After wiping the steam off the mirror, Kasey dries herself off. She puts on a sexy pair of boy shorts and a matching bra. She grabs her brush and starts to brush the tangles out of her wet hair. She tries styling her hair, which proves problematic. “Ugh…my hair just refuses to act right,” she huffs out loud. A familiar voice responds from the background.
“I think it looks beautiful.”
Kasey freezes. She dreads turning around to see who she knows is there. She turns around to find the bathroom door closed, and Austin standing in front of it casually.
“What are you doing here?” Kasey is quivering from head to toe.
“I told you nothing could keep us apart. You can’t hide from me.” Austin takes a step towards her. Kasey takes a cautious step back.
“I’ve missed you so much.” Austin takes another step forward.
“No...” Kasey takes another step back.
“I’ve missed you.” Austin takes another step. “The way you used to smile at me. Your kisses. Your body.” Austin grins gaily as he looks at Kasey’s exposed skin.
Reeling from shock, Kasey looks all over the room for a way out of the situation. Austin takes a last, quick step forward. They are face to face. He gently strokes her wet hair. Kasey flinches, repulsed by his touch. Austin savors touching Kasey’s skin again, the way he used to. For a moment, he thinks things are back to normal. He leans in close to her.
“I love you so much. I want to work things out. I can’t be without you.” He gently kisses her forehead. Kasey pulls away, but Austin pulls her in closer to his body. Feeling cornered, Kasey gives in to Austin’s advances. Kasey breathes deeply, then wraps her arms around his neck.
“I have to admit something. I’ve wanted to see you for some time now.” Kasey smiles warmly.
“Really?” This stuns Austin.
Kasey nods. “Yeah, I did. I’ve been waiting to.” Kasey hesitates. She sensually gazes into Austin’s eyes, the way she used to look at him when things were great. Time slows down.
Euphoric, Austin squeezes Kasey and strokes her cheek. “So what have you been waiting to do?”
“I’ve been waiting to give you something.” Kasey leans in and gives Austin a long, delicate kiss. Kasey leans in close to Austin, her mouth close to his ear. All he wants is for her to say they can work it out and that he has her back.
“This.” With a swift thrust, Kasey kicks Austin in the groin.
Austin collapses to his knees, moaning. Kasey scampers past him in the direction of the door. She almost makes it. Just as she gets within arm’s reach of the door, Austin reaches from the floor and grabs Kasey by her leg. Kasey falls violently, slamming her right cheek onto the cold tile floor. She looks back at Austin, who is still on the floor in pain. Kasey tries to regain her footing, but she is dizzy from hitting her head. As she makes it to her knees, Austin clutches her ankle. She drops back down to her belly. She glances back, petrified. Austin maintains a firm grip, now having grabbed both of her ankles. She kicks at him frantically, shouting at him to stop. Eventually, he loses his grip on one of her legs.
“Let---me--go!” She kicks hard with her free leg.
Austin makes it to his feet and drags her by the leg he still controls. “Get back here.”
Kasey begins to feel desperate. As Austin drags Kasey across the tile floor, Kasey tries to pull away from him. If Austin regains control of both of her legs, the situation will end badly. Kasey hopelessly tries to grab the door. Her chance of escaping dissipates as Austin continues to drag her further into the bathroom. She brings her left leg back to her chest for one powerful last-ditch kick. Kasey kicks Austin squarely in the nose. The impact knocks him backward into the tub. The back of his head suffers the worst of the fall, slamming into the tile wall. As his rage builds, blood oozes from his nose and head. He lightly smears some of the blood across his face when he touches his nose.
Kasey jumps to her feet and darts towards the door. She turns the handle and swings the door open. As she sets foot in the hallway, Austin grabs her by the hair and jerks her backward. “Where the hell do you think you’re going?” As her screams intensify, he grabs her by the waist. He picks her up effortlessly and slams her to the floor. Her head hits the edge of the sink on the way down, knocking her out cold. Her body lands face down, as a pool of blood slowly begins to spread around her head.
Austin walks over slowly. His nose, chin, and mouth are covered in his own blood. He bends down and carefully strokes Kasey’s mangled, bloody hair. As he strokes, he exposes her battered face. Blood saturates Austin’s hand as he continues to stroke Kasey’s hair obsessively. “You look so beautiful.” He leans in and softly kisses her cheek. Then he scoops her and sits with his back against the tub, cradling her like a newborn. As he draws her head into his chest, panic rushes over him as he realizes what he has done.
“I didn’t mean to hurt you.” Austin begins to weep. “What did I do? Oh my GOD, what did I do?” His crying turns hysterical as he presses his face into hers.
“Why did you have to do this? Be so difficult, huh? I never meant to hurt you. This is all your fault. Why did you fight me? This didn’t have to happen. I thought we were going to be together forever. I always thought you were going to be Mrs. Chase O’Neil. It’s me---Chase. I love you. Why would you run from me? I thought you loved me.” Austin lowers his head as he breaks down once more. He looks back at the tub full of water, then back at Kasey. His heart fills with regret. He has injured her badly, and there is only one way out of the situation. He has to end her suffering. He decides to put Kasey in her final resting place.
Austin slowly rises to his knees, then his feet. He still cradles his beloved in his arms. He turns and faces the tub, and kisses Kasey’s lips. The kiss is long, passionate and heartfelt, albeit not returned. He loves her deeply, even though, he has hurt her profoundly. But now it is time to let go of her completely.
Austin slowly lowers Kasey’s lifeless body into the water. As he watches somberly, she sinks to the bottom like a stone.
Blood from Kasey’s head wound seeps through the water like a virus. As she slips away, he sheds a final tear. Then he turns and walks away, as quietly as he entered.
After a few moments, bubbles surface at the top of the water. Kasey’s eyes flash open and dart around. She is submerged in water, bloody water that muffles her attempts to scream. Panic ensues when Kasey cannot sit up right away. She flails for a moment, until her hands find the edge of the tub. She sits up, splashing water all over the bathroom floor.
Kasey looks around, terrified. There is no sign of the violent struggle that took place moments before. No broken glass, no blood soaked floors. She touches her head, and finds neither a wound nor blood. She looks down at the water; the blood has disappeared from there, as well. She rubs her face trying to clear her head. While sitting in the tub, she draws her knees toward her chest. “What...huh?” Completely befuddled, she places her chin upon her knees. She slowly rocks back and forth, as she tries to make sense of what just happened.
Later that evening, Kasey sits on Jennifer’s bed. “I’m telling you, I’m not crazy.”
Jennifer replies in a soothing tone. “I didn’t say you were crazy.”
“It was so real. He was attacking me. It wasn’t a dream.” Kasey shakes her head. “No way.”
“I know...it was crazy and so realistic, it shook you to your core, but it was a dream.”
“And you know what really got me, is that he kept saying his name was Chase.”
“Chase?” Jennifer laughs, as Kasey gazes out the window. “Maybe it was some mix-up. You know you never quite remember everything about your dreams...things always get distorted.” Kasey throws up her hands in frustration, as Jennifer continues in a soothing tone.
“Look I believe you. I’m on your side. All I’m saying is maybe that incident with Austin affected you more than you think. I just think you’re seriously traumatized. Now hear me out, okay?” She pauses. “Maybe you need to
go talk to someone about this.”
“Oh no. I don’t think so.”
“Come on, Kasey. You are really stressed. You know you’re bothered by all of this. You need to talk to someone other than me.”
“If I go to a shrink, that means I’m admitting I’m crazy.” She points an index finger at Jennifer. “I am not crazy.” She gets up and storms out of the room.
Jennifer watches in sadness. Even though Kasey fled to Jennifer’s house, she cannot escape Austin. He resides in her mind.
Raging silently in her bedroom, Kasey ponders her dream. The most memorable part of the dream was Austin referring to himself as Chase. There has to be a deeper meaning behind this. The mind is a magnificent thing. It has the ability to make you see things that are not actually there, and if you believe in them, they can seem incredibly real. That is the power of the mind.
Chapter Fourteen:
The Stare She Could
Never Forget
P aying only cursory attention to the rules of the road, Kasey tears through the streets of downtown Seattle. She pulls to a screeching halt in a parking lot outside of the library. She hops out with her purse over her shoulder. She single-mindedly makes her way to a computer, though she is almost afraid to turn it on. She is in search of the truth, but does not know if she can handle what she will find. She does an internet search for ‘unpredictable emotional disorders.’ She is not a doctor, but she feels certain that Austin is suffering from some kind of mental illness.
A link about borderline personality disorder catches her attention. She clicks on the link, and skims through the symptoms of this disorder. The description fits Austin to a tee.
Kasey sits back in her chair to process her new discovery. Then she leans forward and begins another search, this time for Austin O’Neil. The search turns up nothing of interest for numerous pages. She is about to throw in the towel when she clicks on one last link, to an old news article.
Tracie O’Neil, mother of two, found dead at the age of 31. Father Steve O’Neil pleads guilty to the beating death of wife, Tracie and son, Austin.
The news hits Kasey like a ton of bricks. She remembers her first date with Austin, when he talked about his mother at their romantic dinner. He had said her name was Tracie.
The article continues: The only survivor was eleven-year-old son Chase O’Neil. The picture of Chase O’Neil looks exactly like the man she knows as Austin O’Neil.
The man that she knows as Austin is really Chase. The visions in her dreams were correct. She begins another search, this time for Chase O’Neil.
Chase O’Neil was a suspect in the 2006 kidnapping and murder of seventeen-year-old girl, Leann Wilson. Charges were never filed, due to lack of evidence.
Kasey prints off the news articles so she can keep it as evidence. Devastated, Kasey runs to her car and peels out of the driveway.
Two hours later, she is sitting in a coffee shop with sunglasses on. Gripped by paranoia, she looks over her shoulder constantly. People around her are talking to each other and working on their computers. In her mind, they are all staring at her. Her hair is unkempt, and she has not worn makeup in a week.
Jennifer and Felecia rush in. Once they spot her, they hustle over to her table. Felicia sits next to her. “Are you alright?”
Jennifer grabs a chair from a different table and sits on the other side of Kasey. “I got your calls. You scared me to death.”
Kasey reaches in her purse and pulls out a small stack of papers. She looks at Jennifer and Felecia as she slowly unfolds them. She gets emotional as she places the papers down on the table. Felecia picks them up first. After reading for a few moments, her face goes slack. The information on the paper causes her to reflect on a distant memory.
About eight years earlier, Felecia was staring out the window of her house. She was eleven at the time. She was looking into the eyes of a young boy, sitting in the back of an ambulance as two body bags were transported to the curb. “Oh my GOD.”
Jennifer and Kasey both turn to her. “What?”
Felecia shakes her head. “I knew it.”
“Wait...hold on.” Jennifer snatches the papers out of Felecia’s hands. “What am I reading here? Is this true?”
Kasey takes off her sunglasses and puts them on the table.
Felecia leans forward. “Remember when you introduced him to us and I called him Chase? Remember?”
Jennifer and Kasey begin to connect the dots. Kasey begins to hyperventilate. She repeats her friend’s utterance. “Oh my GOD.”
Felecia taps her finger against the news articles. “Now we can’t question whether it’s true or not. It’s right there, in black and white.” She knew his name was Chase; her suspicions had continued to nag her since the day Kasey introduced them. If she had been more insistent, maybe her friend would not be going through this pain.
Jennifer falls back against her seat. “I’m speechless…I don’t know what to say.”
Kasey turns livid. “I can’t do this anymore. I can’t live like this anymore. I’m having delusions; I’m going crazy. What am I supposed to do? Wait until he kills me?” She shakes her head vigorously. “No, not me.” A couple of heads turn in the coffee shop.
Jennifer lowers her voice to a soothing tone. “Now, wait a minute. I know all this is difficult. You had a violent experience happen to you, and you found out the man you love has been lying to you. This is all very traumatic, I know. Felecia and I are here for you, and we will do whatever we can to help. But this...this is all too much.”
Kasey turns and snaps at her friend. “What is too much?”
“All I’m saying is you’re sounding crazy. You’ve got to think clearly. I really think talking to a therapist will help. This has completely altered your personality and train of thought. I know this is horrible and traumatizing, but you can’t lose yourself in the process. I mean, we’ll go with you if you want us to. I will.” Felecia, wracked with guilt, nods in agreement.
Kasey takes a moment to think. “You’re right. I need to do something to fix what I’m going through. I’m not going to lose myself.” Kasey puts on her sunglasses and takes her wallet from her purse. She fishes out a picture of the man she now knows is Chase. In the photo, they are hugging each other tightly. Things seemed wonderful. Kasey’s eyes begin to well up and tears run down her cheeks.
Jennifer begins to cry. Felecia, tears running down her face as well, squeezes Kasey around the shoulders.
Kasey pulls back and steadies herself. “Will you guys trust whatever decision I make?”
“Of course.” Jennifer wipes her tears away.
“Don’t ever doubt it.” Felecia smiles.
Kasey violently tears up the photo. “I’ve made my decision.” She stands, still holding the remnants of the photo along with her purse.
“What are you going to do?” Jennifer tries to make eye contact with Kasey, who’s still looking at the torn up photo in her palm. She dumps the pieces on the table. They scatter, some falling to the floor.
“You’ll find out soon. Trust me.” Kasey walks toward the door, smirking.
Felecia calls after her friend. “Kasey!” When Kasey stops and turns, Felecia can only think of one thing to say. “Take care of yourself.” Kasey nods.
Jennifer chimes in, trying to sound hopeful. “See you soon?”
Kasey pauses to reflect, then points an assertive finger in her friends’ direction.
“Count on it.”
As Kasey walks out the door, Felecia and Jennifer embrace.
In most relationships, whether healthy or unhealthy, two people become enjoined as one. It usually happens without you even noticing. But only in an unhealthy relationship is your vanishing identity so apparent. Many girls lose themselves in the chaos of a turbulent relationship. Little did Kasey know, her turbulent relationship would bring her identity to pass. All because of Felecia’s confirmed suspicions, and the stare she could never forget.
Chapter Fifteen:
Kasey Laine
C hase lies on his bed, holding his cell phone. His heart aches for Kasey. He opens his phone and sends her a text message. He waits anxiously for her response. In his mind, Kasey still wants to be with him.
Kasey sits on a park bench, watching the sun go down. The colors are even more beautiful than the park that surrounds her. She soaks it all in, as the breeze gently rustles her polished hair. She closes her eyes. She takes a deep breath as she tilts her head back.
Her cell phone buzzes. A text from Chase flashes on the screen.
Frazzled, she puts her phone face down on the bench and crosses her arms. She is not sure what to do next. The colorful sunset calms her rattled nerves. Despite the way she feels inside, she cannot resist the urge to respond to Chase’s text. She dials his number. As the phone starts to ring, she loses her nerve and hangs up.
Kasey gazes into the sky as the sun sets. Suddenly, her mind begins to replay the events from that fateful night with Chase. She remembers how tight his grip around her neck felt. She flashes back to being dragged across the room. All at once, everything is put back into perspective. She picks up the phone and redials Chase’s number.
“Hello.”
“It’s me,” she nearly whispers.
“Kasey?” Chase is overjoyed. He has waited for months to hear her voice.
“Yes.”
“I’m so glad to hear from you. I’ve wanted to talk to you so bad.”
“I think we need to talk, but not now. At least not over the phone.” Her voice cracks.
“I miss seeing your face. I miss your voice. I miss you...I just miss you.”
“Is tomorrow night good for you?” Against her will, Kasey blushes.
“Of course---I want to see you and work this all out. I’ve been miserable.” This time his voice cracks. Kasey can tell he is now in tears.
Kasey Laine Page 8
