Last Chance (20 page)

bed and snuggled deeper into her soft, warm pillow. Squirrels again--trying

to get into the attic. They did that this time of year. Daddy would have to run

them off tomorrow. On the edge of sleep again, she heard another sound.

"McKenna."

Someone was calling her name. McKenna sat up, her heart thundering

in her chest. She gasped to see a tall, dark figure in the middle of her room.

Damon!
"What are you doing here? How did you get in?"

"Your window was open."

Keeping her voice barely above a whisper, she said, "My daddy will

kill you if he sees you in here. You have to leave."

He laughed. It wasn't a laugh she'd ever heard from him before. It

sounded almost nasty, not like the Damon she knew and loved.

She put her feet on the floor; she had to make him leave. Daddy

would never understand this and would never forgive Damon for sneaking

into her room.

Before she could stand, Damon pushed her down and then came down

on top of her. Though fearful of having him in her home in the middle of the

night where her parents might hear, she wrapped her arms around him to

kiss him. Instead of the passionate yet tender kisses she was used to and

expected, he ground his mouth onto hers. He was hurting her. She tasted

blood and knew he'd cut her lip.

She pushed at his shoulders, trying to dislodge him. Why was he

acting this way? Finally managing to get him to move his mouth from hers,

she whispered, "You're hurting me."

"I'm about to show you what real hurt is, McKenna. You've cockteased me for the last time." He pushed her nightgown up; she felt his hands

on her bare legs and then extreme pressure between her thighs as he thrust

deep inside her.

* * *

A harsh sob jerked her out of her memories. Lucas's arms held her as

she shuddered against his chest. "I was a virgin. I thought he understood that

I wanted to wait. He had never pressured me before. I didn't realize I

screamed until the light in my room came on and I felt him being pulled off

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me. Oh God, why did I have to scream? If only I hadn't screamed..."

Swallowing hard, she returned to her memories.

"Bastard! Get off my daughter!" her father shouted.

Sobbing, McKenna lay on the bed, unable to move. Damon had raped

her...why? How could he have done this to her?

Damon's harsh laughter woke her from her shock. "She ain't your little

girl anymore. She's mine."

The slamming of a fist into flesh caused her to sit up. Her father was

on top of Damon, pummeling his fist into Damon's face. She screamed

again. Her father jerked his head around and looked at her; tears swam in his

eyes, and she saw love and compassion in his beloved face.

Her body and heart aching, she held out her hand and whispered,

"Daddy?"

A loud blast pierced the silence. Her daddy's face changed from shock

to pain, and then in an instant he fell onto the floor.

McKenna shouted, "No!" and threw herself onto her father's lifeless

body. Damon pulled her away from him and dragged her out of the room.

Her mother stood in the hallway, a phone in her hand. McKenna barely

registered her mother's pale, panic-stricken face before Damon raised the

gun and fired. A red stain suddenly appeared on her mother's white

nightgown; she dropped the phone and fell to the floor.

Screeching her pain, McKenna whirled around and clawed at Damon's

face. He slammed her against the wall; her head struck so hard she literally

saw stars.

"Nobody comes between me and what belongs to me," he growled.

"You were mine the moment we met. Your parents were too stupid to realize

that. Don't you make the same mistake."

Sobs tore through her. She was crying so hard she could hardly

breathe. Her mama and daddy...
Oh dear God. Mama. Daddy. Amy!
She had

to protect Amy!

"You have to go," she babbled. "My mama called the police. They'll

be here soon."

"Police ain't coming. I cut the phone lines before I came in. You think

I'm stupid or something? Now, where's that sister of yours?"

"No. You can't hurt Amy. I won't let you. Please, Damon. I'll do

whatever you want, but you can't hurt Amy."

"You do what I tell you to do and I won't. Understand?"

Barely able to stand, she leaned against the wall and nodded.

"Good. Go get some clothes and let's grab your sister."

"You said you wouldn't hurt her."

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The smack of the back of his hand against her face busted her lip, but

it woke her up, too. No longer faint, she straightened and said woodenly,

"What do you want me to do?"

"Get some clothes. I'll get your sister."

"If you hurt her, I'll kill you." She said the words softly, but he heard

them.

Instead of reacting like the maniac she now knew him to be, he smiled

and said, "You can try."

She ran, stuffed some clothes into her bag, and then ran back out. She

would be crazy to take him at his word. Rushing down the hallway to Amy's

room, she found him kneeling on the floor, trying to coax her sister out from

under the bed.

"No!" McKenna flew at him, pushing him away. "Leave her alone."

Damon backhanded her in the face, knocking her down. Lying on the

floor, she could see Amy's terrified eyes gleaming at her.
Oh God, please

help me save her
.

Getting back on her knees, she tugged on Damon's arm. "Please,

Damon. I'll do anything...
anything!
I swear. Just don't hurt her."

"I ain't going to hurt her. I'm just trying to get her to come with us."

He looked back at Amy. "Come on out here, little girl. I'm not going to hurt

you."

Amy didn't utter a sound; McKenna knew she was too terrified to

move.

"Tell her to come out or I'm going to shoot her under the bed."

"Dammit, Damon. Leave her alone." She was sobbing, pleading...she

didn't care what she had to do. She'd already lost her mother and father--she

couldn't lose Amy, too.

Damon grabbed McKenna by a hank of hair and jerked her down till

she lay on the floor. "Tell your fucking sister to get out here or I'm going to

shoot your head off."

McKenna gritted her teeth. She didn't care if she died. She deserved to

die for bringing this monster into her home. No matter what she had to do,

she would save Amy.

But Damon's threatening words had worked. McKenna heard her little

sister's trembling voice say, "No, I'm coming...don't hurt Kenna...I'm

coming."

"Amy, please, no."

"There ya go," Damon coaxed. When Amy came within reaching

distance, he grabbed her arm and dragged her the rest of the way out.

McKenna pulled Amy away from Damon. Getting to her feet, she

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placed Amy behind her. "Let me lock her up in the closet or something. She

won't call the police, I promise."

Damon got to his feet and grabbed McKenna by the shoulder. "Shut

the fuck up!"

Swallowing a sob, she nodded.

"Did you get your clothes?"

She nodded again.

"Then let's go."

"But Amy--"

"She comes with us."

"Why can't she--"

He pointed the gun toward Amy's head and snarled, "She either comes

with us or I shoot her. Your choice."

As much as she wanted to get Amy away from him, she had no

choice. Willing herself calmness so she could try to figure something out,

she turned and said, "Amy, pack some clothes."

Her little sister stood shivering, obviously in shock. McKenna took

her hand and walked with her to the closet. "Here, I'll help you."

Taking some of her summer dresses and shoes, they dumped them

into Amy's backpack, lying on the closet floor. No one spoke but both were

more than aware that Damon stood behind them, the gun pointed at Amy.

Zipping the bag, McKenna turned. "What now?"

He gestured with the gun. "Let's go to your parents' room. Get what

cash they have, get their ATM and credit cards. We'll use them till they're

canceled."

Acting on automatic, careful to keep Amy at her side, she walked the

short distance to her parents' bedroom. Her eyes focused on the bureau

where her father kept his wallet. She refused to look around, to think about

all she had lost, what she had caused. She took the wallet from the dresser

and turned.

Damon grabbed the wallet from her hand and pulled out several bills

and credit cards. "Okay. Where are the car keys?"

"Hanging on a hook in the kitchen."

"Get them. Then let's get out of here."

"Damon, please...let Amy--"

The gun pointed at McKenna this time. "Every time you argue or

disobey me, you're going to pay for it. Now, either get your sister in the car

with you or I kill her here. It makes no difference to me."

Knowing she had no choice, McKenna put her arm around her sister

and led her through the house. They stopped in the kitchen and McKenna

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grabbed the keys. Refusing to allow herself one last look at the life she had

destroyed, she took her sister's arm and went out the door.

Amy was crying now. Soft, silent tears. Did she know what Damon

had done to their parents? McKenna hoped not...but feared that she did.

Her father's vehicle was a small, old truck he used to drive back and

forth into town. Her mother's car was newer, larger.

Damon pointed to the car with his gun. "Get in the car. Put your sister

in the backseat. You sit up front with me, where you belong."

Opening the back door for her sister, she helped Amy in and put the

two bags she'd packed in with her. She got into the passenger seat and

watched as Damon came around and settled himself into the driver's seat.

He turned and smiled at her. "Now we can be together like we were

meant to be."

Returning to the present again, McKenna found herself curled into

Lucas's strong arms. Her face was hidden against his chest, and ugly, souldeep sobs tore through her. This was the first time in years she'd completely

let go. The first time in years she had allowed herself to recall everything

that had happened.

Lucas held her, pressed kisses to her head from time to time, and

allowed her to cry. Finally there were no tears left. She lay in his arms,

exhausted and so sad she could barely think straight.

"And Amy?" Lucas asked softly.

Breath shuddered through her body. "We were about fifteen miles out

of town, going down the highway. I don't know why she did it. Maybe she

thought she could get help; maybe she realized Damon would kill her when

he got tired of having her with us. She never said anything, never gave any

warning. I had my head against the window, kind of going in and out of

consciousness. The next thing I heard was the door opening."

"She jumped out?"

McKenna nodded.

"And?"

"I screamed at Damon to stop. He refused. I turned around and she

was lying in the middle of the road...just lying there. Still in her pink

pajamas. Not moving. I couldn't just let her lie there...I jumped on him,

determined to make him stop. He hit me in the head with his gun, knocked

me out. When I came to, we were miles from home."

She swallowed. "I listened to the news on the television when we

stopped at a motel. She was found, taken to a hospital. She told them what

Damon had done...about my parents. And then she died."

Lucas had no words to convey his sorrow for what she had gone

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through. Just losing one parent was bad enough, but to lose both parents,

along with your sister, and to hold yourself responsible? Beyond hell.

Would she tell him the rest? He knew most of it, but she didn't know

that and the last thing he wanted was for her to know he'd dug into her past.

That would come later when they were able to talk about this openly. Until

then, he'd wait and see if she could bear to tell him the other horrific parts.

He didn't have to wait long.

"He took me to somewhere in Kansas. A friend of his had a place

there. I knew I had to get away from him, but I couldn't think straight. My

head was splitting open; I kept passing out. He locked me in the bathroom

with no windows. Told me I had to stay there until I learned obedience.

Finally he let me out." She shook her head and added, "I have no idea how

many days went by."

She was silent again. He risked asking her a question, one he had to

know. "Where did the scars come from?"

"Mostly from Damon...though I've picked up a few over the years."

"The cigarette burns?"

"Damon," she whispered. "He'd come into the bathroom, light a

cigarette, and talk, telling me things would be better once I learned

obedience. Then, when he was through with his lecture and his cigarette, he

would force me to the floor and put out the butt on my skin."

Lucas closed his eyes. He had to hear everything. "And the thin scars

on your thighs and back?"

She took a shuddering breath. "He came in one day, said he was going

to test me, give me some freedom. I had to do it...I had to try to leave. At