by J N Owens
“Noah? What happened?” He looks to my parents. My dad just nods. Giving his okay to tell me and Layla. Mom is crying into Davis’ chest. This is bad. I already know. I can feel my knees starting to shake.
“Sit down.”
“I don’t want to fucking sit down. Tell me what happened.” My voice is louder than I would like. But I’m tired and I’m beyond mad at this point. Layla takes my hand as we stand there waiting to hear.
“It’s Scott.”
“Fuck Scott.” That is all Layla has said about him since the weekend of the Fourth.
“I don’t have time for that right now. Unless it has to do with Emory. I don’t want to hear it.”
Everyone looks to each other. And it’s the look that tells me it’s worse than if they found her with some stranger weirdo on that dating app.
“Babe. Scott has Emory. He wants you. We are working with the police to get her.” My heart falls to my feet. He has had her for days.
“How do you know?”
“He sent this.” He hands me my phone. There is a message from Scott.
Scott: I have your sister. We have been having a little fun in your absence. If you want to take her place, which is all I want, you know where to find me. If you choose to leave her with me, she will remain mine.
There is a picture, all it shows is her face, it’s bruised and bloodied. I run to the bathroom and vomit. I tell Noah I need a minute to myself. He shuts the door and goes back to the others. I sit there for a minute. How did he even get to her? I can’t believe I brought this crazy fucker into our lives and now he has my sister. I have no idea what he is capable of. But I do know what I am capable of.
I pull the pregnancy test I just took with Layla out of my pocket. I stare at it for what feels like forever. A tear escapes and rolls down my face. My sister, my sweet sister that I have loved and cherished for what feels like forever, is in danger. And now, I have a new life growing inside me. Both are mine to protect. I can’t choose between them. I won’t. I just found out about this baby, but I feel like I have loved him or her my whole life. Is that even possible? To love someone, you haven’t even met? I suddenly feel an entirely new level of courage rise in me. I know what I have to do. I place the positive stick on the bathroom counter.
I slowly open the door and peak out. No one can see me from here. I make my way to the back door and grab my purse that is on the kitchen table. Thank God I had it out last night. I write a note with the address, because I want them to come, just not with me. I make my way as silently as possible out the back door. I creep around the house to my car. I get in and take off as fast as I can. I’m on the interstate and flying towards Scott’s. I open my glove box to make sure my gun is there. It is. I take it out and put it under my thigh. I don’t want to waste any more time than necessary when I get there.
23
Finley
I turn my headlights off and creep slowly up Scott’s driveway. I don’t see anything. There are no lights on. It doesnt even look like anyone is here, but I see his truck out front. Then I see a flash of something. What is that? Was that a flashlight? Was that him? Did he just go into the barn? Was he carrying something? Fuck. Why didn’t I bring a light? Fuck me. What the hell did I get myself into? I still can’t figure out how he got to her. And why her?
I stop my car and park it on the side of the drive. I grab my .38 snub nose special and stick it in the back of my pants. Slowly and quietly, I make my way up the rest of his driveway. I’m shaking so bad and I feel like my heart is going to come out of my fucking throat. I have no idea what I’m walking into. I see some movement out towards his barn. Then I hear her scream, and it sounds like she is taking her last breath. It’s the kind of scream that turns your blood cold. Chills run up from my toes to the top of my head. I take off at a run. Something sparks inside me, he isn’t going to win this, not today.
I have had enough of this crazy asshole. This has nothing to do with her. It is between me and him now. I get to the door of the barn and push it open, but I can’t see anything. It’s black inside. If I had my phone, I could use the flashlight. But of course, I left that. I take my gun out of my pants, holding it tight. I search for the light and find the string hanging and pull, turning on the light overhead. I have to squeeze my eyes shut at first to adjust to the change. When I can finally open my eyes, I start to look around. It’s just the barn. I don’t see anything out of the ordinary. His barn equipment is sitting in front of me. There are his tractors, his baling equipment to the right, some other stuff that I have no idea what it is. There is a bench to the right, it’s covered in knives and blood. There are buckets underneath with blood filling them. I think that’s where he skins and guts animals. Ugh disgusting. It reeks too. There are the feed buckets and some extra troughs. I look up and see the hay loft is overflowing. When, I turn to the left, there she is. I have to cover my mouth to keep from screaming. She is tied to the wall, naked, spread out into an X. I feel the bile rise in my throat while tears sting my eyes. What in God’s name has he done to her? Her head hangs to her chest, blood is dripping down her entire body. I can’t tell where it’s coming from. It’s covering her arms and legs, it runs in rivulets down her torso from her neck or chest. Where the hell is this blood coming from? Is it just one place or multiple?
I start to go to her, but as soon as I take one step, I’m yanked backwards and slammed into one of the posts that holds up the barn. It has his horses bridle equipment hanging from it that rattles and beats against my head when I hit it. The breath is instantly knocked out of me. When I open my eyes all I see is evil. He is staring me in the face with less than a breath between us.
“Hello Finley, I knew you would come. You couldn’t help yourself could you. I’m glad you’re here, I have missed you so much. You can’t imagine how bad it’s been without you. But now I can show you how much I have missed you and how good it can be with us. We are meant to be together and I’m going to show you,” he says right in my face.
He leans in and starts kissing me. I squirm and try to get away, but he has pushed my legs apart and is grinding his cock into me. He has a hold of my chin so I can’t move my head while he continues to try and shove his tongue in my mouth. It’s getting harder and harder to keep my mouth held closed. His hands run up and down my body, he snakes them under my shirt, up over my breast. He grabs and pinches to the point of pain. He pushes one hand down inside my panties pushing a finger inside me. I am not turned on, I’m dry and him forcing his fingers inside me like that hurts like hell. It’s all just so fast and sudden. My mind is racing and there is so much going on, so much I’m trying to stop at once. It’s like he is trying to touch every part of me at once. My back is pounding from where he slammed me against the post, and I’m still trying to catch my breath from hitting the post. I feel like he is breaking my jaw where he has a hold of it. Tears escape my eyes. But somehow in all this I managed to hold onto my gun, but in all the chaos my arms have just hung limply at my sides. My brain finally starts to function. I pull myself together and remember what my dad taught me. There is no way I can out power Scott. He is just way too big. But I can shoot the fucker. He is too one minded to even realize I brought a gun with me. I try to point it at him, but the angle he has me in I can’t get a good shot. I’ll take what I can get. I bring my hand forward, pull the hammer back and squeeze. The bullet barely hits his leg, but it’s enough to get him off me and allow me some leverage. Now, he is pissed. He comes charging directly at me and grabs me around my throat. He squeezes as his grip gets tighter, I can’t breathe, my vision is going dim. The last thing I think about is Noah, and the baby I have growing inside. Please God. Please, don’t let this be how this ends. Please don’t let Noah find me like this. Please save my baby. Please…
24
Emory
I come to and my entire body hurts. My head is pounding. I can barely open my eyes. They are swollen almost completely shut. I manage to open them a little, so I can see what�
��s happening. I can hear some kind of rustling. When my vision focuses, I see…Finley? Oh no. God no. She has to leave. He is a monster. She can’t be here. I try to cry out to warn her, but no sound makes it out. My mouth is so dry and the pain is unbearable. He has Fin by the throat, she isn’t trying, she isn’t fighting back at all. He has her laid across a table. His left hand on her throat and right hand running all over body. He has her shirt pushed up over her breasts so he can look and touch. He pushed his way between her legs with one if his thighs. Making a big enough gap so he can get in between them. He moves closer and licks up her neck to her ear, then runs his tongue around the lobe of her ear, over to her cheek and down to her mouth. She must have blacked out. She definitely wouldn’t lay there and take this if she was alert. But I see a little movement in her hands now. He probably didn’t want her to be fully out of it, he likes it when you fight. He likes it rough. I learned that. She is groggy, her arms are splayed out to the side. His grip is still strong on her throat, but still manages to use his other hand to grab her by the face and hold it tight, he slams his mouth to hers, forcing his tongue into her mouth. It’s sloppy and one sided but he loves that shit. Not as much as when you fight back though. He loosens his grip on her throat so he can use both his hands to remove her pants. He pushes them down, and then follows with his. He makes an unintelligible sound at the sight of her. He lifts her up by her ass and starts to lick her. I hear him moan.
“Fuck you taste so good. I missed this.” He is a sick fucker.
A sob is lodged in my throat. I see her start to stir. Her arms are moving around on the table, she is reaching out while trying to keep herself as still as possible. He stands up wrapping her legs around his waist. Holding onto her by her ass, he slides into her. As soon as he does, her head comes up simultaneously with her arm swinging in an arc over her head. She is holding a giant hunting knife and brings it down in a screaming swing, straight down into his chest. He screams falling back. She pulls it out as she kicks him backwards.
“You sick fucker.”
She stalks forward. He is stumbling back. She stabs him again. He grabs her hand before she can pull it out again. She took him by surprise the first time, but she lost that now. But he is hurt. She manages to get her wrist free. She looks around and sees the gun. She turns to run for it, but he is faster and much bigger. He removes the knife and tackles her to the ground. He turns her over, pinning her hands above her head.
“You think you could win. You actually thought you could be rid of me that easy. I hate to tell you this, I’m here for good. I’m yours forever. You will never be rid of me. We are meant to be together. Just accept it.”
She spits in his face.
“Never. You’re a psycho fuck. And this ends today.”
“You can think that, but no, it doesn’t. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of your precious doctor for you. This way you can be free to be happy with me.” He starts kissing her again, he moves onto her breast grabbing onto it tight. “These are mine,” he growls and then moves his hands down between her legs. “This is my pussy, no one else’s. I will make you understand that once and for all. You will see. You will remember what it was you loved about me. I’ll show you. Let me remind you. You know you love the way I fuck you. You never could get enough of it. And I’m going to show you why,” he seethes while he starts pushing between her legs again.
She is struggling and crying, trying to get him off. And just when he is about to slam back into her, he is gone. Just like that he is off her. She jumps up and looks around. It’s Noah. He is there, and he has Scott on the ground, beating the shit out of him. Oh fuck.
Scott kicks up into Noah and gets on top. He is hitting Noah over and over. I hear the shot before I know it’s happened. I look over and see Finley with the gun. She is standing there, bloody, with her gun hanging at her side, her whole body shaking. Noah pushes Scott off him and runs to her. He hugs her, pushing her hair back, then starts kissing her. She just wraps her arms around him and collapses into him. They just sink to the ground. The next thing I know I see bright red hair running for me. She is yelling as she runs. There are sirens in the background, too. And then I’m being cut down. My body starts shaking uncontrollably, and that is the last thing I remember.
25
Finley
We hear the sirens coming. I look to Noah, he knows what to do. He grabs a blanket and lays it over Emory. I get my pants and pull them back on. I see Noah wipe his face. He is crying, he doesn’t want me to see so he is trying to hide it.
“Hey, look at me.” I grab his face in my hands, making him look in my eyes. “I’m okay. We are okay. Alright? It’s over.” He hugs me, wrapping his arms right around me.
“You are the stupidest woman ever. Dammit, Finley Grace! You scared the fucking shit out of me. Do you have any idea what went through my head when I went to check on you? Then, I found that damn pregnancy test. All I could think about was you, the absolute love of my life, the reason I breathe, came out here after a lunatic all by yourself. To top it off, now, it’s not just you. Now, you have my baby inside you. If something had happened to you, I don’t know what I would have done. What in the hell gives you the right to sacrifice yourself for others? And not just yourself but our baby? Huh? Why is it okay to sacrifice us? It’s not just you ya know? Did you even think about what it might do to me?” I look at him, tears coming more rapidly for both of us.
“No, I didn’t. I didn’t give myself that option. I didn’t allow myself the option to fail. I had to get her. I had to. I had to end this. Don’t you see? I had to finish this with him. How could I raise our baby knowing I had let a monster take my sister? How would I ever explain that to him or her? What if it was our baby that he took? I would kill someone for doing that to our child. So, I couldn’t leave Em.” He looks at me with so much love.
“You are such an amazing person. I can’t even imagine having that kind of fight in me.”
“Yes, you can, because you came out here for me. So, I know you will do it for our kids.” He smiles.
“Yeah I guess you’re right. Can you just promise me you won’t ever, I mean ever do anything this stupid again? Please, I don’t think my heart can handle it.” I reach up to take his face in my hand, pulling him down to me and kiss him.
“Yes, I promise. I hope to never have to.”
Right on time, the police and EMT’s come rushing in. I go over to sit with Emory and hold her while they begin to ask questions. Dad and mom are here now, they showed up not long after Layla. Noah talks to another police officer. Emory is going into shock, so we are doing our best to fill them in. Apparently, the guy she met on the app was Scott, but he used a fake name and fake picture. It’s how he got to her. He sought her out. He planned this. He used her to get to me. I look at her and my heart rips in pieces. For weeks she thought she had met someone that wanted her for her, and it was Scott. Not only did he take her, but he repeatedly raped and beat her because of me. My poor baby sister.
We start to get her up and she loses it when the EMT touches her. I immediately jump in front of him, and Noah helps me get her into the ambulance. They want to check me as well, but I assure them I am fine. Noah of course insists I get checked. Right now, my main concern is Emory. It turns out his friend Alex got here earlier than he was supposed to and is going to meet us at the hospital.
They have covered Scott’s body, I glance at it as we walk by. Dixie is lying next to him with her head on his arm. My heart twists. My whole body shutters. I killed a man tonight. I should feel something. I don’t. Well, not what I should. I feel relief that this is over, that he is gone. I’m not upset or sad. I’m not going to grieve him. But there are those that will. We load Emory up into the ambulance, I call out to Dixie. Her head pops up and she comes running.
“Noah, take Dixie to our house. We will take care of her.”
He just nods his head and loads her up. We head off to the hospital. Layla and I ride in the back with Emory. We hol
d her hands and try to soothe her on the way. I try my best to clean her up and wrap up some of her wounds. It’s over. It’s all over. Mom, dad, and Noah follow behind us. I feel like the weight of the world has been lifted. Now we can look forward to the future. Layla looks over to me, I take her hand as she lays her head on my shoulder and we start to hum You are My Sunshine. It’s always like this, the three of us, in a ring of hands. It will always be the three of us.
Epilogue
Noah
8 months later
“It’s time. Yes. Now. Hurry up!” Finley is almost yelling into my phone.
I grab Finley’s bag and run out the door. She called me from the hospital, her water broke at work. She absolutely refused to stop working until she had to. She is the most beautiful pregnant woman I have ever seen. I cannot wait to marry her. But of course, in true Carson form, she won’t do it while she is pregnant. She has to look great. So, we will do it next year, after the baby has gotten a little bigger. I just want to do it. Make it official.
