I was about to fade to black. To untie my soul from the dock of my body and let it drift out to open sea lest it find some more beautiful place to float to. I closed my eyes and pulled my attention away from Val’s hands journeying lower, until I jumped at the sound of a crash from somewhere outside the bedroom. Val stopped short. He looked over his shoulder, not speaking, barely breathing. He turned his attention back to me and resumed his movements until another crash, this time louder, rocked out.
Val climbed off of me and I felt like I’d been saved by a mystery angel. Even if the crash was the result of a burglar coming in to kill us both, I’d be happy for that.
“HELP!”
It was a risk, but it was worth it. If it wasn’t a burglar, or even if it was, if I could alert them to my distress, it may save my life. Val reached back down over me and returned the duct tape to it’s spot over my mouth before I could get another word out. He walked out of the bedroom and then there was nothing but eerie silence. I listened for anything. The sound of Val walking, the sound of another crash, the sound of anything that might indicate what was happening, but nothing found me. Was it just seconds passing me by? Minutes? Hours? I wasn’t wishing for Val to return, but not knowing was riddling my body with anxiety.
And then a yell, loud, piercing. It was definitely inside the house. It led to a cacophony of grunts and groans as it sounded like two people tussling around. There were bangs and bumps as the two people no doubt bumped into things, and different crashes suggested the knocking over of items made of glass. There was clearly a fight going on. I glanced at the window, but saw no lights that would indicate the police had arrived. Maybe it was just a petty thief.
In the next second, a familiar head of hair crossed the threshold and I was convinced I was dreaming. The fighting hadn’t ceased, but somehow, Billy was running into the room, the front of his head drenched in sweat. He raced over to me and pulled the duct tape off, yelping in response to my screech of pain.
“Billy?” I started to cry. “What? How?”
Billy was already working to free me from the ropes. “I’ll explain later. Colin’s in trouble!”
It took him a minute to get me loose, but eventually he did. The only thing on my mind was getting to Colin. If he was fighting with Val, there was no telling what would happen. I could say with absolute certainty that they would kill one another over me, and the very last thing I wanted was a murder charge on Colin’s hands. I made for the noises of struggle, screaming at Billy to call the police.
He grabbed my arm and pulled me back. “You should go. I’ll help Colin.”
Billy was pale as a ghost and looked like he was ready to pass out. “No offense, but you look like you’re on death’s door yourself. Call the police. Call my parents and tell them I’m safe.”
Billy didn’t argue. He turned and headed off, obviously knowing his way through the house more than I did, and I continued on, walking in the direction of the fight. I cleared a long hallway and saw Colin and Val struggling amidst the antique appointed living room. Several objects were already shattered on the ground, and to my horror, Val was waving a black pistol through the air with Colin fighting to keep it away from him. I didn’t think twice. I bolted into the room and leapt up onto Val’s back.
“Tatiana! Get out of here!” Colin shouted.
“Not without you!” I clung to Val’s back as best I could, identifying an unbroken lamp on an end table. “Back up!” It was just out of reach, but if Colin could push us back far enough, I could get to it.
Colin did his best to push, but it turned out to be a fatal error. Val managed to work his arm between himself and Colin, and when the ear splitting sound of a gunshot rang out, I screamed, “Colin!”
Colin buckled, but like a defensive lineman trying to stop a sack, he dug his feet in and forced Val back. As I reached the lamp, I grabbed it and smashed it over Val’s head. All three of us went dropping to the floor and the gun went scattering across the carpet. I was able to get to my feet -unlike Val who was groaning and rubbing his head, and Colin who was taking in sharp, short breaths and holding his stomach. I rushed over to the gun, picked it up, and cocked it, aiming it at Val.
Val looked at me with defeat in his eyes and settled against the floor, accepting his fate, but I had no intention of killing him. I wasn’t going to let him take any more of my life than he already had. Being careful to keep the gun pointed against Val, I knelt next to Colin. Tears cascaded down my cheeks as I imagined losing him. I put my free hand on the wound and pressed, causing Colin to scream out.
“Just hang in there. Help is coming.”
28
Tatiana
Three Months Later…
“It sounds like your new permanent teacher will be Mrs. Jay Stammler.” My father peeled down the paper he was looking at. “And I sincerely hope you will keep your hands to yourself.”
I supposed I had earned myself the trouble I was in. My parents opted not to punish me in the wake of everything that happened with Val, but I was far from out of the woods. I’d been getting comments like those for the past few months. Really, any time I got too close to anyone even remotely adult age, my parents started to treat me like a dog who'd just caught sight of a cat across the street. They must have assumed that would be far worse than any traditional punishment they could muster up, and they were right, especially with my dad’s inability to say anything quietly, middle of the grocery store be damned.
“Dad, I’m not going to do anything. Val tricked me, and besides, I’m with Colin now.” I spooned at the cereal in front of me, looking over at the empty barstool at my side.
“Well, I would have assumed you’d be doing your school work, only for me to find out you were doing something else.”
“Dad!” I glared at him. Absolutely having my parents discuss my sexual history was worse than having my phone taken away or getting grounded.
A creak alerted me to movement on the stairs. I jumped up from my spot and ran over to the stairs, just in time to catch Colin hobbling his way down with my mom braced behind him. I held out a hand, but Colin ignored it.
“I’ve got it, gorgeous,” he grumbled.
I rolled my eyes. “That’s what you said yesterday and then you fell down half the flight of stairs.”
“I wanted to do that.” He pecked me on my nose as he limped by me.
My mom patted the back of his head. “Of course you did, dear.”
The gunshot that Colin had received at Val’s hand had been bad, but fortunately not fatal. He was recovering, though slowly, even slower than he would be if he hadn’t kept demanding he was fine and doing things that exacerbated his injury.
“Morning, Colin,” my dad greeted as Colin finally made it into the kitchen.
My mom guided him down onto his regular barstool and then walked over to our eating nook where her laptop was sitting and picked it up. “Big news this morning.”
“Morning,” Colin replied, a little delayed, a flat irritation to his voice.
I returned to my seat next to him. “What’s wrong?”
“The doctor didn’t clear me to play football again. The season’s half over!”