Blue Fire. A Gabriel Brown Alaskan Bush People story.

Chapter 6

You squeezed your eyes shut for a split second, praying that when you opened them Brady would be gone and that seeing him was only a waking nightmare. But when you felt Gabriel push you roughly behind him, you knew the real nightmare had just begun.

"You didn't waste any time finding another guy to put up with all of your crap, did you?" Brady's voice was cold with anger and his eyes were narrowed slits.

"We don't have to do this." Gabriel's icy tone matched Brady's. "You're in enough trouble already so why don't you go your way and we'll go ours."

"We?!" Brady laughed sarcastically and the sound chilled you to the bone. "It hasn't even been a week and it's already 'we'?"

"Go away, Brady. Please." You pleaded.

Your plea wasn't for yourself, but for Gabriel and his family. The pain in your heart was nearly squeezing the breath from you, but you had to end this quickly and find a way to draw Brady away from them. They didn't deserve the kind of life they would get if Brady remained free. The fact that he had already found you so soon after getting out on bail told you he didn't really care about anything except getting you back and making you pay for leaving him. And when he was done with you, he would make everyone else you cared for pay, too.

"Since when do you tell me what to do?" Brady sneered and you flinched back slightly, wondering how you had ever thought this man cared anything for you.

You saw Gabriel move toward him and you pulled on his arm, holding him back.

"She's nothing but a worthless slut." Brady continued his verbal assault. "And she's not even that good in bed. You would think after all this time I would have taught her something. But I'm sure you've found all that out already." His eyes glittered with malice as he taunted Gabriel.

"Stop it!" You stepped in front of Gabriel and faced Brady. "What do you want?"

"You know what I want." The ominous quality of his words made your skin crawl with revulsion. But you knew what you had to do.

"Ok." You took in a deep breath and turned to face Gabriel. "Listen."

At the word 'listen', Gabriel's eyes opened wide and his head began moving from side to side.

"No! You can't do this." He grabbed for your arms but you shrugged him off and backed up a step.

"We're just going to go talk. OK?" You lied as smoothly as you could and blinked back the tears that were pooling behind your lids.

"No, please don't go with him." Gabriel pleaded and reached for you again but you held your palms out and gently pushed him away.

"We'll just talk and I'll come right back. OK?" You nodded and hoped he would understand.

"Come on!" Brady growled from behind you and your heart sank all the way to your stomach.

"I love you." You mouthed the words to Gabriel and when you began to see the fire flashing in his blue eyes, you spun quickly away from him and swallowed hard.

Dropping your head, you followed Brady a few steps down the sidewalk toward his car. The tears had dried from your eyes and all you felt was a deep, seething anger. You had fought so hard to get away from him but you knew you had to go back. Gabriel had to know that you weren't really free. Your time with him in Brown Town gave you more hope than you had ever imagined. And the new happy place you had created in your mind, filled with dreams of a make-believe life with Gabriel would carry you through the horrifying days that were to come. When you shut yourself down to endure whatever Brady had in store for you, you could go to that happy place and see Gabriel's bright blue eyes and happy smile. And you would survive.