Survival Games (16 page)

Ty looked in the
rearview mirror and nearly drove off the road. A little boy stared back at him
and he was angry.

“You were supposed
to protect her,” the boy said.

Ty blinked and he
saw the road behind him again.

“What the hell was
that?” Chris asked as Ty swerved back into the lane, jolting him awake.

“I don’t know,” Ty
answered. “I think I may have drifted off.”

Ty took the next
exit, filled up the truck, got a cup of coffee and climbed back in. He looked
at the map, tracking where they were. Chris settled into the passenger seat.

“We are doing
great on time. Cutting through Canada like this saved us close to a day. We’ll
cross over at Niagara Falls and head south from there,” Ty said and handed
Chris the map. “Let’s roll.”

“Do you want me to
drive?”

Ty looked over at
his brother and smiled. “What, you don’t trust me?”

“I trust you. I
just don’t think we will make it home if you continue. You haven’t slept since
the plane ride out west and you really can’t sleep and drive at the same time.”

“I’ve been okay to
this point…” A yawn interrupted the conversation followed by a light laugh. “Maybe
you should drive.” He handed Chris the coffee and even before they were on the
highway, Ty drifted off.

He narrowed his
eyes, turning around in the bathroom. Standard for any educational institution he
had ever seen, right down to the beige tile, white urinals and the smell of
stale piss hanging in the air. When he was done with his casual survey, he
glanced at the boy standing in front of him. The anger in the kid’s eyes caused
him to take a step back and his words, his words rang through the room, echoing
on the ceramic walls.

“You were supposed
to protect her.”

Fire and fury and
something else reflected in the boy’s face. It took Ty a second to recognize
the underlying emotion and his mouth went dry. Fear. But not fear of him, some
other nameless fear that spread into his bones and clenched his stomach. Ty
hunched down to eye level with the boy, wiping his clammy, cool hands on his
jeans. “Huh?”

“My mom, you were
supposed to protect her.”

The boy’s deep
brown eyes penetrated his, familiar in a haunting way, the same intense
doorway, the same soul searching gaze and his knees weakened, almost dropping
him to the floor. Even though he knew the answer, it still took him two tries
to ask the question. “Who…Who’s your mom?”

Quiet permeated
the room, settling between them before the child spoke. “Jessica,” he said.
“Now the bad man has her and I can’t see her anymore.”

Ty felt his heart
stop in his chest and his breath hitched in. He swallowed and licked his lips. “Eric?”

The boy nodded and
took his hand.

“You had a cut on
this arm. She made it better, like I made her better.”

Ty stood and
stepped back but there was nowhere to go.
If this is a dream...

“It’s not a
dream,” Eric said. “You left her and I can’t see her anymore.” A tear slipped
down his face. “You have to help me save her.”

Ty stooped down
again. “What do you mean ‘save her’?”

“The bad man, he
has her. He’s going to hurt her.”

Ty shook his head,
meeting the boy’s sharp gaze. “He won’t go near her.”

“You left her
alone.”

The whisper caused
a bone-drenching chill. “I’m sorry, but…” He didn’t know what else to say. How
could he explain his actions to a little kid? The stunt last night was all to
provide a distraction. A distraction to get this boy’s mother out of that
hellhole but then what, then where would that leave him? His head dropped and
he stared at the little Nikes on Eric’s feet.

“You and my mom
were meant to be together.”

He raised his
eyes. “Excuse me?”

“She fixed your
heart. You’re meant to be together.”

Ty raised his eyebrow.
“She fixed my heart?”

“Yes, you aren’t
mean or angry anymore.”

He sighed,
thinking of what he did last night. “Yes, Eric, I am still mean.”

The boy shifted
uncomfortably, his eyes dropping to the floor. “You saved Lois.”

Ty assumed he was
referring to the actress in the trailer and nodded.

“What is redention?”

Ty scrunched his
eyebrows together.

“You asked Mom if
she believed in redention?”

“Redemption. I
asked her about redemption.”

“What does that
mean?”

“Redemption is
when your soul is saved.”

“Mom can do that.
She’s special.”

“She can’t save
me.”

“Yes she can.”
Eric looked over his shoulder and then back at Ty. “You have to tell her to
open the door. Tell her that Eric said so. I gotta go.” He turned and
disappeared.

Ty sat up like a
rocket in the passenger seat.

Chris was laughing
at him. “You still talk in your sleep and let me tell you, you have some really
weird dreams.”

“Huh?”

“Who is Eric
anyway?”

Ty glanced out the
window. “Eric is Jessica’s son.”

“Dude, you’ve got
issues.”

Ty grunted and
rubbed his eyes, the vision of the boy still as clear as the scenery racing by
them.

“Get some more
sleep.”

He nodded and
closed his eyes, drifting off into sleep again. This time his dreams were
fragmented, bordering on nightmares. Flashes of blood and bruises, of her
screaming his name in agony, of him not being able to reach her, all careened
through his restless mind.

Ty opened his eyes
to a small rest area. Chris wasn’t in the driver’s seat and Ty glanced behind
him. Toolboxes and cable equipment covered the hidden space in preparation for
the border crossing. He turned his attention toward the building they were
parked in front of. Watching as Chris crossed the parking lot and opened the
passenger door, dark circles of exhaustion framed his eyes.

Ty looked around. “Where
are we?”

“Ten miles from the
border,” Chris answered.

Ty did the math
and his mouth dropped. “You let me sleep for fourteen hours?”

Chris smiled. “You
needed it.”

Ty slid out of the
passenger seat and stretched his aching muscles. “I’ll be right out.” He closed
the door as soon as Chris settled in the seat he vacated. Turning, he trotted
quickly toward the building. The cool water from the sink felt good against his
tired skin and he reached for a paper towel, sopping up the remaining sheen on
his face. He opened his eyes but instead of seeing his own reflection; the boy
from his dream was staring at him from the mirror. Ty swirled around. No one
else was in the bathroom with him. He turned back to the mirror.

“I’m losing it,”
he said aloud. The conversation with the little boy came flooding back.

“Promise me,” Eric
whispered.

Ty just looked at
him, his mouth hanging askew.

“Promise me you’ll
protect her,” he whispered again, more urgently.

Ty nodded and
looked around the room again.

“Say it,” Eric
said.

“I promise,” Ty
answered.

Eric reached through
the mirror and put something in Ty’s hand. “Give this to her.”

The metal settled
in Ty’s palm and he stared at it as if it were from outer space. When he raised
his gaze to the mirror, his slack-jawed, wide-eyed reflection stared back. He
closed his mouth and twirled the old-fashion key in his fingers before
depositing it in his pocket. His stomach growled and he headed to get something
to satiate his hunger.

“I’m really losing
it,” he said as the bathroom door closed behind him.

The door swung
open and Mike shot to his feet, meeting Frank’s gaze.

“Back up,” Frank
commanded with the Taser pointed at him. He bent down, grabbing something that
lay in the hallway beyond Mike’s field of vision.

It took a moment
to recognize the battered unconscious body that Frank dragged into his room,
but when he did, his fury at Ty transferred to the sadistic son of a bitch in
front of him and he launched at Frank. The Taser shot hit him in the chest and
pain exploded through his body as he crumpled to the ground.

Did the bastard
just giggle?
He turned his eyes in Frank’s direction; the smile on the
nutcase’s lips confirmed the awful cackling he heard beyond the buzzing in his
ears. Frank hauled him into the chair and chained him in place before yanking 
the Taser hook out of his skin.

He left the room
and Mike lowered his gaze to Jessica. Her face was still beautiful despite the
black and blue tones covering her skin. A swirl of emotions overcame him,
relief, jealousy, hate, guilt and each negative emotion was tainted with the
love he felt for the woman. He looked up at the broken monitor, his mind
whirling and he gritted his teeth, his glance snapping back to her,
specifically to the black dress shirt draped over her frame. The shirt Ty wore
last night.

Frank returned,
setting a portable DVD player in front of him and pressed play. The screen
filled with her room as Ty entered. He couldn’t pull his eyes away from her
standing in the white dress and then the dress was gone, and she was in that
bastard’s arms. The betrayal was complete.

“I begged for
her,” he said as all his illusions shattered. “I killed for her,” he stammered.

“I’m leaving her
here for you. Do anything you want but I want her alive. Understand?” Frank
said as he pressed a remote and the cuffs holding Mike in place released. The
door clicked closed behind him.

Mike glanced
between the video and back to Jessica. “Fucking bitch.” He rubbed his wrist,
wincing at the sudden pain that traveled up his arm from the shattered bones.
He returned his gaze to the video, her riding that fucker, the black fabric of
his shirt covering her back. The playful smile on her face taunted him and he crossed
to her, staring down as fury raged in his skin.

Ty’s words from
weeks ago rang in his ears.
Best fuck I ever had
. Mike saw red. He
ripped open her shirt and spread her legs. Even as she started to stir, he
thrust inside her, muttering under his breath.

Pain brought her
out of the dark nothingness and Jessica groaned, her eyes cracking and her
hands pushing on the bare chest above her. Mad ramblings filled her ears as he
muttered and muttered with each violent slam of his hips.

“I begged for you
and killed for you. And you fucked
him
?” Mike screamed.

Jessica blinked at
the face above her, recognition set in and she pushed harder. “No!” The volume
of her cry gave him pause, enough so she was able to buck him off and roll
away. Scrambling to her feet, she yanked the ruined shirt tight around her,
backing away from him.

He came after her.
“I would have given my life for you, you bitch!” He lunged.

She sidestepped
and yelled, “Stop!”

“I’m not going to
stop until I get what he got,” Mike said, pointing to the screen.

“I never meant to
hurt you,” Jessica whispered and glanced at the player. Ty rolled her over on
screen and whispered the words she demanded. She brought her gaze back to Mike.

He lunged at her
again, knocking her into the concrete wall.

“You don’t want to
do this,” Jessica said and he pinned her with his body. His eyes crazed with
fury, his hands rough and brutal in their quest.

“I’ve waited for
seven years for this,” he growled and threw her to the floor. “Don’t tell me
what I want!”

Jessica scurried
to her knees, crawling across the cold concrete until he slammed into her back,
his elbow piercing the space between her shoulder blades and she dropped to the
ground under his weight.

“And you wanted
me, for seven years,” he whispered in her ear.

“Not like this,”
she said, crying. “Not like this.” She closed her eyes and put her forehead on
her hand, sobbing into the concrete. This place had reduced the man she once
loved to this ugly version of a warped, muttering, monster.

He pulled away and
stumbled to the bathroom.

She remained on
the floor, her chest tight enough to choke the sobs, holding them in place as
she trembled. Retching sounds came from the bathroom and louder, harsher sobs
followed. She rested her cheek on the cool concrete and stared at the bathroom
doorway, lacking the strength to move.

Mike didn’t come
out.

Sobs filtered out
after the sounds of the flushing toilet dissipated and Jessica found the
strength to get to her knees. She pulled Ty’s shirt around her and stood on
wobbly legs, walking toward the noise.

She sat down next
to him on the floor.

“Get away from
me,” he whispered.

She leaned back against
the wall and closed her eyes, holding her knees. The tears kept coming. “I’m
here because of you,” she whispered and glanced at him.

He nodded, his
eyes staring somewhere on the far wall.

“I didn’t know you
were here,” she said and he met her gaze. She put her head down on her knees,
tightening her grip and trying to stop the shakes that took hold. “I thought
you were dead. I went to your funeral. I watched as your coffin…” She couldn’t
finish and she turned her head, meeting his still-angry gaze. “Part of me died
that day, Mike.” Her voice shook as she went on. “I loved you for so long, part
of me died when they buried you.” Her own anger pushed past the humiliation and
devastation. “And just now, out there,” she pointed to the other room, “you
crushed what was left of me.”

She stood up and
left him staring after her.

She took a seat in
the far corner of the room, her back to the mirror. Eric called, his small
voice crying for her and she shut him out, consciously turning off the
connection. She didn’t want to hear his promises, his pleas to hang on.

Her head dropped
to her knees and when she closed her eyes, it was his face she saw. His hair
speckled with melting snow flakes, his blue eyes hesitant and unsure as he held
out the sparkling diamond for her. Ty’s breath came in white plumes and the
perfectly fitted black suit shimmered against the winter landscape.

Her eyes snapped
open, the vision holding even against the gray concrete. His face, his
beautiful
unscarred
face and one word echoed in her mind.

Impossible
.

Even so, the image
tore through her, ripping her soul apart as effectively as a hollow-point
bullet and she knew. She knew she would beg to save his life but she didn’t
know if she would for the man in the other room.

Mike ventured out
some time later. “Why?”

“Why what?” Jessica
snapped.

“Why him?”

Jessica shook her
head as her eyes locked with his and a slightly hysterical laugh escaped. Why? That
was as good a question as any and there was no reasonable answer for Mike. None
that she expected him to understand anyway, especially since she didn’t
understand it herself. It just was. “I don’t know,” she said and he knelt in
front of her.

“I’m sorry, Jess.”
His green eyes still glossed with tears visibly displaying the pain and horror
he felt at his own actions.

“You raped me.”

He winced at the
words and looked at the floor. After a few seconds, he nodded.

“He never did.”

Mike’s gaze
snapped up to hers and his eyes narrowed. “What do you call chaining you to the
bed and… and…”

Jessica tilted her
head. “That was his attempt at seduction.”

“You said you
didn’t want him.”

She met his
blatant stare. “I lied. I’m good at games, remember?”

His jaw dropped.

“It was a game. A
game I had to play in order to survive.” She leaned forward. “A game that
worked but then again, I didn’t have anyone else riding on it and frankly, if I
had known you were here, I’m not sure things would have turned out the same.” She
sighed; leaning back and glancing up at the cameras and then back at him.

Mike half smiled. They
had played cat and mouse games for years. “Games, huh?”

“Yes and despite
what you think, Ty never raped me. He manipulated me, seduced me and coerced me,
but the man never raped me.”

“I’m sorry.” He
reached out to touch her face with his good hand.

Jessica grabbed
his wrist. “No. You don’t get to do that now.” Her eyes flashed a warning.

“You look like
hell,” he said after a moment.

The absurdity of
his statement caught her off guard and she burst out laughing. It was the first
time she had laughed, really laughed in months.

He started to
laugh too. He moved so he was sitting next to her and took her hand in his good
one. She stared at the gesture, but didn’t pull her hand out of his soft grasp.

The laughter wound
down as they looked at each other.

“Thank you,” Mike
said leaning his head back on the glass.

“For what?” She
wiped her tears and winced. Her face hurt.

“For laughing. I
missed your laugh,” he said.

She glanced
sideways at him. “That had to hurt,” she said pointing her chin toward his hand
and started to giggle again. He joined her. This time they continued laughing,
leaning into each other until tears streamed down their faces.

Frank flew in the
room and their laughter died. “That’s the best you can do?” he yelled at Mike. “That
isn’t making someone pay.”

They stood up
slowly, still holding hands. He stepped in front of her to shield her from
Frank’s wrath.

“He loves her, he
fucked her and she let him, don’t you want to make him pay?” Frank seethed.

Mike nodded. “But
not by hurting her, I’ve already done enough of that to last a lifetime.”

“Mike, don’t,” she
whispered from behind him.

“It’s okay, Jess,”
he replied. “I got to hear you laugh again.” He fell to the ground in front of
her, the Taser embedded in his chest.

She raised her
eyes to Frank and charged. She wanted to claw his eyes out, to hear him scream
in agony, to hear his bones snap. He moved faster. The sharp crack of bones
snapping filled the room and sent her flying into the wall, pain exploding in
her side and her breath locked in her chest. Her ribs throbbed where his fist
connected and she crumbled to the floor, holding her side and concentrating on
drawing air into her shocked lungs.

He grabbed Mike
and strapped him into the chair, hooking the electrical conductors to the
metal. He pointed the remote and Mike cried out as his body went rigid.

“Stop,” Jessica
said. “STOP!” she yelled, getting to her feet unsteadily. Frank complied.

“I deserve a blow
job,” Frank said. He swept the DVD player off the chair and sat down. “C’mon
bitch, let’s see what that mouth can do.”

“No,” she said,
holding her side and gasping.

“Then he dies,”
Frank said and pointed the remote again.

“Okay. Okay,”
Jessica said quickly before he pushed the button again. She stiffly crossed the
room and dropped to her knees between the two men. Unwanted tears slid down her
cheeks and she inhaled, wincing as the expansion of her lungs pushed on her
cracked ribs.

“Don’t,” Mike
whispered. “We’re going to die anyway. Don’t.”

“I can’t watch you
die.” She turned, laying her head on his leg, shaking with silent sobs. His
fingers grazed her cheek the second before Frank grabbed a handful of her hair
and pulled her toward his lap. His hard member was out and ready for her mouth.

“Don’t, Jess, not
for me.”

“Suck or he dies!”

Jessica opened her
mouth to protest and he plunged the tip of his cock inside. A slightly salty
taste made her gag and he pulled her further down his hard shaft. “Now suck
me.” His dark eyes glared at her and half closed when she pressed her lips over
his skin. Breaking her glare, he smiled at Mike.

Raw fury consumed
her and she snapped her teeth closed, locking her jaw together and yanking away
as violently as she could. His smile morphed into a grimace, followed by a high-pitched
scream. Blood, thick and metallic filled her mouth around the chunk she bit off
and she turned, spitting the mess onto the floor. Gagging as the hot copper
taste coated her throat, but that didn’t stop the near hysterical laughter that
bubbled up. She turned to glare at Frank. His hand clasped tightly around his
ruined member, the scream still filling the room but his other hand descended
fast, striking her in the temple.

Everything went
black.