Into The Unknown

18

Chris's POV

I walked back to Raegan's house with my headphones on the maximum volume. I slowly walked towards the house and checked the mailbox. My knickknacks weren't in there so I walked up the driveway. I looked over at Raegan's car and noticed there were handcuffs attached to her steering wheel. I squinted my eyes and scrunched my eyebrows together before proceeding to the door. My hand gripped the doorknob but it freely opened without my enforcement. I held my breath as I walked into the house. I whistled slowly the way I would before to let Raegan know I was in the house. She didn't respond back so I walked away from the door leaving it wide open. I knew that if someone was in the house I would need to run and opening a door would slow me down giving the criminal a way to catch me. My foot hit the bottom step and I stopped when I heard a crash up the stairs.

"Tell me the truth, Raegan!" Malcolm yelled. His voice boomed through the house and I turned back towards the kitchen. I roamed the drawers for anything I could use to defend myself and found nothing. I remembered the gun in the shoebox but it wasn't there either. It was almost as if Malcolm stripped Raegan of all defense mechanisms. I rubbed my face then remembered the pocketknife I carried in my back pocket. I set my bag down in the grand foyer and pulled the knife out. I held it out in my hand before stepping up the stairs. The cherry-wooded stairs creaked under my feet. I cursed under my breath and moved faster.

"Talk to me Rae. You need to tell me the truth, are you talking to that Chris guy when you're supposed to be with me?" he asked calmly.

I tapped the door his voice was coming from and I saw Raegan's face. She looked as if she couldn't breathe. I examined the room and noticed she was on her oxygen machine. The knob was turned "off" and my heart sank. I moved into the room slowly. Raegan's eyes shot up to me and I shook my head and held my index finger over my mouth. Her eyes went back to Malcolm's face and I moved towards Malcolm. His back was turned to me and I stood directly behind him. I gripped the pocket knife in my hand and debated exactly what I wanted to do. Raegan shifted her eyes towards the table revealing to me the gun lying on the table. I picked it up and put in my pants before I cuffed my hand on Malcolm's face and put the knife to his neck.

"What the f*ck is this!?" he hollered.

"Don't move. You might hurt yourself." I spoke with a soothing calmness in my voice. His weight shifted back and forth but I kept my grip on his chin and let the blade touch his skin.

"What do you want from her?" I whispered.

"If she's with you or something I found this note from you," sweat was beginning to form on his head. I let my grip slip from his face and he reached over to the table his gun sat on before I took it. I chuckled at him and slammed his body on the ground.

"Did you think I was stupid enough to leave your gun in the open?" I asked pushing my knee into his neck. He continued to struggle before I pulled the gun out and pointed it to his head.

"Is that better? Is this what you're looking for?" I felt the anger building inside me as I let my finger grip the trigger. I reached up and turned Raegan's oxygen back on and lifted my body off of Malcolm's.

"Grab your machine, grab my bag downstairs and get in your car. Start it and wait for me," I said to Raegan barely above a whisper. She nodded and gathered her stuff.

"You better not move!" Malcolm barked.

"Says who? You're the one with a gun to your head." I said calling the police.

I told the operator everything that was happening and they sent a dispatch as soon as they could. I sat the gun down on the table and sat in the chair Raegan once sat in.

"You should rot in jail. Then rot in hell. You don't deserve anything, you're a monster." I said, looking down at my shoes.

"F*ck you!" he spat.

"Shut up!" I yelled at him. My face was burning as I walked over to his body and grabbed his neck.

"You raped them! Liliana and Carmen! Then you beat Raegan and kill her parents. N*gga you shot me!" I spat through my teeth.

"They deserved it! Who do you think you are n*gga!? I will kill you!"

At this point, I lost my temper. I began squeezing his neck as the tears in my eyes ran down my face. Someone grabbed my body and pulled me off of his body and carried me down the stairs. I looked up and saw the police officer. I snatched my arm from him and got in Raegan's car. The officer questioned us one by one then told us we were free to go. Malcolm was being handcuffed and walked out of the house by the police. When he passed us, he made sure to spit into the air. I jumped towards him but Raegan grabbed my hand and told me to get in the car.

We drove for hours it seemed. The silence in the car was draining. Every few minutes, Carmen would text or call me asking me if I was okay. The last conversation I had with her seemed a little uneasy to me. It was almost if she was lying to me about something. A few sets of 30 minutes passed before Raegan stopped the car by a lake. The ignition was off and all you could hear in the air was her breathing. Her hands ran up her face into her hair down to her neck. I tapped my finger against the window before Raegan spoke.

"I'm so sorry, Chris" she sobbed. I turned in the chair and cupped her face in my hands. I pressed my forehead against hers and she sighed deeply.

"It's okay. Everything is fine," I brushed her hair out of her face showing the bruises on her face and neck. Her lips trembled and I wiped her tears away. My phone began to ring and Carmen's picture popped up on the screen. Raegan glanced at it and whispered, "Carmen..."

My eyes shot up at her and she shook her head.

"Don't mess with her Chris. Please," she looked at me. Her eyes were beginning to dry and I shifted my weight in the chair to face her better.

"Why?" I asked. Raegan looked at me smiled. It wasn't a friendly smile, more like a smile of despair.

"She may have the spirit of Liliana but she's conniving. She knows how to pull people into her and then turn against them. I know because she did it to me and Liliana. Whatever you two have started, you need to stop. I know she may have helped you through what happened between us but you have to believe me."

"But Marlie-Rae is Malcolm's baby," I spoke.

"I know whose baby it is, Chris. She did get raped and ended up pregnant, I know. But she still has her ways with being that cute yet evil child. Just don't talk to her."

I looked over at Raegan and I could tell she was being serious. I nodded and gave her my phone.

"Cut it off for me," I whispered.

She nodded, "what's your password?"

"April 19th 2014. 04192014," I rubbed my neck slowly. She looked at the phone and smiled.

"The day we met."

I nodded at her and smiled.

"It's been a while since I've seen a smile from you. It's beautiful," she said caressing my face. I leaned in closer to her and she connected her lips with mine. Unlike Carmen's kiss, Raegan's sparks were more powerful. They rushed through my body a dozen times before settling in the middle on my stomach forming butterflies. I smiled against her lips and she bit my bottom lip.

"I love you," she stated.

"I love you too," I responded.

I looked out on the water and held her hand.

"Now tell me what's up with Carmen. We got kind of close. We even kissed a few times."

Her body tensed up so I followed my statement with, "Your kiss was better." Raegan smiled and looked over at me. I sat up and stared at her figure.

"The story goes like this..."