Emerald Summer

Chapter 29

"Want some breakfast?" He asks. I smile and nod. He takes my hand and leads my downstairs. I sit at the kitchen table and watch as he cooks eggs. I hate him. I hate how his muscles always show through his shirt. He knows they do. He hands me a plate of eggs. He kisses my cheeks and sits across from me with his plate. "Did you have anything in mind for today?" He asks with that stupid smile. I shake my head.

"Do you?" I ask. He seems to ignore my question and continues eating. I'll take that as a yes. Poor Jade. He looks up from his plate with a dark glimmer in his eye.

"Of course I do. It's a suprise for you and Jade both," he grins deviously. It sends a chill down my spine, and not a good one. I finish my eggs. "Go upstairs to the other bedroom and wait for me. Don't even dare to try to let Jade loose either. I still have some business to take care of," he says with a serious tone. I nod. I leave the kitchen and go upstairs to the room. When I open the door Jade whimpers and starts begging me not to hurt her.

I shut the door and walk over beside her. "Jade. Jade. It's okay, it's me. What has he done to you?" I ask trying to calm her. She bursts into tears. I fight back mine. I wrap her in a hug as best I can.

"He..he..Sheri, I..."she sighs heavily, "Sheri, I was pregnant. I don't know how he knew. I didn't even know. L-last night I told him I didn't feel like having sex and that I'd been feeling weird, and he told me that's what he thought. He...gave me pregnancy tests. I-I took them. I was pregnant. He grabbed me by the hair of the head," she sniffles, "he threw me around the room. He b-beat me...I bled. I passed out, and woke up with tied to the bed with an IV in my arm. He said not to worry...that I wasn't pregnant anymore." She starts crying even harder. "He killed my baby," she wails.

Oh my God. He's crossed the line. That's too far. Has she even been here long enough? She has been acting weird Was it Todd's? Yeah, she's been here two and a half months. It was probably the first night she was here when he took her and raped her. It does't matter when it happened, you don't just kill a baby. Oh my God, Jade. Shouldn't she be in the hospital? Why isn't she? "Jade..I-I," I stutter over my words. I don't know what to say. What can I say? Nothing. I wrap her in a tight hug and cry hysterically as well. "This is all my fault," I cry, "Jade I'm so sorry. I love you so much. Are you okay? You should be in the hospital. I-I-I...I'm gonna fucking kill him." I stand up and start out of the room. All I see is red.

"No Sheri," she cries out, "please don't go. Please don't. He'll kill you and I'll be left with no one. He'll overpower you, he's too strong. Just stay here with me. He said I'll be fine, that I'm okay, that he went to medical school. Just please."

I stop. I stand there frozen in numbness, holding the door knob. I put my head down and cry. I walk back over to Jade. I collapse on the floor. I cry helplessly, unable to find it in me to stand. Todd walks in, "What is this? Oh God, you told her didn't you you little bitch?" He slings a girl onto the bedroom floor and starts to Jade.

"Don't touch her," I yell, "who is that?" He stops in his tracks and laughs manically. He starts towards me and grabs me up by the hair. He throws me into the chair in the corner and ties me to it. "You killed the baby," I scream out. The flames of Hell ignite in my eyes. He punches me, blood trickles down from my nose.

"Don't you dare raise your voice at me. And I did everyone in here a favor by getting rid of that abomination," he shoves a gag in my mouth. He walks over to the girl on the floor and jerks her up. He rips the bag off of her head. Oh my God. God no. Please God no. Why are you doing this to me? Why? In what way does me or Jade or Serena deserve this?  He pulls a pocket knife out of his pocket and places it gently on Serena's throat. "Now," he says, "you two have crossed the line. Obviously punishment isn't working. So now, I'm gonna take something you love most. Hopefully, you'll learn this time."

He stabs her in the left side of her neck and drags it to the right. I watch helplessly as she gurlges her own blood. He lets go of her and she falls to the ground. She lays garggling on the floor, trying to hold her throat together. She cries and thrashes around. Blood covers her, Todd, and the floor. This can't be happening. I scream and so does Jade. I thrash around as well. The chair's nailed to the floor and it's not budging. I wail and scream her name, but its's all muffled. Todd laughs. Suddenly she stops all together. No crying, no thrashing, no gurgling, and no breathing. She's really gone.

He just leaves. Not a word is said from him. Jade screams her name over and over as if it will bring her back. Now nothing can bring her back and it's all my fault. All this is my fault. If I would've just let him rape me and let Jade sit in jail we'd be free. We'd be in Minnesota now. I close my eyes and say a silent prayer. I whisper, "I've never prayed before. I've never asked for anything before. I've never really believed in you, but please, if you're real, if you're there, get Jade out of this alive. I don't care about me, just let Jade live." I close my eyes. Soon Todd comes back in and takes out Serena's body. I scream at him, cussing through the gag. He stops what he's doing to punch me a few times, I whimper and cry, then he continues his work.