by Holly Hood
“I met a girl, dropped out of college and now I sell my art on the street for extra money.”
“Yeah right,” I laugh.
“No, I’m serious.” He pulls a phone from his pocket and shows me he isn’t full of shit.
“These are pretty impressive, Ben.”
He nods in agreement. “Everyone seems to think so.”
I hand him his phone back. He stands up. “Wish me luck.”
I say good luck and watch him climb the stage.
“I call this one crash.” He clears his throat. “My mind shows me a thousand pictures, a thousand words. A million different reasons I should do it...but no matter how many times I tell myself my existence is just an existence I can’t pull the trigger. I have so much to live for but at the same time I don’t know what I’m doing.
I’m running, slipping and sliding through life, one hand poised for the gun, the other wants some ice cream.”
He backs away from the mic and everyone claps. I can’t believe he is for real. And I can’t believe everyone bought into all the drama and hijinks.
He takes the seat again next to me. “I didn’t hear any boos.”
I shake my head. “Nope.” My phone buzzes in my pocket. “I have to take this. Thanks for this.” I head outside so I can hear.
“California is just as shitty as ever,” Slade says.
“I take it you made it?”
“Almost an hour ago. And things are weirder than ever.”
I raise an eyebrow digging for my keys. “How is that even possible?”
“Hutch’s picture is plastered all over the place. I guess everyone is looking for him in connection with the pastor.” Slade sighs and lets out a laugh. “I guess that’s a good thing.”
“I guess so.” I find my key and open the door of my car. “I’m heading home. I’ll call you in a few.”
“Where are you?” Slade says.
I bite my lip. “I ran into my old dance instructor’s grandson who I didn’t know existed and he invited me to a poetry reading.”
“Already hanging out with a new man,” Slade says. “I think you just broke my heart.”
“The first thing I told him was I have a boyfriend. And he has a girlfriend.” I buckle up. “And I only have eyes for you. Now I have to go so I don’t run off the road. Tell Lucy and Erica I said hello.”
“I will. I love you.”
“Love you too.” I toss the phone onto the seat and start the car. Like always I look up into my rearview to make sure the coast is clear. But this time something is blocking my view.
“Oh. My. God.” I can feel my heart falling to my knees.
17
Hutch’s fist slam down onto my car, and I jump. I fight with the stick shift trying to get it into drive but it’s not happening. I can’t get it to go anywhere.
He rounds the car. I hit the lock, and try the stick shift again. It still isn’t working.
He taps on the glass. “The car is not going anywhere. You might as well give up now.”
I sigh, I don’t know what to do.
I look at him, I hate the way he is gritting his teeth and glaring at me. He rifles into the pocket of his jeans and pulls out a paper. He unfolds it and slams it against the window making me jump out of my skin.
“Do you see this?”
I tilt my head reading over the wanted poster of Hutch. The same one Slade mentioned only a few minutes earlier.
I don’t know what he wants me to say. So I don’t say anything.
He pounds on my window. “Get out of the car.”
I grip the steering wheel trying to make the car move.
“Get out of the car before you make me angrier than I already am.”
“How did you find me?”
Another slam of his fist against my window. And when I don’t give in he forces the door open yanking me out of the car.
I jerk my arm free. “Get off of me.”
“I have every right to put my hands on you.” He shoves me to the other side of my car. “Do you have any idea what you have done?”
He opens the door and pushes me. “Get in.”
I do what he wants and climb into the passenger side. “I saved my father’s life.”
Hutch adjusts my seat trying to make room for his long legs. His body barely fits in my tiny car.
“And ruined mine in the meantime.”
I buckle my seatbelt. “You ruined your own life. If you would just leave us alone there would be nothing to complain about. But no, once again you’re here trying to do god knows what.”
He throws my car in reverse and floors it, I almost fall in his lap. “Asshole! You’re going to get us killed.”
“Wouldn’t be the worst thing to happen to you right now.”
I’m not sure what he means but I do know Slade said his face is plastered all over Cherry. I’m pretty sure it has to do with his foul mood and traveling so far away to find me.
He takes a right passing the old mechanic shop my dad worked at. It reminds me of the other crisis I just went through. And he pulls in and comes to a stop.
“What are we doing?” I look around. He gets out of the car.
“There are a few things I need.” He slaps a hand down on the top of the car. “Get out.”
I do what he says, dropping my feet, I’m really thankful to be here. Hutch’s hand meets my lower back and he pushes me to the door.
I go through the door igniting the little bell. The man working on one of the cars lifts his head. “What can I help you with?”
Hutch looks around. “I’m looking for a few things.”
He rounds the counter, wiping his greasy hands on his overalls. “Are you having car troubles?”
Hutch shakes his head. “Look. I know this is a bit odd, but I need jumper cables. A lot of them.”
“Look we’re not an auto parts store. We are an auto repair—”
Before the last of his words leaves his lips Hutch slams him against the wall. “I don’t think I made myself clear.”
I back up, getting out of the way. I feel for the door.
“I wouldn’t try that if I were you,” he warns. “I’m in a bad mood. And I don’t feel like chasing you.”
I swallow, and stop thinking about trying to escape.
Hutch takes the man by the shoulders. “Is anyone else here?”
He shakes his head. “The other guy is off today.”
I hope it’s all lies for all our sake.
Hutch looks him in the eye. “I want you to go and get me as many jumper cables as you can find. And if you don’t, I am going to blow this entire place up with you in it.”
He points at the car. “Like this.”
I scream hiding behind Hutch. The car’s horn lets out a dying screech and smoke floods the room. Tiny bits of metal fall all around us. The car is in pieces all over the shop and the look on the guys face tells me he believes Hutch will do it.
The man points to the back. “In the back, we keep a bunch of old parts in there. Take whatever you want.”
Hutch picks a scrap of metal from his shirt and flicks it on the floor. He offers me his hand and when I don’t accept he yanks me by the wrist.
I watch him collect random items. I don’t know what he has planned but I have a feeling it’s not going to be good.
“Why are you here, Hutch?” I can’t think of anything better to do. So I am resorting to using my words.
“Now what fun would it be if I told you, doll?”
I push my thumb down into my pocket when my phone rings trying to silence it. Hutch jerks it from my jeans and chucks it across the room.
“He will not be your savior tonight.”
He drops a box of wrenches and I run for it. I race around the boxes through the back room and look for the button to open the garage doors.
I spot it and run, if I can get out I have a chance to get far away from him. I press the button and the door starts to rise but it takes forever.
&n
bsp; “I don’t think so,” Hutch says slamming his hand over the button.
We both struggle for the button and when I hit it his fingers wrap around mine crushing them. I scream, but he doesn’t care he is hurting me. He pushes me up against the wall, slamming the back of my head, his eyes dark, his teeth bared.
“I told you,” he says his mouth grazing the side of my face. His fingers wrap around my neck and he squeezes, I can feel the beat of my heart, the blood struggling to get through.
Everything starts to blur and I claw at his hands, I claw at his arms and he lets go dropping me down on the floor and stands over me. “Are you done?”
I rub my neck, coughing, trying to catch my breath. He almost killed me.
He collects everything he needs and drags me along to the front of the shop. We go back to my car and I watch as he loads the trunk with the jumper cables and other items.
And then he forces me in slamming my door shut.
He goes around and climbs in on his side.
“You and Slade made a huge mess,” he starts. “Everything was situated, and the two of you came along and fucked it all up.”
I don’t know what we fucked up.
“The pastor.”
Oh.
“He was helping me. And if you would have left him alone I wouldn’t be here right now.” He drives off road and hits the woods going as far as the car will drive before it becomes too dense.
“It was the only way to fix things.”
“You fucked me over.”
This is not normal, Hutch doesn’t curse.
“What was I supposed to do? You set me up, you killed my dad.” I never put much thought into it. But Kenny was hanging around with Hutch for quite some time. What was he trying to do?
What did he do?
He kills the engine and opens up the car door and throws me a look before he gets out. “Just remember what I am capable of before you try to run.”
I look at the same familiar scenery I was in not even a week ago.
“By the way,” Hutch says. “Is it normal to show up in another town and have two people go missing?”
I look around for a reasonable answer. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Come on now, doll.” He climbs out of the car and looks at me. “This town was fine until you came back. What did you do? What have you gotten yourself into now?”
I open my door and climb out. Everything is quiet, almost disturbing. I don’t want to talk to him about what happened since I came home.
“Whatever it is you plan on doing let’s get it over with,” I say.
He shrugs. “Have it your way.”
He opens the trunk and pulls out jumper cables. “Many countries still practice torture as a means of getting what they need out of someone.”
I push aside the fear. “You haven’t told me what you want.”
He throws the cable over his shoulder. “I want the pastor back. And I know you brought your father back.”
I release a breath of air. “You need to ask Kenny how to do that. He’s the one with the connections.”
“See, here is where the problem lies.” He moves closer, taking me by the wrist. He shoves me down, I throw my feet out in front of me and watch him pop the hood of my car. “I don’t need to ask anyone to bring the pastor back. I need to eliminate the problem.”
He moves closer, cables in hand. “You used the pastor to get rid of Carlo. Now I am going to use your father to bring everything back together.”
I shake my head. He shakes his back at me. This insane gleam in his eye. “Sometimes things are meant to be the way they are meant to be.”
I kick at him when he comes after me with the clamp, pulling my arm away before the metal bites down into my flesh. “You’re a psychopath!”
“And you’re going to help me or I will ruin what little life you have left.” His jaw flexes, and he drops down taking my hand. “I will kill all of them, one by one until I have mentally and emotionally gutted your entire life. Until you want to die yourself. And when you are on your knees begging me to end you I still won’t do it.”
I close my eyes, dropping my head back against the car. He attaches the clamp to my wrists. And I don’t move. I don’t do anything. I just wait for Hutch to make me more miserable than I am.
“So what will it be?”
“Fuck you!” I grit my teeth waiting for the volt of electricity to rip through me. It’s like a punch to the stomach, my entire body tightens up and a million jolts are plunged into my skin at the same time.
I scream, digging my feet into the dirt. I shake myself out of my shoes and throw my head back. “Fuck you!”
I slide down, my body thrashing involuntarily on the ground, the fumes from the car and the smell of my flesh linger in the air all around me.
I open my eyes, it’s hard to focus, I’m dizzy, my entire body it starting to sweat and this strange buzz is taking over my thoughts from his torture.
He punches the gas. And I stare up at the trees forcing myself to go away, to float off into a deep dark place of my mind where nothing can hurt me. Everything goes black and I drift away from Hutch and the pain.
18
A rush of cold punches me in the face, some kind of liquid. I cough, lurching forward and rolling over on my side so I can breathe.
“Time to get up,” Hutch announces. “You didn’t really think I would let you give up that easily did you?” He tosses the empty water bottle and pulls me to my feet.
“So, what do you think?” He raises an eyebrow. “Is sacrificing one person better than taking out an entire army?”
He wants me to kill my father. And I know if I say no he will put me through more of this.
“He’s screwed up,” I admit. “Ever since we brought him back he hates me for saving him.”
Hutch’s eyes soften.
“So, do whatever you want. It’s not going to matter what I say right?” I look away.
“You would really take your own father out? I didn’t think you had it in you.”
“If I say no you’re going to torture me some more right?” The only thing worse than this is my dad continuing to ruin his life.
“You would let him go?”
I shake my head. “Would you leave me alone? Would you leave all of us alone?”
Hutch kneels down in front of me. “I never intended on torturing you when I first met you. I wanted to be with you.”
At one time Hutch was a different person. He wasn’t bad at all, he was sweet almost charming and he went out of his way to help me. I don’t know how we got to where we are now but I will never believe anything he says again.
“That’s not the way you treat someone you care about,” I tell him. He closes his eyes and sighs.
I touch his face, forcing him to look at me and what he did. “You are destroying me. You used to want to help me.”
“At one time I thought you gave a shit about me.” He shrugs and stands up. He isn’t going to let me in. “Such is life, doll.”
I hate hearing him call me doll. “What are you getting out of any of this?”
“What I have wanted my whole life.”
“What have you wanted?”
“Control.”
I watch him go back to the trunk, he pulls out some kind of wire and looks at me. “We all want control. Some of us are just too afraid to admit it.”
He starts wrapping the wire around the trunk of the tree.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m doing what I do best. Using nature to get what I want.” He slaps the tree. “I’m creating a force field.”
Force fields were used when a witch or supernatural wanted to contain enough power in one area to do something incredibly stupid. It isn’t the standard definition but I know what it means.
I also know I am capable of deflecting any field I am in. And stopping Hutch’s plan altogether. He’s a lot smarter than anything I know so I’m not sure if I can ge
t away with it.
When he finishes securing the tree he turns around.
I dig my hands into the earth and hold them behind my back preparing to try my hardest to keep Hutch away from me. He moves forward, and grabs me by the wrist wrenching my hand backwards dropping me to my knees.
“Do you think I am stupid enough not to know you’re full of shit? That you’re willing to say and do whatever it is you need to do to get what you want?” He applies more pressure on my wrist and I drop the dirt. “Have it your way.”
19
Once again I’ve lost all sense of time, but instead of waking up on the ground with the trees above me I am in the back seat of my car.
I try to sit up but my feet are bound as well as my hands.
I don’t know where we are going but it doesn’t take long before the car comes to a complete stop and I fall onto the floor unable to stop myself.
The door opens. “Let’s get this over with.”
Hutch unties me and sits me upright. He takes me by the shoulders. “Your father is in this bar. It wasn’t hard to find him. We are going to go in, and when I say the word you will kill him.”
I shake my head.
“You have no choice, doll.” He runs a hand through my hair smoothing it out. “You wanted to defy me. This is what you get.”
He yanks me to my feet and slams the door shut. “Now instead of me doing the dirty work you’re going to.”
“You’re going to have to kill me because I’m not doing it.”
“Oh you will. Because I made sure I will get what I want.” He slaps a hand down on my shoulder and forces me to move to the door with him. “Perks of being a supernatural.”
I search the bar hoping Hutch doesn’t know what he’s talking about but of course he does. My dad is planted at the bar on a stool drinking.
Hutch moves us through the dark depressing room and pulls out a stool for me to sit. I take the seat afraid to fight for fear of what he will do if I try anything. If I run he will kill my dad the second I do.
My dad looks over, and raises an eyebrow. “Hutch.”
I push the fear aside. “Dad you have to get out of here.” I don’t care what Hutch will do to me.