Deliverance for Amelia (23 page)

Chapter Sixty-Three: Gabe

Eight Months Later

I
GLARE AT KAT as I shove past her on my way up the stairs. She nearly stumbles down the steps. She is in fact pregnant with my bastard son.

I turn the knob of the master bedroom’s door to discover that Amelia is in the same place where I left her earlier. Her milky skin is scathed from the cuts and bruises, blood is contrasting against the white.

She hasn’t been the same since the Brazen Bull. She’s normally quiet, however much to my surprise she still responds when I fuck her and hit her. It’s not a pleasure filled response, mind you. She still has fight in her even though I broke her down emotionally that night.

I sit beside her on the bed where she’s laying on her stomach. Her eyes are blank as she looks at the nothingness in front of her.

“Hello, my little pet.” I whisper. She doesn’t budge as I remove a stray strand of hair from her cheek. A single tear falls from her eye and trails to the tip of her nose.

I sigh as I look over her, “It’s a shame that it all came to this, Amelia. I just wanted us to be happy, that’s it. Then that little fucker stepped in and ruined everything.”

I grab a handful of hair, “He tainted what belongs to me.”
Oh and how I’ve searched for Able. He’s practically disappeared into thin air. Not one trace of him left behind. I’m going to find him, no-matter how far he runs. I hope he’s happy, leaving poor little Amelia in shambles.

Her ribs and spine poke through her once soft flesh. I run a hand over my face. Perhaps she’s had enough. Perhaps I should dispose of her. My want and need to make her pay has destroyed her, once so beautiful, now so weak and frail.

I can’t let her escape me. Death is what she wants. No. I must fix all of this. This mess that she’s created. She’s my wife. Though my child will not belong to her, she will be forced to raise it like her own. That is the ultimate payment for her sins, to force her to exist in the life that she doesn’t want to live.

“You need to go take a shower. Go on. Now.” I say dryly as she lifts herself up on shaking limbs. In her weak state, she grunts as she falls to her stomach.

I growl as I lift her bony body from the bed. She flinches as I graze the wounds spread across her back.

“Come now, love. I’ll fix it. I’ll make everything better.”

Chapter Sixty-Four: Amelia

“
I
T HURTS.” KAT MOANS as she writhes about on the bed.

I gently run a hand over her forehead, “I know. Remember Kat, deep breaths.” I lean down and whisper into her ear, “Just a little longer and you’re free. Just a little longer.”

She nods and closes her eyes, squeezing the tears from them.

I’m concerned. I’m not a doctor, but she’s been in labor for hours, never dilating past two centimeters. That can’t be normal.

Her contractions are relentless, and I watch as her stomach seizes up, causing her to wail, sounding animalistic. I wish that I could take all of her pain and diminish it. I hurt for her.

I jump when Gabe barges through the door with Theo in tow.

“Grab her.” Gabe barks and my eyes grow wide as Theo approaches me.

He grabs me around the shoulders before lifting me and pulling me to the corner of the room.

“Gabe, what are you doing?” I ask with a shaking voice. He’s just standing there above Kat as she grasps at the bed sheets.

“Gabe?” I repeat, but he doesn’t acknowledge me. What he does do is he begins tying Kat’s ankles and wrists to the bedposts.

“Gabe!” I begin shouting.

Then he pulls something from his pocket. It’s shiny and sharp. A scalpel. Oh – no, no, no.

I struggle against Theo, but he is much stronger.

“I must do this Amelia. Otherwise the baby will die.”

My chest is heaving as I watch him ready the scalpel over her womb, “Please Gabe, call Dr. Kerr! She-she can help.”

He shakes his head slowly as he begins cutting, “You know that I can’t do that, Amelia.”

“Stop!” I plead between sobs, “Please, stop.”

Kat is pulling against her restraints at the incision grows, her body trembling wildly as pain claims her; sobbing and screaming all at once.

Gabe reaches in to retrieve the bloody bundle as Kat’s body stills.

Theo releases me and I fall to the floor. I watch as Gabe holds the baby in his arms. His eyes fill with tears as he gently rocks the now screeching baby.

“It’s a boy.” He whispers as he makes his way over to me and kneels down next to my trembling body, “Our son.”

He smiles at me as if nothing out of the ordinary just happened. Like a proud dad embracing fatherhood. It’s the smile that I had always craved to see. His handsome features displaying absolute happiness – yet it is the most disgusting thing that I have ever seen. I absolutely hate him more than I ever thought possible in this moment. That sincere smile triggers another promise to myself – rediscovering the determination that I’d thought that I lost so long ago.

My spirit bucks within me like a wild mustang that’s been captured and then once again freed.

Chapter Sixty-Five: Gabe

I
SMILE AT MY REFLECTION in the mirror.

Happiness.

Family.

I never thought it possible for me.

I step out of the bathroom as I slip on my leather jacket. Amelia sits with Gabriel on the windowsill. He’s 3 months old now, a smiling bundle of joy. He looks just like his father – a spitting image.

I walk over and kiss Amelia on the top of the head before doing the same to Gabriel. She looks up at me nervously before her gaze meets the window once more.

“I’ve got a few errands to run. I’ll be back in a few.” I say as I walk into the hall, nodding at Esmerelda and offering a bright smile. She looks perplexed as she raises an eyebrow.

“What? Can’t a man have a good day?” I ask and she mumbles some shit in Spanish.

I step outside and something catches my eye. I kneel down and pick it up. It’s a photo. Not just any photo. It’s me disposing of the bodies.

My eyes travel around the area, and I see yet another. There’s a trail of them. I follow it into the clearing of the woods.

I stop when I hear a muffled groan in the distance along with the flowing water from the stream.

I continue to follow the trail of photos cautiously.

I see a familiar form hanging from the tree. His feet barely touch the crate below him, and a chain is cinched around his neck. I make out the face of the person. It can’t be.

“What the fuck? Tony?”

His eyes meet mine as he wiggles around uncomfortably.

“Hello, Gabe.” I hear from behind me. When I turn, all goes black.

Chapter Sixty-Six: Amelia

I
HEAR A KNOCK on the door and look up to see Esmerelda peeking through.

“I take baby. You rest.” She says with her broken English.

I nod, smiling as I walk to her and hand her Gabriel.

“Is Gabe back yet?” I ask and she shakes her head.

I retreat from the room. It looks beautiful outside. I’d like some fresh air, so I grab my coat from the hanger and slip it on.

I open the door and stop in my tracks when I              see a single red rose on top of a note. I look around and see no one. I kneel down and retrieve the rose, holding it to my nose and inhaling the sweet scent.

I hesitantly pick up the note and slowly unfold it. I gasp and the rose drops from my fingers as I observe the writing.

Meet me at our place.

I look around once more and see that the town car is still in the drive. Gabe hadn’t left? Is this a trick? I contemplate whether or not I should bite the bait. This will surely end with a hook in my mouth once more as Gabe reels me in for more punishment.

But, what if this
is
Able, what if he’s come back?

Gabe doesn’t know about our place. He can’t, unless one of us actually told him, and that would never happen.

I shake off the doubt and hurriedly make my way to the clearing in the woods.

This feels all too familiar as I trek through the path that brought me so much serenity, the path where I fell in love. The path where I was reminded that love is possible, even under the darkest circumstances.

My heart soars when I see the man that stole my heart away. He’s leaning against a tree, his strong arms crossed over his chest with that mischievous smile that I fell so deeply in love with.

“Able?” I croak as I stop in my tracks. I want to pinch myself, my angel, my warrior. He’s close enough to touch yet I can’t bring myself to believe that he’s real, not after all this time.

He approaches me and wraps me in the safety of his arms, “I’m here baby.”

I pull away and look into his eyes, “Why?”

He smiles slyly as he takes my hand in his, “Come with me. I’ll show you.”

We walk in silence to the stream that is steadily thawing as spring once again claims it.

I stop when I see them, the two men that destroyed my life.

Hands bound behind them, a chain around their necks. Their feet tap around wildly to keep balanced on the crates below them; to keep them from being strangled by the chain. They are both bloodied and bruised. They are gagged and their faces swollen. They have about five feet between them.

I look into Able’s stormy eyes, he’s been watching my reaction, “What is this?”

He tilts his head to the side as he cups my cheeks, “Deliverance. Freedom. For you Amelia.”

I inhale deeply as he leads me closer to them. He stops me so that I’m facing them. I divert my eyes when Gabe’s gaze finds mine. Able gently lifts my chin, “Amelia, watch.”

Then he approaches my father first, untying the binds behind him after removing the gag from his mouth. He does the same to Gabe before handing them each a machete.

“What the fuck is this?” Gabe sneers as he looks down at the weapon.

Able ignores him as he returns back to my side, “You both have destroyed lives, too many lives to count – including Amelia’s. Today is a day of retribution. You will both pay for your wrong doings.”

“Retribution?” Gabe scoffs, “Fuck off.”

Able continues, “A fight to the death. Whoever survives will be set free.”

Gabe chuckles but stops when my father abruptly swings the machete at him, spreading a gash across Gabe’s chest. Gabe looks from his wound to my father deviously. Then blood goes flying as they each desperately swing at each other.

The machetes are relentless as they cut through the skin. Muscle exposing itself, and it’s then that I turn to Able, wrapping my arms around him and burying my face in his chest. They seem to go for some time, then all goes silent and it’s only the shallow breathing of one man that I hear.

I look up at Able before turning my eyes back to the grotesque scene. My father’s lifeless body hangs with the machete abandoned on the cold ground below him.

Gabe though, unsurprisingly survived; his hand still gripping the machete. Every inch of his body is covered in blood. His mangled flesh exposing blood and muscle.

“Drop it.” Able says dryly, and Gabe does.

I feel a gentle push on the small of my back as I walk over to Gabe. His green eyes narrow, though they are not filled with the darkness. They remind me of a frightened, wounded animal.

I look up at him, reaching towards him and cupping his bloodied cheeks, “You almost destroyed me.”
He blinks a couple of times, as if he’s trying to stay conscious.

“You took everything.” I say, the last word coming out like a sob.

He struggles to keep his balance on the crate as he responds, “I won, free me. You proved your point.”

I smile weakly, “You mean how you freed Kat? Just like you promised?”

He shakes his head, “I-I had to. Please, Amelia. I lo-”

I press my finger over his lips, “No, Gabe. You didn’t have to, just like you didn’t have to do those terrible things to all of those people… to me.”

“Able, tie his hands.” I say flatly. Able appears behind him and swiftly does so.

“Do you remember that night? When you put me in the bull’s belly? I thought I was going to die. You made me think that that would be my fate, and for hours I sat in there, soiling myself and shaking to the point that I thought my skin would fall off.”

Gabe glares at me as I continue, “The fear you provoked in me was unimaginable. I’ll never forget it. Just like I’ll never forget how you raped me, or how you killed Kat. I’ll never forgive you.”

“You wouldn’t.” He grits out.

A grim smile stretches across my face as I nod slowly, “I will.”

A dark chuckle escapes him as Able unclips the chain from around the tree branch and drags Gabe off of the crate. Gabe stumbles, his knees hit the earth as he bows his head, and his contempt filled eyes never leaving mine.

“Crawl behind me,
slave
.” I growl as Able hands me the chain which is still cinched around Gabe’s neck. I pull and yank relentlessly until we escape the confines of the woods. The bull still sits proud next to the house, in the same place that I spent that fateful night.

I stop and turn to Gabe who is still on his knees. He’s lost a lot of blood, so he’s incredibly weak, too weak to fight.

“Amelia.” He rasps, “Please, don’t do this. I’ll let you go. I’ll let you go.”

I shake my head as I kneel down. I’m eye level to him as I grasp his hair and pull his head back, “How many times did I beg, Gabe. You are
mine
now. I
own
you.” I release him and nod to Able, who grasps Gabe from under the arms and pulls him to the bull.

“You’ll regret this!” He exclaims as Able forces him inside of the belly of the bull. The door clangs shut before it is latched.

Able walks around the side of the house and produces a gas can. He soaks the wood below and we stand shoulder to shoulder as we stare at the bull. Gabe is banging against the hollow walls, his screams of defiance never faltering. I click the lighter repeatedly, just as he did to me, igniting more fear than I ever thought possible.

“Do you want me to do it?” Able whispers.

I shake my head slowly, “No. I need to do this.”

And with that I kneel down, taking a dry leaf and igniting it.

“Goodbye, Gabe.” I whisper before throwing the leaf onto the wood. It ignites automatically, and soon after the bull’s screams drown out Gabe’s as the smoke billows from its nostrils, clouding the sky.

We stand together until the fire dies out and the screams cease along with the smoke.

Able rests a hand on my shoulder. “You’re free, Amelia.”

The tears spring to my eyes as I rest my hand over his.

I’m free.