Page 29 of Never Forget You

“Fuck you.” He pushes me backward, trying to slam the wind out of my lungs. “Fuck you, you little asshole. You think I don’t know what’s going on here? You think I don’t know that you have been screwing around with my wife? You come here acting like you’re some goddamn Samaritan who is just doing a favor? Well, I ain’t buying it. I’m not buying anything you’re fucking selling, you piece of shit. No way you’re taking my place.”

“I don’t know what you’re trying to say. I just want the right thing to happen here…”

“The right thing is for you to fuck off and leave me andmyfamily alone. You understand that, asshole?”

“I’m not going anywhere.” I shake my head hard. “I can’t. I have to protect Ella in this situation.”

And that’s the moment I get a blinding, red-hot pain to the side of my head and my vision blurs hard. That’s the moment this goes from a heated, thick conversation, which wasn’t really going anywhere, to violence. I never wanted this to happen because I didn’t want Ella to see anything like this, but her own father clearly doesn’t give a shit. He’s taken this to a brand-new level without caring about his daughter at all. I really hope the cops come soon…

23

GEORGIA

“No!” I scream loudly, finally breaking free of my ties to escape the house. I didn’t want to do anything to cause a fuss and to make things worse when Ben is so clearly out of his mind today and not afraid of harm me and even kill me. I feel like I’ve been on the edge of death all day long. But now, he’s harming Harry and maybe Ella too. “No!”

I don’t know what I’m running out toward. I can barely run at all, to be honest. It’s agony to make my body go anywhere, but I just about make it out the door. There, I find Ben on top of Harry, punching him endlessly.

“No!” I throw myself toward them, needing to break this up. “Stop, don’t do this, please. Harry is Ella’s teacher, he is just trying to do a nice thing. There is absolutely no need for anything to happen to him. Stop this!”

Ben swings his arm back and catches me in the side of the face, knocking me backward. I fall hard on the ground, smacking my head against the concrete, which causes my vision to blur. I wince and force myself upward, barely able to see through thewhite-hot darts of pain, but I just about manage to get myself up again.

I need to save everyone, I need to stop this, I can’t let this continue to keep happening. This is my fault. I’m the one who married Ben, I’m the one who brought him here. Harry doesn’t need to be involved in this. He’s innocent. Ella neither. I already know that this doesn’t have a damn thing to do with her. It’s all about me.

Iam the one who betrayed him, who made him feel so angry. This is all to do with me.

“Stop,” I cry out a lot more weakly now. “Do whatever you want to me. Just leave him alone…”

My eyes catch the gaze of my daughter. She’s sitting on the other side of the road, outside the home of our neighbors who are currently on vacation, and she’s staring at me with sheer terror in her eyes. This is why Harry is taking the beating. He isn’t fighting back because he doesn’t want Ben to go for my daughter. He’s saving her, and I need to do the same thing as well. I have to get across the road to be with her no matter what. Even if it means that I need to jump over the fight to get to her. Ella is my goal, the only person who matters to me right now.

“Ella,” I whisper as I stagger upward. I can’t say it too loud, but I need her to know that I’m coming for her. “Ella, I’m coming. You… you just wait there. I will be over to you in a moment, I promise you.”

But her eyes remain wide and shocked like she doesn’t know what to expect anymore. That’s hardly a surprise. Her father has always been practically a stranger to her, but this could be a million times worse. She’s seeing her father become a monster,become an animal, and it must be sickening for her. I can’t even begin to imagine what’s going on in her mind anymore. I’m the only constant in her life, and I need her to see me as strong right now.

I start running. I keep my eyes on Ella and run hard and fast. My feet bang against the ground, sending shoots of pain up my legs, but I don’t care. I don’t care about anything but Ella and getting to her. I just about make it past the fight as well, which is a good sign that I’m going to finally get my arms around Ella once more. That’s all I need. Once I have hold of Ella, everything else will just fall into place. It has to. I need it to.

“Mommy, no!” I don’t understand what’s going on. I don’t get why Ella has suddenly jumped up and is screaming at me like the world is about to end. Nothing makes any sense. I want to take that pain away from her so badly. The worry as well. No child should have to feel that much panic. It isn’t right. How could he do this to her?

“Oof.” I don’t know where the pain comes from a second time. I can’t pinpoint where I’ve been hit. I only know that I’m tumbling, falling, and that Ella seems to be fading out of my view. I can’t give up, I can’t give in, I can’t crumble and fall apart because she needs me. If I don’t hold it together, then the monster might get to her…

“Mommy, no!” Ella starts running. She’s coming toward me, wanting to help me. All I want to do is make her stop, make her stay where she is because she’s away from him, safe from him, but she doesn’t seem to get my silent message. I can hear her little feet pounding toward me. She’s still coming, still putting herself at risk for me.

I try to roll myself over to grab her beforehecan get anywhere near her, but I can’t seem to move my body fast enough. Plus, there seems to be a strange black fog coming for me, claiming me, taking me. I try my hardest to fight it because it’s a life or death situation here. He will take Ella away from me and I’ll never see her again, so I have no choice but to fight this, however hard it is. I mouth Ella’s name, trying to get sound out as well, but I can’t.

I know that I can fight this, though. I have to, and I just about manage it as well, but I’m halted by the horrible feeling of his foot slamming against my head. The foot brings the blackness with it, and that swallows me up.

Ella… Ella… Ella…my daughter is all that I can think of. Nothing matters but her.Ella… Ella…but I don’t know where she is, I don’t know what happened to her. All I know for sure is that I’m stuck, frozen, useless. I want to break free of this ice, but I can’t. It’s too thick, too strong, too busy keeping me in place while the world around me spins.

“Miss Fredericks?” The strange voice works like smelling salts. It gives me the strength that I need to snap my eyes open, to let the brightness of the real world come back into my vision, whether I want it or not.

“El… Ella?” I stammer out, gasping through a thickness in my throat. “Where is Ella? What has happened to her?”

The man, who I quickly realize is a police officer, starts asking me questions about myself and my health, but I don’t give a shitabout any of that. I’m alive, aren’t I? I want to see Ella, I want to know where my daughter is.

“Did Ben take her?” I snap, shouting much louder than I intend to. “Where is she? Where is my child?”

“We are currently trying to locate your child,” the officer tells me, in what I presume is supposed to be a calm and soothing voice, but it just comes off as cold while my heart shatters into a million pieces.

“No!” I howl loudly. “No, he’s kidnapped her. He said that he won’t let me see her again!”

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