Saving Beth

by Kaylee, Katy

  Pregnant.

  It was positive. The test was positive.

  How was this possible? You know exactly how it’s possible. A voice in the back of my mind whispered.

  My hand flew to my mouth and I took a step back, and then another, leaving the test where it was as I stumbled out of the bathroom, reeling from the shock.

  “Holy shit. I’m pregnant. I’m pregnant!” I let out a hysterical laugh, looking around but Aiden was nowhere to be found. I was happy about that. For the moment I needed to be alone. I needed to make sense of this in my own mind before I told anyone else. Especially Aiden.

  I needed to get out of the house. I could feel the walls closing in around me as I struggled to draw in a deep enough breath. Fresh air. That was what I needed. Fresh air.

  I snuck back out of the kitchen door, making as if to head back to the garden in case Matteo was watching but instead of going inside I skirted around the garden wall and headed down the path that lead to the park that I had just been jogging in the day before.

  My mind was still reeling from the result of the pregnancy test and I was assaulted my thoughts, swirling one after the other until they were just a big tangled mess that I didn’t even know where to begin to unknot them.

  What the hell was I going to do?

  I knew that I was in love with Aiden, and a part of me, the small sane part of me, was overjoyed at the idea of being a mother, the idea of raising Aiden’s child. But it had all just happened so fast and with everything that was happening with Redman…to add a baby in to the mix. A baby that would be completely helpless.

  My emotions were caught in just as much of a tangle as my thoughts as I started to jog and I was still trying to make sense of it all when I felt a blinding pain along the side of my temple and then everything went dark.

  Chapter 35

  Aiden

  I paced from one end of the empty warehouse to the other but there was nothing there to keep my mind off of the fear that was eating me alive. I was losing my mind, going insane with nothing to do but wait and imagine all the terrible things that Ian Redman could be doing at that moment.

  What if he was coming back to finish me off?

  Well, if that was the case, I thought, looking down at the loaded gun still clenched in my hand, then he had a couple of surprises coming his way if he thought I would be as easy to kill as my father was, as all the other people that he had killed. Of that blonde woman that had reminded me so much of Beth from the night before.

  I paced, and worried, and I feared, and with every single fucking step my anger and my resolve grew. No matter what happened, when I got out of here, Redman was going down. I was going to make sure of it. He was like a rabid animal, spreading his disease wherever he went and it was long past time that someone put the man down just like the animal he was.

  I walked back over to the chair and picked up the note that he had left behind.

  You should have left me alone when you had the chance. Now it’s too late.

  What the hell did that even mean? What did Redman mean by ‘now it’s too late’. What is?

  “Damn it.” I growled the words but the just echoed impotently in the empty warehouse. I crumpled the note in my fist, about to throw it into the darkest shadow I could find but I stopped myself. Slowly, I smoothed it back out. Right now, it was the only clue I had to what Redman was going to do.

  I tried to work it out but with that little bit to go on it was all but impossible. I was still trapped, and Redman was still god know where doing god only knew what.

  The thought sent a chill through me and I knew I had to do something or I was going to go crazy.

  I pulled my phone on again, powered it up before dialing Matteo’s number. For the third time it went straight to voicemail and I cursed until I was blue in the face and out of breath before forcing myself to stay calm, or at least as calm as I could manage, before redialing the man’s number.

  Finally, on the fourth time, Matteo answered the phone and I thought I would collapse in a puddle on the floor.

  “Fuck, Matteo, why didn’t you answer your phone!” I burst out, shouting the words. There was a moment of silence on the other line and then Matteo’s stiff voice.

  “I was in the elevator, Aiden. You know there’s no reception in there. I saw your missed calls when I got off and I was about to call you back when…”

  “I called you.” I filled in, forcing myself to draw in a deep breath, “Look I’m sorry. I’m just…It’s a long story. Listen. Is Beth okay? Is she there with you?”

  “She’s fine, Aiden. Last time I checked she was out in the garden in back.”

  “Still?”

  “Still? What do you mean, still? It’s been maybe an hour or so since I saw her walk back there but I figured she was just trying to relax a little bit. She’d been under so much pressure lately.”

  “Matteo, I need you to go check on her. I think Redman…” I paused, falling silent as a soft sound reached me. A scuffling noise coming from the other side of the doorway.

  “Boss? Aiden? Are you there?”

  “Hold on,” I whispered, tilting my head to get a better listen. The sound was just outside the door now and I could see the doorknob rattle once, then twice.

  “Matteo I have to go.”

  “Alright, if you’re sure–.”

  I didn’t give Matteo a chance to finish his sentence. I hung up the phone and grabbed a hold of the gun, levelling it at the door. I held it steady with both hands, eyeing down the sight as the door knob rattled again.

  The noise came again, louder now and there was a pounding as if someone was slamming against the steel door with their whole body.

  I tensed, not sure what was about to come through that door, but I knew that if it was Redman, I was going to be ready for him.

  I tried to keep my gun steady but there was a fine tremor working its way up my arms, making my neck ache from the effort as the seconds dragged by but I didn’t lower my weapon or look away. I couldn’t lose my focus. I knew how dangerous this man was. He was a cold blooded killer and I would need every edge to take him down.

  I bit my lip in concentration, waiting, inhaling and exhaling as smoothly and slowly as I could but no matter what I did my heart still beat a loud, wild tattoo in my chest and it roared in my ears, so loud it was hard to hear the noises coming from the door.

  There was another slam at the door and I tensed, my whole body going into fight mode so that by the time the second slam came, and the door started to open my finger was already starting to squeeze the trigger.

  “Aiden? Aiden!”

  I gasped in a breath, barely pulling my hand back as Luca’s familiar head popped through the door, peeking around in the darkness. Like me, it took a few moments for the other man’s eyes to adjust to the dim light inside but once he did they widened when Luca caught sight of me, and the gun still clenched in my hands.

  “Hey man, don’t shoot. I’m the one saving your sorry ass.”

  “Jesus,” I said, sending up a shuddery prayer. “I almost killed you.” When I let the gun finally drop my arms felt like water and it was more from relief than exertion. I had come so close to pulling the trigger. I’d been able to feel the tension of the gun shift as it readied to fire.

  I wasn’t the only one letting out a sigh of relief. Luca had one of his own as he walked warily towards me, still looking sideways at the gun even though I had it pointed at the floor with the safety on.

  “What the hell happened, Aiden?” Luca asked as he drew up beside me and I stared at him. I’d been trying to figure that out for the last half of an hour with not so much luck.

  “I got a call from you. Or…who I thought was you. The reception was bad and you kept cutting out but you said…you told me you had found where Redman was. You texted me this address.”

  Luca was silent for a long time, his expression uncharacteristically somber before he shook his head.

  “I didn’t call you, Aiden.
And I didn’t text you.”

  “I’d figured that one out.” I said caustically before drawing in another breath. This wasn’t Luca’s fault. It was my own. I wanted to catch Redman so bad that I had jumped at the chance without even pausing to think it through.

  “It was a set up. Redman lured me here and he rigged the door to lock.” I said after a minute and then showed Luca the note that Redman had left behind. The other man stared at it for a long time before looking back at me, the same questions in his eyes that I was sure were burning in mine.

  “But why? This doesn’t make sense. He could have just killed you. Why go to all this extra trouble.”

  “Thanks, Luca. That’s really considerate.”

  “I’m serious, Aiden. This doesn’t make a god damned bit of sense. Why trap you in here?”

  “I thought it was for me,” I said with a shrug, “That he wanted to trap me here until he could come back and finish me off but…” I paused, and a terrible thought struck me then. “Beth. To get Beth alone. We have to get back to the house. Now!”

  “Come on. I’ll drive,” Luca said, grabbing the keys, “You drive like an old lady.”

  For once, I didn’t argue with him, just followed him out to the car and climbed in. I knew I was far too shaken to drive anyways.

  The whole drive back, my mind tortured me. All I could think about was Beth, think about all of the ways that psycho could hurt her, torture her. Take her away from forever.

  The city passed by in a blur but I didn’t see it. All I could see was her. Beth. My Beth. I prayed harder than I had ever prayed before that she would be at home, safe and sound and all of this worry would be for nothing but a terrible feeling had settled in my stomach. One of those gut feelings that told me the worst of my worries and fears wouldn’t begin to compare to how bad the reality truly was.

  The drive to the house seemed to take forever, and even though Luca broke every single speed limit on the ride back, it still felt like we were going too slow. We were going to be too late. I already knew it before he turned down the long drive that lead to the house or squealed the car to a stop haphazardly in front.

  I leapt out of the passenger’s side door before the car had fully stopped and sprinted to the front door but it opened before I could even reach it. Matteo’s pasty white face told me everything I needed to know.

  “I can’t find her anywhere. I swear she was in the garden in the back but…” Matteo trailed off, shaking his head and looking like he was about to pass out and I clapped him on the shoulder.

  “Let’s search the house. We have to be certain first. Before…”

  “Before what, Aiden?”

  “Before we call in re-inforcements.” I said softly, not looking at either man as I walked inside the empty house, “If Redman has her…”

  “You think this is him? I thought you caught him!” Matteo looked shaken and I didn’t blame him. It was exactly how I felt. And full of guilt as I shook my head.

  “It was a trick. A trap to get me away from Beth so that he could…”

  “Shit! Aiden, we have to find her!” Matteo spun around in a panic and I felt a moment of relief that I wasn’t acting like the crazy one. At least, not the only one.

  “Matteo, you search the pool and the garage, and double check the grounds and the garden. Luca, you come with me. We’ll start down here and work our way up.”

  With a clear plan of action I felt a little more stable, a little further away from the edge but with every room we searched that turned up empty, that edge crept a little bit closer and every time it grew even sharper. A blade being sharpened with my pain and fear and the worst things I could imagine.

  We tore apart the entire first floor but there was still no sign of her.

  “Beth! Elizabeth!” over and over again I called her name until my voice grew hoarse and started to give way. And over and over again, my cries were met with nothing but silence.

  After crossing off every room on the first floor we made our way upstairs but I already knew the truth. She wasn’t there. Beth wasn’t there. Redman had her. He’d taken her away, stolen her from where she should have been safest.

  I moved to turn into her office, but Luca’s tense voice stopped me.

  “Aiden! Aiden, come in here! You need to see this!”

  I raced after the sound of his voice, rushing through our bedroom and into the large en suite bathroom and stumbled to a halt, looking at Luca in confusion.

  “What? What is it? Did you find something?” I asked, looking around but she obviously wasn’t there, and I didn’t see anything out of place. But Luca had grown pale and he was pointing at the bathroom sink like he’d seen a ghost.

  “What is–.” The question caught in my throat, choking me until I couldn’t breathe when I finally saw what he was pointing at. I leaned closer. Sure that my eyes were mistaking me but there was no mistake. Sitting there, on the edge of the sink was a pregnancy test. And it was positive.

  Chapter 36

  Beth

  Everything was dark and it was storming. I was running, running so hard that my lungs felt like two balloons about to burst inside my chest but my body wouldn’t move. No matter how hard I pumped my legs, I couldn’t move. I was running on a treadmill and the dark was getting closer and closer.

  Somewhere, deep inside my mind, I knew it was a nightmare. I knew it was just like the nightmares I used to have nearly every night, before Aiden. Nightmares of shadow men reaching for me in the dark. Nightmares of finding my sister’s body broken and crumpled like garbage and me not being able to save her.

  But something was different now. As I ran in the dark in my mind, I knew that something was different, but everything was so shrouded in shadows that I couldn’t decipher what it was.

  So I ran. I ran and ran, knowing that the shadow man was behind me, chasing after me, knowing all the while that I would never be fast enough to outrun him. But there was nothing else I could do. I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t let him get me.

  Something skipped in my mind at that, but I couldn’t grasp it and just as suddenly, the nightmare smoothing out again, dark and terrifying in front of me. I was on the docks, the rain was pouring down in droves and as a flash of lightning split the sky I already knew what I would see.

  There, just up ahead, crumpled and broken on the concrete.

  “Leah!” I opened my mouth to scream but instead of sound all that came out was another crack of lighting. The sound stabbed into my head, the thunder carrying me forward on a wave of pain so intense that it drew a scream from me.

  Suddenly the nightmare changed, the lightning and thunder flickering faster and faster and each time it sent a bolt of agony straight through my head until I was curled up in a ball, trying to escape it, wanting only to escape it.

  It was the pain that woke me first. A terrible sharp shooting pain, as if someone was stabbing a rusty nail in to my temple over and over again in time to my sluggish pulse.

  Everything about me felt slow and cumbersome as I tried to blink my eyes open, as I tried to shake off the terrible memory of the nightmare, but I couldn’t.

  No matter how hard I blinked my eyes, my vision wouldn’t clear, and it stayed pitch as night everywhere I tried to look.

  My breath sounded too loud in my ears, and my heartbeat was suddenly like a heard of galloping wild horses as I struggled to make sense of what was happening.

  It took me far too long to realize that I wasn’t blind, but just had some sort of scratchy fabric bag pulled over my head. But why? Where was I? Why was there a bag over my head?

  My temples ached and throbbed as I tried to remember but terror numbed my body and slowed my thoughts until my mind was nothing but a muddle of fear and confusion.

  Just calm down, Beth. You have to calm down and think! Are you a scientist or not?! I am. I am a scientist, I shot back. Well start acting one! Step one, gather the facts. What are the facts?

  The rational thought calmed me. It forced me to
step outside of the terror that was freezing my body in place and use my mind how I had been trained to.

  Okay, the facts, I said to myself. Well, my head is pounding and it doesn’t feel like a normal headache. None of this feels normal. The air is cool, but comfortable so I am somewhere inside.

  It was too dark to make out anything visible, so I used my other sense. I inhaled deeply, drawing in the scent of pine. Pine and aftershave. It was such a peculiar combination, unfamiliar but at the same time tweaking at something in my memory but when I try and concentrate on it the ache in my head grows worse and I stop.

  I can’t hear anything, just a low hum like a furnace or a space heater in the background making white noise.

  What are the last moments’ you remember? What happened before everything went dark?

  My brows furrowed as I thought back. I remembered the garden, and sitting there with Aiden, talking. And then he got called away, something about Luca. His pale blue eyes had grown serious and I’d watched him until he had disappeared back inside and then…

  I drew in a sharp breath. I remembered feeling nauseous. Running to the bathroom. And then those tense moments waiting for the pregnancy test to show me its results.

  The baby!

  With a silent cry I tried to wrap my arms around my middle, already trying to protect the life that was budding there inside me only to find that my arms were tied behind my back.

  Another jolt of fear shot through me. My legs were tied too, strapped the legs of the chair I was sitting on.

  I struggled, both against the restraints and the mounting panic that threatened to wipe out the last of my rational thinking. I fought to free my hands and my feet, determined to find a way out. But I was tied tightly. Whatever the material was, it felt rough against my skin, pulling and scraping my wrists and ankles raw as I struggled against it

  I couldn’t give up though, no matter how scared I was. Because I realized in that moment that I wasn’t just fighting for myself. I was fighting for my baby too. For Aiden’s baby.