The Obsession

Chapter 21

   "Hey there beautiful." Jonathan smirks at me deviously. My jaw drops and I grip the door frame to keep my balance straight. I look at Taylor as he lays on the ground and grips his side where blood is pooling out. His muscles are tensed as he tries to stop the blood flow coming from the large gunshot wound. I look back to Jonathan. He starts walking over to me. My brain starts fuzzing and I stand as still as a deer in bright headlights.

   "R-run, Isabella!" Taylor yells at me through clenched teeth. My feet take me out of the room and down the hall. I hear small whimpers and child cries. Tears fill my eyes.

   "Xander?!" I rush to the door and jiggle the handle. The sound of crying gets louder and Xander calls out for me louder and louder. I fall to the ground as something blunt hits the back of my head. My vision blurs and I start fading away from the world. Fight it! Stay awake!  The door opens and Xander is picked up. I can't move my tired body. Everything is shutting down on me. I'm weakening.

   "See what happens when you try to be the hero, Isabella? We could've been happy. You could've been the hero." Jonathan leans in closer to my face. "I'll be back for you soon, my dove. Till then." He stands up and walks out with the crying Xander. Jonathan runs down the stairs and out the door. I fight the feeling of my body falling asleep and move my body.

    "I-Isabella?" Taylor yells to me. I move all of my muscles slowly and finally manage to stand up from the hard ground and stumble to the study where he lays on the ground bleeding out. "Yes. I need you to come here now! I was shot!" Taylor sighs into the phone. "Now! Yes now! Bye." He turns the phone off and slowly pushes himself from the ground, all while gripping his side. It isn't bleeding too bad now.

   "What are you doing standing up?" I ask him while gripping the wall to keep from falling.

   "The police are on their way, along with the-" He gasps as he sets himself on the chair. "Paramedics." He groans quietly and looks up at me. "How are you holding up?"

   "I honestly don't know. My brain is too jumbled and I can't think straight. It'll probably calm down."

   "You shouldn't have came up here, Isabella. He could've killed you. You are the one who called about him almost murdering your child." He scolds. I roll my eyes and lean against the desk where he's sitting at. The downstairs door opens and people rush up the stairs. They take Taylor out along with me and we sit in an ambulance together. A cop that I recognize walks up to Taylor and I, his expression full of anger.

   "What the hell were you thinking, Detective? She should be in the hospital! You took her out a week early! A week! You do realize what trouble this can get you into, right?" The man scolds Taylor. He just rolls his eyes and pulls out a box of cigarettes from his pants. The cop grabs it from his mouth and drops it on the ground, stepping on it after. "Get yourself straight, Taylor. I'm serious." He walks away and talks with some other cops. 

   Taylor grumbles something like, 'Fucking asshole.' under his breath while pulling out a cigarette again. He lights it and starts smoking it. "I'm surprised with you, Wilson. I thought you would've passed out when you saw him." I snap my attention to him.

   "Then why did you bring me here?" 

   "I didn't think he was here, either. Any stupid person wouldn't come back where they could be caught. He must be quite unintelligent to come back." I place a hand on my forehead, which is burning at a high temperature. 

   "So you come here thinking that everything will be alright and he won't be here? And you brought me?!" Taylor shrugs and blows out another gray cloud of smoke.