Forever Viper

by Sammie J

  I open the first letter and read the first line ‘

  To my darling sweetheart, I have never experienced real love until you...

  by the time I have finished reading it my heart bursts open wide with love and tenderness. The second letter has me clenching away at my heart as Noah describes the pain and suffering he has been going through. I stopped noticing the tears falling, which stained the paper I am reading from, by the fourth letter. Noah didn’t leave anything out. I read about the first time he and Juan had sex, which causes a flare of jealously to rip through me. I also find out I have rivals for their affection in the form of a pig called Dolly and a cow called Flora. I laughed at some of his stories but most of all I ached for the love he clearly showed in each letter.

  My phone beeps at me letting me know I have a message, when I pick it up I see it’s from Noah so I quickly open it.

  Hi beautiful, I wanted to let you know that things didn’t work out tonight. There were too many press still hanging around Devil Records. I want my family to know I’m ok first before the press do. I know that means another day for you with my sister, but a plan is being put into action as I write this and you will notice the press disappear tomorrow. I hope you understand, I’m trying to put everything right. I promise you, we both love you Peppa so fucking much it hurts. I hope my letters are giving you some comfort and answers, we both can’t wait to see you again. xxx

  I notice in the text and in the letters I have read that Noah always includes Juan, telling me they both love me. He never leaves one of us out and I wonder to myself if he does the same with Juan. It’s then that I realize that Noah is the one caught in the middle of all this and I really don’t like that fact.

  I send a text back saying,

  I understand, today didn’t go to well, but I can cope if you say you will get it sorted tomorrow. My heart is breaking as I read your letters, I’m so sorry Noah. I’m really lost for words for now. But please know this, I do love you both and I’m trying to break free from the chains that have locked themselves around my heart because of the lies. Take care of you both see you soon. xxx

  Tears begin to gather as I tighten the hold on my phone, waiting for Noah to respond. I read what I have sent and notice I made it about Juan too, which has to tell me something. The tears begin to flow when his next message comes.

  You are the whole amazing solar system and so much more. xxx

  I trace his kisses with my finger wishing I can kiss his lips right now, like I did last night. My bladder lets me know it needs to be emptied and while I’m in the bathroom I splash some water on my face. I change out of my clothes, put my PJ’s on and climb back onto the bed. I pick up the next letter and carry on reading.

  I swear I can see the light die in Juan’s eyes each time he leaves me to be with you. The love he has for us both has taken its toll on him. He feeds me his blood and gives you the support you need from my disappearance. But what does he get Peppa? He has our love, there is no doubt about that, but what do you do when all you sense from him is torment and immense loathing of himself? The lies are tearing him apart and the thing is, he told them for us, so we could be free of them. For him to only take them all upon himself and load himself down with the weight of the world on his shoulders. If he wasn’t already dead, I can honestly say he is slowly dying inside and I’m scared Peppa, I’m so fucking scared.

  I didn’t think I can hurt any more than I already do, but my heart feels like it split in two after reading that and I cry out in misery. I hold myself, letting the tears fall and the pain rack my body as I rock back and forth in sheer agony. I didn’t hear the door open and I didn’t detect the bed move with the weight of someone on it until I felt arms surround me and words of, “Ssshhh, it will be ok.” Monica holds me until I calm myself. After there are no more tears to cry and I hiccup on my sobs.

  “Are you ready to tell me whose ass I need to beat for putting you in this state?” I try to laugh but it comes out as a huff and I move my head to stare at her as I realize it is buried in her breasts. “I love you, but no one needs to be attacked by a pissed off Monica. I’m just upset at some of the information I’m finding out from Noah’s letters.” Her eyes roam the bed, “Noah wrote all these? What do they say?”

  I pick one up and look at it, “They tell me what he has been going through since he vanished from my life.”

  She picks one up herself and moves away from me to read it. “Oh my god! Peppa listen to this.”

  Can you imagine if you knew this secret? Could you really keep it to yourself? Please think about that, because that’s what it comes down to. Could you be around Lara and not want to tell her I’m alive? Could you sit there and lie to the police that you had no idea where I am?

  I felt a stabbing pain to my heart at hearing those words, because there it is as bold as can be. Juan and Noah both know I don’t like to lie and he is right. I couldn’t have sat there with Detective Payne, pretending I didn’t know where Noah was. How could I face his mother and father and not want to tell them, which would have been even harder especially after the way they are treating me? I had to play the part of the broken hearted girlfriend, not only protect Noah, but Juan as well. I have been brought into the lie and find I hate every moment of being around Lara and not be able to tell her the truth.

  And it dawned on me in that moment that Juan did everything to keep me away from that and I started to understand why. “Peppa.” A hand waves in front of my face and I blink a few times to focus back on Monica.

  “Sorry Monica, I had a light bulb moment. I don’t mean to be rude but I really want to finish reading these letters.”

  “Is that a good thing? Because I don’t think I can take any more of your snotty face.”

  I throw myself into her arms, “I’m trying to get past the hurt I feel for being lied to and the letters are helping me with that.”

  Monica leaves me to it and I continue taking in what Noah needs me to understand.

  I sit here and write away to you and I can only hope that when you know the truth, your heart is big enough to disregard the affliction that the lies have caused. Don’t deny the love that I know we carry for each other, let it grow so it heals you. My biggest failure will be to lose you both but I will never love two people more. You are both my forever.

  I stack up Noah’s letters, feeling drained of energy. I have been hit with every emotion today and my nerves are frayed. Who ever said love is easy, needs a punch in the mouth. Yes, I obtain the answers I need, but I’m also being honest with myself, I’m still wounded by Juan’s lies. But at least I am now ready to talk. I crawl inside the bed covers, hold the letters to my heart and fall asleep feeling some of those chains breaking.

  When I arrive at work the next morning, the press is still there in force and Lara has already started her day. There is a line of customers waiting to be served so I quickly rush behind the counter to help her out. I'm hoping we will be busy again so I can avoid speaking with Lara. I'm doing to her what Juan has done to me and I don’t like that one bit. I didn’t feel like I'm living under a dark black cloud anymore, I'm letting go of some of the blame and know forgiveness is on the horizon. Lara has noticed my mood change too as I laugh at something one of the customers says.

  “You seem happier today Peppa. Did you make up with Juan?” Confusion crosses my face, first Jacob and now Lara. How did they know? And more to the point, what do they know?

  Lara must have picked up on what I am thinking from my facial expressions. “Daddy mentioned it to me. He said Juan told him it is over between you two.”

  A part of me is hurt by that, but this is Donald we are talking about. I have no idea what game he is playing now, but I am honest with my answer, “Things are strained between us right now, but I’m hoping we can sort everything out.”

  She hands a coffee to a customer and glances my way, “I hope you do. You are meant for each other. He adores you, as does my brother.” I see the sadness in her eyes at menti
oning Noah and I have to turn away from her as remorse curls around me and I want to stop her pain.

  I speak loudly so she can hear me, “I’m just going to clear some tables.” I don’t wait for her to answer. I leave her taking another order.

  While tidying up after people, I find some newspapers and I finally get to read the headlines. Cruz’s headline makes me snicker to myself, his face is classic. I then go on to read about Saul telling the fans how sorry Viper is that gigs have been cancelled, that it wasn’t down to them and someone was trying to ruin them. I didn’t have time to read it all as the table is soon occupied again. I'm glad the truth is out there now and that Viper will be able to carry on without any more sabotage.

  It is after the lunch rush that I notice the press vans start to disappear. An hour later the street is clear. I know Noah has made that happen and find some solace that tonight Noah will come back from the dead, so to speak. Some fans still linger around and keep us busy for the rest of the day. I take a glance at the clock: it reads 4.30 pm. The cafés tables are still full and I have a delivery coming at 5:00 pm so I have to start clearing the room. I stroll over to Lara and tell her, “That delivery is coming in half an hour, I’m going to start announcing we are closing soon. I will clean up, you can leave early if you like.”

  Lara's eyes roam the room and she shrugs her shoulders, “Are you sure you don’t want me to stay and help with the delivery?”

  I shake my head, “Lara you have been a life saver covering for me, so please go. I can handle everything.”

  She agrees, but I still find myself shoving her out of the door ten minutes later as she thought she would help me by clearing some tables of customers. I manage to get everyone out a couple of minutes early so I begin to wipe tables and stack chairs. The delivery van arrives dead on five and I start helping him carry the boxes to the back room.

  I stumble with one box as a flare of heat builds inside of me and through our connection, I know Noah and Juan have arrived. I drop the box as adrenalin pushed my blood through my veins quicker and run to the door gazing across the road to see if I can catch a glance at them both before they go in, but I see nothing. They are so close and every fiber of me wants to go to them, but Noah needs this time with his father and with me rushing over there will make me look guilty of what Donald accused me of.

  So with a heavy heart, I turn away and carry on with the job at hand. I thank the delivery man when I sign his form to say I have received the goods. I pick up the last box and carry it inside and head for the back room. I place it on top of the others and turn to walk back out front when I notice the lights are now turned off. I frown and mutter to myself, “Maybe a light tripped out.”

  I take a step forward and I’m greeted by an eerie voice that says, “Don’t keep me waiting Peppa. You have no idea how much I’ve been looking forward to getting you alone.”

  My eyes widen and begin to dart around the room as a shiver runs down my spine searching for the man whose voice I know well. I stop breathing for a few moments when my eyes find the figure of Jacob sitting on top of one of the tables. I sense the blood drain away from my face and begin to breathe heavily. The horror of the situation sinks in.

  My fearful eyes flicker to the front door and his voice comes again, “I’ve locked it. You will have to go through me to get out.” Then comes his maniac laugh. He pulls two chairs out, jumps off the table and sits in one, “Take a seat Peppa, I have a story to tell and you need to hear it.”

  My body starts to shake and I dig my nails hard into my palms, hoping to somehow jolt something inside of me that has gone numb. Is this really happening? My lips quiver and tears start to spill down my face as I open my mouth to speak. “Jacob, why are you doing this? Please let me leave.”

  His hand thumps down on the table, “I have been nothing but polite Peppa, but I can change that and drag you over here by your hair. NOW SIT!”

  I jump out of my skin at his raised voice. My legs start to buckle underneath me, I fall against the wall and slide down it. Within seconds, he looms over me, grabbing me by my hair and I scream out in pain. I’m pulled to my feet and he spits out his next words into my face, “I warned you, now keep that pretty mouth of yours shut or I will shut it for you. Start walking.”

  I couldn’t speak if I wanted to, the walls closed in on me. My stomach tightened and continued churning away in fear. My legs are like jelly and I only make it to the chair with his help as he pushes me along with his hand still firmly gripping my hair. I’m roughly shoved down onto the chair and my hands grip the sides to stop myself from falling off. He sits down opposite me and pulls my chair closer so we are face to face and knees to knees. I can’t help the sob that erupts from my mouth and I lower my head refusing to focus on him. My whole body racks with tremors and a sheen of sweat breaks out and covers me from head to foot. My legs start to bounce and he painfully grips my knees to keep them still causing me to cry out in pain again, and more tears to leak from my eyes. “What is it about you that draws men to you like flies to shit? You’re a good fuck, I will give you that, but you’re not unique Peppa.”

  He forcibly seizes my chin and lifts my head up to peer at him. I gasp when my eyes rest on his, I notice his hatred for me, but it’s the other thing that clearly blazes from his frigid blue eyes that’s scares me the most as I have no idea if he will act on that lust.

  “You see I can’t for the life of me remember why I left Devil Records. Yes, Noah is fucking you, but that wouldn’t have made me resign. Then it’s the dreams I keep having where I can hear you crying and I watch some woman moan with pleasure as she squirms over Noah’s dick.”

  Jacob’s free hand parts my knees and it travels up my leg landing on my thigh, where he rubs. I flinch and my body goes rigid. I try to close my legs so his hand can’t travel any further, but he is too strong. Bile gathers at the back of my throat and I gag as I’m forced to swallow it back down.

  He carries on talking, “Then all I feel is pain, and I wake up with my hands wrapped around my neck. I feel like I’m going mad sometimes, my mind tells me that the dream is real, but that can’t be true can it Peppa?”

  His hand quickly moves and I thank God I wore leggings today, because he now has his hand over my pussy. I begin to scream for Juan and Noah while fighting to break free of his hold. He quickly covers my mouth and I find myself lifted off the chair and bent over the table. “Now that Juan no longer pleasures you, I think I will have one more taste of you.”

  My mind goes blank and I close my eyes tight. I find a place inside my head and hide away so I don’t have to feel what is coming next. His hand starts to snake up my leg and then it’s suddenly gone. I sense a rush of air and then a crashing sound as the chair I was sitting on flies across the room. My throat constricted and my heart felt like it is fighting to rip itself out of my chest. Everything inside of me screamed to make a run for it but my frame collapses to the floor as I hear the voice of my lover and saviour. “Saul should have killed you the first time, you bastard.”

  I barely get his name out, but Noah hears me. “He will never hurt you again, sweetheart. I’m going to finish this once and for all.”

  That’s when I hear the most deafening scream explode from Jacob’s mouth and I have to cover my ears as they threaten to burst from the high pitched sound. I sense another rush of air, “Noah, noooooo you will kill him.”

  My head twists to watch Juan pry Noah away from Jacob. They fall to the floor where Juan keeps a firm hold on Noah almost like cuddling him.

  My eyes meet Juan’s and I notice his distress. He asks me, “Are you hurt?”

  I shake my head and mouth, ‘No’.

  Noah starts to struggle in Juan’s arms, “He was going to rape her Juan. Let me kill the fucker. He deserves to die.”

  Jacob makes a strangled sound and all heads swivel his way. He is holding his neck and I notice the blood seeping through his fingers. His face is pale and his eyes are enlarged, almost like they are goi
ng to pop out of his head.

  His mouths opens to speak, “Please don’t kill me, I…vampire.” He shakes his head and turns it to face me, “The dream, it was real. Fucking Vampires.” He starts laughing, I’m not sure if it’s out of fear or desperation.

  His head snaps back to Juan and Noah and that irritating sneer of his appears, “I have a feeling I’m not going to get out of here alive so to hell with it. All she wanted me to do was kidnap Peppa so Juan would feel loss like she has. I have never met a woman with so much venomous hate towards someone. It was her last-ditch attempt after the newspapers blew her scheming wide open.”

  From the corner of my eye, I notice Noah shift in Juan’s arms and he shouts out, “What the fuck are you talking about?! You’re insane and who is she?!”

  An evil laugh escapes from Jacob, “You really don’t have a clue, do you? It’s your mother Noah, she is the one who has been trying to ruin Viper.”

  Noah leaps forward, “You lying bastard!”

  Juan tries to keep his grip on Noah and they end up rolling around on the floor. “Let me go Juan, I want to rip out his dishonest throat.”

  My eyes are focused on the figures fighting on the floor, so I didn’t notice Jacob had moved until it is too late. He grabs me around the neck and the scream I try to get out is cut off as Jacob’s arm crushes my windpipe. Somewhere deep inside of me, I find the strength to turn my fear into anger. I bring my arms up and use my hands as claws as I scratch at his arms and kick my legs to break free. Noah and Juan are suddenly on their feet as Jacob cries out in pain as I dig my nails deep into his flesh.

  “Jacob, I can guarantee you if you hurt Peppa, in any way, I will kill you myself.” This comes from Juan who actually appears very agitated as he takes a step forward.

  “Do you love her that much Juan? You know I can snap her neck right now and die knowing I had the last laugh.” My eyes fill with tears and I feel the wetness of them as they fall down my cheeks.

  Juan looks on petrified, “I love her more than you will ever know.”