"Somewhere Down the Path"

Chapter 9: Dancing with the Devil

As I opened the door just a bit, I tried my best to scan with my eyes for the sad excuse of a man wandering just outside the door. i saw him, right then and there. Shit, he's headed towards the closet. No, no, why now?! Perhaps he sees the light on, or the door itself opened. You stupid girl, Claire. Why didn't you think of these things beforehand, also? I took a deep breath and whispered quickly to James, "I'm going to lunge out at him and after I hopefully tackle him down, that's where you come in with the pepper spray, okay? Aim at him though, obviously", I say. He nodded. I could almost feel the emotion of anxiety and nervousness seeping out of him and lingering in the air. I threw the door open with both of my hands and practically pounced onto the man, like a lioness defending her cubs from a predator. "What the hell? Get off me, you dog! What the hell are you doing here in my house? You want a slit throat that bad don't you?" He hollered, trying to pry me off of his back. I wish I had a weapon at this point. He makes me sick. "You're calling me a dog, you filthy ape? You abducted me and tried to shoot my brains out because you thought I was pretty and had no chance with me! You are a psychopath!" I screamed, cupping my hands around his neck. Much to my dismay, the ape was stronger than the lioness at this point. I was body slammed onto the wood floor. "You bit**! Wait. You brought someone else here didn't you?" He asked, staring at me with his cold stare. I said nothing. "Okay Church Mouse, I'll have to find out myself then." He said, pulling out a gun from the inside of his black leather jacket. He walked over to the closet in which me and James were hidden in. I wanted to scream to James to use the pepper spray but I know I'd be dead by the time I could even finish uttering the word "pepper". The burly man stood between the doorway of the closet and stared James straight in the eye. James cowered up against the wall. The man yanked James up by the arm and shoved him in front of him. "Walk!", ordered the man. James obeyed. I could see from where I lay that he still had the can in his hand. Before I could go over to James, the man did what I expected him to do. He pointed the gun at James' head and screamed at me to go sit on the couch. I obeyed. I remained silent. "Okay you tramp, you won't be making it out of here alive. Just wanted to let you know that. You are going to do what I tell you to do or your boyfriend here will be visiting the afterlife soon. " James shed a tear from his left eye. I remember reading online that when a person cries from their left eye first, it signifies pain, emotional pain. "Lie down on the couch facing up at the ceiling", he said, keeping the gun aimed at James' skull. I did what he told me to do. I knew what I was about to experience. The torturous thing that many women all over the world have suffered, rape. "Please, do what you want to me. Don't kill him. Let him go." I, too, shed a tear from my left eye as I said those very words. "Oh, so you've changed your mind now and you actuallly want to die? Ha, fine with me." He shoved James to the ground and told him to scram. James pretended to head for the door as the man inched closer to me. He began to grope me and tried to remove articles of clothing. I fought back as many tears as I could. Tears were trying to escape my tear ducts because I never actually wanted revenge, all I ever wanted was for someone to finally end my days for me. I was hoping he'd shoot me rather than rape me, but he'd probably do that afterwards anyhow. James would think I was the crazy one if he knew this. It's true however. I can't do it anymore. The stress, the emotional burdens, I just didn't want to fight for what seemed like nothing anymore. As the man continued to have his way with me, I heard the door slam and assumed James made a run for it. I was wrong. Just as the man tried to remove my interior clothing, James bashed a rock over his head and sprayed his eyes with the pepper spray, just in case. "Take that you sick bastard!" shouted James, breathing heavily over the now, unconscious man. "James? You didn't leave?" I asked, staring at him with tears rolling down my face. "How could I leave someone I love, just like that?" He asked, dropping the pepper spray can and walking over towards me. To my surprise, he began to cry. He quickly grabbed me and hugged me. We stood there, hugging for a long time. After a few moments, we kicked the guy in his side to assure he was dead. He was. The lion duo had destroyed their predator. We agreed it was time to dial 911 and reveal the big mess to both our parents and the authorities.  The deed has been done. 

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"Claire Evans, how in the hell have you been dealing with this so secretively?" demanded my mother, Laura Evans. I shrugged and dangled my legs off of the ambulance's ledge. When James called 911, the whole crew decided to drop by. I was the one that called my parents. James' parents weren't home, of course. "Claire, you were almost raped! You could have been killed! Why didn't you say anything?" insisted my mother, staring me in the eye. "I don't know, Mom. I do have one thing to ask of you though." "What's that?" "I want therapy sessions, please." "Oh. Therapy? But you seem fi-"I'm not. I am not fine. I never was. Please", I say, looking down.  She stroked my hair and kissed my forehead. "Okay dear, I'll go talk to the officers. You should talk to your little friend over there." She pointed at James, sitting on the sidewalk in front of the man's house. He had a towel draped over him. I hopped down from the truck and went over to see him.

 I sat down next to James gingerly. "How are you feeling?" I asked. I managed a small smile. He smiled back slightly. "Okay. Nevermind me, how are you  feeling, Claire?" asked James, reaching to hold my hand. "Scared. Nervous. Relieved." I said, looking away. "My mom is going to let me receive therapy sessions now. Did you ever find out the real reason why I wanted to get back at this guy so much?" I asked, looking deep into his glassy brown eyes. "Yeah. In class you would look really sad sometimes. I could just tell from looking at you that something was wrong. I would have talked to you and been there for you if I could, but I just didn't want to scare you off." He squeezed my hand lightly and smiled sheepishly. "It's okay, James. I appreciate the thought. I'm glad this beast has been put to rest in the fiery place that he belongs now. According to the cops, his name was Alan Pachek, and he's been diagnosed with some type of mental disorder. I didn't hear which one though. He's done this to several or more women. That explained the ID's I found in a box in his closet, the first time I was brought to his house." "He really needed help", said James, rising up from his spot. "Where are you going?" I asked, looking up at him. He quickly pulled me to my feet. Before I could say anything else, he leaned in and kissed me square on the lips. I blushed slightly. "What was that for?" I ask, smiling at him. "Because I love you. Always have, always will. Claire Evans, you truly are something special. If nobody else can see that, then they might just need to get their vision checked. Come on, it's only 9:30 PM, free sundae at my house, my treat!" said James, smiling bright and wide. I laughed. "We almost got pulverised by some dude and now we're going to go eat sundaes? Sounds good to me." I take his hand and we go over to my parents to ask for their permission. At first my dad was skeptical, but after James introduced himself in just shy of 10 minutes, dad gave us the o.k. to go. We walked all the way to his house, hand in hand, heart in heart. 

* Epilogue/last chapter coming soon later today or tomorrow.