Category : Books-Fiction

Sub Category : Drama

Chapter 10


 It all happened so fast, I felt his hands as he grabbed my arm and yanked me out of David’s bed. I looked back and I could see my boys sleeping soundly and I refrained from screaming. Josh had come home. I didn’t want them to see their dad do what I knew he was about to do, like he had done so many times in the past. I can handle it. Sad as it may be, I have become used to his abuse, I didn’t want the same for my kids. I didn’t even try to fight back as he drug me down the hall to our room. He scooped my limp body up and tossed me onto our bed like it was nothing. The same bed that we used to make love in, the same bed we conceived both of our boys in and now it’s the bed I refer to as my prison. The bed where I allowed Josh to abuse me so many times before, and again tonight. That all too familiar lump slowly crept up in my throat as I tried to hold back the tears that were burning to escape my eyes. With a single blink I felt a tear fall, against my will, down my cheek. 



 I sensed that something was different with him. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it but I felt an enormous sense of fear fall over me. It was like being wrapped tightly in a hot blanket I couldn’t escape from. He flipped me over on my stomach and he tied my hands together, then flipped me back over and shoved a gag in my mouth. I began kicking and fighting to get free but he was bigger and stronger and I was no match. He tore my nightgown off of me and violently raped me. I can feel myself tear down there as he forced himself inside me. While Josh had been a monster since the day we were married, this was so far beyond anything he as ever done to me. I forced myself to look into his eyes and what I saw frightened me to my core. I didn’t see anger or lust or even control, in fact I didn’t see anything. It was as if he wasn’t in there anymore, the Josh I knew had completely transformed into something I was unfamiliar with, something that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. He is going to kill me, I thought. Then I thought about my boys and I started to fight back. My legs were all I had to try and get this monster off of me. 



  I tried to scream but instead I choked on the saliva that filled my mouth when he shoved the gag so far in my mouth that it activated my gag reflex. I let out a deep guttural groan as I tried to wriggle out from under him. The harder I fought, the more violent he became. I didn’t give up, my boys were giving me the strength I didn’t know I had as I continued to fight him off. I sensed his anger when he jumped off the bed and disappeared into the closet only to return with the tie to my robe. I started kicking and thrashing about in the bed so he couldn’t tie my legs. The charlie horse that accompanied the punch to my thigh momentarily paralyzed one leg. That didn’t stop me as I continued to try and shimmy myself off the bed to escape him, but he quickly grabbed my limp leg and was able to tie the strap around my ankle then attach it to the bedpost. He disappeared again back into the closet only to emerge with another tie, this time it was from one of my sundresses. He was so quick as he grabbed my other ankle and tied it to the bed. I was trapped. My body went limp and I blacked out seconds after he delt that final blow. 



  I felt the sun on my face as it blinded me for a second as I tried to blink the confusion away, where am I?, what day is it?, where are my boys? These thoughts raced through my head as my memory came back, along with the horrible pounding in my temples. My body was shivering uncontrollably and my mouth was so dry. How long had I been here? Panic had set in as the house was eerily silent. I tried to yell out but the gag in my mouth had dried up like paste and it wouldn't budge. I began to sob as the thoughts in my head had had filled with my worst fears. Josh was gone, but where were my babies? I imagined them lifeless in their beds while I remain tied up in mine. I wanted to welcome death as this pain was more unbearable than I could have ever imagined. I just don’t want to live in a world without my babies. Then something deep inside told me to keep fighting because they needed me. What if they weren’t dead, what if Josh had taken them? I couldn’t give up, but as I looked at my situation, I was sure that this would eventually become my deathbed.



  First thing I needed to do was get warm, I couldn’t think while my body shivered trying to warm itself up, but failed. I used to always tell my boys that if they were cold to move around and warm up their bodies, so that’s what I did. I was naked with each leg tied to a bedpost, and my arms were tied behind my back, this was proving to be more difficult than I thought, but I persisted. I clenched my teeth through the pain I was feeling in my arms from laying on them for God knows how long and I began to shake and move around until I felt myself work up a sweat. I took a break then was back at it as I felt the chill in the air pick up again. As I was violently shaking my bed, I heard a noise. I stopped and lifted my head up to get a better listen. It was silent, then I heard it again. It was close, but I couldn’t tell exactly where it was coming from. Then I heard footsteps followed with a “Hello? Mr. Josh, Mrs. Mikayla?” It was a man’s voice with a thick accent nervously trailing down the hall and into my room. It was Ivan, the gardner. He had been our gardner for years. He was a kind older Russian gentlemen who had retired but took on a few houses to keep himself busy. He would joke about needing time away from his lovely wife. He said it was the secret to their lasting love. I have always admired his love for his Olga. Of course he would joke that he needed to get away from her, but the truth is he used this extra income to spoil her. He was a good man and I was so happy to hear his voice. Then I realized that if he was here, then it must be Thursday, so that means that I have been here since late Monday night/ early Tuesday? 



  I started to thrash about and grunt hoping to lead him to my room to free me. I heard his unsure footsteps, so I kept going, eventually he stood at my door with a look of shock and confusion. He was frozen as he stood there staring at my naked body. My mattress was damp and wreaked of urine which was what probably got him out of his trance once the scent hit his nose. His face wrinkled then he was sure he didn’t interrupt what could very well have been a little S&M love making sesh. 



  He ran over and pulled the gag from my mouth, I flinched at the pain as it felt like part of my lips were still attached to it. “I’m so sorry mam, I’m so sorry”, he continued to say as he first covered me with a blanket then tried to untie the knots in my homemade shackles. I cried as I tried to speak but my mouth was so dry nothing came out. Ivan was clearly frustrated as he fought with the restraints with no luck. Finally getting his attention I motioned for water. He ran to the kitchen and returned with a glass. He set it down on my nightstand as he helped to sit me up in my bed while my legs remained fastened to the posts. I moaned out as he pulled me up. I can now see that my feet were purple and there was blood on the sheets from where the ropes had chaffed my ankles. Ivan gently untied my wrists and I needed his help to pull my arms back around to the front of me. I cried out in pain. My shoulder, my wrists and elbows all protested as if they were being bent in an unnatural way. My arms layed in my lap feeling like weights as I was unable to move them, so Ivan held the glass to my mouth so I could sip the water. Being so parched I tried to gulp it down like I normally would, except my body was in shock and I coughed it all up. I took a couple more sips, slowly this time, then I was able to force out the words, “My boys?” Ivan looked confused for a minute then set the glass down and ran down the hall, hollering “David, Drew!” over and over as I heard him open doors all over the house. Then I could hear his footsteps get slower as he walked back to my room. His look said it all. They weren’t there, could this mean that they were still alive? Ivan rushed to the end of the bed, this time armed with a knife he picked up while in the kitchen to cut the straps that held me prisoner. I was free.



   Ivan picked up his phone to call the police but I stopped him. Josh had a lot of good friends in the department that would do anything for him, I couldn’t risk them finding out before I had a chance to find my boys. Ivan understood and went on to say how he knew something was off when he showed up to my house and the garage door wide open as well as the door to the house. That would explain the chill in the air. He left in a hurry, I just hoped that David and Drew were safe. Ivan stayed for a bit while I called Lauren to come over to help, then he left, promising me that this would stay between us for now. He was a good man, and I would forever be thankful for him finding me.



  Seeing Lauren’s face as she rushed to my bedside, I finally broke down as she slid in beside me and wrapped me in her arms like a baby. We sat there crying for a minute before she took a deep breath and said that we needed help finding Josh and tried to get me to reconsider calling the cops. Lauren was hysterical and angry but thankfully I was able to calm her down so we can come up with a better plan. We both looked at each other and simultaneously we said “Alex”. I was weak and my limbs were going to take a while to heal so we needed her. I was a bit hesitant at first to bring her into this mess, but I knew I couldn’t do it alone. 



  I wasn’t able to even dial my phone as I waited for the sensation to come back to my hands, so Lauren made the call. She gave Alex the details and I could hear the worry in her voice through the phone as she quickly hung up. It wasn’t long before Alex came barging through my bedroom door. The look on her face told me that she was out for blood. I was worried because I was afraid she would do something stupid if she found Josh, but then I thought about my babies and this was my best chance at getting them back. She walked over to the bed and put her sweet gentle hand on my forehead as she sat next me. “What can I do for you? Do you need anything? We have to get you to a doctor.” Her words just fell out of her mouth as she sat there feeling helpless. “I will be ok, that’s sweet of you to worry. I just need my babies back”, I sobbed.

Alex leaned in and wrapped me in her strong arms, I melted into her warm body as she kissed me on the forehead. Lauren was running me a bath and her and Alex both lifted me off the bed and they set me in the tub. The warm water stung against my frozen skin until I was used to the change in temperatures then I started to feel some relief. Lauren went to the kitchen to refill my water and bring in some crackers for me to eat. Alex sat at the edge of the tub washing my back. I closed my eyes for a second while I wished that this moment was taking place under different circumstances. When I opened my eyes again the tears just poured down my face as the reality of my situation slapped me in my face. The more I cried, the more my head would pound. Lauren handed me a tylenol and a xanax from her purse to help with my head and to take the edge off a little. 


 

  After a while, Alex carried me to the sofa in the living room. She sat with my feet in her lap as she gently rubbed them to get the circulation going again. I was already feeling so much better. As much as I wanted to grab my keys and take off to search for my boys, I knew it wasn’t smart. I needed to be here if they returned, So Alex stepped up and said that she would find them. She confidently stated that she had friends who could help. She ordered Lauren to stay here and take care of me and to call if anything changed. Before we could protest, Alex leaned down to kiss me on my cheek and said she would do whatever it took to bring them home to me. Somehow, I believed she would.