The Stølen Girl

Chapter Twenty-Six

 "Doing what I should have done years ago." Was Keith's dad's answer to Theodore's question Dad, what the fuck are you doing here?

Mary watched as he took out a gun. Not a fake gun, like the ones in the toy store. It was a real gun, and it was aimed at her.

Chills ran down her spine, and tears sparked in the corner of her eyes. First her dad, and now her. She wasn't sure what else could go wrong in the span of 24 hours, but things were going south and fast.

"Please, Mr. Chambers, don't do this." She pleaded, placing a hand on her stomach, thinking of her own baby inside of her. Elliott was innocent, yet he wouldn't get to see the light of day. His death was happening before his birth, and all because of her.

Running away had always frightened her. She always could remember Mr. Chambers telling her that he would find her if she left. And he would kill her.

Finally escaping, she thought it was all a hoax. That she was safe, now. But, he had indeed found her, and was staying true to his words about killing her. It wasn't for show, and wasn't to scare her this time.

He was serious.

Things had been looking up, finally. But she knew it was too good to be true.

"You know," He started, walking closer to her and Theodore. "Keith was real hush hush about you. About your whereabouts. He was good at protecting you, but his emotions gave your location away. Love is a foolish thing, you know. And Keith is so in love with you, he couldn't see anything beyond you. But, not even his silence could protect you."

Mary was crying. The fat, heavy tears rolled down her cheeks as she realized how soon she was going to die. That this man wasn't joking around.

And Keith. He'd protected her, even though she'd always assumed he wasn't on her side. She always assumed he hated her guts, and while this revelation of him loving her was something she'd dreamed of hearing years ago, it was too late now.

She didn't care that Keith loved her. She did, though, care that he loved her enough to protect her.

Even if it hadn't been enough.

"Poor bastard is in a basement right now. Bleeding out. I've decided to teach him a lesson on respect, 'cause he never respected me. Makes you wonder why he treated you so poorly huh. Like father like son, they say."

She didn't want to care. She so didn't want to care, but she did. She didn't love him, but she did care about him. About the boy who used to be her friend. About the boy more broken than herself.

He came from a wealthy family, but he was a broken child coming from a broken home. A child taught to abuse and hate. A child taught to play games with his pets.

Theodore had turned out different because he had been sent away. And it dawned on her that Keith could have been the same, if it wasn't for her. If she hadn't been taken, Keith could have also left for school far away. But he had to care for her.

She knew it wasn't his decision to kidnap her - she didn't hold that against him. And now, seeing how delusional and horrid his father was, she felt like it was to hold his abusive tendencies against him as well. It was clear who he got those traits from.

"You treat your own children so horribly." She tried to say with a steady voice, but that was hard while crying. And the wavering of her tone only showed weakness to Mr. Chambers.

"And you think you'd be much better?" He demanded. "You don't think your childhood would screw you up and make you a bad parent? You would be just as bad as myself, probably even more. Messed up children make for messed up parents. It's a good thing you'll never have kids, huh."