“Okay, then let me help you,” he pleads. Zach’s family took care of her after her mother’s drug overdose when she was ten. He loves his cousin like a little sister, but he can’t take it anymore. This has to stop now before she truly hurts someone. Dropping off that woman in the woods was a stupid mistake. He knew it was the wrong thing to do, but he told himself that she would be fine. No more.
“I love you Zacky,” she whispers and reaches for his hand. He takes it and squeezes gently. “You’re always there for me. Please, let’s go to the hotel and get my meds. I just needed to see that they were okay. I never meant for anyone to get hurt, Zach. I had no way of knowing a bobcat was going to attack her.”
‘Too bad she didn’t bleed out on the mountain,’ the voices teases in her mind.
“What about the bear?” Zach asks.
“Do you really think I had a bear in my pocket? Come on Zach.” Her brown eyes are incredulous as she looks at him. “That's ridiculous. She left food outside. That's a typical city girl thing. I swear I had nothing to do with that. Tell me you believe me.”
“I don’t know what to think, anymore. I just want you to be happy, okay. I’m going to call Dr. Michaels.”
“I understand, but we can’t see him tonight anyway. Tomorrow is Monday, we can call his office for an appointment first thing in the morning.”
Zach nods his head in agreement. “Alright, good. You'll feel better after your medication.” He sighs in relief. “Maybe now we can move forward with things. I have a couple thousand saved up. It's time to make some changes and get a fresh start. I've been looking for a job in Colorado. You like to ski, right?” He grips her hand and squeezes it gently.
“Anything you want, Zach.” She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. “Perhaps you’re right, it’s time for a change.”
Zach’s relief is instantaneous. “Good, I'm tired of shoveling horse shit, anyway.” Pulling back into the cheap drive up motel he smiles and parks. As soon as they get inside, he starts packing his bag. “Take your meds, while I load our stuff. In the morning we will check out, okay?” He gives her the pill and a bottle of water. “It isn't a bad drive to Colorado. We can find a nice rental near the resorts, and I'm sure you can get a job there.”
“Thanks, Zach.” Melody pops the pill, and when he turns around to grab his suitcase, she picks up the lamp and hits him across the back of his head. Zach crumples to the ground as she spits out the pill with a giggle.
“Sorry, Zacky, but you have worn out your usefulness.” She checks his pulse, “Good, you aren’t dead.” Quickly, she takes his wallet and keys and then stuffs them into her jeans pocket. Chewing on her lip, she looks down at him. “Now, how to get you into the jeep?” Mel thinks for a moment and then goes outside and opens the jeep door, tossing her bags into the back seat. “Good thing you are small,” she whispers as she drags him outside and props him up against the jeep tire. He stands about five feet nine and is athletically built.
As luck would have it, the hotel is not busy. It's a cheap dive, and anyone else would have just driven on, but it was exactly what they needed. Breathing hard, she takes a break for a second and leans him back when his body tries to slump over and slams his head on the door frame. “Oops, sorry Zacky,” she whispers his childhood nickname.
‘Wacky, Zacky, wacky Zacky,' the voice laughs, causing Mel to giggle as she squats in front of him. At five feet ten, she is tall and strong enough to lift him if she uses the jeep. She drapes his arms over her shoulders and lifts him using her legs to shove him into the seat. “Ugh, God, you're dead weight.” She buckles him in and rushes around to jump in and drive.
Driving up to the mountains she glances over at him with concern. Hopefully, he will not wake up before they reach the overlook. “I'm going to show you how you should have handled Delta,” she mumbles, “and then I'm going to make her pay.”
Melody drives to the same jeep trail he took Delta on. She drives as far up the path as the jeep will go, before parking and jumping out. Her headlights illuminate the inky black forest as Melody opens the passenger side door and unbuckles his seatbelt. Grabbing a fistful of his shirt, she pulls, and he tumbles from the car, falling to the ground with a groan. “Uh, oh. By Zack.”
“Mel?” Zach tries to sit up but grabs his head with his hands. “Oh, my head!”
‘He’s gonna take you back to that place. Hit him, now!’ the voice orders and Mel grabs a tire iron from the back of the jeep.
“What the hell are you doing, Melody!” Zach yells and pushes up to his knees.
Stomping over to him she swings the tire iron, but Zach blocks it, covering his head with his arms. The sickening crunch of bones and his shriek of pain causes her to sob.
‘Again! Hit him again!’ Ignoring his screams and the horrible silence that follows the next blow, she obeys the voice as it tells her, ‘One more time!’ Melody strikes him once more before tossing the weapon to the ground.
Blood pools around his head and reflects off the headlights as she calmly climbs into the jeep and buckles up. Tearing off down
