Rose with a Thorn

CHAPTER EIGHT

My thoughts turned to mush. He shot Adrian!? He left him in the middle of the street with a bullet hole in his arm and I was oblivious to it! I couldn’t seem to close my mouth as I openly stared at him. Keith knew better than to say anything at this particular moment. Instead he sat there watching me with a smug look on his ugly face. All I could think about was Adrian bleeding to death in the street before someone called for an ambulance. At least he made it to the hospital.

I stopped myself. Why did I care so much what happened to him? If he lived, great. If he didn’t, well he shouldn’t have been working for this psychopath in the first place! I turned to face Keith.

“Before you say anything Rose, I have no problem putting a bullet or two in you either if it means getting what I want. It won’t be a fatal shot, that’s for sure. But I promise you it will hurt.”

What happened to the man I used to know? He turned out to be so evil! I felt tears form in my eyes but I refused to cry in front of him any more today. “Take me back to my room.” I whispered.

“Unfortunately for you, kiddo, I actually need you elsewhere.”

“No. I won’t go anywhere with you right now... or maybe ever. Take me back to my room. I need to be away from you. You disgust me!” I stood from my seat and moved away, not forgetting the man standing behind me. Before he could grab me, I started running. Anywhere would be better than here. I got maybe 10 steps before I heard a gun fire and saw the dirt spray in front of me. I quickly tried to back track before I ran into a very large man who wrapped his arms around me.

Behind me in the distance I could hear Keith laughing. “That was a waste of all of our time, Rose, but nice try! Derrick, take her to her room and tie her to the chair. Looks like the party is coming to us!”

“No!” I screamed. “No, you can’t take me! Let me go! Let me go you asshole!”

Tears were streaming down my face and I couldn’t see anything around me. I couldn’t hear anything but the sound of my own voice. I kept hitting and kicking and trying to throw myself to the ground before I was tossed over Derrick’s shoulder. I hammered my hands into his back. I scratched the back of his head, neck, and reached around for his face.

The man was so strong he didn’t even flinch. I knew my efforts were in vain and nothing was going to get me out of my current situation, but I couldn’t help it. I was desperate not to do anything for any of these men!

He was carrying me down the stairs, taking all my screaming and abuse. He threw me down into the chair and reached over to grab one of the ropes. When he was fully extended to the side, I kicked my foot up right between his legs.

“Oomph.”

Before he could grab his delicate area, I stomped down on him again with my heel. When he leaned forward, I brought my knee up to his nose, and the next thing I knew he was knocked out cold. I turned around to run and in walked Keith with his gun pointed right at my head.

“Going somewhere?”

Keith looked over at Derrick laying on the ground unmoving. I thought he would be angry that I took out one of his men, but instead he smiled at me with a look similar to adoration in his eyes. “I always knew you’d be scrappy, but damn, it makes me proud to see it in action!”

My hands were up beside my head but that didn’t stop me from spitting at him. “If you’re so proud, maybe you should put the gun away and come face to face with me like he did. I'm sure I could hurt you the same way.”

He laughed like I was the funniest thing this side of the highway. “Scrappy and sassy... what can I say, I kind of like it.”

His gun was still pointed at my head as he walked towards me. He picked up one of the ropes and tossed it at me. “You have until the count of 3 to put your ass in that chair and tie your legs to it. If I say three, I’m shooting your left foot.”

My face straightened and went pale.

“One...”

He wouldn’t...

“Two...”

Click, went the gun.

“Okay I’m moving! Don’t shoot me!” I said as I ran towards the chair.

After tying my feet to the legs, I looked over at Keith. “There. Are you happy?”

“I will be... Hands behind the chair please.”

I knew I didn’t really have a choice. Keith walked in front of me with the gun still at my head while I put my hands behind the chair. I felt someone grab and tie them, hissing from the burning of the rope against my wrists.

“There we go. Now, where were we? Oh, yes. Now listen to me very closely, Rose. I'm going to put Derrick’s arm over your lap, and you’re going to close your eyes and concentrate very hard on him.”

“And if I don’t?” Keith lost all his patience with me. I heard the gun go off, the bullet hitting the wall behind us, and the next thing I knew I was screaming. “You son of a b***h! You shot me! Oh my god, it hurts. I can’t believe you shot me! I'm going to die. Help! HELP! Someone help me! Oh god, oh god, oh god.”

“Shut up, Rose... That was a warning shot for that filthy mouth of yours.” He lowered the gun and shrugged. “A flesh wound.”

“YOU SHOT ME! YOU ASSHOLE.”

*click*

I heard the gun again and opened my eyes wide to see it pointed at my knee. “Another word and this is the next place that has a bullet hole.”

I didn’t make a sound. My whole body was screaming at me in pain, but I knew he’d do it again. He really didn’t care about me at all, no matter what he said.

“Now... I’m going to put Derrick’s arm over your lap and you’re going to concentrate very hard. Nod your head if you understand.” The look I gave him was full of pain and anger, but I nodded my head knowing there was no way out of this.

Keith walked over to where Derrick was laying and dragged him closer to me. He threw his arm over my legs and secured it on the other side so it didn’t fall off. “Alright, Rose. Let's see what you got. I have a good feeling about this.”

I scoffed, but closed my eyes and tried to focus. My breathing accelerated but all I could feel was the pain in my arm. After about 5 minutes, Derrick started to stir, wiggling his arm around. Keith walked over and hit him in the side of the head with the butt of his gun. I looked at him, “What did you do that for? He was waking up!”

“Exactly. I need him to stay still so you can focus on what you’re doing.”

“How am I supposed to focus on anything about this man when all I can feel is my arm on fire!?” I screamed.

He rolled his eyes and walked over to the door. “Lisa honey, can you be a dear and get the first aid kit and some pain killers for Rose here?”

“Yes, Boss.” I heard Lisa say before she scurried away.

A few minutes later, Lisa came back with all that she needed. She put 2 Tylenol in my mouth with a gulp of water before rubbing numbing cream on my wound. I flinched as the immediate contact still hurt.

“She’s going to need stitches, Boss. Can Marcel come and do them? I think he’s taking a nap.”

“Yeah, go get him. And tell him he says nothing. He stitches her up and he leaves.”

“Yes, Boss.”

Lisa walked out of the room and I looked over at Keith. I wasn’t sure what he was looking at but I couldn’t help to think maybe he would answer my next question.

“Why didn’t you say anything to me sooner about what you suspected?” He looked at me and smiled, almost lovingly.

“I was so entranced by the things you would blurt out when asked. Sometimes it was harmless, like when you said Amelia won. I had no idea what you were talking about, until she came home later that day with first place in the spelling bee. The look on her face of how proud she was that all her studying wore off was something I will remember for the rest of my life.

But every once in a while, I would bring one of my men around you to see how you would react. One day I brought a guy named Ralph over because I suspected he might not be who he said he was. He kept looking at you like he could eat you, and then you had one of your visions. I knew you were about to pass out so I asked what it was and you said ‘Abuse. Baby.’”

I looked up at Keith as he was looking at me. He actually seemed like he cared about something other than himself.

“I put you in your bed and when I went back to the study, Ralph wasn’t there. I thought that was strange but I didn’t want to leave you for long knowing you’d wake up shortly and I wanted to see if you remembered what you said this time. When I got to your door, Ralph was standing beside your bed staring down at you.”

I feel a tremble run through my body. Why would he stare at me while I was asleep?

“You looked so peaceful and he was just... there... watching. I grabbed the back of his shirt and dragged him out of your room back to my study. I asked him what the hell he was doing and he said he thought he heard you call for him. I knew he was lying because you never made a sound and I went straight back after putting you down. I asked him so many questions and the entire time he gave me vague answers, laughing at things a normal person would find ridiculous. After he left, I followed him home. I couldn’t get your words out of my head and I knew he was up to something.

He went in his house and I had a gut feeling that something was terribly wrong. I ran around to the side to look through his window when I saw him taking his newborn baby from his wife. He sent her off to bed and said he’d stay with the baby until she fell asleep. As soon as she left the room, he started undoing his pants and unwrapping the baby from her blanket. I ran as fast as I could to the door and knocked, loud. That sick bastard was... to a baby... I was disgusted. He opened the door and I could see his hard on through his pants. I dragged his ass out of his house and beat the s**t out of him right there in the middle of the yard. I could hear the baby crying inside before she stopped and his wife came running out the door holding her. She screamed at me to stop, but I couldn’t until I knew he was close to death. When I heard the sirens, I turned and looked at Ralph’s wife and told her he was about to r**e her newborn little girl. Her face paled and she said ‘I knew there was something wrong with him the last few weeks, but I never imagined this.’ She went crying back in the house, slamming and locking the door behind her. I delivered him one more kick to the face and then left him there to be found. On my way home, the only thing I could think of were the words you had said. ‘Abuse. Baby.’ You saw that he was going to abuse his own daughter.”

I knew I was about to throw up. I leaned over to the side and it all came out. That's disgusting, men are disgusting. To do that to a newborn baby? What would have happened if I didn’t see that in my head? Before I knew it, I was asking Keith those very same questions.

“What if I hadn’t seen that? Or said anything? What if this Ralph guy did those... disgusting things that that baby?”

“I never found out. He was sent to prison and committed suicide before anyone found out what kind of a man he really was. But you saved that babies life, and helped that mother learn the truth about her husband. You helped her protect her baby, Rose. That's a good thing.”

I nodded, fighting the urge to puke again.

“All I’m asking is for you to help me too. There is someone leaking information and I need to know who it is. It's not just to the authorities, someone is threatening Miranda and Amelia. They may not know I’m alive, but I will die again protecting them if I have to.”

“Fine, I’ll do it. But please... untie me.” I waited while Keith was deciding if he believed me. I saw the moment he made his decision. He walked over and loosened my hands and then my feet.

I stretched my arms and gently massaged my wrists. They were a little red and sore from being tied up so much in the last 24 hours. “You said I didn’t remember what I saw after, right?”

“From what I can tell, no you don’t remember.”

“Then if I’m going to do this, I need to be recorded. I need to see what happens, I need to hear what I say. I don’t want to be left out.”

“That can be arranged. I’ll have someone find us a video camera we can use. But I really need you to try with Derrick while he’s unconscious. I have a feeling about him and I can’t quite place it. I promise to tell you if anything happens. I know you have no reason to trust me, but I'm agreeing to your terms, so I will tell you. If I don’t, then I will let you go.”