SCARRED - Part 5 (11 page)

Chloe had to fight the tears back. Damn it! If she cried, he would know something was up.
Be strong, Chloe! Be strong for one more weekend...

“I’ll miss you too,” she told him honestly. “I won’t be gone that long.”

“Chloe...”

“Yeah baby?”

“If anything happened to you...”

“Nothing’s going to happen to me,” she told him.

“Promise?”

“I promise,” she told him with a kiss.

Now she just had to make sure and keep that promise...

******

“W
hat’s going on, Chloe?”

She and Max had been sparring for fifteen minutes. Max knew her well enough to know when her mind was out of the room.

“Nothing. I’ve just got a lot on my plate these days with Derek being home...”

“Don’t bullshit me. If you want to tell me it’s none of my business, then that’s fine, but don’t bullshit me.”

“Okay, it’s none of your business,” she said with traces of a smile.

Max smiled too and said, “You need to relax. Close your eyes. Take some deep breaths.” Chloe still got PTSD when she closed her eyes. Eyes closed was when Jesse did really bad things to her...and her “father.”

“Relax Chloe. Inhale in, exhale out. Deep, cleansing breaths.”

She had her eyes closed. She wasn’t relaxing. She was thinking about her confrontation with Jesse...it was almost time. She had to win that fight or she would lose everything. “Put it all out of your mind. Put Jesse out of your mind...he’s not here...” Chloe doubted that. She was pretty sure that he was right outside somewhere...waiting. “Just you and me, kid. Let it all go.”

Chloe tried to clear her mind. She tried to relax. She couldn’t do it. She’d woken up this morning with a surreal amount of adrenaline surging through her. It wasn’t going anywhere until she had it out with Jesse. She was going to need it for the fight though, so she welcomed it for now.

“You relaxed?”

She nodded.

“You sure?”

She nodded again.

“Okay, open your eyes. Attack!”

Chloe started throwing punches. Max had on all of his protective gear, so they didn’t hurt. She was throwing them as hard as she could. She had to be ready. This was one fight that she couldn’t lose.

“Duck and cover. Move those feet! Don’t stop moving! He’s throwing punches, you need to avoid them and make him throw more. Swinging his fist and arm through the air takes more energy than connecting. Make him work, make him tired, wear him down!”

Chloe struck and bobbed and weaved and danced around Max, making him chase her with his punches and kicks. Max kept going as he talked to her. “Are you his victim, Chloe?”

“No!” Her punch came out harder.

“Can he hurt you ever again?”

“No!” She dodged Max’s giant fist.

“When do you stop fighting?”

“When he’s dead!” She didn’t even shudder that time. She was ready.

Max always walked her out when she finished her work-outs. Today she was counting on it. When they got outside he said, “Drive safe going back.”

“I’m not going back today,” she told him. Max raised an eyebrow and looked around.

“No Jake?”

“He’s out of town with his father at a conference.”

“Where are you staying?”

“At the condo.”

“Chloe...don’t invite him in.”

“Of course not,” she said. She hoped that Jesse was close enough to hear the invitation.

When she got to the condo, she got busy. First, she took the light bulbs out of all of the lights. Next, she put all of the knives and sharp utensils out of the kitchen and put them in a plastic tub. She did the same with the bathroom. Then she did another sweep and removed all of the scissors and anything else with a point.

He would more than likely bring his own knife, but this way she knew she’d only have to deal with one. She took the tub and locked it out in Trevor’s truck. She locked her cell phone in there as well. While she was outside, she could feel him. He was nearby, watching and waiting. The hair on the back of her neck stood up and in spite of herself, her hands slightly trembled.
It’s the adrenaline,
she told herself.
Fight or flight.
Tonight, she would not be the one running.

After she did all of that she locked the bedroom doors from the inside and closed them. She did the same with the bathroom. She wanted to fight him in the living room. It was going to be dark, she couldn’t afford any surprises.

Then she dressed in a pair of black leggings, a long-sleeved black tank top, black boots that had a hard shelled toe, and she slipped her hair into a high knot at the back of her head so it would not come lose.

She was going to be in full black-out mode.

Lastly, she put a large, metal ring on each one of her fingers. She’d bought them at a thrift store in New York the day before. Each one was heavy and solid. She took out the black wraps she bought for her hands and wrapped her knuckles like she does when she’s boxing with Max.

By the time she finished all of that, the sun had begun to go down and the apartment was growing darker. When it was almost full dark, she slipped on a brightly colored robe and wrapped a white towel around her head. Then she lit a candle and went out to the fuse box. She stood there flipping the switches back and forth for quite some time. Finally she went back inside, making sure she left the door unlocked behind her.

Then, she waited.

She stood close to the front door so that when he opened it, she would be at an advantage. Her heart beat as if trying to break free from its cage, pounding so viciously that it was a wonder it didn’t crack a rib. It was full dark now and her senses were on high alert. Every noise was louder than usual...the screech of the seagulls and the ocean beating against the shoreline...and the cars driving by on the main road...and the one that came to an abrupt stop, just up the street.

She could hear the slam of the door and the beat of his footsteps as he walked the rest of the way along the road. They disappeared for a few seconds, but she could see him in her mind. He was trudging through the sand now. He should be hitting the pavement in front of the house...right about now. She concentrated on keeping her breathing in check, breathing in and out slowly and quietly as she watched the glint off the door handle...she watched it turn and then slowly, cautiously it was pushed open. As soon as the light blue shirt he was wearing came into sight, Chloe struck. She turned to the side and kicked him hard in the ribs.

Jesse screamed and went down to the floor.

“Fucking bitch! I’m going to cut you up into pieces and feed you to the sharks!”

Chloe didn’t say a word. She just stood back in the shadows and controlled her breathing and waited. She watched him drag himself up off the floor, favoring that left side. He reached back and flipped the light switch. Nothing happened.

“Fuck! This is so fucking pointless, Kelly. Look at me! I outweigh you by a hundred pounds. You think you can fight me and win? All you’re doing is pissing me off.”

While he talked, his eyes were roaming the room, looking for her. When they finally landed on her, he started to smile. That time she kicked him in the face.

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!”

Blood was spurting out of his nose. His hand was up in front of his face and the blood was oozing through his fingers. “I’m going to kill you, bitch! I’m going to make it last all night! Every muscle and every nerve and every fucking orifice in your body is going to be screaming in agony. You’re fucking dead bitch!”

Chloe stood quietly again. This time in a different place so he would have to look for her again. He was pissed and if he caught her now she had no doubt that she was going to be in serious trouble. Instead of turning his body around to look for her like he did last time, he backed up against the front door. He glanced to his left and his right and then quickly pulled the blue t-shirt off. He pressed it to his face, trying to stop the blood that was gushing out of his nose.

Chloe could hear him breathing.

Each inspiration sounded painful. Jesse had adrenaline on his side as well however. While he was wiping his face, he was looking for her. This time, when he took a step forward and she came at him with a kick, he caught her ankle and twisted it, knocking her body to the floor. He still had hold of her ankle as her head slammed down into the carpet. He turned and started dragging her to the middle of the living room.

“We’re going to end this right where it should have been ended two years ago.” Chloe hung limply and let him drag her as she recovered her breath. When he got to the coffee table and reached down for her she struck out with her other leg, sinking her boot into the soft flesh of his belly. He doubled over, letting go of her leg as he did. He was coughing and choking as Chloe scrambled back to the front door, trying to get up on her feet. By the time she jumped up, facing him, he was recovered enough to throw a punch. It landed right between her eyes and knocked her back about three feet into the end table.

Sharp pain shot up through her lower back and down both of her arms and legs. She didn’t hesitate to get back up though. She used the chair to pull herself to her feet.

He threw another punch.

She dodged it.

She danced around him, letting him throw a few more until he was visibly breathing harder and his broken rib had to be screaming in pain. That was when she threw her own punch. She threw three, actually, just like Max taught her. A right cross, left jab, right uppercut. Jesse went down and on the way his head struck the side of the coffee table. This time, he didn’t come up cussing.

––––––––

H
e lay there not moving. She couldn’t tell from where she stood if he was still breathing. She wasn’t about to get that close to him. Instead, she retreated into the little kitchen and stood next to the glass door and waited, and waited and waited. It was probably close to a twenty minutes later when he started making grunting noises. He tried to sit up.

“Fuck!”

“Does it hurt?” 

“Fuck you!” He said through gritted teeth.

There was blood around the edges of his mouth. Chloe wasn’t sure if it was from his nose, or if she’d knocked out a few teeth. She hoped it was the latter.

“Was it worth all of this, Jesse? You wasted your life...and for what?”

“My life is not over, bitch! Yours is. You’re pathetic. You hang around with rich people and all of a sudden you think you’re worth something. You’re still trash! Daddy’s little scarred whore!”

His words tore a path of rage straight through her chest. That’s what they were designed to do. He was taunting her, wanting her to come close so he could grab her again. That wasn’t going to happen.

“I’m not your victim anymore, Jesse. I’m nobody’s victim.”

“Stupid cunt! You think you can take a few self-defense classes and beat me? If you wanted me dead, you would have bought a gun. You think you’re so tough that you can beat me? You’ll wear yourself down and then I won’t have to fight you while I carve you up. You’re doing me a favor.”

“You’re not going to kill me tonight, Jesse.”

“You’ll have to kill me to stop me.”

“Okay.”

He choked out a strangled laugh. “You’re too pathetic. You won’t kill me. You would feel too bad about taking a human life...”

“I would...if I thought you were a human, Jesse. Killing you would be like stepping on a cockroach. I will happily watch your guts spread out across the floor once your shell is broken.”

He snorted. “You’re not only pathetic and stupid, you’re delusional.”

“Come here, let’s see.”

“You think I’m afraid of you?”

“I don’t see you moving off that floor. Feel safe there do you?”

Jesse reached down and pulled up the leg of his jeans. He reached into his sock and pulled out a knife with a blade that had to be six inches long. It was serrated on one side. He held it up and said, “When I beat you into submission, I’m going to string you up by your feet and gut you...truss you up like a prize kill. Then I’m going to carve you up one little piece at a time.”

“Bring it,” she said.

The sight of the knife brought a new wave of fear and nausea inside of her...but she would die before she let him see it. She watched him push up off the floor with one hand while holding the knife in the other. He grunted, loudly and when he got to his feet, it was easy to see that he was way off balance. He just stood there for several seconds and Chloe wondered if he was going to pass out.

Suddenly, he lunged at her with the knife blade pointed out. She stepped out of the way and he hit the glass door with his face. If Jesse even had a modicum of self-control before that, it was gone now. He screamed like a wild animal and came at her again. Chloe threw a punch that landed on his sore nose, but the tip of the blade he was holding caught her forearm. She felt it slice through skin and muscle, all the way down to the bone.

She didn’t hesitate though...she couldn’t afford to. Attack! She kicked him in the chest and he stumbled back, landing against the glass doors. Attack! She kicked him again, harder this time and the entire door pushed up off its hinges and popped out. Jesse was propelled back with it. As the glass door hit the little wrought iron bistro table on the patio, it shattered.

Jesse’s skull sounded like it did the same thing as the back of his head hit it, bounced up, and hit it again before his body went limp and he crumpled to the ground...on top of the glass. Chloe reached for a dishtowel and wrapped it tightly around her arm. She was starting to get light-headed because she was losing so much blood.

One more scar...but it wouldn’t matter, if he was dead. It was one scar that she would wear proudly like a badge of honor.

She slayed the dragon.

Chloe stood about three feet back and watched him. She didn’t see his chest or his back moving. She couldn’t tell if he was breathing or not. She thought about calling 911...let them decide...but if he wasn’t dead, then she’d have to continue to live in fear.

She took a deep breath and told herself once more, “I’m nobody’s victim anymore.”