Eyes Wide Open pt 1 - sequel to Moments
She stood there by the door waiting for Don to show up. She couldn’t bring herself to close the door, even though the snow was now coming down in a river and the wind was whipping by her face, she feared that closing the door would signify her forever imprisonment in this house with Jack.
Even with a floor between them she could still feel him screaming at her to let him out. Starting to panic that maybe he knew a way out of the cage that he was now locked in she decided to sit on the stoop outside of the house, feeling the freedom of the outside world would somehow protect her.
Sitting in the freezing cold in nothing but jeans and an oversized sweeter she was shivering against the freezing gusts of wind, yet it felt good after having spent endless days in the dark with no contact other than the repulsive contact Jack had granted her.
Sitting there in the cold her mind began to flash back to the time she spent locked up.
There were moments with Jack when she swore she saw a sliver of decency and compassion in his face, reminiscent of the man he had been almost 40 years ago when they had been together.
Than other times, the majority of the time, his eyes were filled with so much hate and anger.
He would come straight at her as though he were being shot from a cannon with no control over his physical actions. Beating her, attacking her, hitting her, hurting parts of her she hadn’t known existed.
Every time she would vow to be strong, that it wouldn’t happen again. Then she would hear a door open and she would clamp her legs together so he wouldn’t be able to touch her and bite down on the inner part of her lip to keep from screaming, vowing she would ward him off of her. Yet every time was exactly like the time before; he would smack her across the face, slam her up against the wall, wrap his hand around her throat and she was physically unable to ward him off.
She would see the scuffed front of his boats come into view, hear them make a shuffling noise against the floor and her heart would start to pound as though it were going to explode out of her chest, her stomach would twist and feel as though it was in her throat and her eyes would start to cloud over and she would let it happen again. Knowing if she just gave him what he wanted he would leave her alone that much sooner.
She had never in her life experienced pain like that, she never knew that the squeak of a floor board or a slamming of a door could trigger such bind, numbing, panic, she had never known that a touch of a man’s hand could repulse her to such a state where she felt she would be physically ill.
Every time he took her she would try every technique she knew; she would do everything she could to force her mind somewhere else and every time was a bigger failure than the time before. She couldn’t not remember ever tiny, violating, disgusting, humiliating detail.
She’d been raped… she was now one of those women.
Just the knowledge that this was always going to be a factor in her life made her wish that Jack would have just killed her at some point along the way to put her out of her misery.
She had heard stories over the course of her life; women were attacked but they would get help, they would talk to a shrink, and they found a way to move on and eventually rebuild their lives.
But now that it had happened to her and was no longer some abstract thing that happened to other women the knowledge that it had happened to her and knowing she would never be able to forget haunted her.
She would live with this for the rest of her life.
Recalling on all of the intimate moments she had shared with Don over their near 35 years together made her shudder. All the things she did with Don, for Don, that Don did to her, would they now be tainted? Would she ever be able to be with Don and not flash on what Jack had done, would she ever be aroused again without that pit in the bottom of her stomach? Would Don even want her after what he learned had happened?
Those questions kept shouting at her, screaming at her.
Why couldn’t she find a way to protect herself?
Why had she allowed Jack into the cabin that night?
Why hadn’t she called Don once she had remembered their life together?
Why wasn’t Don there to protect her?
Why hadn’t anyone been able to find her?
Why had it happened to her?
Just than a car pulled up in the driveway… it was Don.
Carefully pulling his car up into the driveway he saw her sitting on the steps that led up to the entry way to the house.
She looked so small and scared and suddenly he felt scared as well.
How would their relationship change now?
How would she react to being back in their home?
How would she react to him?
How would he deal with the, un-doubtable, pain he knew Jack put her through?
Walking out of the car and up the stairs he stopped a few feet from her and kneeled in front of her not wanting to startle her, and wanting her to set the pace.
“Meryl?”
She had been so lost in thought she hadn’t heard the car pull up and hadn’t even heard Don walk the stairs to approach her.
When she finally noticed him kneeling in front of her, remembering she had gotten out and was no longer Jack’s prisoner she felt herself relax.
Looking at Don kneeling in front of her he looked so handsome and yet so timid. She knew he was worried how she
was going to react to him. A phone call was one thing but seeing each other in person after weeks apart was something else entirely.
Leaning a little closer toward him she placed a freezing cold hand on his cheek.
Seeing her, really looking at her, he could see how much weight she had lost, her hollow eyes with large dark circles underneath them, her prominent cheekbones practically popping out of the skin of her face, noticing what appeared to be hand mark shaped bruises around her throat. He fought the simultaneous urge to hug her as tightly as he could and beat Jack to within an inch of his life. Lord knew he wanted to hold her more than anything, but still not knowing exactly what Jack had done he held himself back from doing anything that may make her feel uncomfortable.
Finally finding his voice he said “Come on beauty let’s get you inside… it’s freezing out here.”
She nodded to that and took his outreached hand and allowed him to lead her into the house,
Not knowing if she had called the authorities he had taken the initiative and called himself once he was on route to the address she had given him.
“The cops should be here soon.”
She looked up at him in surprise upon hearing that. Berating herself for not calling them as soon as she got off the phone with Don, feeling this was just another thing that she had gotten wrong “I cant believe I didn’t do that myself. What the hell is wrong with me?”
She sounded so wounded and damaged when she said that and before he could say anything in kind she was walking away from him.
Following her into the kitchen she fell to the floor against the wall, tucking her knees up against her chest she started to cry. She hadn’t cried in days and now it was flooding out of her at a pace she couldn’t stop or even control for that matter.
Sitting down next to her he decided to take the gamble and put his arm around her shoulders. It seemed to work, eventually her sobs lessened and she allowed herself to be comforted by Don.
“You have been through a lot M, there’s nothing wrong with you ok? You didn’t do anything wrong”
Sitting there with Don she wanted to scream just how wrong he was.
Just than the sounds of sirens overwhelmed the house and Meryl shot to her feet in a flash and by the time Don had risen to his feet several officers could be heard entering the house.
Without saying a word she grabbed the keys she had placed on the counter before calling Don and led the officers and Don through the doorway that led to the flight of stairs that went straight to the cement door.
Once she unlocked the door the officers swarmed Jack like a pact of locusts.
Jack looked shocked; he truly never thought this would be how it ended. Having never once taken into account what his life would look like if the cops ever found Meryl and were able to tie him to her abduction, he was now going through a list of excuses in his mind yet each one sounded lamer than the one before. Deciding it was in his best interest to not say a word until he contacted a lawyer he allowed the authorities to take him out of the house without saying a word or making further eye contact with anyone.
Once Jack was in a cop car being led away by 2 of the 10 officers on the scene Meryl led the remaining cops and Don up to the third floor of the house where they discovered the ‘supplies’ Jack had purchased; chloroform, duct tape, rope, locks, chains, knives, several guns, the array of clothing ranging in styles, the note books and several other incriminating items that were going to make it extremely difficult for any attorney Jack hired to dispute what had gone on.
Don stood in the doorway fighting the urge to throw up yet again, he knew something awful had happened in that house but now seeing all of the ‘supplies’ Jack had at his disposal he knew it had been just as bad as his mind had originally thought.
Several of the officers began combing through the notebooks while Meryl remained silent. Feeling like she was a caged animal on display as the cops eyes would scan the notebooks than her.
She wasn’t a vein person and never one to take too much credence in what others thought of her but this time it was different. These gentlemen were reading the humiliating, degrading things Jack had done to her and she suddenly felt just as exposed and fragile as she had being Jack’s prisoner.
Don never took his eyes off Meryl the entire time. After 34 years of marriage he was able to read her like a book and he could see every feeling flashing across her face; shame, shock, disgust, fear. He wanted to take her home, he wanted to tell the kids that he had found her and she was okay but he couldn’t tear himself away from her, for fear that it was all a dream.
After a few moments the officers looked up from the notebooks and glanced at one another, than at Don and finally resting their gazes on Meryl.
She looked like a frightened animal, and from just looking at her they could tell she hadn’t eaten or had a good night’s sleep in some time. In silent agreement one of the officers stepped toward Meryl which caused her to flinch and take a step backward away from the strange man she didn’t know.
“Mrs. Gummer, normally we would ask you to come down to the police station so we could take your official statement, however knowing some of what you have gone through I think you should go on home and get some rest. We can take your statement in the morning.”
She didn’t know how to react to what the officer had said.
Go home.
For the last two plus weeks all she had wanted was to go home but now seeing how the officers and Don were reacting to her she wasn’t sure if she wanted to go.
How would her children react?
How would she react to being alone with Don?
But not having it in her to say that, or anything at all for that matter, she simply nodded in agreement.
Looking over at Don who was trying so hard to keep it together and be strong for her she knew it would break his heart if she voiced her concerns.
The officer walked over to Don and handed him his business card. “If you could bring your wife in at 10a.m. tomorrow that would be great.”
Nodding his head at the officer after taking the business card he waited for Meryl to start walking towards
him.
Moments later they were outside headed for Don’s car when Meryl suddenly stopped and turned around to look at Don’s face. Wrapping her arms around his waist she whispered just loud enough for him to hear.
“Thank you for coming to get me.”
And before he had a chance to respond she was in the car leaving him standing out in the freezing wind and falling snow shocked but what she had said, and fearful for what lied ahead…
TBC...
So here it is the first chapter of the sequel to Moments.
Sorry it took so long to get it up.
What do you guys think? Remember how much I like comments, they are extremely helpful and I welcome anything you all have to say so please hold nothing back.
Even with a floor between them she could still feel him screaming at her to let him out. Starting to panic that maybe he knew a way out of the cage that he was now locked in she decided to sit on the stoop outside of the house, feeling the freedom of the outside world would somehow protect her.
Sitting in the freezing cold in nothing but jeans and an oversized sweeter she was shivering against the freezing gusts of wind, yet it felt good after having spent endless days in the dark with no contact other than the repulsive contact Jack had granted her.
Sitting there in the cold her mind began to flash back to the time she spent locked up.
There were moments with Jack when she swore she saw a sliver of decency and compassion in his face, reminiscent of the man he had been almost 40 years ago when they had been together.
Than other times, the majority of the time, his eyes were filled with so much hate and anger.
He would come straight at her as though he were being shot from a cannon with no control over his physical actions. Beating her, attacking her, hitting her, hurting parts of her she hadn’t known existed.
Every time she would vow to be strong, that it wouldn’t happen again. Then she would hear a door open and she would clamp her legs together so he wouldn’t be able to touch her and bite down on the inner part of her lip to keep from screaming, vowing she would ward him off of her. Yet every time was exactly like the time before; he would smack her across the face, slam her up against the wall, wrap his hand around her throat and she was physically unable to ward him off.
She would see the scuffed front of his boats come into view, hear them make a shuffling noise against the floor and her heart would start to pound as though it were going to explode out of her chest, her stomach would twist and feel as though it was in her throat and her eyes would start to cloud over and she would let it happen again. Knowing if she just gave him what he wanted he would leave her alone that much sooner.
She had never in her life experienced pain like that, she never knew that the squeak of a floor board or a slamming of a door could trigger such bind, numbing, panic, she had never known that a touch of a man’s hand could repulse her to such a state where she felt she would be physically ill.
Every time he took her she would try every technique she knew; she would do everything she could to force her mind somewhere else and every time was a bigger failure than the time before. She couldn’t not remember ever tiny, violating, disgusting, humiliating detail.
She’d been raped… she was now one of those women.
Just the knowledge that this was always going to be a factor in her life made her wish that Jack would have just killed her at some point along the way to put her out of her misery.
She had heard stories over the course of her life; women were attacked but they would get help, they would talk to a shrink, and they found a way to move on and eventually rebuild their lives.
But now that it had happened to her and was no longer some abstract thing that happened to other women the knowledge that it had happened to her and knowing she would never be able to forget haunted her.
She would live with this for the rest of her life.
Recalling on all of the intimate moments she had shared with Don over their near 35 years together made her shudder. All the things she did with Don, for Don, that Don did to her, would they now be tainted? Would she ever be able to be with Don and not flash on what Jack had done, would she ever be aroused again without that pit in the bottom of her stomach? Would Don even want her after what he learned had happened?
Those questions kept shouting at her, screaming at her.
Why couldn’t she find a way to protect herself?
Why had she allowed Jack into the cabin that night?
Why hadn’t she called Don once she had remembered their life together?
Why wasn’t Don there to protect her?
Why hadn’t anyone been able to find her?
Why had it happened to her?
Just than a car pulled up in the driveway… it was Don.
Carefully pulling his car up into the driveway he saw her sitting on the steps that led up to the entry way to the house.
She looked so small and scared and suddenly he felt scared as well.
How would their relationship change now?
How would she react to being back in their home?
How would she react to him?
How would he deal with the, un-doubtable, pain he knew Jack put her through?
Walking out of the car and up the stairs he stopped a few feet from her and kneeled in front of her not wanting to startle her, and wanting her to set the pace.
“Meryl?”
She had been so lost in thought she hadn’t heard the car pull up and hadn’t even heard Don walk the stairs to approach her.
When she finally noticed him kneeling in front of her, remembering she had gotten out and was no longer Jack’s prisoner she felt herself relax.
Looking at Don kneeling in front of her he looked so handsome and yet so timid. She knew he was worried how she
was going to react to him. A phone call was one thing but seeing each other in person after weeks apart was something else entirely.
Leaning a little closer toward him she placed a freezing cold hand on his cheek.
Seeing her, really looking at her, he could see how much weight she had lost, her hollow eyes with large dark circles underneath them, her prominent cheekbones practically popping out of the skin of her face, noticing what appeared to be hand mark shaped bruises around her throat. He fought the simultaneous urge to hug her as tightly as he could and beat Jack to within an inch of his life. Lord knew he wanted to hold her more than anything, but still not knowing exactly what Jack had done he held himself back from doing anything that may make her feel uncomfortable.
Finally finding his voice he said “Come on beauty let’s get you inside… it’s freezing out here.”
She nodded to that and took his outreached hand and allowed him to lead her into the house,
Not knowing if she had called the authorities he had taken the initiative and called himself once he was on route to the address she had given him.
“The cops should be here soon.”
She looked up at him in surprise upon hearing that. Berating herself for not calling them as soon as she got off the phone with Don, feeling this was just another thing that she had gotten wrong “I cant believe I didn’t do that myself. What the hell is wrong with me?”
She sounded so wounded and damaged when she said that and before he could say anything in kind she was walking away from him.
Following her into the kitchen she fell to the floor against the wall, tucking her knees up against her chest she started to cry. She hadn’t cried in days and now it was flooding out of her at a pace she couldn’t stop or even control for that matter.
Sitting down next to her he decided to take the gamble and put his arm around her shoulders. It seemed to work, eventually her sobs lessened and she allowed herself to be comforted by Don.
“You have been through a lot M, there’s nothing wrong with you ok? You didn’t do anything wrong”
Sitting there with Don she wanted to scream just how wrong he was.
Just than the sounds of sirens overwhelmed the house and Meryl shot to her feet in a flash and by the time Don had risen to his feet several officers could be heard entering the house.
Without saying a word she grabbed the keys she had placed on the counter before calling Don and led the officers and Don through the doorway that led to the flight of stairs that went straight to the cement door.
Once she unlocked the door the officers swarmed Jack like a pact of locusts.
Jack looked shocked; he truly never thought this would be how it ended. Having never once taken into account what his life would look like if the cops ever found Meryl and were able to tie him to her abduction, he was now going through a list of excuses in his mind yet each one sounded lamer than the one before. Deciding it was in his best interest to not say a word until he contacted a lawyer he allowed the authorities to take him out of the house without saying a word or making further eye contact with anyone.
Once Jack was in a cop car being led away by 2 of the 10 officers on the scene Meryl led the remaining cops and Don up to the third floor of the house where they discovered the ‘supplies’ Jack had purchased; chloroform, duct tape, rope, locks, chains, knives, several guns, the array of clothing ranging in styles, the note books and several other incriminating items that were going to make it extremely difficult for any attorney Jack hired to dispute what had gone on.
Don stood in the doorway fighting the urge to throw up yet again, he knew something awful had happened in that house but now seeing all of the ‘supplies’ Jack had at his disposal he knew it had been just as bad as his mind had originally thought.
Several of the officers began combing through the notebooks while Meryl remained silent. Feeling like she was a caged animal on display as the cops eyes would scan the notebooks than her.
She wasn’t a vein person and never one to take too much credence in what others thought of her but this time it was different. These gentlemen were reading the humiliating, degrading things Jack had done to her and she suddenly felt just as exposed and fragile as she had being Jack’s prisoner.
Don never took his eyes off Meryl the entire time. After 34 years of marriage he was able to read her like a book and he could see every feeling flashing across her face; shame, shock, disgust, fear. He wanted to take her home, he wanted to tell the kids that he had found her and she was okay but he couldn’t tear himself away from her, for fear that it was all a dream.
After a few moments the officers looked up from the notebooks and glanced at one another, than at Don and finally resting their gazes on Meryl.
She looked like a frightened animal, and from just looking at her they could tell she hadn’t eaten or had a good night’s sleep in some time. In silent agreement one of the officers stepped toward Meryl which caused her to flinch and take a step backward away from the strange man she didn’t know.
“Mrs. Gummer, normally we would ask you to come down to the police station so we could take your official statement, however knowing some of what you have gone through I think you should go on home and get some rest. We can take your statement in the morning.”
She didn’t know how to react to what the officer had said.
Go home.
For the last two plus weeks all she had wanted was to go home but now seeing how the officers and Don were reacting to her she wasn’t sure if she wanted to go.
How would her children react?
How would she react to being alone with Don?
But not having it in her to say that, or anything at all for that matter, she simply nodded in agreement.
Looking over at Don who was trying so hard to keep it together and be strong for her she knew it would break his heart if she voiced her concerns.
The officer walked over to Don and handed him his business card. “If you could bring your wife in at 10a.m. tomorrow that would be great.”
Nodding his head at the officer after taking the business card he waited for Meryl to start walking towards
him.
Moments later they were outside headed for Don’s car when Meryl suddenly stopped and turned around to look at Don’s face. Wrapping her arms around his waist she whispered just loud enough for him to hear.
“Thank you for coming to get me.”
And before he had a chance to respond she was in the car leaving him standing out in the freezing wind and falling snow shocked but what she had said, and fearful for what lied ahead…
TBC...
So here it is the first chapter of the sequel to Moments.
Sorry it took so long to get it up.
What do you guys think? Remember how much I like comments, they are extremely helpful and I welcome anything you all have to say so please hold nothing back.