Survival Games

by J. E. Taylor

  Tom began to stir in the chair.

  Frank leaned close to Ty’s face. “Payback is a bitch,” he seethed and stormed out of the room.

  Chapter 47

  Jessica crawled to the bathroom sometime after he left. Her back felt like a thousand claws had ripped into her flesh and it looked that way too. She turned the shower on low and stepped into the water, turning the knob so cold water ran over her body. She shivered under the water. The stream of red coming off her back turned to pink and eventually cleared as the cuts clotted.

  She dialed the water to hot, turned facing the stream, and absently ran the soap over her body. These normal daily functions were mechanical and calmed Jessica. Since Mike died, she existed, that was it and showering was a necessity of existing.

  Eric was calling but she tuned him out, instead she dried her body and wrapped the towel gingerly around her, limping back into the bedroom. She curled up in the chair in the middle of the room.

  She was still there staring aimlessly into space when Frank walked in. The white dress crumpled on the floor where it had landed when Ty took it off.

  Frank pointed to the dress. “Put that on.”

  Jessica stared right through him as if he wasn’t there, so he crossed the room, swept the dress up and shoved it at Jessica in the chair.

  She still didn’t move, so he took the dress and slipped it over her head, threading each arm through the garment. He grabbed the handcuffs still bound to her wrists and clasped them together, yanking her up. He pulled the towel off her as the dress slid down over her legs.

  He dragged her from the room and she stumbled behind him. The room he brought her into was unfamiliar, but the two sets of eyes staring at her were. Frank threw her on the mattress and she winced in pain bringing her back to reality from wherever she had been hiding.

  Jessica looked at the man in the chair and her mouth dropped open.

  Tom stared at her and whispered, “Sweet Jesus.”

  She shifted her gaze to Ty, chained to the far wall, agony visible in his eyes as he looked at what Frank had done to her.

  “You are a dead man,” Ty snarled and stood glancing back at Frank.

  Frank flipped the monitor on and smiled at Ty. The screen filled with a picture of Chris with the radio on in the BMW and he was singing badly to the music as he pulled onto the access road.

  “Choose,” Frank said to Ty, removing the remote from his pocket.

  Ty looked at him in disbelief.

  “Who lives? Who dies?” Frank asked pointing at Jessica as he slowly advanced.

  Ty looked between the screen and Jessica. “No.” He knew how this game ended. At least Chris was safe for the moment, he thought.

  Frank held up the remote. “GPS tracking.” He shook his head and pushed the button.

  Ty had a split second to see the tracking screen in the car say Boom, and then the entire car blew to pieces along with his little brother. He stepped back against the wall. “You son of a bitch,” he whispered and glared at Frank. “You know,” Ty said. His face hardened as rage filled him.

  Jessica stood when Ty refused to make a choice. She brought her finger to her lips to keep Tom quiet and stepped behind Frank seconds before the car blew up on the screen. As Ty spoke, she threw her arms over Frank’s head and yanked. The handcuffs settled around his neck.

  Frank threw an elbow, ramming it into her broken ribs, smiling at her scream of pain as he flipped her onto the floor, ducking through her arms and out of her reach. He grabbed her by the hair and slammed her head on the concrete, knocking her out.

  “NO!” Ty thundered.

  Frank ignored his stepbrother and dragged Jessica back to the mattress, tossing her on it.

  Tom watched in stunned silence.

  Ty struggled against the chains holding him in place and then he stopped. The reflection in the mirror caught his attention. A patch of red spread over the fabric of the back of the dress, spinning out on the white silk like little crimson snowflakes. Ty slowly fell to his knees, beyond the reflection, stood Eric. Please, God, Please help her.

  Eric nodded and leaned down over Jessica’s reflection.

  Not her face. Ty lowered his gaze to the floor in front of him. Frank couldn’t know about Eric. He will kill her if he finds out. Ty thought, so you cannot fix her completely, just the inside. Okay?

  Eric nodded, and looked nervously at Frank. He knelt down, putting his hands on Jessica’s head and her side. He leaned over and kissed her shoulder.

  Tom watched speckles of light flow over Jessica’s body and his mouth slowly fell open.

  She groaned softly as Eric did his magic.

  Ty changed his focus to Frank, letting the fury fill his eyes again. “I swear to God that if you touch her again, I will tear you to pieces.”

  “Funny you should say that, I’ve got some things for you to see.” He popped in the DVD and looked from Ty to Tom. “Hey, pretty boy,” he said, and Tom’s head snapped toward him. His eyes were wide. “They’re the reason you’re here,” Frank said pointing toward Jessica and Ty.

  Tom hadn’t said anything to this point. “Where is ‘here’?” his voice hoarse and dry. He looked back at Jessica and the weird light was gone. She was moving.

  Ty glanced back in the mirror. Eric was no longer there and Jessica was starting to stir. Her eyes slowly opened and focused on him. I hope Eric was strong enough, Ty thought, and her eyes went wide.

  “All in good time,” Frank said and pressed play. “First I think you need to understand WHY you are here.”

  The screen filled with the scene in Jessica’s room and when her image snarled It’s not like you’re Smallville and I had reason to beg, Tom exhaled, shaking his head as he continued to watch the screen. He winced as she lashed out, kicking Ty in the balls. “Damn,” he whispered when she knocked herself out and the screen went black.

  “You see, my boy there fell for this bitch,” Frank began. “It was a good thing because I got this little tidbit because of it.” Frank pressed play again and Ty’s confession filled the screen.

  Ty knelt on the ground with his head low and Frank walked behind the chair toward him squatting just out of reach.

  “It’s too bad you killed the wrong person,” Frank said and laughed as Ty’s eyes widened.

  Ty lunged and one of the chains holding his arm gave enough for his hand to graze Frank.

  Frank shifted back. “That’s right. She never wanted me. I found out about Dad’s little nightly adventures and decided to have one of my own. Bitch was a wildcat. I cut her up while I fucked her.” He paused and sadistically smiled as he looked over at Jessica. “I plan on doing the same to her.” He looked back at Ty. “And you are going to watch.”

  Ty shook with rage and something else, something foreign. He was afraid.

  Tom listened and traded a glance with her. Her eyes never left his. “I’m sorry,” she said. Tom shook his head a little as if to say don’t be. His blue eyes clear and alert as Frank stood.

  “Now since you left, we have had some fun.” He looked over at Jessica again. He walked over and grabbed the cuffs, bringing her to the opposite corner and attaching the cuffs to a hook in the wall over her head, high enough so she had to stand on her tiptoes. “Figured now that you’re awake, you’d want to see this again as well.”

  Jessica said nothing, but a tear slipped from her eye as she looked from Tom to Ty and back.

  “I don’t need to see this,” Tom said.

  Frank turned on him. He walked up to the chair and threw a right hook connecting with Tom’s cheek.

  “I think you do,” Frank answered.

  The screen filled with Jessica in the chair watching all the horrible images that Frank put together for her. Ty saw the change in her, his heart sinking at the betrayal in her eyes. He glanced at her momentarily forgetting how to breathe. She was a goddess in that white dress, even with the bruises. Ty put his head in his hands. First, his mother, then Anna, now Chris, he could not l
ose her too.

  He looked back at the monitor as Frank knocked her out with a punch and then screwed her unconscious body.

  A small sob escaped Jessica, making all the men in the room look at her. Frank walked over and ran his hand down her side. She moved away from his touch and he stepped closer. Her breath hissed in and out in anger.

  “Get away from her!” Ty and Tom yelled at the same time, causing Frank to turn a little, just enough to leave him vulnerable.

  Jessica’s eyes flashed and she lifted her knee. It connected with his crotch. His scream sounded like a little girl’s, high and shrill, as he dropped. She wound her hands around the cuff chains and used it as leverage, drop kicking him in the face. He rolled away as her second foot connected with the side of his head.

  Ty lunged toward Frank and was stopped within inches of reaching him by the chains. His cry of rage filled the room as he strained to get free. Every muscle in his chest and arms quivered. He stepped back and lunged again. “I’m going to kill you, you mother fucking son of a bitch!”

  Frank backed away from Ty still holding his crotch in pain. He limped out of the room glaring at Jessica. She glared back as the door slammed. On screen, Mike was raping her.

  “Jess?” Ty asked as she tried to figure a way to unhook herself.

  * * * *

  She looked over at him, willing herself not to cry.

  Ty dropped to his knees again. The pain in his eyes cut right to her heart and she was unable to hold the tears back.

  Jessica looked at the hook holding her arms in the air with determination. She jumped a couple of times and wasn’t able to release her hands from the hook. Laughter drifting out of the speakers caught her attention and she glanced at the screen. She was laughing with Mike. The tears came again.

  “What was so funny?” Ty asked watching the screen.

  “He said I looked like hell,” Jessica said and started to shake. Her eyes shifted to her reflection in the mirror across the room. Her face was still the black and blue shading, but it no longer hurt, neither did her ribs or her back.

  Ty smiled a little. “You still had my shirt on.”

  Jessica nodded. She flipped her hair to the side and tried to turn to see her back. It was for the most part healed. All that was there were red welts, no more open wounds. She looked at Ty. “How?” she asked.

  “Eric,” Ty said and shrugged. “He was scared because he couldn’t get to you. He said I had to protect you. Bang up job I’m doing at that.”

  She softened a little.

  “Will someone please tell me where I am and what the hell is going on?” Tom said in frustration.

  “I’m not sure where here is but I am sorry that you’re here, you shouldn’t be.” Jessica said. She glanced back at Ty. “What the hell were you thinking?” she asked, letting some of her anger and disappointment surface. She jumped again and this time she almost got it. Her heart thundered in her chest. Just a little higher! She jumped again and the chain came free. She leaned back against the wall with her arms lowered in front of her. Her eyes were on the screen. They both followed her gaze. Frank was grabbing her by the hair, pulling her into his lap. The air whistled between their teeth and they both winced with what followed. Both sets of eyes swiveled in her direction. A hint of a smile found her lips. “He isn’t going to do anything for a while,” she said and walked over to Ty.

  When Jessica slipped her chained arms over his head, he wrapped his arms around her. Tears made slow tracks down his cheeks. “He killed Chris,” Ty said. He laid his head on her shoulders, shaking to contain the sobs he had locked in his chest. He never made a noise, but he squeezed her tight and when he pulled away, her shoulder was wet from the flow of his tears. He removed her arms from around his neck and wiped his face with his hands. “I’m sorry I left you,” he whispered and grazed her cheek with his lips.

  Both of them jumped as Tom cried out, rigid in the chair as the electrical current flowed through him.

  Frank stepped back into the room. “I thought that would get your attention,” he said as he shut the door behind him. Brass knuckles shined on both hands as he approached Ty.

  * * * *

  Ty had seen that look in Frank’s eyes many times before and grabbed Jessica, pushing her behind him in a protective reflex.

  Jessica buried her face in the back of his shirt as the next chapter in her horrifying week rolled across the screen.

  Ty glanced up. His eyes slowly widened and his jaw dropped.

  Frank started to laugh.

  Ty could feel Jessica shaking behind him. His eyes drifted to his stepbrother as the screams from the monitor echoed off the concrete walls.

  “Oh, Jesus, I think I’m going to be sick,” Tom said.

  “Suck it up,” Frank replied as he passed by the chair.

  “You touch her, you die,” Ty growled.

  “Who’s going to stop me?” He swung, connecting with Ty’s jaw. Ty took a small step back. Jessica moved against the wall and pulled him back another step, drawing Frank closer. The next punch caught him full in the nose, sending him back another step.

  Frank miscalculated the length of the chains and Ty stopped the next punch. His hand closed around Frank’s throat, cutting off his airway in a death grip.

  The growl that escaped Ty reminded Jessica more of a Rottweiler’s snarl than a human and she shivered.

  Ty didn’t react to any of the punches Frank threw at his midsection, even with the sharp crunching sound of his ribs breaking under the blows. He was hell bent on squeezing the life out of Frank, regardless of the pain racking his body.

  * * * *

  Neither Ty nor Jessica saw Frank reach for the Taser until it was too late.

  Frank rammed it into Ty’s chest and pulled the trigger. Ty’s grip tightened for a moment, and then he went down hard, leaving Jessica standing unprotected. Frank glared at her and then proceeded to beat the life out of Ty as he lay helpless.

  Jessica backed away, slowly inching her way across the room. She trembled, watching Frank hit Ty over and over again with the brass knuckles. The sound of pummeled flesh and bone drowned out the audio from the video still rolling on the screen. She passed within inches of Tom, who was staring at the screen, his eyes wide and glossed with tears. She turned to see a woman opening the door to a trailer followed by a flash as the trailer blew up.

  He looked at her as she passed. “My wife,” he whispered. “They killed my wife.”

  Jessica stopped and just for a moment, her fear transitioned to heartfelt sorrow at the devastation in Tom’s eyes. She shifted her gaze back to Ty, who was unconscious and bleeding on the floor. Frank kept punching and each time his fist connected, Ty’s body flopped as it absorbed the blow. The fear came crashing back. “Stop!” she yelled.

  Frank stopped mid-blow and turned, meeting her wide-eyed stare. He advanced on her and she took an involuntary step back. For each step forward Frank took, she stepped back.

  Tom was unable to help her. Their eyes met for a second as she felt the wall behind her. There was nowhere else to go. She saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Eric’s reflection appeared next to Ty and the little boy leaned over, sending some of his miracle healing power into him. Everything went black as Frank’s fist connected with her face.

  Chapter 48

  Daniel walked by Eric’s room. He saw Eric nod and look at a different spot. His eyes held more worry than a child of his age had a right to feel. Then he knelt on the floor with his arms spread wide and his hands flat on an invisible being. Eric leaned over and kissed the air.

  Daniel’s eyes went wide as the air below Eric’s hands started to sparkle.

  Eric looked up and saw his father standing at the door. “The bad man really hurt Mommy,” he whispered and tears fell from his eyes.

  Daniel was speechless. He walked in and knelt before Eric. “What just happened?” he asked softly.

  “I fixed Mommy, but Ty told me to only fix her on the inside. I had
to leave the booboos on her skin so the bad man doesn’t kill her,” Eric answered.

  LeAnn walked around the corner and popped her head in the door. “Is everything okay?” she asked.

  Daniel turned to her and shook his head.

  LeAnn knelt down in front of Eric and took his hands. “Are you upset with your father and me?” she asked.

  Eric blinked up at her, his tears drying up, replaced by confusion. “No, why would I be upset with you?”

  “Because we’re dating,” she said. “And maybe you weren’t ready for that.”

  “It’s okay that you’re here.”

  “Then what’s the matter honey?”

  He blinked again, switching his gaze from her to his father and back. He rubbed his eyes and yawned. “I think… I think I just had a nightmare.” He climbed back in bed, shuffling under the covers and smiled when his father kissed his forehead.

  Daniel and LeAnn glanced at each other as they tucked Eric in. As soon as the bedroom door was cracked and they were downstairs, LeAnn spoke.

  “Maybe it’s too soon for this.”

  Daniel took her in his arms. “No, it’s not,” he said and kissed her. “I didn’t think I would feel this way about anyone else ever again and then you came along.”

  LeAnn smiled and kissed Daniel. “I feel the same way.”

  “Then marry me,” Daniel said.

  She gazed into his eyes and sighed. “It’s too soon, Danny.”

  He nodded, disappointed at the rebuttal.

  * * * *

  Eric knelt over Ty, sending his magic flowing into the nearly dead man on the concrete floor. He left the bruises on the skin just like with his mother, but the broken bones righted themselves, mending to the point where not even an MRI would show a break had occurred, the cuts, contusions and internal bleeding stopped as light danced over his body.

  Eric pulled away and stood, glancing at his reflection in the bathroom mirror of the house. He needed to get some sleep, because they were going to need him again and next time, he wasn’t so sure he would be able to fix them. The moment his head hit the pillow, Eric was asleep.