We don't even know how strong we are until we are forced to bring that hidden strength forward. In times of tragedy, of war, of necessity, people do amazing things. The human capacity for survival and renewal is amazing.
- Isabel Allende.
Melissa remained seated inside the police car, beside the overly loquacious officer that had been kind enough to take her along with him for the ride. They found themselves being unexpectedly stuck at a stop street now, in front of a huge red disreputable van for about five minutes or so.
Melissa noticed, when she looked outside the window, that the clouds were becoming increasingly darker with each passing street they drove through. She couldn't help but think to herself how much she truly hated this God-forsaken town. She vowed to herself that, as soon as Derek cleared him name, they would leave this place and never return. She glanced back at the officer when she realised they were at their destination now.
Throughout her time spent on the road with Officer Cormac, she had gotten to know the officer's story before the uniform. His heartwarming stories of fighting depression and how he came close to taking his life kept her wanting to learn more and more about this man. She found herself listening attentively to him when he told her never to give up, no matter how rough things got. He believed that God had something special planned for her and her family.
If she didn't believe that guardian angels truly exist in this world, she did after meeting this man today. Melissa watched him tap his fingers impatiently on the steering wheel when the van at last shifted out of their way. He turned the volume of the music down, which had gone from jazz and blues to old country music. Suddenly, he extended out his hand out and handed her an apple from his navy blue duffel bag that had been thrown on the floor beside his feet.
He apologised for not having anything more to offer her, but they had been a long way from anything that remotely resembled a grocery store. She hadn't eaten anything since this morning, other than a poached egg and a dry piece of toast, so she was beyond grateful for the hospitality he had shown her.
Melissa politely thanked him and felt her volubility dwindle away again when they, at last, made it to the next street. She started to pull at the hem of her dress with anticipation when she saw the house that still remained as black as coal from the rain that had settled on it. The house loomed over them the closer they got towards it. Melissa felt her heart begin to sink at the dreaded fear that Derek had been captured, detained, or worse, dead.
"Well, I'll be damned, what do we have here then?" Officer Cormac cried, interrupting her thoughts.
She watched him slide his tinted aviator sunglasses down towards the bridge of his nose so he could get a better look at the catastrophe that had broken out at Albert's estate. Police vehicles had the whole place surrounded. Some were taking cover outside the house, attempting to see if they could hear or see anything. Others had appeared to be more preoccupied, corresponding over their radios while standing near their cars to call for backup.
"It looks like World War Four just erupted here, at this here place!" he exclaimed, grabbing the wispy end of his moustache, which he had somewhat of a proclivity of doing when he was anxious about something. "These reporters, are a royal pain in the ass! Someone must have leaked out what was going on here to the tabloids! I ain't seen this many people in one place, especially in these here parts in a long time!" he shouted furiously under his breath when he noticed the group of reporters, ambulances and spectators congregating around the house.
One of the police vehicles across the road slowed down beside them and rolled their window down. A careworn, round-faced man, with ash blonde hair and pensive light green eyes, stuck his head from out the window and greeted both Melissa and officer Cormac with a friendly nod of approval before letting them pass.
Once the gates opened, Melissa could feel the cold air slowly envelope her body as soon as they drove in. She caught sight of someone standing on the front porch of the house. It was only when one of the police cars at last shifted out of their way that Melissa learn it was her beloved Derek. She felt giddy with overwhelming shock and intense elation. Not knowing what came over her, she told the officer to stop the car immediately.
"Stop the car! Oh, please, would you stop this car now!" Melissa exclaimed, feeling the car screech to an abrupt halt. The sudden jolt of the car nearly sent the both of them through the windshield.
"Good heavens, woman - are ya nuts?! Yer cudda got the both of us killed screaming like that back there!" he yelled, a grimace of pain contorting his face.
"I'm sorry, Sir - but I will have to explain everything later," she cried out before opening the door all helter-skelter and clambering out of his car, that same giddy feeling of anticipation returning again.
Just as she was about to rush off and see Derek, she quickly leaned over and grabbed both the officers hands before giving them a gentle squeeze. She thanked him for bringing her here and allowing her to be reunited with her husband again. The eccentric officer, who she had somewhat grown fond of in the short duration of getting to know him, saw Derek standing there and returned her gaze with a wink of approval.
"Go get yer man, honey! He's waiting for ya!" he said before gently releasing her hands from his grasp. She knew she would never forget this man and all the kindness he had shown her.
After Melissa turned and ran as quickly as her legs could carry her, hurrying towards the crowd, she soon discovered getting to Derek would be a lot harder than she expected. She was confronted with a mob of people that refused to get out of her way. Tears of hopelessness streamed down her face as she moved with the dense mob of people who were all eager to take Derek's picture.
She could feel her legs trembling as she fought her way through the masses of people that were flashing their cameras in his direction, and shouting from the rooftops with mad hysteria. I haven't seen so much publicity over one man since the OJ Simpson trial, she thought, feeling someone from the crowd reach out and gently brush up against her skin.
It was as if something instinctively told Melissa to look in front of her, when she caught a glimpse of David being accompanied out of Albert's estate in a brutal fashion alongside two officers, with his hands fastened securely behind his back in handcuffs.
He was consistently screaming at something that wasn't there, which had lead to a further commotion in front of the frantic crowd of people anxious to get David behaving like a homicidal maniac on camera. His face was covered in marks, and there were deep inflicted lacerations all over his open chest, exposed from his shirt being ripped open. Melissa noticed the marks were identical to the ones Derek would get on his chest.
"Get in the car and shut the hell up, pretty boy!" she overheard one of the officers scream at him. He refused to comply and began to struggle instead. The officer violently booted him into the back of the car. David turned to try and overtake the tall, beefy officer. He charged headfirst into the officer's stomach. David's attempts failed him, as the officer quickly wrapped his arms around David's sides and hauled him to the ground in a heap.
The officer then proceeded to shove him into the car for the final time. He instructed David to be quiet and not try pull another stunt like that again or else he would have to be forced to subdue him with his taser gun.
Reporters were flashing their cameras and smartphones at David as he was being violently thrown in the back of the car. Melissa shuddered to think at what a spectacle this would make on the news. "Mad Man Tries to Resist Arrest", should make for a notable read on tomorrow morning's newspaper, she thought, still glued to this catastrophe in front of her.
She overheard David telling them that he had been brutally attacked by some creature like woman and that his groin region was bleeding because she had repeatedly raped him. The officers seated beside David unexpectedly broke out in hysterical fits of laughter, as if they thought he was crazy and didn't believe a word he just said.
David's eyes narrowed down towards the window. His face had gone from complete hopelessness to lighting up brighter than a fireworks display at the sight of her standing there. He immediately pressed his face up against the window, gazing at her with his mouth hung wide open, as if he had just witnessed a ghost standing before him.
The window was slightly open, which gave the lunatic just enough room to stick his head out the window. She grimaced at his horrid pale complexion and bloodshot eyes when the natural light reflected on his facial features.
"Melissa, you are alive! Thank heavens! It's a miracle!" he gasped, trying to delude her into thinking he cared that she was was here and was still very much in the land of the living.
"What do you want David?" she asked him bitterly, wondering what the hell he was doing here.
"I've been framed!" he started babbling on, like a deranged mad man. "This woman in the house, she's the one doing this to both Derek and I!" He paused for a moment when the officers ordered him to be quiet in the back of the car. This gorgeous man, who always exuded such arrogance and sophistication, seemed somewhat pitiful and pathetic to her now.
"Please, Melissa, please! You have to believe me. I've been set up!"
He let out a sigh of resignation. She watched his eyes navigate towards something in the hedges before looking back at her with a trace of melancholy etched on his face. She was well aware all of this was just emotional manipulations to coax her into getting him out of this situation. All he would do is continue striking his reign of terror in their lives.
"I'm sorry about what happened back at April's house," he said, feigning genuineness. "I never meant to hurt you, I was just trying to diffuse the situation. You know I would never hurt a pretty little hair on your head."
Melissa watched him study her expectant, protruding stomach underneath her dress, the corners of his mouth twisting into that same maniacal smirk he had given her moments before trying to rape her and letting her almost die. She felt nothing but resentment and bitterness for him now. All she wanted was for him to pay.
"Now, you need to listen to me, baby," David started to say, lowering his voice as if he didn't want anyone to hear what he was about to say. She cringed when he called her that. He didn't seem to notice, or if he did, he showed no signs of caring. He continued, "Somewhere in that house, Albert's entire fortune is buried. Derek would be an idiot passing up this once in a lifetime opportunity."
He hesitated when he heard the car starting up, knowing that he only had limited time now to say what he needed to say. "All you have to do is work together with me on this and help me get out of here. It's a win-win for both of us. I know for a god-damn fact that crazy old loon, Albert, has buried every penny he ever had to his name in that house - and that fucking bitch is the only one who knows where it is! I couldn't get through to Derek. He's too set in his own ways to think rationally, but you! You of all people should know how much you need this, especially after everything that has happened to the both of you. Just Imagine, a life of independence, where you would never have to worry your pretty little head over money ever again. Just think of the life you could have away from all this madness and chaos. I'm not expecting you to do this for me, but at least do this for Derek and your kids, right? What do you say?! Will you help me get back what's rightfully ours?!"
Melissa, had no idea, what he was talking about. She distinctly remembered Derek signing all the necessary legal documentation to take full ownership over Albert's estate, but there had been nothing mentioned of anything monetary on the forms. However, she recalled the letter Albert wrote that had clearly staten otherwise. After a moment of thought, she decided against it. Even if there was a fortune buried in that house, she knew the entity would never give it to any of them without putting up a fight.
Melissa was just about to walk away when she overheard the officer telling him to shut the hell up and save it for the judge before closing the window, cutting off any further communication with her. She watched the car pull out of the driveway and continued to watch it leave until the vehicle was, at last, out of her sight. She caught a tear that fell down one of the apples of her cheeks with her index finger. A sense of relief rushed through her when she knew that he could never hurt her or her family again.
She was just about to head back into the direction of the crowd when the call that she had been waiting for had come through from her sister April. April said she was with Holly and explained they had gone underground until the tornado passed. Melissa burst into tears of happiness, feeling a surge of euphoria rush through her as soon as she heard the news that Holly and her sister were safe. Her prayers had been answered.
She kept watching Derek in the distance from where she stood. He was talking to one of the officers in front of him. She could feel the tears streaming down her face. Just looking at her husband from afar, watching him, longing to be with him. Even though he couldn't see her, it felt so good just to be able to look at him again, knowing with assurance that he was there for the first time in what felt like a lifetime of being apart from him.
"I'm glad you're safe," Melissa murmured, "I have to call you back." She was becoming to feel lightheaded, though she couldn't tell whether it was the surge of emotions running through her brain or the hormones from her pregnancy. She scolded herself for being on her pregnant feet in these uncomfortable heels for so long.
"Give my love to Holly, and tell her Mommy is coming home soon," she breathed under the tears of elation before at last ending the call with her sister.
"Mommy and Daddy," she said aloud to herself, clinging to hope that Derek would no longer be a fugitive running from the law after today. She buried her phone into the pocket of her coat and proceeded to steer herself in Derek's direction. Her stride was no longer hurried, like before. While she gradually wandered through the energetic mob of reporters and people, who had come to spectate this upheaval that had erupted at Albert's estate, she started to have a bad feeling that something ominous would be welcoming her instead.
Just as she had last made it through the crowd, to her horror, Derek was nowhere to be seen. She began to panic when she felt the lights flashing on her. All she wanted was to see her husband. Instead, she was met with nothing but a vacant, lonely place in front of swarms of hundreds of unfamiliar faces surrounding her.
No...she thought to herself horrified, feeling her heart race in her chest with fear that she had lost him all over again. She spun her head around, her eyes frantically scanning every person in the crowd. Still, Derek was nowhere to be seen.
Melissa was just about to move toward a placid-looking officer with thinning blonde hair in the hopes he could assist her when she felt someone tap her gently on the shoulder blade.
"Melissa?" She heard that familiar voice say from behind her. "Melissa, baby? is that really you?" The male voice, she knew so well, said again, with a more upbeat mirthful tone in his voice this time.
Melissa stood there without looking around and facing him for a moment. She felt as if her legs were about to give way just at the sound of hearing his voice again. She dried her eyes before finding the strength to, at last, turn her head around, where she was confronted with Derek standing in front of her. She could see the strain visible in the dark hollows of his eyes straight away. Derek was in tears. He moved a hand along his matted black hair before finding the words to speak.
"I-I-I thought you were dead," he choked, as he reached out and ran his fingers across her tear-stained face, drying her eyes with his fingertips. She knew very well that she would more than likely regret doing this in front of a live audience, but she didn't care. She'd been wanting to do this from the moment she first laid eyes on Derek today.
"Kiss me," she whispered to him in acute distress. "Kiss me, and don't ever stop."
Melissa couldn't restrain herself any longer. All she could think of now was feeling his soft, warm lips on hers and his body pressed up against her. It was as if time came to a standstill when her lips at last met his, but the flutter in her stomach only intensified. Melissa's heart pounded in her chest as her knees got weaker. All she could focus on now was how much she missed how soft his lips felt against her mouth, addictively invading all her senses. It was still all too good to believe. All she knew at that moment was that she never wanted it to end.
When they did at last come up for air, Derek stood there with his mouth gaping open, wondering what the hell just happened. They were met with an overwhelming round of applause from the people cheering them on in the crowd. A group of rednecks in an old Cadillac were wolf-whistling and howling when they witnessed Melissa take charge and kiss him like that.
After holding Derek in her arms and resting her head on his shoulders for a brief while, they were interrupted by a bug-eyed, middle-aged, officer with silver-grey hair. He seemed genuinely uncomfortable, in that moment, of his role of being a Lieutenant. He cleared his throat, and that's when Melissa instinctively knew this is where her happy ending would be ripped away from her.
"May I have a word with you - without your wife please, sir?" the lieutenant asked, adjusting his black-rimmed glasses that were sitting precariously on the bridge of his nose.
The officer's eyes navigated to Melissa's and gave her a soft, awkward smile as if he were trying to appease his conscience for what he was about to do.
"This won't take but a moment, ma'am. "
She watched Derek turn and face her. He gave her a reassuring smile as if everything would be alright. He wanted her to believe he had all of this under control, even though she doubted this would end well for them. She felt that black cloud of darkness surround her again, which left her believing that there would be no happy ending for them after all.
Just before Derek had to leave to go down to police headquarters, Melissa tugged onto his shirt, preventing him from leaving. He was kept in handcuffs until he could prove his innocence.
She ran her fingers over his unkempt face, feeling the tears welling up in her eyes at the sight of seeing Derek in handcuffs again.
After she kissed him one final time, she whispered in his ear and told him that she was pregnant with their second child.
Derek didn't answer her. Instead, he pulled her tightly in his grasp. He breathed into her ear and quietly told her how much he loved her and swore he would never be apart from her again. Melissa closed her eyes, crying hysterically into his shirt for several minutes, wishing she could believe him.
He sounded so confident about the promise that he had just made to her. Now that she had him back after so long, she refused to leave his side. She couldn't bear the idea of losing him all over again.
It wasn't fair, she thought to herself through tears again. This is not how it was supposed to end today.
Suddenly, two strapping police officers came charging in their direction from out of nowhere to take him away. Melissa stood there in tears, watching them escort Derek to the same police car David was taken in. Derek turned and faced Melissa one last time. His hazel-green eyes were filling up with tears. It hurt him, having to leave Melissa like this. She was forced to accept the fact that may very well be the last time she ever saw Derek again.
Edited and revised.✔
Word count: 3821k
Thank you for reading this chapter! Emotions are running high between Derek and Melissa, as they are reunited again! The epilogue will be up next, then this story will be finished. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Big, Big things are about to happen for Derek and his family, so stay tuned! If you enjoyed this chapter please don't forget to vote and comment. Your support means the world! Thanks again!