Heart's Betrayal (22 page)

“What? What are you talking about? Simple?” I screamed grabbing him by his arms and shaking him. I was confused, and I looked into his eyes for guidance.

“This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. It was never meant to be this complicated.” He grabbed my hands and placed them by my sides. “I wasn’t supposed to fall in love with you or really even care.” He stared at me, his eyes piercing, stone cold,
EMPTY.

“What? What the hell is going on?” I kept staring at him looking into eyes to find him.
He was lost. He was gone.

“I love you…I swear to God, I love you…” His closed his eyes.

“Michael, you’re scaring me, please.” my voice shook and I began to sob louder.

“My father told me you would be easy to handle, he told me not to get too involved but
he
did. He made it difficult by falling in love with you, too.” He clenched his hands together into a ball. His eyes were burning with rage, and he stared at me with love and hate at the same time.

“Your
father?
” my heart dropped to the floor as my mouth parted in awe.

“He said he would let me have you, and he wouldn’t interfere, he promised. He said he loved you like a daughter and that this time…things would be different. We would be happy.” His voice was almost at a whisper. He began to cry, sobbing like a hysterical child as he stood there ringing his hands together. He was so tense, his body stiffened. I stood staring at him, not moving, not understanding what he was trying to say. He began to pace up and down the hallway.

“Michael, you’re father? Who are you talking about? Your father’s dead! Set the alarm Michael, hurry, I’m afraid!” I shouted hysterically as I pushed him out of the way to press the buttons on the alarm.

“He promised me that he would let me live a normal life! No more killing! Michael, I promise, No more killing! She’s good for you, she’s good for us.” he said clenching his fists and crying.

    I slowly walked backwards into the kitchen searching for a chair with my hands. I slid my body down on the chair without looking, keeping my eyes locked on Michael. I didn’t know what to do or think. My body was shaking violently, my eyes were filled with so many tears I could hardly see him.
This was insanity. Has everyone lost their minds?

“Michael, what are you saying?” I pleaded. “Michael, please, what are you talking about?” I begged. “Please, I’m scared.” The terror in my voice escalated, and I could barely say another word. My body was taking over. My heart was racing, I was losing my breath.

     Michael watched from a distance, tears trundled down his cheeks. His eyes were gleaming, his face was overwrought, and then he hung his head down towards the floor. My heart hurt and I grabbed my chest with my hand. I felt like I was going to have a heart attack, he frightened me. I was so afraid I thought I would pee on myself. I grabbed my cell phone and scanned Dr. Logan’s phone number. I never thought I could have an ounce of fear in Michael’s presence, but I was genuinely afraid. Michael walked towards me and got on his knees, grabbing on to my legs, and started bawling like a child, to the point where I actually thought he might pass out. He glanced up at me wiping the tears from his face.

“Jenesis, I never loved any woman that I was with. My father…Dave, killed them all except for Dina. She was the only one who got away. She never suspected anything. She slept with my father, and the day he was going to kill her, he let her go, but he never told me why. My father threatened her life if she didn’t disappear fast enough. She never spoke, never. That day that we saw her she was drunk, I knew she was going to talk. I called my father and he met them both on their honeymoon vacation…and…he killed them. But he promised me he wouldn’t touch you! But then he said he had to! He had the urge. The urge, he called it! He said he wanted you. He wanted to hurt you and slit your throat!” he said as he stood up and banged his hand against the wall. “I told him No! I begged him! I cried! I told him I loved you! That we were going to have a son together! I didn’t want to get any more girls for him to kill, but he made me, he made me!” Michael barked at me in my face. The strain of his screams and the distorting features of his beautiful face into a homicidal maniac, made me stand up, but I couldn’t move. I was frozen. I thought he would kill me…right there and then.

    Michael’s body was shaking and the river of tears that fell from his eyes almost drowned him. I was so terrified I couldn’t speak. I just stared at him with a pain in my heart; the same pain that could only describe the feeling when you find out the man that you loved, that you trusted…that you worshipped was…
INSANE.
I held on strong and I needed to. I needed to wake up from this nightmare and I knew in my heart he was telling lies.
It couldn’t be true?
None of this. He must’ve been high on drugs. That’s it, they were both high on drugs.

“Michael, please. What did you take?” I asked calmly.

“I didn’t take anything goddammit! I’m not lying, Jenesis. It’s the truth.” he whimpered as he slammed his hand against the hallway wall.

    The truth?
If he’s telling the truth then I needed to make a plan.
How was I going to run and how was I going to save myself?
I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t even look directly into his eyes even though he was yelling straight into my face. I had a moment of strength and I looked into his cold, blue-green eyes. Our eyes locked. He was so devastated, I almost felt sorry for him. I didn’t know what to say. He stood staring at me hoping that I would say something to him, that I would forgive him and say it was okay.

“Michael, I don’t understand, please, what are you talking about? Who is Dave to you? Is he your father? Is he?” I whispered.

“Yes! He’s my father! He promised me!” he sniffled cleaning his nose with his sleeve, “he promised me!”

“My God.” I whispered.
I died and went to hell.
The shock of Dave being Michael’s father made me react insanely. I became bold and brave and at that point, I wanted to die, I wanted
him
to kill me.

“Michael, tell me the truth…please…a guest speaker…was that planned?”

“No it wasn’t. I was the guest speaker, and I did know about you, but I didn’t know who you were. When I stepped into that elevator, that’s when I knew.”

“Knew what?”

“I knew what it was to fall in love.” He stared at me with regret in his eyes, hidden by a crazed man.

“And STK? That wasn’t a coincidence, was it?” My voice cracked, my hands were clammy and I choked back my tears as I placed my hand over my mouth.

“He knew that was your favorite spot, he told me you’d be there. I only went to see you again. I needed to see you.” he whispered softly, ashamed of admitting his plan.

“When I got in the cab in the village, you knew I was going to be there, didn’t you? Didn’t you? Answer me!” I yelled at the top of my lungs enraged by their devious plan to ruin my life.

“He told me you would be in the village. You spoke to him that morning.” He yelled as he turned his back on me.

“When we met again at the Art Gallery?” I kept asking him questions to buy time. I didn’t know what was going to happen then, so I thought this would be the best way to stay alive…for now.

“Dave told me to go, that you would be there.”

    My hazel eyes exploded with tears and the feeling of death was flowing through my veins. I wanted him to kill me, so that I wouldn’t hear that he planned all of this with his father.
My father…Dave
.

“My God, Michael, who are you?” I whispered.

“Please believe me…it started off like that…he mentioned you, but I didn’t meet you until John Jay. I really did fall in love with you…I love you with all of my heart. That’s why I wanted us to move away from Dave. He changed his mind…he loves you so much.” he pleaded as he grabbed me by my arms.

“Michael, do you know what you’re saying. You both planned to kill me. I was your father’s next victim, Michael, and you helped him try to kill me. All of those cold case files. You’re father killed them all. Not Stephen Marquis. Dave…and you helped him.” I slid his hands off of my arms as I shook my head. “You wanted us to move away, and you’re the one who brought him back. Why didn’t you leave things alone? Why? What did I ever do to you?” I whispered as I covered my face with my hands, sobbing into an uncontrollable scream.

“Nothing…he told me he would keep killing…he would kill everyone we knew…everyone that got in his way. He wanted you…He said he wanted to kill you, but he was going to wait until you were pregnant…so he could hurt me the most. All of these women he killed was to hurt me, he hates me. He’s always hated me.” he whispered.

“You sick fuck! You’re lying! This is why God didn’t allow those children to be born. You’re a murderer, Michael! A murderer. Dave loved me Michael…How do I know this isn’t all you! I can’t believe for a minute Dave would do something like this to me. You’re wrong. Tell me you’re wrong. Please, please tell me you’re wrong.” I collapsed on the floor and Michael held out his arms to grab me.

“No! Don’t touch me!” I yelled slapping him across the face. “You’re lying! You’re lying! You’re jealous of him!” I shook as I hugged myself stepping away from him. Michael gave me a distraught look, and then he slid his fingers through his hair. He approached me and stood at close proximity, enough where I could feel his breath on my face.

“He thought you were the perfect girl, coming from Pennsylvania and…”he paused for a moment, “from a family who abused you and he thought you were weak, an easy target. You even said you thought he killed Margaret, why won’t you believe me?”

“Michael do you know what you’re telling me? You knew about my family? My parents? My mother? You said you knew
nothing
.”

“Not me, Dave did! He never told me anything, except that I needed to keep you close to me.” he yelled as he punched his fist through the kitchen window. My face grew pale and I waited for the next strike from his hands to be around my throat. The blood poured from his hand and I almost threw up from the sight.

“What else do you know about me?” I tried to distract him by continuing to speak.

“I don’t know…but he knows everything about you…everything.” he shook his head.

“Michael, did he kill those women that Marquis was accused of killing?” I whispered.

“If he did, I wouldn’t know…he’s been doing crazy things lately. But Marquis would have been the perfect cover up. But it didn’t work. Why would I defend Marquis if I knew my father killed all of those women? It doesn’t make sense. I would’ve made sure I’d lost the case so no one would be on to Dave.” he leaned his head against the wall then glanced over at me.

“Do you want me dead?” I whispered. I needed to change the game plan and I really needed Michael on my side.

“I told him no!” he shouted as the blood trickled from his hand down to his elbow.

“Michael, but do you? Look at me! Do you want me dead? We can be together, he doesn’t have to know. I don’t think you want to kill me, please Michael, let’s go, now!” I begged him.

“But I had to want to let him kill you and I never did! I never did.” He began to scream, “I’m crazy! I’m fucking crazy!” he took a knife from the kitchen drawer and placed it against his throat. I backed away from him. My heart was sprinting as I started to walk backwards towards the hallway.

“Michael, have you killed anyone before? Have you?” I whispered as I kept walking towards the hallway. I tried to stay as calm as I could. My legs felt like jelly and I knew at any moment I was going to fall apart.
Think Jenesis, Think.
I spoke to him sympathetically so he could hear the sincerity in my voice.

“No! No.” he said as he wiped his tears with his sleeve, the knife still in his hand, “He did! He killed them all. Right in front of me.” He fell to the floor on his knees and dropped the knife near his leg. I walked back into the kitchen and I walked towards him, then he grabbed on to my legs tightly and he whispered, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I love you, please forgive me…I never wanted to hurt you…he made me…he made me.” He held on to me tightly and I broke down.

“Michael, it’s okay, you’re going to be okay.” I cupped his face in my hands. “I know you’re sorry. I know you never wanted to hurt me. I love you, its okay.” I said as I kneeled down to stroke his head. Then I felt something in the back of my head. I turned around and got smacked in the face with it. I fell to the floor banging my head against the hardwood floor. I held my face with one hand and tried to crawl towards the hallway. I turned to see who hit me. It was Dave. He had hit me in the face with his gun.

“You bitch! You’re lying to my son! Telling him all these lies about me! You were only supposed to be around for a couple of months like the rest of them! But no. You had to be the special one, the one everyone fell in love with! I loved you, Jenesis! More than Michael, more than your father and your mother, more than Margaret! And more than Vivian!” he shouted.

“No. You’re lying. You love me, Dave. Please. Please! Why are you doing this?” I shouted. “Vivian?” I started to tremble. The pain in my heart was so strong made me topple over.

“Doing what? This is what I do.
All women are whores
. All women deserve to die. My mother was a whore, did you know that? She was and then she told me I was the bastard child of one of her tricks, just like you.” I held my breath. “You see…there was a reason why I held on to you. Why you were special. Your mother was fucking Dr. Joe, and she got pregnant…with you. Then your father found out after you were born. That’s why he abused your mother and you. He couldn’t stand the sight of you. If he could’ve…he would have killed you. I actually felt sorry for you, Jen.” he said as he pointed the gun to my face. I exhaled as those words stabbed me so many times in my heart, I actually started to cough, then I busted out into tears.