4/9/2016
Snow Patrol- Run
Chapter 27
I awoke suddenly, I don't know how long I had slept but my arms were numb and my mouth tasted sour. Wiping my face across the pillow I looked up, the light was off above me and Kieran was sat at the table, a torch pointed at a thick set book, my heart warmed slightly.
"I saw you trying to sleep, turned off the light for you" He muttered, sensing the change of pace in my breath while I shimmied upwards awkwardly, satin on satin wasn't a good combo when you were armless and legless practically.
I itched my nose with my shoulder and leant my head against the wall, I felt like someone had took a chisel to my skull, repeated strobes of painful light shot across my head and behind my eyes, leaving a buzzing numbness before the next hit struck. My ears grabbed at the static electricity in the air and the occasion mutterings of people in the next room and the smell. My god, the smell.
It was a mixture of blood, vomit, pee and just a stench that was enough to repel rodents.
My stomach growled, shocking me and I jumped a little, looking at the tiny, protruding bump that touched my dress I realised that I had something to fight for. It hadn't sunk in yet, that I was pregnant and I don't suppose it had to but it did sink in that now I had a family that cared about me, that loved me and a baby, a child that I would do my damn best to protect and mould into a precious little Satan.
I heard chains rattle and a knock at the door, the steel rattling before it opened and Kieran stood up, flicking the light on fast to welcome a bruised faced Liam, shuffling into the doorway with a face like he head butted a shovel.
"Privacy" Liam snarled and Kieran nodded, dropping his book and torch and leaving. I shook at the sight of him, the door closed and It became noticeable that fighting back was not worth it.
My breath got quicker and I felt dizzy, I was having a panic attack.
"Oh god" I panicked, taking sharp, violent breaths while I clutched at the light to keep me awake
"Take deep breaths" Liam said, standing next to me and holding a cup of water to my chapped, blue lips. I counted to ten and took slow, long breaths to calm me down but vomit began to creep up my throat, battling against the onslaught of water that rushed down my open throat, I tried to stop it but I began to choke, struggling for air while Liam pushed what felt like 8 litres of water down my throat.
I coughed most of it up, watching as he backed up and slammed the plastic pint cup onto the wooden table, splashing droplets onto the body guard's book while I gasped for air like a fish out of water, literally.
"Where's Tee?" I asked, my throat burned and my voice was husky from the choking session I endured.
"She's fine, she's awake and screaming for you ... was screaming for you but we put a sock in it" He laughed, pulling one of the two chairs out from beneath the table and sat down, legs spread while he bent forward. He struggled briefly, pulling something from his back pocket and held the small object in his hand, letting the gold chain of a strap unravel from the bag and fall from his parted fingers.
He played with my bag I had brought back from the party
"Don't hurt her, Liam" I sighed, moving my hands beneath my body slowly and awkwardly so I was sat on my hands.
"I'll do what I want" He laughed, looking up at me through blonde eyelashes and thick eyebrows, his piercings moved slightly with the gesture. He wore baggy, black jeans and hiking boots clad in clumped mud and wet with snow. A tight, dark V neck T-shirt hung from his body although it was tight, his dog tags he inherited hung from his neck and clinked together, reflecting light onto his chest tattoo.
"Liam, Look at me" I snapped, despite the hatred I felt for him I knew him, I knew how much he was delusional and pained. It was like talking to an old friend, only he wasn't a friend and it didn't end very well.
He growled, tightening his hand on the bag
"If you cared for me so much then you'd respect my wishes" I spoke through gritted teeth, trying to maintain normal breaths and emotions when his dark, feral eyes met mine. Ignoring me he flicked the clasp of my bag and opened it, grabbing my phone I brought he flicked through the pictures I took tonight, or last night and shared a few laughs with me.
"You never did change your password" He whispered, leaning back and crossing his arms and legs, still staring at the phone.
"I don't have one to keep people out of my shit, I have one because I have valuable stuff on there- I don't give a rats ass who sees it" I snapped, biting my tongue with a gasp when he looked at me with a red, angered face.
Throwing the phone down on the floor he stamped on the screen, his foot colliding with the black rectangle. Smashing it into smithereens, the sound echoed around the room while bits of plastic and metal twanged around the floor. Continuing to ignore me he grabbed the money from my bag and counted it
"I'll keep this, you owe me it for putting up with your petty, jealous shit" He growled, shocking me
"There was nothing petty about asking you not to sleep with other girls when you were so 'in love' with me" I whispered, my heart burning with anger.
"I wouldn't sleep around If you slept with me" Liam snapped, taking my lipstick from my purse and winding it up then back down.
I sighed, groaning in frustration while he rifled through the tiny bag, sliding it onto the table before putting everything back into it.
"I've been looking for you" He spoke finally, standing up
"I looked everywhere, I wanted to say sorry and that I'm here to win you back" Liam choked, sitting on the bottom of the bed. Instinctively I moved upwards as fast as I could, my back burning against the cold concrete while he glared at me
"Sorry doesn't fix a lifetime of nightmares and ugly scars" My voice squeaked and I felt tears fight at my eyelids
"My name on your body is beautiful, it's what true love is" He snarled.
"True love is patience, honesty, trust – true love is not sending your 15 year old girlfriend out to sell your heroin then hitting her because she spent a dollar of the money on chewing gum" my voice trembled and I rocked forward onto my knees, spitting with rage.
"You tested me, we argued and fought and then we made up- we were perfect together" His voice raised and he crawled forward, knocking me back onto my back. "So we had a little break, I'm back for you" he shrugged, crawling over to me.
"It wasn't a break, it was the ending of a chapter I'd be more than happy to forget- you were the worst thing that ever happened to me and you will continue to be the epitome of hatred for me, you're nothing" I spat, phlegm landing onto his face and a surge of happiness shot through me briefly, almost as brief as the moment of silence before the back of his hand slammed down onto my cheek, snapping my head to the side.
He growled like a feral animal and stood up, moving to the side of the bed I was closest too and grabbing my face between his thumb and fingers, squeezing me hard before he slammed his lips onto mine, blood exploding into my mouth. I gagged, his lips moved around mine but my own plump, bleeding ones were tight shut like a baby being forced something they don't like. When I didn't reciprocate he grabbed my ankle and pulled it towards him, ripping the edges of my dress even more while he moved his body in between my body.
"I don't love you" I shouted, raising my leg in the air and bringing my heel down to the middle of his spine, he groaned and bent inwards.
I waited for him to move slightly, freeing my body before I sent my head barrelling into his face, smashing his nose while his blood popped and splatted over me.
"Not nice getting beat up is it" I shouted, pushing both of my legs beneath his body and kicking him off the bottom of the bed. He crumbled, his eyes red with tears but anger laced his face, a vein pressed at his temple and blood soaking him, his piercing had been ripped out.
"You tell me" He screamed, running towards me he picked me up by the neck and lifted my tiny, petite body from the bed and held me against the wall, raising his fist towards my ribs.
The baby
I panicked at the thought of him harming my little peanut, the little egg in my stomach that made me crave pickled onion space raiders and vinegar on pepperoni pizza and screamed, a blood curdling, hair raising, bone splitting scream while my legs kicked at his chest. His arm pulled back and I felt it rise, the vomit from fear, panic...my child and as though on cue the steel door opened and the two burly men ran in to the scene.
Both Liam and I were covered in dirt, dust and each other's blood and spit, I felt his grip disappeared and I crashed to the ground, curling up on the floor against the bedside table
"Clean this bitch up" He roared, leaving the room and wiping blood from his nose, After a few minutes I felt them leave, Kieran returning with an off coloured silver tray
"If you're going to dissect me can you wait till I'm dead?" I asked through swollen, bloodied lips.
"Actually I've got breakfast and a basin of water for you" he said, sliding the tray across the concrete. My shaking, nimble fingers were going blue.
"I'm going to untie you while you eat, I have a gun so don't try anything" He whispered but we both knew I didn't have the energy to fight back anymore.
I sighed, the sound of his penknife cutting the rope was satisfying and I cherished the feeling of moving my arms and fingers, fiddling with my nails and wiping my hair from my face I sighed, the simplest action made me happy.
I grabbed the tray, a McDonald's burger was still in the wrapper aside freezing cold fries and another pint cup of water was beside the bite size meal. I ate the meal gingerly, waiting for the arsenic to take effect.
"It's not poisoned, your sister got a big mac though- with a drink" He said with sad eyes, looking over at me. He looked so much like will but so different at the same time
"I think he was trying to prove a point" Kieran continued while I chugged at the water in seconds.
I leant my head back against the wall and rolled it, looking at him sideways before grabbing the basin and scrubbing at my face, the metal provided a distorted mirror that I used, clinging to a rag that was soaked while I washed the blood from my face and chest, washing along my neck and arms too.
"You did a number to him, huh?" He laughed, walking over to me and taking the tray and basin from me. I scrambled to my feet and pulled my hair onto of my hair, pulling the thin band from my hairdo out and piling all of my black locks into a bun atop of my head.
"Did I?" I asked, secretly satisfied
"Well put it this way, his face is still bleeding" Kieran laughed, cleaning the area up while I slumped back onto the bed.
He walked tall and smoothly, reminding me of Will the day he beat up Dean. An air of confidence and dominance surrounding him. Kieran grabbed my wrists in front of my carefully, rubbing the red raw rashes and wet them a little, putting a bit of the rag on either wrist after splitting it in half and wrapped rope above it to stop the restraints rubbing.
"Thank you" I smiled sullenly, scratching my nose
"How long did I sleep?" I asked, watching him move back to his seat where he turned the torch off and tried to dry off the speckles that landed on his book
"You were asleep for 9 hours and 12 minutes" He said, checking a stop watch
"You timed me?" I laughed
He smiled sideways and looked at me
"I timed myself, shift's almost over" He chuckled
"Another boring day at the office" I winced, sliding down the bed and looking up at the mismatched cables that hung from cracks in the ceiling.
"Too much paperwork" Kieran replied and there were a few moments of silence before he coughed and lit a cigarette, puffing on it and flicking ash into the bucket.
"Why is he doing this?" I asked, sitting up and wrapping my tied arms around my knees
"He told us not to ask questions, I don't condone this but he's paying us fifty grand each for this and I'm in shit creek without a paddle when it comes to debt" He spoke, smoke drifting from his nostrils slowly like a genie from a lamp.
I mulled it over in my head
"He's a fucking psycho though" Kieran finally spoke, sifting the tobacco through the filter.
"I know" I sighed, looking down.
"I just want to go home, he's been pulling this shit for years and I'm tired of it" my voice was weak
"What's the deal with you two" He coughed, putting the cigarette at and looking at me, leaning forwards while he fiddled with his lighter
"He was in a relationship with me from a really young age, 13 was when I first got with him and up until I was 15 he beat me up most days, cheated on me, got me to sell his gear which was watered down anyway" I muttered like it was no big deal.
"And he... did something I couldn't forgive and left and for the last 2, almost 3 years I've been hiding from him" I rubbed my temples.
"The novelty has worn off now, he's chased and chased me, targeted me, my family and the people I love so when I see him it's more of a 'here we go' as opposed to 'oh no'. We've tried to prosecute him but he slips under the radar and now I'm wondering if I'll make it out alive" I finished, crossing my legs beneath me
"If it helps we're here to scare you and your sister, not to hurt you" His brow knitted and anger flitted briefly across his face.
"It's not you two I'm worried about" I laughed nervously.
I'd been here one night already but I wasn't losing hope.