Persistence

She slammed the car door, jammed her mildly rusty key in the front door, stumbled through the hallway of her house, and made her way to kitchen where Aiden ,her fiancé, was. She reached for the coffee pot, not realizing that it was empty, then slammed it down.
“Damn it!” she muttered after turning around.
“Who bit you?” Aiden asked trying to hide his slight laughter.
“ Oh, I uh just really wanted some coffee..”
“Ok then… How was work?”
“Fine.” She walked back out of the room and practically fell into the corner of their couch. Aiden walked over still baffled and sat down right next to her.
“What’s wrong babe?” he said as he ran his fingers through her hair gently and put his arm around her waist.
“Nothing’s wrong. Really, I’m fine.” She said as she nudged him away and glared through the open living room window.
“I wont bite. I just want to help.”
She glanced back over her shoulder at him and said,” I saw Scott today. He followed me to work”
Aiden suddenly pulled back now shocked in almost all possible ways and leaned back on the arm of the couch.” What?! But he-he’s dead.”
“ That’s what we thought. He’s coming after me and if I don’t cooperate he’ll hurt you too.” she said as she tried to hold back her emotions. She’d been through so much already that she was getting quite good at holding back tears and not showing any sign of distress.
Aiden stared at her in shock and a sense of failure since he had thought he had killed Scott. The last time they fought when Emma had shot him and forcibly dug her heel into his stomach with her Stiletto’s apparently was not enough, but he pulled himself together for Emma’s sake.
“What are we going to do?….. Do you know when he’s coming back?” Aiden said as he leaned back in ,held Emma tighter, and kissed her on the cheek.
“I don’t know Aiden….” she said with worry in her look and tears in her eyes.
“Come on babe, don’t cry.” he wiped away the small running tears from her soft cheek.
“Let’s just not talk about it right now…” she said as she stared back at the open window peering at her front yard.
“Okay…Well… we’re out of bread. Want to come to the store with me?” he said as he smiled and got up off the couch and headed for the door.
“No thanks. I’m tired. I think I’ll just go to take a nap or something.”
“Kay.” he said as he leaned over to give her a quick kiss from behind the couch, grabbed his keys and headed for the tall wooden front door.
“Wait!” she shrieked suddenly as he was almost gone.
He turned around slowly and gazed at her. ”Yes?”
She ran up to him from the couch , placed her arms around the skin on his neck, kissed him –not just a peck I might add- and whispered in his ear, ”I love you”.
“I love you too Emma ” he grinned and left as she watched him slide in his car and back out of the narrow driveway.
She closed the front door, turned around, and walked into her and Aiden’s room ,looking at the bed. Could she seriously attempt to sleep after all that? Well, she figured she might as well try. There was no harm in it. She didn’t bother to change out the outfit she wore to work that day ;so, she simply kicked off her heels at the edge of the bed, stripped down to her underwear ,and folded the covers back on her side of the bed by the window. She climbed in ,but her mind seemed to endlessly wander as she peered out the window to look at the nearby forest. Her mind refused to allow her eyelids to ease shut like they usually would. Finally after about an hour closing her eyes slowly, Emma drifted to sleep.
Meanwhile at the store, Aiden was not having any better of a day when his mother called. You see, his mother did not like in any way, shape, or form and never really had ;therefore she was constantly nagging him about his decision in marrying her and telling him that he should have picked a “ better woman to spend his life with and raise his children”. Emma never had anything against her ,and to this day she still kind of likes her. Either way, Aiden still dreaded her weekly calls.
“Are you still going to get married to that girl?” she said with subtle disgust in her voice.
“Yes, mother. And she has a name you know.” He said. “That girl? After all these years, you still call her that girl. How mature.” he remarked sarcastically. He then grabbed some Albertson’s brand white bread off the shelf in the store and tossed it in the small plastic basket he was holding.
“ I really wish you would have just stayed with that –“
He gripped on to the metal handle of the plastic basket he was carrying in anger. “Mom! if you ever mention Sarah again-!”
“ Aiden Timothy Morrow! Don’t you ever speak to your mother that way again! “
“Ma… I’m not five. You can’t control me like that ,and if you can’t deal with how I feel about Em, then I don’t care. You’re irritating me all the time about the woman I love, the woman that will give birth to your grandchildren.” He said in an irritated tone.
“Spare me that horrifying detail please. It’s bad enough having to see her wear that engagement ring. Don’t make me think about that too.”
“God mom! What did she ever do to you ?!” He quickly hung up having been completely pissed off at this point.
He then jammed his phone in his jacket pocket and moved to the checkout line. Aiden was obviously tired of taking this bullshit from his mother about how Emma “ stole her little boy from her” and was not in the mood to even tolerate such talk after the news he had received today concerning Scott.
The checkout line wait seemed extraordinarily long for some reason. He had a strange tight knot in his stomach. Something had to be wrong. He tried to ignore it and paid the cashier. Almost forgetting his bag, the bag boy ran across the store after Aiden.
“Sir!” the bag boy yelled.
Aiden ignored the young gangly boy at first not realizing the remark was meant for him to recognize.
“Sir!” the boy yelled again.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Did you need something?” Aiden turned to look at him.
“Your bag ,sir” the boy handed him the plastic grocery bag containing his bread bag.
“Oh, right. Sorry about that. Thanks kid.” Aiden took the bag and headed out the door of the grocery store to his car.
The twist in his stomach was becoming unbearable now. “Maybe it’ll go away after I get home” he thought to himself.
He was still walking toward his car when he noticed something odd. The door to the driver’s side was open and there was a key in the ignition. Skeptical , he walked up to his car and turned the key so he could pull it out of the ignition. There was a bright yellow post-it note in the passenger’s seat.
“No…no no no…” He said horrified as he grabbed it reading it.
It read, “ You should know by now not to leave her alone. “
“Shit!” He slammed the car door, restarted the engine and raced back home as fast as he could within the limits of the law. Sitting at a red light he became impatient, the knot in his stomach grew tighter and tighter with each passing moment. Where could she be? Would she be ok? Would he ever see her again? All these questions kept racing through his brain. He could hardly think straight. He was nervously tapping his fingers against the steering wheel edge. Nobody was around and it was a red light for him. He couldn’t tell if there was a camera or not. At this point he didn’t really give a damn so he sped through the intersection making his tires squeal and slammed on his brakes when he reached the familiar driveway of his house. Not caring about anything but Emma , he carelessly left his car on and the car door open. He didn’t even bother to get his keys. The front door was open. There was silence. Not even a dog bark could be heard. He then darted through the house to his and Emma ’s bedroom. She was nowhere to be seen.
Once again there was a note. This time it was in Emma ’s handwriting.
“What…?” he said as he was somewhat thinking out loud.
He picked it up still confused. He took a deep breathe and started to read it slowly.
It read “ I’m so sorry Aiden “. Baffled, he continued to read the small note. It continued “ I love you and I never meant for it to end this way. “ Aiden was utterly stunned. He couldn’t think. He could hardly breathe. Was this really happening? Aiden Morrow had never felt so dead in all his life. Emma ’s engagement ring was lying in the middle of their bed next to where the note had been.
He grabbed it from off the bed and shed a single tear on the edge of the white gold band. He stared at the inscription of the words “Love you, Em” until he was unable to stand the intense pain of looking at the ring anymore. He threw it angrily at the wall and slammed his fist against the wall. How could she do this to him? After all they had been through, this is how it ends?
“I will never love again.” He whispered to himself as he left the room, holding back the tears that were trying to fill his soft blue eyes.
Scott , who was watching all of this happen and holding Emma back, was loving every second of this. Emma hadn’t stopped sobbing for quite sometime now.
“I hope you burn in hell!” she screamed in his face.
“You’re always so sweet to me, Emma .” he said smiling sarcastically.
“I’ve hated you since the day I met you.”
“ Emma, dear, don’t lie to yourself. You know you love me more than that idiot Aiden. “
“ I would rather die a thousand deaths than spend the rest of my life with you!” she snapped.
You see, Scott had said he would kill her and Aiden if she didn’t write the note. The ring was a fake replica of Emma ’s engagement ring. Scott however had forgotten one small detail in making the fake ring. Aiden had gotten Emma ’s ring engraved with the words “forever and always” just inside it next to the her name in the already seen words of “Love you, Em”. Scott had failed to notice this before and had obviously left it out of the fake one.
Scott then put his arm around Emma and leaned in to kiss her.
“You fucking bastard!” she said as she slapped him so hard across the face that it left a red mark on his cheek.
“We’ll be moving along now “ Scott said as he picked Emma up by with his arm around her stomach to swing her up onto his shoulder.
“ Put me down you asshole! You’ve done enough to me already!”
“ There is no reason for you to talk any longer” Scott rammed a small pill of his own personal drug down Emma ’s throat. Emma was fighting it until she unwilling passed out of consciousness and now lied on the shoulders of the man she hated most.
Aiden was sitting on the coach back at their house. He picked up the remote. He just wanted to stop thinking about it, about her, about life. It was all endlessly racing through his mind ,and he could no longer bare it. He figured he couldn’t make it stop so he went back in the bedroom and started to get into bed when suddenly Aiden saw the shine of the ring from the other side of the room caught his eye. He sighed and walked over to pick it up again. He was looking at carefully as he ran his finger across the smooth edge of the band.
“So much for forever and always” he though to himself as turned it over to look at the engraving. He obviously couldn’t find the rest of it. “ But I know I got it engraved. I remember her saying she-“ it was all clear now. Four things were certain to him now. One thing being, Emma was still wearing the engagement ring Aiden had given her, she was in danger, she did not mean a word of that note, and most important to Aiden, Emma was still alive. Relieved and somewhat happy now, Aiden searched the small house thoroughly for any sign of where Emma went and why. He already knew who by.
After about half an hour, he gave up on the idea of searching for hints and simply snatched his car keys off the counter and left. Unconviently, he had never come out to his car again to close the driver’s door and the battery was now dead. He ran his fingers harshly through his hair out of frustration and defeat and tried to think of an alternate way of finding his beloved Emma . While brainstorming ideas, he started to pace the driveway. He had this way about him that I can’t really describe in words, this almost fluid way of walking, a breathtakingly beautiful face, incredible blue eyes, the most perfect skin, the most beautiful brown hair you’ve ever seen and the only smile in the world that made almost every girl who saw him practically melt inside and out effortlessly. To be quite honest, he was a constant and completely oblivious flirt ;however, he never ceased to give his all for Emma . He couldn’t think of any way to get out into town and search for her. However, he did think of looking in the forest next to their house. He had seen Scott going in and out of there before ,and he was pretty sure that somewhere in that mess of trees was his house. He headed off to the east side of the forest. The east side of it was behind their house and the west side was across the road from it. North and south ends were obviously on either side ,and there was a small lake right in the corner of their backyard surrounded by trees. It was absolutely beautiful ,and both Aiden and Emma loved it to death. Now, all it seemed like was a lost hope to find her and keep her alive. Aiden trudged his dirty shoes through the wet grass quietly to make sure that if he did find her and she was with Scott, he wouldn’t be heard.
A gunshot was heard in the distance along with a loud scream. Aiden stopped walking immediately and gazed in the direction from which the gunshot and shriek had come from. It was coming from back at his and Emma ’s house. That was odd. He had just been there. How could anyone possibly have done anything that quickly? Aiden then turned and darted back toward the house. As he stumbled through the still open front door he noticed something. All the lights had been turned off. He was cautiously searching the house when he noticed a light glistening through the crack in the attic door. The attic light was turned on. Emma had always been afraid of the attic for unknown and misunderstood reasons. Aiden however had no problem with it ; he just never liked staying up there for long periods of time. He rushed to attempt to pull the stairs down that lead to the attic. After struggling some, he managed to pull the old set of stairs down. It was suddenly extremely quiet again. Was she even still here? He franticly eyed every inch of the dark, cluttered attic, when he was interrupted by creak in the floor. Startled, he made a quick turn to see what had cause the noise. When he saw a mouse scammer across the wooden flooring he let out a sigh of small relief. He continued to examine the dark attic when he glanced up at the shine on doorknob of the attic’s only closet. He grabbed the knob and turned it guardedly. He was almost afraid to see what was in the dated closet. He saw what seemed like Emma ’s body but he was interrupted in his evaluation and yanked back with a gun to his head. He had found Scott.