Chapter 52
Drake sat down next to Molly and leaned back against a tree. He looked her up and down. He was taking it all in. He promised he was going to keep his hands off her for the remained of the day. He promised he was going to take her outside for a nice picnic to give her one last day of sunshine before he made the final preparations to end her miserable life. As he was looking up her dress he could see things he promised to leave alone. Inside his heart he was thinking how badly he wanted to break that promise.
Molly cringed. She felt empty inside because of him.
As much as she hated listening to his stories she felt relief knowing her life was nearly over. In the back of her mind she wished she could trade places with that waitress George had killed to throw the cops off. Molly knew George thought the plan was to stage her death and then the two would take turns inflicting their pain on her until George was ready to end her life. Little did he know Drake had other, more elaborate plans.
Later that day Drake wheeled Molly back into the house. The two spent the rest of the day sitting on the couch watching TV while he cuddled up next to her pretending they were a couple. Molly finally got Drake to spill his plans to her. He was going to kill her in a very elaborate ritual ceremony akin to a sacrifice.
He explained how he wanted to release her soul while spilling her blood on the anniversary of the same day he impregnated the girl his brother had truly loved. She didn’t really desire to understand the plan, she was only pumping him for specifics because she was looking for any way to help her plot her escape.
It was late afternoon somewhere around 5 pm Drake sprang up, grabbed his shotgun and darted out the front door. He didn’t even waste the time it took to lock her handcuffs. For a split second she assessed her physical condition to see if she might have the strength to stand up on her own legs.
She figured if she could get into the wheel chair she might be able to get outside. The house was on a slope. If she rushed she could risk going down the side in hopes she could get to the highway. If she made it that far maybe, just maybe, someone would drive by and rescue her. Molly knew she had to act fast. She knew whatever it was that startled him wasn’t going to take long to deal with and if she sat her too long she would miss her window of opportunity.
She tried to stand up. Her legs were too stiff. She had no strength in her lower back whatsoever. She could barely pull herself off the couch. She decided to roll onto the floor and crawl using her elbows mostly towards the wheelchair. Her heart was racing now. She knew if he returned and found her in a compromising position it would only make him angry.
She could hear the sound of two voices outside arguing. She panicked. Who was out there? Should she risk getting his attention by yelling for help? That would only make things worse. She decided her best bet was to use the distraction as her chance to get away. She grabbed the wheelchair and began slowly pulling herself up onto it. It took all the strength in every muscle she had to get seated. She was running out of time. She pushed the chair over to the side door through the kitchen. She figured it was her best chance. She grabbed the handle and began turning it. Locked! She frantically began looking around for the key. There was no key in sight. She rolled over to the kitchen counter. She began opening drawers. There had to be a knife somewhere. She had to get that door opened before he came back.
She opened the top drawer and threw it into the floor. Nothing useful just a junk drawer. Not even a screwdriver. She pulled out the second drawer. Still nothing. It had silverware but no knives. Not even butter knives. This was not working. She looked over at the stove. There was a metal spatula he used for cooking and occasionally in the bedroom. She shuddered briefly then pushed that thought out of her mind. No time to dwell Molly. Get to safety now. This is your last chance.
She rolled over to the door and began prying with the metal spatula. She didn’t have much strength in her legs but she was finally able to jimmy the door open. Suddenly she heard a gunshot. Shit! This is it Molly he’s going to be on his way back right now. She began rolling as fast as she can. She looked over her shoulder towards the direction of the shot. She could see Drake dragging a body over to the side of the road where he was situating it. Molly rolled towards the hill beside the house. This was it she had no choice but to throw herself down the hill. She tumbled her way down to the bottom of the hill. There was no getting back into the wheel chair. She knew if he came this way he would look for the wheel chair. She pushed it into the creek, tossing leaves onto it in order to cover it up.
She pulled herself into the freezing water. She was going to have to swim with numb legs. It was no use. She would drown. So she let the water lift her legs up floating along as she dragged herself along the side of the creek. She knew it only went down a couple of miles before it stopped up at the highway. That was as far as she needed to get. She looked over and saw the flashing lights of what looked like a police vehicle. Perfect this was it, her chance to make her escape count. She knew there was no way she was going back that way. Even if a cop showed up, Drake would likely kill him too, only moving his plan to end her life up sooner. She knew if she caught her she was going to put up a fight.
This was her life and she was getting it back.
The water was freezing. She was beginning to feel numb. She could hear the sounds of the cars slowly driving off one by one. She didn’t have enough time to get up to the highway before the final vehicle drove off. She decided to get to the other side and crawl up onto the side of the creek. She was going to lose mobility but she was too cold to keep going in the water. In the back of her mind she thought she would rather die of pneumonia than endure one more minute being in the same house with him.
Molly could hear the sounds of vehicles off in the distance. There was a piercing pain shooting up her spine from her lower back. She had been lying in that bed for so long her muscles were weak. Her body was sore from all the abuse. She was afraid that if the cold didn’t kill her she was going to drown once her arms muscle gave out. She was holding on tightly to anything she could along the shores of the creek. She saw the headlights of a vehicle pass by and stop. She heard a car door slam shut. She froze. If he was out looking for her she was going to have to be very still.
Molly remembered how she wiggled her toes earlier in the morning.
Her legs never went numb. She knew she wasn’t paralyzed just really sore from the abuse. She bent her knee up to her chest. That sharp pain shot clear through her body sending every nerve it touched into spasm. Knowing it was now her never, she summoned all the strength she could muster and dove under the water and attempted to swim downstream.
She had to get some distance between him and her if she was going to have a chance at escape. She frantically kicked her legs as her chest filled with sharpness of the icy cold water she was submerged in. She began flailing her arms about desperate to get some movement. She felt her body fall to the bottom of the creek. The current was dragging her down. Her lungs were begging for a gasp of air and her eyes were close tight to keep the water out. She felt the bed of the creek as her feet began to drag. She used her arms to push herself down to the floor. Once down there she pushed off with her arms and chest against the ground as she motioned frantically to get above the current to the fresh air.
She could feel her brain beginning to pass out. She knew she was going to slip into a coma or death if she didn’t get her head above water soon. She felt a root of a tree along the side. She grabbed it and pulled herself up. She was on the wrong side of the creek. She needed to get further downstream. She filled her lungs with as much of the cold air as she could stand. She was beginning to shiver.
Molly looked back in her mind on all the events that brought her hear. She remembered that first date with George. The way he looked at her when she smiled in his direction. She remembered her wedding day. She focused on the feeling she felt walking down the aisle in front of all those people. She knew in her heart George Thompson was the man she was destined to marry.
As the cold began to grip her legs she remembered the pain of child birth and the joy of holding her baby girl in her arms. She knew in that very moment her life had a purpose. She smiled as she resolved this was it, she was going to slip into the afterlife right here, right now on her terms. She saw a beam of light strike her face as she slipped away into the cold, ice water into her slumber she desired more than anything. She was finally at peace.
Stephanie Bri 