A Winter Moon

by S. J. Smith

  I felt my heart constrict in my chest. Suddenly, I knew I couldn’t be near him. I had to get away.

  “Sorry, do any of you know where the restrooms are?” I asked the table at large, afraid to look Mike in the eye.

  “Yeah,” Zach answered, “they’re straight back and to the left.”

  He pointed me in the direction.

  “Thanks,” I said, hopping down from my seat and moving in that direction. I felt a hand touch my arm as I passed Mike’s seat.

  “Hey,” he said, “are you ok?”

  I forced a smile as I turned back to him.

  “I’m fine,” I answered.

  “Ok,” he said still looking cautious.

  I gave him a small half-smile again before hurrying off to the restroom. I found it exactly where Zach said it would be. As I moved to open the door, I suddenly gasped as I felt someone step immediately behind me.

  “Don’t move,” a low quiet voice that I could barely make out told me. I fought back a scream as I felt something blunt and decidedly gun-like push into my back.

  “Sabrina,” the voice I did not recognize said, “there’s a loaded pistol at your back. You scream I shoot. And don’t test me, because I won’t hesitate. Do you understand?”

  I swallowed hard and nodded. My eyes flicked around my surroundings as my brain raced to think about what to do next.

  “Good,” the low voice said. “Now, you’re going to do exactly as I say…”

  *****

  The man with the low voice forced me out a back door marked emergency exit only. We walked out into a freezing dark alley. It was only then that I remembered I didn’t have my coat. I wrapped my arms tightly around myself moving my hands up and down trying to keep the goosebumps off my skin.

  “Don’t worry ‘Brina,” he said, “our ride is right over there.”

  I saw him point towards a large white van just across the alley. The van looked ominous, but even so it was neither that nor the cold that made me shiver the most.

  “H-how do you know my name?” I asked in a small voice.

  I heard the low laugh of the man with the low voice before he spoke.

  “Mike was always going on and on about his stepsister ‘Brina,” he said as he pulled the side door to the van open. This only confirmed what I had been sure of from the first moment he had come up to me in the bar. The man walking behind me was McBride. It had to be.

  “Get in,” McBride said, prodding me with the gun still hidden inside his jacket pocket.

  Still not able to fathom a way out of this mess, I crawled into the dark van that was, honestly, every bit as cold as the wind outside.

  McBride crawled in after me. That was when I saw him for the first time since I had glimpsed the picture on Mike’s laptop.

  McBride was thinner than he had been then, his face was more lined. Those eyes were the same. Dark and beetle black.

  They stayed fixed on me while he finally released his hold on the gun in his jacket pocket. I spotted a flash of silver metal that disappeared as he reached behind him and, with one hand, pulled the door closed.

  The dim light from the alleyway disappeared.

  I panicked for a moment in the darkness. I couldn’t see anything, not even my own hands.

  The panic receded momentarily when a light shone from McBride’s direction. He shone the bright light in my eyes. I squinted and turned away from him. As I did, I could just make out the rope he held in his hands and the yellow-toothed smile on his face.

  He had not been smiling in the picture. His smile now did nothing to soften his image. In fact, it made him look more menacing.

  "Mike’s right inside the bar," I told him trying to sound much braver than I felt, "him and a bunch of his SEAL friends. He’s going to notice that I’m gone."

  "That’s why we won’t be here for long," McBride said with a slight chuckle that sent a shiver down my spine. He moved behind me and I felt the rough rope being moved to my wrist. He was going to tie me up.

  As he continued to push behind me, grabbing my hands to put them together behind my back, I had a sudden thought. Maybe if I elbowed him in the ribs right now, while he was so close I could feel his hot, stinking breath on my neck, I could rush to the door and get out fast enough to yell for help.

  "Now, don’t think about doing anything stupid, Sabrina," he said as though he had read my thoughts, "Gun’s still in my pocket. I’m going to kill you either way. I’d rather wait but, if you force me, I will shoot. Got it?"

  I nodded again, wincing as he finished tying my hands together. He pulled on the rope so that it cut into the flesh at my wrists. I gasped in pain. He chuckled, reached an arm around to my middle and forcefully pulled me closer to him.

  "This’ll teach that bitch ass brother of yours a lesson, won’t it ‘Brina?" he whispered in my ear. "When he finds you thoroughly fucked with your brains blown out in an alleyway. He’ll think twice about ratting on one of his buddies again, won’t he?"

  I pressed my eyes closed fighting back tears of helplessness and disgust as I felt his tongue lick the side of my neck. His hands moved from my middle up to my breasts and squeezed painfully.

  I couldn’t just stay silent. I had to say something.

  "He’ll be here," I said quietly, "any moment he’ll come looking for me."

  "Sure he will," McBride answered, "but, we’ll be long gone by then."

  I was relieved for half a moment when he released me from his hold and began to crawl towards the driver’s seat at the front of the van.

  "Don’t go anywhere," he said with another chuckle as he looked back at me.

  I kept thinking about what to do as I heard McBride start up the van. I could kick off my shoes and try to open the side door with my feet.

  I almost laughed at the absurdity of that thought.

  It might be better to try and get the ropes undone. If I tried, I found that I could move the fingers of my left hand just slightly. Just as I began to wriggle my fingers, I shot forward as the van pulled out of its parking space.

  Now lying on my side, I took a breath, found my bearings and, once again, tried to wriggle my fingers.

  That was when I heard the first shot fire. I felt the back of the van drop as though one of the tires had been shot out.

  I knew, at that moment, that it was Mike.

  The van careened and I felt myself being bounced around as McBride sped up, trying to drive on only three good tires.

  Another shot sounded from the front and the van thudded to a halt as the front of the van took a sudden plunge.

  I flew against the wall of the van and hit my head in a way that I knew would leave a bruise. But, it had taken me to the side door.

  If I could reach it, I might not need to free my hands. I might, just might, be able to grab hold of the door and open it with my hands still tied.

  As I turned my back to the door and pushed against the ropes to reach for the handle, the side door slid open and I nearly fell onto the pavement.

  A strong arm grabbed me and lifted me bodily.

  My heart leaped for a moment, hoping to see Mike. Instead, McBride’s face was looking down at me.

  He hoisted me to my feet and immediately placed me in front of him. Before I could take in the sight in front of me, I felt the metal barrel of a gun pointing at my temple.

  Shaking, I moved my eyes to take in my surroundings. Mike was indeed there. Zach, Tom, and Dave were all standing beside him, guns drawn and pointed directly at McBride.

  “Make one more move and I’ll blow her brains out,” McBride said pulling one arm around me so that I was flush against him. He pushed the gun barrel against my head.

  “James, you don’t have to do this,” said Mike, who was directly in front of us. “It’s me you want. She doesn’t have anything to do with it. Just let her go.”

  McBride seemed to hesitate for a moment. That was when my overwrought brain finally came up with a plan.

  “Drop your guns,” McBrid
e said after a moment’s silence.

  Mike kneeled and put his gun on the ground. He signaled for the three men around him to do the same.

  He came up with his hands raised in a sign of surrender. I felt McBride relax slightly behind me.

  That was when I kicked my leg backward as hard as I could forcing my heel to connect with McBride’s groin.

  He cried out in pain as he released me and his gun clattered to the pavement. Hastily, I ran forward and grabbed it awkwardly, my hands still tied at the wrists.

  All the same, my fingers were just barely able to reach the trigger. I pointed the gun shakily at McBride.

  For a moment, I thought it was over. That he would stay where he was until the police arrived.

  Then, I saw his face change from a grimace of pain to a malicious and angry glower.

  He lunged towards me and without thinking I pulled twice on the trigger. I heard a thud as McBride slumped to the ground.

  When I lowered my shaking hands, I moved forward towards his still body.

  I saw two bullet holes in his chest. One just at his heart.

  His eyes seemed to be wide with surprise though I knew that he could no longer see, could no longer breath.

  He was dead.

  *****

  The police arrived at the scene only two minutes after I shot McBride. Of course, I along with Mike and his buddies had to go down to the police office and give a statement.

  We sat there for nearly two hours. Me with a blanket around my shoulders and Mike sitting beside me on the bench while he waited for Zach, Tom and Greg’s interviews to finish.

  We didn’t talk when we were at the police station. We didn’t talk when Mike walked me home to the apartment building either. Though, I noticed just as we reached the door, Mike held it open for me, then took my hand in his as we walked up the stairs.

  I smiled. But still, not a word was spoken until we were safely inside with the door firmly locked.

  “So, what did they say?” he asked me referring to the statement I’d had to give the police.

  .

  “They said it looks like a pretty clear-cut case of self-defense,” I answered, “still, I’m not supposed to leave the city for the next couple of days.”

  “Mom and Fred won’t like that,” Mike said.

  Mike had called them as soon as we’d arrived at the police station. When I went in for my interview. Dad, apparently, was trying to insist that I come home immediately. And, while I didn’t want to admit it to anyone, that didn’t sound like a bad idea to me either.

  “Yeah,” I said, “well, I’ve still got finals.”

  “I can’t believe you still want to go through with your school stuff after all this,” Mike said, “I’m sure if you just explained to them what happened, they’d let you postpone it or something.”

  I shook my head.

  “I’ve worked too hard to let some asshole take this away from me,” I answered. “I need to finish.”

  “If you say so,” Mike answered.

  I stood by my table and Mike remained just inside the front door. I looked down at the chair next to me every once in awhile, wondering if I should sit down in it. I didn’t in the end.

  Instead, I stayed stupidly standing just as Mike did. Wondering if this was as good a time as any to talk about what I’d wanted to discuss with Mike all day.

  Despite everything that had happened, I had a feeling that, if we didn’t get it all out now, we never would. So, steeling myself I moved from the table towards him.

  “So,” I began hesitantly, “weren’t we going to have a chat about what happened last night?”

  I didn’t get the chance to finish because, the next thing I knew Mike had crossed the room in two strides. I barely had time to register his hands firmly on my waist before he was kissing me.

  His tongue insistently explored my mouth as he moved me across the room and finally. pushed me up against the wall just beside my bed. I reached around his neck and clung to his shoulders for dear life. I feared if I didn’t, I would lose my balance.

  His mouth left my lips only to move to my neck, biting and sucking at it in a way that made me gasp. His hands slipped quickly all down and along my body.

  It would have been easy, so very easy not to talk anymore. To give into this incredible pleasure, even without knowing what it meant.

  But, I knew I couldn’t do that.

  With a sigh I forced words out of my mouth.

  “Mike, we...oh god…” his hand had moved between my legs and I had to try and close them to get out the next words, “we really need to talk”

  Slowly, he pulled his hand out from the space between my thighs, moved his lips from my neck and looked me in the eyes.

  There was something there I had never seen in Mike before. It was a sort of desperate vulnerability. Almost as if he was terrified of something. I told myself that was silly. After all, the terror had passed.

  All the same, here he was, looking at me thoroughly fearful.

  “I almost lost you,” he said finally, “I...I almost couldn’t protect you and I…”

  “You didn’t lose me,” I said gently, moving my hands to cup the side of his face, “I’m right here.”

  “Sabrina,” he began, that terrified look still present in his eyes, “Sabrina, I love you.”

  My heart skipped a beat. I could almost feel my breathing slow. I blinked twice, unable to believe what I had just heard.

  “I love you,” Mike said again more quickly, “I’ve known that for a while now. I tried not to. I told myself it wouldn’t work but now I...I don’t think I can help it. It’s not something I can-”

  This time, it was me who interrupted him with a kiss. It was soft, gentle and quick.

  “I love you too,” I said beaming at him as I pulled away.

  I was rewarded with another desperate searing kiss. His hand returned to the place where it had stopped before.

  Soon, he had pulled my underwear down to my knees and was touching me desperately. Touching me as if I was the only thing standing between him and a long, slow, painful death.

  I leaned my head back and emitted another moan as he kneaded my breasts through my shirt.

  It was not long before he had ripped that off of me as well. My skirt came next. As soon as that hit the floor, he grabbed me from behind and picked me fully so that I had to wrap my legs around his waist.

  He threw me onto the bed. As my head hit the plush pillows, he quickly began to remove his own clothing. I moved up to help him.

  “No,” he said quietly but firmly, “stay right where you are. I just want to look at you while I do this. I just want to remember how incredibly lucky I am to be in love with such a beautiful woman.”

  I smiled and did exactly as he asked. I did exactly as he asked the rest of the night too.

  My little apartment was soon filled with moans and gasps from me and gently but commanding orders from him.

  Phrases like “say my name,” “touch yourself” and “come for me, Sabrina” were what pushed me over the edge more than anything else he did.

  Finally, with a last shout, we both fell back onto my too cold mattress. Utterly spent.

  We were quiet for several moments before he spoke up.

  “Does this mean you’ll wait for me while I’m off with my unit?” he asked.

  “What do you think?” I asked with a sly smile.

  “Okay then,” he answered, “that only leaves one question.”

  “What’s that?” I asked.

  He lifted his arm and put it around my shoulders, I moved close to him on the bench and snuggled into his side.

  “What are we going to tell our parents?” he asked.

  “I’m sure we’ll think of something,” I answered.

  And that was that. That was how I managed, somehow, to fall in love with my stepbrother. And, no matter what anyone else says, no matter how weird anyone thinks it is, I couldn’t be happier.

  The End />
  Bonus Story 5 of 40

  Biker Routine

  I never liked motorcycles. I didn’t like motorcycles the same way I didn’t like tattoos or leather jackets or drugs. To me, they were trashy, things that people in another, more dangerous world indulged in. Not me.

  I even stayed away from drinking if I could help it. It was not just the thought of losing control I didn’t like. It was also the taste of alcohol. The bitter, burning sting it caused as it flowed down my throat was not in any way relaxing or cathartic.

  Needless to say, I was not the kind of girl you would take to dance clubs. I was not the kind of girl you could feel up and maybe take home to have sex with. But, if anyone thought I was a sweet, compliant bookworm who would be content as a housewife in the kitchen, they’d have been wrong about that.

  I was a nurse, and definitely not the sexy kind. More the busy kind. My brown, natural hair was always pulled back in a tight, functional bun. As I worked around the ill and dying all day, there was no need to wear makeup. Hospital food and lack of time to exercise did nothing for my figure. I wasn’t exactly a blob, but I wasn’t a size zero by any means, either.

  And I wasn’t content to stay a nurse. I was studying hard at med school at night to become a general practitioner and open my own practice. But studying took up even more time than nursing already did. So, in the little free time I had, I sleep.

  There was no time for going out, no time for socialization and definitely no time to mess around with guys. None of that. So I definitely didn’t have a boyfriend.

  Anyway, one night in October, I was sitting at the coffee table in my little townhouse. I had just gotten off an eight-hour shift one hour before. I’d hoped to get two hours of studying for the medical exam in before bed. But when I started, I found that my eyes were blurry. I couldn’t focus.

  It was ten o’clock and I’d only gotten halfway through. I was about to give up and go to bed when I heard a knock at the door.

  I froze. I wasn’t expecting anyone. Indeed, I hardly ever had visitors to my place. Mostly because I was hardly ever here.

  I thought of pretending I wasn’t here. There were no windows beside the front door, after all. The door was locked. Anyone could easily assume that I was either in bed or away from home.