Beast of Venery

by Lawless, Isabell

  "Thanks dad, I appreciate you telling me that."

  "No problem, son. Now let's enjoy our beers while they're crisp and cold and watch our women scream over jewelry and clothes."

  With a clink of their bottles they both tried to relax into the couch, watching the two ladies of the house swoon and 'ah' over the open gifts.

  "Oh, only one left at the back of the table." Danielle screamed enthusiastic, downed another heap of wine and handed the almost empty glass over to Jo. Ripping open the shiny gray paper covering the thin present, a yellow porcelain picture frame made its presence. It was beautiful. Crushed faded yellow porcelain pieces, dotted with two small circular stones cemented around a small glass opening, showcasing a gray wooden landscape.

  "Oh, I wonder who sent this. It was one of the gifts in the back, and sadly I think the card to the gift might have gotten lost in all this mess... and my wine drinking probably didn't help my organization skills." She smiled slightly, and pointed to the heaping pile of shiny wrapping paper and gift boxes covering the living room floor.

  "Don't worry." Jo said, coming back in from the kitchen, having filled up both Danielle's glass as well as her own. "We'll figure it out some other time when someone complains they haven't received their thank you card. Simplest solution."

  "Who are you, people?!" Andy and Danielle asked in union, looking from Jo to Vernon. "Fist fights, and not thanking guests who sent gifts... my oh my. You guys are bad. But I like it." Danielle giggled as she took the wine glass from Jo once more.

  "Anyway, thank you so very much for your gifts." She hugged Jo tightly, making what was left of the wine slosh out of their glasses and drip on to the floor. More giggles spread among the two tipsy women.

  "And you Vernon, thank you for the beautiful jewelry chest you made. It must have taken forever. I really, really appreciate it." Vernon patted her back telling her she deserved everything in the world and more. He always made her cry. He didn't feel like a father-in-law, he felt like a dad. A big, soft, solid father. A papa bear.

  "And you, my darling husband, thank you for the Ipad. I really didn't need it, but I do love it. And to find it in fuchsia, my favorite color! I love you." She threw herself down on Andy's lap letting the last of her wine accidentally spill over and hit the floor.

  "And with that, my darling, it's time for bed.” Andy answered her with a tired look. “Dad said we're leaving early in the morning to get as far as we can during the day. The cabin isn't really close, so we need all the day light we can get."

  “You know what." Vernon cut in. "We'll follow you up there and stay with you. If anything were to happen, there will more of us than of him. We're a family and we'll help each other out.”

  Vernon gazed back up in Jo's face and took one of her hands in his.

  “We'll leave early tomorrow morning, just before the break of dawn, so I suggest you both go and pack something light and make it ready to put in the car. It's also better to leave your cars here at home since Brian knows what both of you guys are driving. Let's give it until just before dawn.”

  Andy tilted his head backwards and downed his last beer in one smooth move. Danielle looked at the whole situation and couldn’t believe they would do something so sweet for her. She knew for certain her own mom and the rest of the family would never gang up together to “fight evil”, but Andy's family would and she got slightly jealous of it.

  “Come on babe, I'll help you get some stuff together so we can leave as soon as we wake up.”

  Danielle nodded to both Andy and his parents, and mouthed a 'thank you' to them as she took his hand and left the living room. The ferocious day had turned sweeter thanks to family, but as soon as the frenzy of giggling and wine dissipated, the peculiar fear of what to come hunted her mind once again.

  They actually had to run away, how pathetic. On the contrary she did that successfully all by herself many years ago, and she was also able to make herself a new life away from him. Until he found her.

  But maybe they couldn't outrun him again? He would probably dig up some information and dirt related to the family and end up harassing them until the day he died. Until they had a solid plan on how to deal with Brian, knowing he might be anywhere at moment, running seemed like the most effective solution.

  Chapter 14

  “I'm sorry, Andy. I didn't mean for any of this to happen. Especially not when you organized a birthday party for me, and all of our friends and family were here, and... now you're dragged into this too. I never thought he would try to make you suffer through your job getting to me. I'm just so sorry. I'm sorry.”

  Her voice faltered her and she leaned back against the wall of the bedroom. Sobbing into the palms of her hands, she sat next to the doorway in silence. Anxiety spread across her mind, making her hormones and feelings fly all over the place. Laughing, crying, deep rooted fear.

  A warm hand was placed on her shoulder. It just stayed there. No soothing rubs or squeezes over her body. The hand stayed put until she felt she was cried out and her head tilted back to join the rest of her body, still leaning against the wall.

  He was crouched down next to her but his eyes faced the floor. Strings of blonde hair made their way out from the back of his hair tie and dangled on one side of his face.

  “You're so quiet.” Danielle's sniffles carried through her voice. “Please say something. You're never this quiet. It's making me nervous. Say something.”

  He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and when he opened them again she couldn't read him at all. Was he angry? Tired? For the first time she couldn't read him, and that scared her tremendously.

  “Please don't give up on me.” She begged quietly, letting her panic present itself through the upbeat rhythm of her heart pounding hard at her ribs. The fear that he could actually leave her right there and then. Leaving seven years of marriage behind because of a crazy ex-boyfriend who now seemed to have mastered his plan with ruining the relationship with her husband.

  “I'm just so fucking tired of all of this.” He quietly answered after a few minutes. “It doesn't seem to end. It's not that I'm blaming you. I know he is your ex, but usually exes finally come to terms with their loss and move on, which is something he has showed us, over and over again, is impossible for him to do. He wants you back and there is nothing that is going to stop him from doing so. He's playing us like freakin' puppets in a play. Why else would he make us run away from our own home, and go into hiding? It's affecting my job now and my family. It's not right. At least I thought he would stop after the two times he has already been inside our house trying to get near you, even freakin' fucking you in front of me. What kind of sick bastard does that?!”

  “I'm sorry.”

  “No, no, you don't have to be sorry, it's not your fault precisely, but that is probably what he wants me to think. I guess he is trying to tire us out. Especially me, so that I will give up and walk away from you, from us. I'm not going to do that, but to be truly honest – knowing that he will never give up kind of gets me down. Fucking deep down. Deep down a rabbit hole, without a latter to climb up. You're my wife, and I promised in front of family and God to cherish and support you through life, so that's what I'm going to do. I just didn't expect Brian to be such a big part of it.

  I'm sorry if I'm not the most supporting husband all the time, but this is the time when you have to hold my hand as well. It's getting tiring for me dragging both of us through this shit. Sometimes I feel like I need a break from it all to be able to pull through... but at the same time we cannot allow him to break us. We cannot let him win this.”

  “Mhm." She simply nodded, feeling panic and bile rising far up her throat. She could taste the sourness of her rising vomit in the back of her mouth.

  She didn't expect any hugs or kisses, so why waste any more time being moody and sad, pretending to be weak. She decided to pull up her big girl panties, push up from the floor and pack that damn bag to get out and away from this mess in the early morning. If
Andy didn't want to be a part of it anymore, that was his decision, but she knew she had to. It was her mess, and it wouldn't matter who she was with or where she would go in life, Brian wouldn't stop until she did something herself to stop him. Maybe by running away they could grasp and enjoy the chance to feel free for just a little while before he tracked them down again.

  The night turned everything eerie and cold. Not only did the wind cool down outside, but it was pretty damn low inside the bedroom between the two of them as well. No comforter or blanket could heat up the chill that lay between them in bed. It was like a wall of sharp icicles divided them up on each side of the bed. Each of them clinging to their part of the sheets, away from one another.

  "Had Brian succeeded? Was this the beginning to the end for them"? She thought, having a hard time falling asleep. Her mind running in circles. "Fuck him for ruining everything. Fuck me for ever getting involved with him. God, how could I ever have been so god damn stupid? Maybe I should just give in and go back to him, then maybe all of this will stop. At least Andy and his family won't have to deal with this anymore. As Andy said... it's tiring them out. They probably talk behind my back of what I mess I am. Maybe I should leave. Maybe? I don't know..."

  "What is it babe?"

  "Huh?"

  "You're moving around mumbling like you're having a nightmare."

  "Well, why the fuck do you care..." Her mind was lashing out. Quietly cursing him.

  "Are you okay? What was it?"

  "Yeah, I'm fine. Just... that picture frame."

  "What are you talking about?"

  "Uhm." She said, rubbing her hands over her face to wake up. Andy was on his side, towering over her leaning on his elbow, searching for her eyes.

  "Which frame do you mean?"

  "The yellow picture frame that was in one of the birthday gifts I opened tonight. It reminded me of something but I can't remember what, but it scared the hell out of me in the dream. It looked so familiar but... I don't know. Never mind."

  "What did it remind you of?"

  "That's what I can't remember, but it was scary as hell. But, never mind." She answered and punched the pillow beneath her head into place. "I'm gonna try to go back to sleep. We have to get up early. Goodnight."

  With a deep sigh she rolled away from him, and placed both her hands under the pillow trying to drift away. Drift back into that sinister dream. Maybe the frame would resurface and she would be able to discover why it terrified her to the point of waking up Andy.

  Silence stretched through the darkness of the room. None of them said anything, but she knew he was awake. His chest heaved too fast to be asleep. The slight movement of the bed gave him away. She knew from sleeping next to him for almost a decade. But he made her so angry tonight that she couldn't bear facing him. His confession felt like a stab in her chest. It felt like he was truly giving up on them.

  "Come here." A low whisper stirred close to her back and she could sense his warm breath on the skin of her neck. With a muscular arm he pulled her into his hard warm chest and nuzzled the back of her head with his nose.

  Strands of hair softly tickled his face. It seemed easier to sleep like that, two spoons in a kitchen drawer, or in this case, under a thick comforter.

  His arm was a warm unyielding wall, his embrace the utter most secure fortress in the world. He didn't say anything, but eventually kissed the back of her shoulder where he knew the sensitive skin was located, and let his forehead rest in the nook of her neck. In the end they both drifted back to sleep swallowed up by the darkness of the room.

  "Oh my God!" She screamed, and instantaneously sat straight up in the bed.

  "What the hell is it?" Sleepily he pushed himself up on his elbows and looked for her face in the dark. "Are you awake or are you dreaming?"

  "I know where the frame is from." She whispered in absolute horror and placed her hand in front of her mouth, shaking her head as if she couldn't believe her own mind.

  "What?"

  Not able to comprehend the sudden turn of events, he saw her throw the comforter off her legs, quick feet motioned her out of the bedroom in no time. Rubbing his hands over his eyes, letting them comb slowly through his hair, his body followed the same move and slowly trailed down the dark hallway towards the light of the living room. He found her standing by the side table, still covered in gifts, holding the yellow picture frame in her hands.

  The light from the corner lamp of the room casted a shadow over her body, but he was still able to see the horrifying look on her face when he caught up to her.

  "What is it, babe?" He said tiredly, following the direction of her eyes to the little frame of yellow porcelain. Her head kept shaking as she couldn't believe what she was about to say, and that frightened him.

  "What? Tell me what it is."

  She swallowed hard and with constricting hands she held the frame in front of her.

  "These pieces are not from some random porcelain plate. This frame is made of porcelain pieces of my yellow flower pots that used to decorate the windows in the living room where I lived with Brian. I left them behind with so many other things I knew I didn't need again. Who gave me this gift? Who? Who gave me th..."

  "I don't know!" He answered heatedly, his voice rising cutting her of.

  "This was the one gift without a card attached to it. I remember opening it with your mom earlier. Brian wasn't here, so how did it make it into the house? Who the fuck could have brought this?"

  "Hold on. Are you really sure this comes from your pots. I mean, it could in fact be porcelain from any yellow plate or pot, it doesn't have to come from yours."

  "See these two sparkling dots in the frame?" She held it up close to his face, making his tired eyes squint a little in the light.

  "Yeah, so?"

  "Hmm." She laughed mockingly. "Those are the two earrings Brian gifted me for our very first Valentine's Day, before I understood how nuts he was. He enticed me with these, and I was too small-minded to read anything into it. The one and only gift I ever got from him."

  Andy's eyes were suddenly wide open, and he took the frame from her hands to study it closer. Eventually he glanced back at her in silence, but she knew he understood she was not making this up.

  "I have no idea how it made it into the house, babe. I really don't. If someone brought it, I have no clue who it was. When everyone arrived this evening I was too busy greeting people, taking jackets, and serving champagne. I didn't pay attention to the gifts. People just kept them coming, placing them on the table right here. And... there were only friends and family here tonight."

  "I can't believe this!" She shouted and ran her hands through her hair, pacing the living room like a confined animal.

  "Okay, calm down. I'll wake up my parents and we'll leave for the cabin now. Grab your bag and get dressed if you like, or you can just stay in those pajamas. It doesn't matter. The cabin is a while away, you'll probably need to..."

  "Just please stop talking and get your parents so we can go." She pleaded while she rested her hands on top of her head, utter distress rising within her body, making every single cell constrict. Her body was burning up.

  Andy tossed the picture frame back onto the table and strode over to seize her just before she passed out.

  "Hey babe, you're having a panic attack. Breathe, everything will be fine. Listen to how I'm breathing, breathe with me." He pressed her close to his chest and made the twisting muscles of her body pay attention and follow his.

  "Slow, babe. Breathe slowly. In... out... in...out." His hand caressed her back in slow firm strokes, her body shivering with goose bumps from the adrenaline rush leaving her body. He placed his mouth on her forehead, tasting small drops of salt. The fright had juiced every muscle inside her into nothing. She was sweating profusely, but as soon as it hit her skin in turned ice cold.

  "Am I fainting?"

  "No, I'm holding you. Just let the adrenaline rush leave your body and you will go back to normal. Just keep
on breathing with me. If you keep up that fast pace you're going to run out of oxygen, and that might make you pass out. Please, just calm down. Calm down." He held her close to his chest, making them both kneel down on the floor.

  "My God." She finally said. "I'm exhausted, what was that?"

  "That was a panic attack. Just overload of everything in your brain. Overload of everything in your life lately. Stress and anxiety can do that to you. Trust me, I know. Tristan from work went through the same thing after his divorce. I've seen it."

  After a while he kissed her forehead and stood them both up. With her legs still rather unsteady, she leaned into his chest and let herself listen to his heartbeat. It was a soothing steady rhythm she could follow.

  "Are you okay to stand on your own?" He asked and leaned back to see her face.

  "Yeah, I think so. I'm going to use the bathroom and then lay down on the bed for a little bit. Shout when it's time to leave." On wobbly legs, shivers still attempting to swathe her body, she wrapped her arms around her damp t-shirt and slowly sauntered back down the hallway.

  * * *

  The road up through the forest was as twisted as the curves of a snake. Never having visited their forest cabin, Danielle clenched the pillow tightly to her chest and rested her forehead on the car window in the backseat, allowing the cool glass to calm down the anxiety still pulsating through every part of her body. In pulses it came, hiding calmly beneath the surface of her skin before awaken again and roar with cascading fire through her body.

  When Andy spilled the contents of his heart prior to her meltdown, it had felt as if the blood running under her skin was catching fire, and it still hadn't stopped. Across the surface of the skin covering her chest, carmine colored red streaks had developed and when she now peeked down inside her sweater, the streaks were still there. Her body and mind didn't cooperate, and what her heart said seemed to be completely out of the picture. Her body was fighting an internal battle she didn't seem to rule over.