Summer Rain

XXXIX ~ Unchained

{Paint - The Paper Kites}

... I need a love just like you gave, I haven't found it yet, haven't found it yet, maybe we'd marry, and we'd work out fine, in some other time, some other time...

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AVA

        Remembering that day, and all of the dust that was blown from under the rug into people's view, leaves me reeling as it all ended as quickly as it began. I remember it as vividly and yet as sparsely as a drunken night under disco lights where certain breaths are remembered more than others, and certain words and actions still linger in each goosebump and catch in my throat. I still remember the day it ended.

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July 26th

        Like the aftermath of a war, when all has become desolate and cold, I watched as Tim was trapped beyond the barrier of a police car as the blue lights blinded me. There was no white flag in the murderous glare of his eyes, only a burning rage for the way his empire had crumbled around him. The heavy stone weight of the shadowy figure who seemed to hold tight to us like a puppeteer to his stringed marionettes was gone, fading into the hollows that my heart had been left with. Hollows of uncertainty and the promise that 'now' was over. Summer was ending, and I could feel the curtain closing. I had to take the final bow. 

1 Hour Before

        Elliot's hands had gripped the steering wheel as we sped down the winding roads after leaving the diner, feeling our limbs shake. The phone call to the police themselves left me reeling as when I told them the reason I needed police assistance, and the woman paused at the mention of Tim's name, the feeling of saying it aloud leaving an acrid taste in my mouth, like venom. She returned and passed me over to a man named Detective Peterson who informed me that the police would be on standby but that they had been tracking Tim for the last decade and were trying to bring justice to him. After all, Elliot had told me with his tears and broken memories at the diner, I knew that the detective meant more than just dodgy dealings. 

    "If you do as I say, we can get him sent away for life." Detective Peterson's voice was so deep and calm. I felt lulled into acceptance. 

        We parked at the back entrance of the club, both of our hearts cold and emotionless as there was a job to be done. We had to make sure my family got out of there alive.  An unmarked SUV sat parked near the shaded trees, and it flashed its beaming lights at us, beckoning us forward. From within, Detective Peterson rolled down the tinted window, handing us microphones.

    "Tape them to yourself and get him to talk about things. He's clearly very alarmed and in a vulnerable position. Don't tell him the police are coming until you give the codeword which is 'seize'." He was so sure we could do it. But how? 

        I could see the hope in Elliot's eyes, a new hope of freedom and of finally getting rid of the demon who held him captive.

    "My family are in there." I felt tears brewing, but I tried to suppress them.

    "There are officers on standby and if your family have been harmed,  don't hesitate to call us in. Understood? We will be able to hear you through these mics, and the sound will record everything."

        I nodded shortly and began preparing myself for the scene that was to lie before me. 

----

30 Minutes Before

        The bright lights of the club twinkled on as guests began to pack and depart back home in blissful ignorance where Elliot and I began the walk to the ballroom. On our way, we heard snippets of conversations of 'I wonder why they closed the ballroom, tonight' and 'it's our last night, it's such a disappointment'. Yet if they knew why, I'm sure they wouldn't have been complaining about the inconvenience.