Chapter Thirty
Ally
Alone and lying on the cold, hard cement floor, I thought of my Sam. I would never get to see him again and my already shattered heart, broke even more. How would he take finding out that I was gone? What kind of man would he be when he grew up? I knew Frannie and Frank would do well by him. They loved him and he them. He would be ok, but there was only one way to make sure of it and that was to kill Tom. Something inside me clicked just then, knowing I had to do this without fail.
Now that the spotlight was no longer directly in my eyes, I looked around at the enormous room I was being kept in. Dirty. Old. Where was I? Maybe a factory? Big metal contraptions were at one end and the other end had rows upon rows of old wooden pallets like I had seen in grocery stores before. It had to be a warehouse of some kind. I needed to find a weapon to use. Something metal would be best. As I tried to slowly sit up, my body started screaming in pain. Reaching up, I lightly touched my eye and I realized it was swollen shut. Putting both my hands down gingerly, I tried to use them to push myself up. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from screaming.
My left arm didn’t work. Was that the cracking sound I heard when I was cut down? Damn it! How was I going to do this? Please God, help me.
With pure instinct and determination, I started scooting around looking for anything. I was sweating and panting in pain but I kept going, finding nothing useful. Panic and fear started to rip their way from my mind but then my hand touched something that sliced my fingertips. Shit! What was that? I reached for the piece of metal, gently lifting it to get a better look. Bingo! Hell, if I knew what it was, but it was sharp as hell on one side and big enough to do some damage. I scooted back to where I was lying before and put it under me, near my good arm. I lay there waiting for when they would come back. I would not go down without a fight and I prayed that when I died, I would be able to take Tom with me.
“Oh, wife! I’m back! Did you miss me?” he said as he crouched down to look at me.
I stared at him with my good eye and said nothing. When I didn’t speak, he slapped me hard across the face and said, “Answer me bitch, when I speak to you.”
“I never missed you, Tom. I only ever prayed for your death. You are a demon from hell and I want to watch you die, mother fucker!” I screamed from the very depths of my soul and then spit in his face. Laughter rang out from somewhere in the room. I shouldn’t have turned my head to see where it was coming from. Yet another mistake.
Tom grabbed me by the throat, cutting off my flow of oxygen just as I turned my head. My survival instincts kicked in, I tried grabbing at his hands to pry them loose. Air. I needed air. Then I heard stringy-haired’s voice.
“Hey boss, chill a little would ya? We haven’t had enough time to play with her yet. I want a turn with her,” he nearly begged Tom.
Tom kept squeezing but then suddenly let go of my neck. I gagged and coughed, trying to pull air into my burning lungs that had been deprived of air.
“You’re right, boy. It’s time to have some more fun. But you? You will not touch her until I say. I don’t do sloppy seconds. She is mine first and foremost. You and your idiot bother can have her after.”
Tom grabbed my arms and shoved them above my head. I whimpered in pain. My shoulder was broken and the pain radiated all the way up my neck.
“What’s wrong, wife? Are you hurt? Oh, I am so sorry to hear that. But you haven’t seen anything yet. Go get my tool bag from my office, boy and made it quick. I am going to show my wife, the new ways I have of hurting her,” he said, laughing as he looked at me.
I cringed, realizing that I wouldn’t be able to reach the piece of metal with my arms held down. Tom climbed on top of me forcing my legs apart. Panic seized me and I started thrashing with all my might. Pain or no pain, I wouldn’t be raped again by him. Just then he slapped me to get my attention. Suddenly, he grabbed me hard between my legs, digging in his fingers. Drawing back his leg, he kneed me. A scream of pain tore through my throat while bright lights flared my vision. He laughed and did it again. I tried to fight, twist, move my legs to kick at him. Nothing worked. I knew I couldn’t take much more. The pain was becoming too much to bear.
Pop, pop, pop, pop! Just as I heard the strange sounds and a door opening, he unzipped his pants. No! God please no!
“Boss, we have big trouble!”
“Shut the fuck up. Can’t you see I am about to fuck my wife?” Tom screamed at him.
Looking down I saw Tom was having trouble with his weapon of choice. It was limp. He stroked it hard, trying to get it to work. Nothing happened. I started laughing hysterically. I knew I shouldn’t, but it was karma fucking with the right person for a change. He couldn’t get it up.
“Shut up, you fucking bitch!” He kneed me even harder. He let go of my hands, not thinking while he tried to figure out why his dick didn’t work. It was my opportunity. But I had to be careful. He was still watching me. I noticed stringy-hair looking scared at the continued popping noises but not scared enough to prevent him from coming over and getting on his knees to get a better look at my nakedness. He would fucking die too.
Tom cursed and stuffed himself back into his pants, getting up quickly.
“Go ahead and fuck her. But be quick about it and make sure it hurts as much as possible!” he ordered stringy-hair.
Like a kid in a candy shop, he unzipped his pants and pulled them down. His putrid engorged member was ready to go. God, I can’t do this anymore. Please, please just let me die now. Tom walked to the door and went out as stringy-hair pried my legs apart. I screamed and kicked him. He leaned forward, biting the cut on my breast and laughing as he was about to enter me. A loud sound came from somewhere in the room. Stunned, I stared at the monster above me. A strange look crossed his face for a brief second and then he fell on top of me.
When I looked over to the door, I saw someone but couldn’t tell who it was. I kept screaming, until I heard his voice. Shocked out of my panic, I screamed his name.
“Jonah? Jonah, you’re alive? Oh, my God, I thought you were dead. Help me, Jonah!” A feeling of hysteria took over. Jonah had killed stringy-hair and his body was on top of me. I couldn’t move.
“Ally! Yes, I’m alive, baby! I to….” That was all I heard him say before he grunted in pain.
I must have been hallucinating. There was no way Jonah was here. I saw him shot at the police station. My mind had totally splintered.
“Well, well, I thought I killed you already. But no, here you are to save the day huh? I don’t fucking, think so, asshole. Ally is mine to do with as I please. She is my wife after all. But, I will tell you what. I will let you watch, as I fuck her and then cut her up piece by piece. When I am done, I will kill you, but only if you beg me nicely,” Tom taunted, then laughed in pure pleasure, staring at Jonah.
“You are fucking dumber than I thought, if you think I will let you get near my woman, Tom. Ally was never yours and never will be. She is mine and what is mine, I protect and kill for. And you? I am going to take my time killing you. I know ways of torture that your brain couldn’t even fathom. And I can keep you alive as long as I want to, torturing you over and over, motherfucker. You think you’re some fucking badass for raping and torturing a helpless woman? You’re nothing, but a pussified ego on two legs. You have no idea who you are dealing with this time. My team has already taken out all of your men. It’s just you and me now. So, tell me Tom which piece should it be first? I will be nice just this once and give you a choice,” Jonah spoke with a pure but deadly calm.
“What do you really think you can do, Navy boy? I am the one holding the gun not you. You were too stupid to watch your back and I took it from you with ease. You are in fact the pussy here, not me. You are gonna watch everything I do to Sarah. Even right now if you look over your shoulder, one of my men is raping her. Having the time of his life. By the way, he likes to bite, so I am sure he will leave his mark before he is done.”
I could hear every word they said. Tom had taken Jonah’s gun from him? No way. Jonah must have a plan. But what if it didn’t work and Tom killed Jonah? I couldn’t let that happen. I wouldn’t let that happen. I didn’t go through all of this tonight, just for Jonah to really be killed. I slowly worked my way out from under stringy-haired guy. I was almost there. Just a little more. But what would I do? I only had one arm, but I did have the metal now firmly in my hand. So, I waited.
“Do you really think you took it from me, Tom? You are hysterical. I let you have it, you, idiotic psychopath. I won’t kill an unarmed man. So, I made sure you had a weapon. Aww, don’t look so surprised, puss. You could never take me. But people do have their dreams, don’t they? This I promise you right here and now. You will know the pain you caused Ally. Every single ounce of it plus a little extra just from me. And when I send you to hell? I will be the last person you ever see in this world and I will be smiling. I will be smiling, because I have rid the world of another demon spawn that likes to prey on weaker people. I have no doubt that there are others out there that you have hurt or killed. I will avenge all of them. Right here, right now.” And with that oath from Jonah, the fight began.
It was the most vicious, brutal yet, beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life. Jonah moved with precision. In one fluid motion, he had taken the gun and threw it in my direction. He was thinking of my protection, even during the battle of his life. He removed two wicked knives from his belt and set one down just short of Tom, then walked slowly away. I wanted to scream, when Tom lunged for it and aimed for Jonah’s back. I needn’t have worried. Jonah knew he would do that and was prepared for the strike. He twisted his beautiful body in such a way that made my head spin. It took only one to hit to knock Tom to the ground. He could have killed him right there, but instead he used his knife in a way that almost looked like he was trying to sharpen it on Tom’s back.
With a blood curdling scream from Tom, Jonah simply looked down at him and walked away again. Tom ran at him again. This time all Jonah did was sidestep him and make a matching slice down Tom’s back in the opposite direction. Tom was enraged, bleeding profusely from the wounds to his back, but he didn’t stop.
“What an idiot.”
“Are you ready to surrender, Tom? This will be your only opportunity to do so. One chance only. What will it be? Surrender to me now and I will make your death fast and clean or shall we continue? Got to say, I hope you choose the latter option, so I can continue to mark you as you marked Ally. I will draw out your death as slowly as possible.”
Inside I cheered for Jonah. I cheered for me and Sam. We would finally be truly free. I was proud and relieved at the same time. I couldn’t help it. May God forgive me for wanting this creature to die. But I also didn’t want Jonah to go to prison for killing him either. Fear shot through me. I knew I had to do something just as I saw Jonah slice him again, only deeper this time. Blood spurted from the new wound. Tom fell to his knees, screaming from the pain.
Jonah walked over and crouched in front of him with his knife in front of him. Something was off with Tom. He was planning something. I knew him too well. Tom was hyped up on meth, so the way he was screaming didn’t make sense. It was almost like he was trying to sell his pain as a performance.
Then it happened in slow motion. I screamed a warning as I got up on my knees to see better. Tom lunged for Jonah’s knife with his barehand. It cut the flesh deeply. At the same time, he swung his own blade, ramming it into Jonah’s side. Jonah looked down at the handle sticking out of his side, in shock. Then he smiled as he looked at me and said, “I love you, Freckles. Do it now!”
I pulled the trigger on the gun, my aim, even with one eye, hit true. My shot hit Tom in the neck, spraying Jonah with his blood. He was dead in an instant.
He was finally dead. We were finally free. I just killed Tom. Oh God, I just killed a person. No I didn’t. I just killed a demon from hell.
God, please forgive me, but I am not sorry.
Footsteps pounded all over the warehouse. It sounded as if they were heading our way, but the noise echoed in my head, disorienting me. Something was wrong. I couldn’t pinpoint it, but something was seriously wrong with me. Well, actually there was a lot wrong with me thanks to Tom, but I had been through worse.
Sam? Where was Sam? Oh, my god! No Ally, he is safe with Frannie tonight. But where was Jonah? Jonah! Please God, don’t let him be dead!
My mind couldn’t comprehend everything. I couldn’t make sense of what had happened. What did just happen? I felt wrong. My vision was going black. I could have sworn I just heard Jonah and someone else calling my name. Was that Frannie? What was she doing here? Was I be dying? Who was I kidding, I was dead.
“Hey there, sweetie pie. Wake up. You shouldn’t be here yet,” an unmistakable voice spoke to me softly. My eyes fluttered open in instant recognition, my heart rejoicing at the reunion. Grams leaned down to embrace me and kissed me on the cheek. It felt right. It felt like home. This was where I was meant to be.
“No honey, you are not meant to be here, yet. So, sit up and let’s talk.” Grams let go of me and scooted back. When I looked around, we were in my childhood bedroom in her house. All my things were there, but most importantly she was there.
“Grams, I have missed you so much. So much has happened since you left me. Some really bad things. It has been so hard being on my own, being without you. I can’t do it anymore. I want to stay with you forever. I don’t feel any pain here with you. When you were with me, life was good. Wasn’t it? I don’t want to be alone anymore, please let me stay with you,” I begged her.
“Oh, my sweet girl, I never left you. You may not have seen me, but I have been with you every step of the way. When you needed me the most, I sent you as much love and courage as I could to see you through the tough times. You are a strong resilient, young woman and I couldn’t be any prouder of you. I know you have not had it easy. But nothing in life, is. You have had more than your fair share, mind you, but I did send some people your way to help you heal and learn to trust again. And your hero? He is a true hero, Ally, and more than just honorable. He is faithful and worthy of your love. I approve of your choice not just for you, but as a father for Sam,” she told me.
“You really sent Frank and Frannie, didn’t you, Grams? I knew it! But wait. Why are you calling me Ally and my son Sam? Those are not our real names,” I asked her in confusion.
“My darling, Ally is who you are now. And the same goes for Sam. You took lemons and made lemonade, as we old people would say. You made a new life for the both of you. Be proud honey. I sure am.” She beamed at me.
Grams was only person who had ever truly loved me. “Now that isn’t true anymore young lady and you know it. They all love you, especially Sam and Jonah. Do you really want to leave them and have them grieve for you? Do you want to give them that pain? I don’t think so.” She squeezed my hand before continuing.
“So, I want you to get up from here, right now and get back to where you belong. Do you hear me, Ally? Go, before it’s too late. I will always be watching out for you, never doubt that. I love you more than you know. But go now!”
Bright lights infiltrated my brain and I felt like I was falling to my death. And then I knew nothing.