A Beautiful New Life (5 page)

“Can you call the place she went? You know to make sure she left.”

“I don’t have the number. In fact, now that I think about it she never called saying she made it.” He staggered and
leaned against the
wall for support. “Oh my god, do you think something may have happened on her drive up?” He choked up. “What would I tell the kids?”

Penny reached out to him, rubbing his arm. “Go home Arlin. See if she is there. If not, then call the police. Do you have someone who can help you with the kids if you need it?”

“Yes, my parents. Thanks Penny.” He stood at the door
with his head hanging low
while Penny helped the kids collect their things.

“You have some great kids you know. When Charlie realized they
hadn’t
been picked up
at
five, he got Drake and they both sat down and did their homework. You should be proud.”

“Thanks, I am.” He shuffled the boys out the door. He was proud of them but the credit he did not deserve; he had taken no part in the development of their character
. T
hat credit went to Louise. He headed
home, stopped at the local fast food place,
and picked
the boys
up something for dinner. They arrived home to a dark, empty house. The boys did not ask about their mom
,
afraid they
would be yelled
at
again
.
They instead sat down and
picked at their burger and fries before tossing them in the trash. Charlie got Drake and Kenny ready and tucked into bed and after turning out the
light,
he got in his bed. Arlin was grateful to Louise for the care she had taken in raising the boys
.
However,
despite that care
he
knew
he would
never
be able to take care of the kids and work without her here. As his anxiety came back, he fought hard before finally succumbing to his mixture of pills and alcohol to put him out to what he hoped was a dreamless sleep.

Chapter Three

W
here was she? It was cold. She tried to pull up her blankets only to find they must have slipped off the bed. She did not have enough energy to move to pick them up, though she was freezing. She tried to open her eyes but they were so heavy. Her throat was so dry. It hurt to swallow. Her head was pounding
or was that someone pounding? It
hurt her ears
.
Where was she? She tried to open her eyes again. She could not. She gave into the darkness.

She woke again sti
ll confused. She felt doped up as
you would feel after
surgery. She had once, when she had her second child. She remembered coming to in the recovery room. She had tried to sit up and it hurt to do so. The pain reminded her of what she was doing there but the drugs would not let her comprehend it. Even though she could not open her eyes fully she still knew where she was. This was different; she did not know where she was or
what was going on. She remembered
some weird dreams about deserted and abandoned secret passageways.

She opened her eyes, lying still trying to remember where she was. Something did not feel right. She closed her eyes and visualized where she thought she should be.
She was home in bed. No, that was not right; s
he was in her room at the resort.
She took a deep breath and tried to remember the room. She
remembers jumping like a child on the king sized bed. She was not on a king sized bed; in fact,
she was not on a bed at all. She stretched out her hand and could only feel a cold floor. Had she passed out in her room? No, the floor
in her room had carpet
. She opened her eyes again and looked around. She was in a small dimly lit concrete room that was no more than four feet wide and maybe eight feet long. She had been lying on the cold bare floor and there were not any blankets that she now vaguely remembers reaching for. She sat up to have a better look around, her head pounding. The gray sweat pants and t-shirt were tight and uncomfortable.

“What the hell is going on?” She asked herself. A sickening feeling settl
ed
deep within. She wished her head would explode already to take
the pressure
off that was pushing on her skull. She reached up to hold her pulsating head.
W
ith each brush of her hand
, s
he
wished
her hair to be there. Her heart was beating faster.
Why had they shaved her head?
She tried to understand what was going on.

“It’s a bad dream that’s all.” She said aloud hoping to wake herself up from this nightmare. When that did not work
,
she shouted.
“Wake up, wake up!”
A
s the words came out she knew she was awake. She turned around looking at the room trying to figure out where she was. Her pounding head would not let her move too quickly. She forced herself to stand and make her way over to the only door in the room.
She tried it only to find but it
locked.

“Hello!” She yelled and pounded on the door.

“Hey, is someone out there?” She yelled and pounded again. She only stopped when blood was running down her arms from having beaten her fist so hard on the concrete door.

“That was stupid.” She rested her head against the door. “I seriously doubt anyone heard
me.
Now I’ve hurt myself and am in a worse situation than before.” She started to laugh. “Worse situation, how
much
worse could it really get.” She continued to laugh until she started crying as what little hope she had
,
drained from her. She slid down the door to the floor, pulling her knees to her chest and cried. After she stopped
crying,
she tried to rationalize what was going on. Had there been an
accident and someone found her,
some psycho?

“Don’t be crazy,” she said
aloud
, “you need to focus and remember what happened last.” She got up and paced around the room. “Okay I remember leaving home and I almost turned around at the state line rather than going to the
resort, b
ut I didn’t and I continued on. I stopped at a pull off to take in the view.”

She remembered now how
the memorial
pulled to her, made her hike through the deep snow to have a look. If it had been a
warning,
she had not heeded it and had continued on to the resort.
She
remembers having
a fabulous time with all the
much-deserved
attention
and
the evening wrapping up with dinner. She stopped pacing; her head pounding she lay back down on the floor and tried to remember.

“Dinner what happened after dinner?” She could
n
o
t remember. She was sure of one thing though if she did not return from her trip Arlin would be looking for her. He would not have the patience to be with the kids much longer than the weekend. Panicked by the thought of her kids, she stood up much quicker than she should have and passed out, hitting her head on the cold, hard floor.

She jolted awake. Someone was at the door. She sat up as the door opened and a man walked in. She was surprised; her first panicked thought of some psycho having found her, she half expected him to
be hunched
over and missing an eye.  He stood tall and both eyes seemed in tack
but he was slow, unsure perhaps, in his movements.
The dark pants and t-shirt he wore seemed familiar and she got up and ran towards him.

“Help me. Where am I?”

“I-I want to help b-but I can’t right n-now.
They’re
close b-behind me. Just d-do what they w-want.” He turned and rushed out the door, closing it behind him.

S
he sat staring at the closed door. She had to get out of here. She walked around the room examining the walls. They were all made of concrete with cracks
spidering
the walls. She must be in an old building and her mind wandered back to the conversation she had with Scott at Genesee.

“Scott had been wearing dark blue pants and a t-shirt.” She said to herself now realizing why the man’s clothes seemed familiar to her. “What was it he told me about the place? Yes,
that it was an old prison camp, w
ith hidden tunnels and passageways.”
She stopped walking. “Was I kidnapped from the resort? Is that why he said he wanted to help me? Is he from the resort?”
B
efore she could reflect
anymore,
the door opened again.

It walked in. He surely could not be human. The dark clothing he wore only enhanced the redness of his skin. His shirt looked like it would explode off him if he made the wrong move. He had a
look of
rage that s
eemed to
be permanently etched
i
n
to
his face. He did not say a word and walked straight for her.
His heart struggl
ing
to pump fast enough to carry his enlarged body was apparent by the heavy breathing that was audible from across the room.
She knew this was not someone she should fight
,
one hit from him she feared would kill her
,
but
she was not going to go down without a fight.

“Please don’t hurt me, I just want to go home,” Louise stood ready to defend herself.

“Home?
This is your home now”. He stepped closer to her.

“No!  This is
n
ot my home!” She shouted at him. “
I need to g
o
home to my kids, they need me.” She stood firm trying to anticipate his move
. He lifted his arm toward her and she flinched pulling her arms together to block her face. He did not hit her and she relaxed, lowering her arms. She noticed the door open behind him and made a run for it.

“No, I don’t think so, Megan. He grabbed the back of her shirt as she tried to get past him. “You’re not going anywhere.”

Gasping for
air,
she managed to get out. “My name is not Megan.”

He tossed her aside and left the room; closing the door behind him. She lay on the floor catching her breath. Her tears falling without effort, she sat
up, pulled her knees to her chest,
and rocked back and forth. After some time, when her tears had dried, she
lies
on the floor and f
a
ll
s
asleep.

She woke at the sound of the door. She sat up and saw it was the first man that walked in earlier. She got up and ran to him.

“Please help me. Get me out of here. Are you from the resort?” She grabbed his arm.

“I-I can’t right now. H-Here, I brought y-you something to eat.” She noticed the brown paper bag he had brought in. “I-It’s not m-much but it’s better than n-nothing.” He handed her the bag and when she did not take it, he put it on the floor and turned to leave.

“No, please don’t leave. At least tell me where I am.” She tried reaching for him but he pulled his arm out of her grasp and walked out the door.

She went and looked in the bag; it was
a
peanut butter and jelly
sandwich
. She wanted to toss it aside but her stomach encouraged her to eat it. She did not realize how hungry she was until she took the first bite. When she went for what she thought was her second bite, the sandwich was gone. She ate it to quick and now her stomach churned. She lay down on the floor and curled up in a ball. Just as she was ready to doze off a fire alarm went off. She jumped up. Her stomach did not agree with the sudden moment and she threw up the sandwich she just ate.
After he stomach settled, s
he made her way to the door and waited. When no one
came,
she pounded on the door despite knowing, from her earlier attempt, that surely no one could hear her. She beat the door again until her hands bled and when she
stopped,
the alarm stopped ringing too.

“Why are you doing this to me?” She yelled to the unseen forces. She was hungry and tired; but most of all she was lonely. She missed her boys and wondered what they were thinking when she did not return home.

Chapter Four

The constant ringing of the phones rattled Arlin’s nerves as he stood at the counter filling out the missing person’s report. He did not know
why
he was so nervous
.
He finished up and handed the paper back to the clerk behind the bulletproof glass separating the civil servants from possibly angry, and in their mind, wrongfully accused citizens.