Obsession (Endurance)
Read Obsession (Endurance) Online
Authors: Shayne McClendon
OBSESSION
Some
passions are meant to consume.
Shayne
McClendon
Copyright
© 2013 Shayne McClendon
Published
by Always the Good Girl LLC
Cover
Design by Allegra Strategy
All
rights reserved.
No
part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any
information storage and retrieval system without written permission from the author
and publisher. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters,
places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are
used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead,
business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Also
by Shayne McClendon
Permission to Come Aboard -
The Great Outdoors
Special
Delivery –
The Great Outdoors
A Sunny Heart –
The Great Outdoors
Embrace the Wild –
The Great Outdoors
Revenge is Best Served Hot
–
Doorways
Woman’s Best Friend
–
Doorways
Ready to Rumble
–
Love of the Game
Somebody
–
A Little Bit Country
Dedication
I have three children
and very different relationships with each of them.
My son gave me
new direction when he entered my life unexpectedly at age 24. He is
brilliant and funny and the child most like me when it comes to how we
interpret “big ideas” and belief systems. We can talk for hours about one
subject or hop all over to cover ten. He is the one person I can talk to
when something in the world at large upsets me. I know doesn’t judge the
way I think.
My oldest
daughter is most like me in temperament. She doesn’t take crap and looks
at the world with a combination of common sense and sarcastic realism.
When I doubt myself, she is the first to say, “Um, you’re awesome.” She
tells me my characters are good examples for girls her age. Only my two
best friends “get” me as well as she does. The term old soul doesn’t do
her justice.
My youngest
daughter is one of the hardest working people you will ever meet. If she
wants something, she doesn’t care how much she has to sweat to get it.
Like me, she is comfortable with serious multi-tasking and works our kitchen
like a pro. If she gets bored, we have chocolate cheesecake or Eggs
Benedict with everything made from scratch. She kills the rest of us with
“pop” music that could make your teeth rot out…but there is no better gutter
fighter to have on your side if you’re against the wall.
Being a mom is
my single greatest accomplishment. They are the “point” of my trying to
make a living on my writing – so they know doing what they love is the greatest
gift they can give themselves and don’t waste time like I did. They make
the world a better place. I dedicate this book to them. I love you
guys so much. Thank you for believing in me.
Mom
Author’s
Note
Trigger
Warning:
These
stories feature themes which include implied sexual violence. There are
no graphic scenes of play-by-play violence but Ellie’s attack is referred to
throughout the book. The story begins after her brutalization and is
crucial to the rest of the narrative.
This is the
first in a series of stand-alone stories called
Endurance
.
Obsession
last chance
for…
Turn Into
the Spin
These stories
are all about overcoming obstacles so traumatic that many would give up, unable
to go on. You’ll meet characters who take the evil that happens to them –
and make it their bitch.
Welcome to
“survival erotica” – a phrase several of my readers have used to describe my
writing when it ventures into darkness. As an abuse and rape survivor, I
take these events – as well as my characters’ recovery and healing – very
seriously. Many of you have told me your stories.
May you find
your happily ever after.
Shayne
Table
of Contents
May
Why
am I in so much pain?
Where
am I?
How
did I get here?
What
is the
last thing
I remember?
My
name is Elliana Fields…right? Yes. Elliana Monica Fields. My
family calls me Ellie.
It
smells musty here. It’s dark as night but that doesn’t seem right.
Why doesn’t it seem right?
Come
on, Ellie. How many episodes of
Criminal Minds
have you
watched? Too many hours to be healthy. Think, damn it!
The
last thing…I was jogging.
Yes,
I was jogging my usual trail around the municipal airfield and community
park. I stopped at the halfway point to hydrate and stretch.
Running again…I remember the sound of two small planes taking off. One
was likely a crop duster from the sound. The other was a rich man’s
toy.
A
small dog running full out for the main entrance as a little girl in pigtails
tried to catch his leash. Her winded mom couldn’t believe I caught the
hellion of a Shih Tzu who would have surely become a fluffy greasy spot on the
blacktop. The little girl going on and on about me saving little
Biscuit’s
life
like a
hero
.
Laughing
and calling goodbye before running again. I passed Little League practice
where boys were working on sliding home. They were the age Preston would
be now. Maybe a bit older. Thinking of Preston always makes me
smile even as my heart hurts.
Banishing
my sad thoughts, I ran for the woods that surrounded the park on three sides
and loomed ahead. Shade and cooler temperatures beckoned and I stayed on
the path as it wound through the greenery.
I
took out one of the ear buds to my MP3 when I noticed a shadow behind and to my
left.
Turning…
A
flash of pain then darkness.
I’m
lying on dirt, I think. I can’t see. I can’t tell if it’s dark or
my eyes simply aren’t working. I try to lift my arm but searing pain
brings tears to my eyes. I think it may be broken.
Carefully,
I try the other arm. Pain but not so bad I can’t move it slowly towards
my head. My face is wet and dirty, horribly swollen around my cheeks and
eyes. A huge lump is seeping warm and sticky blood behind my ear.
“Hello?”
There is no way anyone will have heard that. My throat is raw and there is
a foul taste in my mouth. It is something completely alien to me but I
recognize it anyway and suddenly I’m frozen. I know what has happened to
my body though my mind does not remember the details.
The
realization causes my focus to clear with a snap and I take in the world around
me.
I
can hear the faint sounds of metal bats hitting baseballs. Further away,
the sound of a dog barking. I’m still in the municipal park.
In
the wooded section of the park there are large steel sheds that contain sprinkler
pumps, electrical boxes for the field lights, and one that contains the
landscaping equipment used to maintain the popular spot for families, couples,
and joggers. I’m in one of those buildings. Landscaping, I
think. I smell fresh grass and wood mulch.
Running
my hand over my torso, I confirm my nudity and a shudder of revulsion wracks my
frame.
“Hyde?”
I manage to whisper. There is no answer and dread fills me.
Swallowing,
which is the reverse of what my body is
screaming
I do, I take as much
air in my lungs as possible and shout, “Help!” Though it is still not as
loud as I would like, the steel walls around me help to magnify my voice.
Resting
only a few seconds, I gather my strength and try again. And again.
And again.
From
outside, I hear a young boy’s voice ask, “Mom? Did you hear that?”
I
shout again, desperate now. So tired and
hating
my weakness.
“Mom,
someone’s calling for help!”
“Ricky,
are you
sure
? I didn’t hear anything. I don’t think you
should be playing by these buildings, honey.”
This
time, I put everything I have left into a scream for help that translates to
sheer agony throughout my entire body. I hear the mother of my savior
trying to open the heavy door of the building I’m in. The scraping of the
metal is both beautiful and horrific. I can see a lightening on the other
side of my eyelids so I believe it is still daylight.
She
is closer now and I hear her gasp, “Oh my sweet god, no.” Two steps back
to the door and she yells to her son, “Ricky, stay back, honey. Run and
get Daddy
right now
and have him call 911. Go, baby. As fast
as you can.”
Then
the woman is kneeling by my side. She takes the hand of the arm that
isn’t broken in hers and just holds it. “My name is Jamie Vasquez.
We’re going to get you help. I don’t want to frighten you but I’m going
to lay my jacket over your body. I can’t move you, I’m sorry. But
I’ll stay with you until help comes.” The woman has a slight Hispanic
accent and seconds later I feel fabric settle over my breasts and upper
thighs. “Can you tell me your name, honey?”
I
hear the pounding of many feet on the hard-packed dirt path where I’d been
jogging. I know they’re coming closer. With effort, because I have
no resources left to draw on, I tell her, “My family calls me Ellie.
Don’t let anyone disturb the scene.”
“Okay,
I’ll do everything I can, I promise. Are you a police officer, Ellie?”
“
Criminal
Minds
.” Then blackness reaches out for me and I’m thankful, so
fucking
thankful
, to slide into it. “Find…Hyde. He’s
hurt. He must be hurt so bad.”
Mid-July
After
my attack in the park, there were two things I was most grateful for.
One, living in a small town an hour’s drive from a major metropolis. Two,
being rich as Midas. The money my estate threw at the local media could
have built a hospital wing and very likely did.