Status: One-Shot
Insanity
Insanity
I watched as Heather slept peacefully by my side, her naturally wavy, dark blonde hair cascading down her back. Her body moved just slightly up and down with every gentle breath she took. The sheet I had covered us up with lay just above her waist and I carefully slung my arm across her lower back, mimicking her position and lying on my stomach. Her blue eyes fluttered open and I smiled as she stretched her arms out and then brought them back so she could rest her head on her forearms.
“How long have I been sleeping?” she asked, lazily sitting up and reaching over the edge of the bed to grab her shirt.
“Only a half hour or so,” I responded, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her back down to me. Our lips met in a soft kiss and Heather smiled before ending it.
Climbing off the bed, Heather began gathering her clothes and reassembling the outfit she had shown up in. I propped myself up against the headboard and watched. “I should be going,” she said once she had pulled on her slim-fit, dark-wash jeans. She then went to the bathroom and quickly fixed her hair; luckily for us, she always wore it somewhat tousled and there was never much work to be done. Coming out of the bathroom, she sat down on the bed next to me. “Brian is taking me out to dinner tonight,” she told me, fiddling with the 14-karat diamond ring on her left hand. Brian and Heather had gotten engaged just before Gena and myself.
“Where is he taking you?” I asked nonchalantly, not missing the way she smiled as she touched the ring on her finger and then looked up at me.
“We’re spending the next few nights in Malibu,” she answered. Her cheeks got very bright and she added, “He’s planned an entire romantic weekend for the two of us, since we haven’t had a lot of alone time recently.”
I put a smile on my face and tried to mask my jealousy. “I hope you two have a great time. You deserve it.” Heather thanked me and turned away, her face dropping as she did so. “I saw that,” I told her, taking hold of her chin and making her look at me. “What’s wrong?”
Heather let out a deep breath and clasped her hands in her lap. She was nervous and I could tell, but about what, I didn’t know. “I can’t do it, Zack,” she whispered, looking to me with the blue eyes I’d come to love. “I can’t do what you’ve asked of me; I can’t leave Brian.”
All the breath left my lungs, as though she had punched me in the stomach. Earlier in the week I offered Heather the chance to run away with me. I would leave Gena and she would leave Brian, the two of us escaping our lives to be together. I was in love with her and I knew she was in love with me, so it was the perfect plan.
“Why?” I asked. I held her hand in my own and brought it to my lips. “If you’re scared, it’s okay, I won’t let -”
“That’s not it, Zack,” she interrupted, gently reclaiming her hand. “I can’t leave Brian because I love him, and I’m in love with him. I want to get married and have children with him. What I’m trying to say is… I don’t love you, Zack, not the way I love Brian. That’s why I can’t run away with you.”
That memory, that scene plagued my mind as I sat in the dark confines of my room. It plagued me because I still felt extremely guilty for what I’d done. There was no way possible Heather could ever want to end our affair, but because I loved her as much as I did and wanted to protect her feelings, I had gone along with everything she said. Of course I knew it wasn’t right, to let her go on pretending that she wanted to be with Brian and that our affair was over, but the little excursion I had planned for us once she returned from Malibu would quickly bring her to her senses. Oh yes; a surprise two-week getaway to my newly purchased cabin in Big Bear would surely make this all right.
My eyes darted to the phone ringing on my nightstand -undoubtedly one of my friends calling yet again in an attempt to check in on me - and I reached a hand out to silence the annoyance, sighing in content when the room was soundless once more. No one had heard from me in over four days, so I couldn’t be angry with them for their show of concern. I had no time to speak to any of my friends, though. With Heather returning from Malibu tomorrow, I had a lot of planning left to do.
Nervousness and excitement built as I walked toward Brian and Heather’s house. The couple returned yesterday, happier than ever, and that prompted me to speed my plan up. I had planned on waiting a few days to surprise Heather, but seeing how hard she was trying to fake happiness on Brian’s account only made me feel guiltier for letting her continue the facade. A simple phone call to Brian let me know that he was out of the house that day, and that I would have the perfect opportunity to whisk Heather away to Big Bear.
“Zack, what are you doing here?” she asked, a surprised smile on her face when she answered the door. She raised her left arm to lean against the frame and I noticed the engagement ring on her finger had been replaced.
“New rock?” I countered, nodding at the significantly larger diamond resting heavily on a platinum band. Dozens of tinier gems surrounded the main attraction, but they all shone spectacularly. “It’s gotta be at least 24 karats.”
Heather’s face dropped slightly and she brought her hand down, gazing at the offending piece of jewelry. “Brian knew about us,” she finally answered. “He knew about you and I, Zack, and that’s why he planned the trip to Malibu. Brian wanted us to have a fresh start, and that meant another proposal, another ring. It’s a new beginning for the two of us, and a second chance for me. I couldn’t be more excited.”
I sighed and shoved my hands in pockets. Her delusions were going to make this a lot harder than it had to be. “Listen, Heather, there’s something we need to talk about,” I began.
Giving me an unsure look, Heather moved away from the door. “Okay, why don’t you come inside and we can sit down and talk.”
“Actually, I was thinking that maybe we could go for a ride,” I suggested. “Come on; I promise it won’t be more than half an hour.” Heather looked hesitant and I pouted just enough to make her crack. She grabbed her purse and keys, locking the door to the luxurious beach home she shared with Brian, before walking down the driveway with me to my Mercedes. As soon as we left her neighborhood, I locked the doors and started driving toward the mountains.
“Zack, where in the Hell are we going?” Heather asked, her voice beginning to shake as she realized I wasn’t taking her to the pier as she expected. “Answer me, god damn it!”
Picking up speed as we hit the highway, I glanced over at my passenger. “We’re going away so you can clear your head,” I answered. Heather asked me what I meant by that and I responded, “Don’t play games, doll. You and I both know you need some time away to come to terms with the fact you are going to leave Brian. It’s put you under a lot of stress lately and it’s definitely fucked up your reasoning skills. I mean, why else would you tell me you want to end the affair?”
Heather stared at me in absolute horror, her eyes widened in disbelief. I could see the panic rising within her and I began to fear I was going to have to resort to drastic measures. “You’re… you’re kidnapping me?” she questioned.
“I’m not kidnapping you, sweetie,” I corrected her. “We’re going on a romantic getaway.” Shaking her head, Heather reached for her bag and began looking for her cell phone. “Don’t do it, Heather,” I warned, watching out of the corner of my eye as she searched frantically for the cellular device. Sighing when she ignored my warning and pulled the phone out anyway, I snatched it out of her hand, rolled my window down, and threw it out.
“You are a fucking psycho!” she exclaimed. “I hope you know you’re not going to get away with this; Brian will come looking for me. In fact, he won’t even have to do that because -”
“You are getting too excited, Heather,” I murmured lowly, not listening to the nervous chattering she was doing. “If you don’t calm down on your own, I’ll have to help you.”
Heather leaned back away from me and gave me an incredulous look. “What in the Hell does that mean?” she questioned. I shrugged my shoulders noncommittally and she blew out a shuddering breath. “Please Zack, don’t do this. You’re my friend… you’re Brian’s best friend - practically his brother! Please, no one ever has to know about this if you just turn around.”
Rolling my eyes and heaving out a frustrated breath as Heather continued to bargain with me, I reached into the center console and pulled out the syringe I had stashed there. I really hadn’t wanted to resort to this, but she had given me no choice. In the middle of her pleas, I stabbed the needle into her thigh and gripped the depressor, shooting the barbiturate into her bloodstream. Heather screamed and scratched at my hand, trying to pull the syringe out of her leg while asking me what I was injecting her with. A few minutes later the drug had taken its course and Heather was in a sedative-induced sleep.
I sighed, turning my gaze from her back to the road. It was going to be a long drive to Big Bear without someone to talk to.
“Hey doll, could you bring me a sandwich?” I hollered to the kitchen, my eyes not leaving the baseball game on TV. The Angels scored a run and I cheered. “And another beer too, babe!” Heather strode out of the kitchen a few minutes later and stood beside me, my sandwich in one hand and beer in the other. I took both and leaned up for a kiss, Heather obliging. “I love you,” I said when she pulled away.
Heather sat down on the furthest end of the couch and curled her legs underneath her. “I don’t love you, Zack,” she murmured.
I huffed and rolled my eyes. “If this is about me hitting you the other day, I’m sorry,” I apologized. Heather and I had gotten into an argument after I caught her trying to leave the cabin and in the heat of the moment, I’d struck her across the face. She hadn’t tried leaving again after that, but I didn’t like having her afraid of me: it wasn’t conducive to my plan at all. Staying here was supposed to make her see how much she loves me, not drive her further away from me.
Getting up from her spot, Heather wrapped her arms around herself and looked at me. “I’m going to go get some fresh air. Is it okay if I walk down the trail a little ways?” she asked, her beautiful blue eyes pleading her case very well. After a moment of silent deliberation I decided it was okay and told her so. Heather offered me a smile, the only one she’d shown the whole time we’d been here, and went on her way.
As Heather went on her walk, I turned back to my baseball game. The Angels were ahead by three runs in the bottom of the ninth and, feeling confident that my team was going to win, I instead focused on the situation with Heather. We’d been at my cabin in Big Bear for almost two weeks - the amount of time I had originally planned for us - and it seemed as though I hadn’t made any headway at all. Sure, she did almost everything I asked of her, but I could tell she was still fighting to hold onto what she thought she felt for Brian. For instance, she refused to take off the ring he’d given her in Malibu, insisting that after this was all done she was going to go back to him and marry him. Heather also vehemently denied my requests to make love. When I asked her why the first time, she responded by saying that Brian had given her a second chance to be faithful to him and she wasn’t going to hurt him again by betraying him. I then changed my tactics and asked her how she expected us to mend our tattered bond if she wouldn’t submit to me. To answer that, she simply held on to her delusion and said that there was no bond anymore.
The poor girl was in denial, and I didn’t know how to help her see reality.
Surfacing from my thoughts when the volume on the TV increased with cheers, I looked to see that the opposing team had scored three runs, tying the game. A quick analysis of the screen and the field told me that they had two outs and two men on base - a situation that wasn’t looking too bright for the Angels. I watched nervously as the next batter stood up to the plate, sweat beading at my hairline when the first two pitches were balls. Another ball, giving him a total of three, was followed by two strikes and I was literally sitting on the edge of my seat. This next pitch would decide the game. I watched in horror as the pitcher threw a fastball and the batter hit it dead on, sending it straight up the field as it flew overhead into the crowd. A homerun meant they scored three more runs, effectively crushing the lead the Angels had held most of the game and taking the win.
I shook my head angrily and shut the TV off. The Angels had thought they had the game under control, and then it all got pulled out from under them. That’s what happens when you’re not careful: all your hard work goes to Hell in an instant. As I admonished one of my favorite LA teams in my head, Heather walked in through the door. She was strangely pale and I instantly took notice of the hunched posture she had assumed.
“Hey, are you okay?” I asked, Heather nearly jumping out of her skin at the sound of my voice. She stood in the foyer, looking into the living room at me like a deer in headlights. “Heather? Is everything alright?” I questioned again, getting to my feet and quickly making my way to her. Maybe she was hurt and I couldn’t see it. That thought urged me on and I took her in my arms when I reached her.
Heather nodded her head and willingly wrapped her arms around my waist, resting her cheek against my chest. “Yeah, I’m perfectly fine,” she answered. Something about her voice told me she was lying. Heather tightened her hold on me and then lifted her head to look at me. “I’m feeling kind of tired; I think I’m going to go lie down.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked softly, one more time. “Is there anything I can do?”
Shaking her head, Heather answered no. Then in a surprising move, she pressed her lips against mine. I was so shocked I didn’t respond, Heather pulling away soon after. “I’m sorry, Zack,” she whispered, turquoise blue eyes searching mine. “I want you to know that I do love you. It’s just not the love you want.”
Heather freed herself from my arms and bounded up the stairs, the sound of her door closing and then locking quite audible to my ears. I was in a state of shock: not once while we’d been here had Heather kissed me first, and everything she’d just said to me was the most she’d actually spoken - not counting the screaming when we first arrived, and the argument we’d had when she tried to leave.
When I finally was able to move, I sat down in the living room and looked at the clock. Nearly an hour had passed since Heather left for her walk, and my team had lost their game. I hadn’t noticed time passing at all, which was something I couldn’t afford to do with so little time left with Heather. I couldn’t keep her up here forever; I knew for a fact Brian had probably started looking for her the night we left and it was only a matter of time before he found his way here.
The sound of tires crunching on the gravel driveway outside caught my attention and I moved to look out the massive bay window of the living room. Parked outside was Brian’s glossy black Escalade, numerous police cars quickly pulling up to his. The State Police were also among the group, and they were the first to exit their vehicles. Once they did so, everyone else followed suit. At least two dozen men in black uniforms - some wielding bean bag guns, others real shot guns and rifles - surrounded my cabin, weapons ready in case I caused a scene.
In the midst of all this action, I saw Brian exit his Cadillac and jog over to one of the State Troopers. His brown eyes, full of concern for his fiancée’s safety, locked with mine. I stared back, my eyes betraying no emotion whatsoever. Never breaking eye contact, Brian said something to the police officer, who nodded and made a gesture to one of the many men circling my house. Hardly a second passed before the front door was kicked in and the men were flooding through the opening, the leader shouting for me to get on my stomach and lock my hands behind my head. I did as I was told and was instantly pounced upon, handcuffs being locked onto my wrists.
Just as I was pulled to my feet, my rights being read to me by a normally uniformed police officer, Brian walked through the front door. He looked at me with sad eyes for a brief instant before his attention turned to Heather, who had come running down the stairs and jumped immediately into his waiting arms. She buried her face in his neck, clinging to him for dear life as the tears she had hidden from me came to the surface and visibly shook her body. Brian wrapped his arms around her small frame, hoisting her legs up around his waist as he carried her out of the cabin.
“Do you understand everything as I have explained it to you?” the commanding officer asked, prodding me forward to walk out of the house toward a car.
“No,” I responded, sitting down cooperatively and looking up at him. “I don’t understand why I’m being arrested.”
The officer gave me a hard stare and responded, “You’re being arrested for kidnapping, son. You’ve held this woman up here for two weeks against her will.”
I sighed and scooted around in my seat so my feet were in the vehicle and I was facing forward. “She loves me, and she came up here with me because she wanted to,” I told him. “I didn’t kidnap her; Heather came willingly.”
“Well, I’ll let you tell that to your lawyer when we get to the station,” the officer said. Under his breath, he added, “You’re going to need all the help you can get, buddy.”
I stared out the window, watching the shadows on the ground change as the sun waffled between lighting up the courtyard and disappearing behind a cloud. My counselor would say the sun has a case of bipolar depression: it jumps from one extreme to another without warning.
My counselor also says that I’m clinically insane.
After being arrested, I had to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. It’s apparently something they do with suspects who appear to be a little less than stable. I told the doctor how I had gone along with Heather’s charade, pretending that the affair was over, but then guilt had driven me to take her to the mountains to help her get away from the stress she was suffering over having realized she was going to leave Brian. The doctor must’ve been in on it, too, for he tried to tell me the affair had ended, and that what I did was considered kidnapping.
I say he’s the crazy one; what kind of person kidnaps the woman he loves? Certainly not me.
Anyway, after two sessions, the psychiatrist had finished his assessment. In front of the court, and in front of Brian and Heather and my family and friends, he declared me clinically insane. He said I am suffering from delusions brought on by my failure to accept reality, and that my inability to do so is what caused me to kidnap Heather.
As a result of my instability, I never went to trial. They said I am mentally unfit.
“Hello Zachary,” my nurse spoke as she entered my room. She had blonde hair and blue eyes a lot like Heather’s. Her name was Sarah. “Are you ready for group session?”
Standing up, I straightened out the white pants of my hospital-issued outfit. I could see the other patients walking down the hall and I sighed.
I don’t belong here; I’m not crazy like them.
I’m not insane.
“How long have I been sleeping?” she asked, lazily sitting up and reaching over the edge of the bed to grab her shirt.
“Only a half hour or so,” I responded, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her back down to me. Our lips met in a soft kiss and Heather smiled before ending it.
Climbing off the bed, Heather began gathering her clothes and reassembling the outfit she had shown up in. I propped myself up against the headboard and watched. “I should be going,” she said once she had pulled on her slim-fit, dark-wash jeans. She then went to the bathroom and quickly fixed her hair; luckily for us, she always wore it somewhat tousled and there was never much work to be done. Coming out of the bathroom, she sat down on the bed next to me. “Brian is taking me out to dinner tonight,” she told me, fiddling with the 14-karat diamond ring on her left hand. Brian and Heather had gotten engaged just before Gena and myself.
“Where is he taking you?” I asked nonchalantly, not missing the way she smiled as she touched the ring on her finger and then looked up at me.
“We’re spending the next few nights in Malibu,” she answered. Her cheeks got very bright and she added, “He’s planned an entire romantic weekend for the two of us, since we haven’t had a lot of alone time recently.”
I put a smile on my face and tried to mask my jealousy. “I hope you two have a great time. You deserve it.” Heather thanked me and turned away, her face dropping as she did so. “I saw that,” I told her, taking hold of her chin and making her look at me. “What’s wrong?”
Heather let out a deep breath and clasped her hands in her lap. She was nervous and I could tell, but about what, I didn’t know. “I can’t do it, Zack,” she whispered, looking to me with the blue eyes I’d come to love. “I can’t do what you’ve asked of me; I can’t leave Brian.”
All the breath left my lungs, as though she had punched me in the stomach. Earlier in the week I offered Heather the chance to run away with me. I would leave Gena and she would leave Brian, the two of us escaping our lives to be together. I was in love with her and I knew she was in love with me, so it was the perfect plan.
“Why?” I asked. I held her hand in my own and brought it to my lips. “If you’re scared, it’s okay, I won’t let -”
“That’s not it, Zack,” she interrupted, gently reclaiming her hand. “I can’t leave Brian because I love him, and I’m in love with him. I want to get married and have children with him. What I’m trying to say is… I don’t love you, Zack, not the way I love Brian. That’s why I can’t run away with you.”
That memory, that scene plagued my mind as I sat in the dark confines of my room. It plagued me because I still felt extremely guilty for what I’d done. There was no way possible Heather could ever want to end our affair, but because I loved her as much as I did and wanted to protect her feelings, I had gone along with everything she said. Of course I knew it wasn’t right, to let her go on pretending that she wanted to be with Brian and that our affair was over, but the little excursion I had planned for us once she returned from Malibu would quickly bring her to her senses. Oh yes; a surprise two-week getaway to my newly purchased cabin in Big Bear would surely make this all right.
My eyes darted to the phone ringing on my nightstand -undoubtedly one of my friends calling yet again in an attempt to check in on me - and I reached a hand out to silence the annoyance, sighing in content when the room was soundless once more. No one had heard from me in over four days, so I couldn’t be angry with them for their show of concern. I had no time to speak to any of my friends, though. With Heather returning from Malibu tomorrow, I had a lot of planning left to do.
Nervousness and excitement built as I walked toward Brian and Heather’s house. The couple returned yesterday, happier than ever, and that prompted me to speed my plan up. I had planned on waiting a few days to surprise Heather, but seeing how hard she was trying to fake happiness on Brian’s account only made me feel guiltier for letting her continue the facade. A simple phone call to Brian let me know that he was out of the house that day, and that I would have the perfect opportunity to whisk Heather away to Big Bear.
“Zack, what are you doing here?” she asked, a surprised smile on her face when she answered the door. She raised her left arm to lean against the frame and I noticed the engagement ring on her finger had been replaced.
“New rock?” I countered, nodding at the significantly larger diamond resting heavily on a platinum band. Dozens of tinier gems surrounded the main attraction, but they all shone spectacularly. “It’s gotta be at least 24 karats.”
Heather’s face dropped slightly and she brought her hand down, gazing at the offending piece of jewelry. “Brian knew about us,” she finally answered. “He knew about you and I, Zack, and that’s why he planned the trip to Malibu. Brian wanted us to have a fresh start, and that meant another proposal, another ring. It’s a new beginning for the two of us, and a second chance for me. I couldn’t be more excited.”
I sighed and shoved my hands in pockets. Her delusions were going to make this a lot harder than it had to be. “Listen, Heather, there’s something we need to talk about,” I began.
Giving me an unsure look, Heather moved away from the door. “Okay, why don’t you come inside and we can sit down and talk.”
“Actually, I was thinking that maybe we could go for a ride,” I suggested. “Come on; I promise it won’t be more than half an hour.” Heather looked hesitant and I pouted just enough to make her crack. She grabbed her purse and keys, locking the door to the luxurious beach home she shared with Brian, before walking down the driveway with me to my Mercedes. As soon as we left her neighborhood, I locked the doors and started driving toward the mountains.
“Zack, where in the Hell are we going?” Heather asked, her voice beginning to shake as she realized I wasn’t taking her to the pier as she expected. “Answer me, god damn it!”
Picking up speed as we hit the highway, I glanced over at my passenger. “We’re going away so you can clear your head,” I answered. Heather asked me what I meant by that and I responded, “Don’t play games, doll. You and I both know you need some time away to come to terms with the fact you are going to leave Brian. It’s put you under a lot of stress lately and it’s definitely fucked up your reasoning skills. I mean, why else would you tell me you want to end the affair?”
Heather stared at me in absolute horror, her eyes widened in disbelief. I could see the panic rising within her and I began to fear I was going to have to resort to drastic measures. “You’re… you’re kidnapping me?” she questioned.
“I’m not kidnapping you, sweetie,” I corrected her. “We’re going on a romantic getaway.” Shaking her head, Heather reached for her bag and began looking for her cell phone. “Don’t do it, Heather,” I warned, watching out of the corner of my eye as she searched frantically for the cellular device. Sighing when she ignored my warning and pulled the phone out anyway, I snatched it out of her hand, rolled my window down, and threw it out.
“You are a fucking psycho!” she exclaimed. “I hope you know you’re not going to get away with this; Brian will come looking for me. In fact, he won’t even have to do that because -”
“You are getting too excited, Heather,” I murmured lowly, not listening to the nervous chattering she was doing. “If you don’t calm down on your own, I’ll have to help you.”
Heather leaned back away from me and gave me an incredulous look. “What in the Hell does that mean?” she questioned. I shrugged my shoulders noncommittally and she blew out a shuddering breath. “Please Zack, don’t do this. You’re my friend… you’re Brian’s best friend - practically his brother! Please, no one ever has to know about this if you just turn around.”
Rolling my eyes and heaving out a frustrated breath as Heather continued to bargain with me, I reached into the center console and pulled out the syringe I had stashed there. I really hadn’t wanted to resort to this, but she had given me no choice. In the middle of her pleas, I stabbed the needle into her thigh and gripped the depressor, shooting the barbiturate into her bloodstream. Heather screamed and scratched at my hand, trying to pull the syringe out of her leg while asking me what I was injecting her with. A few minutes later the drug had taken its course and Heather was in a sedative-induced sleep.
I sighed, turning my gaze from her back to the road. It was going to be a long drive to Big Bear without someone to talk to.
“Hey doll, could you bring me a sandwich?” I hollered to the kitchen, my eyes not leaving the baseball game on TV. The Angels scored a run and I cheered. “And another beer too, babe!” Heather strode out of the kitchen a few minutes later and stood beside me, my sandwich in one hand and beer in the other. I took both and leaned up for a kiss, Heather obliging. “I love you,” I said when she pulled away.
Heather sat down on the furthest end of the couch and curled her legs underneath her. “I don’t love you, Zack,” she murmured.
I huffed and rolled my eyes. “If this is about me hitting you the other day, I’m sorry,” I apologized. Heather and I had gotten into an argument after I caught her trying to leave the cabin and in the heat of the moment, I’d struck her across the face. She hadn’t tried leaving again after that, but I didn’t like having her afraid of me: it wasn’t conducive to my plan at all. Staying here was supposed to make her see how much she loves me, not drive her further away from me.
Getting up from her spot, Heather wrapped her arms around herself and looked at me. “I’m going to go get some fresh air. Is it okay if I walk down the trail a little ways?” she asked, her beautiful blue eyes pleading her case very well. After a moment of silent deliberation I decided it was okay and told her so. Heather offered me a smile, the only one she’d shown the whole time we’d been here, and went on her way.
As Heather went on her walk, I turned back to my baseball game. The Angels were ahead by three runs in the bottom of the ninth and, feeling confident that my team was going to win, I instead focused on the situation with Heather. We’d been at my cabin in Big Bear for almost two weeks - the amount of time I had originally planned for us - and it seemed as though I hadn’t made any headway at all. Sure, she did almost everything I asked of her, but I could tell she was still fighting to hold onto what she thought she felt for Brian. For instance, she refused to take off the ring he’d given her in Malibu, insisting that after this was all done she was going to go back to him and marry him. Heather also vehemently denied my requests to make love. When I asked her why the first time, she responded by saying that Brian had given her a second chance to be faithful to him and she wasn’t going to hurt him again by betraying him. I then changed my tactics and asked her how she expected us to mend our tattered bond if she wouldn’t submit to me. To answer that, she simply held on to her delusion and said that there was no bond anymore.
The poor girl was in denial, and I didn’t know how to help her see reality.
Surfacing from my thoughts when the volume on the TV increased with cheers, I looked to see that the opposing team had scored three runs, tying the game. A quick analysis of the screen and the field told me that they had two outs and two men on base - a situation that wasn’t looking too bright for the Angels. I watched nervously as the next batter stood up to the plate, sweat beading at my hairline when the first two pitches were balls. Another ball, giving him a total of three, was followed by two strikes and I was literally sitting on the edge of my seat. This next pitch would decide the game. I watched in horror as the pitcher threw a fastball and the batter hit it dead on, sending it straight up the field as it flew overhead into the crowd. A homerun meant they scored three more runs, effectively crushing the lead the Angels had held most of the game and taking the win.
I shook my head angrily and shut the TV off. The Angels had thought they had the game under control, and then it all got pulled out from under them. That’s what happens when you’re not careful: all your hard work goes to Hell in an instant. As I admonished one of my favorite LA teams in my head, Heather walked in through the door. She was strangely pale and I instantly took notice of the hunched posture she had assumed.
“Hey, are you okay?” I asked, Heather nearly jumping out of her skin at the sound of my voice. She stood in the foyer, looking into the living room at me like a deer in headlights. “Heather? Is everything alright?” I questioned again, getting to my feet and quickly making my way to her. Maybe she was hurt and I couldn’t see it. That thought urged me on and I took her in my arms when I reached her.
Heather nodded her head and willingly wrapped her arms around my waist, resting her cheek against my chest. “Yeah, I’m perfectly fine,” she answered. Something about her voice told me she was lying. Heather tightened her hold on me and then lifted her head to look at me. “I’m feeling kind of tired; I think I’m going to go lie down.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked softly, one more time. “Is there anything I can do?”
Shaking her head, Heather answered no. Then in a surprising move, she pressed her lips against mine. I was so shocked I didn’t respond, Heather pulling away soon after. “I’m sorry, Zack,” she whispered, turquoise blue eyes searching mine. “I want you to know that I do love you. It’s just not the love you want.”
Heather freed herself from my arms and bounded up the stairs, the sound of her door closing and then locking quite audible to my ears. I was in a state of shock: not once while we’d been here had Heather kissed me first, and everything she’d just said to me was the most she’d actually spoken - not counting the screaming when we first arrived, and the argument we’d had when she tried to leave.
When I finally was able to move, I sat down in the living room and looked at the clock. Nearly an hour had passed since Heather left for her walk, and my team had lost their game. I hadn’t noticed time passing at all, which was something I couldn’t afford to do with so little time left with Heather. I couldn’t keep her up here forever; I knew for a fact Brian had probably started looking for her the night we left and it was only a matter of time before he found his way here.
The sound of tires crunching on the gravel driveway outside caught my attention and I moved to look out the massive bay window of the living room. Parked outside was Brian’s glossy black Escalade, numerous police cars quickly pulling up to his. The State Police were also among the group, and they were the first to exit their vehicles. Once they did so, everyone else followed suit. At least two dozen men in black uniforms - some wielding bean bag guns, others real shot guns and rifles - surrounded my cabin, weapons ready in case I caused a scene.
In the midst of all this action, I saw Brian exit his Cadillac and jog over to one of the State Troopers. His brown eyes, full of concern for his fiancée’s safety, locked with mine. I stared back, my eyes betraying no emotion whatsoever. Never breaking eye contact, Brian said something to the police officer, who nodded and made a gesture to one of the many men circling my house. Hardly a second passed before the front door was kicked in and the men were flooding through the opening, the leader shouting for me to get on my stomach and lock my hands behind my head. I did as I was told and was instantly pounced upon, handcuffs being locked onto my wrists.
Just as I was pulled to my feet, my rights being read to me by a normally uniformed police officer, Brian walked through the front door. He looked at me with sad eyes for a brief instant before his attention turned to Heather, who had come running down the stairs and jumped immediately into his waiting arms. She buried her face in his neck, clinging to him for dear life as the tears she had hidden from me came to the surface and visibly shook her body. Brian wrapped his arms around her small frame, hoisting her legs up around his waist as he carried her out of the cabin.
“Do you understand everything as I have explained it to you?” the commanding officer asked, prodding me forward to walk out of the house toward a car.
“No,” I responded, sitting down cooperatively and looking up at him. “I don’t understand why I’m being arrested.”
The officer gave me a hard stare and responded, “You’re being arrested for kidnapping, son. You’ve held this woman up here for two weeks against her will.”
I sighed and scooted around in my seat so my feet were in the vehicle and I was facing forward. “She loves me, and she came up here with me because she wanted to,” I told him. “I didn’t kidnap her; Heather came willingly.”
“Well, I’ll let you tell that to your lawyer when we get to the station,” the officer said. Under his breath, he added, “You’re going to need all the help you can get, buddy.”
I stared out the window, watching the shadows on the ground change as the sun waffled between lighting up the courtyard and disappearing behind a cloud. My counselor would say the sun has a case of bipolar depression: it jumps from one extreme to another without warning.
My counselor also says that I’m clinically insane.
After being arrested, I had to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. It’s apparently something they do with suspects who appear to be a little less than stable. I told the doctor how I had gone along with Heather’s charade, pretending that the affair was over, but then guilt had driven me to take her to the mountains to help her get away from the stress she was suffering over having realized she was going to leave Brian. The doctor must’ve been in on it, too, for he tried to tell me the affair had ended, and that what I did was considered kidnapping.
I say he’s the crazy one; what kind of person kidnaps the woman he loves? Certainly not me.
Anyway, after two sessions, the psychiatrist had finished his assessment. In front of the court, and in front of Brian and Heather and my family and friends, he declared me clinically insane. He said I am suffering from delusions brought on by my failure to accept reality, and that my inability to do so is what caused me to kidnap Heather.
As a result of my instability, I never went to trial. They said I am mentally unfit.
“Hello Zachary,” my nurse spoke as she entered my room. She had blonde hair and blue eyes a lot like Heather’s. Her name was Sarah. “Are you ready for group session?”
Standing up, I straightened out the white pants of my hospital-issued outfit. I could see the other patients walking down the hall and I sighed.
I don’t belong here; I’m not crazy like them.
I’m not insane.