Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Sorry this is a day late. Life intrudes again...


                            
                               More of God's awesome creations...


 








 
 




                              ~ Chapter Twenty-Three ~


A bright light shone in Janna’s eyes and she awoke with a start. She tried to sit up, but couldn’t. She pulled upward with her shoulders, but nothing. Her eyes popped open and she twisted her head in every direction, checking the surroundings. Terror filled her when she realized she was cuffed to a hospital bed. The metal but into her wrists and she gasped. She heard movement in the room and looked to her right once more. She was face to face with her tormenter.

“Tsk tsk, my dear. You might as well stop that, it isn’t going to do you any good.”

“Why are you doing this? What did I ever do to you?” Tears of frustration blazed hot trails down her cheeks.

“You have to ask why?” He shouted. “You took away five years of my life.”

“What? How can you blame that on me? You attacked me. You…raped me.”

Angry blue eyes seemed to drill holes to the very depths of her soul. “I might’ve known that’s how you would see things,” he spat.

“How do you see things?” He was going to kill her. She might as well say what she felt.

“For six months you walked past me, yet ignoring my existence, teasing me with your angel’s voice, singing and smiling in such tender love and regard. You snobbish witch,” he screamed.

Janna could see the insanity in his eyes, but was powerless to escape, or stop the words flowing from her own lips. “I wasn’t teasing you! I was singing to the Lord.”

“Lord shmord. There’s no such thing. Get over it.”

His voice had gone flat and this scared her more than the bright lights trained on her face or the cuffs restraining her wrists. He took a menacing step toward her, and she screamed. “Get away from me, you freak!” She continued to scream. Wordless streams of sound that did nothing to calm her frayed nerves and pounding heart.

His hand came out and grabbed her wrist. That’s when she saw the scalpel in his hand. She became frantic, trying to pull away and screaming even louder, desperation issuing forth from her gut. “Get away. Stop. Please. You don’t have to do this. We can get you help.”

Her words brought him to a halt and he stood still as a statue. He asked slowly, “We who?”

“Uh…I meant me. Me.” Lord please help me. It isn’t Jessie’s or Jedidiah’s fault this is happening to me.

He reached out and slapped her face, hard. Stars danced behind her eyes and she struggled to focus, terrified he would cut her before she could see. She pulled at her wrists, feeling the tender skin under the harsh metal and the resulting blood that flowed from the open wounds her movements caused. “Please. Have mercy on me.”

He cackled. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’m going to enjoy this. You don’t know how much.”

She opened her eyes just in time to catch the flash of the scalpel as it glinted in the bright lights above her head. She felt a sharp, hot pain in her neck and screamed again, this time in horror. It was happening now. He was killing her. Several more sharp pains issued from different parts of her body. She twisted and turned, trying to get loose, but it was no use.

                                                             ###

 

Jedidiah scooted around the building, his movements as quiet as a cat with a mouse in its sights. Dear Lord, thank you for sending me to that kid. If he hadn’t seen that monster putting Janna in the back of his truck I wouldn’t be here right now. Please let me get to her before anything bad happens. He kept the prayer running through his mind the whole time he sidled toward the back entrance of the abandoned gas station.

Just as he reached for the knob on the door a scream pierced the air.

Jedidiah’s heart pounded and he grabbed the knob, all thoughts of being quiet gone from his mind. He raced down a short hallway and stopped in horror as he entered a brightly lit room where Janna was the center of attention. Her tormentor stood above her, cackling insanely as he stabbed her over and over.

Jedidiah leapt into action. He jumped on the man’s back, pulling him to the ground. He reached for the hand holding the scalpel and easily unarmed him. The scalpel clattered to the floor.

“Jedidiah!” Janna screamed. “Thank God you found me. Help me!”

He couldn’t take the time to talk to her. He had to immobilize her attacker.

They rolled around on the floor, each throwing punches, some connecting, some not.

The sound of sirens in the distance gave Jedidiah the last push he needed. He punched the man in the face and he went limp, falling to the floor in a heap.

He jumped up and ran toward his love just as the sirens stopped right outside. “Janna, I’m here.” He reached the bed, the hand in his pocket already clutching the key to unlock her. “I’m so sorry. I’ve failed you so…” Pain exploded in his head, and it was lights out.

###

Janna gave a weak smile despite the pain emanating throughout her body. At that moment it didn’t matter how bad she was hurt. Jedidiah was here. He’d come to rescue her!

A dark shadow fell across Jedidiah’s face, and her tormentor appeared behind him. Though he was much shorter, the lead pipe in his hands evened the score. She screamed in horror as the pipe came up and cracked down on Jedidiah’s head with a loud thwack.

“There! That’ll teach you to interrupt my torture chamber,” the maniac screamed.

He didn’t hear the sirens. He doesn’t know the cops are right outside the door. Nausea overcame Janna and she threw-up, spewing vomit all over her tormenter before blacking out into peaceful darkness.