by Drew Sera
We raced to the door and the stench grew in strength the closer we got to the door. I pushed it open to reveal a completely pitch dark room, and I was hit in the gut with the foulest smell I’ve ever encountered. As the light from behind us spilled into the room, Matt found a light switch and the room lit up, revealing the horrors. My eyes began to adjust…and then saw her body.
I froze on the spot. I was too late. I fell to my knees and stared. I saw all of the blood she was lying in and her black and blue body crumpled on the floor in the corner near a door. I crouched down near her body and was afraid to touch her. I was too late. As Matt tried to keep me in his arms, we heard the chain faintly move.
She was alive!
Her hand shook as she continued to tap the chain links on the blood soaked concrete floor to grab our attention. The look in her eyes was indescribable. She kept knocking the chain on the floor until I pulled it out of her hands and very carefully cradled her in my arms.
“Baby, I have you. You’re safe now. Oh God, baby...Sydney, I love you so much. I’ve got you.”
I gently took hold of her hands and kept my eyes on hers. She didn’t dare move her eyes from mine and she suddenly looked blurry to me. I blinked and felt my eyes sting with tears.
“Fuck.” I heard Matt say under his breath.
I couldn’t risk taking my eyes from Sydney and asked him what was wrong.
“The body...the girl from the other detective’s case. She’s here. Hanging in the closet.”
I had to turn my head. The girl’s mangled body hung from rope in the closet. Her skin was gray, blood dripping from the bottoms of her feet. I followed the trail of blood to where I knelt with Sydney. It was the other girl’s blood that Sydney was lying in. Holy fuck. My baby had been in here with that body. Had she seen him kill the girl? I had a million questions, but all I could do was hold her. We needed to get her out of this fucking room.
I made slow movements and lowered my face to hers. She wasn’t crying though, unlike me. She wasn’t talking either. She was in shock. Her body shook in my arms and her hands held fistfuls of my shirt. She was scared to death.
Matt was trying to find something to get her out of the restraints. As I held her in my arms, I noticed the shattered cell phone pieces on the floor along with condom wrappers. I felt my eye twitch a bit. I pushed those thoughts aside for now. All that mattered was that she was alive and in my arms. And I wasn’t ever going to let her go.
“Here we go,” Matt announced and walked towards us with a key.
I held her shaking arms still so Matt could free her. Freed from the shackles, I carried her from this hell. Matt had pulled off his fleece jacket and helped her into it. She still wasn’t talking but she was holding onto me for dear life. Matt looked her over while I held her in my arms. Every now and then a whimper would come out. Matt felt her skin and then took her pulse.
“Colin, be very careful. Don’t jar her much.”
Of course I wasn’t going to be rough with her, what the fuck did he think? He left my side for a few minutes, and I heard water running behind me. Moments later he returned with what looked like wet and dry paper towels. He began to pat Sydney’s body, trying to clean some blood off of her but Sydney began squirming in my arms and Matt stopped. I held her close, reminded her that she was safe and that Matt wasn’t going to hurt her.
Matt and I stared at each other when we heard a couple cars approach. I hoped it was the police, but I couldn’t help but worry it might be someone Paul was working with. Matt went outside to check and came rushing back in with the two detectives and a few other officers.
Detective Foreman began searching about the cabin with the officers while the one that Blake knew, crouched in front of Sydney and I.
“Hello, Sydney. I’m very happy to see you.” He looked up at me and said they had an ambulance on the way but they were at least 45 minutes out.
He went outside for a few minutes and brought back a bottle of water and handed it to me. I opened it and titled it so Sydney could sip from it. She began to guzzle it like she was dying of thirst. My poor baby. Matt reached over and tilted the water bottle so she couldn’t drink anymore.
“Slow, Col.”
I nodded and set the water down and held her close. Moments later, she leaned over me and threw up. It was just all fluids and nothing semi solid. Matt said there wasn’t anything in her stomach. I looked up at him for help as she started to get restless and fidgety in my arms. Matt and the detective stepped closer to the door, and he told Detective Prestin that Anthony and Blake headed out in the darkness after Paul. Prestin nodded and Matt showed him the direction they went.
Detective Foreman was by us when Sydney started to fall apart. She was trying to rock herself in my arms and kept looking around like she was expecting Paul to appear at any moment. Sydney looked confused and dazed. Matt crouched in front of me and reached out and took hold of her shaking hand. He smoothed her wet hair with his other hand while he felt her pulse and looked at his watch.
“Sydney, honey, take a few slow deep breaths.” Nothing was registering with Sydney though. She continued to shake and rock in my arms. “Sydney, deep breath sweetheart.” Matt looked up at me and nodded for me to try. I shifted her in my arms and she began to panic more. I think she was afraid of me letting go of her. Her eyes were darting around and I put my hand over her chest.
“Eyes, baby.” I gave her a few moments but then repeated it again. She was trying. God, I could see her trying. Her eyes met mine, then shifted away but then came back to look at me. “Good girl. Baby, take some deep breaths.”
She struggled and couldn’t get a deep breath. I looked up at Matt. He shook his head and looked back towards the front door and then down at his watch again.
“We need to start down the mountain a head to the hospital. She needs medical attention.”
I didn’t argue and was on my feet with her in my arms. We headed towards the door and Sydney began whimpering and panicking and began looking around. She was so scared. I explained that we were going to head to the hospital and that I wasn’t leaving her side.
53
Friday, January 24th
Anthony
I kept Paul in my line of sight as I chased after him in the dark. I slowed up to a walk when the pain in my stomach forced me. I had lost sight of him. My feet made crunching noises in the snow as I continued forward, frantically searching for him.
“Paul! You fucking coward!” I yelled, and turned in a circle. I didn’t hear anything but kept walking in the direction I had been running. I felt something pinch me and looked down. Paul’s arm had come out from around a tree and was holding a knife that was now sticking out of my side. Adrenaline took over and I grabbed him and whirled him to the ground. I pulled the knife out and threw it into the snow and went after him.
A few punches I threw connected nicely with his jaw. My fist was full of rage, and I didn’t care if I broke every bone in my hand. I was too determined to make this fucker pay dearly to let any other pain in my body slow me down. We threw each other against trees and shoved one another to the ground. He threw a punch that landed on my cheek, causing me to hit the back of my head against the tree, followed by a quick punch to my side where he stuck the knife in me. As we struggled I began to feel light headed and dizzy. Next thing I knew was that I was pinned under him. No, we weren’t doing this shit. I gathered my strength and punched him in the face, knocking him off me momentarily.
“You’re going to regret touching a hair on her head, you fucking asshole!”
The sick fuck was laughing.
“Let’s go, Graves. I’m dying to see what you’re really made of.”
54
Friday, January 24th
Blake
I came up to where I heard the laughter just a short distance away. In front of me, Paul and Anthony were struggling with one another on the ground. They were both punching and grabbing at one another, though for whatever reason, Anthony was
only using one hand mostly. Was he injured? I moved closer and saw that Paul seemed to have the upper hand over Anthony. Paul’s hand was around Anthony’s neck and he was grabbing at his pants.
“Hey!” I yelled and jogged over until Paul pulled out a gun.
“Stop right there, Blake. You can fucking watch. Everyone is so goddamn obsessed with fucking Anthony Graves. Literally. I’ve been dying to see what all the fuss is over!”
He pushed down on Anthony’s stomach, and I could see his shirt was getting darker. Was he bleeding?
“Paul, this ends now.”
“It never had to start Blake! Fucking Everett just wouldn’t let me play once! He embarrassed me in front of other Masters and subs! And that fucking cunt never fully got them out of her mind! I broke her down to nothing and when I had her right where I wanted her, she said this prick’s name! Fucking Anthony Graves!”
Paul brought his fist down on Anthony’s stomach and blood came spurting out of his mouth onto the snow. I ran my hands through my hair unsure of what to do. Anthony was getting pushed into the shallow snow and was trying to bring his legs up to get some solid ground under him but he kept sliding. I took a step forward and Paul looked over at me and cocked the gun. Paul was screaming stuff at Anthony and got his belt undone and then went for his jeans. I wasn’t going to allow him to do this. Paul could shoot me.
While Paul was ranting about, I saw Prestin approaching quietly. Paul went back to work on Anthony’s jeans when I yelled at him again.
“Stop, Paul!”
When Paul glared at me Anthony hit him in the face with a handful of snow and threw a punch. It stunned Paul momentarily but didn’t knock him off Anthony. Paul backhanded Anthony, lowered the gun and fired.
No!
He shot Anthony!
Everything stopped moving for a moment as so many things raced through my head. Anthony was the son I never had. There was so much of me in him. I didn’t move from my spot because I knew Paul was full of rage and would kill Anthony if provoked again. Anthony was wailing in agony and gasping. It looked like he shot him in the shoulder or chest, but I wasn’t sure at the time. He was writhing around as Paul groped him and the snow darkened around him.
Two rapid shots fired out of Prestin’s gun and hit Paul in the back. Paul was stunned and had dropped his gun as he began to sway. Anthony and Paul scrambled for the gun as I ran towards them. Anthony picked up the gun and as Paul still tried going for the gun. He was badly injured and reached for the gun as he started to fall over Anthony. The gun went off several times. Anthony had unloaded the gun’s bullets into Paul.
Prestin pulled Paul’s body off of Anthony and let it fall lifeless to the ground. There wasn’t much left of Paul’s head or chest cavity. He was shot twice in the back by Prestin and a total of five times in the head, neck and chest. I had never seen something so gruesome and my son was lying in the midst of it. I looked down at Anthony. He was covered in blood and pieces of Paul. His breathing was labored, shallow and he was coughing up blood. I tried to calm him with little luck.
“Anthony, be still,” I gently said to him.
I put my hands on either side of his arms and he wailed in pain again. When I tried to keep him still, he pushed himself up and scooted away from everyone. His pants were barely up and his shirt was soaked in blood and body pieces from Paul. Sitting a few feet away, I could see that he was soaked from lying in the snow and he tried to pull his knees up to his chest but couldn’t. He rolled to his hands and knees grabbing at his chest and coughed up blood. He vomited and then lay flat in the snow. I knelt close to him and pulled my jacket off to cover his chest. I had to make do with what I had and used my jacket to apply pressure to his chest to try to stop or at least slow the bleeding.
“Anthony, keep your eyes open.” His eyes began fluttering and I shook him, desperate to make sure he fights to stay alert. “Dammit! Listen to me Anthony, please!”
His glazed eyes were open and on me. He was alert but there was so much blood seeping through my jacket. Prestin had given other officers our location and came over to assist me. We had to move him.
I told him to keep his eyes open and listen to my voice. Prestin and I each edged our shoulders under Anthony’s arms and began walking slowly with him even though he begged us to not move him. I was able to reach over and hold pressure over his bleeding chest and kept talking to him. This wasn’t good at all. In the distance I could see how far away the lights of the police cars were. We had to stop walking a few times when his coughing became too much for him. He kept coughing up blood and now there was a very distinct wheezing noise. I worried we weren’t going to make it to the car.
55
Friday, January 24th
Colin
Matt and I headed towards the door with Sydney in my arms when off in the distance we heard gunshots. I felt them echo in my chest and immediately looked at Matt but didn’t voice my worry. Sydney didn’t need to hear anything like that. I started to sit back down on the wood steps that led up to the second floor and continued to cradle Sydney in my arms. Matt and Detective Foreman went outside and out of earshot of Sydney and I. As I held my baby, I said a silent prayer for my parents to watch over Anthony and keep him safe. Matt came back inside and nudged my arm so I’d stand.
“We’re going, Col. Remember, gently.”
I stared at him and managed to say, “Matt.”
“I know, Col. We have to. The police are here. They will take care of it.”
“Fuck, Matt,” I gritted out at him. We weren’t leaving Anthony or Blake. Matt and I didn’t even know what was going on out there.
“Colin, listen to me…we have to go now, Sydney needs medical attention. Sit in the back and keep her calm. Calm.”
Matt was torn too, but I knew that he was really worried about Sydney. He helped me to the car with her and brought the blanket up from the back. I wrapped it around her and cradled her to my chest. She still wasn’t talking but she was in my arms and breathing. I did my best to calm her as Matt drove us down the mountain, but she was a wreck. We were all wrecks.
Matt’s cell phone cut through the silence in the car as we got on the freeway and I saw him glance down at it.
“Matt,” I warned. He knew how I felt about talking on the phone while driving. I knew this was urgent though and I prayed for it to be Anthony.
“Col, it’s Blake’s phone.”
I didn’t want him to stop our progress to the hospital, but I wanted to know about Anthony and Blake too. Matt answered and while I couldn’t make out anything other than know it was Blake on the other end, I knew he was talking fast.
“Where?” Matt’s voice sounded clipped and I detected that he was concerned about whatever Blake was saying. There was a pause while Blake spoke and Matt was shaking his head. “You’re going to have to keep pressure on it. Don’t pull anything off of it, just keep pressure on it.”
Fucking Christ. I shut my eyes. I knew Anthony had been shot. I tried to breathe calmly and I tuned everything out for a few minutes until I heard Matt asking his dad to meet us at the hospital. Matt ended the call and set his phone back in the cup holder then he glanced in the rear view mirror at me.
“Matt,”
“Don’t Colin. Not right now. How’s her breathing?”
“The same.”
“Unbutton your shirt and let her skin rest on yours.”
Of course. I wasn’t thinking.
As we exited the freeway and sat at a stoplight, Matt picked up his phone and told me to keep calm. I frowned as he put the phone up to his ear.
“Denise, it’s Matt. I’m five minutes away with my best friend’s girl.” He paused. “Yes, we found her. She’s injured and we need immediate attention. Twenty-seven years old, cardiac concerns, blood loss, possible hypothermia.” He paused again. “Yes, please. See you in a bit.”
Matt hung up and glanced in the rear view mirror at me again.
“Thank you, Matt,” I said calmly to him. I
was trying to keep my cool but was starting to freak out over the phrase “cardiac concerns”.
Finally we got to the hospital and Matt’s dad was standing at the entrance and raced over to help. We were ushered to an area in the emergency room that just had a couple drapes creating a room. Matt began washing his hands when another doctor came in.
“I don’t think so, Matt. Too much involvement.”
“Alex! She’s terrified. She knows me.”
“Matt, no. You’re too involved. You can stay, but you stay out of the way.”
At this point, I just need someone to start helping her. Alex came over to the table and began looking over Sydney’s body. He put gloves on and began talking to her.
“I’m Doctor Alex Reese,”
Matt began giving him a run down about her heart rate and erratic breathing. I just stood there and tried to keep her calm. Matt’s dad stood next to me but back and out of the way some so Alex wouldn’t kick us out. Matt kept his phone out and when it rang he looked up at me. I knew it was about Anthony. Matt turned the other way to take the call but finished quickly.
“Dad, I need to go meet Blake. Stay with Colin.” He looked up at me. “Don’t you leave her side, Col.”
I wasn’t going to but I knew he was also telling me not to come find him. I went back to looking down at Sydney. Minutes later a couple of ER techs came through the door with a wheeled bed and a man whose face and head was covered in blood. Fuck, that didn’t look good. I don’t know how people can work around this trauma.
When I saw that Matt was alongside the bed with Blake and Detective Prestin close behind, my mouth went dry. Blake’s chest and arms were covered in blood, and I took a step to the side. Fuck, that was Anthony. Blake had his hands pressing down on Anthony’s right upper chest and shoulder area and Matt was talking to Anthony but wasn’t getting a response. I felt weak in the knees and like I was in a fog. This can’t be happening. I can’t get one back and lose the other. That’s not fucking fair!