~Olivia~
Nothing can prepare you for finding another person in your backseat when you thought you were alone. I have watched scary movies where a killer springs from the backseat to kill an unsuspecting victim but never thought I would find myself in that kind of situation.
“Don’t scream and keep driving Liv. I won’t hurt you if you do what I say.”
When my heart slows and I can actually speak, I calmly ask the question I already have the answer to. “What are you doing, John?” I know better than to ask too many questions to someone who isn’t operating with a full deck. He is the one with a knife to the side of my throat and any wrong move could be a fatal one. He reaches over the seat and grabs my purse and I hear the contents spill out onto the seat.
“I came to tell you that I forgive you and I’m bringing you home to meet my family. All but my brother, of course, he’s dead. Don’t talk, just drive, Liv. Get on I 93 and I will guide you from there.”
I have been driving forever and my eyes are tired. John hasn’t said a word since he ordered me to roll down the window to throw out my phone. The unknown and the silence are killing me and if he hurts me for talking, then so be it, because I’m going to hurt us by falling asleep at the wheel. “I’m so sorry, John. I didn’t even know you had a brother.” Maybe if I am sympathetic to his situation, he will be to mine when I beg him to let me go.
“You shouldn’t be sorry. He tortured you and raped you according to the police reports. Mom and dad were so devastated because he was their only biological son. Not that they made me feel any less, they are wonderful parents, but I knew I was different. I knew they loved me but loved him more.”
“John, what are you talking about? I didn’t know your brother or even know that you had one.”
“Oh, you knew him alright. My brother was Jerry Stanford, the man you lived with for a year. He came out to Atlanta to get revenge for my broken heart after I went home to nurse my wounds when you left me for that man in Miami. He was going to find you and bring you to Kentucky where we could live happily ever after, but I think he decided to keep you for himself. At first, he told me he was stalking you to memorize your routine and also to figure out how many people would search for you if you went missing. I told him to avoid meeting your crazy mother so she wouldn’t have anyone to identify as a possible suspect. Then he just quit contacting us all together. He changed his phone number and his address with no forwarding information. It wasn’t until a year later that he contacted me and asked me for a loan to buy some property in Alabama. He said he was buying it for us to live in and as soon as he had you, he would come get me for our reunion.”
I have become instantly nauseous and tears are blurring my vision so I can’t see the road clearly. I have been driving for over four hours and I’m physically exhausted and now emotionally drained. I see a pull out on the highway and slow down to pull over.
“What the hell are you doing, Liv? One slice and I could kill you. Do you want that after I’ve just found you? I want to take care of you and you need to let me, understand? Mom and Dad are so sad right now so I’m bringing you home to cheer them up.”
“John, I am sick and I can’t drive anymore. Please just let me stop or I will throw up in the car?” He doesn’t object so as soon as my car comes to a stop, I jump out and run to the other side of my car, fall to my knees and empty my stomach in the dirt and weeds. This can’t be happening, this can’t be happening, this really can’t be happening, I chant inside my head. I rock back and forth just thinking of the nightmare ahead. What are the odds of me meeting and attracting two crazy people from the same family? Probably greater than me having a baby from a one-night stand? If I stay on the side of the road long enough, will someone stop to help so I can escape? His hand on my shoulder lets me know that is not going to be possible.
“Climb in the back, Liv. I will drive for a while but I have to handcuff you to the frame of the seat. Make sure you are comfortable because I won’t be stopping for a while.”
At least with Jerry, I knew when the crazy was coming, with John it is here all the time. He speaks as if what he is doing is completely normal and acceptable. He acts as if he is doing me a favor and I should be happy he found me. He is more dangerous than Jerry because I’m pretty sure he really thinks he is helping me while he handcuffs me to the bottom frame of the passenger seat. I fall asleep at some point, only to be awakened as he releases my wrists from the handcuffs and walks me to the outside restroom of a gas station. He stands in the doorway, giving me no privacy, and then takes me back to the car. He doesn’t handcuff me but hands me a white paper bag with fried food inside and tells me to eat. I have absolutely no appetite and when I tell him so, he screams and tells me to eat every goddamn bite and not be ungrateful, so I
