Family Ties (Rewritten)

The Phone

Vincent:

If there is one location from my past that haunts my memories, it's the dark woods.  The times I ran away from my father while he was in a drunken stupor, the times I had to drag my sister back home after finding her fucking a football player, the bodies I've had to bury; nothing good ever came from being in the dark woods. 

But that's exactly where we were. 

We couldn't stay in the motel after what Stella had done to those creeps, and going back to her parent's cabin was too risky.  Luckily, my dad showed me many different dark wooded locations to carry on all kinds of illegal activities.  He was a piece of shit who knew how to break the law.

The apple didn't fall far from the tree, I suppose.

Hope was bent over my shoulder, weeping into her gag as I carried her to what she was probably assuming would be her final resting place. 

Stella walked beside me, gnawing on her lip with tears in her eyes.  I think she was still processing what she....or her alter ego....had done.

"This is far enough," I said, tossing Hope down on to the cold ground. We hiked about five miles away from the road. Unless there was a troop of Boy Scouts or someone hunting deer, there was no way anyone would easily find us.

Stella kneeled beside Hope and placed the palm of her hand underneath her nostrils. "You need to take the tape off her mouth soon. She's not breathing very well, due to stress. She could go into shock if she can't catch her breath."

"In a minute," I said, "I want to get a picture of her with her mouth gagged and eyes taped shut. That'll show Emily that I'm not fucking around."

Hope mumbled something into the tape.

"Shhh," Stella patted her arm and whispered, "Don't stress yourself out anymore, sweetheart. I'm going to make sure nothing happens to you."

What the fuck? 

Did she not know I was standing right there?

Anger surged through me, and without thinking, I wrapped my hand around her skinny arm and yanked her about twenty feet from Hope.  "What the hell's the matter with you?" I growled, causing her eyes to widen.  "Whose side are you on?"

"Y-yours."

"Then why are you promising to keep that bitch safe?  It's my decision whether she lives or dies."

"I was only trying to-"

"Well, don't."

"Vincent, why are you-"

"Shut your fucking mouth."

Her eyes filled with tears all over again.  I shouldn't have been speaking to her this way, especially after what she had done, but she had no right to act like she was in control.  This was my show.

I sighed and released her.  Red finger marks covered her arm.  "Look, I'm not trying to come off like some controlling bastard. This is so important to me. I hope you understand that."

She nodded her head. "I do."

"Don't go putting anymore ideas into Hope's head, okay. I need her terrified of both of us."

"Yes, alright. I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted." 

I took her hand into mine, as a sign that I wasn't angry with her, and we walked back over to where Hope was lying on the ground.  I propped her up against a tree and pulled out the disposable phone Stella bought, snapping a couple of pictures before ripping the tape off of Hope's mouth.  "Is Emily's phone number the same as before?"

She didn't say a word.

"Fucking answer me, bitch."

She maintained her silence.

My hand balled into a fist. Stella looked away as I brought it down hard on Hope's mouth. "I'm not messing around here! Answer me!"

Her lips quivered before they slowly parted. 

I smiled in triumph, thinking she was going to give in to my demand.  Instead, she spit on my face.  A tooth flew out of her mouth.  Grimacing, I wiped the bloody saliva from my cheek.  "Nasty whore.  If you won't cooperate, there's no use in you living."

"Fine, kill me.  I'd rather be dead than help you."

I pulled the knife from my pocket. 

"Wait," Stella said, "It's a disposable phone.  Call her old number and see if she answers. If she does, hang up and send her the pictures."

The knife fell from my hand. "Good thinking."

Hope scoffed. "You really think she has the same number after seven years? You can't be that-"

"Shut up."

"Or what?"

I backhanded her cheek. "I said shut up!"

Her lips curled into a smile. "You're still the same damn coward you were seven years ago. I know for a fact you couldn't take me on in a fight if I wasn't tied up. You couldn't handle losing to a woman."

She was trying to anger me.

I wouldn't give her the satisfaction.

"I wouldn't lose to you."  I said calmly.

"Your broken nose says otherwise."

"Actually," Stella interjected, "I was mistaken. It's not broken. Just severely bruised."

"Who the fuck cares!?" I roared, losing against my battle with anger.  "Cover her mouth, for God's sake, so I can make this call!!"

"That's right, Vincent. You always have to resort to silencing women when-"

Stella gently placed her hand over Hope's mouth with an apologetic look in her eyes.

My fingers trembled as I dialed the number.

What would I do if she answered?

Would I be able to resist speaking to her?

My heart slammed against my chest and the phone rang once...twice...three times. I started to give up, but then...

"Hello?"

Oh, God.

It was her.