The Wrong Sister

So many pictures

There were so many pictures. So many. 

Jozef had brought me to an office, where he shuffled through the contents of a large filing cabinet. 

He pulled out a thick folder with a look of triumph on his face. He shuffled through the folder quickly, just making sure of its contents. 

Then he glanced up at me, a little smile of his face. So smug. He was going to enjoy this. 

That hurt. Even if he was telling the truth, he knew this would hurt me. Wasn't he supposed to want to protect me? 

Those thoughts were shoved to the back of my mind when Jozef pulled out the first image. He laid it on the desk in front of me. 

It was my car. The picture looked like it was taken through the windscreen of a car travelling behind me. 

The next one that came was far closer. I had slammed on my breaks. A blurred figure could just be seen standing in front of my car. 

The next picture saw Gabe approaching my door. Then yanking it off its hinges. Then my slightly blurred figure being dragged out of the car. 

And they continued. Picture after picture of Gabe carrying me into the forest. 

There was a break in the images. My body shook with relief at the prospect of not having to look at them anymore. 

Then came the pictures that showed different glimpses of me through a window on the second floor of a grand house. No. The grand house. A few wider shots caught glimpses of leaves or branches in the periphery. It seemed the person who got these was in a tree. 

The last set of images showed a man's body that may very well be Gabe with his hand around my throat. Well. The photographer clearly had a bad angle and you couldn't really see my face, but the persons clothes were definitely the ones I remembered waking up in. 

I shook my head slowly. These pictures didn't prove anything. So what if they aligned with a few of my memories. 

I felt dizzy. 

I couldn't believe it. No matter how clear the photos were. Gabe kidnapped and hurt me? No. Gabe with his soft touch. His desperate eyes. His flinch the second I told him he hurt me. His soft voice. His explosive laugh. That strange purring sound he could make. 

I felt sick. I could feel the weight of Jozef's eyes and found myself hating him more than ever before. 

If I accepted that these were true, then not only had he done all of this, but he tricked me. He saw my panic over driving. He saw my fear and he hadn't told me the truth. He was happy to let me suffer if it meant that... what? That he didn't get arrested? He was basically in control of the whole town.

The pictures blurred before me. In this blurred room, my heavy struggling breaths were the only sounds I could hear. 

He wouldn't get arrested. He knew that. So what did he get? To continue his relationship with my sister? But he said that she wasn't the one he wanted to be with. What then? To have a relationship with me? 

My traitorous mind conjured up the image of the cave. The clear sounds of his voice. His beautiful voice. "She broke up with me." 

A stifled sob escaped my lips. It was too much. My face was wet. I couldn't breath, and Jozef was still looking at me. 

This was wrong. The pictures were fake. Jozef said that he had people following me. Obviously they had over heard me talking about it and had made these in photoshop so that I would... leave Gabriel more easily? 

I gasped for breath. Now that I knew it was all fake there was no need to cry. I staggered back looking at Jozef for the first time since he had brought the pictures out. 

I ignored it as torrents of tears raced down my face. 

My face fell blank. 

The stuttering of my breath and my neutral tone made for an odd combination, "I need to think about things." 

I couldn't stand to be in the same room as Jozef for any longer. It had nothing to to with the photos. Nothing at all. 

My hatred for Jozef was all consuming. If I didn't get myself out of that room I would have attacked him. 

How dare he. How dare he try to frame Gabe as an evil man. A man on par with himself. I was doing what he said. There was no need for him to attack Gabe. He was clearly angry about the respect and affection I hold for Gabe. So he had to poison that relationship. What an abhorrent habit. What disgusting arrogance that he thought he could come between us. Who cares? It's not like it worked. It's not like it will ever work. 

But my tears kept coming.