A Beautiful New Life (8 page)

“NO! There is no way
this happened
.” He hung his head and the tears fell freely.

“I’m sorry. We are still trying to track down this young man and we hope we will find Louise with him or he can tell us where she is.”

“I don’t even know what to think.” Seeing the pictures made hi
m burn with rage
. How dare she go off with another man? “No! I don’t believe it.”

Detective Sheldon got up from his seat
,
came around to the front of the desk and patted Arlin on the back.

“I’ll keep in touch with what we find as our investigation continues.”

Arlin got up and followed him out to the waiting area. As he entered the area, he thought he recognized the person sitting in the chair he had just been in earlier.
However,
the news he received distracted him that even when
Detective Sheldon called out the name
Arlin did not acknowledge and continued out the door.

“Mitch thanks for coming in again.”
Detective Sheldon led him to his desk and showed him the same evidence he had just shown Arlin.

“I don’t believe it for a minute. Louise would never leave those boys. They were her life.” Mitch yelled at the detective. Detective Sheldon ensured Mitch that they were still investigating but he may need to come to the realization that maybe he did not know Louise as well as he thought he had.

“No you are wrong.” Mitch yelled at him. He got up and Detective Sheldon told him to sit down. He did not need him running out angry for no reason. Mitch was not going anywhere, however. He pulled out his wallet, sat back down, and started reading off dates and incidents he had recorded from the past year.

“January 16
th
,
February 3rd, April 26th, and July 18th, Louise was admitted to the hospital with unexplained symptoms of vomiting, dizziness, and confusion.” Detective Sheldon tried stopping Mitch but he continued. September 21st, November 1st and as recent as one week before Louise
left she had serious
mechanical problems
with her car.”

“That just proves she had some bad luck with her car.” Detective Sheldon tried rationalizing with him.

“No, it was more than bad luck.” Mitch explained how each incident could have resulted in an accident that could have been fatal for Louise.
“That girl was smart and that is why these accidents weren’t as bad as they could have been.”

“I tell you what.” Detective Sheldon said in his smoky voice. “I’ll have them pull her medical records and the mechanic records for her car.
I’m
afraid though, Mitch, they won’t shed any light on this. I think she just left.

Chapter Seven

Louise’s
dreams would not let her rest. Hidden tunnels she ran down had no end. They twisted and turned as she ran away from the heavy breathing of the beast following her.
A warm greeting.
Wine.
Dinner.
A flash of a face.
Whose face?
That question lingered as the flashes of visions changed with each twist of the tunnel.
Flowers.
Camping.

“Daddy.”
She called out. He had always been her strength her guide. “Daddy, help me.”
As she drew closer another twist of the tunnel.
A face.
Another twist.
“Daddy.”

The rush through the tunnels now slowed as she crept up reaching out wanting to touch her dad, needing his strength to protect her. As she reached the safety of his aura, she could feel his strength envelop her. She smiled as she allowed it to take over her, closing her eyes and turning around in a full circle to feel it all over. As she made her way around to face her dad again
,
she opened her eyes and he was gone. In his place a stranger
now stood,
the feeling of safety and strength planted her feet in front of him.
The dark, bald stranger was familiar to her and s
he was not afraid.
S
he relaxed and the visions, the tunnel, the heavy
breathing were
gone.

She woke when she heard the sound of the door. The heavy breathing was her clue to who had entered the room
. She stood to face him. She knew she should not resist him but she was not going to show fear either.
He raised his arm toward her and she stood fast. He laughed at her and raised his arm again, this time connecting his fist to her face. She fell to the floor and he was on top of her before she could comprehend what he had done.
His hand was at her throat holding her down. She struggled against him as he ripped her shirt with his free hand. He did not seem to notice her slapping at him as he now worked to get her pants off. He pulled back a little too far and her foot caught him in the gro
i
n.

“You bitch! You’ll pay for that!” He spit with each word and grabbed her throat pulling her head close to him and he punched her full fisted in the face. Her eyes rolled back in her head and she
went
limp. He laid her back down and pulled her pants off.

“Vince, get off her.” A voice came from the darkness. Louise opened her eyes and saw it was Henry. “What do you think you are doing? Mr. Kramer told you she was off limits.”

“Yah, what is he going to do to me?” He laughed as he
got up
and
pulled up his pants
. “You’re lucky; this time.” He said to Louise before he
turned
, pushed Henry out of the way,
and walked out the door.

“Megan, are you okay?” Henry came and sat next to her bare body. She rolled
over, collected her clothes,
and dressed.

“I’m not Megan!” She yelled. “I’m Louise Gilab. Please let me go. I have three boys and a husband.”

“You’re never leaving here.”
He stood up and walked to the door. Louise jumped up behind him.

“No, I’m leaving now and you can’t stop me.” She
made a run for the door and hoped it did not close on her. As she stepped out two men grabbed her.
She fought against them as they forced her
down the hallway. The feeling that penetrated her
brain
reminded her of a book she read about a man on death row taking his last walk to the electric chair
,
except he went willingly. If this was her last walk, it will be her last fight as well. She was not going down quietly. Their nails dug into her skin
,
drawing blood,
but she kept fighting. The blood ran down her arm pooling in her cast. She pulled her arm
,
freeing herself of
the
man’s
grip
,
and swung it around
catching the other
man
in the face with her cast. He lost his balance and
released his grip on her
as he fell to the floor.

She turned and ran in the opposite direction
they had been heading. Henry and both men
close behind. As she reached the end of the
hallway,
she saw the exit off to the right. She darted for the door but Vince came up behind her
,
grabbed her shirt
, and
pulled
her
back
. He pulled
the shirt
tight. She reached to loosen the shirts grip on her neck but she could not get her fingers under the
collar
. She gasped for air but got none. He dragged her down the hallway as she started to lose consciousness. Vince relaxed his grip on the shirt and she gasped for air
;
t
aking deep breaths as he dragged her up the stairs.

Louise inhaled another deep breath and had to fight back the vomit as the
hospital
smell overwhelmed her.  She tried to fight but Vince tightened the shirt once again forcing Louise to fight to breathe. They picked her
up, laid her down on a table,
and strapped her arms down. The cold steel penetrated through her
lightweight
t-shirt. She kicked and spat at anyone within reach until
Henry
strapped down her legs and taped her mouth.

“Should I sedate her?” The motherly voice asked.

“No, she needs to feel the pain, bitch
wi
ll think twice before she tries to leave again. That’s if she ever gets her memory back.”

They laughed. “Look at her struggle like a fish out of water.”
Betty shaved her head
of what hair had grown back and
placed
electrodes on it. She continued to struggle under the straps.

“Clear.” She heard Betty say and wondered what they were doing. Louise’s screams went unheard by the tape on her mouth as the shock sent through her body made her twitch uncontrollably.

She heard Vince laugh
and say
.  “Turn it up higher.”

“No, no, we don’t want to fry her. Remember what happened to that other girl. It’s easier if they’re manageable and can give something back by working around here.”

“Ya
h
well that girl ended up going home anyway.”

“That girl was a mistake, a big mistake. We had no choice really to do what we did.” She tried to focus on what they were saying but another shock swept through her body and wiped the thought away.

“It isn’t an option here to send this one home.”
Henry added to the conversation.

“I don’t know
,
I think with this one we would be better off
just making her disappear for good.
I just feel she’ll be trouble.”
The motherly nursed said as another jolt shot though
Louise’s
body.

T
he wetness between her legs told her she has lost control of
her bodily functions. It would
only
be
a matter of time
and
she would lose her mind.
After a few more shocks, Louise
just laid there; the only fight left was the involuntary twitching of her body. They
took
her back to a room and strapped her down in a bed.

“This is for your own good Megan, one day you’ll understand.” Betty said as she tucked her under the covers.

“My…my name is not Megan.” She was not going to give up. She may not physically be able to fight but as long as her mind was working
,
she will
continue to
fight them
mentally
.

“I really wish you hadn’t said that.”  Betty turned out the lights and walked out of the room. As much as she tried
not
to
,
Louise fell asleep.

She woke as they came in
and unstrapped her. She
eyed who was in the room and tried to overcome Betty. She may have sounded motherly but there was nothing motherly about her
physically. She was strong
,
and
single-handedly
had Louise down and secured into the wheelchair before Louise even had a chance to take a step to the door.

They took her to the same room as the previous day and strapped her to the table once again. Louise fought like hell but was overpowered once more. They taped her mouth and sent the electric shocks through her body again.
She became weaker with each treatment she had heard them call it. Each time they would talk to her, tell her who she was, where she was at, and what she was doing there. They were shocking her past life out of her and she could feel them succeeding.

Chapter Eight

“Excuse me Mr. Gilab.” Shelley’s voice came over the intercom.

“Yes, Shelley.” Arlin answered.

“There is a Detective Sheldon here to see you.”

“What could he want now?” Arlin said to himself. He took a deep breath and spoke into the intercom. “Send him in.”
T
he authorities were still trying to locate the man
last seen with
Louise
.
Mitch
Bullen
continued to make a huge argument as to why Louise would never up and leave her boys.
The detective had questioned
Arlin nonstop for the whole month
, g
oing over every detail and contradiction that Mitch pointed out,
including,
according to Louise
,
the spa trip was a gift from Arlin.

Detective Sheldon walked in and Arlin stood to greet him. “What do I owe this visit? Usually you would summon me to your office.” He walked around to the front of the desk.