Authors: Diane Mannino
“Of course.” He says, coldly. He clears his throat so loudly it startles me. His eyes look to the ground as he shuffles nervously, gathering the exams and stuffing them in his briefcase.
I have no idea why but he seems offended. Blinking up at him, I hitch my backpack higher up on my shoulder and turn to leave.
“Well, take care.” I mutter as I open the door. Glancing over my shoulder one last time before I head out, I shrug to myself at Professor Milton’s odd social graces and hope he isn’t so put off by my urgency to leave that he doesn’t give me my well-deserved A in the class.
The hallway is completely deserted. I glance anxiously around for Chloe and decide she must be waiting for me outside the building. I’m walking down the hall still in a quandary over the bizarre behavior of Milton when my phone buzzes a text message. I pull it out of my back pocket and quickly reply to Logan’s text.
LOGAN: Hi…Just wanted to let you know I’m with your dad. We’ll see you soon.
ME: Hi. Thank you :) I don’t know how I can ever repay you…
LOGAN: I can think of quite a few ways ;)
ME: I was hoping you might say that :) Tonight?
LOGAN: Montecito tonight and then New York starting tomorrow.
ME: Montecito…stars, fondue and…
LOGAN: Definitely…
ME: Is this the part where I ask you what you’re wearing?
LOGAN: I like the way your mind works. See you soon. XX
I’m typing a reply to Logan when it happens. Shit. From behind me, someone grabs me with force around my waist while the other arm reaches with a damp white rag towards my face. My backpack and phone fall to the ground. I struggle to push away from the person, but between the force of their weight from behind me and the awkward angle, I can’t keep the rag from covering my mouth and nose. The toxic smell is nauseating and I immediately realize its chloroform. If I don’t react fast I will pass out. I struggle and squirm, trying to claw at his hands and arms.
“Fuck!” A male voice mutters from behind me as I dig my nails deep into his skin. While twisting to break away from the rag, I feel the locket necklace pulled tightly against my neck until it snaps.
My struggle weakens because of the overwhelming vapors. I try not to breathe in the fumes but I can only hold my breath for so long…on top of that…I had already inhaled a substantial amount before realizing what was going on. I feel so disoriented then all too abruptly everything goes dark.
IT’S DARK. I CAN’T SEE ANYTHING. I blink my eyes trying to figure out where I am. Am I still alive? Am I waking from a nightmare? My head and body ache. The memories flash in my pounding head: the toxic rag…the struggle…in the distance I hear footsteps. It sounds like they are beneath me. Could I be upstairs? Am I still at the university?
I’m on the ground and my senses slowly return. I realize my wrists are tied securely with rope behind my back. The rope isn’t very secure and within minutes I loosen it, sliding it off my wrists. Looking around the room, I rub my sore wrists to figure out my escape. There’s one window that’s boarded up but now that my eyes are adjusting to the light I see two doors.
Immediately, I stand and quietly move towards the door. I turn the doorknob. Locked.
“Don’t.” I hear from the other side of the door and it catches me so off-guard I practically jump out of my skin. Shit. He has a gun.
My senses have returned and now instead of being scared, I need to pull myself together and get the hell out of here. “Sebastian.” I call. “I can get you the money. You just need to let me out of here.”
I figure if I keep talking to him maybe I can convince him. I try for sympathetic and hope I can convince him.
“Sebastian. Are you okay? I was worried about you. I was waiting to hear from you but you never contacted me. Why don’t you let me out so I can get you the money?” I breathe.
There’s no response and I hope I’m getting to him.
“I thought of a good excuse to get Logan to give me the money. Do you want to hear it?” I swallow. “I was going to tell him I need it to start up a business after graduation. I’d like to publish my own magazine and asking him to help me fund it would be perfect. Don’t you think?” I say, trying to sound calm and keeping my nerves at bay.
I continue. “Look Sebastian, when do you want the money? If you let me go to Logan now, I can probably get it to you by…” I trail off. I have no idea what time it is or even if it’s still the same day. I think of Logan…I know he’s waiting for me.
Besides Logan, there’s my dad, Bryn, Chloe, and Coach and I wonder what the time is as I reach for my phone, instinctively, out of my back pocket to check the time. My phone isn’t there. Then I remember it falling to the floor along with my backpack. I’m sure they are all in a panic.
“I can get it to you right away…a couple hours…whatever you want. You have me here so now we can talk…and you can tell me exactly where to meet you.”
I lean against the door, trying to listen. It’s quiet and then I hear footsteps again. It sounds like they are heading back down the hall.
“Sebastian. Don’t go.” I call out and fight the urge to throw up. “Please. Let’s talk. You know, I’ve been thinking about your offer. At first I wasn’t really sure about going with you, but after the last couple weeks…things with Logan have gotten really bad. You were right about him and Seraphina.”
Tears well up into my eyes. The fear and the stress of the last month are draining every last ounce of energy out of me. Blinking into the darkness, I lean against the wall and start to cry. I just want to get away from here. Hell, I’m living a Shakespearean tragedy, I think, if my evil antagonist just didn’t have a gun.
At the start of the trimester, Bryn joked about my life…shades of Shakespeare. She was referring to my short-lived love triangle and the romantic elements, but little did she know my life would end like a Shakespeare tragedy. Maybe I can change the outcome. I have to at least, try.
“Please, Sebastian.” I choke. “You have to let me go with you.” I say the words and they just flow out of my mouth like I’ve completely stepped out of my body. “You were right, Logan is getting sick of me. I know now that he needs to be with someone like…like Seraphina.”
“I agree with you. I think we’d make a good team…just tell me what you want me to do. Do you want more money? Maybe we should get more just so we don’t have to worry about it in the future…what do you think?” I ramble and wonder why he’s not responding. I wonder, too, if he’s holding the gun.
If he opens the door to talk, I will have my chance to run. I’m sure he thinks my wrists are still tied together. I turned the doorknob before but I could have turned it with my hands tied behind my back. It’ll be a bit more difficult to escape if he’s pointing a gun at me. Shit.
“Sebastian, please talk to me. I know you want his money and I promise I can get it for you. Then the two of us can leave. It’s just a matter of time when he’ll dump me…just like he dumped you. He doesn’t deserve either of us. You said that and it’s true.”
I put my ear against the door and I can hear his shoes shuffling on the hardwood floor.
I decide to play my last card. My voice is quiet and raspy from crying. “I know you think I didn’t like you for a long time. But that was just an act. I’ve always had a thing for you. There’s something about you…I’ve always found you irresistible.” I wish I could see his expression to see if he’s buying my bullshit. He’s quiet and listening so I must be getting to him.
I swallow. “We’re all alone now. We could make up for loss time.” I fight back the wave of nausea rising in my stomach. “I know you want to and then we can go and get our money. I was thinking we should go to Mexico. What do you think? I think we need to get out of the country so Logan can never track us down. We need to get far, faraway from him and then it would just be you and me…forever. Doesn’t that sound good?”
Silence. I hear nothing for a few minutes as I press my ear against the door, waiting…waiting. Then I hear the footsteps moving away, back down the hall, and away from the door.
“No!” I call. “Sebastian. Please. Sebastian.” I keep calling out until the footsteps stop. “Why don’t you open the door so we can talk?” I say, shakily. I hear the floor creak, as he moves back to the door, and then the turn of a key.
I step back, bracing myself for my attack and escape.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
“WHY DON’T YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP?” He shoves the door open and I’m ready to spring at him except I’m suddenly struck frozen.
My eyes meet his and even in the dark his almost black eyes burn into mine. How did I not notice it before? I could never forget those eyes. Oh my God. No!
He slowly steps towards me and I put my hands out to block him.
“It doesn’t have to be this way.” He whispers, wickedly as he reaches out to grab my wrists. I dodge him and shift closer to the door.
I quickly make my break to get out of the room, but the blow comes at me so fast and hard. I slam to the ground. My head hits the hardwood with a nauseating and heavy thud. He moves slowly towards me and now it’s my turn to catch him off-guard when I kick him with my leg, hard and swift.
He trips to the ground and I try to get up on my feet but he grabs my ankle pulling me back to the ground. “Not so fast.” He hisses.
I scramble away from him, kicking my legs frantically at him.
“What the hell do you want from me?” I scream at him.
I know if I can get away from him there’s no way he’ll be able to catch me. Abruptly, he slides me closer to him by yanking on both my ankles. We are both on the floor as he pulls me towards him and I shove my hands against his shoulders, preparing for my attack.
“Paybacks a bitch, Emilia.” He screams. “You fucking ruined my life and now I’m here to fucking ruin yours.”
I’m still firmly gripping his shoulders when I slam my forehead into his nose in a swift, upward motion. I hit him so hard that I can hear the crunch of a bone. It’s a chilling sound but at the same time it’s weirdly exhilarating.
“Fuck!” He screams, releasing his grip from my ankles. Immediately his hands move to the blood that’s now pouring out of his nose like a faucet.
I scramble to my feet, but just as I make my move towards the door, he pulls my hair from behind and slaps his hand hard across my face. I hear Rosemary’s voice in my head, ‘the next move is called ‘the nose knows’ as I take my right arm and hit him again in his nose.
I’ve never in my life seen so much blood and my heart feels like it might stop at the sight of it. But the adrenaline running through my veins helps me overcome this feeling and I make to strike him again but this time in his eyes.
His left arm blocks me at the same time his other hand strikes a swift, hard blow to my stomach. I’m back on the ground with the wind knocked out of me. My eyes fill with tears as I fight the pain.
“You’ve had enough?” He taunts me as I lie on the ground curled up in a ball.
I think, quickly. I need to think this through and not hesitate as soon as I get another chance. I curl up into a ball more, giving him the impression that I have no fight left in me and hoping he doesn’t strike me again.
Seeing him out of the corner of my eye, he faces away from me for a minute. “Look what you did to my fucking nose.” He sneers.
And, that’s when I make my move. I pick myself up and jump on him. He doesn’t fall immediately. Despite being taller and heavier, I take him by surprise enough to knock him off balance.
I pound him with my fists until he topples over and then I scramble to my feet again. I give him two swift, hard kicks in his stomach. He grunts in pain as he tries to grab my leg to keep me from kicking him.
Turning towards the door, I run into the hall. I look, frantically, to the right and then the left. It’s dark but the moonlight streams through the windows so I can see the outline of the stairs in the distance.
Run. I head to the stairs. It’s like a scene from one of my many nightmares. God, please let this nightmare end…get me out of this house.
I hear the floorboards creak behind me and without turning back I know he’s coming after me. Hurling myself down the stairs, my legs are shaky and it’s so dark I trip on the last several steps. I come crashing down on my right side.
The front door is within a few feet from where I land. It’s so close and yet so far. I wince in pain as I push myself up from the floor. But then it happens again, just as I make my way to the door, he lunges at me from behind and pulls my hair.
Slapping me hard against the face, my head snaps back. My head and every inch of my body pound in pain, but somehow I manage to stay on my feet. It’s eerie and quiet. No bones crunching. No screams. No floorboards creaking.
One second passes and just as he’s about to strike me again in the face, I knee him hard into his groin. It’s enough to take him by surprise as he falls to the floor and curls up into a ball, groaning.
Now, Sam’s words flash in my head, ‘Do you really want to know the best self-defense tip? Run – run fast.’
Just as I grab the door and turn the lock, he lunges at me, grabbing both my arms then pulling them tightly behind my back. “Uh-uh. I’m not fucking done with you.” He seethes.
His face is just inches from mine, but my arms are useless as he pulls them hard behind me. My head throbs and I don’t know if I can take much more pain. “Let me go.” I whisper.
“Let you go? The real fun is just about to start.” He runs his nose against mine. The strong smell of his blood is overwhelming and a wave of dizziness crashes over me.
I struggle to squirm from his grip, but find I can barely move now with the combination of exhaustion and pain pounding all over my body.
He leans closer to me and I hold my breath to keep out the horrible odor. My throat swells as tears starts to well in my eyes. I try and muster the little strength I have left in me. Swiftly, I snap my head back and head-butt him hard while at the same time I knee him in the groin.
He cries out in pain and releases my wrists, falling to the floor. I kick him again hard in the stomach. Reaching for the door, I turn the knob and finally swing the door open. The cool air sweeps through the house, pushing the door hard against the wall behind it.
I run and the cold air gives me enough relief to keep me on my feet. Blinking in the dark, I gasp for air and run, hard. My arms and legs shake uncontrollably, but I will them to push through it.
I can barely see two feet ahead of me. I know I should scream, but my head throbs and my throat tastes of blood. Nothing comes out. I keep running. Where am I? It’s so quiet, but that’s when I recognize the lights in the distance. Then I see the familiar flash of red and blue: the lights on top of police cars.
Turning slightly right, I want to scream to them. I keep running and I think I’m getting closer, but I feel like I’m running in my nightmares where I run and don’t seem to move…It’s hard to tell if I’m actually getting closer. I race across the grass and now realize I’m on familiar ground. It’s the campus quad. I push further ahead.
I keep running. It seems like I’ve run at least a mile. Tasting the blood in my mouth, I push my legs to move faster and faster. The sight of the police ahead further fuels my speed.
My head feels hot like an overheated engine. I race over a hill and that’s when I see the images of bodies running towards me. I know Logan reaches me first. My eyes feel swollen and my head is so dizzy that my vision is blurred making it hard for me to see.
“Shit!” Logan shouts. “Someone get an ambulance.”
I think I recognize Detective Fernandez and Detective Rooney run past me. They have their guns drawn and I hope they get to him before it’s too late. I hope they’re reaching for their guns because they see him in the distance. I don’t look back.
Just as Logan reaches me, my legs give out. I stumble into his arms as he sinks to his knees on the ground. He cradles my head as I curl against his chest. His eyes are just inches from mine and despite my blurred vision, I know my appearance is awful by the distraught and terrified look in his eyes.
“Oh, baby.” His voice is a strained whisper.
“I…” I try to speak, but my mind is so cloudy.
“Shh.” He whispers. “I’m here, you’re safe now…I’ll take care of you.”
His soft, soothing words drift over me. I knew he would be waiting for me. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so relieved and comforted to be in his arms…safe in his arms… and then suddenly everything goes black.
I’M SLEEPING. I THINK. I don’t know if I’m dreaming or if things are really happening around me. It’s peaceful. There are people going in and out of the room. They are talking in hushed whispers. There’s nothing to worry about right now…just sleep. I’m so tired. I just want to sleep more. I try hard to hear the words, but I can’t. I can’t hear anything clearly.
Everything is quiet. I think I see my mom, but I’m not sure. Everything is so unclear. I don’t feel anything and I don’t know if I’m really seeing anything. I don’t move. I feel so still…like I’m floating on a cloud. I’m numb. I don’t smell. I don’t see. I don’t feel. I just want to sleep for a long, long time. I’m so very tired. I’m drifting and drifting along the water. I’m isolated. It’s dark and lonely. I feel calm and fatigued, but alone.
If I could move towards the voices, maybe they will find me. Then there’s silence again and I’m alone. I don’t see any light…just fog. But my body fights against it. I want to go home. I desperately push through the haze. I still feel so tired. The voices come and go.
“But she’s so pale and thin.” I recognize Logan’s quiet, worried voice. “Her face is so swollen. Do you really think she’ll be okay, doctor?” His voice cracks.
“All the signs show that she’s going to pull out of this. She suffered a concussion and a few contusions. Her head injury is traumatic, but we don’t have reason to think she won’t wake. We can tell her head was hit hard…she may have fallen.” The voice is unfamiliar.
“How long will she be like this? Is there any way of telling?” Logan asks. His voice sounds weak and strained.
I wish I could open my eyes to see him.
“We just have to take it one day at a time, sir. She has minimal signs of swelling and every hour she shows signs of improvement. They are very slight signs, but signs nonetheless. It’s good you got her here when you did. She has bruised ribs and a broken arm, but we can fix those. Trauma to the head is life-threatening when not treated right away.”
“What about her…once she comes out of the coma?” Logan asks. His voice is full of pain and worry.
Coma? Oh no.
“You’re wondering about her brain? I’m sure it’s hard to see it this way right now, but she’s lucky. Her head injury, while traumatic, is mild in many ways. I know it may not seem that way to you, but comparatively to other head injuries it is.”
“Is there anything you can do to help her?” Logan breathes.
“It’s a waiting game for now.”
Logan sighs.
“I know it doesn’t look good right now, but everything is pointing in her favor. She’s young and healthy. Her papillary response is also very positive.”
There’s a pause.
“It means when I shine a light in her eyes, her pupils get smaller…that’s a good sign, a really good sign.” He says, reassuringly.
A good sign…Thank God.
THEN THERE’S SILENCE AGAIN. I’m so tired as I drift back again on the familiar floating cloud. The voices are abruptly gone like someone hitting a light switch off. The voices were on and now they’re off. I’m alone and drifting…it’s so dark and lonely until the switch is turned back on again. There are more voices.
“You should go get some rest.”
“Bryn, I’m not leaving her. I left her before and look what happened.”
Bryn…I want to see her.
“Logan, you can’t blame yourself for this. I’ve done the same thing…wishing I had met her after class instead of going straight to the track. But I’m sure it happened so fast that there was nothing any of us could have done. Besides you didn’t even leave her alone. Chloe was there waiting. I just don’t get how it happened.” Bryn says. Her voice sounds tired.
“I don’t know…I just thank God she wasn’t shot, but I can’t stand to see her like this…all I wanted to do was keep her safe…I feel like I’ve failed her.” He murmurs.
Shot?
“Look, Emilia isn’t going to feel that way. We have to stop beating ourselves up over how we could have stopped this from happening…and focus on her…getting her back.” Bryn breathes.
“You’re right.”
“What did the doctor say? Does he know how long she’ll be like this?” Bryn asks.
“He says she’s lucky.” Logan says, softly.
“Lucky? Look at her, she looks awful…I can’t…” Bryn’s voice cracks. I hear her sniffling.
“I know. But he says her type of head trauma is the least dangerous…and all her signs look good.”
“I can’t believe this happened.” Bryn pauses and then continues. “There’s one thing I know for certain…she’s a fighter…I know she’ll be okay…she just has to.” Bryn clears her throat.
“She is a fighter. She’s the strongest girl I know. You know, I just can’t believe he would do this to her. I knew he was fucked up, but this is insane. It makes no sense to me…he wanted money…why did he have to do this?” Logan takes my hand in his.
What?
His touch is so comforting. I want to squeeze it to let him know I can hear him. I’m here. But my head and body are so achy. My muscles are numb.
Bryn sighs. “What do the police say?”
“I don’t know. I’m hoping Detective Fernandez comes by soon. I know she spoke to the doctor. The doctor was in here…checking on Emilia when Fernandez called. They want to talk to Emilia to find out what exactly happened.”
“Don’t we all.” Bryn sighs again.
“I don’t know why he wouldn’t come after me, especially since he has a gun…it just doesn’t make sense? We were waiting to hear from him about the money and then he just snaps and beats the crap out of her? I don’t get it.”
It’s all so confusing.
“Do you think Seraphina was involved? Maybe they were working together?” Bryn asks.
“Maybe…I pray they got the motherfucker. The last time I saw the police is when we found Emilia.”
“Could you see the asshole?” Bryn asks.
“I was so focused on Emilia. She came running over a hill and it was as though time stood still. Everything just froze at that moment for me. I only cared about her…it was such a relief to see her. Some of the police ran past us. I assume they saw someone in the distance.”