Stolen

Carmen couldn’t believe he was right there and didn’t do anything to bring her back. After Vincent left, she stayed in her room, depressed. She kept having nightmares but her mom wouldn’t help. Instead her father kept her company until she fell asleep. She was noticing something different about her dad but didn’t dwell on it.

The more time she spent in the house, the more she regretted ever coming here. Reporters would be at the door at all hours and her mom would let them in. She didn’t even bother to see if Carmen was up for it. She’d give Carmen enough time to get dressed then force her in front of the reporters. It was getting exhausting and bringing back all the nightmares that had gone away when she was with Kevin and Vincent.

“I never should’ve left,” she mumbled.

The doorbell rang and she groaned. Another reporter. She dragged herself out of bed and changed out of her pajamas. She pulled Vincent’s hoodie on and waited for her mom to come get her. Her mom did come, but it wasn’t to drag her out.

“You have a visitor,” she said in a snotty voice.

Carmen gasped as Tara walked in. The two women embraced as her mom stormed down the hall and out of sight.

“I’m sorry,” Tara whispered.

“I miss you. All of you.”

Tara sighed and they sat down on her bed.

“How’s the baby?” she asked but Tara shook her head.

“I can’t be here for long or your mom will get suspicious,” she whispered and Carmen frowned. “Look, I’m going to help you but you need to promise me something.” Carmen nodded. “Come back. They both miss you and feel so guilty for what happened. And you need them, not your parents.”

“But my mom-.”

“Is a manipulative, lying bitch,” Tara interrupted.

“What do you mean?”

Tara pulled out her phone. “The benefit of working as a secretary at a security company, is you can pull some strings,” she said. “I told them I was worried about your safety so they had given us some cameras to put up around the house. The day you left is when we were supposed to put them up. Anyway, we set one up here in the house and, well, here are the results.”

She handed Carmen the phone. Tara looked sad as Carmen pressed the play button.

It was the hallway in black and white. She saw her parents run to her room and remembered the night she had the nightmare. She watched as her mother walked out, looking like it was nothing. She bit her lip as it cut to a different time stamp. Her parents were outside her door and Tara turned the volume up.

“She can’t keep having reporters coming, Faith,” her dad was saying. “It’s giving her nightmares.”

“If we keep doing this, though, we’ll have enough money to pay for another cruise,” she said. “Besides, she’ll have nightmares regardless. And, each time she has a nightmare and we’re there for her, she’ll trust us more.”

“I don’t know about this anymore. I love our daughter and-.”

The video jumped to another day. They were in their bedroom but shouting at each other.

“She brought it on herself!” her mother shouted. “She never should’ve followed whoever it was!”

“How can you say that?” her father shouted back. “She’s your daughter! I’m not allowing another reporter in this house. I won’t let them keep hurting her.”

“This isn’t just your house Howard,” she snapped. “And they will be coming. We’re getting so much money from them! Don’t you like not having to work?”

“Not at the expense of my daughter’s health!”

“There are two reporters coming in a few hours,” her mom said, walking into the hallway. “Get changed.”

The video cut out and Carmen nearly dropped her phone. Tara put an arm around her as Carmen cried.

“I never should have left,” she sobbed into her hands and Tara sighed.

“I’m so sorry, Carmen. I didn’t want to do it like this but I couldn’t think of any other way.”

“I want to go back,” she sniffled. “I miss you guys. And I’m so miserable here. I thought I’d feel better but I don’t. I feel worse. All I can think about is how safe it felt with Vincent and how much Kevin went through to make sure I was comfortable there.”

“I know, sweetie. And they know, too. They’ve talked a lot about their argument and have promised to explain all of it to you if you’ll come back.”

“They won’t let me,” she said about her parents.

Tara bit her lip. “They won’t have a choice if….”

“If what?” she pressed.

“If we tell them we’ll go to the station with this footage,” she said in a rush.

“You’re going to blackmail my parents?” Carmen whispered. “Are you insane?”

“We care too much about you.”

The doorbell rang and Carmen jumped. She listened carefully as her mother answered the door.

“We’re here to see Carmen,” Vincent’s voice said and she scrambled to her feet.

Tara followed after her as she ran down the stairs. She saw Vincent and her brother standing in the front hall and she threw her arms around Vincent. He hugged her tightly.

“Are you okay?” he whispered.

“You’re not welcome here,” her mother said before she could answer. “Go.”

“We’re not leaving without Carmen,” Kevin said, glaring at their parents.

“She’s staying here,” their mom snapped. “Nothing you say will change that.”

“Well, what about what you say?” Vincent asked.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Tara waved her phone in their mother’s face. “I happen to have a few recordings here, Mrs. Jones. Lovely little ones about how much you love your daughter.”

“Of course I love her,” she sniffed.

“Love capitalizing on her pain,” Tara snapped and pressed the play button.

The volume was still up and their mom went pale as it played the recording of her father trying to convince her mother to stop.

“Carmen,” her mom began but Carmen just stepped closer to Vincent.

“I’m going back with them,” she whispered, sniffling. “I’m not staying here anymore. You lied to me! You both did! My life is a living hell thanks to you!”

“I’m your mother,” she began.

“No you’re not!” she cried and Faith gasped, covering her mouth. “Mothers don’t do this to their children! You were supposed to take care of me! Instead you were taking care of yourself! I tried to not believe what Kevin and Vincent said but it was all true!” She wiped her tears on the sleeve and looked up at Vincent. His face was sad. “Please take me home.”

“Of course,” he said and led her to the front door.

“No!” Faith shouted but Tara stepped in the way. “I’ll call the police!”

“And we’ll give this footage to the nearest reporter,” Tara said. “I’m sure they’d love to hear your side of the story.”

Carmen looked over her shoulder. Her mother was furious but didn’t stop them. Everyone knew who had won.

A few reporters were on their way to the front door when the four of them stepped out. They rushed for them but Vincent steered her to his car. Once everyone was in, he pressed on the gas and took her back home.

=

“I’m sorry,” Kevin said, coming into Vincent’s room with a cup of hot chocolate for each of them. He sat on the bed with her. “I thought that I was doing the right thing.”

“What do you mean?” she asked and watched as the marshmallows started to dissolve into the hot liquid.

He sighed. “I thought that, if I kept you from going to Vincent, you wouldn’t get hurt. I didn’t realize that he had become… well, your safe place. I was jealous.”

Carmen blushed. “I’m sorry, Kev. I don’t know how to explain it but, when I’m with him, I feel like nothing can hurt me. Then I heard you two arguing about him having feelings for me and I thought he was doing all this just to be with me.”

“He’s not,” Kevin said immediately. “I swear he’s not.”

“That explains why he tried to stop me from kissing him,” she mumbled then looked at Kevin.

His jaw dropped. “He kissed you?”

“Technically I kissed him,” she said, rubbing the back of her neck. “I had read how he feels about me in his mind but I wasn’t sure if it was real or not. Then the argument happened.”

Kevin sighed. “Look, if it’s Vincent you want to be with, then okay.”

“It’s not that I don’t trust you or I’m choosing him over you,” she began but he stopped her.

“That’s not what I mean,” he said. “I mean… romantically.”

She blushed some more. “I don’t think I’m ready for that just yet,” she said. “I don’t know why I kissed him but….”

She trailed off.

“Do you want to start seeing a therapist?” he asked after a while.

“I don’t know,” she sighed. “I need to talk to someone but you guys are the only ones I feel safe talking to.”

“Well, get some rest and we’ll tackle that in the morning,” he said when they were quiet for a long time.

“Hey, Kev?” she said when he made to leave once she was tucked in.

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for coming for me.”

He smiled and squeezed her hand. “Love you, sis.”

“Love you, too.”