Family Ties (Rewritten)

Drastic Measures: Part One

Vincent:

"Son of a bitch!!  Son of a fucking bitch!!"

I jumped up and down like a child who'd just had their favorite toy snatched from them.  My head was pounding from the anger of watching that truck drive away with my only ticket to Emily.  The only thing that gave me an inkling of solace was seeing her fingers and blood mixed with the leaves on the ground, but even that wasn't enough to keep me from losing my shit.  I ran through the woods for what seemed like hours until I found the car.

Stella was leaning against the hood with a cigarette dangling from her mouth.  When she saw me, she threw it on the ground and smashed it underneath her shoe.  "Oh, Vincent.  You're bleeding."  She ran to me and tended to the wound on my temple.

My fists clenched by my sides.  I could hardly control my breathing.  "That lousy bitch hit me with a rock and got away.  She's gone, Stella."

"You need to sit down.  You're hurt."

"Who gives a shit!?  My life is over!"

I sounded like a melodramatic teenager. But it was the truth. Without Emily, my life had no meaning.

Stella placed her thin arm around my shoulders and ushered me to the car. She used some napkins from the glove compartment to wipe away the rest of the blood from my face. "Everything is going to be okay," She cooed, patting my thigh.

I shoved her away, sending her falling back on her ass.  "No, it's not.  Don't you get it, Stella?  Hope knows that you've been helping me.  We'll both be sent to prison for the rest of our lives.  Your life is finished if we don't do something."

Fear reflected in her cobalt eyes.  "What can we do?"

The next words from my lips sent her into a momentary state of shock.  "How much money do your parents have?" 

When she was able to snap out of it, she blinked her eyes several times and said, "They have hundreds of thousands of dollars...but...but, we can't...."

"Why not?  You said yourself they're both pieces of shit who mistreat you."

"Yeah, but.......they're my parents."

I could see she needed some convincing.  I helped her stand to her feet and gingerly placed my hand on her cheek.  "They didn't believe you when you told them your uncle raped you, Stella.  What kind of parents would treat their little girl that way?"

A single tear streamed down her cheek.  I used my thumb to wipe it away.  "With their money we can change our appearances, our identities.  We could get far away from her and start new lives."

"But what about Em-"

I placed my hand over her mouth before she could speak the name of my beloved. "That ship sailed the minute Hope escaped.  Our only chance now is to leave this damn state as soon as possible."

She shook her head, more tears swelling in her eyes.

"We have to. Don't you want to get away?"

She attempted to push my hand away.

I tightened my grip on her face.  It infuriated me when she tried to talk out of turn.  "Listen to me, damn it!  This is your only option!  There's nothing left for you here!  Don't you get that?"

She tried to speak.  Sighing, I lowered my hand, revealing the red finger imprints on her cheek.

"No matter where I go, I'll never be able to run from the evil I've done.  Maybe it would be best for me to turn myself in and be done with it."

"You can't do that.  I already told you those evil fucks got what they deserved.  They would have continued to hurt you, and other women, too."

"Even so, I shouldn't have.....ugh!" She clasped the sides of her head and fell to her knees. "Alright, alright!" She screamed shrilly, "I'll do it!"

I backed away from her. She was having another one of her episodes. The best thing I could do was let her work it out on her own.

She sobbed as she climbed back to her feet. "I'm sorry about that."

"Are you okay?"

"Yes." She answered, the same tone in her voice that was present after she killed the Greers. She started towards the car. "Let's go."

Stella gnawed on her thumb nail and blazed several cigarettes on our long drive back to the town both of us so desperately needed to escape.  She hadn't spoken a word. The only sound in the car was the soft music that played on the radio, which was just as well. I was on edge as well.  I didn't relish the idea of going back to that hell hole either.

But we needed to the money too badly.

We arrived at a lavish house a few hours later.  All of the lights were turned off, save for the porch light that revealed their beautiful front door.  Stella killed the engine and blazed one more cigarette, taking a long puff into her lungs.  "Quick and clean?"  She asked, extinguishing the cigarette.

"Quick and clean."

***

Twenty minutes later I was staring down at her parents. They were bound to their bed, their mouths gagged and their eyes blindfolded. They were both so drunk when we broke in that they were barely able to put up a struggle. Stella was unlocking their safe while I made sure they didn't escape, though they were hardly in any position to move.

"How much do they have in there?" I asked.

"Thousands," She answered. "They don't trust banks. Most of their cash is kept in here."

"Take all of it."

Her father mumbled something into his gag.

"Oh, shut up, father." Stella said, "I've been asking you for money for years. You owe me. Besides, you're not going to need it where you're going."

Both of them shook their heads.

Stella shoved all of their cash into a suitcase she'd gotten from their closet.  After she zipped it up, I handed her the knife from my pocket.

She stared at it for a long while, as if pondering whether or not she had the courage to use it.

Finally, she leaned over and planted a kiss on each of their foreheads. "Mommy," Her voice was soft, like a child's, "Daddy....I just want you both to know that all I ever wanted from you was love.  I didn't care about the money until now. I needed you to be there for me when I cried out to you."

Her mother tried to speak.

Stella removed her gag. "Don't scream, mother."

"Stella, baby....why are you doing this? You know that your father and I love you."

"No, you don't. All you have ever cared about was your social standing. You nor father ever gave two shits about me. If you did, you would've listened to me when I told you about Uncle Colin."

"Is that what this is about, dear? If you want to talk about it, I'm willing to-"

Stella stuck the gag back into her mouth.

"It's too late." She whispered.  With that, she slid the blade across her mother's neck, then her father's, watching with tears in her eyes as they bled out on their expensive bed sheets. The knife fell from her hand at the sight of their dead bodies.

And she fainted.