Fireworks 1 and 2

Chapter Seventy-Eight

    Trevor dragged her across the garage, still pulling her by her hair, towards his car.

    When she saw where he was dragging her, she started kicking and screaming. She reached out, trying to scratch him. Her nails only caught air.

    He yanked on her hair harder. "Bitch, don't make me hurt you," he said threateningly.

    Tears sprang to her eyes.

    He reached the car, a glossy, black Range Rover. He opened the passenger side door with one hand while keeping the other hand firmly lodged in her hair. He moved to push her into the car.

    She kicked at him and struggled against him. She didn't know where he intended to take her or what he intended to do to her, but she knew that it was quite possible if she got in that car with him, no one would ever see her alive again. While she was here, in the garage of the hotel, she had a shot. Once he managed to get her in that car, though, there was no telling what would happen. Knowing this, she fought for her life.

    He lowered his hand from his hair and grabbed her by the shoulders. "I can make this really easy for both of us if you don't settle down," he yelled at her. "Get in the fucking car!"

    "I'm not getting in the car with you!" she shouted back at him.

    He raised a fist, drew it back, and sent it into her face.

    She saw stars and felt an immense amount of pain. And in the wake of such violence, the thought that registered to her was a strange one. So that's why cartoon characters are drawn with stars floating over their heads whenever they land headfirst after falling. She literally saw stars explode before her eyes. She fell back against the car and slumped down to the ground, bringing a hand up to her head. Her vision went hazy. Everything looked dreamlike.

    Trevor bent down at the waist and picked her up. He started to put her into the car.

    She fought against him but temporarily forgot why she was fighting. Everything seemed so surreal. She mumbled a string of words, and didn't know what she was trying to say. In the midst of the haze, she knew that she wasn't supposed to get in the car with him. Come hell or high water, she couldn't let him put her in the car. She continued to fight against him, and she fought until the haze cleared. Until she remembered who he was and what he'd done to her. Then she raised her own fist, drew it back, and punched him in the face.

                                                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~

    The Omni was a beautifully designed hotel. The decor was colorful and modern. Drake had only stayed there a handful of times. There were other hotels he preferred, but that didn't take away from how tastefully this hotel was furnished. He stood in front of the elevator doors with Shawn, who was positively freaking out.

    Not only was Shawn here to apologize to the woman he loved, but he was here to propose. That was a lot of pressure for a man to take on.

    The elevator doors opened, and the two young men stepped inside. The doors closed a moment later, and the elevator started to ascend.

    Drake furrowed his brows and looked at Shawn. "Try to relax," he said calmingly.

    Shawn nodded.

    When the elevator doors slid open, Drake was the first to step out into the hallway. He turned right, making a note of the room numbers. Shawn nervously trailed behind him. When Drake found the hotel room that Mia and Bri shared, he lifted his hand to knock on the door.

    "The door's already open," Shawn pointed out. "It's cracked."

    Drake frowned and pushed at the door. It swung open.

    Bri was seated on the couch in the living room area, watching television. She must have caught movement out of her eye, because she turned her head. "It took you forever to get up..." The final words in the sentence died in her mouth. She stood up from the couch, staring at her boyfriend. "What are you doing here?"

    Shawn went over to her and wrapped his arms around her.

    She stood there awkwardly, looking over his shoulder at Drake. "What...what is this?"

    "He showed up at my place looking for you," Drake explained, glancing around the hotel suite.

    Shawn started talking a mile a minute.

    Bri turned her attention to him, but she looked shaken.

    Drake, eager to give them time to talk, turned and walked down the hall, peeking into both bedrooms. Mia wasn't in either of them. He returned to the living room. "Where is Mia?"

    Bri turned her head and looked at him. "Last I checked, she was in the parking garage. We went shopping and she was going to bring up the bags." She leaned over and picked her cell phone up from the table. She frowned down at the clock on her phone. "But shit, that seems forever ago. I was wondering what was taking her so long."

    Drake looked towards the door to the hotel suite, feeling a sense of icy dread creep beneath his skin. He ran to the door.

    "I'm sure she's fine!" Bri called after him.

    He wasn't so sure, and it was enough to make him run out of the room and down the hall, back to the elevators. He pressed the Down button and ran a hand over his head. Listen to Bri and stop panicking, he thought. She's probably fine. Maybe there were just a lot of bags. Maybe she's sitting in the car listening to music. Maybe she had to take a phone call. Stop panicking. Stop panicking.

    The elevator dinged and the doors slid open. He stepped into the elevator without hesitation and pressed the G button. While he waited for the elevator to descend down to the garage, he closed his eyes and tried to calm is nerves.

    The elevator doors slid open to reveal a pretty normal-looking garage. Nothing out of the ordinary, just a bunch of parked cars in their respective spaces. Then he heard a scream that made his blood run cold. He darted out of the elevator and turned his head to the right.

    There was a large, black Range Rover parked recklessly, diagonally across two parking spaces. And on the passenger side of that car stood Trevor. And Trevor was holding Mia up in the air...holding her by the throat.