That's a Relief (Promises, Promises Book 3)

by Victoria Klahr

  No! Please, no! Haven’t I been through enough? I fight against the ropes keeping me tied to this stupid chair. Why couldn’t we have bought the cheap chairs from that yard sale over the summer? I could be breaking free from that disgusting yellow plastic--

  A manic laugh reaches my ears right before he shoves himself into the back of my mouth. Vomit starts crawling up my throat and tears fall from my eyes. How did I get back here? How did I let myself become helpless again?

  A flutter in my stomach wakes me from the pain and self-loathing. I refuse to let this monster take more from me than he already has. I have this beautiful baby that I love growing inside of me. He can’t have that.

  When Michael forces himself further and harder, burning and stretching my mouth, I bite down on his dick as hard as I can.

  “Fucking bitch!” he shouts, pulling back. Still gripping the back of my hair, he holds me still as he spits in my face. “Fucking filthy slut. You like my dick in your mouth. Just keep pretending you hate it, little Josie. It makes it so much more fun for me.” A wild and vicious smile darkens his face, as his knife slides between my breasts.

  The first cut isn’t so bad. I don’t really see it coming. It’s the ones after it that make me scream the most. The knowledge that he won’t be satisfied with shedding my blood only in one spot.

  The sting and pain never stop. Never dulls. My nerves and blood roar as I wait for him to defile me.

  A slice along the top of each of my breasts. A cut from my ear to my collar bone. A long trail of blood up each of my arms.

  He pumps his dick in one hand as he cuts into my skin, loving every scream and every tear he rips from me. As he carves into my thighs, I start losing hope. I start wishing I had enjoyed this last week with Seth instead of shutting him out. I wish I had a knife of my own to cut me out of these ties, so I can plunge it right into his black evil heart.

  For an eternity, I scream in pain and terror and fear. For an eternity, he makes long caressing strokes of his knife, leaving a steady stream of red over my body. For an eternity, I wonder if death would be better than this pain.

  When he lifts my dress to start on my stomach, I see red. He won’t hurt my baby. I let out a loud roar and thrash in my chair, making Michael jump back from me. His eyes widen and he releases his jutting penis. He looks at my stomach and tilts his head.

  “Oh, isn’t this interesting,” he murmurs, tapping the flat of his blade against the palm of his hand. “Did the whore get knocked up by one of her lovers?” I refuse to meet his gaze; not until he snarls in my face with his knife poised at my belly button. “Look at me, cunt!” When I do, he smiles. “Whose bastard is it? The one who didn’t want to marry you or my son?”

  “I hate you,” I spit back.

  “Ah, she does something other than scream!” He looks way too happy that I’ve said anything to him. He reaches around and unties my hands and feet from the chair. Gripping my hair, he shoves me onto the hardwood floor, straddling my thighs as I squirm to break free. He’s too strong. “I have a new game I want to play, are you ready?”

  “Fuck you!”

  He grinds his hips into me, and I have to look away from the monster getting aroused by terrorizing me and shedding my blood. Keeping his knife positioned at my stomach so I don’t move, he continues as if my hatred of him means nothing. “How about I give a call to my son, since that may be my grandbaby in there, and to your ex-fiancé and see if they try to come to your rescue?”

  I spit in his face and try to head butt him until I feel the knife push into my stomach harder. Fuck! How the hell am I supposed to fight him? I look around the floor for anything I can use as a weapon. He chuckles. “Oh, yes! I think this is the most brilliant idea I’ve had yet. Sure, it changes a few of my plans, but some of the best ideas are made up on the spot.” He looks down on me with disgust. “I learned that from my cell mate. He taught me how to keep someone alive as I cut them into pieces.”

  “Sounds like a lovely person,” I manage to get out through the lump of fear in my throat. If I don’t get out of here, how many more women will he do this to? How many people has he hurt?

  “I promised him I’d make you suffer for the years you made me stay in that filthy place,” he continues, gathering the blood from my thigh and slipping his hand under my white sundress and into my panties. I squirm away from his touch but he puts all his weight on me. I scream when his fingers push roughly into my ass. He keeps them there as he continues, eyes so black and full of hatred as he looks down at me. “Yes. I’ll give both boys a call and let them know I have you. I’m sure one of them will try to come save you.”

  He shoves another finger in and I sob as he leans into my ear. “In fact,” he drawls maliciously, “we both know only one person will make it here to try and save you. And when he does, I’ll be waiting for him just like I waited for you. I’ll make him watch as I rip off this slutty dress and shove my cock in your mouth and pussy and ass. Fuck, I’ll do it right on top of him so he can get a close-up of the show.”

  The horror of that image forces me to squeeze my eyes shut and turn my head away as hard as I can. Seth’s seen me hurt too much. I can’t let him watch this, too. My eyes snap open when I feel his tongue licking the blood on my neck.

  It’s then that I see it. My freedom. My way out is only a reach away. If he keeps talking, I can distract him enough to reach for it.

  Michael moans. “Once I’m done fucking the shit out of you while your lover remains helpless to save you, I’ll kill him. Slit his throat right in front of you. It’s downright poetic!” He pulls away with a gleeful smile.

  He’s so vile, I have trouble remembering what I’m doing. Keep him talking. Tears slipping out of my eyes from the pain of his fingers inside me, I whisper, “You’ll never touch him. I’ll never let you hurt him.”

  He pulls the knife away from my stomach to clap his hands together, rubbing them like he’s just heard wonderful news. “Oh, a challenge. I’m so excited to see you’re ready to pl—”

  I don’t pass up this opportunity to listen to whatever sordid thing he wants to say next. I quickly swipe the paintbrush I found blending into the floor and pull it back to stab him in the eye.

  I don’t realize I’m still screaming as I use the defense training I learned in the classes I took with Seth to flip Michael onto his back. I still don’t realize I’m screaming as I push through the front door and breathe in the crisp fall air. I notice nothing as I see Seth climbing out of his truck, wide eyes trained on me.

  I don’t realize the monster has run up behind me as I try to yell for Seth to leave. And I especially don’t notice the knife in Michael’s other hand as he yanks me back into him by the long strands of my hair.

  Nothing else registers as I fall down the porch steps, unable to breathe and only able to focus on the pure horror I see in Seth’s usually calm blue eyes, his resounding scream of my name the only thing I hear.

  Chapter 31

  Seth

  Fucking stupid! I’m so fucking stupid!

  How did it not cross my mind that she would want to stop at our house before she went to her dad’s house? I took too long. I wasted precious minutes that I could be with her. That I could be protecting her!

  My heart races as I drive. It’s been a week since I’ve been here and I can’t seem to settle the nerves as I drive down our street. Will she tell me to leave again? Does it matter? It’s not like I can let her go. A week. That’s all I was able to last without needing to shake some sense into her stubborn head.

  No. What she said before doesn’t matter now. I can’t let her go again.

  Josie’s car is in the driveway when I pull up, and a sense of foreboding crashes over me. Something’s not right. Josie’s keys are still in the ignition, her purse strewn across the passenger’s seat. Something’s not right. She would have gotten here an hour ago. There’s no reason it should take this long to grab some clothes and leave. What if something happened with the baby? I jump
out of the truck just as the front door sails open, Josie tumbling through.

  God, she’s beautiful. Her hair flies wildly behind her and her pure white dress hugs her chest perfectly. Damn, I’ve missed her. The relief I feel at seeing her again vanishes as soon as I see the multiple slashes of blood along her beautiful bronze skin. “No,” I say into the cool breeze.

  I start to run to her as she opens her mouth to tell me something. The terror in her eyes freezes the blood in my heart. “No,” I say again. This isn’t happening. This can’t be happening again!

  Everything happens too fast. Too quick for me to even process. One second I’m trying to get to her, then the next, I’m watching my nightmares become a reality.

  A man stalks up to Josie from behind, a trail of blood seeping from his eye where a paintbrush is lodged. A sharp knife glints in his hand. Michael. My breath leaves my body and I’m not sure I want it back as I dart forward to get her.

  Before I can do anything—before I can run to her, before I can reach for my gun, before I can even process what I’m seeing—Michael pulls Josie into him by the back of her hair.

  His arm reaches around her, and Josie opens her mouth in a silent scream.

  A circle of blood stains the clean white fabric of her dress, a large mass right at the center of her stomach.

  Like a ragdoll, she’s dropped and tumbles down the front porch steps.

  I’m not sure when I pulled the gun from my side, or when I turned the safety off and set aim. All I know is I roar her name as I pull that trigger six consecutive times into the chest of Josie’s rapist. Her nightmare.

  I don’t spare him a glance when he falls back, my eyes only on the girl in the blood-soaked white dress whose hands are trying to cover the red liquid at her stomach.

  “I’m sorry,” she cries, jaw quivering and hands shaking. “I’m so sorry, Seth.”

  My heart shatters at her broken voice. Every breath she takes is a struggle. “It’s going to be okay, baby. You’re going to be fine. It’s over now.”

  I’m not sure how I can convince her of that when I’m not so sure it’s true. When I pull out my phone to call for an ambulance, I see a flood of red flowing down the insides of her thighs. No!

  I swallow my cry and gather Josie into my arms, making the call for emergency responders as quickly as possible. “They’re coming, baby. You’re going to be fine. Don’t you dare leave me, Jos.”

  I finally release a sob into her hair as I watch her scramble to keep the blood inside her body. Her breathing growing more and more shallow.

  “I’m going to die, Seth,” Josie says, tears splashing onto my hands as I hold her. I take off the t-shirt I’m wearing and press it against the stab wound as we wait for an ambulance. “Which means—” she coughs and winces against the strain “—the baby will die.”

  I shake my head but can’t speak past the pain in my throat. I can’t lose them. I can’t survive without her.

  “Sethy,” she whispers. I don’t like how weak she sounds. My chin trembles as I watch her once brown skin turn far too pale. “This is all my fault. I’m so sorry. Please don’t hate me.”

  I don’t even try to be strong. I cry in front of her. “No, baby. I’ll never hate you. This isn’t your fault. I’m so sorry I couldn’t protect you from him again.”

  The sirens blare down the street and I hold onto her tighter. They’re going to take her away from me. What if she—I cut that thought off before I start losing it. She needs me to be strong. She needs to fight through this.

  “Josie, you’re going to be just fine. When you get to the hospital, you fight. Fight because you have so many people who love you. I love you. I need you. The baby needs you to fight, Jos.” It’s a false sense of hope; I saw the blood between her legs. But if our baby gives her what she needs to fight and stay alive, then I’ll use it. She can hate me later. As long as she’s alive to do it.

  The police pull up first. It takes me a moment to understand their defensive demeanor. Then I follow their line of sight to the dead man up on the porch. Brown eyes staring vacantly ahead … Well, one eye. My girl seems to have put the other one out of commission with one of my paintbrushes. I’d commend her if the police officers weren’t looking at me just now like I’m going to harm them.

  They pull out their guns and call out to me. “Kick the gun away from you and get on the ground. On your stomach. Hands on the back of your head.”

  I stare at them in shock, then look back down into Josie’s worried eyes. I move her hands to replace mine on her wound, as I kick my Glock away from us. Pushing back Josie’s hair, I whisper, “It’ll be okay. I love you so much.”

  “No,” she cries, reaching one hand out to grab me as I place her as gently as I can onto the concrete. I swallow back my fear and lie down on the ground so the officers can do with me what they need. “No,” she screams again. “You can’t take him,” she yells when they slap piercing handcuffs onto my wrists.

  When they pull me up to stand, I see Josie trying to move toward me. I jerk away from the officer’s hold and glare at them. “Can’t you fucking see it’s upsetting her?” I start toward her, despite the officer’s grip on my arm. I’m pulled back again, which earns the cop another hard glare. “That bastard stabbed her! She’s fuckin’ dyin’ and you think it’s a good idea to do this in front of her? Fucking wait ‘til the ambulance gets here.”

  One officer kneels in front of my fiancée and takes her hand in his.

  Fucking sack of shit. It should be me! I need to be with her.

  “The ambulance is almost here. We’re going to get you to safety.”

  It takes everything in me not to succumb to the rage and spit in the bastard’s face. Josie’s glare warns me against adding assault of a police officer onto what will be a murder charge.

  Murder.

  I just killed someone.

  Before the thought can truly take root, I’m being pushed in the direction of the police car. Josie cries out my name, and I dodge another shove to look back at her.

  “It’s okay, baby. Stop moving so much. I’ll be fine.” I try to school my features into reassurance, but the rage and fear are so strong inside me that I’m not sure I can be the strength she needs. Tears stream down Josie’s face and she starts shivering. I look to the officer holding my cuffed hands.

  “Please,” I beg, watching Josie’s eyes shut as she succumbs to the pain of the wound. “Just let me sit with her until they get here.”

  The ambulance’s siren screams down the street, and I hear Josie say my name one last time before she stops moving completely. A rush of tears hit me, and I run to her, kissing her silent pale lips.

  “I love you so much, Josie. Don’t you dare leave me. Wake up, baby.” With my hands behind my back, all I have is my head to try and coax a response out of her. She doesn’t move. “Wake up, Josie! They’re here for you. You’re going to make it.”

  Her eyes start to flutter open and I can’t stop my cry of relief. She tries to speak but can’t get it out.

  “Shh. It’s okay. You’re going to be okay. Before you know it, you’ll be back home reading and dropping books on your beautiful face. You’ll go back to teaching. You’ll forget about all of this, and you’ll never have to face him again. You’re free.” The paramedics ready the stretcher to put her on it. I watch her the whole time, tears starting again when her eyes close and she goes limp. “I’ll love you forever, Josie,” I tell her before they close the ambulance doors, the sound like a bullet through my heart.

  I race to the back of the truck to see her one more time. What if this is it? What if I never see here again? I can’t lose her! I don’t want to live in a world where Josie isn’t alive and reading and laughing and smiling at me.

  I can’t see her! “I can’t see her!” I cry. The paramedic looks back before he climbs into the front seat of the truck. “She’s pregnant. Please save her and the baby,” I plead. “Please.”

  The paramedic’s face falls at
my plea. “Sir, we’ll try—”

  “I don’t fucking need you to try. You need to save her damn life!”

  “That’s enough,” my officer says, pushing me into the police vehicle.

  As the ambulance races to the hospital, my fight switches into something darker. I don’t focus on the questions and the jail processing. All I can think about is the girl that was just ripped away from me. The one person I swore to protect and failed.

  I failed her.

  The precious hold I have on my sanity is taut and ready to snap.

  I’m a failure.

  Part III

  “We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided.”

  Albus Dumbledore, The Goblet of Fire

  Chapter 32

  Josie

  Consciousness is a precarious experience these days. I’m in and out of what could be a reality or a nightmare. I’m not sure.

  I don’t know anything anymore. Every time I think I’m awake, I’m pulled back down into a haze of nothing. I feel nothing. I see nothing.

  Sometimes I hear things, though. But I can’t react to them. I can’t cry when I hear something awful. I can’t comfort him when I hear him cry my name. I can’t calm him when he yells at someone.

  And a part of me doesn’t care. I like that I don’t have to feel anything yet. I don’t know why. For some reason, I know I don’t want to feel anything. I don’t want to wake up into reality and face whatever they’re going to tell me.

  When I start breaking free of the fog, my heart races like it knows something I don’t understand. But like magic, it slows down and I’m back in a bliss of emptiness.

  As time moves forward, I hear his words repeated to me over and over again. Words that remind me that there is still a life outside of this illusion of hollowness.

  Fight, Josie. Come back to me.

  I can feel it in my core, something telling me that if I fight, I’m facing a world of pain. But his voice is there again telling me that I can’t give up.