The Divide: Origins (20 page)

“I
don’t like where this is going. I’m just going to . . .”

“You’re
not going anywhere,” Timothy said and grabbed her arm.

“Has
anyone ever told you how my mother died?” he asked.

“No.”

“We
had no food, so Dad stole some from a group about four hours north of here. He
tried to be stealthy about it, but they came after us on foot. We ran as long
as we could, but he just wasn’t willing to give up the food, and I knew we
weren’t going to make it. My parents wouldn’t listen to me, and my mom was
carrying the pack that he put everything in. I shot her in the leg when I knew
I wasn’t going to be able to run for much longer. Dad wanted to stop, but there
was nothing he could do. We had a dozen angry people on our trail. We had to
run. Because of what I did, we survived. He can’t even look at me now, but we
would be dead if I hadn’t made that decision. It was his weakness not to let go
of the supplies that really got her killed. I think he knows that.”

“Why
are you telling me this?”

“To
show you that I’m strong. I’ll do whatever it takes to survive in this world,
and if you’re with me, that protection goes for you, too.”

“You
didn’t protect anyone. You just killed your mother. You’re sick, Timothy.”

“I
did what was necessary and took a life to save my own. That’s what the strong in
this world do. We take what’s ours. That’s what I’m doing right now,” he said
and ran his hand up her thigh.

“Liam
will kill you if he finds out what you’re doing. You need to let me go.”

“I’m
two years older than him and twice his size. Forgive me if I don’t think he can
hurt me,” he said and kissed her neck.

“Just
let me go. No one has to know about this,” Zoe said as he put his hands around
her neck.

He
squeezed until she felt like she was going to die. As he did, he had a look of
complete satisfaction on his face. This wasn’t only going to be about sex for him.
Timothy had a sick need for control. As he looked down at her desperation to
breathe, he knew he held her life in his hands. Nothing could have given him a
bigger rush than that. He released Zoe as the color started to vanish from her
face, and she gasped for air. He wasted no time in pulling her shorts off while
she was concentrated on breathing. Then he made his way up to her lips and
kissed her. When he slipped his tongue into her mouth, Zoe bit down hard
causing him to retreat backward. She took that opportunity to run for the door,
but he jumped on top of her from behind and slammed her head into the floor. It
was over. Zoe didn’t have any fight left. She was already lightheaded from
being choked, and the blow to her head had taken the rest of what she had. As
she lay there, she thought about only one person. She hadn’t acknowledged it to
him, but she loved Liam. Would this change everything? Would he see her as
damaged now? For that matter, was she damaged? How could she ever look at
anyone the same after this experience?

Before
Timothy could do anything else, they heard the front door open, and he jumped
off her. She quickly got her clothes and backed into a corner.

“Get
dressed now, and walk out like there’s nothing wrong. If you tell anyone what
happened, I’ll kill Liam and then you. Do we understand each other?” Timothy
asked.

Zoe
shook her head and got dressed. Then she walked out of his room and toward the
door. Mrs. Leland stopped her before she could leave, though.

“I
didn’t know you were here, Zoe. How have you been?” she asked.

“I’m
fine,”
Zoe
said while holding back tears.

“Are
you sure? You don’t look okay.”

“I’m
all right. I’ve just got to go,” she said and walked out the door.

She
went straight home and into her room. Zoe shut the door and simply sobbed into
a pillow. She had almost been raped, and there was no doubt that she had been
sexually assaulted. If Mrs. Leland hadn’t come in when she did, then who knows
what could have happened? Timothy had already killed his mother, so she figured
that’s exactly what he was going to do to her after he raped her. It wasn’t
over either. As long as Timothy was still breathing, he would be a threat to
her. Zoe wasn’t scared of much, but he terrified her. She couldn’t be the one
to kill him, and letting Liam try to do it was off the table. Timothy was
right. He was older and stronger than Liam. If Zoe asked him to solve this
problem, then he would end up dead. While she was thinking about all that, Liam
walked into her room to find her crying.

“What’s
wrong?” he asked.

“It’s
nothing. I just need to be alone.”

“It’s
obviously something. We’ve been through too much together to start keeping
secrets now. You can tell me anything. I promise.”

“All
right, but I don’t need you to do anything about it. I just need you to
listen.”

“Okay.”

“I’m
serious.”

“I
know. Just tell me what’s going on.”

Zoe
had no idea what telling Liam would do or even if it was the right thing, but
she had to let someone know. She just had to hope that he would be able to take
the news better than she was.

Chapter 20

A Storm Is Coming

“This
can’t be real. Did he . . .” Liam said before Zoe cut him off.

“His
aunt came home right before he could. Otherwise, I don’t know what would’ve
happened.”

“I’ll
be right back,” Liam said and started to stand, but Zoe grabbed his hand.

“Don’t
do anything stupid. A storm is blowing in. You need to be inside, and I don’t
want to see him hurt you, too.”

“He
won’t hurt me. It’s me who’s going to do the hurting.”

“Liam,
I need you here right now. I don’t know what to do about this. Fighting him
isn’t going to make things better. It might even make them worse. Can you help me
figure out a real solution?”

“I
already have one, but I can’t say you’ll like it. For now, I’ll just concentrate
on you, though. Are you okay?”

“No.
I really thought he was going to kill me at one point. We seemed so safe here.
I let my guard down, and this is what happened. I guess I was stupid. You can’t
trust anyone now.”

“That’s
not true. You can trust me. I don’t want to leave you, but I’ve got to take
care of a few last minute things to do with work before the storm rolls in. Are
you going to be all right until I get back?”

“I’ll live.”

“Good.
When I get back, we’ll talk as much about this as you need.”

“What
if I don’t want to talk about it at all? What if I want to pretend it never
happened?”

“Then
we’ll do that, too. You should know something up front. No matter what he did,
it could never make me look at you any differently. You’re not a victim in my
eyes. You’re strong. Most of all, you’re the girl I love.”

“Love?”

Liam
had never said that word before. It was true that they were very close, but in
the reality they were living in, it seemed like bad luck to say that word.
People died all the time. Only bad things could result from opening yourself to
feelings like love, and they closed themselves off to it in order to avoid
future pain.

“Yeah.
I love you. I have for a couple of months. I was too afraid to say it before,
but it’s the truth. Pretending that I don’t so we won’t get attached is just a
lie. My happiness is already linked to yours,” Liam said.

“I
love you, too. That’s why you can’t go after him. Promise me that you’ll stay
away from Timothy.”

“I
promise. I’ll be back soon,” Liam said and gave her a soft kiss.

He
had no plans of staying away from Timothy. There was no extra duty that he had to
get done before the storm came. All he needed to do was kill a threat against
the girl he loved. He walked over to Troy’s house and tapped on Timothy’s
window.

“What
are you doing? The skies are starting to look wicked. You need to get inside,”
Timothy said.

“We
have some things to talk about. You need to sneak out so we can settle this.”

“Is
this about Zoe?”

“Yeah.
Come on. It won’t take long. We can be back before it gets too bad.”

“Fine,”
Timothy said and snuck out the window.

Liam
led him outside of the city and deep into the woods. They never said a word to
each other on the way. Timothy knew what was going on. Liam wasn’t leading him
out there to talk. What he had in mind
was
murder. It
wouldn’t hurt to try to persuade him to let things go, however. When they
stopped, Timothy made up a cover story for everything that happened that day.

“You’re
my best friend, and I want to explain before you do something rash. I shouldn’t
have come between you and her. It was wrong, and I apologize,” he said.

“You
tried to rape her, Tim. I would say that goes past trying to come between us
and goes straight to psychotic behavior. I can’t let something like that go.”

“Is
that
what she told you? It wasn’t
even close to rape. She came onto me, and I went with it. She’s pretty, and we
don’t have many choices now. I couldn’t bring myself to go through with it,
though. I stopped right before things could happen. She got pretty angry, and I
was scared something like this could happen. I know you love her, man, but I
think Zoe might be twisted. She tried to have sex with me, and when I rejected
her, she made up this story to put us at odds.”

“That’s
complete bullshit, and we both know it. Only one of us is going back to town,
so you might as well tell me the truth before you die.”

“Fine.
Don’t be so sure I’ll be the one dying, though. I saw something I wanted in
Zoe, and I decided to take it. That’s the world we live in now. There’s nothing
wrong with that.”

“You’re
the one who’s twisted.”

“You
can think that, but you know I’m right. The strongest will thrive in this
world. If you take a step back and really think about it, you’ll see that
you’re not one of the strong ones. I could protect you and Zoe, but she’s going
to be mine now.”

“Over
my dead body.”

“That
can be arranged. It’s funny. For as scared as she was, I think she enjoyed what
happened today. The look in her eyes as I wrapped my hands around her neck was
one of fear, but there was something else there. It was such an exhilarating
look. Then when I slipped my hands around her waist and started to make her
mine, she gave in. Your girl didn’t even fight in the last moments. If we weren’t
interrupted, she would’ve found that the moment she had been trying so hard to
run away from was everything she desired. Face it, Liam. You’re a sheep. You
can’t protect her, and you could never be what I am for her. You’re just a boy.
I can take things from here with Zoe.”

“Let’s
get this over with. She’ll never be with you, and after today, no one will.”

“Is
there any way I can convince you to go home so I don’t have to kill you?”

“No.
We’re past making peace now.”

“So
be it,” Timothy said and came at him.

He
tackled Liam to the ground and wrapped his hands around his neck. This wasn’t
about pleasure like it was with Zoe, though. It was about snapping his neck as
soon as he could. As Liam struggled for air, he came to a realization. Timothy
was far stronger than him, and if he didn’t fight with all he had, he would be
dead within the next minute. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a
pocketknife. Then he grabbed Timothy’s right ear and hacked it off. Timothy
fell off him and screamed in agony. Liam, meanwhile, backed away from him and
caught his breath. He had almost died, but now the odds had fallen back into
his favor. There was nothing left to do but end this. Liam stood and walked
over to his former friend. He raised his knife and attempted to plunge it into
Timothy’s gut, but he caught his hand in midair and swept his legs out from
underneath him. As Liam crashed to the ground, the knife came loose. Timothy
simply grabbed it and threw it to the side. He had lost an ear thanks to Liam,
and he wasn’t going to give him an easy death by slitting his throat. He was
going to beat him to death.

Timothy
kicked him in the ribs several times and got on top of him. Then he pounded him
in the face over and over again until bruises and cuts covered Liam. Just when
Liam was about to black out, Timothy stopped and looked down at him. He knew
that the fight was over, and it was time to give his best friend a last
message.

“I
want you to know something. I’ll think of you every time I’m with Zoe. Don’t
worry, though. You’ll see her again soon enough. When I get tired of her body,
I’ll bring her out to this same spot and get rid of her,” he said.

“You’re
crazy.”

“No.
I’m just a shark in a world full of weak vermin. Now, die.”

“You
first,” Liam said and grabbed a stick.

He shoved it into the side of Timothy’s
neck. Blood spurted from the wound, and Timothy fell off him. Liam watched as
the boy who hurt Zoe choked on his own blood. There was no regret or guilt in
him. Liam was happy to watch him slowly die.
As the wind
picked up and the rain began to come down, Timothy’s life ended.
It was
done. There was only one problem. Liam was exhausted. He had several fractured
ribs, a lot of bruising on his face, and his brain felt like it had been
rattled around in his head a little too much. He was dizzy, and walking was a
hard thing to do. Still, he had to at least try to move. When he stood, he felt
even dizzier, however, and he fell back to the ground. He vomited, and a
strange feeling overtook him. Then the world started to go black, and every
muscle in his body felt like it was as tight as it could get. Liam didn’t know
what was happening, but he thought he might be dying.

* * * * *

When
the rain started to come down back at the house, Zoe realized that Liam hadn’t
really gone to do any work. He had been gone too long, and she knew what that
meant. He was with Timothy, and odds were that one of them wasn’t coming back. She
had to do something, but she didn’t know what. Max walked into her room to see
that she was in a panic. Zoe tried to hide the way she felt, but he saw
straight through her.

“What’s
wrong?” he asked.

“It’s
nothing. I can’t talk about it right now.”

“Why
not?”

“I
just can’t.”

“Okay.
Does it have to do with Liam? I haven’t seen him, and this isn’t the time for
him to run off. The last storm we had was really bad. Three people died in it,
and I’m sure this one will be no different. If you guys had a fight . . .”

“We’re
not fighting.”

“Then
what is it? This is one of those times when I’m trying to put on the parent hat
and be what you need, but you’ve got to give me something. If I don’t know
what’s wrong, I can’t help.”

“Timothy
tried to rape me. He’s crazy. I found out he was the one who killed his mother,
too. I told Liam, and he said he wouldn’t go after him, but I think that’s
where he’s at now.”

“Wait
a minute. What do you mean he tried to rape you? What happened?”

Zoe
told him everything. He knew for a fact that Liam was with Timothy by the time
she was finished. If he had known what that kid tried to do to her, he would
have killed him, too. This was serious business, though. Timothy was older and
stronger. One
of their own
could be in trouble.

“I’ll
find him. Don’t you worry for a second,
Zoe.
I’m sorry
that happened to you. Rest assured that
I’ll
make sure
it never happens again, and I promise I’ll be bringing back a boy who would
never hurt you. Liam’s going to be fine, and even if it doesn’t feel like it right
now, you will be, too,” Max said.

“It
doesn’t feel like this will ever be all right.”

“I
know. I’ll make it better, though. You just have to realize two things. The
first is that none of this was your fault. The other is equally as important.
You can’t stop trusting people. That kid was sick. Not everyone is like him. In
fact, I think there’s a lot of good in this world. Don’t let someone like him
steal the trusting and innocent side of yourself.”

“I’ll
try.”

“Good.
Hang tight here. Rebecca and I are going to find him. We’ll be right back,” Max
said and walked straight to Rebecca.

He
told her everything, and then they walked from door to door to see if anyone
had seen Liam. One person had. He said that Liam and Timothy had walked into
the woods about an hour before and pointed them in the right direction. As the
wind grew worse, Max and Rebecca knew that they had to hurry. If Timothy didn’t
kill him, then the weather would soon enough. While they walked, she expressed
doubt in the situation.

“Do
you really think we’re going to find him? He’s a strong kid, but judging
strictly by size, I don’t think he could defend himself against Timothy,” she
said.

“He’s
stronger than you think. He fought to the death in that prison and won. That
proves he’ll do whatever it takes to stay alive. I don’t think we should doubt
him for one second.”

“Okay,
but why do you think he just ran off like that? He should’ve told one of us. We
could’ve talked to Troy and gotten all of this straightened out.”

“Timothy
is his nephew. He would’ve wanted to help him. Troy already knows what he did
to his mother, and he’s still letting him stay here. If he can live with that,
I’m pretty sure he can accept Timothy hurting Zoe. Liam didn’t want a slap on
the wrist for Timothy. He wanted to give him what he deserved, which is death.”

“So
you would’ve done the same?”

“If
someone tried to hurt you, I would slowly rip them apart piece by piece. If Zoe
had come to me first, I would be the one in these woods killing Timothy. I
don’t care if he is a kid. We don’t need someone like him in our town. Troy
can’t see that, but it’s the truth. What do you think?”

“I
can’t say I would be sad to see him die. This is a lot bigger than just
revenge, though. It could affect everything about our futures. If Troy loves
this kid enough to give him a second chance after he killed his sister, then I
bet he’ll hold a grudge against us when he finds out Liam killed his nephew. He
already doesn’t like you because you shot his brother.”