The Darkness We Hide

Michelle

In her basement dungeon, with no clock or widow to indicate day and night, Michelle lost all track of time. Her chills came and went, leaving her weaker with every episode. Each time Richard brought her food and medicine she tried everything she could think of to get him to let her go, but nothing seemed to touch him. He would talk to her about anything she wanted to except letting her go.

Once she awoke to find Richard had removed her shackles and was treating the raw skin they’d left behind. On a spur of hope, Michelle kicked out, catching him in the face and sent him sprawling backwards. With a great effort, Michelle managed to get to her feet and began stumbling through the dark to where she thought the door was. Before she’d managed to get twelve steps, Richard grabbed her around the waist and hoisted her off of her feet.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” he snarled through a bloody nose.

Forcibly, he threw her down on the mattress causing her ribs to pop somewhere under her bandages and began wrestling her writhing feet back into the shackles.

“No,” Michelle begged, coughing harshly. “Please don’t. I’m sorry Richard!! I swear. I’m sorry!! Please leave them off and I promise I won’t try to escape again!”

Ignoring her, he snapped the second cuff in place with a growl of satisfaction. When he was sure they were secure he turned on her, crawling on top of her on his hands and knees. Blood dripped from his nose and mouth as he moved closer, leaving a bright red trail up her legs, torso and chest.

“You’re right you won’t try again,” he growled. “Because tonight you will be mine! Tonight you will have your eyes opened to a new way of seeing me!”

With that he lunged, pinning her down with his body, and tried to kiss her, but only managed to break the skin on her dry lips. His hands fumble at her breasts, squeezing and scratching the already mangle bandage.

Michelle struggled under him, trying weakly to push him away as he shredded what was left of her shirt, his weight crushing her already broken ribs to their limit.

With a rip, her blouse opened exposing her breasts and wrapped torso.

“You’re mine,” Richard roared before lowering his head and biting her shoulder viciously, worrying the skin.

Michelle screamed in pain as Richard’s teeth tore through her flesh, scraping into the bone. As suddenly as he was on top of her, he was gone wiping her blood, and his, from his face.

“I’m sorry,” he said, reaching for her.

“Don’t touch me,” Michelle sobbed, rolling away from him.

“It will be okay,” he said, clasping hands as if he could think of nothing else to do with them. “I’ll come back later… after we’ve both had the chance to think about this.”

After he was gone Michelle lay stunned, aching and bleeding. Her shoulder burned with pain every time she moved her arm, and she felt like she couldn’t get enough air in when she tried to breath.

Staring blankly at the ceiling, Michelle’s mind wandered over the passage of time, the amount of pain a body could stand before death, and how, in one night, a person’s life could be altered forever.

Suddenly sick she vomited into her toilet bucket, the little food she’d eaten gone in a few retches. Curling up as tightly as she could manage, Michelle pulled her blanket close around herself and began to cry and to pray. How in the hell is any of this happening? What had she done in this life or any other to deserve this? Worst yet, what was this doing to her baby?

Gareth

When Gareth realized that Richard had kidnapped Michelle, he’d called his family to ask for help. Within twenty-four hours his parents and two of his brothers, Phillip and William, had flown in from Montana and were at the cabin ready to help find her.

“Richard is an unstable and dangerous werewolf,” he said to the assembled group. “He’s convinced himself that Michelle is somehow his and I fear what he will do to her if she rejects him.”

“Gareth,” his mother, Louise, said, “is this the same Richard that I’m thinking of? Richard Allen, the one from your days in the military?”

“Yes,” he replied. “I know from past dealings with him that he’s unbalanced, but this… this is just crazy.”

“Crazy or not,” his father, Hugo, said leaning forward in his chair, “we need to find them for the young ladies sake.”

“Agreed,” his mother interjected. “Do you have any idea where he might have taken her?”

“No,” Nancy replied, entering the room carrying a large tray of steaming mugs. “Gareth and I tracked the car he used to ambush Michelle to the highway, but he seems to have abandoned it and moved to a new one.”

“Okay,” his father said, taking an offered cup. “Your brothers and I will go back there with you and see if we can’t find any signs that might help point us in the right direction. Louise,” he continued turning to his wife, “could you and Nancy search for any records of stolen cars or robberies in the area.”

“Why robberies?” Gareth asked.

“Well,” Hugo replied, “if she’s hurt, and from what you’ve said about the wreckage of her car she probably is, he’s gonna need medical supplies and pain killers.”

“Alright,” Gareth said, standing and ending all conversation, “let’s get moving!”

As soon as she was sure the men were gone, Nancy stopped Louise on her way to the computer.

“Nancy,” Louise chastised, “what are you doing? We need to start looking.”

“There is something you need to know,” her sister-in-law said, looking at her earnestly.

“What?” Louise asked, not understanding why Nancy was behaving this way.

“Michelle is pregnant,” the other woman breathed, her fear and anxiety spreading to Louise. “She's Gareth's destined mate.”

“Oh Goddess,” Louise breathed.

“Oh Goddess," she repeated louder, the full weight of what her son must be going through hitting her like a flatbed truck. "We have to find her!”

“I will look through public records for anything owned by Richard,” Nancy agreed. “You search for car thefts, robberies, anything that might point us in a direction.”

“Alright,” Louise said with a heavy sigh, “let’s find her.”

With the help of three new noses, Gareth was able to track Richard’s trail a little further, adding twenty miles to the distance he and Nancy had already gotten over the next few days, but after that they lost it again.

Returning home downhearted, Gareth was in a frenzy. Almost two weeks and they hadn't found her. It had taken all of his father’s persuasive gifts to convince him to call off the search and return home without Michelle.

So exhausted he was barely able to stay on his feet, Gareth trudged slowly inside the house only to be confronted by a cacophony of loud yells.

“Here’s another one,” Nancy called, looking up from a pile of newspapers.

“Another what?” Gareth asked.

“We’ve found at least three pharmacies and drug stores that have been broken into in the last two weeks,” Nancy explained. “They are all within twenty miles of each other.”

“What does that tell us?” he asked.

“It tells us that he is somewhere near Discovery Bay,” Louise said, unfolding a map across the large dining table.

“Look,” she continued, marking points on the page. “A pharmacy here in Gardiner was looted for penicillin, ace wraps, bottles of rubbing alcohol, painkillers, strong ones, gauze pads, and medical tape.

“Here, in Quilcene,” she marked again, “a drug store was robbed of the same things.

“Here in Leland, and here in Blyn,” she repeated, making a last mark on the map. “All these towns have had stores robbed for medical supplies.”

“Where did you lose Richard’s trail?” Nancy asked, moving to stand next to his mother.

“Right outside Eaglemount,” Hugo replied, moving to look down at the map.

“That tracks,” Louise breathed, making another mark, this time in red ink. “The only town not robbed was Discovery Bay, which means he’s somewhere near there.”

“What makes you think that?” Gareth asked, exhaustion and stress making it difficult to follow her train of thought.

“Because,” she replied looking up into her son’s haggard face, “if you’re on the run and trying to hide, you don’t rob stores where you’re hiding.”

“She’s right,” Hugo said, putting his arm around his wife’s shoulders. “It makes sense.”

“Then we have to go,” Gareth yelled, slamming his hands on the table snapping it in half.

“Gareth,” Nancy gasped at his rage, “we need to take a moment. We need to call the Council and alert them that we may have found him.”

“Fine,” Gareth said huskily trying to reign his anger in, “you call the Council, I’m going to Discovery Bay. That bastard has my pregnant mate and our child in his clutches!”

“Stop,” his father said sternly when he tried to leave, using a voice Gareth hadn’t heard since he was a child. “Your mother, brothers, and I will go with you. If Richard is there we will find him. Nancy,” he said, turning to her, “please call the Council and alert them.”

“Thank you,” Gareth breathed, grateful for all of them being there. “Thank you.”