He pats me on my shoulder and I move faster than I thought I could to get to her. I need to see her. Walking into her room, I hear nothing but the whirring and beeps of the machines she’s hooked up to. They warned me that it won’t be the best of sights, but I don’t care. I can take it. I’ve seen much worse.
That’s what I thought at least, until I walk in and see her.
She’s so swollen from the liquid they pumped into her, her beautiful face battered from his hits. A tear runs down my cheek and I shake my head. I thought I was strong enough. I thought I could save her from her hell. I couldn’t even do that. He was half my size and I couldn’t take him when I needed to. My weakness has gotten yet another person hurt, almost killed. The sounds of the hospital room remind me of the darkest time of my life and I can’t shake the feeling that this one is about to take the same nasty turn. Unsure of everything now, seeing her like this, I walk out of the room. Surprisingly, my father is standing right next to the door.
“Did I ever tell you of the day you were born?” he asks.
I look at him like he has three heads.
“No,” I say, looking down the other end of the hall, trying to dry my face before he sees me.
“Your mother almost died. I blamed myself because I wanted a natural birth. I thought ‘women used to do it all the time, she can handle it’. So I pushed for it, even though the beautiful woman didn’t want it.”
I turn and look at him. He seems so old standing in the hospital hallway. I almost forget he is the ruthless man who has the majority of the country in fear of him. He leans against the wall, crosses his ankles, and continues.
“She was in so much pain she passed out from it in the middle of pushing you out. With her passed out she couldn’t push to get you the rest of the way out. I couldn’t watch the rest of what happened. Emergency C section, your mother not coming to right away. I just sat on the curb outside the hospital, staring at nothing for what seemed like hours. Your uncle was the first one to hold you. I was sure my suggestions and pushing had killed one, if not both, of you. It took the nurse walking out with news that your mother had woken up and was asking for me to kick me out of my funk. Turns out your mom had pushed so hard it made her pass out. Not the pain, not my insis
ting that she didn’t have any medications. They said even medicated it would have happened. You were just that big of a baby.”
“So you are trying to tell me to stop blaming myself for things that are out of control?” I look at him.
“I’m saying, I almost walked away from the love of my life because I was worried that it would be me that ended up getting her hurt. Turns out, things that big are out of everyone’s control. There is a higher being that has it all planned out for us ahead of time. We are just pawns.” He grins, looks up and closes his eyes. “So get your ass back in there before she wakes up and you aren’t by her side. You will never live it down,” he adds.
I take his advice and turn to walk back in the room.
“Thanks, Dad,” I say. “I just don’t know what to do with all of these feelings. I’ve never felt this way before.”
“I know, son. That’s what love is. It is both beautiful and devastating.”
“Devastatingly beautiful. Just like Molly,” I say to myself and walk back in the room to sit by the woman I love.
21
Molly
Through the darkness I’ve seen bits of light and heard unmistakable voices. He’s here. I can’t see him, I can’t feel him, but I know he’s here. I just want him to hold me.
“When is she going to wake up?” I hear his voice.
“It’s been a few days, Tatum. We expected her to be awake by now. Her vitals are good, now it is just a waiting game,” another male voice says.
Why can’t I wake up? I try and try to pry my eyes open, but that just makes me more tired. Darkness falls again.
***
I feel something. I think it’s my hand, but I can’t really tell. My body is cold, but my hand, my hand is so warm.
“Son, why don’t you head out? Take a walk. You need sunshine like the rest of us.”
“No,” he simply states. Nothing else. I need more! WAKE UP DAMMIT!
I keep trying my hardest to move. Focusing on one area, the only one that feels like it would make a difference, I try to move my hand. I don’t know how long I focus on just wiggling my fingers, but I do. Over and over I try to send the information to my hand to move. MOVE!
