COPYRIGHT © SARAH MARTIN 2015
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THIS BOOK OR ANY PORTION OF THIS BOOK THEREOF MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED OR USED IN ANY MANNER WHATSOEVER WITHOUT THE WRITTEN PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR. ANY UNAUTHORIZED COPYING, BROADCASTING, MANIPULATION OR INFRINGEMENT OF THIS COPYRIGHT IS PUNISHABLE BY LAW.
Today's song is "Lie to Me (Denial)" by Red. This cover ------------------------> over there, was made by the gorgeous sarbar6996, who took the time out to hand draw it for me. She's such a dedicated fan :) This chapter is dedicated to her for that reason <3
Part Twenty-Three
Saturday, February 13, 2010
My head was pounding and my entire body ached. My butt was numb from sitting on the floor for so long. My wrists and ankles were red from rope burns. I just wanted to close my eyes and never wake up. I wanted this nightmare to be over, even if it meant the end of me.
"Where's Steve," I heard Sam mutter, breaking the gruelling silence. As opposed to a question, she said it more like she was making a statement, emphasizing the fact that he had been gone a long time.
Mary shrugged, "I don't know, but I hope something horrible happened to him."
I ignored Mary's comment and asked aloud, "What was that commotion we heard earlier?" more to myself than anything else. We didn't know at the time, but what we heard was Lilah escaping and Steve falling down the stairs.
"Who knows," Julia responded, shrugging.
Several minutes of silence followed until Sam announced with despair, "I can't stop thinking about Sabrina..." I looked at her next to me as she glanced at her bound hands, one of them still red and swollen from when Steve stood on it earlier in the night. She started sniffling, evident that she had been trying not to cry. "It must have been..."
"Horrible," I finished.
Mary put her head between her legs, "It should have been me," she moaned, barely audible.
My eyes widened, "What? Why?" I asked her, concern in my voice. "No one deserved what happened to her. Not you. Not even Sabrina."
Mary wasn't the only one fighting tears, "I just... The way I came down on her before he... I feel so bad," it was becoming difficult for her to talk through her weeping now, "I c-c-called her a b-b-b-itch and I c-c-can't ap-p-p-pologize because she's G-G-G-GOONE!" She wailed, tilting her head back in anguish. I wanted so badly to comfort her, to give her a hug and tell her everything was going to be okay, even though I didn't really believe it myself. But I couldn't.
"Sabrina loved you, Mary," I said, "she wouldn't want you to beat yourself up."
"I wish she was here," Sam mumbled.
Silence followed, save for Mary and Sam's quiet sobbing. And then I heard the most miraculous sound. It was so amazing that I thought I must have been imagining it. But then I saw the recognition on my friends faces and I knew it was real. We could hear sirens.
They became louder and louder, and as they did, the ecstatic grin on my face got bigger and bigger.
I knew right away that it must have been my parents who called them. They wouldn't just stand by and give Steve what he wants while their daughters were being tortured. I just knew it. But what would Steve do? Was he going to be really angry?
"Julia," I smiled, "We're going to be saved." I slid closer to her and tried to take her hand, but you could imagine the difficulty seeing as our hands were bound. I could see the hope and relief on my sisters face right away. In that moment, I had never been happier that we were together. I had never been happier that she was my sister.
Mary and Sam were now crying out of happiness, I knew. It was nearly hysterical and they began to laugh as they both realized how ridiculous they looked crying with the largest grins on their faces.
The bliss was suddenly demolished when we heard pounding out in the hallway of stomping footsteps.
The door was thrust open and swung, banging against the wall, causing all of us to jump – With the exception of Steve who was now standing in the doorway, his fists curled and nostrils flaring in absolute rage. I had never seen him so angry and the sight of him looking at us like that, caused shivers all up and down my body – Not good shivers. My blood ran cold at the look in his eyes. When I saw him, I quickly assumed that he was enraged because of the police.
And then he spoke, and the feeling in my body intensified, "Which one of you little whores managed to escape?" He barked. It was the furthest thing I expected to come out of his mouth.
I could only utter, "Huh."
Confusion was carved on each of our faces as he stalked forward, staring at us.
"Wha-" Julia started, but he cut her off abruptly, pointing in her direction without looking at her.
"Unless you're about to confess, I don't want to hear anything from you, cunt."
Her lips were rendered taut at his words, and I glared at him for calling my sister that name.
He saw our confused faces and started, "Alright, let me shed some light on the situation since you annoying bitches seem to be so determined to act innocent," he took a step forward. "Not to mention the fact that there is now Police outside the house," at his words, it was only then that I realized he was right. The sirens were the loudest they could be, because they were here. "But, I just came upstairs to find Trace's body gone." My eyes widened, What? How is that possible? I thought.
I began, "Where is-"
But he cut me off, seeming to read my mind, "Never mind her," he said, looking at me, "We're talking about your dead boyfriend."
My mouth formed a perfect "O" and I almost burst into tears right then. "Now, unless he magically came back to life, stood up and walked away, one of you must have moved his body, right?" he said, with an unsurprising condescending tone. "I saw him. He was dead. Lifeless. Gone."
"Steve," Mary acknowledged, "are you an idiot?" His brows perked at her surprising words. "Clearly we're all still tied up, unable to go to the bathroom, much less move Trace's body for who knows what reason," she paused, gauging his reaction, "you must be hallucinating."
I continued, "I'm sure if you go back to wherever you left him, he'll still be there." Imagining him dead on the floor was so painful for me.
"DON'T PATRONIZE ME!" He screamed, with his eyes shut tight, his face turning red and the veins on his forehead and fists popping out noticeably.
He suddenly turned on his heel and left the room in a hurry, scoffing. I could assume that he was going to double check his assessment on Trace because our words got to him.
After he left, the only thing I heard was my sister mumbling, "I have to go to the bathroom," followed by an in unison response of, "me too" by the other two girls.
I sighed, calling Steve back into the room so he could hopefully let us use the restroom.
--
William
William's eyes were wide as he looked at his boss in surprise. "Well?" The chief pressed.
He nodded in response, having difficulty forming words, "I recognize it."
"I knew you would," he said, then continued, "Daniel Kennedy is the guy in Fort Worth who's wanted for the attempted murder of his girlfriend."
"Right," he replied, "He was on the run."
"Not anymore," the Chief answered with a decisive expression. "Anyway, the girlfriend's name is Katheryn Belmont. I want you and Alex to head over to the girl's apartment and talk to her so we can learn more about our guy." Alexandra Emerson was the detective's partner. They had been working together for years, and their work buddies constantly jokingly compared them to Elliot Stabler and Olivia Benson. (A/n: If you don't know these names, google Law and Order: SVU)
"Where is Ella?" William questioned, using the well-known nickname she had adapted at the station, his eyes scanning the surrounding area for her.
Charles shrugged, responding with, "She's around somewhere."
Immediately at the mention of her name, Alex suddenly appeared from around the side of the ambulance and was speaking to Lilah. William and the detective approached her, with the Chief saying, "Speak of the devil," when they reached her.
She was looking at Lilah with a concerned gaze and when she looked up and saw her two colleagues, she wore a serious scowl. Alexandra was a beautiful woman, with her long, dark wavy hair that she was wearing in a casual side ponytail, and her mesmerizing sky blue eyes. But she had the habit of scaring men off with her intimidating composure. She was tall and thin and very serious all the time. Except when she was drinking. William knew that from experience.
"Hello boys," she greeted. "I was just seeing how Lilah was doing, since you two left her all by her lonesome," she teased.
Lilah responded with a self-conscious smile, "It's fine."
William looked at her sympathetically, "I'm afraid we'll have to leave you by yourself again, Lilah."
Chief Malick finished, "The three of us still have some business to discuss."
Lilah nodded, "Alright," then finished with a quick, "Please help my brother."
Alex took Lilah's hand and squeezed it comfortingly, "We'll do everything we can. Just hang in there. Why don't you lie down for a while?"
Lilah considered this for a moment before agreeing, "Okay." She climbed further into the ambulance and made herself comfortable on a stretcher, while the three Police officer's shuffled away.
"What else can you tell us, Chief?" Alex questioned immediately when they were out of earshot.
"We know that Daniel has a partner," he answered, "We found him outside the house with Lilah but when he heard us coming he bolted for the forest. Our SWAT guys caught up to him. It looks like Daniel was promising him some of the money if he delivered some DVD's to the families of the hostages. He only made it to one of the houses before we were called."
"Katelyn's parents?" Will inquired.
The chief nodded, "They should be here momentarily."
"What about the other families?" Asked Alexandra.
"They've been contacted." Charles Malick delved into the folder again and displayed six photos. "These are the school pictures of each of the hostages." He showed them Katelyn's first. She was pretty with an innocent presence. She had a heart-shaped face with medium length, light brown hair, turquoise eyes and full lips. The chief showed them Trace's photo next, then Mary's, Samantha's, Julia's, and finally Sabrina's. She stood out the most out the group of friends, with her dark make-up and startling black hair. She was definitely the rebel and trouble-maker out of the posse.
As William's eyes gazed across the photo, there was suddenly a commotion near the driveway and they heard, "Chief, you better come see this!"
The three adults followed the voice to a van which Will assumed belonged to the kidnappers. The man who shouted for the Chief stepped aside and they looked in the back, seeing the clearly dead body of a girl who was obviously Sabrina Jones.
"Damn," Chief Malick muttered as the three gaped in shock.
"We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey."
-Kenji Miyazawa