Copyright © 2011 preciious-diamondz
Chapter 13
A week passed, and Marian, along with Archer, the boys and Lucy, went to the private funeral of her father. Marian only wanted a few people at the funeral, so she had picked the closest people to her.
Her father had kept to himself after his wife died, so he had little in the way of real friends.
Marian said a few words as the coffin was being lowered into the ground, and afterwards, laid some yellow roses on top of the grave.
“Yellow to symbolise the joy of life he experience while he was here,” said Lucy as she hugged Marian.
The boys all had their heads bowed in respect of Marian’s father.
***
After the funeral was over, Archer came up to Marian and put his arm around her.
“Are you going to stay on at your father’s place, or are you planning on something different?” he asked quietly.
“I plan to stay at my home for as long as I can. It’s where I grew up, and I have no intention of leaving it. There are so many good memories in that house – I think its best I stay.”
Archer nodded.
“Will you need any help?” he asked.
Marian shook her head.
She needed to sort stuff out for herself, she was no longer a child.
Archer gave her a hug.
“Take care of yourself Marian,” he whispered in her ear.
“You too,” she said.
Just as they were about to let go, Archer placed a necklace in her hand.
“Everything will be alright Marian.”
They let go of each other and went off in different directions – Archer following the boys and Marian going over to Lucy’s car.
“Home?” asked Lucy.
Marian nodded.
She looked down at the necklace.
It was plain sliver chain with a locket dangling off it. It was heart-shaped and had the word ‘Marian’ engraved on the front with simple swirls around the edges of it. She opened the locket and smiled at the inside. It had a picture of her father on the right side, and nothing on the left.
‘A space for another person close to my heart,’ thought Marian as she slipped it on.
The girls got in to the car and Lucy sped off, headed back for Marian’s house.
***
“I’ll be back shortly,” said Lachlan to Guy.
“Where are you going?” asked Guy.
“I’m going to collect what’s rightfully mine,” smiled Lachlan, unlocking the car and getting in.
***
“Now Marian, you sure you don’t need me to do anything for you?” asked Lucy as they got closer to the house.
“I’m fine Lucy, in time things will get better.”
They pulled into Marian’s driveway and both girls got out.
They embraced each other in a long hug, before finally letting go.
“Now if you have any problems just call me,” said Lucy, getting back in the car.
Marian waved to her friend as she drove out of the drive way.
She waited until Lucy was out of sight before going back into the house.
***
Lucy drove carefully down the road, thinking of how strong her best friend was.
She looked straight ahead and saw a black car driving towards where she had just come from.
She got a closer look at the car and had a funny feeling in her gut.
“It can’t be,” she said to herself.
Lucy took another look in her rear vision mirror and realised the possibility of it being Lachlan.
She picked up her phone and dialled Archer, wondering what he would say.
***
Marian was sitting in her room, trying to figure out what she should do next.
She heard a loud knock come from downstairs and was puzzled as to who it would be.
“Coming!” she called, running down the stairs and to the front door.
She opened it and immediately regretted it.
“Hello Marian,” smiled Lachlan, walking inside.
“Lachlan, this really isn’t a good time. My father only passed away a week ago and I’m still trying to organise everything.”
Lachlan chuckled.
“You don’t need to organise anything – I’ll be the one taking care of you.”
The way he said it made Marian’s blood boil.
***
“I’ve gotta go to Marian’s house right now,” said Archer, hanging up on Lucy.
“Why?” asked Dan.
“She might be in trouble. Lucy thinks she saw Lachlan’s car. If this is the case, I don’t want to know what will happen if we don’t get there in time.”
“Let’s not waste any time then,” said Alex, starting to run through the forest towards Marian’s house.
***
“No please Lachlan, I need time to grieve,” said Marian.
“Trust me Marian, I have a way of making people forget things,” he said, taking a step closer to her.
He grabbed her and pinned her to him, determined to have his way.
“Now you will come with me Marian. I have everything in the world at my disposal, which in turn benefits you.”
Marian shook her head firmly.
“This is my home and I will stay here,” she said, standing her ground.
“Really?” asked Lachlan in fake shock, as he pulled out a lighter and walked over to a set of curtains.
“Don’t you dare!” yelled Marian in realisation, running towards him.
He lit the curtains and they quickly caught alight.
He grabbed Marian to stop her from running away.
He set the carpet on fire before taking Marian and dragging her out of the house.
She screamed and kicked as hard as she could, trying in vain to get back to the house.
Lachlan grabbed something from out of his pocket and put against her mouth.
Marian slumped into his arms as he carried her to the car.
He took one last look at the house, grinning from ear to ear.
He carefully placed Marian in the passenger seat and got into the driver’s side, speeding off down the street.
***
“Archer!” cried Alex, who had got to the house first.
Archer saw the bottom of the house had smoke pouring out.
Without thinking, he and the boys ran straight towards it.
“Alex, me and you will climb the vines to Marian’s room while the rest of you wait outside,” said Archer as he began to climb up the vines.
Alex went up after him and reminded the boys to wait at the bottom.
Once he and Archer were in the room, they immediately started to search for Marian.
“She’s not here,” yelled Alex.
“Get her stuff then,” called Archer, pulling photos and other precious things out of the room.
He ran to the window and tossed the valuables down to his friends.
“Get out of there!” yelled Seth.
Alex and Archer grabbed a few more things, including Marian’s disguise.
They practically slid down the vines before running back into the safety of the trees.
“Where’s Marian?” asked Tyler worriedly.
Archer was panting.
“Not there. I think Lachlan’s taken her. He probably burnt the house down if he got any refusal from her – which is most likely since Marian doesn’t take orders from anyone easily.”
“What are you going to do now?” asked Ryan.
“I’m going go to get her,” said Archer.
“No,” said Seth, “In time Archer, for now you need to get back to the campsite. Marian’s strong, she will handle the situation well.”
As much as it pained Archer to let Marian go, he knew he had to step back and think of a plan before charging in to rescue her.
***
Marian woke up and slowly opened her eyes.
She felt groggy and sick.
She looked at her surroundings.
She was in a huge king size bed, and a plasma screen was on the wall opposite the bed, as well as an ensuite next to it. To her right was a spacious balcony and a beautifully decorated duchess table, and to her left was a wardrobe, a set of drawers, with the bedroom’s door next to it.
She got up cautiously and made her way over to the ensuite (bathroom attached the room). She walked over to the sink, turned on the tap and splashed her face with the cool water to wake herself up.
Just then she heard talking from outside the room.
Marian ran back to the bed and lay down, pretending to still be asleep.
“Here she is,” smiled Lachlan proudly.
Guy followed Lachlan over to the bed and frowned at Marian.
“She should have woken up by now,” he commented.
Lachlan shrugged.
“I used quite a bit of the stuff to knock her out, she was screaming like a banshee and she’s pretty strong for a girl.”
“Wonder how she’ll take to all of this,” said Guy thoughtfully.
Lachlan smirked.
“I’m sure she’ll fall in love with me soon. I mean, she’ll probably hate me for a little – but soon she won’t be able to keep herself off me – which is totally fine.”
Marian wanted to throw up.
‘Come close enough to me and I’ll kill you with my bare hands you little prick,’ thought Marian bitterly.
Both men walked out of the room, shutting the door behind them.
Marian took this as her chance to run.
She got off the bed and made her way over to the sliding glass door that lead out onto the balcony.
She threw it open and took two steps out, before being grabbed from behind.
“Lachlan, we got her,” said a man into a walkie talkie.
Marian growled in frustration at her stupidity.
She saw Lachlan and Guy come back through the door and knew she had to take them all on if she wanted to get out right there and then.
She kneed the man holding onto her in the groin.
He let go of her and fell to the ground in agony.
Marian sprinted towards Lachlan and Guy, who were both surprised at her sudden viciousness.
She punched Guy straight in the jaw and was about to tackle Lachlan when she was grabbed from behind.
“Let go of me!” screamed Marian, swinging wildly in the arms of her captor.
“Leave!” ordered Lachlan.
Both the man and Guy walked out of the room, shutting the door behind them.
Lachlan pushed Marian up against the nearest wall and stared into her eyes.
She remembered her dream and began to struggle again.
“Shhh, now Marian stop that. You can’t go anywhere without my permission so don’t even bother trying – you’ll just waste more energy, which you could be using on other things,” he said suggestively.
He looked down at her body hungrily and then back into her eyes again.
He bought his lips closer to hers, and just as they were about to touch, Marian head butted him hard.
He fell back in pain and roughly grabbed her.
He threw her onto the bed and climbed on top of her.
Marian panicked – this was definitely worse than just a kiss.
“Please Lachlan,” she whimpered. “I’ll be good.”
He glared down at her, thinking on what she’d just said.
“Kiss me like you mean it then – show me you didn’t mean to do that,” he growled.
Marian let him plant his lips firmly on hers.
He was a little demanding at first and licked her lip, asking for entrance.
Since she didn’t want a repeat of him throwing her down to the bed and probably doing much worse things – she reluctantly opened her mouth.
He put his tongue in and entwined it with hers.
He wrapped his hands in her hair; just in case she tried to pull away.
“You’re an amazing kisser,” he whispered breathlessly in her ear.
After a minute of solid kissing, he got up off the bed and walked to the door.
Just before he left, he turned to look at her.
“I don’t want to have to punish you – but next time you say or try anything on me; it’ll take a lot more than a kiss to save you from being punished.”
Marian let another tear escape and clutched her necklace – how long would it be before he demanded more than a kiss from her?
***
Archer and his friends had gone back to the camp site and had put Marian’s precious belongings in a safe place.
They sat quietly, watching as Tyler boiled noodles in a pot.
“Archer, look Marian will be alright. You have to be careful though – you said you’d promised her father you’d look after her, but what use are you if you’re dead? The best way to help Marian is to have a fool-proof plan.”
“But how?” asked Archer. “I need to get her out of there right now.”
“In time you will get her out. But think about it – in a very strange way she’s safer there. Now I know you think I’m mad for saying that, but seriously going in there is stupid. We got lucky last time – we might not the next time round,” said Seth firmly.
Archer looked at them all.
“Well I feel as though I’m letting something terrible happen to her,” he mumbled.
“No Archer, none of this is your fault. Now try and relax, may be you can organise something tomorrow, just to make sure Marian’s alright,” said Tyler, beginning to dish out the noodles.
***
“Marian, time for dinner,” said Lachlan, walking into the room less than five minutes after he'd last left her.
Marian got up and walked over to the door where Lachlan was standing.
She had thought about attacking him again; but was starting to realise he was a lot stronger than her.
He took her hand and led her down the stairs towards the dining area.
***
“Turn on the radio Alex,” said Seth from the fire.
The radio crackled as Alex tuned it.
On more recent news, General Crosgrove has told the Australian Government he plans to slowly pull more troops out of Afghanistan, which raises hopes by the beginning of next year they could be all safely back. The General also states he is looking forward to finally being back on Australian soil after been gone for so many years. Back to you Brad.
Alex turned the radio right down.
He had an excited look on his face and was grinning like a mad person.
“We were under his command at the war! This is fantastic – one of Australia’s greatest military leaders and strong believer in justice is returning in just under a year!”
The boys looked at Alex as if he’d grown three heads.
“So?” said Dan.
“We knew him personally; he treated us like his own sons. Don’t you get it? This town is corrupted by gangs and crime and no one’s willing to touch it. Once he gets back I think there might be a hope to have justice restored.”
“Even so, what do we do in the mean time?” asked Archer, who already had the answer.
“We go off and fight – but instead of going overseas, we do it from home. For Marian’s father and for Lucas, the people who died believing there are some things still worth fighting for."
***
“Lachlan, Guy needs you right away. He’s dealing with one of your best customers – who seems a little less than impressed about a few matters,” called a man from the next room over.
Lachlan growled.
He had just sat down to a nice meal with his new girlfriend.
“I’ll be back shortly Marian,” said Lachlan, walking out of the room.
As soon as he had well and truly left the room, she heard footsteps coming into the room from another direction.
“Marian?” called a familiar voice she had not heard in (what felt like) forever.