Blood is Thinner Than Water

Voice Recording 4 - 10/15/2019 6:15 AM

I finally managed to find some shelter. With a stroke of luck, I found an abandoned trailer after a couple of hours of wandering aimlessly. (There seems to be a lot of abandoned things in this woods). The trailer is a little run down, dusty, cobwebbed, and completely barren with only a mattress. It will have to do. Although I was hoping to find some food. I do not care how old the food would be. I need something for my growling stomach and dry throat.

I guess if there is one thing about having a pampered life, it does not in any way prepare you for roughing it out in the wild. I don't even have a rain coat to shield me from the pouring rain. At least this trailer has a roof, even if it is leaking in some parts.

I am cold, I am tired, and I am hungry. If I don't get food in me soon, I will perish. For water, I cup my hands together, stand over by a leaking part of the roof, watch it puddle in my cusped hands, and take a sip once enough was gathered. I do that a few times before my throat was satisfied.

I sit on the mattress, watching the rain pour down. Paranoid, I go to every window at least once every few minutes, keeping any eye out for my pursuer. Maybe, hopefully, the rain will prove too much for him and he will give up and go home. Though knowing him, nothing makes him give up that easily.

....

That night I came home from the FBI, as soon as I got in the door I felt big, rough hands on my shoulders. Before I knew it, I was pushed up against the wall real tight. Jake had such a strong grip on me that I could not even twitch if I wanted to.

His dark brown eyes that were usually so kind and warm to me, were cold and filled with rage as his hot breath flashed in my face.

"Tell me the truth. I tried calling you five times, left five messages, and after no response called your boyfriend. He told me that some guy in a trench coat came by as you were closing, claiming to be the FBI," He briskly says in a deep throated tone.

I was so scared, never having him act this way towards me before that I gasped for a few seconds before I could utter out one syllable.

"Jake, I promise I didn't tell them anything..."

"You are lying! You think I don't know you better than anybody? Look, you're trembling. If you have nothing to tell me you wouldn't be so nervous right now."

"That's because you're hurting me," I cried out, wincing from the pain of his strong hold. Tears started welling up in my eyes but he did not let up.

"What did you tell them? Why were you gone so long?" He started shaking me viciously. "Tell me."

I started crying, not saying anything.

"Tell me!!!"

"I didn't tell them anything! I swear I didn't!" I finally managed to utter out.

Jake then started squeezing me tighter, almost making it hard for me to breathe. He then patted me down, I guess searching for a wire, which good thing the FBI didn't go that route, because he would have easily ripped it off me. At first, I was afraid he would search through my purse.

"What did they tell you about me?" He jerked my face towards his. His eyes felt like they were peeling into my soul, searching for the truth. "Huh?"

I gasped and took a few deep breaths, trying to blink away my tears. There was no use lying to him.

"I found the finger."

His eyes had widened at that point. I didn't see it coming until I felt it and went straight to the ground.

A hot flashing pain seared on my right cheek. He had slapped me. He never once hit me. I was crying more out of shock than the pain.

I could not believe that he actually slapped me. I guess looking back at it now, I should have seen this coming.

"God Damn it, Marleen. Didn't I tell you not to go snooping into the back office?" He grabbed me, hoisted me up and led me to the kitchen counter, going into the knife drawer.

I tried escaping from his grasp but it was no use. He was way stronger than me, and knowing what he was about to do next, I was doomed.

I felt a sharp metal edge against my neck, just waiting for him to end it already. I closed my eyes tight, chewed my upper lip hoping the pain of that would distract me from the sheer pain that was to come.

"You know I can kill you for this! If the guys find out about this...it would be my head!"

By the guys, he must be referring to the guys I always thought as my uncle's friends and coworkers who I knew since I was little.

I heard him take a deep breath before he released me, throwing me away from him. He threw the knife back in the drawer, slamming it shut.

"You should have kept your mouth shut!" He said before he turned away from me, running his hands through his dark brown hair in distress. He leaned against the counter, sighing exasperatedly which turned into a scream.

I never had to experience this behavior of his personally. I used to witness him coming home stressed out from his job every now and then, but never did I do anything to upset him this greatly til that moment.

I had stood there, in the middle of the kitchen, not wanting to get any closer to him. Knowing that I was a hair length away from being murdered by my own uncle, the only person I used to trust with my life, was more heartbreaking than scary. I hoped that he and I could make our relationship stronger as time would go on, that he would be there for me for anything like he always used to.

I had that sinking feeling and worry that things would not be the same between us going forward.

Neither one of us had said anything for a good few beats until I was surprisingly able to break the silence. Still shaking, I said the only thing that I could say at any given situation, the only thing that remained unchanged despite what had went on those few moments.

"I love you, Jake. I could never tell them anything because you mean so much to me..."

He said nothing to me. FIguring that he wasn't going to respond, I had started going towards the stairs. I was halfway up them when he said to me,

"I want you out of here tomorrow. In fact, you can leave town for all I care because you're no longer considered my niece."