Jenalyn: Disconnected (#5) [Complete]

Chapter 37: Evelyn

Wed. 12/31/08 • 9:50 P.M. EST

The water is rising slowly but surely. I'm trying not to let it get to me, but when I told Dane I'd rather he kill me I didn't fucking mean by drowning! 

He knows how terrified of drowning I am! 

"Fine! Fine!" I scream through my teeth gritted in fear. "I'll call her! I'll tell her I'm sorry and that I want back in!" 

Dane laughs as he watches me struggle to keep my body out of the water. He threw me into this giant fish tank shortly after I woke up, and has progressively been filling it higher and higher with water until I cave in and do as he says. The way I'm bound up and laying, I can only keep my head and feet above the water. My muscles ache having to hold myself steady, one wrong move and I'll slip right under with no way to bring myself back up without the use of my arms and legs.

"That ship has sailed, Evy!" He chuckles, standing from his milk crate to turn the long hose he has submerged in the tank back off. "You shouldn't have put up a fight the first time I asked! Now? The stakes are much higher! You'll have a harder task ahead of you!"

I keep trying to calm my breathing, but the underlying anxiety attack I am having will not allow for that. My muscles tremble, my teeth are chattering uncontrollably, and everything in my mind seems to be firing off at once. "What is it?!" I pant, my voice even shaking and panicked. "What's the task?!"

Dane kneels beside the tank and lightly rests his arm along the top of it's right side to glare at me. I have no choice but to look at him, but wish to God I didn't have to. He is loving this. He is fucking loving watching me panic like this! I wish I wouldn't give him the satisfaction, but my body automatically reacts to certain buttons and he knew just the right ones to press! 

"Hayden trusts you to an extent, right Evelyn? You wouldn't happen to know who fathered her children, would you?" he asks after a few long moments. The fire in his eyes is hot enough to heat my face despite the ice cold water I'm nearly submerged in. I knew there was more to his plan, but I thought he put this behind him! He obviously already took care of whatever it was he had to! Why did one of her babies have to lose their life, if not! "You wouldn't be as dumb as to keep that from me, would you?"

I hope the panic that has been cemented on my face since being placed in this tank is enough to hide the look of holding a secret. "Tyler Robson! The guy in the band! That's all I know, Dane! She didn't talk to me because I sold her out remember?!" I stammer, the urgency in my voice sincere, though for the wrong reasons. 

Dane clicks his tongue and shakes his head for a moment before swiftly dropping his hand to the top of my head and shoving me beneath the water. No matter how hard I try, I can't move my limbs in a way to where I can fight it. I wasn't ready for that! I wasn't fucking ready for that, and immediately inhale the cold water to my lungs before choking it out. 

Dane pulls me from the water, keeping his hand clenched around my hair to hold me up with a mean scowl in his eyes. "Don't lie to me, Evy!" he growls. "Do you know who it is? She tells you everything!"

I can't stop choking, and it pisses Dane off to the point of submerging me again, this time for longer. When he yanks me from the water again, I force words out between my coughs to try to avoid another dunk.

"I... I'll f- I'll find out for you!" I choke, tears streaming from my clenched eyes. Water runs down my face from the top of my head. Every time I inhale after coughing, more water is sucked in through my nostrils. I can't take this! I can't fucking take this! "I'll- I'll go with her to Ca- California and figure it out! Please!"

I can never tell Dane about Rob. Even if I grew to despise Hayden, I could never tell Dane that Rob fathered her children... If Dane knew that, the baby left alive would stand no chance against the wrath he'd unleash. None of us would! It's one thing for Hayden's life to be in danger... she seems to love it sometimes, honestly! It's another thing for Rob to lose his life over it! He did fuck around with Dane's girl, afterall... But another innocent child losing their life because of their mistakes? I can't be the reason for that!

I just need to buy time. I can't die like this; Not in this warehouse, not at Dane's hands, and not in this fucking fish tank! 

Dane releases his grip on my hair, giving me very little time to tense my muscles enough to where I don't slide beneath the water again. He lights a cigarette, blowing it directly into my face before a small smile spreads across his lips and he nods his head. 

"Hmm... I knew you'd come around, lil sis," he exclaims before pausing to take another drag of his cigarette. He blows his smoke again, this time waiting for it to clear before he responds with his eyes set hard on me. "See, was that so hard?"

I don't even bother to answer him, a response I'm sure he expected. He knew this was all it'd take to break me, this was just a waiting game for him.

"Now... let's talk about what's at stake if you would be so inclined to tell our little poptart about any of this..." he says, standing up and letting out a small laugh. He hits his cigarette once more before proceeding to turn the water back on.