RBC06.50 - Marcella, Vampire Mage (26 page)

“One more,” she whispered as the fourth pin of the double door came free. 

Abbi’s heart was pounding as she waited for a moment to see if there was any sign that Dallas had heard her, but there was no sound in the hallway outside.

As thunder boomed again Abbi grabbed the double handles of the bedroom’s relatively light, hollow core doors and pulled them free. She slid them to the side and rested them gently and quietly, against the wall. The trick with the hinges had become part of her escape plan when she’d remembered accidentally locking herself in the tack room when she was four. Her father had resorted to taking the door off the hinges to get her out when no one could find the keys. From then on, Abbi’s mother had insisted on the tool kits and extra keys and it was why there were sets of each in the safe.

Dallas had installed bolts on the outside, next to the handles; they were still holding the doors together in center.

As Abbi prepared for her escape, her anxiety was being replaced by her expanding rage. The feelings she’d thought were love had been extinguished completely by the hatred she felt for Dallas now. He had been so charming, so attentive, so kind and caring for her feelings. She had felt loved, protected and cared for. Everything had changed when she found the evidence of his betrayal.

She discovered the folded newspaper in the glove compartment of his car while looking for a map. The paper had been turned to the obituaries and the column concerning her parents has been circled. There was also a page containing the article about her and her inheritance, with the words ‘easy money’ scrawled on the side. At the time, although she was shocked and heartbroken, she had challenged Dallas with her find. Instead of denying it, he scoffed at her naiveté, goading her with “did you really thing you were special, beautiful, worthy of me?” Then the abuse began. He beat her, threatened her, and jailed her in her parent’s room. Now she knew he was nothing but evil and dark.

A shiver curled down Abbi’s spine as she wondered what he would do when he found out she was gone.

She picked up the purse, nervously put the strap over her head, and hesitated just for a second before tiptoeing out.

Abbi worked her way down the hall towards the stairs and waited.

“These darn old wooden stairs,” she grumbled softly to herself. “Please, just one or two more loud thunders and I could make it out the door.”

As if in answer to her pleading, a bolt of lightning struck just outside, unleashing a clap of thunder so loud that it shook the house. Abbi sat on the railing like she’d done hundreds of times as a child, and slid all the way down to the bottom of the stairs.

Using the front door wasn’t an option; Dallas would certainly hear that lock open. He always fell asleep on the sofa when he was drinking and that couch was just across from the door. Besides, last night, because of the bad weather in the forecast, he had parked both cars inside. No, she had to go out the door to the garage. That door was just down the hall, off the kitchen; her stocking feet made no noise on the wood floor as she headed that way. Abbi knew that she had shoes in the laundry room, nice comfortable sneakers.

In the laundry room, she stopped for a moment to slide them on her feet. Lightning still illuminated the sky, but the thunder had quieted. It was now pouring so hard she couldn’t even see the hundred feet it was to the street.

Abbi took one last look back; she had loved growing up in this house and now she would probably never see it again.

She reached into the purse and pulled out the master keys. The key hovered inches from the lock on the handle of the door to the garage when the lights blinked and then came back on. The alarm would go off! She fumbled with the code on the keypad next to the door, hoping he hadn’t changed it since yesterday.

It worked. She unlocked the door, twisted the knob and pushed it away from her.
Chirp
. She had forgotten about the warning beeps that let you know that a door had been opened. Not the alarm, but enough to probably wake up Dallas.

Hearing staggering footsteps from the front of the house, she frantically rushed into the garage, and slammed the door behind her. Abbi shoved the key into the garage side of the double lock and snapped it off.

At least she could use the opener to get out of the garage now. She waited until she was inside the Porsche Boxster with the doors locked and the key in the ignition, before pushing the opener. Her breathing had quickened and her palms were sweaty against the leather steering wheel. Abbi turned the key and revved the engine, shifted into reverse and waited. Why was the door opening so slowly?

She was so nervous that she didn’t wait for it to fully open. As soon as there was enough room she squealed out of the garage.

Dallas appeared in the rear view mirror, shirtless and soaked by the rain that still poured down around him. She knew if she stopped now that she would never get away from him; he would kill her. She steeled her nerve, gripping the wheel even tighter. The wipers automatically swished at high speed as Dallas pounded on the back window.

“Abbi!” he screamed angrily. “Get out of the car, now!”

Abbi revved the engine again and kept on backing as Dallas furiously continued pounding on the windows. She slammed the transmission into drive and raced off into the night.

“I have to get to the interstate. I know he’ll come after me.”

It was now raining so hard that the wipers barely were keeping ahead of it. “I don’t even know where I’m going. I just have to get away. I wouldn’t put it past Dallas to find a way to still get my money, even if he has to kill me to do it.” And that wasn’t all. She found his hatred towards her had to be driven by more than just control over her fortune. She just didn’t know what else he wanted from her; only that if he didn’t get it, he was going to kill her. She realized that now with every fiber of her being.

Her parents had loved the privacy of the country, but right now Abbi would have given anything for a neighbor with a friendly face.

The next thing Abbi knew there were headlights behind her. Still a ways back, but there nonetheless. She had planned to do something to his car before she left, but tonight there had been no time.

Dallas’ Black Cadillac Escalade, a gift from Abbi, was powerful and quite capable of catching her. He was getting closer! Adrenalin rushed through her body, and she found it bringing strength not panic. Abbi knew once on the pavement, her low slung Boxster had the advantage and if she could reach it, she would leave Dallas and his lumbering SUV in the dust. Finally she saw the intersection up ahead, and pressed harder on the gas. The road was muddy and as she sped through the turn on to the main road without stopping, she swerved, nearly losing control of the powerful little car, but the wide tires grabbed onto the pavement and Abbi stomped the accelerator and screamed down the road.

She kept driving south all through the night, taking the precaution of switching from the interstate to small roads and back. She was finally sure she had lost her pursuer somewhere outside of Jackson, Mississippi.

She stopped to get gas and something to eat while she waited for the bank to open. She purchased stationary and as she sat in the back booth in the restaurant she wrote a detailed letter to her lawyer stating exactly what had been happening. She directed that Dallas was not to get any of her assets for any reason, even if something happened to her. She also told the attorney that she would be having her bank remove Dallas’ name from all her accounts and restricting his access to everything and assured him she would contact him soon.

“Staying long?” the waitress asked, in full southern drawl as she poured coffee into her now empty cup.

“No, just passing through,” Abbi said.

“Huh, there was a man in here earlier looking for someone. The picture he had looked a lot like you. Said she had some kind of break down or something and that he was afraid for her. Gave me his phone number and everything,” she said chewing her gum while waiting for Abbi’s reaction.

Abbi froze for a moment and then said angrily, “That’s such a coincidence. I happen to be trying to get away from an abusive creep just like that.”

“World’s full of them, honey. You take care now,” she said as she walked away.

Abbi tried to stay calm as she finished her meal and the letter. After she was done, she paid her bill and left a very nice tip for the waitress. Next stop was the bank.

Among the papers she had placed in the safe were her passport, birth certificate and other paperwork she thought she would need. She had had plenty of time to plan her escape while locked in her room. Just yesterday, she’d hidden her wallet underneath the seat of the Porsche, after hearing the storm forecast.

She waited patiently in the lobby of the local branch of her bank and before long a tall man in a dark blue suit came over.

“How can I help you?” the bank manager asked, offering his hand.

She stood and shook it. “I need to make some changes to my account. I have had someone break into my house and I am not sure what may have been compromised. It’s a bit unsettling, my being away from home and all. You understand, don’t you?”

“Of course I would be happy to help you with that. Please sit down, Miss…”

“Black, Abigail Black.”

“Miss Black.”

After confirming her identity, the bank’s manager helped Abbi close all her existing bank and credit accounts, opening new checking, savings and money market accounts using her attorney’s address.

 “I suggest that you close any other credit card accounts that you have and notify the credit agencies. You can’t be too careful these days.”

“Thank you. I will do that.”

The final piece of this more than two hour set of transactions was the issuance of a set of new checks.

“I want to get a new car, is that going to be a problem?”

“Not at all, you have immediate access to your funds and have plenty of money to do anything you wish. Have the dealer call me while you are in his office. I can arrange to wire the money to his account for your purchase. Here’s my card if you need anything else, Miss Black.”

“Thank you. You have been very helpful. I need to send this letter to Memphis today, do you have the means to help me with that?”

“I have a courier envelope right here. If you fill out the address label, I can take care of it for you.”

“That is very helpful, thank you.”

Abbi left the bank, drove straight to the local Ford dealership and arranged for the purchase of a much less flashy deep blue Ford Taurus. Actually, trading a used Porsche for a new Taurus didn’t cost her anything; in fact she made money on the transaction.

“I was just sick of the car, that’s all,” she told the salesman. “Love that new car smell.”

They wanted to transfer her existing license tag, but she told them that she wanted a new one. No ties to her past now. She needed a fresh start.

“Now for some new clothes and a few sundries, then I can get out of here.” Abbi felt herself relax as she looked through the small shops. She bought a suit case, a few changes of clothes and everything else she thought she needed for now. A laptop computer and new cell phone were the next things on her list. An hour later she walked away from the electronics store with a new phone, and a laptop; she was all set now to start her new life. Abbi smiled and walked confidently to the car. It felt so good to be in charge of her destiny. She promised herself there and then that she would never let a man control her like that again.

Now driving the new blue Taurus, something kept her heading south. Her mind and her soul seemed to be leading her and she was sure that they would let her know when to stop.

As she drove the back roads of Mississippi, she found that she was enjoying every minute of the feel and landscape of the countryside. As long as she could remember she had had dreams about plantations. The dreams were always the same. She was back in time, just after the civil war. The mansion had just been finished. She could recall the details of it so clearly it was as if she had really been there. Every smell, every nuance was imbedded in her mind for some reason.

“I need some rest,” Abbi said out loud, suddenly exhausted. She pulled into the very next motel she came to.

“I’ll pay cash if you don’t mind. Is there a place to get a good steak around here?”

“Cash is fine. There is the Logan House right down the street, best place in town for a steak. Will you be staying more than one night, miss?

“No, just the one night, thank you.”

Abbi walked the short distance down the street admiring the look of the buildings. The little town was just lovely. The ‘downtown’ section contained just a few quaint shops, with the balance of Main Street being small houses complete with white picket fences and beautiful front gardens full of spring flowers. How could you not feel better in a place like this? One of the houses had a small sign out front advertising Rebecca’s Hair Designs.

She opened the small gate, walked up to the door and called through the screen.

“Hello?”

“Come on in, I’ll be right there,” a female voice called from the back.

Abbi opened the screen door, walked in and waited.

“Hi, I’m Rebecca. What can I do for you?”