Brook stumbled into the bathroom. She had barely seated herself when the diarrhea started. Helpless to stop it, Brook endured the humiliation. Gina made retching noises and glared at her with disgust, finally backing up to wait in the hallway.
When Brook was finished, she cleaned up as well as she could with tissue. As she stood to flush the toilet, her legs shook and her backside burned. Through the tiny bathroom window, Brook could see nothing but darkness. In just a few hours, her world had disappeared and she had been plunged into a nightmare. She moved to the sink while Gina glared at her from the doorway. Turning on the tap, she lathered her hands with a sliver of grimy soap. Then, she splashed her face with cool water, and drank from her cupped and trembling hands.
She hardly recognized her own face in the mirror. Clark had always told her how pretty she was. He'd be shocked if he could see her now. She hungered to feel his comforting arms around her. To be cradled, protected. The longing turned into a soft sadness inside her as she realized he’d probably never hold her again.
Gina hit the door with the palm of her hand, startling Brook. “Turn off the fucking water and move your ass. I ain’t got all day.”
“Can I have a cloth to clean up with?” Brook was shamed by the groveling note in her voice as she begged for the privilege of doing something she’d always taken for granted.
“Oh, for Christ's sake! No, you can't wash up. Damn, you're a pain in the ass. Get on back across the hall and leave me the hell alone.” Gina shoved Brook into the hall, but instead of obediently entering the bedroom, Brook turned and dashed toward the rear of the house, bouncing off the walls of the narrow passage until she came to an open door on the right. Behind her Gina bellowed in anger, but Brook didn’t slow. She raced for the window and thanked God when it opened on the first try. No screen hindered her way, and she slipped like an eel through the opening, dropped to the ground, and raced for nearby trees.
The backdoor of the house banged open and coarse laughter rang out, not the response Brook was expecting. There were a few mumbled commands, but she couldn't make out the words.
Dashing from tree to tree, Brook drew in ragged breaths, trying to look in all directions at once. From her left came Pete’s voice. “Little bunny, where you hopping off to?” His tone was mocking, completely unconcerned.
Then, to Brook's horror, a second voice came from the right. “BrooklynBridge is falling down, falling down, falling down. BrooklynBridge is falling down, and Benny’s gonna land on top of her.” His musical abilities left a lot to be desired, but his message was clear. They were toying with her. Brook stopped, holding her breath, and listened.
Then, Benny stepped from behind the tree she was using for shelter and wrapped his arms around her. “Gotcha!”
Brook freaked. She fought like a wild woman and if Pete hadn’t shown up to help, she would have caused severe damage to Benny. As it was, she left several claw marks on his arms and red marks on his face and neck. Pete simply enfolded her against his chest, trapping her arms at her sides. He lugged her back to the house where Jase sat on the rear steps smirking.
“Give the bitch back to Gina and tell her to do the job right this time or I’ll have to teach her how.” Jase instructed.
Red marks stood out against Gina’s ashen face. Livid, she hurried Brook back to the bedroom and shoved her inside. 'I wish you were dead,' she growled. 'Just where the fuck did you think you were goin' anyway? We’re in the middle of bum-fuck nowhere! It’s your fucking fault Jase slapped me around. Pete’s such a pussy sometimes. I can’t believe he didn’t stand up for me. I fuckin' hate you!” Gina slammed Brook with her forearms, knocking her onto the mattress. Shivering, Brook grabbed the stained sheet and wrapped it around her nakedness, keeping her gaze glued to Gina all the while.
Gina's eyes roved the room and fell on the torn garments scattered about the floor. Swooping down, she grabbed them and stormed out, bellowing, “Are you guys out of your mind? Do you know how expensive these clothes are? I would have loved….” Her voice trailed off as she moved away from the room.
Minutes later Brook heard the small ding of a microwave. The smell of food reached her, but did not stimulate her appetite. She listened to her captors through the thin walls as they talked around mouthfuls of what smelled to her like popcorn and pizza. No one offered her anything to drink or eat, which was fine with her. She didn’t think she would be able to keep anything down, even if someone shoved food in her mouth. But, the point was well taken that she would not be fed. Her life was to be forfeited. Once the initial rush of adrenaline drained away, Brook became aware of pain flaring in her feet. Her barefoot rush into the wilderness had left cuts and bruises on her soles. She rubbed them gently against the mattress. They were just more injuries to add to the list.
Darkness descended. Lightning flashed outside the window and thunder boomed, startling her. The lights in the room blinked off and then came back on. Brook pulled the blankets closer. Wiggling down between the mattress and the wall, she tried to become as small as possible. Following another loud crack of thunder, the lights went off and stayed off. Crazy patterns crawled around the room; dazzling brightness alternated with menacing shadows. Rain cascaded between the bus and the window. The storm sounded as if it were in the room with her, surrounding her, cursing her.
She wept. Her mind raced frantically away from thinking about what she had just endured. She pushed away even thoughts of Clark because the yearning for him hurt so much she could not bear it. Riding waves of pain, she let the tears flow until there were no more to tears to cry.
After a while the house grew quiet. Brook crept painfully to the door and pulled it open a crack, listening. Hearing nothing but the rain outside, she eased into the hallway and tiptoed towards the living room. Lightning illuminated the room for a long moment, and she could see Pete and Gina sleeping on the fold-out couch. Their bed filled the small room; she would have to go across it to reach the door.
Carefully, moving mere inches at a time, Brook stepped onto the mattress, swaying slightly to retain her balance. She had only taken two small steps when fingers wrapped around her ankle.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Pete’s voice came from the dark.
Brook yelped, jerked her leg free, and fell across the bed and onto the floor. Jumping to her feet she yanked the front door open and darted outside, only to be grabbed around the waist by Pete. “Noooo!” she screamed into the pouring rain.
Pete dragged her back inside although she fought him with all her strength. Jase, awakened by the ruckus, appeared in the living room. Pete threw Brook into his arms. “Bitch almost got away.” Grabbing a flashlight from the table, he filled the room with wobbly light. He headed for the bathroom and returned, drying himself with a towel.
“I’ll be damned.” Jase held her tightly by the upper arms. “No way did I think she’d try again, especially not so soon.' He hollered down the hallway. “Benny!”
A minute later, Benny appeared, hair sticking on end and eyes droopy with sleep. “What? What the fuck is going on?”
“The bitch tried to get away.”
“What’s that got to do with me?”
“You brought her here; she’s your responsibility. You’re gonna crash on the floor outside her room.”
“Fuck that. Fucking tie her up or something.” Benny turned away.
In a single move, Jase shoved Brook aside and grabbed Benny by the throat. “Don’t give me no shit. You do what I say or you’ll
Benny choked. “Sure, Jase. I’ll do it. But how about I just sleep
“Damn straight you’ll
Before Jase returned Brook to her prison, he stared intently at the cowering woman. “Let me give you a little advice. You don’t want to try running off again. You see, I got me a brand new chainsaw and I’ve been faunching at the bit to try it out. I bet it would slice through your legs like a fucking hot knife through butter. How far do you think you could run without any feet? You just keep that there in mind.” He looked at Benny and then at Brook. “Now don’t be causing Benny no trouble or I might have to cut something off of him too.”
He glared at Benny as he shoved Brook through the doorway. “Tomorrow, you put a fucking lock on this door. I don’t want to be woke up again.”
Jase moved down the hallway toward his own room.
Cursing, Benny tossed the couch cushions onto the floor outside the bedroom. He slammed the door closed,
