Pleasure Vows

by Khloe Summers

  “Hannah! Hannah!” I ran the perimeter of the house screaming her name, but she didn’t answer. No one did. I screamed out again until my voice shook, but the only movement—horses grazing in the furthest part of the yard.

  All I could think of was the wedding we should have been planning, how we should be curled up the couch in the cabin debating which hipster band would play our reception. I yelled her name again, but nothing came out. Instead, rage clogged my throat and poured from my eyes until the urge to be with her was so strong that I stepped towards the fire at the edge of the house. The heat from the flames warmed my lungs, forcing a cough, but I pushed forward. I could see her, just inside the entrance to the house waving for me to come towards her. I stepped forward feeling the fire take hold of the bottom of my jeans, she was closer, reaching out for me. My arm stretched out—then all at once her face was gone and cold foam was all I felt: foam, and a hand on my shoulder.

  “Sir, you’re okay now.” The tone was immediately recognizable.

  “Sir, I have Hannah. She’s in the back. I got her out of the stables before they fell.” The man looked hobbled, tired, and gray, but the crooked nose gave him away—Erik.

  I backed away from him. “You’re fucking with me. No one could have gotten her out. I saw it all on the security camera. You’re always showing up when shit goes bad. I should throw you in the fucking fire.” I grabbed him by his shirt and angled him towards the flames. “If you’d been honest with me, just once—we could have worked together. We could have fixed this whole fucking thing. But now what? Now Hannah’s dead, and you want to fuck me out of more?”

  “I deserve it sir. I deserve to die. But Hannah, she is alive. She is weak, but she is alive, in the back… with the horses.”

  A small voice cracked from beside me. I turned my head believing it was Hannah. Instead, a young girl with tears streaking down her face, her limbs shaking.

  “My dad… have you seen him? I swear I heard his voice. A day ago maybe, or I’m hearing things.”

  I looked back towards Erik, the fear in his eyes now replaced with contentment as he hung over burning ash. “Is this who you saved you stupid old fuck—this is not Hannah. Is this Cora? Did you take her? Are you part of all this? Where’s Jake?”

  “Sir, you can kill me. I deserve it. I’ve caused you nothing but pain. I got in too deep. Kings Ranch, they knew too much, they had me over a barrel. I had to work for them, or they’d kill my family.” He coughed with an open mouth, his lungs straining against the smoke. “Remember when you were younger sir, remember how I’d always tell you that sometimes… it’s not the people that change, it’s the mask that falls.”

  “What are you saying?” I barked, eager for him to speak so I could kill him.

  He coughed. “I’m saying… people can surprise you. I wouldn’t let Hannah die.”

  I wanted to believe him, but I’d been let down by his trust too many times. A solid thud at my side caught my attention. The young girl had fallen to the ground, her breathing labored and short as she spoke. I looked back towards Erik, then released him at the edge of the flames.

  “Hannah, does she have golden hair?” The young girl asked.

  I nodded, with tears in my eyes.

  “I saw her. She tried to save me. And I saw that man save her.” The young girl pointed towards Erik now laying breathless at the side of the house.

  “You saw Hannah? Where did you see her?”

  The girl lifted her thin arm and pointed towards the horses, then dropped it quickly as though the weight were too much to handle.

  I glanced back at Cora quickly. “I’ll be right back…we’ll find your dad. I just have to see if Hannah is really back here.”

  In a full sprint, I took off towards the back field, as my heart beat with doubt and anxiety. I could be a fool again; this could all be an elaborate trick to keep me alive long enough for capture. I didn’t have the mental stability to handle that again—and without Hannah to come back too—it would be a punishment worse than death. Cold sweat beaded its way onto my forehead as I coughed out the last bits of smoke in my lungs. The field was dark, the only light from the moon. I slowed when I reached the horses and walked a grid in the grasses yelling her name: the only answer—whines of disruption from the horses.

  As I reached the last piece of unsearched grass, nausea fell into the pit of my stomach, but I searched again, waving my feet back and forth across the blades as though I’d lost a needle in a haystack—not the love of my life. Because Hannah could not be gone, I could not lose her. I searched the grid again, this time on hands and knees, desperately pawing through damp blades as though she were stuck between them.

  “She can’t be gone. She has to be here.” I chanted the mantra to myself until the words were distorted, sounding more like inaudible grunts—until my hands were bleeding and callused from the rough grass—until I’d gone over every inch of possibility in the field a dozen or more times—until I’d heard the ghost of her voice calling me in directions that didn’t exist.

  I laid back into the plush grass, feeling the spike of each blade crush beneath my weight as I willed my heart to stop, but a voice interrupted my wish.

  “Sir, they’ll be back soon. You have to leave,” Erik called from what sounded like the depths of the sea.

  I stayed in place wondering where ‘they’ had been.

  “Sir, they will kill you all. Please! If they don’t the smoke will.”

  The truth was, I couldn’t ‘will’ myself to death, and if I stayed there, ‘they’ would surely torture me long before ‘they’ let me die. I could at least get Cora to the hospital—then, I could end life on my terms.

  With extreme effort, I stood from the ground and made my way towards Erik, who’s thin form was glowing in the last of the fire at the side of the house.

  “Sir, what are you doing? You’re going to get everyone killed.”

  Blood rushed to my face until I felt a vein in my forehead bulge. “I’m going to get everyone killed? You’re the reason we’re here. I trusted you, my family trusted you!” Instinctually, my hand grasped his neck. “You said she was back there. You said she was in that field. Where is she? Where’s Hannah?” I could feel the pressure in my hand tighten around his neck as I watched his eyes widen.

  He lifted his arm, pointing towards the SUV.

  I snapped my head towards the vehicle, noticing Cora now sitting in the front seat.

  “You fucking idiot! That’s the same girl from the basement!” I squeezed harder around his neck, watching as the tips of his ears turned red. I hated him for not coming to me when he was blackmailed into filming our exploits, I hated him for the lies, and I blamed him for everything Kings Ranch had done to us.

  “Matteo…” a voice coughed from the driveway. It sounded like Hannah, but I wasn’t sure what senses I could trust. With hesitation, I turned my head towards the small voice, keeping my hand grasped around Erik’s neck.

  The back door of the SUV was cracked slightly, though someone was trying hard to push it open further. I released Erik, and ran towards the cracked door, immediately recognizing the pink tennis shoes pushing at the door.

  My heart swelled. I opened the door, reaching in towards her weak body, pulling her closer to my chest. “Bella, my sweet, dolce Bella. You’re going to be okay. You’re okay.” Tears soaked my face and convulsions took over my core. She smelled of soot, and her spirit was weak in my arms. I pulled away from her shaking body, took off my sweater and laid it over her. “We’re going to the hospital now. We’re leaving. You’re okay.” I closed the door and rounded to the front of the driver's side door of the SUV. As I looked back at Erik, he paused standing at the edge of the burning house, the flames still going strong, leveling the boards snap by snap.

  Cora’s faint voice turned my attention away from the house. “My dad—did you see him? He’s out here right?” She was wheezing when she spoke, and I could hear Hannah doing th
e same with each breath.

  I glanced towards her quickly as I turned the ignition. “Well, he’s in Ireland, but I haven’t heard from him in a bit. I’ll try him again when we get to the hospital.”

  I didn’t want to think of what could have happened to Jake, but if Cora had really heard his voice, it couldn’t be good. I put the SUV in reverse and twisted the wheel to turn around in the grass. As I did, I caught sight of Erik one last time as the flames engulfed his form. I looked away, then back again wondering if my mind was playing tricks. He was gone with no warning or scream for help. I knew I’d lost him long ago, but seeing him leave my life violently forced my body out of the car. I wanted to pull him from the flames and help him as he helped me so many times in my life. But that opportunity had passed; he was gone. Despite his faults, I am still here today because of him. My only choice now, was to put the car in drive and try and save Hannah and Cora before it was too late.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Hannah

  I remember very little of what happened from when I passed out to now. All I knew was that despite a raw throat, tired lungs, and third-degree burns on my shins, my heart felt happy laying in Matteo’s arms on this tiny hospital bed.

  “You’re awake… how do you feel?” Matteo’s voice was raspy as though he hadn’t spoken in hours.

  “Okay…” I said, fighting a lump in my throat. “What happened? How’s Cora?”

  I hadn’t yet noticed we were sharing a room, and she was laying right next to me.

  “I’m alive—but I’m worried about my dad. That man at the ranch gave me a note. He said it would explain everything but I could barely keep my eyes open yesterday.” She spoke in a low whisper. “It was in my pocket last night—but my clothes are gone.”

  Matteo stood and moved towards the tall closet that sat in the corner of the room, then pulled out a large Ziploc that had Cora’s street clothes inside. A pair of blue jeans, a plain pink t-shirt that had both been stained with ash. Behind that, a wrinkled envelope—still sealed.

  Matteo pulled it to the surface. “Is this what you’re talking about?”

  She nodded and reached for the envelope, tore open the seal, then read the letter aloud in a faint, struggled whisper.

  “Cora,

  We’ve never met, but I am the reason your father is dead. I wrote him a letter asking that he meet me here at Kings Ranch, as I cannot leave due to the tracker on my ankle. I’d planned to sneak you out to the tree line and release you to your dad. But now, you will be alone. The staff at the ranch overheard your dad asking questions at a local bar and they brought him back to the house.”

  Her hands shook as she read through tears.

  “They killed him that night. I know this is a shock, and you feel weak, but you have to RUN. Enclosed is all the money I have on me. Don’t ever look back. Don’t go to the police. RUN and HIDE! They are ruthless and they will stop at nothing to find you. When you think it’s safe to come out of wherever you’re hiding, wait longer because I promise they'll find you the second you let your guard down.

  Your dad loved you Cora, he fought for your life, but no one is a match for Kings Ranch. No one.”

  She flipped the paper and pulled it close to her face, to read a short note that had been scratched almost illegible.

  “Contact Matteo De Luca, he can get you into hiding.

  She folded the letter in half, wiped her face with the sheet from the bed, and took a sip of water from the plastic cup on the table. “You’re Matteo, right? How do I get into hiding?”

  Matteo went to the edge of Cora’s bed and grasped her now shaking hands. “We’ll get you out of here. I just have to make a few calls.” He adjusted his focus back to me. “While I’m doing that, you need to call Kevin. He’s been blowing up my phone since last night. I let him know you were alive, but he wanted you to call.”

  I nodded, and pulled out my phone, but looked towards Cora. She’d grasped her stomach and rolled onto her side, as though she were sick. Matteo stood from Cora’s bed, walked to mine, and kissed my head. “I’ll be right back. She’ll be okay. She just needs time to come to terms with everything.”

  I nodded in agreement, saving my voice for the call. Matteo didn’t have to tell me he was leaving to call someone to have our identities changed. It was what I’d hoped for all along. But with that meant giving up the shelter, my tiny childhood cabin in the woods, and Kevin. I dialed his number and pulled the phone to my face, waiting with a turning stomach as the phone rang out in my ear.

  “Hey!” I croaked.

  “Hey, you sound awful. Your throat must be—”

  “I’ll live.”

  “Thank God. I was worried sick. You’re so lucky Han, this could have gone sideways really fast.”

  “I know… I just wanted to let you know… I won’t be—”

  “Kind of figured after all this you’d need a clean break.” He paused, letting out a deep sigh. “I love you Han. If that even means anything.”

  “It does. I’m sorry I confused you. I—”

  “We confused each other. I’m sorry I held the letter from you.”

  I coughed, then cleared my voice, but my throat had seized until I took a sip of water. “I don’t believe in accidents. Everything happens for a rea—”

  “Reason.” He finished the sentence for me. “You sound awful. I’m going to let you rest. If you’re ever in this neck of the woods… let me know. I promise to keep all your secrets.”

  I smiled but a piece of my heart ached. “I think you’re better off with no secrets to keep.”

  “We all choose our poisons… I’d choose your secrets every time.” His voice was deep and comforting, like warm tea with honey.

  “I love you Kev…”

  “I love you Hannah.” A quiver developed in his tone. “Oh, and I promise I’ll take care of the shelter for you. Keep everything just as you have it. So if you ever want to come back as Jane Doe, it’ll be there.”

  Kevin and the shelter were all I had in the world outside of Matteo and leaving them was harder than I’d expected. Anxiety swelled my already swollen throat, forcing another series of coughs.

  “You sound awful, you should rest,” he said sniffling.

  I wanted to talk longer, somehow make this moment as meaningful as our relationship had been to me, but there wasn’t enough time in the day.

  “Yeah… I guess I should rest my voice,” I whispered, trying not to disrupt the tickle stationed in my larynx.

  “Catch ya later,” he said, hanging onto the words as though he didn’t want to say them.

  “Later,” I whispered, then hung up the phone.

  Before I’d had a moment to digest my conversation with Kevin, Matteo was back, commenting on the tears that had begun to streak down my cheeks.

  “Everything okay?”

  I nodded and wiped away the tears, but I wasn’t okay.

  “I made a mistake when I was with Kevin. I got close to him again… I slept—”

  “It’s okay Bella. I know…” Matteo brushed his hand along the top of my head and down my hair. “I know. You were under a lot of pressure, and you feel things for him. It’s okay. But you have to be sure you’re ready for this life with me. Your life… it would be easier with him; you wouldn’t have to give anything up.”

  “I’d have to give up on you.” I wheezed “And I can’t do that.”

  Matteo kissed my forehead gently, held my glance for a moment, then sat in the chair near my bed. “But with me, you’ll have to leave tonight.”

  I pulled a tissue from the bedside table and wiped my running nose. “Why not earlier?”

  “You and Cora both need to meet with the lung doctor first. The guy I called—to change our,” Matteo paused and looked towards the door, “stuff says someone will be here at 7. We meet him at the janitor entrance.” He squeezed my hand, then opened a book he’d found in the gift shop and began to read to Cora and
me.

  Closing my eyes, I listened to his words as he tangled his tongue around syllables and vowels that didn’t belong in his language—his accent like a delicious treat to my senses. For hours, he sat next to me reading with his hand unwaveringly steady against my skin as we waited for the lung specialist.

  Startling me from heaven, a nurse at the door with a heavy Irish accent. “Mr. De Luca?”

  “No, I’m sorry… you must have the wrong room,” Matteo said looking up at the nurse. We’d checked in under the last name Winters.

  The young nurse turned her hip to the side and rested her hand on the curve. “Mr. De Luca, the police are downstairs. They’re requesting a meeting with you. We’d prefer you to come peacefully as not to disturb the other patients.”

  Matteo lifted his massive body from the chair and set the book he’d been reading at the end of my bed as he made his way to the doorway. “You seem like a very smart woman… nurse…Rosalyn.” He was looking her straight in the eye, as he lifted her name tag gently from her uniform. “But there must be a mix-up. I can come downstairs, but I assure you, I am not Mr. whoever you said.”

  The nurse shifted her weight back to center and twisted her long red hair onto her opposite shoulder.

  “I’m happy to come downstairs and clear things up…” Matteo said now leaning in the doorway into their conversation. “Can you tell them I’ll be right down?” He touched her shoulder softly, holding it there through the rest of his words. “The doctor is only in for another fifteen minutes and we’re expecting him.”

  Cora and I had disappeared as the nurse held her attention on Matteo’s chestnut eyes. I couldn’t blame her.

  “I can do that,” she said, batting her lashes. “But I can’t hold em off for long. They’re quite insistent that you’re Mr. De Luca. You’re the only patients with burns we have in house.”