by J. E. Taylor
Chapter 49
Jessica woke with her arms tied to the bed. Tom paced back and forth. He tried the door and continued pacing like a caged lion.
Ty opened his eyes, wondering why he wasn’t in excruciating pain. The beating he took should have landed him in the morgue or at the very least, the ICU at the nearest hospital, but that wasn’t the case. He glanced at his reflection, the bruises were still on his skin, but as he shifted position, there was no pain. Holy Shit! Eric? His eyes found hers.
She creased her eyebrows and nodded slightly before turning her attention back to Tom.
He stopped pacing when his gaze caught hers and sighed, taking a seat on the edge of the mattress facing Ty. “I’d like to kill him.” He nodded his chin in Ty’s direction.
“Don’t,” Jessica said.
Tom turned and looked at her. “He killed my wife.”
“I know,” Jessica began and swallowed. “It’s my fault and I know it doesn’t make sense right now, but he’ll protect us.”
Tom shrugged with a look on his face that said ‘so what’.
Jessica tilted her head. “We need him to get out of here,” she answered too softly for Ty to hear.
“That psycho wanted me to hurt you, he wanted me to do whatever I wanted to you but I had to make sure he was awake.”
“Did you?”
“Did I what?” Tom asked in annoyance.
“Do what he said.”
“No,” he answered as if that was the worst thing in the world. Jessica knew first hand that it wasn’t.
“Maybe you should.”
He looked sharply at her. “Should what?”
“Do what he says.”
“You didn’t,” he objected.
“And look where that has gotten me. I’ve been beaten, whipped, humiliated and raped, and then I had the pleasure of watching someone I once loved literally ripped to pieces. For some godforsaken reason, he’s in love with me and oh joy, I’m the reason you’re here and your wife is dead.” She took a breath, tears streamed from her eyes. “Now I’m tied to a bed, with very little hope of ever seeing my kids again and I have to pee. I’d say resisting has done one hell of a job for me,” she raved. Tom wiped the tear off her cheek.
Ty watched them talk and closed his eyes. “I’m sorry,” he said loud enough for both of them to hear.
“What the hell were you thinking?” she snapped.
“I was thinking of how I could get you the hell out of here,” he answered. His steel blue eyes bore into her willing her to look at him.
Jessica did. Her eyes were purple now, no longer the deep violet.
Eric said you needed to open the door. His voice boomed in her head, making her wince as she sent a slight nod in his direction. That scared her more than anything. Opening that door would unleash a hell that she didn’t know how to control. “Frank is going to kill me, Ty.”
“Not if I can help it.”
She brought her gaze back to Tom. “Can you let me up?” she asked. “Nature is calling and I don’t know how much longer I can hold on.”
Tom raised his eyebrows and glanced at the handcuffs holding her wrists in place. He shook his head.
“Catch,” Ty said and tossed a small pocketknife to Tom.
“What am I supposed to do with this?”
“Pick the goddamned lock.”
Tom looked at him and shrugged. “How?”
“Are you really that fucking useless?” Ty took a deep breath and walked Tom through the art of picking locks.
Tom let out a small laugh as the first cuff clicked open. He repeated with her right hand and as soon as the remaining cuff fell off her arm, she got up and ran to the bathroom.
“You’d better not hurt her,” Ty said when she was out of sight.
Tom folded the pocketknife and slipped it in his pocket instead of returning it. “There is nothing you could do if I did,” Tom said bitterly. “Just like I had no say in whether you killed my wife or not.”
Ty propped himself up. He did a good job at pretending to be hurt, enough to fool the actor in the room. “I’m sorry,” Ty said as Jessica walked out of the bathroom.
She squatted and slapped him. “Sorry doesn’t cut it, babe. You had a choice,” she said her eyes bright with disappointment. “You made the wrong one.” She sat next to him anyway and allowed him to put his head on her lap. She ran her hand through his hair and looked up at Tom.
His impossibly blue eyes returned her gaze.
The door opened and a woman walked in with a tray of food, surprising all of them.
Ty shot up next to Jessica, meeting the hostile stare of the woman.
She set the tray on the floor and backed out of the room without saying a word.
When the door closed, both Jessica and Tom swiveled their gaze to Ty.
“Who was that?” Jessica asked.
Ty closed his eyes for a second and let out a small breath of relief. “My stepsister. We sometimes ask her to help when we can’t be here so the prisoners...” he paused and looked at the chains realizing that he was one of them now, “so we don’t starve,” he finished.
“Which means?” Jessica asked. Her eyes were hopeful.
“Which means he probably won’t be back for a while.”
Tom’s stomach growled loud enough to capture Jessica’s attention. He had gotten up and crossed to the tray, taking a plate and water and settling on the floor on the opposite wall facing Ty and Jessica.
“You might want to go easy on that, you haven’t had anything in your stomach for almost three days,” Ty said.
Tom didn’t respond, he just wolfed the food down and drained the water bottle, glaring at Ty. A few minutes later, he turned a little green and closed his eyes, breathing slowly, visibly trying not to throw up the meal he just scarfed down. After a couple deep breaths, the color returned to his cheeks and he opened his eyes.
Jessica got up and brought the tray over to Ty, setting it down between them. There was only one other plate on the tray and she sighed. She ripped the sandwich in half and handed the bigger portion to Ty.
He stared at it for a moment and slowly took it from her, humbled by this simple act because the intent of only two plates was perfectly clear. Frank told Marian that he wasn’t to get any food. He ate the sandwich in two bites and she handed him the water bottle to wash it down. He only drank half and handed it back. She finished it off and got up, went into the bathroom and refilled it with the water from the sink. She came back and handed the full bottle back to Ty without saying a word.
* * * *
Tom watched this exchange quietly and when she gazed over at him, he understood. She stood next to him, the contrast of her elegance and beauty with the black and blue tones of her beaten face gave him pause. He could not fathom it but somehow she forgave Ty for all he had done. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the wall as the events of the day slammed into him hard. The reality of never seeing his wife again hit and tears burned the corners of his eyes.
* * * *
Jessica took a step toward him and Ty grabbed her arm. He dropped his hand at the warning glare she sent in his direction.
She knelt in front of Tom, hesitantly reaching out to wipe his tears. His eyelids shot open in surprise at her touch.
“I am so sorry,” she whispered. He started to shake, allowing her to pull him into her arms as he silently cried, mourning the loss of his wife. “I’m so sorry.” A tear slipped down her cheek as she turned and looked at Ty.
Tom clung to her like a child as the silent sobs quaked in his skin. After a while, he pushed her away and headed toward the bathroom. Bastard! He sucker punched Ty in the face on his way by and shook the sting from his hand, feeling a little better at taking out some of his aggravation on the target of his hatred.
In the bathroom, he splashed water on his face and leaned on the sink. I want him dead!
Anger brewed and he brought his gaze up to the mirror. The rage in his refle
ction caught him by surprise and he straightened up, taking a step back, his eyes widening a fraction and he shook his head.
“You’re better than that,” he said to his reflection, feeling the fury die down to a low simmer. He splashed another handful of cold water on his face and grabbed the hand towel hanging from the rack. As he walked out of the bathroom, Jessica brushed by him, her hand grazing his and that simple touch was enough to give him the strength he needed not to kill the man chained to the wall.
* * * *
Jessica wanted out of the soiled dress she was in and walked into the bathroom. She rummaged through the closet for anything but found only towels. “Shit,” she mumbled coming out into the middle of the main room. Staring at the camera, she spoke loud and clear, “May I please have something else to wear? And something for them as well?” She pointed to both Ty and Tom. Her gaze dropped to Ty. His shirt was bloody and ripped from the beating and she sighed as she scanned him, landing on the iron shackles on his wrists and ankles. She crossed to Tom and put her hand out. “Give me the knife.”
Tom reached in his pocket and handed it to her.
She walked over to Ty.
“It’s not the same as handcuffs,” Ty said. “Believe me. We lost a key once and had to cut a prisoners foot off.”
Jessica stared at him for a moment, debating whether he was exaggerating or not. He gave her a shrug and dropped his gaze in shame. She knelt down and picked up the shackle on his wrist, turning it this way and that. She pulled the metal toothpick out of the pocketknife and stuck it in a little hole on the side. She frowned and closed her eyes, feeling the metal with her fingers, slipping the toothpick blindly into the hole again, willing it to open. Click! The sound filled the room and she opened her eyes, letting a small laugh escape. “I’m not so fucking useless after all,” she said looking into his eyes.
He stared at the open shackle and rubbed his free wrist. It wasn’t possible. He raised his eyes, slowly extending his other wrist to her. A few moments later, another Click filled the room. Ty uttered a laugh and shook his head. She obviously had something on him in the realm of picking locks. “Where’d you learn to do that?” he asked, offering her his ankles.
She tilted her head, furrowing her brow.
“Pick locks.”
“I’ve never done this before,” she answered. Click, click in quick succession and he was free.
Ty shot to his feet and made a run for the bathroom. When he came out, Jessica had a pair of clean clothes for each of them. Ty glanced between the camera and Jessica, taking a deep breath and shaking his head. She was a piece of work.
With a clean dress and undergarments in her arms, she headed toward the bathroom. Hesitating at the doorway, she turned. “Don’t even think about it.” The warning glance she shot in Ty’s direction was clear. And just like that, she disappeared out of their sight.
* * * *
The gentle whoosh of the shower being turned on filtered out into the room and Ty and Tom traded a glance.
Ty stepped toward the bathroom.
“She said no,” Tom warned.
Ty looked back at him in surprise. “What?”
Tom approached him and they stood eye to eye. “No,” he said again.
Ty snorted at him in a half laugh. “Bullshit.” He took another step.
Tom moved quicker and blocked Ty’s path, crossing his arms over his chest and planted his feet firmly on the ground. When Ty tried to side step, Tom countered, blocking his every move. “Leave her alone,” he warned. They stared at each other. “Haven’t you hurt her enough?”
The air went out of Ty as those words sank in and he winced at the flare of pain they produced.
“Hurts, doesn’t it?”
Ty nodded and backed down. “Like hell.” He looked at Tom. He was still planted between Ty and the bathroom. “Are you always such a boy scout?”
Tom nodded slowly. “I should really be kicking your ass right now.”
“What are you waiting for?”
“That’s what he wants,” he said, pointing at the cameras. “And I’ve pretty much come to the conclusion that it’s his fault my wife is dead.”
Ty sighed. “Not entirely,” he confessed. “I was the one who pushed the button.”
Tom slowly lowered his arms, his hands balled into fists as Ty’s confession hit home. He swung and Ty grabbed his arm and bent it behind Tom, pushing him against the wall. Even though they matched in height and weight, Ty was much stronger.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” Ty snarled in his ear as he held him against the wall.
“Let him go Ty,” her voice commanded.
They both looked at her and Tom’s jaw dropped. Water rolled off her legs, pooling on the floor and the bath towel barely covered her. Droplets slowly drizzled from her hair, but the most striking thing about Jessica was her perfectly unmarked skin. The bruises and cuts were all gone and her eyes had changed to a strange combination of lilac and blue.
Ty let go and stepped back. As she turned, they both stared at the unbroken skin of her back.
Tom looked at Ty and then walked toward the bathroom as she slipped a dress over her head.
She turned to see him staring—jaw opened—and smoothed the dress self-consciously. “You can catch flies with that mouth,” she said.
He snapped it shut. He stepped closer and reached out to touch her face. “Your face?” he asked. “Your back?”
“She’s special,” Ty said from behind him, making him jump.
Tom put his arm out stopping his forward progression. “You have hurt her enough,” he growled. “Back off.”
“Okay, settle down you two,” she scolded. “Now get.” She waved her hands at them. “Go,” she said a little louder.
She glanced in the mirror and her unblemished reflection looked back. She gasped, no wonder they stared. Her eyes, they were different too. She looked down at the key in her hand and tucked it away. As she walked out, the room started to spin and she stumbled falling into blackness.
Ty moved quicker than Tom and caught Jessica before she hit the floor. He swept her unconscious body into his arms, shaking his head and glancing at Tom as he laid her out on the mattress.
Her eyes fluttered open to Ty wiping the hair from her face. Tom stood over his shoulder wearing a look of pure concern.
“You can’t keep doing that.”
She exchanged glances with both of them. “I’m tired,” she said, her eyelids fluttering closed as sleep grabbed hold and dragged her into the dark.
They covered her with the sheet and each of them sat on the floor next to the mattress with their backs to the wall watching the door and waiting.
“We’re gonna die, aren’t we?”
Ty shook his head. “No. You two will walk out of here,” he leaned his head back, closed his eyes and drifted off.
Chapter 50
Ty approached the center of the room where the coffin sat, each step almost as loud as the beat of his heart. Terror gripped him and he couldn’t draw a breath into his lungs even though they burned for oxygen.
Blood dripped from the edges of the coffin. He didn’t want to see what was inside but his feet kept moving and his heart thundered against his rib cage almost hard enough to rattle his bones. His lungs screamed for air, but he couldn’t pull any in.
He took another step closer and he could see a hand, a small hand, holding the side of the coffin. As he stepped around the side, he saw her face immersed in blood.
The boy looked up, tears tracking down his cheeks. “You killed her,” he whispered.
Air rushed into Ty’s lungs, enough to bellow, “No!”
Ty sat up, his eyes wide and his breath coming in quick bursts as the nightmare held on. His eyes darted around the room, the sight of the familiar concrete walls calming him enough so he caught his breath.
Jessica woke with a start to his scream. She reached out, touching him and he turned her way with wide terrified eyes. “Shh,” Jessica wh
ispered. Tom was lying on the outer edge of the mattress on top of the covers with his back to them, sound asleep and snoring lightly. Jessica moved back and pulled the covers up. She motioned for Ty to join her.
Ty slid under the covers putting his arm under her head and lay on his back with his eyes open. The dream still haunted him even with her warm, decidedly alive body leaning against him, her head cradled in the nook of his shoulder. Her breath evened to the sleep pattern he memorized over the last six months and he stared at the ceiling, unable to close his eyes. He didn’t sleep. Instead, he did something he hadn’t done in years.
He prayed.
Chapter 51
Ty slid Jessica off him, grabbed the clothes that Marian had brought and went into the bathroom. He started the shower and stepped in under the hot water, leaning with his hands against the front wall as the water rolled over him.
How the hell am I going to get us out of this? His mind wandered back to Chris. “I’m sorry bro,” he said aloud. “I messed up.” The pain came and with it, the tears. He sobbed quietly as the water pounded down on the back of his head.
* * * *
He didn’t hear her come in the room. Jessica stood and watched him cry. She wanted to put her arms around him and comfort him but she couldn’t. Not with all that had happened. She turned and walked back into the room and sat down on the edge of the mattress.
Tom rolled over and looked at her wiping the sleep from his eyes. He looked around the room and closed his eyes. It wasn’t just a nightmare, this was real. “Morning,” he said.
Jessica nodded but didn’t say anything. Instead, she studied her hands.
“You okay?” he asked.
Jessica let out a small hysterical laugh and turned her tear-filled eyes in his direction.
Tom moved next to her, putting his arm around her shoulders pulling her closer. They sat quietly.
