“I should have known. You really are a skank.”
Caroline was smug. “A skank that’s going to live to see the morning, bitch.”
“Shut up, Caroline.”
She looked at Dan in shock. “What does it matter? She’ll be dead soon anyway.”
Dan didn’t speak but his expression made her quell. She stepped back from him and moved around the lantern into the darkness. Sarah heard her give a little whimper, a sob. Dan smiled at Sarah.
“She’s right about that. Do you know how long I’ve waited for this day?”
“You killed Finn” She hissed the words at him and he grinned and nodded.
She choked back a sob and Dan laughed. Gathering herself, she met his eyes.
“Why?”
Dan laughed, sat down on the chair that Caroline had left. Sarah vaguely wondered what the other woman was doing, but her focus was on Dan.
“Those last moments, when he realized what was happening, when I told him exactly what I was going to do with you, to you…were exquisite. His terror was never for himself, even when he was dying?”
Sarah was shaking, trying not to throw up. “Why not just kill me then?” Her voice shook but she raised her chin, staring him down, “Why kill George? Finn? Why all of this? Why not just kill me?”
He smirked and she balled her fists up, tears threatening.
“Answer me,” she said. “Why? Why kill Finn? George? Even Buddy?” Her voice broke and she could feel her mask slipping away. She heard Caroline laugh softly, and Dan grinned. He stood and walked to tower over her. He cupped her face in his hand, tightening his grip as she tried to pull away. He brushed his lips over hers, across the soft down of her cheek, until his mouth was at her ear. His voice was a whisper, a seduction.
“Because it was fun.”
Her temper exploded and she threw herself at him, screaming all her anger, her grief, everything, pounding him with her fists, with every piece of strength she had left. Dan caught her and threw her back against the wall. The wall, iron, and wood, shuddered, the window smashed with the impact of her head hitting it. She clambered to her feet, ready to rush him again when Caroline stepped around the lantern, calmly raised the gun and shot her.
They’d abandoned the car in Seattle and Isaac had paid the first person he found with a speedboat to take them to the island. Above them he could see police helicopters racing to the island, all searching for Sarah. Steve, the new police chief, met them at the island’s small port, told them that the island was being searched with a fine toothcomb.
“If he has her here, we’ll find them,” Steve promised them but Isaac and Molly shared a look.
“We need a car.”
Steve wasn’t keen on them going to search but one look at Isaac’s face told him he wouldn’t be able to stop this desperate man searching for his wife. With a quick glance at Molly’s face, he gave Isaac the keys to Finn’s police cruiser.
The bullet struck her shoulder, spun her around and Sarah slammed into the hard metal floor. The shockwave of the gunfire in the confined space made every sound, even her own groans echo dully in her ears. She clutched at the wound, blood gushing from the torn skin. She felt the collarbone shift under her touch, smashed in two by the bullet. The pain was nauseating. She kept her eyes pinned to Dan, though, despite her agony, watched him as in the ringing silence as he roared his disapproval and snatched the gun from Caroline’s hand, cuffing her hard across the face. Caroline’s laughter broke off and she gasped in pain, in shock.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Dan’s voice was ice. Caroline caught her breath and tried to smile.
“I’m sorry, baby, I just thought she was playing for time, I thought she was going to hurt you.” She slid her hand up his chest. “The sooner she’s dead, the sooner we can get out of here, start our life together. All three of us.” She ran her hand down her belly and smiled up at him, her gaze adoring, and so, so sure.
Dan smiled humorlessly. “Oh yes, Caroline, of course. Of course, that’s what’s going to happen now.”
Caroline frowned at the sarcasm in his voice and she hissed in frustration. “Just fucking kill her then. Get this over with.”
Sarah dragged herself up into a sitting position. Dan’s eyes met hers and she saw, with a sickening lurch, the depth of his evil as she realized what he was about to do. She shook her head at him, desperately. Dan’s hand moved and she shook her head, terrified now.
“Dan, no….no…don’t.” Her voice seemed like a whisper.
Dan smiled, triumphant, and pulled the trigger.
Caroline gasped, staggered away from him, looking down at her swollen abdomen. Blood bloomed out from the bullet hole in the center of it. She gaped at Dan, confusion, betrayal, in her eyes. Sarah couldn’t move, couldn’t make a sound, the horror of it both so real and yet unbelievable. Her ears ringing from the gunshot, she felt her body go numb as she watched Dan raise the gun again. Caroline held both hands up in front of her, pleading, begging.
“Please…baby…no…”
Dan shot her in the face and Caroline dropped. Sarah cried out, horrified. Dan gazed down at Caroline’s body dispassionately. Sarah whimpered involuntarily. Dan’s head turned and she saw that whatever humanity had been in him was forever gone. He calmly reloaded the gun.
Sarah managed to get herself to her feet, bracing herself against the wall. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the corpse of the woman she’d been enemies with since childhood. The baby. The baby. Finn. George. Blood, so much blood.
Dan walked slowly around to face her. He was grinning but his smile was tender, this time, almost reverent.
“Just you and me now, baby girl.”
And then he was on her.
Isaac tore through Sarah’s old house, screaming her name, even going deep into the crawlspace from where Dan had watched her all those months. Nothing.
He scrambled up to the hallway. Steven and Molly met him there, the cop talking on his cell phone. “They’re not at the Varsity or Caroline’s house. Caroline is gone too – I assume she’s helping him.”
“Fucking bitch,” Molly growled then when she saw the desolation in Isaac’s eyes, the hopelessness, she grabbed his hand. “Come on. They don’t get to win this.”
She dragged him outdoors into the night.
Dan shoved his hand against her throat, choking her but Sarah, furious as well as terrified, dug her fingers into his eyes, and Dan rocked back, yelling in pain. Sarah rolled away from him, scrambling to her feet
She scooted to the switch box and flipped every switch she could find. The vast lantern flickered into life. In its weak beam, she saw Dan slowly getting to his feet, his face a mask of pure rage. She tried to make it to the door but he grabbed her ankle and pulled her back to him. Her body fell hard against the iron floor, the back of her head cracking against a fire bucket, the rusted metal slicing into her scalp. She didn’t look at him, tears coursing silently down her face. Dan caught his breath and smiled down at her.
“Time to die now, Sarah. It’s all over.”
He bent to kiss her – and she threw the sand she’d grabbed from the fire bucket into his eyes. It wasn’t much, less than a palm full but it worked. He roared, blinded, and she kicked with all her might, connecting with his groin. He folded in half and she was up, her legs shaking but the will to live sending adrenaline through her body. She grabbed the bucket and smashed it down on his head, then when he groaned and reached for his head, she kicked him again and again in the genitals. Dan grunted in agony and she couldn’t help smiling. She flung the bucket down at him and, darting around Caroline’s body, she dove for the door, yanking it open.
As she clambered down the outside stairs, it took her a while to register how cold it was, the rain sticking her clothes to her skin. Above her, Dan appeared in the doorway, the lantern casting him in shadow. She pushed every other consideration aside, one thought pounding her brain.
Run.
�
�The lighthouse!” Molly screeched at the two men, pointed towards the east.
They spun around to see the old lantern cranked into life, flickering weakly in the pitch darkness. Without hesitation the three of them ran, cutting through the woods to the lighthouse. Steve helped Molly up the hill, while Isaac went ahead, desperate to reach Sarah. He got to the door. Locked. He scooted around the lighthouse and started up the stairs. At the foot of the stairs, Molly stopped a confused Steve.
“If he finds her and she’s…” she couldn’t finish. Steve hugged her swiftly, understanding.
“Come on. Best thing is to face whatever we’ll find together.”
They followed Isaac up the staircase, seeing him reach the top and disappearing into the lantern room. Steve was helping Molly onto the balcony when Isaac, his expression one of utter despair, came out of the room and threw up. Molly covered her mouth, trying not to scream.
“Oh no…no…please, not Sarah.”
Acting quickly, Steve turned to her. “Stay out here.” He ordered, making her look at him. She nodded, going to Isaac and rubbing his back as he choked and gasped for air. Steve was back in seconds, his face an echo of Isaac’s. He shook his head at Molly.
“Not Sarah.” He seemed to have trouble swallowing. “She’s gone. There are signs of a struggle, there’s blood, a lot of blood but I don’t know if any of it is hers.” He sucked in a breath, and he and Isaac exchanged a look.
“Let’s head towards town, if he’s taken her somewhere or she’s running, it’ll be that way.” Isaac’s voice was steady now. He started down the stairs. Steve shepherded Molly down behind Isaac. At the bottom, Isaac took off, they heard him shouting Sarah’s name. Steve took Molly’s hand and they ran after Isaac. Molly glanced at Steve’s still stricken face.
“Steve? What is it? What did you see in there?”
Steve didn’t answer. Molly touched his arm, seeing the horror in his eyes.
“Steve? Steve…who was it?”
Steve swallowed, not meeting her eyes. “Caroline.”
Molly recoiled. “The baby?”
“Yes.”
Molly turned and threw up as Steve looked out into the darkened woods and wondered how the hell much worse this night could get.
Sarah ran around the lighthouse, heading straight for the woods below. Blood from her arm dropped onto the snow, a trail straight to her. She could hear his shouts, his rage - “You fucking bitch!” – as she stumbled her way into the wood. She saw light coming from the other end of wood – just a faint glimmer but it gave her hope. She was almost free.
Isaac plunged into the wood and sped, his eyes searching, searching, and searching. The sound of a man’s voice, an angry man, a raging man, screaming her name. Dan. I’ll find you, you fucking bitch! A sudden lightness lifted Isaac’s heart. She was escaping him, she was running. She hadn’t given up.
“SARAH!” Isaac screamed her name, praying that she heard him, that she knew he was coming for her, that he would save her. “Sarah, I love you, run!”
He pelted off in the direction of Dan’s voice that was still cursing her still threatening her. Isaac hoped beyond hope that she heard his, Isaac’s voice, a voice of love as well as the vitriol Dan was spewing. Sarah, I love you, I love you.
Then he heard it, her voice, and her wonderful beautiful voice. “Isaac!” His heart felt about to burst.
Then a gunshot split the night air.
She wasn’t sure she had heard right, the sound was still so far away. Her name, her name being shouted on the wind. “Sarah! Sarah, I love you, run!”
Isaac…Isaac was coming for her. Her body flooded with warmth, she turned in the direction of his voice and began to run. Mistake.
Dan tackled her from the side and they rolled together, Sarah desperately fighting him, his hands everywhere, grasping and hurting. She fought, fought like hell but Dan was too strong, grabbing her wounded arm and twisting it until she cried out in pain.
Dan straddled her, grinning
“It’s all over now, Sarah.”
He took her t-shirt between his hands and ripped it open. She could feel the icy cold of the snow against her bare skin. Dan pulled the gun from his waistband and aimed it at her, running the muzzle of the gun from her throat down to her navel.
“Shame we’re going to have to rush this. I was going to use my knife but we don’t have time so a bullet or two or three will have to suffice.” His voice was sing-song, the look in his eyes pure bloodlust. She curled her left hand into a fist and smashed it as hard as she could into his face. He laughed and grabbing her arm, stood and smashed it down over his knee. She heard the bone snap. The pain was excruciating and she whimpered, unable to keep it in. Nausea roiled through her, dark spots started to swim at the corners of her eyes.
He rammed his face against hers. “Does it hurt? If you think you’re broken now, Sarah, you have no idea. You’ll beg me to kill you before the end.”
All at once, Sarah was furious, beyond furious.
“How fucking dare you?” she whispered. “How dare you play God with other people’s lives? Deciding who lives and who dies. Destroying other people’s lives on the whim of your fucking ego. You’re pathetic.”
Her words shocked him; his face, uglier than she’d ever seen it, contorted with rage.
“Don’t test me, baby girl.”
“Or what? You’ll kill me? You’re going to kill me anyway. Is that the best you can do, you cowardly motherfucker? Because that’s what you are, Dan, a pathetic coward. You think just because you want something you should have it. I’m not a possession. You repulse me. Even if you weren’t the hateful psychopath you are, I could never love you. I never did...”
She could hear Isaac crashing through the wood, shouting her name.
Just keep him talking, she thought, just a few more minutes.
Dan struck her hard across the face. She tasted blood in her mouth. Dan grabbed her face, pinching it hard between his fingers.
“You little half-breed whore.” His voice was calm, dispassionate. “You think he’s going to save you? Really?”
“Sarah!” Isaac’s voice was desperate, panicked.
Dan smirked. “Nothing’s gonna save you, baby girl. This is what I do best, Sarah.”
She felt the cold steel muzzle against her belly. Dan smiled. She pulled every last ounce of breath into her lungs and screamed.
“Isaac!”
Her scream cut off as Dan pulled the trigger.
Isaac burst into the clearing just as Dan shot Sarah again, her body arching with the impact, blood gushing from the horrific wounds in her abdomen.
“No!” Isaac threw himself at Dan and knocked him away from Sarah, who moaned in agony. Still alive, keep breathing baby. Dan and Isaac rolled away from her. Dan managed to keep hold of the gun and he jerked it up towards Isaac and pulled the trigger. Isaac punched him out just as a bullet buried itself deep into his bicep. Isaac barely registered the pain. His rage, his love for the dying girl in the snow overcame him and he managed to drive his fist up under Dan’s chin. Blood spurted from the other man’s mouth as he bit through his own tongue and he screamed, gurgling blood in his mouth. Isaac smiled. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Molly with Sarah; she was sobbing, begging her friend to live. He heard Sarah choke, cough. More blood. He turned his head to look at her. God, she so was broken, the sight of her blood on the snow seared itself into his brain. Sarah…Sarah, please breathe…
Then Dan Bailey hit him with the butt of his gun.
Sarah’s eyes opened and she saw his beautiful face fill with horror as he took in her broken body. Isaac. She saw him, the man she loved, fighting for her and she smiled. Hands were there then, pushing against her, keeping the blood in. Rolling her onto her side so she could clear her throat of blood. She choked, coughed and breathed in a blessed lungful of air. Blood on the snow. So much pain. A soothing voice, a familiar voice – Molly?
“Honey, we’ve got you, just hang on in
there please, please, please.” Molly’s voice broke and Sarah wanted to comfort her, but she couldn’t talk, she couldn’t remember how to talk. The darkness was coming. She tried to breathe and make sense of what was happening at the same time. Her world was shattering onto fragments of consciousness.
Breathe…
Shouting, the sound of skin hitting skin, of struggling, men grunting and cussing. She saw Isaac, his face bloodied, scramble to catch up with Dan.
Breathe…
“Sarah, please hold on, you can’t die, please please please…”
Breathe…
“Steve! Help Sarah!” Isaac’s voice was growing distant now. Steve’s voice. “Isaac, take my gun!” There were more hands on her, Steve’s voice. She’d never noticed before how kind it was and she wanted to tell him…
Breathe…
Gunshots. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she remembered Isaac had Steve’s gun – had Dan had time to reload? God, Isaac…
He’s fighting for me.
“That’s it, that’s it, come on, good girl, just breathe…”
I am. I am. I…
Her entire belly felt like it was on fire from the two bullets tearing through her tender flesh.
God, this is it, I’m dying.
Her breath was coming in little gasps now, her own body fighting against her will to live. She swallowed another mouthful of blood and looked away up into the trees above her, the rain had turned to snow now, covering her face, soothing cold. The little light there was left in the day made the sky a beautiful violet. Sarah closed her eyes.
Isaac. Isaac. I’m sorry. I love you.
Isaac broke through the trees and sprinted up the hill after Dan. He heard Molly scream “Steve! She’s not breathing!” and his heart faltered but he pushed the thought away as he darted into the clearing near the lighthouse…where Dan was waiting for him. Isaac raised the gun and Dan laughed, bowing extravagantly.
Dirty Little Virgin: A Submissives’ Secrets Novel Page 140