Fall From Grace (Slater #1) (14 page)

Chapter Twenty Four

Alice.

She had tried to follow Laura, but she had been too fast for Alice and she had lost her in the thick woods.  Alice knew that Laura lived somewhere in the woods before she had come to the asylum but she didn’t know where it was and knew it would be a waste of time to walk aimlessly trying to find the home.  Alice hadn’t even known that Laura had seen her and Porter that day under the bridge. 

Alice found herself sitting on the bank of the river, staring into the murky water as it washed over the rocks below the bridge.  Her mind continued to wander to that day.  Porter had seen her in the village, he had told her how beautiful her hair was and how much it complemented the pale tone of her skin.  Alice knew she was stupid for falling into his snare.  But his words were so sweet and those brown eyes, filled with lust and desire seemed to carry her away.  Before Alice could control what she was doing she had her skirts hiked around her waist and Porter was buried hip deep into her, smothering her neck in sweet kisses.  Laura said that she saw them, that Alice stole Porter from Laura.  Alice had never met Laura until the asylum. 

She sat on the edge of the river feeling completely deflated. She didn’t know where Laura was.  She didn’t have anyone left.  Alice flopped herself back into the long grass and wildflowers that edged the river and closed her eyes, feeling the waning sun warm her face.  She laid there for some time until she felt a shadow cast over her face.  Slowly Alice opened her eyes and saw Porter staring down at her.  He held a frown on his brow as he moved to sit beside her in the long grass.

“Where is Laura?” he asked with a weary sigh.

Alice shrugged, for the first time she was telling the truth, she truly didn’t know where Laura was.

“I don’t know she ran away from me” she said, feeling the bitter tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

Porter grabbed hold of Alice’s shoulders and sharply turned her to look at him.

“You mean, you had her, that whole time you had her?” he demanded.

The tears spilled over and cascaded down her cheeks as she nodded. Laura, the girl who she wanted to give her heart to, who wouldn’t receive it was gone.

“Fuck it” he spat. “You took her, you hid her”

Alice couldn’t form words, she just nodded mutely. The tears came in heavier waves and her breath caught in her chest evolving to a sob.  Porter stood pulling on Alice’s arm, dragging her up the bank and onto the road.

“Come with me” he said gruffly.

Alice felt completely broken, she had no desire to fight anymore, so she simply dropped her head and let Porter lead her.  Before long they were at the local church and he dragged her inside.  Alice heard that he recently become the local vicar and was given his own church.  He dragged her down to the altar.  Her tears hadn’t ceased and she still wasn’t able to form words as he dragged her down onto the front pew. Porter grabbed Alice by the shoulders and shook her violently.

“Stop crying” he demanded “why did you take her?”

Alice shrugged her shoulders.

“I love her” she said through a sob.

Porter let out a growl, his eyes became almost black with anger and Alice could feel panic begin to creep into her heart. Her blood turned to icicles when he grabbed at her throat. His eyes were still black in colour and she couldn’t read his face.  Porter’s breath was coming in hard ragged puffs as he bared his teeth, growling deep in his throat.

“You are nothing to her” he spat as he released Alice’s throat with a shove. “She is mine, she will always be mine” he growled.

Alice fell back hard against the pew, clutching her throat with a trembling hand, she watched Porter take his belt from his pants and strip from his shirt.  Porter knelt in front of the altar, his back bared to Alice, with a crack, the belt cut into the scarred skin.  Instantly the skin split into a red oozing welt, Alice winced with every crack, but she couldn’t take her eyes away from the sight of his self-flagellation.  After the tenth or eleventh whack Porter knelt forward and Alice heard a gut wrenching sob fall from his lips.  She edged forward on the seat as he dropped his shoulders and began to tremble under the weight of his tears.

Alice inched her way towards Porter and reached out a tentative hand to his shoulder, careful not to touch the wounds of opened flesh.  Porter winced under her touch, but didn’t lift his face from his hands.  She scooted forward and edged herself to his side, watching him, fear caught in her throat, her reflexes ready to arc away at any sudden movement. He gingerly reached up and touched her fingers, clasping them in his hand and bringing them to his lips.  Alice could feel tears begin to well in her eyes as he pulled her closer to his chest. Both of them joined in the grief of having lost the one they loved. Porter held her against himself tight, running his hand through her long hair.  He brought the strands up in his fingers studying the red hair that tangled through his hands.  Porter roved his eyes over Alice’s face, she felt sudden shyness and wanted to look away but felt drawn to connect with him.  He licked his bottom lip and his eyes began to darken again, gently Porter touched her face.

“I saw you Alice, I saw the way you loved Laura, but I heard her call my name” he said, although his words hurt Alice, there was no smugness in his voice.

Alice looked away, her heart aching with the reminder of where Laura’s heart laid.  Alice felt Porter’s breath on her neck and she closed her eyes as he nibbled at the sensitive skin below her ear.  His arm that had her caught around the waist tightened, bringing her harder against his chest.  Porter’s lips moved along her jawline and towards the corner of her mouth.  She felt his tongue slip from between his lips as he tasted her skin.  Alice could feel the moan that was building in her throat come to the surface as she closed her eyes and allowed pleasure to wash over her.  Porter captured her mouth with light kisses on her bottom lip and ran his tongue along the seam.  She opened her lips so that he could taste her more, but it felt like he was hesitant, that he was holding back.  She pushed her lips harder against his, wanting him to deepen their kiss, but he infuriated her with light kisses.

Suddenly a gasp pulled her away; she looked up to catch the sight of Laura standing behind her and Porter.  Laura’s eyes were wide and swollen with tears.  Alice tried to pull away from Porter’s grasp and stand to run to Laura, but he continued to hold her tight against him.  When Laura spun on her heel and ran from the chapel, Alice clawed at Porter to let her go.

“Laura, please, it’s not what you think? Please” Alice screamed, struggling to get out of Porter’s hold.

“What is it then Alice?” Porter growled into her ear.

Alice screamed, punching at his arms and scratching at his face, trying to push him away.  She needed to chase after Laura, she was who Alice loved.  Alice didn’t want Porter, he was a mistake.  She needed to make Laura see that.  When she was able to struggle free from Porter, Alice stood on unsteady legs and ran from the chapel.  She looked up and down the road, but didn’t see Laura; she felt her body slump against the wall of the chapel with the thought that again Laura was gone. Alice fell to her knees in the doorway and screamed at her loss.  When she looked up, she could see the town’s people stopping and staring at her like she had lost her mind.  Alice’s face turned red under the weight of her blush as she quickly stood and ran towards her cottage.

Chapter Twenty Five

Laura.

Laura sat in the quiet stillness of her house, the house she grew up in, the house that held so many memories, both happy and sad.  She didn’t know where her father had gone after she went to the hospital, she got the occasional letter from him, but it never contained an address and they were always free of emotion.  Laura assumed he went back to his home deep in the woods.  As she grew hungry Laura realised she would need to eat, but the house was empty, she had no money and the garden beds once filled with vegetables were now overgrown with only weeds rather than carrots and radishes.  Laura decided she would need to risk going into the town to the vicar to see about getting some food.  She didn’t want to beg and without hair, she couldn’t even sell that in order to get some money.  Laura’s heart broke again as she thought of her hair being taken from her.

She was glad to see that her clothes, although nothing special and by far not many, were still in her room.  After drawing water from the well and washing, she quickly dressed, wrapping her bald head in one of her mother’s shawls.  As Laura opened the front door she sucked in a deep breath of relief, she felt free, she felt more like herself than she had in a very long time, in so long she couldn’t actually remember when she last felt so good.

As she reached the chapel, Laura could hear the sounds of people, a woman’s quiet moan.  She crept in the door, she could see a shirtless man, opened wounds all over his back, he was kneeling on the ground and slender arms were caught around his neck.  She could hear the moans coming from the woman that belonged to the arms as Laura crept closer she could make out the long red hair that cascaded down the woman’s back and Porter’s profile, his lips on hers, her lips on his, her chest pressed hard against his.  Laura couldn’t hold the gasp that escaped her throat.

As she did, she saw Alice look up into her face. Alice pressed herself harder against Porter as he continued his descent of kisses across her face, holding Alice tight.  Laura shook her head, before turning on her heel and running from the chapel. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing, that what had hurt her so badly previously was happening a second time and this time both Porter and Alice knew about it and never stopped.  She felt that familiar anger and hatred well up inside her.  This time it was going to explode, she wasn’t going to hold it back as she had at the hospital she was no longer trying to gain her freedom.  She had it. 

Laura ran as she remembered the gun that she hid.  She hoped her father hadn’t discovered it while she was in the hospital. But she knew what she needed to do. She needed to end Porter.  That would be her final release. He would be in hell, the same hell that she was living on earth, the same hell that he escaped having to live by coming from a well to do family, by running to the seminary, by pretending to be better than he really was, by pretending his demons didn’t rule his life. 

As she cleared the woods and saw her house standing silently in the middle, she rounded the corner and found the place the fox dug for her to bury her father’s gun and pellets.  She fell to her knees and scrambled forward, clawing at the earth with her fingers as she dug in the damp earth, movement caught her eye.  She looked up and saw the fox standing in front of her its head cocked to one side, its eyes narrowed and what almost appeared to be a smile.  Silently it stepped forward and began to dig with her, slowly uncovering the gun held in its grave.  She reached forward and took the gun in her hands, dusting the dirt from its barrel.  The fox nodded and turned its body, scampering back into the woods.

As Laura stood she loaded the gun with the pellets.  Wrapping her mother’s long shawl around her shoulders and the gun, Laura headed back through the woods towards the chapel, her anger was still attempting to destroy her, it was boiling hot and her body vibrated with the energy it gave off.  As she neared the chapel, the light was starting to fade and darkness was about to envelope the earth.  People headed home for their dinners, shutting themselves in for the night, hiding from the chill that would soon be in the air.  The birds began their evening song of sleep and the night critters were beginning to stir as their day begun. She could see the flicker of candles in the chapel as she quietly pushed the door open.  Porter was still knelt in front of the altar, he had put his shirt on, and the blood was soaked through the cotton material.  Laura looked around the room, but couldn’t see Alice.  She shrugged slightly, not worried about her. 

Carefully Laura raised the gun and pressed onto the trigger. She felt the gun vibrate in her hands as the pellet released from the barrel.  She closed her eyes as she heard the sharp crack that whipped through the air.  When she opened them again, Porter had turned to Laura, falling down to his stomach, a twisted grimace covered his face as blood began to ooze over the stone floor, ebbing its way towards the foot of the cross. Laura smiled, before turning towards the doors.

As she crossed the threshold she recognised the fox standing in the road waiting for her.  She could hear shouts coming from the village and felt panic begin to rise in her chest.

“Come now Laura, time to end the pain” the fox spoke as he ran towards the bridge.

Laura stuffed the gun under her shawl and ran after the fox.  When they got to the bridge, the fox stopped in the middle.  Laura was breathing hard and could feel the need to vomit begin to stir in her stomach as the realisation that she had just taken the life of the only man she ever knew such love for. She held onto the wooden rail of the bridge, gasping hard trying to catch her breath. 

“Drop the gun into the river” the fox said.

Laura looked down at the fox standing next to her as she took the gun from under her shawl and leant over the rail, feeling the heaviness of the steel in her hands.  Slowly Laura climbed up the rail, her feet seeming to lead the way with a mind of their own.  She stood on the top rail, holding the gun by her side.