Page 30 of A Storm of Nightmares

“God, baby, what has he done to you?” I feel warm hands caress my cheeks and my eyes open to the most beautiful yet tortured face. Keith is standing beside the bed, and his face is hovering above mine. His clear blue eyes are clouded with tears as he takes in the sight of me. I don’t doubt that my face is black and blue. Even Keith’s gentle touch on my cheeks hurts.

I’m not the only one who’s been in hell, though. Keith has a swollen black eye, his bottom lip is split, and blood runs from the cut down his chin, dripping onto his shirt.

I immediately break into loud, desperate sobbing. I never thought I’d see this perfect man again. He sits down, retrieves a key from his pocket, and quickly undoes the restraints on both of my wrists. I wince in pain as the cuffs take a final jab at my bruised and sore skin.

As soon as I’m free of my restraints, Keith lifts me onto his lap, his strong arms holding me so tightly that it hurts, but I don’t ever want it to stop. I would give anything in the world to never leave Keith’s arms again. I’m graced with tiny kisses that cover every inch of my face, and I can feel the wetness from Keith’s quiet tears fall onto my shirt.

I’m fragile from having not eaten in days and getting beaten by Rick. It’s all I can do to hold myself up in a sitting position and look at this wonderful man. “How are you here right now?” I whisper, my excitement being replaced with fear. I’m worried this is all a sick dream, and I’ll wake in the morning, alone and awaiting my death.

Keith’s eyes flash with an emotion I’m not used to seeing from him. Pure fury. He shakes his head and drops his gaze to the floor. “It’s not important. What matters is that I’m here. I found you, and Rick will never hurt you again.” Keith’s voice is harsh. I can feel all the anger he’s trying to hold back for my sake. I lace my fingers together behind his neck and pull him to my lips.

He’s hesitant at first, and I can tell he doesn’t want to hurt me. For once in the last four years, I actually want to look in a mirror. I want to see how bad I look after seven days of torture. That’ll have to wait, though. I’m so desperate for Keith’s affection right now, and everything else just has to wait.

Finally, he gives in, and he kisses me with so much love and passion that I forget for just a few seconds about my current condition. My shaking hands reach down and start to lift Keith’s shirt. I hadn’t expected to want him this way, not while I’m still in the room that I’ve been held captive in, but I’m so overwhelmed at seeing him. I’m overcome with the love and desire that I have for this man, that I never thought I’d get to express again, that I can’t seem to control myself. Keith groans into my mouth before grabbing my hands off his shirt and pulling away from our kiss. “Kat, I can’t do this,” he breathes.

Panic runs through me. He doesn’t want me anymore. I’ve been tainted by Rick, and if I wasn’t a broken girl before, I sure as hell am now. I don’t even know what to say, so I remain silent and start to climb off Keith’s lap. His large hands grab my waist and pull me back down onto him before I can make it very far.

He must have read my mind because he starts to answer all the thoughts running a mile a minute through my brain. “It has nothing to do with you, baby. I fucking love you so much. But seeing you like this...” Keith’s voice cracks, and he pauses to clear his throat, fighting back emotion. “This is my fault, Kat. I promised I would protect you, but when the time came for me to prove it, I failed. Because of me, a man put his hands on you, and I will never forgive myself for that. I don’t even want to think about all you must have gone through. It kills me to see your beautiful face hold so much pain.”

My already wounded heart just about shrivels up and dies at Keith’s words. He has so much hatred for himself, and I can’t stand it. “I don’t blame you for any of this, Keith. I mean it. We had no idea what Rick was planning. And it doesn’t look like you have had an easy week either.” I run the back of my hand down the length of his sharp jaw. I have never seen his facial hair this long before. I find it oddly attractive. It’s very rugged. “Tell me what’s happened to you,” I ask gently, my eyes staring at his busted lip.

“I’ll tell you everything you want to know once we get the fuck out of here. Let’s go. Dan should have found Betty and Jess by now.” Keith wraps his arms around me, stands, and slowly sets me down on my feet on the floor. So much has happened, and I know my brain isn’t running at full capacity right now, so it takes a few seconds for his words to sink in. We’re halfway to the door when I stop. “Wait, Dan?!” I croak.

Keith smiles and then winces a little from the crack in his lip. “Yeah, Dan’s here. Rick kept him locked up in a room upstairs all this time. He’s alive, but he’s far from alright. He was adamant about rescuing Betty himself, though. Come on, let’s find them.” Keith takes my hand, and on unsteady feet, I follow him out the door and into the hallway.

As we head down the corridor, a door opens, and out walk Dan and Betty. Her arm is draped around his shoulders, and she’s holding her free hand to her ribs. Pain is evident on her face, but when her eyes meet mine, she breaks into a giant, beaming smile through her tears. My poor sister is black and blue; bruises cover her neck and arms. Her face seems to have gotten to the worst of it, though. The sight nearly brings me to my knees.

I rip my hand out from Keith’s and run straight to Betty. I didn’t think I had it in me to move this fast, but I’m propelled forward purely by the instinct to protect my sister and take away her pain. She drops her arm from Dan and falls into my embrace the second I reach her. I hear her hiss in pain, and it absolutely breaks me. “We’re safe now, Betty,” I whisper into her neck. I feel her nod, and then she almost topples over in my arms.

Dan is fast at her side once more, grabbing her from my grip and lifting her off of her feet bridal style. Another look at Betty, and I can tell something is really wrong. Her face is pale, like sickly pale. Her breathing is heavy, and her forehead is covered in a light layer of sweat. She looks like she’s about to lose consciousness any second now.

I look at Dan, my eyes asking what I’m too afraid to voice. Is my sister going to be ok? His face falls as he looks at the woman in his arms. He turns his dark brown eyes back to me, and I ready myself for whatever he’s about to say. “It looks like Rick beat her pretty badly. I’m no doctor, but I think she’s got some broken ribs, among other injuries. We need to get out of here and get her to a hospital. Now.”

“Ok... Where’s Jess?” As much as I want to help my sister, I know there’s someone else here that needs me too.

“I don’t know, but her rooms gotta be behind one of these doors.” Dan gestures with his chin down the hallway.

I take a deep breath to steady myself. Stay strong for just a little longer. “Alright, you two get Betty out of here. Get outside, try to flag down a car or something. I’ll find Jess.”

“Absolutely fucking not,” Keith growls. “I am not letting you out of my sight.”

“Look at Betty! She’s in a much worse state than I am. I need you to help Dan get her out of here. Please, I can’t lose my sister again,” I beg.

Keith glances between Dan and me, running his hands through his hair in frustration. “Fuck! Ok, fine. But be quick. I don’t like the thought of you wandering around by yourself.”Yeah, neither do I.

“Alright.” I start to turn down the hallway but stop. “Give me the key to the handcuffs, in case Jess is chained up too.” I hold out my hand, and Keith quickly hands over the tiny silver key for the handcuffs and a large, old-fashioned brass one that I imagine opens the doors in the hallway.

His hand lingers on mine, and his eyes search my face like he’s not sure if I’m really standing in front of him right now. I lift to my tip-toes and give him a quick peck, and then send him and Dan on their way. They need to get Betty out of here fast. I can handle saving Jess on my own.

Chapter 20

I don’t waste any time. As soon as I turn away from Keith, I’m checking every door in this long hallway. I peek through the small windows into the rooms to see if I can find Jess. It’s hard with the rooms being so dark. I’m starting to panic now. I look over my shoulder to make sure Keith went with Dan. He did, very reluctantly, I might add, and I’m completely alone now. I have this feeling that I need to rush, but I don’t know how I’m going to find Jess at this rate.

“Jess!” I start to yell as I pound on a door. Ugh, this is useless. I take the bigger key out and begin to unlock the door I’m standing in front of. I may as well open every damn door in this hallway. Rick was brutal with his punishments to Betty and me. Jess might be lying unconscious and hurt, and me screaming her name at the top of my lungs won’t make a difference.

I’m three doors down. Each room I’ve checked has been empty. I’m starting to lose hope. There are two doors left in this hallway, but Keith said Dan was kept upstairs. Jess could be anywhere, and I’m running out of time. I get the lock undone and shove door number four wide open, my frantic eyes searching the room. It takes less than two seconds for me to find Jess and two more seconds for me to rush to her side.

Jess is cuffed to her bed, just like I was to mine. Except she’s got a blindfold on, and her mouth is gagged. Even if she heard me calling out for her, she wouldn’t have been able to respond. She seems mostly unscathed, however. It looks like Rick had taken all of his anger out on Betty and me. I silently thank my lucky stars that at least one of us didn’t suffer at the hands of our captor.

---