| Chapter 37 Nick, Evi, Ephah and Serenity were sitting around the table in the kitchen. It was morning, and the girls had made breakfast for them. "So, Jered make an appearance yet?" Nick asked. "No, not yet," Ephah answered, looking over at Nick. Nick shrugged his shoulders and went back to eating, "Ephah, how come you didn't want in on it?" "Not my style," he answered, "I work better in other ways." "To each his own I guess," Nick said. Jered walked into the room looking completely exhausted. He had bloody scratch marks across his face, and a few bruises on his arms. "You let her go?" Serenity asked. "No, she pulled one of her hands out of the cuffs," he said, sitting down. "So, you have fun?" Nick asked. Jered smiled at him, "Yeah, I did." "She still among the living?" Ephah asked. Jered shrugged his shoulders, "Was when I left." Nick finished his breakfast and stood up, "Well, guess I'll go see how bad it is." "You need us to come with you?" Evi asked. Nick shook his head, "Naw, I'll call you when I need you." Nick walked through the house and up to Tara's door. Jered had left it ajar, so he pushed it open, and gasped. He knew Jered would be rough, but he wasn't expecting what he saw. Tara was laying on the bed unconscious. Her clothes had been ripped off and were strewn on the floor. She had fresh bruises all over her body, and bite marks as well. Her wrists and ankles were bloody from where she had pulled on the chains. Nick walked closer to her, leaning down and brushing her hair from her face. Her cheeks were bruised and her lip was split and bleeding. He looked at her neck, seeing the bruised imprints of Jereds hands. Nick sighed and pulled the sheet up to cover her, then went to the dresser and retrieved the key for the cuffs. He walked back over and unlocked her ankles, then the one hand that was still cuffed. He gently laid her arm down to her side. He walked to the door, yelling down the hall, "Girls, come here." A few minutes later Evi and Serenity came in the room, both shocked at Tara's condition. Nick looked at them, "Get a bath ready for her, and find some clothes to put her in." Evi went to the bathroom to get the bath ready, while Serenity pilfered through the dresser and closet, finding Tara something comfortable to wear. She came up with a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt. "That'll do," Nick said, watching her. Serenity nodded to him and took the clothes into the bathroom. Evi came out, "It's ready. Do you need us to help?" He shook his head, "No, go have some fun with the guys. I'll do it." Both the girls left the room, glad that Nick didn't need them. They were both afraid of him, and the less time they were around him, the better. Nick pulled the sheet away and picked Tara up, taking her into the bathroom and laying her down in the tub. He put a rolled up towel behind her neck, and pulled her hair up, letting it drop over the side, out of the water. He grabbed a wash cloth and began to clean her up. As he did so he healed a few things he thought looked really bad, but left most of the bruises to heal on their own. He gently washed her face, healing the bruises there. Nick ran his finger over her lips, healing the cut. "If you would only cooperate, you wouldn't have to go through this," he said to her. Tara moaned and moved a little. Nick waited for her to wake up, staring at her. She slowly and painfully opened her eyes. She scanned the room, then looked at Nick, but didn't say anything to him. "Are you in pain?" he asked her. Tara glared at him, "What do you think?" she said weakly. "Tell me where and I'll help," he said. "I don't need your help," she said, trying to sit up. She winced as she got to an upright position. "Tara, let me help you," Nick said, reaching out to her. Tara slapped his hand away, "Leave me alone," she said through clenched teeth. "Tara, I didn't think it would be this bad. Let me help you," Nick said. She glared at him, "And just how did you think it was gonna be Nick? You knew he would do this to me, and you sat there and let him! How could you?!" Nick stared right into her eyes, "Because I want you to want me. I wanted him to make you see that being with me isn't that bad, compared to what it could be." Tara's mouth dropped open in shock, she couldn't believe what he was saying. "Tara, I've never stopped loving you. I want us to be together, like we should've been all along," Nick said. "So you have someone rape me and beat the hell outta me, just so I'd run to you? That's sick Nick, and that is not love," she said. "Listen, I don't care what they want to do with you. The only reason I'm helping them is to get you back," Nick said. "What about Lyn? She loves you with everything she has," Tara asked. Nick shrugged his shoulders, "She was fun, but I want you. I've never stopped wanting you. Do you know how hard it was for me to see you and Brian together, to be at your wedding, to see you guys kiss, and know what he's doing to you every night? I've wanted to kill him countless times and run away with you. Now I have my chance." Tara sat there in complete shock. She thought all this was water under the bridge a long time ago, but here he was, bringing it all up again. She looked down, suddenly feeling very vulnerable sitting in the tub. She reached over and let the water out, struggling to her feet. Nick handed her a towel, and she wrapped herself in it. "Nick, get out," she said, looking at him. "I'm not done talking about this," he said. Tara sighed, "Fine, we'll talk about it, but I want to get dressed first, so get out." Nick looked at her and smiled, "I know what you look like naked, why does it bother you that I'm in here all of a sudden?" "It just does, now get out!" Tara screamed. "Fine, fine," Nick said, moving towards the door, "I'll be waiting, so don't be long." Tara watched as he left, shutting the door behind him. As soon as he was gone she sat down in the floor, pulling her knees to her chest and broke down. She was trembling and wanted to vomit. Her mind replayed what Jered had done to her, then what Nick had said. She knew if the opportunity for her to take Nick and leave didn't arrive soon, she wouldn't be strong enough to leave. "God please, give me strength. Please tell me what to do," she prayed through her tears. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kevin walked into the room Brian was staying in. Tracy and Lyn looked up at him. "He just fell asleep not to long ago," Lyn whispered. Kevin nodded and walked over looking at his cousin. Brian had been in agony all night, at one point screaming at the top of his lungs while everyone tried to calm him down. Things had finally calmed down a few hours ago. Kevin motioned for the two to follow him out of the room, which they did. When they had gotten down the hall a ways he turned to them, "I've never seen him like this before, is he gonna be alright?" "Kev, he's feeling what Tara's going through. Whatever they did to her, hurt her immensely," Tracy said. Kevin got that angry fatherly look on his face, "I swear I'll kill both those fuckers if I ever see them again." Tracy put her hand on his arm, calming him down, "Kev, we need to focus on what has to be done right now. As soon as we can, we'll go in and get them. Then the real work starts, and you being angry won't help us any." He sighed, "I know, I just wanna hurt something right now though." "We all do," Lyn said, "But that won't accomplish anything. Brian's gonna need us to help him. As long as he feels what's going on, he's gonna be in agony. We gotta be there, get his mind off it, if that's possible." "Yeah, I just wish I knew how to do that. I can't even imagine what he's going through. To be able to feel her pain like that, has to be just awful," Kevin said. "Tracy?" they heard Brian call. All three went back into the room. Brian was sitting up in bed, tears streaming down his face. "What is it?" Tracy asked. "I don't know, I just can't stop crying," he said, breaking down. Lyn sat on the side of the bed and held him, releasing a few of her own tears. Kevin had a hard time seeing his cousin in so much pain, and knowing he couldn't do a thing about it. Tracy took Brian's hand in hers, "Let me make you sleep for a while. You've been up all night, you need rest." Brian shook his head, "No. I have to know what she's feeling. I have to feel this, it's all I have telling me she's still alive." "Brian, they won't kill her," Tracy said. "You don't know that," he cried. "Bri, you need to rest so that when she comes back you can help her," Lyn said. Brian looked at her, knowing she was right. If Tara came back and saw him like this, she would worry about him, and not focus on what she needed. He sniffed and looked over at Tracy, "OK, but not for to long." Tracy smiled at him, "Not long, I promise." Kevin and Lyn watched as she reached over and placed her hand over Brian's eyes. She had her hand behind him, and gently laid him back in the bed. "It still amazes me that you can do all that," Lyn told her sister. Tracy smiled at her, "Let's leave him for a while. I'll come wake him in a few hours." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tara had finally composed herself and gotten dressed. She hoped that she had taken long enough that Nick had gotten tired of waiting on her and left. She opened the door and walked out. Nick was sitting on the bed, lost in his own thoughts. He looked up at her and smiled. Tara walked over and sat in the chair, facing him, "So talk." Nick looked over at the door to the room, and with a wave of his hand shut and locked it. He then looked at her, "I want us to leave." "And go where?" she asked. "Anywhere, I don't care. I just want to be alone with you, without them blundering around," he said. "And what makes you think I'll go with you?" she asked. He flashed her one of his famous grins, "Because you love me. And I know you'd rather be with me than with Jered." "I want to be with my husband, or have you forgotten about him?" Tara said. Nick rolled his eyes, "I don't understand you. You know what it's like for us, why would you want to go back to him?" "Because I love him Nick. You used to understand that. You used to know what love really was," Tara said, staring at him. Nick waved his hand at her, dismissing her statement, "I won't let you leave here without me, and I won't let you go back to him." Tara closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "Nick, I will not stay here forever. You can't make me love you, and I will not turn. So either kill me now, or let me go." Nick shook his head, "Not gonna do either one. You're gonna stay here until I say you leave. And you'll be leaving with me, so the sooner you forget about Brian, the better off you're gonna be." Tara sighed, seeing they were at an impasse. Nick wasn't going to drop the issue until he got what he wanted, and she was never going to do that. "Can I have something to eat, please," Tara said, wanting to change the subject. Nick looked at her, "You promise to be good?" She nodded her head, "And some aspirin to." "I could help with that," Nick offered. Tara shook her head, "No, that's fine. I can manage." Nick stood up and shrugged his shoulders, "Suite yourself. I'll be back in a minute." He got up and left the room, closing the door behind him. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick walked into the kitchen. "How is she?" Evi asked. "Hungry," Nick replied, "Fix her something." Serenity and Evi both jumped up and did as they were told. "You don't seem happy," Jered said. Nick looked at him, "Just biding my time." "You want us to work on her for you?" Ephah asked. Nick smirked, "Naw, I wanna do this on my own." "OK, but it wouldn't take as long if you let us help," Jered pointed out. Nick took the tray from the girls, "Yeah, but where's the fun in that?" They laughed at him as he left Chapter 38. |