Beyond His Control

by Wild, Clarissa

  “I’m working on it,” I say through gritted teeth.

  “How? As far as I see, you’re sitting on your ass and doing nothing,” he growls. “Meanwhile, you pledged yourself to a woman who isn’t here, making you unavailable for marriage, and I’m left without an heir.”

  “So this is about you.” I snort. “Typical.”

  “The people won’t tolerate disobedience, Noah, and I won’t either.” He taps my chest. “You’d do well to remember your place in this community.”

  “I am as much a patriarch as you are.” I grab his finger and push it away. “Do not threaten me.”

  “You know as well as I do that when push comes to shove, the patriarchs will choose to calm the people down … and when it happens, it’s gonna be your head that rolls.”

  My throat feels clamped shut, and I swallow hard. “It won’t come to that.”

  “It better not. You’re my only son, Noah. I care about you, but you need to control this. Now.”

  What a lie. He doesn’t care about me, not even in the slightest. It’s his reputation he’s so worried about.

  I look around to see if anyone’s listening before speaking up. “You want this controlled? There’s only one way to bring her back, and it isn’t by using guards. You know that.”

  “Do what you need to do,” he says.

  “I can’t get off this property without help,” I whisper.

  “I’ll tell other patriarchs you’re going on a recruitment mission.”

  I shake my head. “They’ll never believe that.”

  “I’ll make sure they will. I’ll talk to them myself.”

  Well, if he isn’t invested.

  “Bring that whiny boy from the crowd along. Get him out of here before he tells everyone she’s gone. I’ll get an elder to muster up a few extra Helpers to make it look like you’re really going there to recruit more.”

  I sigh and close my eyes. “Fine. That guy’s wife’s gone anyway. Maybe he can be of some use in recapturing both of them.”

  “Exactly.” My father licks his lips and starts walking. “Consider it done.”

  * * *

  Natalie

  We spend the entire day in the city, buying produce for the kitchen so we can eat, chasing birds in the park, and shopping for clothes with whatever I have left. I take the time to stop at a few shops to ask if they’re looking for extra help, to try to get a job, but no luck so far.

  Still, I won’t let it get me down. Instead, I sneak us into a cinema, and we sit down to enjoy a movie together. Emmy’s eyes are practically glued to the screen. So far, she’s loved every inch of the city. There’s so much more to discover, so much more to do, and the more time she spends here, the bigger the smile on her face gets.

  It’s like watching a toddler experience the world for the first time, and it’s both endearing and humbling. I know the world she came from, and I know what she’s missed out on all these years, so I’m glad I get to see her go through it all for the first time.

  “What else is there to do?” she asks when the movie is over.

  I love her curiosity. She reminds me of myself … way back when I was still young and innocent.

  “Loads. We could go ice skating or speed dating; we could go to an amusement park and ride a roller coaster,” I say.

  She makes a weird face. “Speed dating? What?”

  “It’s where you go and have a drink with someone you have never met, and you talk … and then you switch to another person after fifteen minutes,” I explain.

  She holds up a hand. “Oh no, that’s … not for me.” She clears her throat. “But that amusement park thing sounds like fun.”

  “Definitely, it’s such a thrill. Though it does cost money.” I kick around as I walk. “Which we don’t have enough of right now.”

  “Oh well, how do we get more?” she asks.

  “Work,” I say. “So I’m looking for a job.”

  “Right. Should I be looking too then?”

  I smile. I like that she wants to pitch in, but I don’t think anyone would want to hire her right now. She doesn’t even know how to use the metro, let alone a car. How is she gonna get to work?

  “No, it’s fine. I’ll handle it,” I say, waving it off.

  I know it’ll be expensive to pay for two people by myself, but I’ll worry about that later.

  “Okay, if you’re sure,” she says. “I’m just so excited to see your world. If you’d told me it would be like this back when we were still in the community, I probably would’ve never believed you.”

  A grin spreads on my face. “And you haven’t even seen the internet yet.”

  “The internet?” She frowns.

  I laugh. “I’ll explain it later. First, we should go grab a bite to eat. I’m hungry.”

  Locking my arm in hers, I pull her along toward a cheap deli down the street. With the last few pennies I have, I buy us two hot dogs, and we munch on them on our way back to my apartment. For a minute, I’ve forgotten all the worries I have and enjoy the day for what it is. Heck, it’s almost as though we’ve become best friends. Maybe living with Emmy won’t be so bad after all. It beats being alone.

  As I press the numbers into the pad to open the building’s door, Emmy stays behind, her eyes scanning the street. I open the door and step in, but Emmy’s not following. I glance at her over my shoulder right as I step inside. “Emmy?”

  She’s frozen to the ground, her body gone rigid … face completely white.

  The bag of groceries she holds falls to the ground, vegetables and fruits rolling everywhere.

  Her eyes fill with tears as her lips part.

  My brain can’t process quickly enough what’s unfolding in front of me, but I know something’s wrong. But the door closes on me before I can slip a foot between.

  A man approaches Emmy. He speaks to her. I can’t hear what he says. I pry at the door handle, trying to get it to open again, but it won’t budge.

  The man wraps his arms around her body.

  I gasp.

  She doesn’t push back or resist.

  It’s as though the minute she saw him, she instantly reverted to her placated self.

  But I won’t let her give up this fight.

  My hand immediately reaches into my purse, and I frantically search for the keys to open the door again. Through the tiny glass window, I watch Emmy and the man whose hand snaked around her waist walk away. She turns her head to me, mouthing something I can only decipher as “help.”

  The keys shake in my trembling hands as I find the right one and try to shove it into the lock, but it takes me three times. “Fuck!” I yell as I finally get it right.

  The door unlocks. I push it open and run outside.

  “Emmy! Emmy?” I yell.

  There’s no response.

  Emmy is gone.

  Taken by a man she clearly knew.

  They’ve come.

  Chapter 5

  Noah

  Holed up in my hotel room, I press the phone button multiple times, but the guy refuses to pick up. “Fuck!” I yell, chucking it across the room.

  What use is a cell phone when you can’t contact the people you need to talk to?

  I should have that helper thrown into the suffering hut for ignoring my calls. He’d better have a fucking good reason.

  I should’ve thought twice about bringing a man like him along for this journey. It’s not often people like us get to travel outside the community, and when we do, things can get complicated, as none of us are accustomed to this atmosphere. Usually, my father and I only travel with elders because they’ve been trained to follow strict rules. Contact your patriarchs when you arrive and leave. Explain in detail what actions are being taken. No one leaves without telling a patriarch. The rules work because not only does it keep us together but it also keeps the community intact. So we can all go back home together.

  But this man … he’s never left the Holy Land before. He’s never set foot in a wo
rld like this with flashing lights and people bustling about. Temptation is everywhere and to give in is to commit sin, according to my father anyway.

  I’m glad he didn’t come along because then shit would’ve hit the fan the moment he realized the helper left without saying a word.

  I should’ve never told him where Natalie lived because of course he’d go out and try to find the women on his own. All he needed to do was find a map and transportation, and that’s it.

  I run my fingers through my hair and stare at myself in the mirror, wondering how stupid I could be to let this happen. I let my emotions cloud my judgment by letting that helper come along just so he could find his wife.

  What if that helper finds them first? Will he capture them or let them go out of pity?

  There’s a real chance Natalie could convince him to do so. After all, she knows this world better than anyone, and she could spin anyone around her finger if she wanted to. That girl who escaped with her, Emmy … she might’ve already succumbed to the pleasures of this world. Maybe it’s already too late. Maybe, instead of him bringing them back, they’ll kill him.

  I close my eyes and sigh. No, they’re not vicious enough to do that. Certainly not a girl like Emmy, who grew up in our strict community. She’d never touch her husband like that.

  But Natalie? She could definitely hurt someone if she had to.

  The mere thought of her getting away triggers me, and I pick up a glass of whiskey and chug it down in one go.

  If I’m going to find out the truth, I’d better go out there and catch her myself.

  * * *

  Natalie

  Screaming on the streets is no use.

  No one’s listening.

  Passersby think I’m losing my mind.

  No one would believe me when I tell them a girl’s been taken. All they see is a woman wearing oversized, dirty clothes, shouting at random people like she’s crazy. I feel as if I’m going delirious with fear and grief. No one will help me; not one person I speak to will give me their time.

  What can I do? If I go to the police, they won’t believe me because Emmy was never here in the first place. She wasn’t born here, so to them, she doesn’t even exist. And if I told them about the community, they’d wave it off like some nonsensical story coming from a lunatic.

  All I have left is a bag filled with groceries toppled onto the ground. The girl who carried them has vanished off the face of the earth.

  With tears streaming down my face, I kneel and pick up whatever’s left. What else am I supposed to do? I would’ve run after her. I would’ve chased the guy until my lungs gave out, and I would’ve given it my all to save her. Not because they’d bring back more guards to find me and not because I want to hurt the guy who took her, but because she deserves freedom.

  She wanted it so badly that she threatened me over it. She fought tooth and nail and almost died to get what she wanted, to gain her wings and spread them wide … and that man just clipped them as if it was nothing.

  He took her, and now she’ll never see the freedom she loved so much.

  That smile on her face is one I’ll never forget.

  But I’m the only person who ever saw it.

  The only one outside the community who’ll remember her … who knows she even exists. And it kills me.

  With a heavy heart and tears falling down my cheeks, I go back inside the building and let the door fall closed behind me.

  When she saw that man, she turned as white as a ghost and looked completely numb, unable to fight back.

  All she’d learned while she was here … gone in the blink of an eye. Just an agreeable, submissive shell of a girl stood where Emmy once was, and she fell back into place as though it came natural to her. It’s all she ever knew and all she was ever taught. What else was she supposed to do?

  I sigh and go back up the stairs and enter my home, where I place the bag of groceries on the table and sink down onto the couch, hugging a pillow tight. Emmy must be going through hell right now. The fear. The anguish.

  They’ll probably hurt her … so badly.

  I close my eyes and stuff my fingers into my ears.

  I don’t wanna know, but my mind … it compels me to place myself in her shoes, forcing me to feel the pain she’s about to endure, and it wounds me. It cuts into my soul and strips me of every defense I ever had. I scream out loud even though I’m alone.

  There’s no one here to hear.

  Just like there’s no one there to hear Emmy’s torment as she’s dragged all the way back to that “camp,” that infernal hellhole filled with nothing but heartless monsters.

  Fucking Family …

  Emmy and I were more of a family than those people could ever be, even in what little time we had together.

  I grunt to myself and throw the pillow out of frustration, wishing it was a brick I could smash into someone’s head.

  If only I’d watched her more carefully. If I’d only held her hand, then she wouldn’t have gotten snatched away. If I hadn’t gone inside, maybe I could’ve smacked him in the head and alerted people around us to help.

  But I didn’t. And I will never, ever forget or forgive myself for that.

  Suddenly, my belly cramps, so I run to the toilet, but instead of peeing … there’s blood. My eyes widen as panic fills my veins.

  Is my baby okay?

  A mixture of feelings shakes me to my bones. I don’t know why I care so much. This baby was made there in the Community. Noah is the father. I shouldn’t want this …

  Yet right now, I want nothing more than for this baby to survive.

  What do I do? Where do I go?

  I don’t have anyone to help me, so there’s only one option left; the hospital.

  I’d wanted to avoid any big facilities at all cost for fear of being identified, as I’m sure Noah has the means to track me down if anyone enters my information into a computer. But Noah already knows where I live; how else would that man have found us and taken Emmy?

  It’s already too late. And with a bleed like this, I have no choice but to go, so I pack my things and run out the door.

  * * *

  Noah

  Hours later

  At nightfall, I go to her home.

  I’ve always known where it was, but I wanted to forge a plan first so we could capture both girls and bring them back alive and unharmed. Unfortunately, there’s no time for that anymore. The guy probably already took Emmy, which means Natalie knows we’re here and that I’m coming for her.

  No time to waste. I have to act now.

  I ring a random doorbell and wait until a stranger picks up his phone.

  “Hi, I have a delivery for you,” I lie.

  The guy presses the button, and the door to the building opens up. Too easy.

  I go in and run up the flight of stairs, just in time before the man whose apartment I rang walks outside to wait for his nonexistent package. I’m already out of sight, and I quickly go up to her apartment door.

  I wonder if she’s home.

  Without waiting, I ring the doorbell.

  No one opens up. Guess not.

  Fuck. I hope she hasn’t run already. But it’s worth waiting. Maybe she’ll come back.

  I fish out the key I stole from her the moment we took her and stick it into her door. It opens with ease, and I step inside and look around. I’ve never taken a look around. The last time I was here, it was solely to use her laptop to announce to her job she’d quit and to tell her landlord in writing that she’d be vacating the place.

  I would’ve never guessed I’d actually come back here. Or that she would.

  She’s clearly been here, as there’s stuff all over the place, blankets, clothes, water dripping from the faucet, used cups. I guess she ran off in a hurry … but to do what?

  I look around the place and notice the door opposite to the bathroom is open. What’s inside immediately captures my attention. A changing station … and a crib?

  He
r scar.

  Of course.

  Why didn’t it dawn on me sooner?

  A smirk spreads across my lips as I slide my hand across the table and touch the butterflies on the wall. Cute. Exactly how I imagined she’d decorate a nursery for her child.

  But where is the child? And why does this room look as though it’s been perpetually stuck in time?

  No wonder she refused to tell me about the scar on her belly. She’s afraid I’d use it against her … or worse, that I’d find her kid and use him to keep her with me.

  I don’t blame her. I would’ve done the same thing if I was her.

  Family above all.

  Suddenly, the front door creaks, and I spin on my heels and look.

  There she is, hazily walking through her apartment as though she’s lost in thought. But the minute she spots me from the corner of her eye, she stops in her tracks. Her pupils dilate as she turns her head. The shock on her face is exhilarating.

  “Hello, Natalie,” I say with a grin. “I’m so glad I finally found you.”

  Chapter 6

  Natalie

  My heart stops the moment my eyes land on Noah.

  I never thought I’d see him again.

  But here he is, in the living flesh … standing right here in my apartment, and in the room I tried so desperately to keep hidden. My sacred secrets have been laid bare.

  A scowl forms on my face. “What are you doing here?”

  I don’t know why I ask. Of course, I know why he’s here. But I’m not about to go with him willingly.

  “How did you get in?” I ask, my body shaking as he takes a step toward me.

  “We have your keys, remember?” He lifts them with a single finger and jingles them around as though it’s a bone and I’m a dog about to play fetch. Fuck no.

  “You stole them from me the day you took me,” I growl back.

  He makes a face. “To keep safe … for when it would be needed.”

  “You mean for when I’d flee,” I hiss. “You knew I was going to run. You knew I’d never want to stay there.”