by SM Olivier
I blinked in confusion at the light in the corner, when Claire came running into the room. She was sobbing, and her thin chemise was ripped down the front.
Her mouth was moving, but I couldn’t understand her words at first. Was she speaking underwater? Finally, her words began to filter through my consciousness.
“He’s gone mad,” she sobbed. “You have to help me. They kicked him out of the house. They were furious with him. He came back tonight. He hit some of the kids. He tried to make me sleep with him, he wanted to rape me! Hope attempted to help me, but he pushed her down. She won’t wake up. She won’t move. He went upstairs to Ava. She’s screaming. The baby is screaming, but I can’t get to them!” She started pulling at me.
“Where is Tormentor? Coach?” I slurred, my voice stripped into ribbons.
Boyd. I didn’t have to guess who she meant. I had already seen the cracks in their relationship. Boyd must have done something to cause their wrath.
“His name is Pearce.” She looked slightly affronted by the nickname I gave Tormentor. “They’re not here. They won’t be back until morning!” Then she started to cry.
Gone? Did they believe I was too weak, too… sick to escape? Had Claire gained their trust enough for them to leave the cabin unattended?
Standing now, I stumbled. My legs weren’t able to hold me up, but in the back of my head I heard a little voice scream at me that this was it. Freedom was within my grasp.
“Please, Peyton,” Claire sobbed.
Not Ava. Peyton.
Yes. I was Peyton Delaney. I had been beaten down before, and I survived. I always survived. It was time.
I stumbled towards the door on sheer will power, panting as I leaned in the doorway and up each step. Wheezing was all I heard as I vaguely registered that I was finally upstairs.
Suddenly, I heard a blood-curdling scream and a baby’s wails, and I willed my body in that direction. The woman in that room was twisted, sick even, but she didn’t deserve this, nor did the innocent baby.
“Key?” I rasped.
“The key’s up there,” Joy said nearby, pointing to the top of the door jamb.
I vaguely registered the children all curled up together. They were sobbing. Raphael had a large bruise over his eye. Faith had a busted lip. Only Aaron was missing from the huddled children. I looked around and noticed Hope lying in the middle of the others, on the floor.
Claire reached up, grabbed the key, and twisted the lock. When the door opened, I saw Boyd on his knees at the bottom of the bed, his pants around his ankles, his tiny, pale white butt sticking out. When he leaned back, I saw blood, so much blood.
“Please no, Reggie,” my aunt cried. “It’s too soon! I am too weak.”
“I don’t care, Ava,” he snarled, oblivious to us girls by the door. “For years, I watched as you loved my brothers. You craved their touches. You only took me to bed when you pitied me. Now I am taking what should have been given freely.”
I held a hand to my mouth. A painful rolling in my belly gnawed at me.
“You get off my mom!” I heard Gideon scream as he launched himself across the room.
When he reached the bed, Boyd was ready for him. In seconds, Gideon was thrown into the wall, landing on the ground with a thump, his eyes rolling back into his head.
“No!” I cried through my raw throat. I wildly looked around and spotted the fire poker near the fireplace. Stumbling forward, I grabbed it up with shaky arms. Boyd spun around, and I tried not to look at the gory sight of the blood covering himself, the bed, Ava.
He laughed wickedly. “You are next, my little Ava.” He leered at me. “I saw you first. You were supposed to be mine and only mine.”
“You are a monster,” I wheezed as I held the poker like a baseball bat.
He leaned forward right as I swung. He almost ripped it out of my hand, but Ava’s small foot kicked him in the middle of the back. Boyd’s eyes widened as he was knocked off balance. His body shifted, and instead of capturing the poker, he stumbled to catch himself. I continued my swing. I didn’t have enough energy in me to make the swing count, but with Ava’s help, he fell onto the sharp end, impaling himself inches above his heart.
I stared in disbelief for a moment, not believing I had caused physical harm to another human being. Not like this. He had taken so much from me, had hurt those children. He deserved to die, but for now, I would have to settle for this.
His screams made me cringe. I stumbled forward and begin to search through his pockets as he thrashed around. None of the men parked near the cabin, but I had seen them leaving the barn at the bottom of the hill. Each had jealously guarded their keys in their pockets. The keys that held the remote to my collar, and the keys to the box I slept in.
“We need to get the car,” I rasped to Claire. “Can you drive?” I didn’t know if I could make it to the car, not in my condition. I was so fatigued, and I was burning up. The rattle in my chest, the wheezing, had grown worse.
“I will find you and kill you,” Boyd screamed at me, spittle flying from his lips as he vainly attempted to remove the poker from his chest.
Claire shook her head. “We can’t leave. I can’t drive.” She was holding the tongs from the fireplace. I took them from her and swung it at his head. He slumped forward, and the screaming stopped. He was still breathing, I saw, and I wasn’t sure how long until he’d wake up. But I wanted to be long gone by then.
“We need to leave,” I bade her, resuming my search for the keys. Bingo. I held them tightly in my hand and stared at her.
I could see the hold Tormentor and Coach still had on Claire. She wanted to stay, but when she looked over at the blood-covered bed, I knew reality was fighting to get through. She nodded numbly, tears coursing down her cheeks.
“Our families miss us.” I squeezed her hand, my voice barely a rasp. “We don’t belong here. We have a life outside of these walls.”
She closed her eyes and nodded. “Let’s go.”
“Get Hope and Gideon, be ready to leave,” I wheezed.
“No hospital,” Ava sobbed from the bed.
I walked over to Gideon. He was breathing, thank God. I sighed, tears falling down my face as I touched his cheek. “He needs a doctor.” I glared at Ava. “Hope needs a doctor, you need a doctor.”
“No!” she cried.
“Do you care at all for your kids?” I nearly screamed at her. “I refuse to have their blood on my hands. They may not make it through the night if we don’t go now! You might not make it through the night.”
I started coughing uncontrollably. I was so dizzy, but I braced my hands on the wall as I trudged towards the door, down the stairs, and through the living room. Finally, I stumbled my way towards the front door.
“Grandpa,” I said as I opened the door. I needed to voice those who waited for me. The brisk fall air hit me hard. I was still naked, but I didn’t pause. The time it would take to get something to cover up with might have been the difference between freedom and my continued captivity.
“Lochlann,” I muttered to myself, stumbling forward, looping a finger into the key ring, clinging to those keys tightly. “Kyler.” Sharp rocks ate at my heels. “Zane.” I stumbled and fell, scraping my already raw knees and hands. “Crew.” I pushed myself up. My limbs were shaking. “Golden.” I trudged forward. “Paxton.” My body wanted to quit, but my mind wouldn’t allow me. “Madison,” I said through gritted teeth. “Lucas.”
I stumbled into the darkness, thrown off. I knew I was rolling down the hill, my body feeling every branch, rock, and other hidden sharp object as I tumbled over and over again.
When my body finally stopped, I was staring up at the sky. The night was clear, and the stars were out. Without the light pollution of the town or cities, the sky was magnificent. I closed my eyes. I just wanted to rest but flashes of the last time I sat under the stars flitted through my brain. My birthday weekend had also been a beautiful night to gaze at the stars. The night I took photogra
phs with Paxton had been a stunning night as well.
After we’d taken those pictures, Pax had pulled out his phone and showed me a constellation app. We had identified so many constellations on that perfect night. I wanted more memories like that.
Something warm and wet trickled down my face as I pushed up again. I reached up with the hand that held the keys, then touched my head. It was sticky. I’m bleeding. Great.
With the glow of the moon, I was able to see the barn. I almost cried in relief when I realized he hadn’t bothered parking there. Instead, it was five feet away from me. His Volkswagen was an older Sportwagon with a hatch back. I didn’t know how we were all going to fit, but I needed to make it work.
The pain in my limbs made me grit my teeth as I worked my way forward.
“Grandpa, Lochlann, Kyler, Paxton, Golden, Zane.” I coughed, then started my mantra again. “Crew, Madison, Maisie, Clay, Renee…” I kept on repeating their names to myself, fighting my failing body.
I unlocked the driver's side door and began sobbing in relief as I slumped forward. For a split second, I contemplated driving away by myself. I could go for help and leave everyone else at the cabin. I was so close to freedom. Even though no tears leaked from my dry and gritty eyes, I cried. I was so… broken, I couldn’t even cry.
I started the car and pushed the gas pedal down, then made my way back up to the hill. If anyone died because of my selfishness, I could never forgive myself. At the front porch, Claire was waiting for me with Ava’s slumped body in her arms. Joy and Faith had Hope pinned between them, struggling with her weight; the rest of the children next to them.
I leaned forward and popped the trunk open before nearly falling out of the car. I walked over to the stairs and tried to help Claire with Ava. I wasn’t sure how much help I was, feeling so weak. I just wanted to sleep. I was so… tired.
The more I pushed myself, the dizzier I became. I gritted my teeth, repeating my mantra of all the people I cared about. Claire was looking at me strangely, and I realized I was speaking aloud.
Together we loaded Ava, Hope, and Gideon into the trunk part of the vehicle. I leaned forward with shaking fingers and felt for Ava’s thready pulse. I noticed Hope and Gideon were breathing just fine, and I checked their pulse as well. Their hearts were beating strong.
“We need to go.” I had another coughing attack and cried out in pain as my ribs protested.
I hobbled over to the driver’s side once more, as Claire helped Faith, Joy, Raphael, Charity, and Chastity into the back seat. In the front seat was the basket with Honor inside.
Claire finally got into the passenger’s side, putting the basket on her lap. “They loved me,” she sobbed as I put the car into drive.
“They wanted us to replace Ava,” I rasped with a wheeze. “They planned for us to give them more children.” I coughed some more. It was so hard to breathe.
“At least they loved me.”
“No one should have to force you to love them,” I muttered.
“They didn’t force me!” she cried out.
“Did you leave willingly?” I questioned her as I eased the car down the hill.
She silently sobbed next to me. The old Claire would have been nasty and cutting, but the new one was… subdued. I knew she desperately wanted to believe that they loved her. Maybe a part of them had started to care for her. I knew Coach and Tormentor were starting to…ugh. I had to stop that train of thought.
“Peyton!”
I heard my name moments before electricity and searing pain coursed through my body.
The collar.
Headlights caught a small body to the right of Claire. I vaguely saw Aaron’s smug, evil smile before his eyes widened and he leaped away. Claire took the wheel from my hands. My foot was slammed down on the gas pedal, and the trees were coming at us at an alarming speed. I heard the kids screaming in the back seat.
I pleaded to God to get me through this.
When the tension left my body, I gasped. I took the wheel back and let off the gas, silently sobbing as I twitched and tried to regain my bearings. I sat there for several moments and contemplated looking for Aaron. He may have just shocked me, but I couldn’t leave a small boy alone in the woods at night with his bleeding father up in the cabin.
“Please, Peyton. Leave before he comes back,” Charity’s little voice begged me from the backseat.
“Please!” Chastity added.
I took a ragged breath in and pressed the gas once more. It felt like forever before we reached the end of the dirt driveway.
I didn’t know whether to turn right or left. I looked at the rusted mailbox outside my window and closed my eyes. Which way do I go? Which way do I go?
I hadn’t realized I was speaking aloud until she spoke into the silence.
“That way,” Chastity whispered to me. I opened my eyes, and she pointed to the left.
I turned left and sped up once again, passing a speed limit sign that said fifty-five. I looked down at my odometer; I was hitting closer to eighty. I felt my energy waning. I needed to find someone, anyone, before I lost all control of my body. The lines on the road were blurry as I slowed down to see the green sign telling me the distance to the town I lived in was forty- six miles away. I nearly sobbed as I looked down. I’d driven about three miles so far.
I began to repeat my mantra, over and over again.
“I’m coming home,” I gasped.
A car was headed towards me, and I contemplated whether I should flash them. Maybe they’d stop. I flashed my lights and laid on my horn. They didn’t stop.
“Dad doesn’t even know I’m alive,” Claire whispered beside me. She had Honor out of the basket and was feeding her a bottle. “Mom tries to buy my love. She thinks if she gets me a new purse, I’ll forget she promised to go to the movies with me. Leah can’t stand the fact that I’m smarter than her or that some of her friends like to hang out with me more than her. Dylan’s the only one who loves me, and even he doesn’t spend time with me anymore. We used to be best friends. He took me everywhere with him.”
“Is that why you hooked up with all those men?” I asked her sympathetically. The highway number whizzed by her window. I was now going over ninety miles an hour.
She nodded. “They found out about that, huh?” She almost sounded ashamed. “I knew those men just wanted to use me, but for a little while, I was able to forget. I felt desired… loved.”
I was trying to contemplate what I should say to her, when I saw the flash of red and blue in my review mirror. Then I heard the siren. I cried as I began to take my foot off the gas and applied my foot to the brakes. I didn’t even bother pulling over. Skidding on the gravel shoulder, the front end faced the trees. The car’s tail end was still in the middle of the road as I came to a complete stop.
The officer exited his vehicle, as I fumbled for the door handle. I slumped sideways, my body pushing the door wide open.
I heard a male voice yell at me to stay in the vehicle, but I was powerless to stop my descent from the car. My chin caught the lock as I tried to brace myself on the armrest of the door. The blacktop dug into my knees, and I cried out, barely bracing myself as the asphalt reached out to my face.
“Help us!” I cried out as loudly as I could before barking out another cough. I could hear the wetness and rattle in my chest.
“Oh shit,” I heard the officer curse before running towards me. His flashlight bobbed up and down against the asphalt and my prone body. He was talking into walkie talkie attached to his shoulder as he rushed forward.
“Help us,” I muttered again as he reached me.
He pushed the hair from my face. “Help is on the way, Peyton,” he said grimly leaning in to turn off the car. He looked around wildly. His eyes widened as they lit upon the tiny faces pressed against the back window.
I wasn’t going to question how he recognized me. I was sure my face was plastered all over the news. Grandpa and the guys would have done anything in the
ir power to get me back.
“Eleven miles from highway sign,” I began to ramble. “Three miles from green city marker.” I began to rattle off the cities I remembered seeing on the sign. “A right at large rusty black mailbox. Up the hill. I stabbed him. Eight-year-old boy still there, too.”
“Did you—did you just say that you stabbed an eight-year-old boy?” he asked before lifting me up slightly. I felt something draped across me.
He picked up my arm and slid something over it. I hissed out in pain as his hands brushed across the cigarette burns on my arms.
“I’m so sorry,” he muttered after cursing again. The flashlight illuminated my arm. “I’m just trying to cover you up.”
I looked up into kind brown eyes. He looked young and attractive, maybe four or five years my senior. Dark hair cropped close to his head, but the top was slightly longer. I tried not to wince at his similarities to Tormentor, save the eyes. I noticed that he no longer wore his black button-up top, just a white t-shirt. He had removed his shirt to give me some dignity. I nearly broke down at the thought. I had been naked for so long.
“Didn’t stab Aaron,” I rasped, closing my eyes once more. “Principal Boyd. Leave me,” I urged him, pushing away. “Ava, Hope, Gideon,” I wheezed. “They need you more. Trunk.”
The asphalt was so cold against my cheek, but it felt great against my overheated skin. The air was cool and felt so good. I heard his feet scuffle against the pavement before he moved to the back seat. With another curse, he spoke into his walkie talkie once more.
The sounds of sirens were in the distance, growing closer. I was muttering my mantra as I gave in, my body’s desire to shut down finally winning.
●
The low drone of voices filled my ears as I came out of the haze that surrounded me. I heard the faint sounds of beeping to my left, and what sounded like a clock ticking and the whirl of a fan. I was lying on something soft and was fully covered. I shifted and felt a tug in my left hand. I barked out a gasp as I tried to struggle against my restraints.
