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“Harrison what’s going on?” I ask through the feel of cotton in my mouth. I wasn’t gagged for real, but my tongue was heavy, my mouth dry, and I don’t know what on earth is happening.
“What’s going on? You just couldn’t leave it alone, could you? You had to keep asking questions. I should have read your letter, but I didn’t think he’d tell you anything different than what he’d put in ours, and you’d have known it been unsealed,” he was saying mostly to himself, and my heart tightened in my chest as panic began to wash over me.
I hate feeling afraid but right now that’s all I could possibly feel. “What happened, Harrison? Why did Chad jump?”
“To save you of course! And now…I didn’t want to have to do this, but I can’t let you just walk away,” he shouts as he continues to pace worrying me further.
“Why? Why can’t you let me walk away if Chad jumped to keep me from having to deal with his mistakes?” I ask because between the spot on my head where he’d hit me, the alcohol, and the underlying confusion, nothing began to make the slightest bit of sense.
“He didn’t deserve you Amelia. That’s why he jumped. To save you, protect you from hisdisgustinglife.”
“The HIV? He really thought it’d matter to me that much?”
“No, he knew you’d love him despite it, risk yourself for him, but I couldn’t let him do that to you. I couldn’t let him hurt you but now…now I can’t risk you telling anyone else.”
“Harrison, how did you know where I was?” I ask as a sinking feeling washes over me.
“I know all about that place. The way you let those men undress you with their eyes. You’ve been a very bad girl Amelia. I could have forgiven you for that but then you went and slept with him…”
“I didn’t sleep with Chad,” I say but he shakes his head.
“Not Chad. Him…Rafe,” he said his voice sneering on his name making me wish I had Rafe beside me, holding me, keeping me safe from whatever was going on. It made no sense at all, and I felt panic in a way I never had in my life.
“Harrison…how do you know that?” I ask trying my best to get my hands loose.
“Because I’ve seen you! You’ve let him touch you, you’ve stood at the window with him letting his hands linger on your body, and it’s not his—it never was supposed to behis. Chad didn’t deserve you andhecertainly doesn’t either. There’s not a single man out there good enough for you but I am—wasuntil you sullied yourself withhim.”
My heart stopped seeing the look in his eyes. There was something in it that said he wasn’t even close to letting his rage out, not his full rage at least, and I didn’t know what to do, how to calm him down and move things forward without being hurt. It was dark out still, no one around for miles and miles. It’d be pointless to scream. Would likely enrage him further if I did, but it was welling up inside me knowing that I was trapped in the ropes.
“I’ve kept everyone else from you. I’ve done so much to keep you safe, and you betrayed me,” Harrison continues making me wonder what else he’s done. “No one was good enough for you and I made sure they didn’t stay long. I kept them from hurting you and you never once said thank you. You just ignored me. Then you left and became a tramp like all of the others out there I’ve taken care of…butyouweren’t supposed to Amelia,” he adds squatting down beside me grabbing my cheeks as he stares into my panicked eyes. “You were the one who was always perfect. Why did you betray me?Why?” he demands, squeezing my face making a cry slip out of my lips.
“Please just let me go Harrison, I won’t tell anyone what happened,” I try to reason, but it simply made him madder. His hand came down across my face as he slid the top of my tank top down revealing the lace of my bra.
“I can never let you go. I still can’t, not even knowing what a whore you actually are,” he stated letting his hand slide along my skin making me sick. “You’re still mine. I’ll simply have to set you free from your disgusting sins first. The only way to do that is to get rid of them.”
“Get rid of what?” I ask as tears well up behind my eyes, prickling them to the point it hurt to hold them back, as I tried to follow his thoughts. I couldn’t very easily with my head pounding and his jumping thoughts.
“Not what…who,” he answers lifting the strands of my hair letting his fingers trail through them. “Getting rid of the person who tricked you into acting this way will end your sins, then I can make you clean again, the way I did after Chad died.”
“What happened to Chad? Why did he jump?” I ask again trying to draw it out to see exactly what he’d done and planned.
“To save you, keep you safe,” he tells me, lifting my chin up almost painfully. “He was standing here, in this exact spot when I found him. He told me that he was leaving town so he could learn to fully live in the world and give you everything you’d ever need, come back to marry you. I told him that would never happen that I wouldn’t let him ruin your life that way. He didn’t believe me at first, but he finally knew I wasn’t playing, and he jumped because he knew I was right.”
“No, he wouldn’t have,” I state but he just laughs maniacally, and my chin starts to quiver slightly.
“I told him it was him or you. That I’d never let you go to him fully. I would stop one of you and it was his choice as to whom. Ah Amelia, don’t cry, I never would have hurt you. I simply want to love you, but you make the worst choices and I have to fix them for you. I started with Chad for you, then made Warren disappear,” he adds, and I felt the bile rise in my throat.
“Warren overdosed at a party,” I whisper, and he simply laughed again.
“He didn’t overdose. He was going to go find you to sleep with you and I wouldn’t let him do that to you. You’re mine Amelia. You’ve always been mine and I showed Warren the same way I showed Chad. Warren walked away promising to stay far from you, but I knew he wouldn’t, so I had to make sure he followed his words. You’ll see once Rafe’s gone we’ll be right back to where we’ve always been Amelia. I just have to get rid of him.”
“What did you do to Chad? Did you push him off the bridge here? Is that what you’re going to do to me?” I question, as the tears slide down my cheeks.
“I didn’t push Chad…he jumped. I told him if he loved you, he’d save you by taking himself out of the picture for good. It’s what I’m going to do to Rafe. I’d never hurt you that way if I could help it, but I have to have you here to lure him. He won’t come here willingly but for you he would. So where is your phone Amelia?” he asks me, sliding his hands down my chest.
“I don’t know. I think I left it at the club,” I lie, and he grabs my neck squeezing tightly.
“You stupid bitch! Now I have to go get it. At least it’ll let me burn down the place for what they’ve done to you. It’s just too bad no one will be in it to burn for their sins,” he adds, pushing my head back, hitting it against the pillar of the bridge making it swim.
