I'll Never Let You Go

Chapter Eight

"O, human love! thou spirit given,
On Earth of all, we hope in Heaven!"
- Edgar Allan Poe

After a seemingly endless drive to the police station, the officers booked her and explained the charges against her. Afterward, Morticia was roughly escorted into a large holding cell. It was empty but for one woman in the corner, snoring. She was asleep and completely unaware of the panic and horror that Morticia was experiencing. Not only was she in jail, but Gomez was still out there.

The cell next to hers was packed with large, crude men. They cursed at one another and arm-wrestled. They were wild and angry. An officer would bang on the door every few minutes to get them to quiet down. A few of the men noticed her immediately and began cat-calling her. She stood straight, with an expressionless face, and did what she could to ignore them.

- Gomez -

Gomez heard the door slam open once more and two loud bangs that he thought were gunshots. There was so much yelling that he couldn't distinguish what anyone was saying. After things quieted down, he dared to stand up and see what was happening. A woman in a store uniform saw him.

"There's another one!" she screamed. "He led them in here!"

He turned his head and saw several police officers with the woman. They seized him and shoved him into a squad car with the thugs. He was thankful that the officers had handcuffed each of them because the thugs were livid. They shouted and cursed at him the entire ride. When they were finally let out of the squad car, Gomez noticed something shiny in one of the thugs' seats. It was Morticia's ring! With some difficulty, since he was also handcuffed, he grabbed the ring and put it in his pocket. They crammed the four of them into an already full holding cell when they entered the station. He scrambled as far away from the thugs as he could get.

He pressed himself up against the bars on the side of the cell, as the thugs closed in on him. However, just as they reached him, an officer banged on the bars, breaking them up. The thugs glared at him, cracked their knuckles, and kept their distance.

Gomez breathed a sigh of relief and turned his back to them. He wasn't exactly free of them, but at least he was safe for the moment. His gaze fell on an old woman in the corner of the cell next to the one holding him. She was sound asleep, which was very impressive, given the noise that all the men in his cell were making. They were yelling at one another and catcalling the woman in the other cell.

Strange, he thought, that they would take this much interest in a sleeping woman.

Then, he realized that this woman wasn't the only one in that cell. There was another that many of the men were focused on. A lovely creature, with raven hair and a beautiful black dress. His querida, his love, his wife was in the cell right next to his.

- Morticia -

Morticia fought to keep her face expressionless as she listened to the foul language directed at her by the other inmates. She kept her arms crossed and faced forward. Her mind raced, trying to come up with a way out.

"Querida?" she heard amongst the slurs. She couldn't help herself. She spun around, searching for him in the crowd.

And there he was.

He was disheveled and exhausted, but there he was.

Their eyes met, and all of her worries melted away.

"Gomez!" she cried, rushing over to him. She reached through the bars and stroked his cheek. He placed his hand over hers.

"Morticia," he whispered and leaned in to kiss her.

Then, Morticia felt a shock of pain and was pulled away from Gomez. Another inmate seized a chunk of her hair and pulled her to him. Her head slammed into the bars and she cried out in pain.

"You're mine, bitch," the man whispered, pulling her face close to his. She could hear Gomez yelling, but all she could see was the man's beady eyes and yellow teeth. The man reached through the bars and slid his hand down her body.

Gomez jumped on top of the man. He was much larger than Gomez, so Gomez didn't do much damage, but he startled him enough that he loosened his grip on Morticia. She pulled herself free and scrambled away from him. She saw the inmate throw Gomez off of him. Gomez landed with a thud, but if it hurt, he didn't show it. He turned his head to her.

"Tish!" Gomez yelled. "Are you okay?"

She was so shocked by the situation that she couldn't say anything, but she managed to nod her head.

All the excitement had stirred up the male offenders once more. The inmate that grabbed Morticia was standing over Gomez, cracking his knuckles. An officer banged on the bars, and the larger inmate stepped away from Gomez. Her husband stood up and ran to the bars again. She started to go to him, but he stopped her.

"No, Tish, stay back," he commanded. She obeyed and backed up against the opposite wall. Her head hurt, and she was feeling light-headed. Despite all of that, she couldn't take her eyes off her husband. It felt like if she did, he might disappear again.

That same officer came up to the cells again, but this time, they unlocked Morticia's cell. He walked over to Morticia and handcuffed her again. He pulled her out of the cell and down a hallway.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked, scared and confused. She tried to turn back to Gomez, but the officer had a tight grip on her. He didn't answer her questions.

"Please, where are we going?" He didn't reply.

"Gomez!" she called in desperation. "Gomez!"

Thanks for reading! I recognize that my depictions of jail are inaccurate, but I thought that they made the story work well, so I'm going with it. I appreciate all of you who have been keeping up with this story. Don't forget to vote if you enjoyed it!