Chapter 7
Emily
“You’re sure?” Luke mumbles.
“Yes.”
He’s asked me this same question multiple times since we woke up this morning, but my answer hasn’t changed. Last night, after we took a shower together, he wrapped his arms around me, holding me until he fell asleep. I wasn’t as lucky, it took me hours to finally fall asleep, but I haven’t told him that. It wasn’t because of what happened between us, and I’m afraid he would think that was the reason. No matter what happens today, I’ll never regret what happened between us last night. Whether he knew it or not, I needed what happened between us, especially with what we have planned for today.
Last night, instead of quickly falling asleep like he did, my mind raced with all the possibilities of what could happen today. My biggest fear, the one that kept me awake for far too long, was that our plan would fail—that he would do to me what he did to Luke the other night. I’ll never forget what I heard that night or the sob that Luke let out in the shower or the way he clung to me when I wrapped my arms around him.
By the time I finally fell asleep, my mind was made up. No matter what happens, we have to try to get out of here. So this morning, when Luke has asked me that question, each time my answer has been the same. I’m still scared shitless of what might happen, but I’m more scared of what staying here could mean for us.
When we hear the locks disengaging, both of us stop breathing at that moment. This is it, this is the moment of truth. When we walk into the gym, everything changes. Luke takes my hand in his, squeezing it.
“BOY! GIRL! Let’s go.”
We make our way up the wooden steps to the kitchen where the monster awaits with a knife in his hand. As always, I keep my head down, not wanting to give him any indication that something is about to happen. Luke quickly leads us around the corner to the gym; I only let out the breath I was holding when I hear the locks engage behind us.
Luke simply nods toward the chair where I normally sit, before heading over to the weights. We don’t normally talk to each other while we’re in here, both of us convinced that he could be listening at the door, so today is no different. The only thing that is different is the barbell that he brings me a few minutes later.
Over the next hour, while he’s working out, I test the weight of the barbell. I picture what is about to happen, what I’m going to do over and over again until I can’t imagine it ending in any other way but him lying on the floor. I can’t let myself consider that our plan won’t work. When Luke moves to the treadmill I know our time is almost up. With the barbell in my hand, I move further back but also closer to the door so that when it opens I’m in the right position.
When the locks disengage, I immediately look for Luke, my panicked gaze finding his calm one.
I love you, he mouths.
I love you too, I silently say back.
“Let’s go,” he orders stepping further into the room.
Just before he turns around, I raise the barbell up high and manage to bring it down with all the power I can muster onto the back of his neck. He immediately falls, and the knife goes sliding across the floor, but before I can try to get it, Luke kicks it away making sure that he can’t get to it.
“You FUCKING bastard!” Luke kicks him in the ribs, but the large man that has ruined both of our lives, doesn’t move.
For the first time, I look at him…really look at the man who made our worst nightmares become a reality. He’s big, though not as big as he always looked now that he’s lying on the floor. His long, jet black hair hangs just over his eyes, but I can tell they’re closed. Looking at him, there’s nothing that screams monster. Nothing that screams “run away,” if you were to pass him on the sidewalk. Nothing that gives away how truly fucked up this man really is.
“Em!” Luke screaming at me finally pulls my attention away from the still unconscious body.
“What?”
“Go to the kitchen, see if you can find any food that we can bring. Crackers, bread, peanut butter, anything—throw it into a bag.”
“But…what if…”
“Go, I’ll take care of him,” the anger in his eyes is like something I’ve never seen before, but I follow his orders anyway.
I quickly rummage through the kitchen cabinets, grabbing a few things before trying to hunt down a shopping bag to put everything in. I grab a couple of large knives from the block on the counter, in case we need them for protection from an animal… or something.
“You fucking ruined my life!” I walk back into the gym just in time to watch Luke bring down the barbell onto the man’s hand. A groan is the only indication that he’s even still alive. “You’re a fucking sick crazy bastard, you know that? You fucking took my childhood from me! You took everything from me! And you tried to take it from her too! You don’t deserve to live; I should kill you right now for what you did to both of us. I should find a way to make you die a slow painful death. I should kill you—”
“Luke,” I drop the bags on the floor and rush over to him. As much as I know he deserves it, Luke would never forgive himself if he actually killed him, “let’s go.”
“I can’t…I need to…”
“He’s not going anywhere. We can lock him in here. Even if he gets out, it’s not like he can call the cops and report us missing.”
“I want to kill him. I need to make sure he doesn’t do this to anyone else.”
“We’ll let the cops deal with him, they’ll make sure he doesn’t see the light of day again.”
“I don’t have much faith in cops, Em. They’ve never helped me before, why would they now? I could kill him. I should kill him, just to make sure he can’t…”
“My dad’s a detective, he’ll make sure he pays.”
“He is?”
“Yeah…he always told me that child abusers get what they deserve when they’re in jail. Even prisoners don’t respect men who hurt children. He will pay there for what he did to you, Luke.”
“What he did to us, Em, to us.”
“He’ll pay. I promise my dad will make sure he pays.”
“How? We don’t even know his name or where we are?”
“There’s a stack of bills on the counter, I grabbed one. We have his name and address—my dad WILL find him, I promise.”
“But…” He glances back at the bloodied man on the floor who for so long had controlled every aspect of life.
“Come on, let’s leave this nightmare behind once and for all.”
With my hand in his, I lead him out of the room, grabbing the knife that he used every day to threaten us with. When the door closes behind us, for the first time we’re the ones locking the door from the outside. Luke turns and leads me in the opposite direction of the front door, but I don’t question it knowing he must have a plan. What I don’t expect is for him to stop in a laundry room; on top of the dryer are clean, folded clothes.
“It’s not much, but it’ll help,” he hands me a long T-shirt before grabbing one for himself. He sorts through the piles before handing me a pair of sweatpants.
“What about you?”
“That’s the only pair, I’ll be fine in these.” He shrugs.
“But…”
“You can’t walk out in just a t-shirt and panties, Em. It’s bad enough we don’t have shoes or blankets. Take the fucking pants.”
“Okay…thanks.”
“Let’s get the hell out of here.”
Heading out a side door, I step outside for the first time since this entire nightmare began. I stop only for the briefest moments to feel the sun on my face and the slight breeze in my hair. Luke squeezes my hand before leading me away and into the woods behind the house.