Inevitable (42 page)

I called Trudy
as soon as I’d hit send to Lori. I choked on my heart when it
wasn’t Trudy who answered.

“
Hello?” Mitch said, his voice churning my stomach.

“
Hi,” I mumbled nervously. “It’s Maddie. Can I speak to Blaine
please?”

I’m sure I
heard the bastard laugh at me.

“
Blaine doesn’t want to speak to you,” he said firmly. He was
lying. He had to be. Didn’t he?

“
Please, Mr Elwood. It won’t take long, I just really need to
speak with him.” I was actually begging the sadistic arsehole. Just
the thought of speaking to him made my voice crack and bile claw at
my throat.

“
Are you as dumb as your fucking mother? I said he doesn’t
want to talk to you. Goodbye, Madonna.”

All moisture evaporated from my mouth as my jaw dropped
open. It had been a long time since anyone had called me by my
birth name and after hearing it squirm like acid out of
his
mouth I never wished
to hear anyone call it me again. I felt crushed. Heartbroken.
Worried. Anxious. Utterly shattered.

And then I
felt angry.

I was on the main road hailing a taxi before I even had
chance to process what I was doing. I was going to see Blaine
whether he wanted to see me or not – whether his
father
wanted him to see me
or not. Eternity. That’s what we said. Blaine needed me and I
needed him.
No one
was going to come between that.

The taxi
pulled up outside the massive gates guarding Blaine’s house and I
handed him a wad of notes without bothering to check how much was
there before jumping out of the car. He must have thought Christmas
had come early.

At that moment
I was grateful for being a nosey bitch by nature and watching
Blaine punch the code into the pad which held the gate locked. I
was sure I wouldn’t be granted access if I’d have had to use the
buzzer. I tapped the numbers in quickly and the gates began to whir
as they prized open. I slipped through as soon as they made a big
enough gap for my body and ran straight up the long path to the
house.

I knocked on
the door.

No answer.

I
banged
on the door.

No answer.

I banged on
the door and screamed Blaine’s name.

Trudy
answered.

“
Maddie, what on earth…”

“
Where is he? I want to see him.
” I demanded, shoving past her and
pushing my way into the house. Adrenaline had turned me into a
crazy don’t-fuck-with-me superwoman. I kind of liked it.

“
Maddie, Blaine isn’t here,” she said almost
convincingly.

“
Don’t lie to me! Jason came by and saw him!”

“
Maddie, please.” She tried to pull me back as I stormed
through each room coming off the grand hallway calling Blaine’s
name.

“
Maddie!” she yelled. It caught my attention and I stopped
to look at her. “Blaine has a…
complicated
relationship with his father. When they’re
having trouble it’s best just to leave them to it.”

“
Have you any idea how fucking ridiculous that sounds? Do
you know what he does to him?” She didn’t answer me and I flipped.
“Do you?” I barked so loud the words cut into the back of my
throat. “He cuts him, Trudy! He actually slices into his fucking
skin!”

Trudy’s
eyes opened wider than I thought humanly possibly. I stared into
them, seeing the whites of her eyes all the way around her brown
irises.

“
Don’t be absurd!” she said. “I’m not sticking up for Mitch.
He’s always had a temper… his fists have been known to come out
once in a while, but that is just…
sick.
Why would you say such a thing?”

Shit. She
really did have absolutely no idea.

“
Where is he?” I yelled again, returning to my frantic
search.

Trudy called
after me as I stormed through every room. I’d covered downstairs in
under a minute and then ran upstairs. I yanked on all the doors
screaming in an altogether mental rage. I heard Trudy yelling at me
to stop, calm down, sit down, blah de blah… but I ignored her.

Back
downstairs I bent over and rested my hands on my knees. I was
exhausted. Physically and emotionally. Where the hell was he? I’d
checked everywhere!

Suddenly, like
a light bulb flipping on in my brain, I remembered Blaine
mentioning several times that they had a home gym.

“
Where’s the gym?” I barked at Trudy.

“
Maddie, please just-”

“
Whe
re’s the fucking gym god dammit?” I growled at her –
actually growled – and stormed off to find it myself.

I
’d
exhausted the entire inside of the house so I headed outside,
thanking my lucky stars that the patio doors were unlocked. Past
the pool and down some steps there was a building that matched the
stone of the house. There was a light on inside. Blaine was inside.
He had to be.

I skipped down the steps two at a time, hovering my hand
over the black railing in case I stumbled. I could barely breathe
when I reached the door, a painful lump swelling in my throat. I
knew something bad was happening. As bizarre, and maybe cliché, as
it sounds… I could just
feel
it. I could feel Blaine’s pain slicing through my
heart. Swallowing the lump in my throat I threw the door
open.

Then my heart
stopped beating.

Tears stung my
eyes but they didn’t have the courage to fall.

Vomit bubbled
in my stomach.

My knees
buckled and I almost fell.

“
Maddie, LEAVE. NOW!” Blaine yelled. But I was frozen. He
was bent over the red bench press at the back of the room with his
pants ruffled around his ankles. His shirt was on the floor by his
feet and streaks of blood were spiralling furiously down his
back.

By this
point his father was pulling his own pants up and stomping towards
me, his eyes almost black with murderous rage.

“
Run, Maddie! For fuck’s sake
RUN!”

But my feet
had melted to the floor.

“
You had to interfere didn’t you? You stupid bitch!” Mitched
blared, his face just inches from mine now. I didn’t even have the
strength to flinch. I saw a hazy blur come up behind him and pull
him away. In lightning speed Mitch turned round and punched the
shadow repeatedly until it fell to the ground.

“
Blaine!” I screamed. He was lying motionless on the stone
floor, a small pool of blood forming around his head.

“
Maybe you need teaching a lesson too
, is that it?”

I opened my
mouth to… I don’t know. Scream? Shout for help?

“
You kids are so fucking disrespectful these days. You need
showing your god damn place.” Mitch grabbed a fistful of my hair
and dragged me across the room. I wanted to cry from the pain, the
sound of my hairs ripping from their follicles, but I couldn’t.
When I opened my mouth all that came out was a hoarse
whisper.

With a sharp
shove my head was thrown backwards and I was falling onto the
ground. I heard a crack as my arm smashed into the floor to save me
but I couldn’t feel pain. I couldn’t feel anything as I stared at
Blaine’s lifeless body, the pool of blood growing bigger and
thicker – his pants still twisted around his ankles.

“
Blaine!” I tried to shout but it came out as in inaudible
whimper. My body was juddering. Not shaking of its own accord – it
was being jostled. I couldn’t take my eyes off Blaine to look at
what was happening though.

Until I felt a
sweaty, calloused hand tugging at the waistband of my pants.

“
Get the fuck off me!” I screamed. But he was too strong. He
grabbed my arms, securing them at the wrists with one hand and then
he held them firmly above my head.

“
You need to learn to do as you’re fucking well
t
old! And I’m
going to teach you.”

“
Please, no!” I droned. Mitch’s body weight was crushing me.
His breathing was harsh and ragged in my ear, crawling over my
flesh as he yelled at me. Then his free hand had slipped beneath my
pants and he tugged at them ferociously, his elbow digging into my
hips. I tried to kick but he held my knee down with his. I tried to
break my arms free but he twisted his fingers around my wrists
tighter, burning the thin flesh.

“
Help! Please god, somebody help me!” I screamed to no one –
to
anyone.

“
I’m about to teach you some god damn respect. Do you
understand?” he said in a disturbing
ly calm tone.

Giving up, I closed my eyes and waited, almost impatiently,
for the man I despised to…
rape
me.

Then
Mitch’s head bounced off mine and I screamed when I felt my nose
crack and an intense, unbearable pain ripped through my face.
Startled, my eyes shot open. Mitch’s body – suddenly a dead weight
– lay limp on top of me. His head was flopped to the side with rich
burgundy blood streaming down his face.

Bare legs – Blaine’s legs – stood beside me and I followed
them upwards until I met his body, his neck, his face, his eyes…
His shaking hands were holding a kettle bell which was covered in
specks of blood – his
father’s
blood.

Suddenly, I was screaming. My eyes were squeezed tightly
closed and I screamed so loud and forcefully my throat burned. My
body shook violently as I tried to wrestle myself free but the
weight of his body, his…
possibly
dead
body… was too heavy. It pinned me to the floor. It
crushed my lungs leaving me struggling for breath.

Screams
.

Blood.

Screams
.

Blood.

The crushing
weight started rising and I gasped, my lungs frantically searching
for air. My eyes opened. The body was gone. I closed them again. A
new weight pressed against me. I opened them.

“
Blaine!”
I tried to yell but my voice was a mere croak.

“
I’m so sorry, Maddie. I’m so, so sorry.” His arms gripped
around me. It hurt but I didn’t care. He rocked me back and forth.
“I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”

Screams.

Not
my
screams.

Kara’s
screams.

“
Trudy get her the hell out of here!” Blaine yelled as he
yanked his neck towards the entryway. Trudy was standing there…
paralysed, terrified – silent tears streaming down her cheeks. Kara
was beside her, doubled over… crying, screaming. So much
screaming.

“
Th-Th-The police. I’ve c-c-called the police,” Trudy
stammered before throwing her hand over Kara’s eyes and dragging
her from the room.

I told my eyes
not to but they ignored me and looked over at Mitch’s body. I
watched intently, staring at his chest for any signs of it rising
or falling. It didn’t.

Screams
.

My screams
.

I
clutched at my head. It throbbed violently. The pain was
unbearable. I closed my eyes and all I could see was the darkness,
the intent in Mitch’s eyes. I opened them and all I could see was
the pain in Blaine’s.

“
I’m so sorry, Maddie. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
Blaine cried, tears gurgling in the back of his throat.

“
Shh,” I whispered, burying my head in blood-stained chest.
“It’s over now. It’s
all
over now.”

Then I passed
out cold.

Maddie

Six Months Later…

“
A
nd
it goes in here?” Trudy asked, wrinkling her nose in disgust as she
weighed up the back end of the turkey.

“
You’ve really never done this before?” I
asked in disbelief.
It was Thanksgiving. My first ever Thanksgiving. And dear god did I
have a lot to be thankful for.

I convinced
Trudy to let Clarabella have the day off and I believe she went to
stay with her sister in Mississippi. I didn’t see why Trudy needed
a housekeeper at all – it was pure bloody laziness if you ask me.
But then Blaine told me how much Clarabella not only loved but
relied on her job here.

So anyway here we were, standing in a kitchen full of
half-prepared food and a naked turkey
- who I’d affectionately named Terrance -
with its open backside staring Trudy in the face. She picked up the
stuffing as if she could catch syphilis from it and tentatively
poked and prodded it into the gaping cavity.

“
It’s not gonna fucking bite, it’s dead, woman!” my mum
said, laughing at Trudy’s attempts to get up close and personal
with Terrance. “Give it here.” My mum snatched the bowl of stuffing
from Trudy and proceeded to ram it up Terrance’s arse, fistfuls at
a time.

Trudy scurried
over to the sink to wash her hands whilst I started peeling
potatoes. I gasped when warm hands wrapped around my waist then I
melted into them.

“
How long’s dinner, wench?” Blaine teased, trailing kisses
along my neck. I grabbed a tea-towel off the countertop and smacked
him with it. “Don’t do that to me, lish. You’re too fucking sexy
when you’re angry,” he whispered in my ear.