by D. Love
“Uuugh!” The shadow wails. Finally, I get my bearings and see the intruder. He’s big, real big. He’s in all black and holding his jaw. Quickly, he spits out a wad of blood, adjusting his mask. Lightning flashes, showing me the rest of the room. Tina is lying motionless in the corner with blood spilling from her nose and mouth. My instincts kick in and I rush for the intruder. With a crash, I tackle him into a table, spilling half-burnt candles onto the floor. His beefy arms flail at his sides as I grab at his neck, picking him up. He slams a knee into my side but I push through it.
“You picked the wrong cabin, shithead!” I curse through clenched teeth, and punch him in the stomach a few times, and then his face. He moans in agony as his cheekbone shatters. From behind me Penny calls out again.
“Help me, Kain! Pleee…” Her voice is cut off in mid scream. My muscles tighten with fear.
“No…” Quickly, I kick the large thug in the head with all my strength, as he is hunched over, gasping for air. His body falls backward unconscious. One of his legs knocks a candle into the side of the wall, catching it on fire. I didn’t have time to worry about that now, though. Running up to Tina, I make sure she is still breathing and has a pulse. She does, and it is very strong. Penny always said she’s a fighter. I swiftly set her on the nearby couch and run for the bedroom.
As I blindly run inside, I am immediately grabbed by Penny. She’s trembling and crying uncontrollably.
“Kain!” she screams. Her arms wrap around me so tightly, I can barely breathe.
“Penny? Are you hurt?” I ask, scanning the bedroom. Her lip is swollen with a split cut down its side. Her hair is a mess, and one of her eyes looks bruised. It fills me with white-hot anger, instantly.
“I don’t think so. They found us. I don’t know how, but they found us…”
I kiss her forehead, “I’m here now. How many are there, Penny?”
“Two…I think…” she takes a deep breath.
“Where’d the other one go?” I ask, trying to stay calm for her benefit.
“I don’t know. He was on top of me…touching me… when he heard you come in…” she says, almost hyperventilating. I hold her tighter. “Tina! Where’s Tina? Is she…”
“She’s okay, I think…” I turn and pull her into the hallway. “We need to get you out of here…both of you…”
“Is that smoke?” Penny coughs, as the first hint of smoke hits us.
“Come on,” I demand. I pull her into the living room, and she rushes to Tina’s side. I make sure the other intruder is not around and the first thug is still unconscious. Fire has crept up the wall and now threatens to engulf the ceiling. I run for the cabinet in the kitchen, stopping long enough to kick the unconscious pile of shit with my foot, as I run by him. Quickly, I tear a fire extinguisher from under the sink and begin to put out the flames. From behind me, Tina is starting to wake, filling Penny with renewed relief.
“Are you two okay enough to run? We have to get out of…” my statement is cut in half by the knife stuck into my right shoulder blade. From the corner of the room, the second thug has snuck up and jammed a six inch blade into my back. Instantly, the pain is everywhere, and I can no longer move my right arm.
“Kain!” Penny screams her voice cracking. With my left arm, I swing the fire extinguisher at the stranger, connecting it to his ribs and stomach. He falls backward, and then lunges forward, sweeping my legs out from me.
Standing over me, he laughs, “Not so tough are you, big guy!” He spits on me and I reach up with my left hand, snagging his collar, pulling him down to me, face to face.
“I’ll fucking kill you!” I promise. He laughs louder, smashing me into the broken glass along the floor.
“No, you won’t, Mr. Brooks. But, you will die tonight…all of you will die tonight…”
“Penny, run!” I call out, as he hits me across the mouth again. The pain is numbing, and my body is beginning to feel cold. Penny gets up, running towards the thug, and he slaps her with a vicious backhand. She tumbles to the floor, and I feel a second wind surge through me. With a groan, I grab the guy by his crotch, squeezing as hard as I can. It paralyzes him for a moment, just long enough for me to see a new shadow rise up behind him.
THWACK!
“Take that, you piece of shit!” Wayne hollers from above us. He is grimacing while holding his precious wine bottle he bought for Tina. The thug tries to get his bearings but it is obvious his senses are spinning. Wayne swings again, connecting with the thug’s neck, sending him crashing to the floor beside me.
“Kain…” Wayne says, holding out his hand.
“I sent you for help!” I scold. He smiles at me, helping me to my feet. “You shouldn’t have come back…”
“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that,” he groans. I sit beside Penny, lifting her to me. Wayne scoops up Tina, who is finally coming out of her daze. “I gotcha, girl.”
“Wayne…” she mumbles. “You brought…wine?” she asks, confused.
“You bet your ass, I did…” Wayne says cocky, looking over at the two thugs, then my surprised face. I try to let a laugh, but my back hurts too much. I think I’m losing too much blood. Penny focuses on me, trying to stop the bleeding.
“This is crazy…” Wayne begins to say. From the floor, one of the intruders begins to move slightly. I force myself up, leaning on Penny’s amazing embrace. She holds me tighter.
“We need to get you help, you’re bleeding too much, Kain,” Penny whimpers.
“We’ve got to go!” I demand, watching the thug try and wake up. We all push through the front door, the rain greeting us with its cold truth. It steals my breath away, but I pretend I am okay.
“Come on, I think I can hot-wire their truck,” Wayne says sure of himself. I’m too hurt to argue with him. It sounds like the perfect plan to me. I am wrong.
Suddenly, a gunshot rings out through the storm. Wayne falls to the ground, gripping his leg as fresh blood pours from the new bullet hole. He wails in pain as the girls scream. Another shot is fired and it echoes along the trees. I feel a burst of fire in my gut and the world starts spinning.
“Going somewhere?” the new voice teases. I knew that voice. I’ve met that voice. The raindrops fill my sight as I try and focus on Penny and her terrified face. It’s no use, the darkness is everywhere. Thunder cradles us all as the skinny shadow walks up to us. From behind the girls, the two other thugs have found us too. Not good.
“Your next book will be your last, Mr. Brooks,” the shadow says.
“I know…you…” I say, and then pass out.
Chapter 27
Penny
I watch as Kain falls to the ground. I drop to my knees beside him using my hands to search where the shot entered. I keep wiping my face on my shoulder to move wet hair out of my face and clear the rain from my eyes. The ground is now slippery from the dirt turning into a muddy mess. Finally coming across wetness, I find the hole that was designed by the bullet. Quickly I stack my hands together placing them on of it, in hopes that it will stop the bleeding. That's when it feels like the world has closed the blinds around me. There is no one here in this dark world now. Only Kain and I exist. "Please Kain, talk to me, stay with me." But he doesn't respond. I lean my head down closer to his mouth to check and see if he is breathing. I feel a faint push of hot air touch my ear lobe. Then I check his pulse, it too is barely readable. He is slowly slipping away from me. “This isn't possible, I have just begun to love him, how can I lose him now?” I whisper to the wind. Just as I start to feel helpless and broken I am yanked by my hair backwards. I jump up spinning around. I’m immensely shocked by the person standing in front of me. I'm barely able to say his name. "Brian?" I watch as he swipes the heavy down pour of rain from his face. Now with the gun barrel facing me, I stand here frozen. Nothing prepares me for seeing Brian standing in front of me holding the gun that just shot Kain and Wayne. Fear begins seeping from my pores. I have no clue what to do. “Think Penny” I mentally tell
myself. I hear Brian telling his thugs to go to the truck and grab the ties and rope, throwing in for them to hurry or he’ll kill them too. Then he focuses his attention on me.
“Finally Penny, we are together.”
“Together?”
“Penny, why are you acting so shocked? Tell me you didn’t know I was in love with you after all these years surely you're not that stupid?”
“You’re in love with me?” Stunned by the announcement, I uncontrollably repeat his words, which must make him even madder. He hits me with a ferocious backhand on my face, knocking me to the ground again. Trying to stand back up, I notice Wayne and Tina slowly moving towards Kain. Silently praying they can help him, I decide to try and distract Brian to give them time to help. Now on a mission to be able to save Kain, I stand up straight with more boldness and wipe the blood from my mouth with the back of my hand.
“So tell me Brian, how was I supposed to know you were in love with me?”
“How could you not? For years I have been the one following your career helping you with everything.”
“Yes, but you got paid for that, Brian. Did you ever once mention it or ask me out?”
“No, I never mention it. And your right Penny, I got paid to be demanded around by Karen every day. Every time she called me in the middle of the night ranting about stupid shit. Treating me like a tool.”
“I never treated you bad Brian.”
“No, you didn’t, but you never loved me either, after I worked so hard trying to prove my love to you.”
I needed to keep him talking, so Wayne and Tina could get Kain to safety. From where I am standing, I couldn’t look to see if they were able to help him or not, in fear that Brian would notice them. I shuffle my feet a little further away from them. I’m still able to see the movement from them out of the corner of my eye. I just need to find a way to give them more time. I watch Brian take a step closer to me each time I move. I see the tree to my right and pretend I need some leverage to hold me up. I wipe my face again, and move to the tree stretching my arm out placing my hand on it to keep me balanced. I start panting, still pretending like exhaustion has gotten the best of me. Brian follows my moves and now has his back turned towards them. This leaves me where I have them in plain view. I can see them lifting Kain to drag him away.
“So tell Brian, now what? What are you expecting to happening?”
“Now I will get rid of Kain, like I did Zack.” He gets an evil smirk on his face.
“Oh my God, Brian. What did you mean like you did with Zack?” I feel a buzzing in my ears and pressure in my chest. My hands start to shake as I listen to his next words.
“Just what I said, Penny. Yes, it was I who got rid of Zack for you.
“You?” Is all I can manage to get out. My knees feel like they are getting ready to buckle underneath me.
“The day he was shopping for your ring. He called me asking for my help. I agreed only so I could keep my eye on him. All day I had to listen to his plans of how he was going to propose. He even had the audacity to ask me to make the reservations. So that night, I went to your house and cut his brake line. I remember the last image I saw was the two of you on the sofa laughing. It sickened me, that he actual thought he was going to marry you. Karen announced at the office the next day, they had rush Kain to the hospital after having an accident. She even wanted all of us to say a prayer. I prayed alright, for his death. I was getting ready to leave the office in route for the hospital to finish the job, when Karen got the second call from Tina, saying that he had died. ”
“No. Zack was in a car accident.”
“Yes, Penny, because I cut his brake line. Stop acting stupid or pretending like you're not hearing me.”
“Kain was a little harder to get out of the way with him in a different state. I never saw that coming. So I hire those two losers to help me. I had to stage everything perfectly so no one would figure out my plan till I was ready. At the hotel when I dropped off your suitcase. I booked the adjoining room next to you. You were so wrapped up in Kain, I knew you would never notice the door not being locking.”
“You were watching us?”
“Yes, do you know how hard that was for me? Watching you in someone else’s arms? Once Kain finally left you alone and you went in the bathroom I came in and with the intention of taking your phone, I never dreamed I would get Kain’s instead, although it played out perfectly. After I got the phone, I set up with one of my guys to help me. But everything back fired because Kain stole you away from me.” Now his voice is raising and I can tell he is getting angrier. The rain now is easing a bit and I can see the red in his cheeks. We both hear a snap of a twig which provokes us turn and see Beefy and Bully come back with ropes and ties in their hands. “Got em boss” one of them says. That is when Brian notices they have almost got Kain in the cabin. Chaos starts. Brian yells for them to stop them. I immediately flinch. Adrenaline kicks in and now I know what I have to do. I run. I run as fast as my beaten body will allow me. I hear Brian tell them to forget the others and help him catch me. The only things I can hear besides my breathing is Brain scream my name.
“Pennnnnnnnyyyyyyyy”
Chapter 28
Kain
Watching Penny run from my blurring eyes, fills me with a jolt of adrenaline, waking me from my slumber. I rip myself away from Wayne and Tina, destroying all their hard work trying to sneak me back to the cabin. Stumbling forward, I scream through the cold rain.
“Brian!” I yell so hard that it brings up a coughing fit. Blood flies from my mouth and the drenching rain wash it away. “I’ll kill you!” I scream, even louder this time.
“Kain…” Wayne reaches for me in fear. “We have to get out of here…” He can no longer walk from his wound, and slowly drags himself across the ground, clutching at his leg as Tina tries to help him.
“Penny, I’m coming!” I yell, and my voice gives out. Unfortunately, it was loud enough for Brian to hear through the falling storm. He motions for his hired hit men to stop running. Brian looks back at me with a crooked smile.
“Enough of this. I can handle Penny myself,” he orders loudly enough for me to barely hear him. With a finger pointed my way, he orders the henchmen one final task, “Do it. Bury him.” Quickly, he whips back around and chases after Penny, instantly becoming one with the forest’s shadows.
My gut feels as if it is on fire, sending chills down my legs, but the thought of him catching Penny pushes me forward. The largest of the men sets his sights on me, motioning with a giant fist for his partner to handle Wayne. With a quick look behind me I notice Wayne frozen in fear and Tina is missing now. No time to worry about that though.
“You’re going to die tonight, Mr. Brooks,” the bastard laughs. I reach up for him, swinging my one good arm at him. Though he has sustained plenty of earlier damage, he is much stronger than me. He swats away my strike and shoves me down into the mud. I’m hurting something awful, but I try and stand back up.
“Penny…” I moan, with the world starting to spin again.
“You’re pathetic!” he spits out. He reaches down and jerks me by my neck, spinning me around onto my back. With a squeeze of his hand and a hard yank, he begins dragging me into the woods. I am too weak to talk and reach out with my arms for Wayne. He looks to be in shock. Suddenly, Wayne’s cast in a long shadow of the other menacing attacker. I watch as he cannot move, cannot defend himself. The thug raises his hand, holding a tire iron above his head, ready to strike Wayne down when the impossible happens. A horn echoes out in the night as the henchmen’s 4x4 truck roars to life. It rushes forward in a jerking motion and then slams into the goon, sending him flying into a stack of cut firewood. He falls unconscious, or worse, and Wayne gasps in disbelief.
“I got you, Babe!” Tina hollers from the smashed out driver’s side window.
“Holy crap! That was close!” Wayne yells back to her. Tina jumps from the vehicle, shaking the keys in her hands.
She holle
rs through the rain, “I found the keys under the seat!” She began to help Wayne to his feet, and it was the last thing I was able to see before I disappear into the woods. Just after they fade from my sight, I hear Wayne scream…
“Kain!”
After a few minutes of being dragged through the muck and mess of the rain soaked mountains, my captor throws me into a shallow hole. It is full of icy rain water and leaves, and within seconds, I begin to sink just a bit. The mud was so soft and thick, like quicksand, I could barely move.
“It’s almost over now,” the man says. He removes a large shovel from behind a nearby tree, and that’s when it hits me. This was their plan the whole time. To bury me a few hundred yards from my family home. My safety zone. Obviously they had come out here and dug this pit out beforehand. As dirty water tries to push its way into my mouth, I shift my weight just enough to escape the pull of the mud for a moment.
With a fresh scoop of earth, my killer taunts me, “Man, you have definitely made me earn my money tonight.” I try to say something back, but with a fresh stab of pain up my spine, I can’t speak. A thick batch of soil falls over me, and filling me with dread. So, I reach out for him as a last ditch effort, losing strength by the second.
“Don’t worry, Mr. Brooks, he’ll take care of your beloved Penny.” A hearty laugh escapes his mouth, but I am having a hard time hearing him now. Mercilessly, he bends down toward me, and continues. “I’ll tell you a little secret before you die…I’ve dug a hole for her too…”
He wipes the water from his eyes, focusing on my face one last time. Lightning burns the sky above us, revealing the damage to his face from our earlier scuffle. His face pulls to a surprised frown as he stares down at me. I am smiling as wide as my mouth would let me. He can’t believe it.
“Is something funny, Mr. Brooks?” he growls, pushing down on me, leaning in even closer.