Left Behind

by Jayton Young

  I shook my head at him in mock disappointment.

  ‘That was a bad lie, Toby.’ I signed. ‘I might have believed it if it wasn’t you who had the frog in hand. Tha t pointed out the guilty party.’ And I attacked him, tickling him until he was as breathless as I had been and was begging for mercy. I leaned back up , ‘You’re lucky I’m the good one. I couldn’t beg you for mercy.’ I signed.

  He chuckled, and then his eyes drifted down and he brought his hands up to trace the words that had been carved into my skin. I realized that I had actually forgotten about my scars. I went to put the arms of my sh irt back on, but felt hands sto p me from the back.

  Troy started tracing my back. “Sweet Jesus.” He whispered. “Don’t hide from us, Cupcake. You have nothing to be ashamed of. All of this,” he said running his fingers lightly over my back, which was nothing but scars from all of the whippings, “Doesn’t change who you are, or how we see you.”

  Those words meant so much to me, especially coming from them. Toby sat up, me still straddling him, and ran his finger down my face before kissing me softly. All of the touching and the fingers running over my skin, made me feel things I hadn’t felt in years. I hadn’t felt like this since before they left. I felt Troy’s lips on my back, and stiffened, but I relaxed as Toby ran his tongue along the seam of my mouth, asking entrance. I granted it, tangling my tongue with his. It felt strange to have two sets of lips on me, but it felt so right at the same time. To know that two of the men I was in love with, loved me back was an amazing feeling, but I still felt like something was missing. Or I guess I should say someone.

  I stood up, moving away from Toby and Troy, putting my shirt back on the best I could with all of the buttons missing. I looked out over t he creek and into woods. Was I a slut? I had never heard of a relationship like this except in a romance novel. This didn’t happen in the real world. And then for me to feel like this with two men and still wanting the third one to join us…Was something wrong with me? I heard the boys come up behind me.

  “We’re sorry, Pea. We both got carried away in the moment.” Toby said.

  Troy turned me around and lifted my chin to look in my eyes. “What’s going on, baby?” He asked.

  I told them what I had been thinking. All of it. I knew that if we were going to try this, we had to be completely open and honest with each other.

  “You are NOT a slut, and I don’t want you to say that again.” Toby said. “A relationship like the one we are going to have is unorthodox, but we love each other. Love can not be wrong in any form .”

  “And you are right. It doesn’t feel complete, and it won’t until Tory wakes up, but just know that we do love you, Marti.” Troy added.

  “With all of our hearts.” Toby finished.

  ‘I love both of you, too’ I signed, and kissed them both softly.

  We went back to our horses and headed back to the house. That whole day had just re affirmed why I loved them as I did. They could make me feel better, no matter what was going on around us. I had actually forgotten my troubles and had fun. It had been so long since I had felt that care-free, and it was because of them. We had spent the day playing around like we used to when we were teenager s. The only thing missing was Tor y. I couldn’t wait for him to wake up. Then, my family would be complete again.

  Chapter 14

  ‘Do you remember the day you took me to the Catawba Dam?’ I was sitting in a chair beside Tory’s bed using my keyboard to talk to him , like I had every day for the past three weeks, and going over some of the memories I had with just him and me. I had been going over them in my head a lot , wishing he would wake up so we could make more memories together . ‘We went out there right after you cooked me a breakfast of scalded grits and your famous rubbery eggs. Everyone knows you can’t cook, except for you, but I ate it gladly because you had taken the time to cook for me. You never were one to do anything, you and your lazy butt, always saying it was too much work, even if was just to pass the remote to someone. We all love you anyways though.’ I corrected myself. If he could hear me, I didn’t want him to think I was complaining. ‘Anyway, you took me to the woods, and I didn’t know what we were doing. You had me walking in circles, laughing at me when I finally figured out we had passed the same tree four times. You loved playing tricks on everyone, and believe it or not, I miss your little tricks.’

  ‘After, what? An hour? We finally broke through the trees to the dam. It was a beautiful concrete waterfall with about six different outlets. You had set everything up before hand with fishing poles, bait and beer. I was only fourteen, and you were already a bad influence on me, trying to get me drunk. We fished and danced to the music on the radio you brought.’

  My eyes were starting to well up, remembering that day. It was one of the most amazing days for me. A day of several firsts . ‘That was the first time I had danced with anyone. It was my first trip to the river, and it was the first time anyone not family had kissed me. I remember at the end of the day right before we started packing up, you asked me to kiss you. I was so shocked I was speechless. I already was half in love with you boys, and I didn’t know if that meant you felt the same way or not, but you broke my heart, though I tried not to show it. When I didn’t answer you, you begged me, saying that you had a date and needed to practice. At the time I believed you, but I kissed you anyway. I figured I would rather have you as just a friend, then not to have you at all. It was one of the best, most memorable kisses I’ve ever had. Then, I realized that you wouldn’t have kissed me if you were going out with someone else, and that’s when it heated up.’

  “Believe me, I remember, Princess.” A dry and croaky voice said from the bed.

  I had been sitting in the chair, on two legs, with my feet propped on the side of the bed, and I had been in my own world while I had been typing, so I hadn’t noticed him moving. When I saw his beautiful golden brown eyes looking at me, I tried to jump up; falling back wards in the chair in the process.

  “I guess I still knock you off your feet, huh.” He said weakly as I was getting up off the floor. I pushed the button on my bracelet, which all of the guys had a receiver to now, and I ran over to Tory jumping on the bed, taking him into my arms, and crying into his neck. I couldn’t believe that I had my Tory back.

  I heard shouts from all over, calling my name, and heard stomping down the stairs and running throughout the house. They all stopped as they got to the study.

  “Thank you, Jesus. It’d damn good to see you awake, Bro.” I actually couldn’t tell if it was Toby or Troy who said that , which was very unusual for me.

  I just laid there in his arms, still crying, with his arms around me rubbing my back. I knew everyone was welcoming him back, but I couldn’t concentrate on what was being said. I only had one thought. I finally had all my guys back.

  “Come on, Princess.” He said trying to lift my head from his neck. “You haven’t said anything since I spoke up. I’d been listening for a while, but I had trouble opening my eyes. Come on, sweet thing, look at me and show me your beautiful face.”

  It went quiet in the room. I just shook my head in his neck. I didn’t want him to see me. This was a happy time. He was finally awake, and I knew the happy atmosphere would change as soon as he saw my face and then realized I couldn’t speak to him.

  “Princess please, I have to see you.” He pleaded, and I couldn’t deny him. I lifted my head, but kept my eyes closed. I didn’t want to see the shock or anger that would surely be on his face.

  I felt him touch my face softly, and though I had finished crying, a couple more tears escape my closed eyelids. I hated the feeling of inadequacy; that I was so weak and stupid to have let this happen to me. I felt defenseless. I had been held for two weeks by a mad man, and I hadn’t been able to fight back or escape no matter how hard I’d tried. Every time someone I cared about looked at me like this, all of those feelings resurfaced.

  “Princess, look at me.” He was sounding weaker than be
fore, and when I opened my eyes to look in his, I could see the strain in them along with the anger, worry and curiosity. “How did this happen?”

  He looked at me waiting for me to answer, but my arms were around him still and I didn’t want to let him go, so I couldn’t sign, and my keyboard was still on the floor . I looked to Jordan for him to explain.

  “Tory, Marti can’t talk anymore. Her voice box was damaged beyond repair.” He said softly.

  Tory let out a frustrated breath. “She was just talking to me. How can you say she can’t talk?” He asked while pulling me back to his chest in a protective way.

  Jordan looked around for the keyboard. When he saw it, he picked it up and started typing. “When she types on here it uses her voice to speak what she’s typing.” We heard my voice say from the keyboard.

  “That’s actually pretty cool.” Tory said, thankfully dropping the subject of what had happened to me. I knew he would still question me at a later time, but at least we could pretend for the time being and celebrate the fact the he was amongst the living again.

  The guys all got seats around the room and pulled them closer to the bed. They spent the next couple of hours talking and catching up. Toby tried to clear everyone out once, but Tory said he didn’t want to go back to sleep. He said he’d spent so much time trying to open his eyes, that he was half afraid to close them again. The doctor had come by for a brief evaluation and assured us that everything was fine, and Tory would be up and around in no time after some rest and physical therapy to build up his strength.

  After another little while of listening to Tory laughing and cutting up with the others, I started to doze off. I wasn’t fully asleep, but not really fully awake either. When the others noticed my eyes closed, they started talking softly.

  “I don’t know how or why, but when she sleeps with you she doesn’t have nightmares.” I heard James say softly.

  “Yeah, Sis hasn’t really had a peaceful sleep since she escaped that son of a bitch.” Jordan added. “She had gotten addicted to energy drinks, and had an endless supply of No-Doze along with medication to help her stay awake. She lied to the doctor and told him she couldn’t wake up in the mornings, so he bli ndly prescribed them to her. Sis would go days without any sleep. Hell, the doc had put her on Klonopin for a while, but she stopped taking it because it would calm her down to the point that she would fall asleep without meaning to.”

  “What was with that injection you gave her with her panic attack? Did that not help her sleep without a nightmare?” Toby asked.

  “Sissy said she doesn’t dream, but she’s not rested when she comes out of it. If anything, it makes her groggier.”

  “She’s been sleeping with you since you’ve been here.” I heard Troy say, I guess to Tory. “The first day she got into bed with you to hold you. She fell asleep, and woke up energized. She said later that she didn’t know why, but she was going to take advantage of it.”

  Tory’s arm squeezed me a bit. “I don’t mind. I’ve missed her like hell. I’ll take any time with her that she’ll give me. Now, though, I want y’all to tell me what the hell happened to her?”

  “We don’t know much; she won’t talk about it, but basically she was dating someone she had met online. We found out later that the bastard gave her a fake name. Anyway, basically she wouldn’t sleep with him, said she wasn’t ready, so he decided to take her. He had her for two weeks, torturing the shit out of her in a twisted form of BDSM.” Jordan told him. “God only know s what all he did to her. When she finally got out of there , she had an arm broken in several places, and the other wrist was sprained. Not to mention the broken ankle, two ribs that had been broken and were healing out of place.” His voice broke and I wanted to comfort him, but my mind was so spaced out; I couldn’t make myself move. It was almost as if I was in a dream state. “Her body was covered in old and fresh cuts; some of which he’d stitched up himself. She had morphine in her system, so at least some of the pain was dulled from that. I don’t know how she got herself out. The room he kept her in was on the third floor of some run-down abandoned mansion. It had chains, whips, floggers, paddles…There was dried blood everywhere.”

  “Do you know how she escaped?” Tory asked.

  “She said that when she woke up, he was gone and had left her uncuffed, so she got out. She said it took her a long time, and she passed out a couple of times, but she said she couldn’t take anymore.” I had never heard Jordan so broken up about anything. I knew it had affected my brothers, but I never knew to what extent. “It was either get out or kill herself. When she made it to the street, a passer-by saw her and called an ambulance. We had been looking for her, so when she was found, we were immediately called.”

  “What did the guy call himself?” Tory asked

  “Blain Robinson. The investigators said that it was an alias, and that he didn’t exist.”

  The guys still talked, but my mind was fading into sleep. The last thing I heard was Troy. “Well, I’m going to find the son of a bitch, and I’m gonna kill him.”

  Chapter 15

  “…let the foreman go yesterday.”

  I heard low voices as came awake, and then I felt the hard chest, that was my pillow, move a little trying to readjust himself. I got up off of him so he had more freedom of movement. When I looked down at him smiling at me, I just had to bend down to kiss him. I was still so high on happiness about him being awake. I sat back up and looked over to see Toby sitting in the chair by the bed.

  ‘What were you talking about?’ I signed the question.

  “Nothing really,” He responded, sending a quick look over to Tory. “Just some ranch stuff.”

  I nodded.

  “I’m sorry, Princess, but can I ask you to fix me something good to eat while Toby helps me get some personal stuff done?” He said, lowering his voice for some reason. Then it clicked. Personal stuff .

  A blush heated my cheeks as I nodded. ‘Anything in particular you’d like to eat ?’

  “You’re a genius in the kitchen, babe, so whatever is fine with me.”

  I quickly left so they could take care of his needs. When I got to the kitchen, I saw James, Jordan, and Troy sitting at the table, concentrating on different things.

  I tapped Troy on the shoulder. When he looked up I signed, ‘Toby is going to help Tory with some things, so he might need help, especially if Tory wants a shower. I’m going to cook breakfast for everyone.’

  He smirked when he realized what the ‘things’ were, probably because of the stupid blush heating my face again.

  He got up, gave me a peck on the lips before walking away chuckling to himself at my expense.

  I looked back at my brothers and glared at them for all of the snickering I had heard, but then I saw what James was drinking.

  I laughed silently. ‘Not getting enough pussy from Shelby ?’

  It was his turn to blush as he threw a dish towel that had been sitting on the table. Jordan was laughing so hard now; he had tears streaming down his face. On the last run Jordan had made to town for groceries, he had stocked me up on a new brand of energy drink called ‘Pussy’. He said that he had liked the sign on the display that read ‘The Drink is Pure. It’s Your Mind That’s the Problem’. I knew that the first time someone caught me drinking it; they would tease me about it. I was just glad that I had got James first.

  I didn’t drink energy drinks as often as I used to now since I could have peaceful sleep with Tory. I didn’t take the pills anymore, either. I wondered as I was getting breakfast ready why I was sleeping so well now. It started when I fell asleep with Tory that first day. I knew it wasn’t because my feelings were stronger for him than the others; I loved them all equally. The only reason I could come up with is that they were all finally here with me, and I felt safer now than I have in years. Just them being in the same house with me made me feel that way. Like now, they weren’t in the same room with me, watching over me, but I still felt safe that they were close by if
anything happened.

  I used to love to sing, but I truly wasn’t any good at it. I was singing Set Fire To The Rain by Adele in my head. It was playing on the radio I had turned on in the kitchen. I guess it was a good thing my brothers couldn’t hear me. They used to tease me about making dogs howl whenever I would sing around them.

  I was a good dancer though, thanks to Tory; who taught me. I didn’t realize I had been dancing around as I was cooking until Jordan brought it up.

  “I haven’t seen you this happy in a long time, Sis.” He said. “I didn’t realize how much the trips affected you until now. I guess looking back, I can see it.” He came over to give me a hug. “You were always so quiet after Mom died. Then we moved here and you slowly started opening up again.”

  “Yeah, we had done everything together before she died.” James added as Jordan took his seat so I could finish cooking. “I missed that, and of course when we moved here, I was a little jealous of the guys when they were here. I almost felt like you would forget about me and spend all of your time with them, but then I did realize how much they were helping you come back to being yourself. You always tried to include me, but I let my jealousy get in the way at first. Once I gave in and would hang with y’all, I saw you shine around them, and I was just so happy to be around for that, but I cherished the time during the school year when it was just us. You might be eleven months older than me, but I don’t see how twins could feel any closer than I do to you. I hated having to leave you; first with the exchange, and then college. I felt like I lost you all over again. Then everything happened…” He looked down for a second before he looked back at me, his eyes moist. “I’m just happy to be able to see you smiling, laughing, dancing. I missed it.” He smiled. “But I sure don’t miss your singing.”

  Jordan burst out laughing, and I joined in. I loved my brothers so much. I don’t know how I would have kept going, after everything Blain did, if it weren’t for them. I turned around so I could sign that to them. They both got up, came to me, and enveloped me in a hug, squeezing me. They stayed by the stove to help me finish the grits, bacon, and toast. When everything was done, I decided to go get the trips. I knew they should have been finished with Tory by then.