Month: December 2022

Chapter 37

Back in her room, tied to her bed, Ashley was looking up at the ceiling thinking about the woman whose life was in danger. She knew she wasn’t a danger to anyone but she understood why they kept her restrained.

Ashley knew the doctor wasn’t getting her message but at the same time she couldn’t understand why the words weren’t coming to her. She searched the depths of her memory trying to remember Molly Goldfish. She knew the woman took her boyfriend that night at the fair. It didn’t matter though. Molly married George Thompson.

Ashley had no grudge against her, George moved on and so had she. In her mind she knew there had been a time she loved her husband. She still couldn’t believe he would abuse her daughter.

In the back of her mind she kept remembering the night her husband died. Ashley relayed the events in her head knowing something was wrong. She couldn’t figure it out but she knew something didn’t seem right. She kept replaying the night in her memories.

How she was tied to the chair, watching in despair, helplessly watching him brutalize her daughter right in front of her. The memory was foggy. She could hear him talking about Molly Goldfish during the entire ordeal. Then her memories began to swirl in her mind. There weren’t any clear images at this point. She could see, through the fog of her mind the bloody knife in her hands, she could see his dead body lying on the floor with his throat bleeding out. She could hear the cries of her baby who had just been through hell. She could feel the handcuffs tearing into her wrists.

Beyond that she couldn’t piece the rest together. In her mind she knew she killed her husband when he became deranged and began torturing his family. But as she looked deep into her memories she couldn’t see anything before that night, not clearly. Nothing except the image of Molly Goldfish sitting on that Ferris Wheel, her arm wrapped around the boy who had broken her heart that night.

Then, with tears filling her eyes, she closed her eyelids and drifted off into the nightmare she faced at the close of each day.

Chapter 36

She kept looking at the flower sitting on her desk. It was a white flower she didn’t recognize. She couldn’t quite figure out why the flower was bothering her. She tried to picture in her mind what a flower was supposed to smell like. It had been so long since the fragrance of any living plant had touched her senses. She was beginning to wonder if she would ever sit outside in the springtime again.

Ashley had been making progress finally. The doctor had told her how she had plead insanity at her trial and her lawyer argued it was self-defense. Stephanie wasn’t buying it but she knew there was something missing in her memories. She wasn’t sure what it was. Every time she tried to picture it in her mind she blotted it out.

She kept starring at the flower. Despite the progress she was making her voice was still only coming back in small doses. Today was not one of those days. She sat listening to the doctor talk to her about the same things she always did, how she needed to process her guilt. How her kids were being taken care of. It was all the types of things she was glad to hear but deep down knew wasn’t going to do her any good.

The doctor could tell Ashley was trying to get out of her mind. While talking wasn’t an option at this time, the doctor had a new approach.

“Ashley I know you can hear me. You haven’t responded to everything I said but I want you to know you are in there and we are waiting patiently for you to find your voice. In the meantime why don’t you see if you can write down what you are feeling on this notepad? Would you be able to do that for me?”

The doctor asked as she placed the notepad in one hand and a pencil in the other.

Ashley’s gaze never left the flower. She didn’t even look at the notepad. After about ten minutes of silence she slowly began scribbling on the notepad. She didn’t even look down at what she wrote. She handed the notepad back to the doctor.

The doctor didn’t know what to make of it. A single sentence with a drawing of a balloon tied to the last letter.

“Molly Goldfish must die!”

The doctor ponder the significance of it for a while before she tried to get through to Stephanie.

“My dear, who is this Molly Goldfish and why do you want her to die?”

Ashley didn’t take her eye off the flower. She just closed her eyes and began repeating,

“Molly Goldfish must die.” It was a whisper at first.

“Molly Goldfish must die”

Then her voice began to elevate.

“Molly Goldfish must die!” Ashley stood up to the doctor’s surprise.

She walked over to the desk, grabbed the white flower, pulled it out of the vase it was sitting in and yelled on top of her lungs into the flower.

“Molly Goldfish MUST DIE!”

She bit the head of the flower off, sat down and began chewing it. She drank it down with water from the vase. Then she became quiet again.

Back in her office doctor pondered the meaning of the drawing. The words were written in a child-like elegance ending with the tail of the e in die forming the string of a balloon floating above the words.

The doctor began to wonder what piece of the puzzle was missing. She pulled out the note the gentleman from before brought in requesting a visit with poor Stephanie Taylor. The doctor decided now might be a good time to bring him back in for further questioning.

She picked up the phone and called the relative who gave him the note. She was able to put the doctor in touch with the man’s motel room where she left an urgent message for him to give her a call.

The doctor had other patients but there was something really fishy about this Molly Goldfish. Something that seemed to really upset Stephanie.

No more than twenty minutes passed when the phone rang.

“This is George Thompson. What’s wrong doctor?”

“There seems to be a breakthrough with the patient. She has begun to talk finally. But the things she says don’t seem to make much sense to me. She keeps chanting for the death of a goldfish, does that sound familiar to you?”

George wasn’t sure he wanted to get into this right now. He was still trying to figure out how to deal with his own pain knowing the agony his long-lost soul mate was in. After a brief pause he asked the doctor a question of his own.

“What exactly did she say about the goldfish? If you don’t mind my asking.” George said.

The doctor looked over the hand-writing and recalled the story Mr. Thompson relayed previously.

“I do believe this is something I should discuss in person Mr. Thompson. Would it be possible to arrange a meeting in the next day or two?” the doctor asked.

While he knew he had to make preparation for his plans, his recently rekindled love for Stephanie and the overwhelming desire to become her knight in shining armor got the better of his judgment

“I think I can make that happen. What is a good time for you?” George asked.

The doctor sat the pencil down on top of the notepad on her desk.

“The sooner the better. Would you be able to come by here around 10 am? Ashley will have her first session with me just before noon. I believe I would be more useful to her if I could get your insight into this beforehand.”

“I agree doctor. I will see you tomorrow then. Please take care of her, she doesn’t deserve to be in that place. I assure you I only want to do what is best for her recovery.” George said.

“Mr. Thompson, I certainly appreciate your enthusiasm for the patient but please keep in mind she is not well. The woman you remember is not the person I am treating. I want to be clear right now. Do not get any sense of false hope. Am I clear?” the doctor asked.

“Yes ma’am. I understand.” George said.

“Good. Then I will see you tomorrow. Take care Mr. Thompson.”

He ended the call.

George turned to his brother who had been standing there the whole time.

“Brother, I am fully on board with your plan. I have to make a minor delay in my preparations. I need to visit Stephanie once more, for good measure.

The doctor says she has been repeating a message they think I can offer some insight into. I need closure. Remember, for me, I am doing this to help her. If I can’t salvage her mind the least I can do is get revenge on the woman who put her in there in the first place. Do you agree brother?” George said.

Drake had a blank look on his face. George couldn’t get a reading on him. After a couple of minutes of dead silence he responded.

“You do what you need to brother. Whatever it takes to make you see why what we are doing is the right thing.” Drake said.

George nodded in agreement.

Chapter 35

“Wake up!” he yelled into her face loudly.

Molly forced open her eyes unaware of what was about to happen. He never took the time to wake her up unless he was going to bring something to her attention she was certain she could do without knowing.

“I see you seem to have forgotten why you are here in the first place. No matter, I have some good news. Your time served is almost up and I will soon be commuting your sentence. Doesn’t that sound great! I bet you can’t wait to get out of this hospital bed and back to your life.”

Drake was smiling with a glimmer in his eye Molly had never seen in her captor before. He was stroking her breasts gently as he began rubbing that stuff all over her body once more. She still couldn’t tell what it was but she couldn’t stand the stench of it.

“Drake, please for the love of God would you talk to me? Tell me what I did, why are you doing this to me?”

Molly could barely whisper the words as she chocked on the pain in her throat. That was new but she didn’t want to begin to figure out where it came from.

“I see you seem to forget the turn of events that brought you here. That is quite understandable considering the drugs I used on you. They were very psychotropic substances. The types of things hypnotherapists use to unlock repressed memories.

“Well fortunately for me if done right they can be used to suppress memories too. In some cases they can even assist in planting false memories. Sure, the real memories return in time. But we’re running out of time now aren’t we? Yes I think we are.”

Soon your body will be healed and you will be plotting your escape once again. And then this time you won’t heal enough in the right places. You see a bone can only be broken so many times before it stops healing. I have damaged your body basically beyond repair.

You can live a normal, comfortable life if I let you heal now and you got proper medical treatment but if I repeat the cycle one more time then much of the damage becomes. Permanent.”

He said that last part as he took a knife and sliced off a piece of her skin from her shoulder.

All of a sudden things began coming back to Molly. She was starting to remember this wasn’t the first time he told her his plan. She winced in pain but force herself not to let out a cry or scream. She knew it would only make things worse as she learned her screams were music to him.

Instead she chose a new tactic.

“If my body is broken, why not let me die? It is obvious you are very well addicted to killing. Ending my miserable life would bring you much joy at this point don’t you think?”

She asked not expecting him to comply just hoping to try to reason with him.

“Molly Goldfish, you clever little bitch. Your death is coming. But it won’t be relief from pain, it will be at the end of an agonizing week-long ordeal. Soon. Not today. Not tomorrow. But the time is approaching. George before you, his death was necessary for your pain.

There is another thing you might not be privy to. You see, Linda, her death was no accident my dear. I swerved the car at exactly the right time to ensure her lifeless body would be tossed from the vehicle sans head while I would suffer minimal injuries.

I knew I would place my fragile life in the hands of my colleagues while I let the “loss” of my beloved Linda motivate me into a life of seclusion.”

Drake told Molly as he continued to dress her wounds and rub that stuff on her body.

“Why would you do such a thing? I thought you loved her?” Molly asked. Her voice was slowly beginning to return.

“Oh Molly Goldfish you don’t get it. You never understood the truth. You see, my blood lust predates my courtship with sweat, innocent Linda. In fact, to be honest, her death was more like a necessary evil in order to hatch my plan to get back at you and all the pain you inflicted on those around you.”

Molly couldn’t fight back the tears anymore. Searching her deepest memories she couldn’t find any reason for so many people to blame her for their troubles. She didn’t take George from Stephanie, and she didn’t put a wedge between Linda and her former friend. She was set up by her parents and theirs and went along with it. She agreed, in her heart, she never loved George but she knew doubted Linda and Drakes love for each other.

“Molly, you seem to have forgotten the story about how I watched my cousin burn to death in a house fire. You see with Jennifer long dead I can tell that story however I need to fit the situation.

But we didn’t sneak off to make love while the barn burned as I said while she became pregnant with my child. I held her down and forced myself on her while I made her watch with me as Brandon begged for us to save him. It was only right after I dragged her into my bedroom where I told her to pretend we were making love to have an alibi.” Drake said.

Molly still didn’t understand what any of this had to do with her. Then he explained it.

He told her how Brandon was into Jennifer and she was going to break up with Drake for him because she found his dirty magazines. He explained how he was tired of being a virgin and she ought to start putting out but was against it for religious reasons.

Drake said he tried to set Brandon up with Molly because every time she came to visit she flirted with him. The plan was Molly would take Brandon, Drake could keep Jennifer and George could be happy with Ashley. While it didn’t work out that way Drake began to describe a tale weaved in jealousy and bitterness she still felt no responsibility to.

He then explained how after Jennifer moved away he talked her into killing herself. Drake didn’t stop there. He revealed everything to Molly finally spelling out how she fit into everything. Her tears turned from quiet sobs to full on cries of pain as his story unfolded in her ears.

Chapter 34

Hobbs hadn’t worked a proper murder investigation in all too long. He left the city police department to live in the country side because he wanted to get away from that type of investigating. He knew he had what on paper should have been an open and shut case of murder-suicide but he couldn’t shake the double-homicide theory and it was beginning to irritate him.

He knew the markings on the back of the male victim’s head were the key. The coroner said the man stabbed the woman to death then shot himself in the head, falling backwards onto a tree stump. Hambly thought it sounded neat but his instincts told him otherwise.

“Howdy Sheriff, how’s going?” an all-too-familiar voice said.

“Not now Hank, I need some peace to figure this out. Why don’t you go bother the boys at the lodge for a change and leave me be?” Hobbs said frustrated.

“Why sure Sheriff, I know you got police work to do that’s why I am here. You know that cabin you said you walked by the other day, the one with the football player’s brother? Well I was out hunting over the weekend and I heard something that sounded very disturbing coming from that direction. I thought you might be interested in snooping around.” Hank said.

Hobbs could smell the booze on his friends breath. He checked his watch. Sure enough it was no more than 12 past ten in the morning.

“Hank, I already questioned that fellow, I don’t think he had anything to do with those two hikers that turned up dead. Would you please leave the police work to the professionals.” Hobbs said.

“Well I am sure you are right, you are always right when it comes to police business. I wasn’t so sure this was connected to that case but maybe something else?” Hank said.

Hobbs put his hand on Hank’s shoulder and walked him to the front door.

“Hank, I am not going to bother that poor man who is just up there for some peace unless I have a good reason. You thinking you smelled something fishy when you were blind-stinking drunk isn’t probably cause. There aren’t any other crimes reported in the area that require my attention like these two bodies. Now would you kindly go about your business and let me do my job!”

Hobbs slammed the door on Hank. He turned to his secretary,

“If that drunk walks in here again you grab one of the deputies and put him in the holding cell for disturbing the peace of hampering an investigation, something to keep him out of my hair would you.”

She just nodded in agreement not looking up from her crossword puzzle.

Hobbs rolled his eyes and went back into his office to think.

Chapter 33

It was getting close to midnight and they were still driving. Drake insisted on going to his cabin to save George from having to get a hotel room. He had said it was not too far from where they were. It took them nearly two hours just to walk back to where Drake had parked his pick-up truck. From there it was another two hours up the mountain before the highway ended, leaving them to traverse an old country road.

It was so rocky and rough they couldn’t drive more than 35 miles an hour. Drake had stripped all the electronics out of his truck so there wasn’t even a radio to listen to, not even a heater to keep them warm. He looked out the window hoping to see an indicator they were getting closer. All he could see was a never ending wall of trees. The trail had ended about a half a mile back and now they were off the road. George was seriously starting to worry about his brother who had forsaken his medical past to come out here to live in such a remote, isolated and desolate place. George had been through hell, yet it was nothing compared to the mental scars that his older brother had corroding away what little conscious he had left.

“So are we getting any closer? We’ve been driving an awfully long time.”

Drake just kept his focus on the road.

George was starting to get frustrated at his brothers lack of a response. George was also beginning to lose sight of why he came out here in the first place. He had to remember he was on a mission to get his life back. He knew he wanted to make things right for Ashley, but was he really ready to succumb to revenge? After listening to what Drake had been through, what he had done, George was starting to question his entire reason for living.

George never could deal with death period. It always scared him how easily Drake would handle losing a patient. Even when Linda was killed, at first it seemed like Drake was going to pull through. If it hadn’t been for his left arm being amputated in the same wreck he might have gone back to his medical practice and things would have turned out differently.

Instead he lost his arm and with that his ability to be a surgeon. He was more than qualified to take on any number of other professions but somehow the loss of his career coupled with the death of his wife, it was too much for Drake.

He had purchased this cabin ten years back, it was supposed to be a quiet little place for the couple to come when they needed to be alone. Instead it turned into a shelter where Drake became a recluse. Everyone in the family was worried about him, more so than even George who had also lost his home, family, and job.

It was as if Drake’s troubles were more important and that George was just expected to pull through. George pushed those thoughts out of his head; he was not going to dwell on how much his parents favored his older two brothers. He was just here to see if his brother would agree to help him rectify all the wrongs in his life.

Finally they pulled up to a small clearing. Drake parked the truck. The two men walked quietly up to the cabin. It was well past midnight, George was dead tired. He opened the door and the first thing he noticed was a Goldfish sitting on the table. He turned to his brother and asked,

“What’s with the fish, I thought you hated fish as pets?”

Drake quietly remarked,

“Oh Goldie is special to me. Why don’t you have a seat and I will start up the fire?”

George was too tired to really argue so he sat down on the couch as directed. It was a small cabin; the kitchen was the first thing you saw when you walked in. Going just past that was a tiny little living room with a single door leading to the bedroom off to one side. There was just a single, very tiny bathroom just to the right off the kitchen when you first walked in. The stove that would provide the heat was smack dab in the middle of the room.

Next to that was a single coffee table, although with all the newspapers strung out it was next to impossible to see that it was, in fact, a table.

There was some sort of smell coming from the couch but George didn’t really want to say anything to excite his brother. He sat there and watched Drake get the fire going. He started to look at one of the newspaper articles when Drake spoke.

“I keep the newspapers to get the fire going.” “Oh I see, where um, do they come from?” Drake turned to his brother with a smile,

“Oh you know I dig them out of dumpsters, pick them up from the streets, just anyplace I happen to find some lying around really.”

George could tell there was something about what Drake was saying that didn’t sound right. Taking a quick glance around he noticed a pattern, most of the papers were stories of women being abducted, stories of serial killers, and missing person’s reports.

George was starting to get a picture of his brother that although somewhat disturbing, was somehow comforting. This was a side of his brother he had never seen. Having recently begun experiencing his own darker side, he found it oddly comforting to know he was not alone. Drake was not the same guy George thought he was. The deeper he delved into his brother’s dark side, the closer he felt to him. George was beginning to allow thoughts creep up into the back of his head, dark thoughts that he otherwise might now have considered.

After a few minutes Drake had a full fire blazing. He offered to make George a warm cup of home brewed tea, which at this point George was not going to pass up. Drake handed him his tea.

“Why are you really here?”

Drake asked his brother. He took a sip of his tea while he gathered up his thoughts.

“I haven’t seen you since that day you came to visit me in the hospital.” Drake said. “You walked out of my life. How can you expect me to put that behind me? Am I just supposed to forget that you haven’t spoken to me in nearly six years?”

George was starting to get worried about his brothers motive for bringing him out here. He suddenly became extremely nervous.

“So Drake do you mind if I tell you my own story?” George said.

“Sure thing brother, let me get this fire going while you tell me everything that is on your mind.”

“I been losing myself these past few years. I been doing a lot of drugs, drinking and fucking hookers. You know all that sinful shit our parents warned us about.” George said.

“Listen, brother, you don’t have to explain anything to me. Trust me, I have my own sins to account for.” Drake said as he smiled over his shoulder to his brother.

“I mean, yeah sure I get it, but see, I am trying to get my life back on track but I can’t get over how much I hate that woman for ruining my life, hell I kinda blame her for ruining both our lives.” George said.

Drake just nodded as he got the fire going. “Uh huh, sure go on.” Drake said.

George was casually looking around the room as he began to gather his thoughts. He was getting an image of his brother he wasn’t sure about. The fear was swelling up in the back of his mind but at the same time he figured he would keep talking as a way to assess the situation.

“I went looking for Ashley. Do you remember her?” George said.

“Oh sure, the girl you were dating before Molly Goldfish, everyone remembers that story.”

Drake sat down on the chair across from his brother.

“Let me fix you a drink while you relax, keep talking brother.” Drake walked over to the cabinet and began preparing a coke and rum, it was George’s favorite drink.

“Well, I found out what happened to Ashley and it broke my heart. You see after she ran off and married that shit-for-brains jock apparently her life took a turn for the worse.”

“Oh you mean how she killed her husband and wound up in a mental hospital? I know all about it.”

Drake walked over to a stack of newspapers, picked one up and handed it to George. It was a picture of Molly with the headline,

“Housewife kills husband in fit of rage”

As George skimmed the article it made no mention of the abuse. That puzzled him but he tossed it aside and turned his gaze back to his brother.

“When did you learn about this? And what is up with all the newspapers?” George asked.

Drake handed George his drink and sat down.

“You know how you blamed Molly for basically ruining your life. Well you knew Linda and Ashley had been best friends right? So after Linda died I lost it. I went on my own soul-searching quest if you will.”

“What about Ashely?” George asked.

“I can’t blame Molly for Brandon’s death, that was on me. I can, however, blame myself for Jennifer’s death. As a doctor I saw a lot of people die at my own hands. I would lose my license for this, hell I could face jail time even but after a few deaths I started, well let’s just say some lives I saved and some I lost and sometimes I chose which ones to lose.” Drake said.

George glanced at his watch as if to indicate he was getting tired. He knew that move wasn’t going to work.

“George you don’t have anything to worry about, I didn’t bring you up here to kill you. I have a quote, two deaths a month I just murdered two losers in the woods a few nights ago so I got my blood lust satisfied.” Drake said.

A shiver of fear slide down George’s spine as the words sunk in, his brother admitting he was a murder, no a serial killer. How could this be? It didn’t make any sense to George.

“Relax brother, let me explain why I reached out to you. You see I know your pain man. I hate Molly Goldfish as much as you did. I too blamed her not only for the way my wife lost touch with her best friend, but also how she was able to live her life like nothing happened after Linda died while you and I both watched our lives spiral out of control.”

George just nodded along with his brother, not knowing how to proceed.

“I also visited Ashley. I looked her up right after I got out of the hospital. Do you get why I confessed my murders to you brother? Because I can see it in your eyes. You have that blood lust yourself. You want Molly dead as badly as I want to end innocent lives for no apparent reason.

The truth is once you have a kill on your hands there is no greater rush, the power it gives you knowing this person’s life was in your hands and you ended it. It’s greater than any drug. I can help you end your pain like I helped Ashley end hers. I can help you kill Molly Goldfish. I have a plan. I was waiting for you to be ready. I knew if you went to see Ashley you were getting closer to being ready for the truth.”

“What is the truth? That my brother is a cold-blooded killer? I mean I want to hurt Molly as much as you do but what you do, what you are talking about is beyond revenge.” George said.

Drake walked over to the counter and plucked his precious goldfish out of the tank. He stuck his finger in its mouth and ripped it in two.

“You haven’t learned to cope with death as I have because you never faced it as much as I. You need to learn that death is a natural part of life, brother. Killing Molly won’t end your pain. But if you let me destroy her body and soul, then you can die peacefully knowing she will suffer and you can atone for your own sins. You don’t blame Molly Goldfish for your beloved Ashley’s current predicament, you blame yourself for not standing up to that bitch.”

George wanted to stand up in anger and walk out. He knew partially that wasn’t smart considering the things his brother was telling him. He also knew Drake spoke the truth. He was not in agony anymore over losing his life, he was tearing himself up knowing he couldn’t do anything to save her. He broke down in tears and fell to his brothers feet.

“Brother, please tell me how you can take my pain away and avenge Ashley’s suffering? Tell me your plan to hurt Molly Goldfish for all the pain she inflicted on the world?”

Chapter 32

This was just great, here he was enjoying a nice evening alone with his dog and goldfish when some stupid good for nothing Sheriff had to stop by asking him questions about a couple who had been killed a few nights earlier. He was trying his hardest to get the stupid lug to leave but he insisted that the incident had occurred close by.

The Sheriff knew he was a wilderness man and so suspected that he might have heard something. This was just great, now his goldfish was going to really worry. He knew that he had to get the cop out of here before Goldie made a ruckus.

“Well if you think of anything that might be helpful feel free to give me a holler alright?”

He looked the man square in the eyes,

“Will do Sheriff.”

The cop got into his unit, closed the door drove off.

He knew old Goldie hated being interrupted during supper. He went back inside and could hear what sounded like screams coming from the bedroom. He looked at the goldfish bowl on the table and noticed that there was water spilled all over the place.

Goldie had managed to tip over his castle and knocked over the feeding dish. This was not good. You silly goldfish he thought to himself as he straightened up the mess. The fish was swimming around anxiously in his bowl.

He reached in and cornered the little guy, giving him a gentle rub on his sides.

“Now there, calm down Goldie it’s going to be okay, the Sheriff was just asking questions about those campers we met the other night that is all.” He could hear more sounds coming from the bedroom.

“Hmm, I must have left the TV on in there.”

He opened the door.

Molly’s heart sank as she saw the door open and there was her captor standing in the way. She began flailing about in her bed screaming at him to go away and leave her alone. This was the first time she was able to communicate with her abductor and she was going to make the most of it.

“Drake please, why are doing this to me?”

He said not a word, made no sound at all. He walked quietly over to where her feeding tube had been tossed aside and picked it up. He looked her up and down, assessing the pain she must have been in. He bent down by the night stand next to her bed and pulled out some sort of cream from the looks of it. He began rubbing her down with what felt like a muscle ointment.

Drake pulled up a chair and sat down next to Molly. He brushed the hair out of her eyes and wiped her tears from her cheek.

“Hush little goldfish, there is no reason to fret my darling.”

He picked up the feeding tube, wiped it off with a wet wipe he pulled out of his medical kit. She clenched her teeth; she was not going to let him put that thing back in her mouth.

“I was afraid you would do this someday.”

He reached down to put the tube back and she tightened her lips.

“Now Molly listen here, if you don’t get this feeding tube back into your throat you are going to die. I don’t have to tell you how damaged your body is, you were lucky to survive the wreck.”

She blinked her eyes and furrowed her brow. What the hell was he talking about? Had this man lost his mind?

“You probably don’t remember the accident do you?

You have been in a coma for going on two months now. I been taking care of you sweetheart.”

She shook her head, what was he talking about? She wasn’t falling for it. This was some sort of a trick.

“Please, tell me why are doing this to me? What did I ever do to you?”

“Oh sweetie, don’t cry,” he wiped her tears again.

“You were in a car accident almost two years ago. George was killed and I pulled you from the wreckage myself don’t you remember?”

Molly was confused, how could he think she was so stupid.

She shook her head and spit at him.

“You and George kidnapped me, why should I trust you?”

“Kidnapped? What are you talking about? You and George were in a car accident. I pulled you from the wreckage myself.”

Molly was getting dizzy now, the room was spinning. She could vaguely remember a car accident. What about the kidnapping, torture, or that video? Molly was getting a headache, his words felt like lies, yet somehow they tasted like truth. She wasn’t sure what to believe anymore.

“No,” she said her mind in a daze, her voice was begging to crack,

“that’s not what happened, you kidnapped me and have kept me here for some twisted reason putting me through all sorts of abuse. I can’t trust anything you are saying.”

Drake stood up from his chair, brushed the hair out of her eyes and gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek.

“My sweet darling, you have always been like a sister to me. The accident was a terrible shock for you that and the medication must have had you in some kind of delusional dream like trance while in your coma. It’s not uncommon for coma victims to dream up elaborate alternative realities to deal with their pain. You are safe here with me. Your body was badly broken in the wreck, George was killed and to protect you I brought you here and buried him myself. I fully intend to nurse you back to health and then get you back on your feet.”

There was something fishy about his story, but somehow she just couldn’t put her finger on it.

“Answer me this then, where are my clothes, why am I naked? And what are those bruises on my body?”

He took a deep breath, sat down and lit a cigarette. He took a deep puff and then told her,

“It was very bad wreck. Listen I don’t think you are quite ready to talk about it just yet. You have been in a coma for almost two months straight, this is the first time you been awake since the accident. Why don’t you get some sleep and we can talk about it in the morning. He reached for her feeding tube and she clinched her teeth, pulling her head away from him.

“Please don’t put that thing back in me. And if what you’re saying is true why can’t you untie me from this bed?”

He walked over and untied her bonds. He brought her a blanket and began to pull it over her when she screamed in pain.

“Do you see now why you are uncovered? Your wounds will heal in time, but the bonds are to keep you steady, you are in a very critical condition Molly. I will untie you, and loosen your bonds, but I have to keep the waist strap or else you could suffer further injuries.”

With that he offered her a pain killer that must have included a sedative because she passed right out. Molly drifted back into her nightmare, no longer aware of what was, and wasn’t real.

Chapter 31

There was a knock at the door. It startled Molly awake.

Her heart began racing as she realized they never had visitors. Her captor was a very private man. He was very protective of his prized possession. She could hear the sounds of her tormentor opening the front door.

Suddenly she became anxious, it was a long shot but she had to draw attention to her situation. She looked around, there was nothing she could reach to throw or knock over. She began struggling in her bindings. She thought if only she could make enough noise then surely whoever it was could come into the bedroom and find her. She could hear the front door close. Obviously they must have stepped outside. Her heart sank; this was the closest she had come to being discovered. Whatever was going on must be important.

She looked over to her side. Her feeding tube, if only there was a way she could get it out of her mouth maybe she could scream. Her hands were bound tightly to the bed. She could not move her arms at all. She could wiggle her toes but that only sent a sharp pain up her spine, she was reminded of how he spent the last few days sticking needles into the bottoms of her feet. All of the pain she had been suppressing suddenly and violently began bringing her back to reality.

She became desperate, one way or another she was going to make her presence known. She began coughing; maybe she could get the feeding tube out that way? She started to gag, it was no use. The damn thing was lodged in her throat there was no way she could just cough it up. As much as it hurt she tilted her head up as far as she could, if only she could wiggle that tube close enough to her thumbs maybe she could yank on it?

It was a few inches from the edge of her bed. She needed to get it to move closer to her hand. She tried to move her left hand, there was just enough room she could turn her wrist. It was going to be painful but she had to try. She took a deep breath, this was it, pushing back with her neck and up with her back she tried to lift her chest enough to move the tube. It shuffled on her chest and then settled into place. She tried to bend her knees, she needed more leverage.

There was that sharp pain again, this time she welcomed it as a reminder of her need to get this right.

She pulled a muscle in her hip, damn it this was a lot harder than she thought. Never before had Molly been determined to fight back. Previously she had accepted her fate and was anxiously awaiting death to relieve her misery. She felt a pain in her shoulder, that was it, he popped her shoulder out of place the last time.

This was going to be the most excruciating pain she ever felt. That’s not true, you gave birth remember. If you can handle that you can handle anything. Molly needed to get her resolve back. She took another deep breath, clinched her eyes shut and lifted her neck back pushing up with her back and bending her knees at the same time. She felt the pain pressing into her shoulder. She couldn’t hold out much longer, she could feel the tube moving across her chest, it fell into her thumbs.

Yes, I got it, now for the really hard part. Molly took a second to relax and catch her breath. She knew that tugging on that feeding tube was going to be unpleasant.

She wanted to make sure she did this just right.

Molly had managed to loosen some of her bindings. This was good she needed a little wiggle room. She clenched her fists as tightly onto that tube as she could. She was going to have to start tugging. She sat up as far as she could and began coughing and tugging at the same time.

There was a scratching sensation inside her throat; she could feel the tube moving. She wanted to gag more than anything. She had to cough back the reflex to vomit. There was so little strength in her hands, she felt as if she was going to lose her grip. Suddenly she could hear the sounds of a car door opening. She was running out of time, they were leaving.

This was it, now or never. She knew that her only chance of escape was to be discovered by an outsider. She was so broken and bruised there was no way she could get away on her own without help. All she needed was to get that damn tube out of her mouth so she could scream.

Her heart was really racing now, sweat was pouring down her face. She swallowed a mouthful of sweat and tears; she pretended it was a nice bowl of chicken soup. She flexed her muscles and yanked on that tub with all her might. It was inching up her throat slowly. Too slowly she thought, she had to move more quickly.

She started biting down on the tube with her teeth and tugging with her jaw. She needed as much extra leverage as she could muster. This was the most she had struggled for as long as she could remember. She could feel it getting closer; it was almost into her mouth. Once it was loose she could scream.

Success!

Molly was so relieved to finally have the feeding tube free she was overwhelmed with joy. She couldn’t savor that moment just yet; she pushed back even more years and began coughing. She had no voice, how could she screen if she had no voice!?

She knew why she had no voice, her throat was dry and she had just swallowed a mouthful of tears and sweat. It was going to be unpleasant but she needed to clear her throat. She began hacking up everything she could onto her chest.

She could feel it splashing onto her naked chest. She managed to get out a single sound.

“Help me,”

it came out as a whimper.

That wasn’t good enough she took a few deep breaths and tried again.

“HELP ME! PLEASE IF YOU CAN HEAR ME PLEASE HELP ME!”

It was no use, her voice was too weak. She began sobbing violently.

Chapter 30

It was later that day the two men had been fishing for several hours. George was still in a state of denial about his brother being involved in the death of two of his childhood friends. After Jennifer moved away George kind of forgot about her. To find out that not only did she die so long ago, but that his brother had a hand in it, which was something George was not equipped to deal with. It made him re-think how badly he wanted to hurt his ex-wife. He hated his wife enough to make her suffer for all the pain she caused.

He just didn’t hate her enough to see her dead. He hated dealing with death it was his worst flaw. Drake told him how hard it was being responsible for the deaths of two such young people. He said that it was what drove him to become a doctor; he had to condition himself to think of death as natural in order to bury the guilt he felt. He then told George how on rare occasions he would let some young people die on purpose, even if he could have easily saved them. He said it helped him deal with the pain knowing that even good people could die young.

George was starting to question everything about his relationship with Drake. Looking back on it the two never really were that close, Drake was a lot closer to Daryl than George. In fact looking back on it George had always been the dreamer, the other two were the practical ones. This was the first time he had to face the idea that he had romanticized his past. George was afraid to speak up during Drakes confessions; he just let his brother pour out his soul while he sat there listening, fearful for his own life now.

By late afternoon the two men had barely caught two tiny little fish, hardly worth the trouble of preparing into a meal. Finally they decided to call it quits. They were walking back to the campsite when Drake said

“This is been such a peaceful experience hasn’t it George? Why don’t we set up camp for the night and sleep out here under the stars, closet to the water?”

George was feeling a little anxious to get back to town after hearing what his brother was really like. He didn’t think it would be safe for him to sleep out here alone in the dark with no witnesses.

“I don’t think so. I would feel more comfortable sleeping back in town in a nice motel.”

Drake looked over at his brother with a look of confusion.

“Are you serious? Man when we were kids you always liked sleeping outside. You were the only one of us who enjoyed camping out, it was the rest of us who liked sleeping in a nice bed.”

George knew he had to choose his words carefully at this point.

“Drake to be honest, we’re not kids anymore, maybe I grew up. My back is kind of sore, I haven’t been getting enough sleep as it is, I just think, for me at least, it would be best if I had nice comfortable bed to sleep in, that’s all.”

George could tell by the look on Drake’s face that he was a little suspicious but he didn’t press the matter.

“Alright then why don’t we save you a couple of bucks and head back to my cabin? It’s not too far from here.”

George knew he couldn’t say no to that without tipping him off so he reluctantly agreed.

“I guess that would be fine, do you have a spare bed?”

“Tell you what brother, I will let you sleep on my bed and I will take the couch how does that sound?”

He nodded in agreement and the two packed up their stuff, walked over to the pick-up truck

Drake had concealed in the woods, and drove up to his cabin on the mountain.

Chapter 29

There was a pile of papers stacked up as tall as his computer monitor. Sheriff Hobbs was falling behind on his paper work. He poured a cup of coffee and sat down at his desk. He was having some trouble with this case.

The evidence all pointed to a jealous boyfriend finding out his girl was cheating on him, and in a fit of rage killed the girl, and then took his life when the reality of the situation sunk in. All the physical evidence pointed towards that same scenario. Still Hobbs had a gut feeling something else had happened that night. He worked for an under-funded agency and he knew that if this case got handed over to the feds it would be lost money for his department. Still he couldn’t let it go unresolved; he had to do some digging. In order to keep it local he had to rule it a murder-suicide. He knew that even with a preliminary finding if he dug anything up that proved otherwise it would be bad for his career.

Hobbs wasn’t exactly the greatest Sheriff of all time. He only got this job because he was rejected from working at a real precinct and this was the best job he could get. What made Hobbs such a lousy detective was he never could understand motive. He knew that if this was an open and shut case then everything was nice and neat. Sure there was the matter of those odd footprints that didn’t quite match up, but those could be explained any number of logical ways, couldn’t they?

Deep down inside he knew there was more to this case than what he put on the report. The problem was without any evidence, no motive, suspect, or manpower to conduct a proper investigation, there was a good chance it would be turned over to the Feds. If there was one thing he hated above all it was losing jurisdiction to a bunch of suits from DC.

If there was another party involved then who were they, what was their motive? Where was the evidence? A couple of footprints were not evidence that was coincidence at best. A local man kills his girlfriend, and then hangs himself that is a matter for local police.

But if there is a murder, perhaps even a serial killer then that is potentially a case for the FBI and that would bring in press attention. He also knew there was the tiny matter of the bruises on the boyfriend’s body. There was evidence that he had been struck in the head by some blunt object, they put it down on the report that is must have been from the woman’s skull as she struggled to get lose. Lying or even fudging on a police report was not something a good cop would ever do lightly.

Too bad Barnaby wasn’t exactly known for being a “good cop.” He knew deep down that the impact was not from a human skull, but he also knew that he could potentially have a motiveless murder and that was not something he wanted to deal with. Elklodge was a very small and quiet town. The couple that was found dead was from a small city two hours from Elklodge.

As much as he hated the idea of bringing the Feds into his territory, he hated the idea of an unsolved murder even more. He took out a small flask he kept hidden in his desk, made sure nobody was looking, and then poured some whiskey into his coffee.

Hobbs thought if it was a double homicide then he would have to cover his tracks to keep the investigation on the down low otherwise he would be facing the end of his career. On the other hand f it turned out to be a serial killer he was in for a potentially career saving investigation, not to mention he would be a hero. Either way he had to keep this one to himself.

He secretly hoped it was the double homicide and he could catch the son of a bitch. Deep down inside he had a gut feeling it was probably the latter and that he was going to be in over his head pretty soon. He filled in the line on the form that declared it a murder-suicide. He decided to just call it a crime of passion and leave it at that.