Stolen

Vincent left so that Kevin could comfort her. He looked into Tara and Kevin’s room. Tara was snoring so he shut the door quietly. He checked his phone for the time. It used to be his father’s. After his father passed, he had left everything to Vincent, furthering his mother’s anger with him.

Someone knocked on the door and he frowned a little. Who would be here at nearly ten in the evening?

He looked through the peephole first and swore. He took a few deep breaths then opened the door.

“Vincent,” his old classmate, Johnnie Carington, said happily. “How are you doing?”

“Just fine, thanks,” he said, leaning on the door jamb and crossing his arms. “What can I do for you at ten at night?”

“Well, I heard that you’re the guy to see for house repairs,” he said, rocking back and forth on his feet. “I was wondering if you’d come look at this water stain on my ceiling.”

“And you couldn’t have called me because…?”

“I wanted to know if you’d show me your ceiling. After all, I don’t want to just hire anybody.”

Vincent stared into Johnnie’s eyes. He knew his real reason for being there and he wasn’t going to play along. They stared each other down for about two minutes before Johnnie crumbled.

“I just talked to Faith Jones,” he said. “She looked real upset so I thought I’d go find out what was wrong. She says that Carmen’s back and you and Kevin won’t let her go home.”

“Did she now?”

“Yes. Is that true? I’m off the record,” he added when Vincent still didn’t reply.

“If it were, you know the first place we would take her is the hospital.”

“Unless you want to keep her return a secret,” Johnnie pointed out.

“That’s ridiculous. You know we’re not on good terms with Faith and Howard. Now take that recorder and go somewhere else before I call the cops.”

Johnnie turned red and put his hand on his pocket. Vincent slammed the door in his face and sighed.

“What’s wrong?”

He jumped a little. Kevin was standing there in a new shirt; it was obvious Carmen had cried through his other one.

“She’s asleep,” Kevin said, answering his unasked question. “Now what’s wrong? You look ready to kill.”

“Your parents have talked to Johnnie Carington,” he said. “He was just here.” He glanced out the front window. Johnnie was walking away, talking into the recorder. “I don’t think this is going to be quiet anymore.”

“What did you tell him?”

“Nothing. He asked if what your mom said was true and I just told him that, if we had her, you’d think we’d take her to the hospital.”

“This isn’t good,” Kevin sighed, running a hand through his hair. “What do we do?”

“Get some sleep,” he said. “Come on. You have to get back to work tomorrow and I have some contracts I need to look into.”

Kevin frowned. “You’re going to leave her here alone?”

“Of course not. I’ll work from home.”

Kevin studied him for a while and he suddenly felt uncomfortable. Kevin stood in front of him with maybe just a foot between them.

“I’m trusting you with my sister,” he said in a quiet voice. “Betray that trust and I will make you pay. Don’t you dare start anything. Not right now.”

Vincent didn’t have a response but he knew Kevin wasn’t expecting one. He left and Vincent sighed heavily. It was true: His feelings had gone further than just a crush long before she was kidnapped. Now, though, the possibility of any kind of relationship was out of the question. He still couldn’t stop the dreams, though.

=

The next morning, he woke up to Carmen screaming. He ran into his room to find her thrashing in bed. He pulled his chair over and talked to her in soothing tones. Tara came in with a wet cloth and he pressed it to her forehead, continuing to whisper to her. She finally stopped and her breath evened out.

“Think she was dreaming about it?” Tara whispered.

“I’m positive,” he whispered back.

Suddenly, Carmen’s eyes snapped open and she inhaled sharply, sitting up.

“Easy,” Vincent said, stopping her from getting out of bed. Her eyes were still glassy, though. “Come on, Carmen. Wake up. You’re dreaming.”

“Don’t touch me!” she screamed, struggling in his hands. “I won’t tell! Just leave me alone!”

“Carmen! It’s me, Vincent!”

“Please!”

She started to sob and he sighed. There was a cup of water on her nightstand and he grimaced.

She’s going to be pissed.

He tossed the water on her face and she spluttered. It did the trick, though, and she woke up. She looked around with wild eyes until they focused on his face. He watched her pupils return to normal and then she began sobbing again.

He jumped as she buried her face in his chest. He looked over to Tara who mimed putting his arms around her. He obeyed and she backed out, closing the door. Carmen continued to cry and he rubbed her back carefully.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked.

“They were hooking me up,” she said, her voice muffled in his shirt. “I- I had disobeyed. It hard so badly, Vincent!”

She went into another bout of sobs and he rocked her a little. When she had finally calmed down, she was also asleep. He tucked her in but, when he tried to leave, she grabbed his wrist. He was surprised at her strong grip, even in her sleep. He sat back down but she was pulling on him.

Knowing that Kevin would be furious, he kicked his shoes off and got on the bed next to her. He stayed on top of the blankets, though. The second he was comfortable and stopped moving, Carmen curled up against him. She snuggled into his side and he stared up at the ceiling.

Not exactly how I pictured holding her….

She didn’t let go of him until several hours later just as he was drifting to sleep. But he heard the garage door open and slipped out. He was tired but he’d just nap on the couch after he checked up on his contracts.

Kevin walked in with Arby’s.

“It’s her favorite,” he said. “I figured she’d like it. Is she awake?”

“No,” Vincent said. “She had a bad nightmare.”

“Well, she needs to eat,” he said slowly.

“Let Vincent give it to her,” Tara said. “We have to get to the doctor. It’s my ultrasound today.”

“Right, ultrasound,” he mumbled. “Are you okay with giving it to her?”

Vincent flushed a little but nodded.

=

That night, the four of them were seated on the couch. Carmen had convinced him to let her sit on the couch at least. He knew she’d probably be tired of being in bed all the time so he agreed. She was flipping through the stations until she stopped on the news. What they saw made them all groan.

It was her picture. The volume was low so she turned it up.

“Rumors abound that Carmen Jones, who went missing five years ago, is back in Kendrick. Everyone remembers the night that she was taken right from her high school parking lot. Everyone remembers the town’s distress as rescue efforts failed time and time again. Everyone remembers the many fundraisers her family held to pay for people to look for her. Everyone remembers Carmen.

“Could she really be back? If she is, why would her family hide her from them? Last night, one of our reporters ran into her parents who claimed she was back but with her brother. Faith Jones claims her son and his long time best friend, Vincent Davenport, won’t let her leave. Has Carmen become the victim of another kidnapping? Or is all of this just a simple rumor?”

The anchorman then went to talking about the night she went missing so Kevin took the remote. He changed it to a football game and Vincent glanced at Carmen. She was staring at her lap, her eyes closing slowly. He knew she was falling asleep. He was curious about what her living situation was like but he was too nervous to ask. She may be ready to tell the police about whatever warnings she had but that wasn’t the same as her experiences.

He watched the game for a while when there was suddenly a warm weight on his arm. He looked down and smiled a little. She had fallen asleep and was leaning against him. Carefully so he wouldn’t wake her, he put his arm around her. She snuggled up much like earlier and let out a long sigh in her sleep.

Kevin ruined the moment, though, when he grunted. Vincent looked at him.

“I’m her brother,” he whispered. Tara had fallen asleep, too, and he was holding her. “Why is she wanting you to hold her?”

“Try to see it from her point of view,” Vincent said. “I was the one to find her and bring her in. I got her cleaned up. And…. She thinks you gave up on her, Kev.”

Kevin’s eyes widened. “She what?”

He nodded, starting to rub Carmen’s arm with his thumb. Kevin glared pointedly so he stopped.

“She told me she thought you gave up and married Tara to move on. Before I could tell her what really happened, your folks showed up.”

Kevin sighed. “Well, I still don’t like how she’s leaning on you.”

Vincent didn’t know what to say. He tried to stand but her arms shot to wrap around him. He stared down at her sleeping face.

“Neither do I,” he mumbled. “Not really.”