‘Why should…oh my God…it’s you,’ she said as the last few pieces fell into place. ‘You raped her?’
A twist of the ankle was the reward for her discovery.
‘Don’t listen to her, Eric,’ Jessica urged.
‘I won’t tell you again. Shut your damn mouth.’
‘You raped her. You tried to turn her straight by raping her?’ Kim said as the nausea rose in her stomach.
‘It wasn’t rape,’ he said, confirming her suspicions.
‘Eric,’ Jessica bellowed.
‘I don’t believe you, Eric. Something bad happened to Sarah that—’ Kim stopped speaking as she felt the rope being secured around her ankles.
Without warning, her vision began to swim. Her mouth turned dry and her heart began to beat its way out of her chest. Beads of sweat appeared on her forehead. The sensation of the binding around her ankles brought the panic surging all around her body and took her back to a place which she was still trying hard to leave behind.
‘You’re gonna die, bitch.’
‘I’ve been waiting years for this, bitch.’
Punch, kick, kick, kick, punch, kick.
‘I’m gonna break every one of your bones, bitch.’
Kick, punch, kick, punch, punch, kick.
‘I’m not gonna stop until the last breath leaves your body.’
Kick, punch, fear, helplessness, pain, fear, kick, defeat, death.
‘Noooo,’ she screamed, convulsing and bucking. The pain ripped through her body but she didn’t care. She had put space between herself and a stunned Eric which she capitalised on.
She sprang up and kicked him in between the legs. He folded to the ground and she towered over him. Spittle flew from her mouth as she screamed in his face, ‘You will not fucking tie me up again, you—’
Eric’s expression brought her back to herself. Terror and confusion paralysed his features.
She grabbed his arm and threw him onto his front and sat in the small of his back. She dug her knees into his ribs. Hard.This is Eric. This is Eric, she repeated to herself over and over again.Get control. This is Eric.
She took long deep breaths to get the air into her lungs and clear her head.
Stephanie was fighting her every inch of the way, digging her heels into the soft grass, but Jessica was determined to move her along. The expression on her face said she intended to salvage something from the situation and that something was Stephanie’s life. If she let go of Stephanie to help her brother, there was a chance she would be overpowered, knife or no knife.
‘Hey, hear that?’ Stephanie asked, looking to the top of the site. Jessica followed her gaze.
Stephanie took the opportunity to knock the knife from Jessica’s hand and then push her to the side. Jessica fell to the ground and Stephanie dived on top of her. For a moment Kim couldn’t see where one girl ended and the other began as a mass of limbs flailed around at the foot of a topiary robin.
Stephanie emerged triumphant with a good grip of Jessica’s hair.
‘Ow. Ow. Ow,’ Jessica cried, trying to get her hair back as Stephanie pulled her down to the ground. She positioned her like her brother and sat on her back to keep her down while still holding on to her hair.
‘Get off me, you filthy piece of…’ Jessica didn’t finish her sentence as she tried to writhe free.
‘Keep still,’ Stephanie said, flexing her knees into Jessica’s side.
Kim’s own prisoner appeared to have seen the commotion at the top of the site and had conceded defeat.
She nudged him with her knees. ‘Where’s Gabriel Denton?’