Wreckage From the Past Haunts Me; Shakes Me to the Bone

“Trista...Trista...Trista...Don’t you know the good guys always win?” Brandon asked as he paced back and forth in front of me. I stopped picking at the ropes that bound my arms behind my back and made my elbows touch both sides of the chair. I went to move my arm up a bit only to realize that he had tied my upper arms to the chair itself. I looked over at Tegan, who was looking at me as well wearing the same confused look as me. We both looked over at Brandon, before looking at Todd and back to Brandon. I couldn’t believe the stupidity of my ex-boyfriend.

“Are you fucking retarded or what?” I asked as raised my eyebrow. Todd was smacking his head against the wall by now and the unnamed guy was staring at his friend with a dumb founded look.

“What?” He asked as he stopped pacing and looked at us.

“You’re the bad guy. You know, the one who kidnaped me and my sister, tired to kidnap my son, the one who’s holding us here against our will. Jimmy and the guys would be the good guys since their trying to find us. So you just said that Jimmy and the guys are going to win.” I explained to my dim-witted ex-boyfriend.

“You think that Jimmy is going to save you?” He asked with a cynical laugh.

“I don’t think I know he will. I know that as soon as he gets his hands on you, you’re going to be wishing that you were dead!” I said with as much venom in my voice as I could muster. A dark look crossed his face as he stared at me; anger ever so present in his dark brown eyes. I watched as he drew his hand back, but never once did I flinch as his hand was brought down against my cheek. I could feel the skin split, but I didn’t let it phase me as he starred at me. Both of us were breathing heavy, our chest rising and falling, struggling to breath with the adrenalin to harm each other. My arms were burning, but I could no longer feel them as anger invaded my whole being.

“And you think Zacky will save you?” Todd asked Tegan as he walked closer to her, wringing his hands together as he smiled. I waited in, what seemed to be an inward panic, to see what he was going to do to my sister. I glanced over at her to see the determined look on her face. She wasn’t going to let him win like he once had.

“He will and he’ll kill you for what you’ve done to us!” She said, venom lacing her every word. He smiled at her words before turning dark and kicking her chair over. I heard a small shriek fall from her lips as I watched her cheek bone collided with the hard wooden floor of the area we were in.

“Zacky’s a little immobile at the moment. Although I’m sure the paramedic is getting him into the back of the ambulance, that’s if he made it. That text I sent him must have scared him half to death. Slippery roads, speeding, cut breaks. I made sure it was a very gruesome accident. His ambition to get to his phone, to get to you so touching. He tried so hard to warn you. Must not have tried hard enough if I have you now though honey.” Todd explained with a disgusting smile as he leaned towards her. I couldn’t look at her; my eyes were glued to Todd’s lips. A gasp fell from my lips as I pictured my brother-in-laws broken body laying on PCH.

“Do you know what you can do when you sneak up behind someone? God that cracking that his ribs made when the bat collided with his side was amazing. It was better than hitting you all of those years. The way he screamed when my foot met his already bruised and shredded skin was music to my ears, much better than his sorry ass band. Oh but don’t worry baby, I made sure both of his wrist are broken. You won’t have to hear any of that awful music anymore. I mean do you really like listening to that annoying piano every day.” Brandon said with a smile I know too well. I couldn’t even look over at Tegan. My body wouldn’t move, nothing was working right. My breath was caught in my throat, making it impossible to breath. My head was pounding with need of oxygen, as the room started to spin. The pounding of my own heart was too loud to hear anything more. I felt vile rise in my esophagus the more I thought about the words I just heard. I acted like it didn’t affect me. Like it didn’t take the air straight out of my lungs, like my heart didn’t burn and ache, like my stomach wasn’t screaming and twisting.

“You don’t have the guts.” I said as I stared at him smiling.

“Wanna bet?” He asked me as he placed something on my lap. It took me a minute to realize it was the exact cross Jimmy was wearing before I left, although now it had a dried crimson liquid that covered it. My heart literally stopped, my hearing had left me. I didn’t even know what was going on in the room until I heard Todd yell. I looked over at him to see that he was covering his mouth, a dark liquid coming from under his hand. I looked over at my sister, a dazed look still on my face, to see her smile before spitting out the blood that had leaked into her mouth. I couldn’t even smile that my sister had one upped him. I just set my head down and stared at the necklace. I couldn’t help the dread that filled my bones. Jimmy wouldn’t be saving me, he wouldn’t be the one getting me out of the mess I got myself into.

“Is poor Trista speechless?” The unknown man in the back said, attempting to mock me like Brandon did.

“Shut the fuck up Max!” I heard Brandon yell as he walked over to me. He kneeled in front of my chair and lift my head to meet his dark brown eyes. I looked towards the unknown man seeing him sneer at being told off by Brandon, “So baby, why are you so quite? Did I finally figure out how to shut you the fuck up?”

“You fucking wish.” was all my mind was telling me to say, but no matter how hard I tried...I couldn’t keep my mouth shut, “Just like you fucking wish you still had me. That’s what all of this is about! You’re jealous that Jimmy’s more of a man than you are!-“ One cold hard smack across my face.

“I’m so much more of a man than he is. I proved that every night we were together!” He yelled in my face, but it was useless. The smile still remained on my face and the longer it remained, the madder he got. Soon he’d do something stupid, something he’d regret.

“How many times did we have sex? Tons right. Never once did I get pregnant. You know who knocked me up Brandon...It was Jimmy. Aidyn’s Jimmy’s son, not yours. You’re not enough of a man to father a child.” I yelled back just as loud, just as nasty as he did. The only difference was the slight laughter in my voice and the rage in his. He was shutting down and I can honestly say I was enjoying every second of it. We were face to face, ours noses almost touching and our heavy breathing clashing between us. He pulled away from my face, and backed up, still breathing hard. He stared at me, like he couldn’t believe that I was talking back to him. He turned, shaking his head, and walked towards the door, but something told me he wasn’t leaving quiet yet. I watched him carefully as his face twisted from the passive one to one of pure hatred. Did I really think it wouldn’t? Did I think I was going to get away with this?

He turned away from the door and walked towards me. The smirk that seemed tattooed on his face was gone, replaced with a look that I would almost call sorrow. With each step he took the fear grew in me. I had never seen this side of Brandon, it was like the calm before the storm, but I wouldn’t show how scared I was. He stopped directly in front of me again and leaned down so our noses were touching.

“Do you really think he’s Jimmy’s?” He asked softly, for once I was seeing emotion in him. His eyes were tearful and filled with dispar. I’d really hurt him, something I never thought was possible. Every bone in my body was telling me to give in, but I wouldn’t. I would not back down from what I had said.

“I know he is Brandon. My son doesn’t have a mean bone in his body. He’s not like you. He’s like Jimmy.” I spoke softly, carefully. I could feel my lip quivering, and I cursed it for showing weakness. He backed up again and covered his mouth and turned his body away from me. I took a deep breath and set my head down, not knowing what his next move was though I picked my head back up. He was looking at me, a tear falling from his eye. He wiped it and looked at his hand, like he didn’t know what it was. He started breathing heavier, and could tell it was out of anger. I swallowed hard as I looked at him, watching as his hand balled up into fist. He brought it up and swung, making sure it connected with my jaw. I winced as I heard my sister’s scream. I tried to look at her but all I caught was a right hook to the side of my eye. My head spun to the side, just in time to see my sister being pulled out of the room.

“Tegan!” I screamed as I tried to free myself from the ropes that bound me. The door slammed shut and I screamed for her again as she screamed for me. I heard someone’s sharp intake of breath, as if they were crying. I looked up to see Brandon’s face full of tears.

“They said he wasn’t mine, but I told them you wouldn’t cheat on me...” He said, his teeth were clamped together. I looked up at him, staring at his tear stained face. He noticed I was watching him, watching him become weak. He raised his hand and slapped me as hard as he could. I felt my cheek split behind the blow and my mouth spilt on the inside. I didn’t even get to process the full extent of my wound before another blow was delivered to my face, knocking the chair over, and cracking the back that bound my hands. I winced as my face hit the hardwood floor, making sure that side of my face was bruised. I gasped as he kicked my knee, directly above the screw. The kicked landed the chair on it’s back, crushing my already wounded hands under it. I cried out as I felt the chair crack again, piercing the skin of my forearm.

“You weren’t supposed to be like that! You weren’t suppose to cheat on me like the others!” He said as he swung again, connecting with my nose. I cried out as my face spilt again and my arms were cut open by the chair finally giving in. I tried to spit the blood out of my mouth, but it just flowed down my throat. I gasped and spit out whatever I could, looking at him, honestly pleading with my eyes to turn me over. My arms were stuck under me, being cut open even more by the broken wood. He let out an angry cry and kicked my knee, knocking me over onto my left side. I was able to stop most of the force this time as I rolled completely off of the broken chair and onto the floor. I gasped again and spit out all of the blood that had pooled in my mouth.

“Why did you do that baby? Huh? Why did you sleep with him?” He asked again as he grabbed a tight hold of my hair. My head was pulled back so I could look him in the eye. I swallowed as my face tightened, making me wince, “Why won’t you answer me?!” He screamed as my face met the hardwood floor. He let go and walked away, pacing near the boarded window. I placed my arms on either side of me and pulled myself towards the door. My left leg was useless to me right now, so I used my right leg to push me farther away from him. I heard his foot steps come closer. I panicked and pushed my self as hard as I could. I could tell he was standing near me now, practically mocking me as I tried to get away from him. I kept my head down, too scared to look up at him, and focused on getting out of the room. I gasped as a boot came down on my back, forcing my head to hit the ground harder than it ever had. My vision faded but restored itself quickly. He grabbed my leg and pulled me back into the center of the room, stretching my knee. I screamed, the pain was too intense. My vision faded again, but this time it didn’t come back as fast.

“Why won’t you answer me baby?” Brandon asked again. Did he not realize that I couldn’t? That the pain through out my body was too much to even speak? He shook his head and hit my face again. That was all it took to knock me into the black abys that was waiting for me.