Craving Forgiveness

27

"Who are you?" You asked the mysterious man.

"Don't worry about me. Worry about yourself. You all tried to kill me. And Erik killed the woman I love. So I'm going to kill the women he loves. And he's going to watch."

He yanked you up but your arm and dragged you up out of the house.

He threw you in the trunk and slammed it shut.

You laid there crying and panicking. You had to talk to Charles.

You opened your mind and appeared in the car next to them.

"Charles." He jumped slightly in surprise.
"Atarah." He noticed your tears. "What's wrong?"
"He's here. The man who took Erik. He has me. I'm in his trunk. He..." You burst into tears not being able to contain it anymore. "He's. Gonna. Kill. Me." You said between sobs.
"Atarah. No one is going to kill you. Do you have any idea where he's taking you?"

"He said he was gonna make Erik watch as he killed me."

"Alright Atarah. Listen, we are almost at the location of the warehouse. We will be here when you get there. You'll be safe."

"Tell Erik I love him." You cried.

"You can tell him yourself Atarah. You are not going to die. Do you understand me? Take a deep breath, try to relax, I will get you out of this."

"Okay."

You laid in the trunk crying as the man drove like a bat out of hell to the warehouse.

The car stopped a few times before reaching its final destination.

The trunk opened and the man pulled you out by your arm. You limped along as he dragged you into the warehouse.
"You better not try anything maybe if you're a good girl the torture won't last as long."

"Oh what a gentleman." You bit back.

He threw you to the ground and stepped on your broken ankle causing you to scream in pain.

He bent down to you and grabbed you harshly by your neck. " You have a smart mouth Ms. Kennedy. I don't like it. Watch how you talk to me."

He yanked you up again and continued towards the warehouse.

I heard you scream Atarah, are you alright?

Just peachy Charles.

The man opened the door and the stench of blood hit you like a bus.

He continued to drag you through the warehouse and he brought you to a dark room.
It was vaguely familiar. He removed any metal you had on you and tied you to a chair before leaving the room.

"Erik." You whispered gaining no response. "Pssst Erik."

He must still be unconscious.

The man reentered the room and turned the lights on.

The room was empty beside you two.
Erik was gone.
The rope that had held him up was on the floor soaked in blood.

The man cursed under his breath before calling someone else into the room.

They whispered for a few moments.
The man who took you demanded the other man to watch you while he left.

Charles. I could really use some help right now.

Sorry love. I'm a bit busy.

The sound of gunfire and screams made you jump.
The man who was with you quickly untied you and pulled you off the the chair.

He then held a plastic gun to your head.
"Try something and you're dead." He pulled you into a dark corner as the rest of the fighting continued.

"Atarah!" You heard Erik calling.

"Don't say a word." The man said as he pressed the gun into your skull.

Charles. I'm in the room Erik was being held in a man has me and he has a gun to my head. It's dark and I can't see. Erik is close by tell him where I am.

Okay be careful.

"Atarah. I know you're in here love. Just tell me where so I can take you away from here." Erik said sweetly.

The man growled in your ear," I will kill him if you make so much as a noise."

Charles. I don't know what to do. He threatened me to stay quiet.

Stay there Atarah. Just do what he says. Stay quiet. I'll think of something.

You did as Charles instructed and you soon heard Erik leave the room.

"Okay. I need to get you out of here." The man said pulling you from the shadows he dragged you into the hallway and Erik came out of one of the many rooms.

His eyes widened at the sight of you in your dirty wedding gown, with a broken ankle and a man holding you at gun point.

He took a step towards you, grief and pain crossed his face. "Atarah. Are you alright my love?"

You gave a small nod.

Erik's focus shifted from you to the man holding you. He pulled out a gun.
"You son of a bitch!" He said through his teeth," get your hands off her!"

"No can do Lensherr. We're going to leave and you are going to let us."

"Like hell I will!" Erik bit back.

"Oh you will. If you try anything, I'll put a bullet in her pretty little head." He rubbed the gun across your face and you shuddered and fought tears of fear. Erik's fist clenched tightly.

Erik pointed the gun at the man," I'm only going to say this once more. Let her go."

The man held the gun firmly to your head.
"Erik. Please. Don't." You breath and voice were shaky.

The other man from earlier came up behind Erik and held a gun to his head, "listen to your girlfriend Erik. She's clearly the smart one in the relationship."

Erik's jaw clenched but he stayed silent and unmoved.

This was it. You were going to die.

Atarah. I need you to stay very still. Erik can shoot him. And I can take down the other one.

Okay.

You took a deep breath and closed your eyes tightly.

Gun shots fired and as the man gripping you fell you fell with him.

You squeezed your eyes tighter as more shots were heard.

When the firing stopped Erik ran over to you.

"Oh my God. Atarah sweetheart, are you alright?" He asked. "Charles I need some help! Atarah. Keep your eyes open baby." He demanded.

Help? Why does he need help? Is he okay?

Please let him be okay.

You opened your eyes and followed his agonized gaze to your stomach.

There was a bloody spot staining your white dress.

"I need to put some pressure here darling. It'll hurt but it will help okay?"

You just looked up at him unable to make sense of what was going on.

"Charles!" He shouted again.

Everything around you seemed to dim.
"Erik." You croaked out,"I love you."

He nodded and gave a smile," I love you too Atarah. Stay with me baby."

The dimming increased until finally everything became black.