Never Be the Same

by A. Aubry

  I could feel Gavin’s shoulders sag a little, “It’s just—what we had the other night was so special…”

  I tried to hide my laughter, “Be careful, Melody. He said the same thing to me after we first slept together and then we ended up almost married.”

  A blow came to the side of my face, forcing my head to turn the other way. Pain radiated from my jaw. The fucker actually hit me. How long had he been waiting to do that?

  “Gavin! You don’t get to inflict the pain, that is my job,” Melody scolded him.

  “I’m so—”

  She held up her hand to cut him off, “Save it. Go in the other room.”

  I watched as he disappeared through a door behind where Melody stood. That’s when I realized I was in a very rundown looking room. It definitely wasn’t Gavin’s place because the house he owned was actually pretty nice. Melody probably made a pretty penny being a physical therapist at the hospital, so I wasn’t sure if this was her place either. Wherever I was, I just knew that I wanted to be home with my husband.

  “Now, where were we?” Melody tapped her chin before looking like a lightbulb went off in her head, “Ah, yes. Jameson. I warned you to leave him, Briella. Yet you went ahead and married him.”

  “Uh, you sent that threat after we were already married,” I replied.

  “That’s beside the point!” She took a deep breath as though to calm herself, “I don’t see what he sees in you. Hell, I don’t even see what Gavin sees in you. I just know that Jameson would be much better off with me.”

  “Because you treated him after his attack?”

  “Because of the connection we shared!” This time she couldn’t hold back her anger as she strode towards me and slapped me hard against the face.

  “He asked me how things were, he talked to me about his club, we shared everything together! I started to develop feelings for him and he kept pulling away when I tried to find out if he had them in return.”

  “That’s because we had been dating before he ever met you,” I pointed out.

  Another slap across the face was my reply. My cheeks were already starting to ache. I really needed to learn how to keep my mouth shut.

  “The only reason you two met is because you decided to whore it up in Los Angeles while Gavin was here waiting for you.”

  “I didn’t whore it up. Jameson took me on an innocent tour of the city after my friends and I met him at his club. I had wanted to break up with Gavin long before my trip to LA and it took me separating myself from him to know that I just didn’t want that life.”

  “You ungrateful bit—”

  “Mel, you might want to see this!” Jameson called out from whatever room he was in.

  Melody spun on her heel and stalked off. I could have sworn she told me not to move, but it wasn’t like I had much of a choice. The sound of a television being turned up louder and louder caught my attention. Through the door that Melody had left open, I could see the television screen straight on and Jameson’s face was filling it while cameras flashed around him. Luckily, Gavin always listened to the television loud because I was sure that he was going deaf early on, so I could hear every word that Jameson was saying.

  “My wife, Briella Barnes, has been missing for almost two days. She was taken from the front of The Green Room at approximately 12:30am on Sunday morning. Surveillance footage from outside of the club shows two people, a male and female, accosting her before ultimately drugging her and kidnapping her. They were seen driving away from the scene in a dark-colored panel van.”

  Jameson took a deep breath and even from the other room I could see the tears welling up in his eyes. Don’t worry, Jay. I’m alright for now. I love you.

  “The suspects are believed to be Gavin Scott and Melody James from what surveillance footage and the club’s bouncer can confirm. If anyone has any information on where Briella or her kidnappers could be, should contact the police as soon as possible.”

  Jameson’s full attention switched from the papers he was reading in his hands to the camera directly and I could feel my breath catching in my throat. It was as though he was looking right at me through the television.

  “Briella, baby, if you are somehow watching this, I love you and I am fighting to bring you home safely. Stay strong, my love, I am coming for you.”

  The camera cut to a news anchorwoman as I could see Jameson turning away from the news crews and into Kelly’s arms. Keira was resting a hand on his shoulder and I could’ve sworn that my friends were there with him as well. A small smile came out to know that he was not alone during all of this. That smile immediately fell when Melody came stomping back into the room, looking more pissed off than before.

  “How the fuck would he know that it was us?” She demanded, searching my body as though she was security patting me down.

  “He said from the surveillance footage, Melody. Also, you two tried getting into the club and in order to do that…you show your ID to the bouncer. Those guys are ex-military, like Navy SEALs and Marines. They pick up on everything.”

  Rather than slap me this time, Melody went for a punch straight to the cheek, “I don’t need your sass, Briella.”

  “You asked, I answered. That’s not sass.”

  When she pulled her hand back for another punch, Gavin yelled from the other room, “Melody, you need to pull yourself together! Step letting her push your buttons. Hitting her more won’t make her shut up any less.”

  Wow, Gavin actually had some brains after all. Melody looked back at him and when she turned back to me, the most sickening smile I had ever seen on someone’s face was smiling at me. It was like a flip had been switched somewhere in Melody’s head and she was about to go full on psycho on me.

  “He’s right, hitting will get us nowhere. Let’s step it up a notch, shall we?”

  She pulled out a pocket knife similar to the one that was stabbed into the heart of the first doll package that I had received. The one that was delivered to Jameson’s apartment the night he proposed to me.

  “Melody let’s not do anything crass…” I attempted to talk her down.

  “We are already past that,” Melody answered as she moved in closer.

  She loosened my bindings before grabbing my arm and holding it out, the small, cool blade pressing against my skin. I saw the blood before I felt the bite of the blade. Well, I was in deeper shit than I thought.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  I awoke with a start, the room cast in darkness except for a dim light coming in from the window. It wasn’t bright enough to be the sun and from what I could see, the sky was dark. It had to be some sort of streetlight outside of the room. The television faintly talked from the other room, but no other sounds were heard. I had no idea how long I had been out this time, and a part of me really didn’t want to know.

  The last thing that I remembered was Melody digging the blade into my arm at least three times on each one. It was my upper arm, so I wasn’t too worried about bleeding out from any hit veins. Using the light from the window, I took count of my injuries. The cuts to my arm looked nothing more than superficial. No real damage was going to occur from them. Now, if she went just a little crazier with the knife, I wasn’t sure how much damage she could inflict on me.

  A loud snore made me jump before I realized it was Gavin snoring from the other room. He only ever did that if he slept on his back on the couch. That was probably exactly what he was doing. His post was to watch the door to the room that led to me, to make sure that I couldn’t get out. Then again, my legs were tied to the legs of the chair and my torso was held tight against the back of the chair.

  I sighed to myself and looked towards the window, “I’m sorry, Jameson. I wish I could have done something sooner to catch her, to make sure that this wouldn’t happen to us.”

  My throat was still rather sore from screaming and crying for Melody to stop. By the time she was completing the final cut on my other arm, Gavin finally had enough of me begging for help and
tore her away from me. It was the only time that I had ever felt an ounce of compassion since I saw him outside the club. Supposedly, he wanted me back. Well he had a fucking funny way of showing it.

  I tried to get into my head and have my memories take me somewhere else. My arms hurt, my stomach was growling incessantly for more than the banana and bottle of water that Gavin had fed me once I calmed down from Melody’s attack, and all I wanted to see was Jameson. That was where my memories were constantly taking me. Into Jameson’s arms as we cuddled up in bed together, our trip to Spain, our wedding day…our honeymoon. Every single memory that I shared with that man was choosing now to rush to the surface.

  It wasn’t like I didn’t want those memories there to comfort me. They constantly made me want to smile, but they also made me want to cry. What if after all of this, Melody decided to cut too deep and take my life? What if I never got to see Jameson ever again, or have him hold me in his arms? My face scrunched up as I tried to hold back the tears that were trying to make their way out. It was the shooting pain from my cheeks and jaw that made me stop doing that. I could tell that my jaw wasn’t broken, but that didn’t help the fact that I would have some nice bruises.

  From somewhere deep inside of my memory, I conjured up Jameson’s voice. It was the only thing that I needed right now, the only thing that would help me get through this. What he had said at the end of his press conference to me was constantly running through my mind until I finally passed out. I knew that he was doing everything that he could to get to me, the man had the most resources that I had seen from anybody. But I also knew that this was probably killing him inside. He promised me that no one would lay a finger on me, but yet Gavin and Melody lured me away from him with a simple note and took me right out from under his nose.

  It was obvious to me that Melody was the mastermind behind all of this bullshit. Gavin could barely even watch any type of crime drama shows because he always said he felt too bad for the victims. He always said that he could never imagine why someone would do that to another person. Yet here we were, me the victim and him the bad guy. The sound of Gavin snorting flooded in from the room, the sign that his latest snore woke him up. I heard him grunt and his feet padding against the hardwood floor before he appeared in the doorway. It looked like his face lit up at the sight of me actually being awake.

  “Hey, Bri,” he walked over to me and kneeled in front of my chair, “Do you need to use the bathroom? Would you like another banana or some water?”

  “No, Gavin. I just want to go home,” I said softly, trying to keep my anger at bay.

  He put his hand on my knee, his sweaty palm against my skin made me want to push him away, “You are home, now.”

  I shook my head. It would be a cool day in hell when this place became my home. There was no way that I would ever willingly spend another day with Gavin or Melody. But that was just the thing, I wasn’t here willingly.

  “Here, let me get you some water. I know you get thirsty in the middle of the night.” He stood up and walked somewhere behind me.

  He was wrong about that. I never got thirsty in the middle of the night, that was always him. Then again, it had been hours since I was last conscious, and a little water never hurt anybody. Gavin came back in front of me with a bottle of water in his hand. He broke the seal, took off the lid, and held the bottle up to my lips. The room temperature water felt good against my dry throat as I took several large gulps. I’d probably regret that later when I would be forced to allow Gavin to help me to the bathroom.

  When he finally took the bottle away from my lips and put the cap back on, I silently prayed that he would turn around and leave the room again. Instead, his lips brushed against my forehead and all I could think about was Jameson. Gavin tugged on the back of my hair, forcing me to look up at him as I tried not to cry out at the sudden pain.

  “I love you, Briella. We are going to be together for the rest of our lives,” Gavin declared quietly, his eyes piercing into mine.

  “I’m in love with someone else. Someone I have already promised my life to…someone who isn’t you,” I whispered, suddenly wishing that I hadn’t said anything at all.

  As if it was a reflex, Gavin’s fist came at me and connected with my eye before I yelped in pain.

  “You stupid slut, I could give you everything that that fucking club owner could never give you.”

  “Oh, really? Did you ever take me to Barcelona for a long birthday weekend just because you cared enough to celebrate it with me? Did you ever go with me to babysit Ray’s kids because you wanted to help me or get a taste of what a family life would be like? Your idea of a fucking honeymoon was taking a three-day weekend to the Wisconsin Dells for a stay at a waterpark. Gavin, I’m sure you could give everything to another person who wants whatever it is that you have to offer, but that person is never going to be me!”

  With a good hook, Jameson hit the same eye that he had before, causing the chair to teeter before I crashed backwards onto the floor. I could hear, as well as feel, my head smack against the hard floor and I cried out in pain. Melody barged into the room just as Gavin was getting ready to straddle my body to get in more punches.

  “Gavin! Knock it off!” She tried to yank him off of me, “Get the fuck off of her!”

  “She said she is never going to be with me! She deserves to know my pain!” Gavin screamed, little drops of spit flying out of his mouth and onto my skin.

  I had to fight back a shiver at that gross biological invasion. Finally, Melody pulled him off of me, the both of them falling back onto the floor with a loud thud. Melody was whispering something in Gavin’s ear, something that I couldn’t make out, but he seemed to be calming down quickly. He nodded his head, got up off the floor and left the room without another word. Melody stood up and brushed off the back of her pants before coming to stand over me.

  “You’ll learn soon enough that you’re going to be stuck with Gavin until the day you die. Whether that day is tomorrow or when you’re ninety is all up to you.”

  She gave me a swift kick in the ribs before leaving the room in a haste and slamming the door behind her. Well, ladies and gentlemen, it looked like I was going to be dead tomorrow.

  “Bri, baby—oh my god, Bri!”

  “Jay?” I whispered sleepily.

  Damn, in what had to be a few hours, my brain did an amazing job at conjuring up his voice. It was really like he was right beside me.

  “Briella, can you hear me?” His panicked voice asked as I felt a soft jostle to my shoulder.

  My eyes—well, my good eye—shot open expecting to see Gavin and Melody playing another prank on me. They had been doing it every so often on and off since Gavin all but beat the shit out of my face. The room was blanketed in sunlight and Jameson was leaning over me, his hands on my shoulders.

  “Jameson?” I wished that I could rub the sleep from my eyes, but my hands were still bound in front of me.

  “Oh, thank god. Baby, it’s me—I’m here,” Jameson pulled me up into his arms, the safest space that I had ever known.

  Immediately, I burst into tears at the feeling of his warm body against mine and his cologne wrapping around me like a blanket. Jameson pressed multiple kisses into my hair before a high-pitched scream came from the other side of the room. I immediately stiffened, expecting this all to be a dream that my brain made up to keep me alive and kicking.

  “You found her!”

  Through the tears, I could just make out Kelly’s figure. Her voice was too distinct for me not to know whose it was. Soon she was right next to where Jameson was kneeling on the floor with me in his arms.

  “The paramedics are on their way up, Jameson. I can’t believe we found her!”

  “What about Melody and Gavin? Are they still in the apartment?”

  What the fuck were they talking about?

  “No, the police cuffed them and took them down to the precinct. We won’t have to worry about her seeing them again.”

&nbs
p; “Guys will someone please tell me what is happening?” I interrupted their back and forth.

  Jameson turned my head up gently, his eyes meeting my one good one, “Gavin and Melody rented this apartment in the southside to hold you. Someone from another unit heard screaming and yelling and called the cops. The second that the cops saw Melody and Gavin, they called me, and Kelly and I raced here as fast as we could. They’ve been arrested, Bri. You’re safe now.”

  “Jameson look at her eye,” Kelly warned softly.

  “Do I—Do I get to go home with you now?” I raised my bound hands, touching one to his cheek.

  It surprised me when it was wet and that it took me until now to realize that Jameson had been crying with me. Jameson turned his head and kissed my fingers. I felt a slight tugging on my wrists and they came apart, Kelly taking it upon herself to free me. As she worked on untying my legs, I put my hands on both of Jameson’s cheeks and brought his lips to mine. That was a feeling I never thought that I would ever have again. The fireworks that went off in my head, the butterflies that flew around like crazy in my stomach, they were all things that Jameson made me feel when he kissed me.

  “I love you so much, Jameson. Please forgive me for believing that the note was from you,” I whispered, his forehead resting against mine.

  “God, I’ve missed hearing you say that you love me, Bri. I have also missed telling you how much I love you. This was in no way your fault, I’m sorry that I couldn’t protect you.”

  “You had no way of knowing, baby. There was no way that you would know that the two of them would come out of the woodwork and do this.”

  “I’m so so—”

  “Mr. Barnes, we need to examine your wife,” a soft, feminine voice came from the doorway.

  I turned my head to see a male and female paramedic with a stretcher making their way into the room. Kelly stepped to the side and all but forced Jameson to let me go as the paramedics guided me to sit down on the stretcher. After a few checks, pokes, and prods, they instructed me to lie down on the stretcher so that they could take me down to the ambulance. I needed to be checked out more thoroughly at the hospital. My eyebrows raised in a panic as I looked over at Jameson who stood against a wall nearby.