Survival Games (19 page)

* *
* *

Neither Ty nor
Jessica saw Frank reach for the Taser until it was too late.

Frank rammed it
into Ty’s chest and pulled the trigger. Ty’s grip tightened for a moment, and
then he went down hard, leaving Jessica standing unprotected. Frank glared at
her and then proceeded to beat the life out of Ty as he lay helpless.

Jessica backed
away, slowly inching her way across the room. She trembled, watching Frank hit
Ty over and over again with the brass knuckles. The sound of pummeled flesh and
bone drowned out the audio from the video still rolling on the screen. She
passed within inches of Tom, who was staring at the screen, his eyes wide and
glossed with tears. She turned to see a woman opening the door to a trailer
followed by a flash as the trailer blew up.

He looked at her
as she passed. “My wife,” he whispered. “They killed my wife.”

Jessica stopped
and just for a moment, her fear transitioned to heartfelt sorrow at the
devastation in Tom’s eyes. She shifted her gaze back to Ty, who was unconscious
and bleeding on the floor. Frank kept punching and each time his fist
connected, Ty’s body flopped as it absorbed the blow. The fear came crashing
back. “Stop!” she yelled.

Frank stopped
mid-blow and turned, meeting her wide-eyed stare. He advanced on her and she
took an involuntary step back. For each step forward Frank took, she stepped
back.

Tom was unable to
help her. Their eyes met for a second as she felt the wall behind her. There
was nowhere else to go. She saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Eric’s
reflection appeared next to Ty and the little boy leaned over, sending some of
his miracle healing power into him. Everything went black as Frank’s fist
connected with her face.

Daniel walked by
Eric’s room. He saw Eric nod and look at a different spot. His eyes held more
worry than a child of his age had a right to feel. Then he knelt on the floor
with his arms spread wide and his hands flat on an invisible being. Eric leaned
over and kissed the air.

Daniel’s eyes went
wide as the air below Eric’s hands started to sparkle.

Eric looked up and
saw his father standing at the door. “The bad man really hurt Mommy,” he
whispered and tears fell from his eyes.

Daniel was
speechless. He walked in and knelt before Eric. “What just happened?” he asked
softly.

“I fixed Mommy,
but Ty told me to only fix her on the inside. I had to leave the booboos on her
skin so the bad man doesn’t kill her,” Eric answered.

LeAnn walked
around the corner and popped her head in the door. “Is everything okay?” she
asked.

Daniel turned to
her and shook his head.

LeAnn knelt down
in front of Eric and took his hands. “Are you upset with your father and me?” she
asked.

Eric blinked up at
her, his tears drying up, replaced by confusion. “No, why would I be upset with
you?”

“Because we’re
dating,” she said. “And maybe you weren’t ready for that.”

“It’s okay that
you’re here.”

“Then what’s the
matter honey?”

He blinked again,
switching his gaze from her to his father and back. He rubbed his eyes and
yawned. “I think… I think I just had a nightmare.” He climbed back in bed,
shuffling under the covers and smiled when his father kissed his forehead.

Daniel and LeAnn
glanced at each other as they tucked Eric in. As soon as the bedroom door was
cracked and they were downstairs, LeAnn spoke.

“Maybe it’s too
soon for this.”

Daniel took her in
his arms. “No, it’s not,” he said and kissed her. “I didn’t think I would feel
this way about anyone else ever again and then you came along.”

LeAnn smiled and
kissed Daniel. “I feel the same way.”

“Then marry me,”
Daniel said.

She gazed into his
eyes and sighed. “It’s too soon, Danny.”

He nodded,
disappointed at the rebuttal.

* *
* *

Eric knelt over
Ty, sending his magic flowing into the nearly dead man on the concrete floor. He
left the bruises on the skin just like with his mother, but the broken bones
righted themselves, mending to the point where not even an MRI would show a
break had occurred, the cuts, contusions and internal bleeding stopped as light
danced over his body.

Eric pulled away
and stood, glancing at his reflection in the bathroom mirror of the house. He
needed to get some sleep, because they were going to need him again and next
time, he wasn’t so sure he would be able to fix them. The moment his head hit
the pillow, Eric was asleep.

Jessica woke with
her arms tied to the bed. Tom paced back and forth. He tried the door and
continued pacing like a caged lion.

Ty opened his
eyes, wondering why he wasn’t in excruciating pain. The beating he took should
have landed him in the morgue or at the very least, the ICU at the nearest
hospital, but that wasn’t the case. He glanced at his reflection, the bruises
were still on his skin, but as he shifted position, there was no pain.
Holy Shit!
Eric?
His eyes found hers.

She creased her
eyebrows and nodded slightly before turning her attention back to Tom.

He stopped pacing
when his gaze caught hers and sighed, taking a seat on the edge of the mattress
facing Ty. “I’d like to kill him.” He nodded his chin in Ty’s direction.

“Don’t,” Jessica
said.

Tom turned and
looked at her. “He killed my wife.”

“I know,” Jessica
began and swallowed. “It’s my fault and I know it doesn’t make sense right now,
but he’ll protect us.”

Tom shrugged with
a look on his face that said ‘so what’.

Jessica tilted her
head. “We need him to get out of here,” she answered too softly for Ty to hear.

“That psycho
wanted me to hurt you, he wanted me to do whatever I wanted to you but I had to
make sure he was awake.”

“Did you?”

“Did I what?” Tom
asked in annoyance.

“Do what he said.”

“No,” he answered
as if that was the worst thing in the world. Jessica knew first hand that it
wasn’t.

“Maybe you
should.”

He looked sharply
at her. “Should what?”

“Do what he says.”

“You didn’t,” he
objected.

“And look where
that has gotten me. I’ve been beaten, whipped, humiliated and raped, and then I
had the pleasure of watching someone I once loved literally ripped to pieces. For
some godforsaken reason, he’s in love with me and oh joy, I’m the reason you’re
here and your wife is dead.” She took a breath, tears streamed from her eyes. “Now
I’m tied to a bed, with very little hope of ever seeing my kids again and I
have to pee. I’d say resisting has done one hell of a job for me,” she raved. Tom
wiped the tear off her cheek.

Ty watched them
talk and closed his eyes. “I’m sorry,” he said loud enough for both of them to
hear.

“What the hell
were you thinking?” she snapped.

“I was thinking of
how I could get you the hell out of here,” he answered. His steel blue eyes
bore into her willing her to look at him.

Jessica did. Her
eyes were purple now, no longer the deep violet.

Eric said you
needed to open the door.
His voice boomed in her head, making her wince as
she sent a slight nod in his direction. That scared her more than anything.
Opening that door would unleash a hell that she didn’t know how to control. “Frank
is going to kill me, Ty.”

“Not if I can help
it.”

She brought her
gaze back to Tom. “Can you let me up?” she asked. “Nature is calling and I
don’t know how much longer I can hold on.”

Tom raised his
eyebrows and glanced at the handcuffs holding her wrists in place. He shook his
head.

“Catch,” Ty said
and tossed a small pocketknife to Tom.

“What am I
supposed to do with this?”

“Pick the goddamned
lock.”

Tom looked at him
and shrugged. “How?”

“Are you really
that fucking useless?” Ty took a deep breath and walked Tom through the art of
picking locks.

Tom let out a
small laugh as the first cuff clicked open. He repeated with her right hand and
as soon as the remaining cuff fell off her arm, she got up and ran to the
bathroom.

“You’d better not
hurt her,” Ty said when she was out of sight.

Tom folded the pocketknife
and slipped it in his pocket instead of returning it. “There is nothing you
could do if I did,” Tom said bitterly. “Just like I had no say in whether you
killed my wife or not.”

Ty propped himself
up. He did a good job at pretending to be hurt, enough to fool the actor in the
room. “I’m sorry,” Ty said as Jessica walked out of the bathroom.

She squatted and
slapped him. “Sorry doesn’t cut it, babe. You had a choice,” she said her eyes
bright with disappointment. “You made the wrong one.” She sat next to him
anyway and allowed him to put his head on her lap. She ran her hand through his
hair and looked up at Tom.

His impossibly
blue eyes returned her gaze.

The door opened
and a woman walked in with a tray of food, surprising all of them.

Ty shot up next to
Jessica, meeting the hostile stare of the woman.

She set the tray
on the floor and backed out of the room without saying a word.

When the door
closed, both Jessica and Tom swiveled their gaze to Ty.

“Who was that?” Jessica
asked.

Ty closed his eyes
for a second and let out a small breath of relief. “My stepsister. We sometimes
ask her to help when we can’t be here so the prisoners...” he paused and looked
at the chains realizing that he was one of them now, “so we don’t starve,” he
finished.

“Which means?” Jessica
asked. Her eyes were hopeful.

“Which means he
probably won’t be back for a while.”

Tom’s stomach
growled loud enough to capture Jessica’s attention. He had gotten up and
crossed to the tray, taking a plate and water and settling on the floor on the
opposite wall facing Ty and Jessica.

“You might want to
go easy on that, you haven’t had anything in your stomach for almost three days,”
Ty said.

Tom didn’t
respond, he just wolfed the food down and drained the water bottle, glaring at
Ty. A few minutes later, he turned a little green and closed his eyes,
breathing slowly, visibly trying not to throw up the meal he just scarfed down.
After a couple deep breaths, the color returned to his cheeks and he opened his
eyes.

Jessica got up and
brought the tray over to Ty, setting it down between them. There was only one
other plate on the tray and she sighed. She ripped the sandwich in half and
handed the bigger portion to Ty.

He stared at it
for a moment and slowly took it from her, humbled by this simple act because
the intent of only two plates was perfectly clear. Frank told Marian that he
wasn’t to get any food. He ate the sandwich in two bites and she handed him the
water bottle to wash it down. He only drank half and handed it back. She
finished it off and got up, went into the bathroom and refilled it with the
water from the sink. She came back and handed the full bottle back to Ty
without saying a word.

* *
* *

Tom watched this
exchange quietly and when she gazed over at him, he understood. She stood next
to him, the contrast of her elegance and beauty with the black and blue tones
of her beaten face gave him pause. He could not fathom it but somehow she
forgave Ty for all he had done. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back
against the wall as the events of the day slammed into him hard. The reality of
never seeing his wife again hit and tears burned the corners of his eyes.

* *
* *

Jessica took a
step toward him and Ty grabbed her arm. He dropped his hand at the warning
glare she sent in his direction.

She knelt in front
of Tom, hesitantly reaching out to wipe his tears. His eyelids shot open in
surprise at her touch.

“I am so sorry,”
she whispered. He started to shake, allowing her to pull him into her arms as
he silently cried, mourning the loss of his wife. “I’m so sorry.” A tear
slipped down her cheek as she turned and looked at Ty.

Tom clung to her
like a child as the silent sobs quaked in his skin. After a while, he pushed
her away and headed toward the bathroom.
Bastard!
He sucker punched Ty
in the face on his way by and shook the sting from his hand, feeling a little
better at taking out some of his aggravation on the target of his hatred.

In the bathroom,
he splashed water on his face and leaned on the sink.
I want him dead!

Anger brewed and
he brought his gaze up to the mirror. The rage in his reflection caught him by
surprise and he straightened up, taking a step back, his eyes widening a
fraction and he shook his head.

“You’re better
than that,” he said to his reflection, feeling the fury die down to a low
simmer. He splashed another handful of cold water on his face and grabbed the
hand towel hanging from the rack. As he walked out of the bathroom, Jessica
brushed by him, her hand grazing his and that simple touch was enough to give
him the strength he needed not to kill the man chained to the wall.

* *
* *

Jessica wanted out
of the soiled dress she was in and walked into the bathroom. She rummaged
through the closet for anything but found only towels. “Shit,” she mumbled
coming out into the middle of the main room. Staring at the camera, she spoke
loud and clear, “May I please have something else to wear? And something for
them as well?” She pointed to both Ty and Tom. Her gaze dropped to Ty. His
shirt was bloody and ripped from the beating and she sighed as she scanned him,
landing on the iron shackles on his wrists and ankles. She crossed to Tom and
put her hand out. “Give me the knife.”

Tom reached in his
pocket and handed it to her.

She walked over to
Ty.

“It’s not the same
as handcuffs,” Ty said. “Believe me. We lost a key once and had to cut a
prisoners foot off.”

Jessica stared at
him for a moment, debating whether he was exaggerating or not. He gave her a
shrug and dropped his gaze in shame. She knelt down and picked up the shackle
on his wrist, turning it this way and that. She pulled the metal toothpick out
of the pocketknife and stuck it in a little hole on the side. She frowned and
closed her eyes, feeling the metal with her fingers, slipping the toothpick
blindly into the hole again, willing it to open. Click! The sound filled the
room and she opened her eyes, letting a small laugh escape. “I’m not so fucking
useless after all,” she said looking into his eyes.

He stared at the
open shackle and rubbed his free wrist. It wasn’t possible. He raised his eyes,
slowly extending his other wrist to her. A few moments later, another Click
filled the room. Ty uttered a laugh and shook his head. She obviously had
something on him in the realm of picking locks. “Where’d you learn to do that?”
he asked, offering her his ankles.

She tilted her
head, furrowing her brow.

“Pick locks.”

“I’ve never done
this before,” she answered. Click, click in quick succession and he was free.

Ty shot to his
feet and made a run for the bathroom. When he came out, Jessica had a pair of
clean clothes for each of them. Ty glanced between the camera and Jessica,
taking a deep breath and shaking his head. She was a piece of work.

With a clean dress
and undergarments in her arms, she headed toward the bathroom. Hesitating at
the doorway, she turned. “Don’t even think about it.” The warning glance she
shot in Ty’s direction was clear. And just like that, she disappeared out of
their sight.

* *
* *

The gentle whoosh
of the shower being turned on filtered out into the room and Ty and Tom traded
a glance.

Ty stepped toward
the bathroom.

“She said no,” Tom
warned.

Ty looked back at
him in surprise. “What?”

Tom approached him
and they stood eye to eye. “No,” he said again.

Ty snorted at him
in a half laugh. “Bullshit.” He took another step.

Tom moved quicker
and blocked Ty’s path, crossing his arms over his chest and planted his feet
firmly on the ground. When Ty tried to side step, Tom countered, blocking his
every move. “Leave her alone,” he warned. They stared at each other. “Haven’t
you hurt her enough?”

The air went out
of Ty as those words sank in and he winced at the flare of pain they produced.

“Hurts, doesn’t
it?”

Ty nodded and
backed down. “Like hell.” He looked at Tom. He was still planted between Ty and
the bathroom. “Are you always such a boy scout?”

Tom nodded slowly.
“I should really be kicking your ass right now.”

“What are you
waiting for?”

“That’s what
he
wants,” he said, pointing at the cameras. “And I’ve pretty much come to the
conclusion that it’s his fault my wife is dead.”

Ty sighed. “Not
entirely,” he confessed. “I was the one who pushed the button.”

Tom slowly lowered
his arms, his hands balled into fists as Ty’s confession hit home. He swung and
Ty grabbed his arm and bent it behind Tom, pushing him against the wall. Even
though they matched in height and weight, Ty was much stronger.

“I don’t want to
hurt you,” Ty snarled in his ear as he held him against the wall.

“Let him go Ty,”
her voice commanded.

They both looked
at her and Tom’s jaw dropped. Water rolled off her legs, pooling on the floor
and the bath towel barely covered her. Droplets slowly drizzled from her hair,
but the most striking thing about Jessica was her perfectly unmarked skin. The
bruises and cuts were all gone and her eyes had changed to a strange
combination of lilac and blue.

Ty let go and
stepped back. As she turned, they both stared at the unbroken skin of her back.

Tom looked at Ty
and then walked toward the bathroom as she slipped a dress over her head.

She turned to see
him staring—jaw opened—and smoothed the dress self-consciously. “You can catch
flies with that mouth,” she said.

He snapped it
shut. He stepped closer and reached out to touch her face. “Your face?” he
asked. “Your back?”

“She’s special,”
Ty said from behind him, making him jump.

Tom put his arm
out stopping his forward progression. “You have hurt her enough,” he growled. “Back
off.”