Love Lies Dying (62 page)

Sixty-nine

“You ready?” he asked her.

“Is this going to work?” she sounded worried.

“It should,” he replied. “Trust me, I’m the engineer, right?”

“Okay,” she nodded. “If you say so!”

“Just remember to pull yourself up as soon as you can.”

She nodded in the darkness, “Ready when you are.”

John stepped behind her and took up his position.

It hadn’t taken him long to prepare it all.

He just hoped it would work.

The pine trunks from the verandah looked strong enough, but he worried that if they’d been standing outside as posts for too long, weathered and drying out, they might just snap in two like twigs once some pressure was placed on them.

Not going to happen,
he told himself.
It can’t! Please, just let this work for us.

The first trunk was wedged down beside Sherrie.

There wasn’t much space to use, but with Sherrie moving to one side and guiding him, he managed to place the end of the trunk as far under the floorboards as possible. He just hoped it was pushed far enough under to lift the crossbeam. The trunk stuck out of the hole at an angle, rising to John’s shoulder in height.

The other trunk he placed on the floorboards behind Sherrie, using it as a brace for his wooden lever.

This has to work…

“Ready?” he asked again.

“Like you wouldn’t believe,” Sherrie replied.

“I’ll take it nice and slow. Let me know how you’re coming along and whether you can get out.”

He watched the back of her head as she nodded.

“Here goes!”

He placed his feet on the trunk that was the brace, stopping it from moving or sliding away. He grabbed hold of his makeshift lever and pulled down on it, slowly at first.

After a few seconds, the floorboards moaned and moved slightly.

John’s eyes darted from the floorboards to the lever and across to Sherrie.

She had both arms by her sides, pulling herself upwards, shaking side to side as if she were trying to work her way out like a cork in a champagne bottle.

The trunk was bending already as John pulled down on it more.

Keep it steady.

The floorboards moved slowly higher.

Yes, just a bit more!

The wind blew through the night and all around them.

John pulled down harder, his arms straining as the load increased.

The boards creaked and rose higher.

“It’s working,” Sherrie said as she pulled herself further. “I can feel the crossbeam lifting!”

The rain fell harder.

John needed to wipe the rain or sweat from his eyes, but he didn’t have the time. The lever moved closer to the ground. He pulled it to his side, turned around and leaned on it now, pushing it further down, putting all his weight against it.

It inched closer to the ground.

Closer…closer…

The trunk rubbed against the claw marks on his chest. He eyed the bloodstain on his shirt and hoped Zoe’s bite hadn’t done too much damage to his stitches. But now wasn’t the time to worry about that.

I’ll get to Zoe next…

The floorboards lifted more.

A grating sound filled the air.

Thunder struck at the same moment, drowning the noise.

John pushed down harder.

And with a crack, the lever gave way.

Shit!

He heard Sherrie cry out!

No!

The log slammed into the floor with John on top of it. It gouged into his side, kicking the breath from his lungs and sending pain along his damaged arm and shoulder and through his body. His head hit the floor hard. Stars scattered through his vision.

He lay there in the silence.

No! Damn it, no! NO! That was our only hope!

He closed his eyes tight. His hands balled into fists.

The rain continued to fall.

What are we going to do now? There’s nothing else left to try. She’s beaten us. She’s won!

“Are you okay, John?”

It was Sherrie. She was whispering to him.

By his side.

He opened his eyes and turned to look above him.

She was staring down at him, a look of concern on her face.

He stared back.

“You okay?” she said again.

“Yeah,” he mumbled. “You’re…”

“Yep,” she nodded and smiled at him. “I’m out.”

He rolled off the log and sat up to look at the floor.

The trunk hadn’t snapped at all.

The crossbeam had.

From where he sat, he could make out the hole in the floor where Sherrie had been. It was bigger now, a large pile of floorboards strewn all around, and sitting in the middle of the pile, like a broken jagged knife, was the snapped crossbeam.

Yes! It worked!

John brushed himself off as Sherrie held out her hand to him.

He smiled, took her hand, and stood up. He turned to face her and kissed her lightly on the lips.

“How are you?” he asked.

“I’ll live,” she smiled back.

“That’s good to know.”

“I’m just glad to be out of that hole.”

“I’m glad you are too.”

They hugged in the entranceway for a short while as the lightning lit up the night.

“Thank you,” she whispered in his ear.

He looked into her green eyes.

“I wasn’t about to leave you here, you know.”

She smiled as she bent over, wiping the moss and splinters from her legs. “I know, I just wanted to say thanks. It was horrible down there. Wet and yucky and really disgusting.”

He nodded. “I love you, you know that. I’d do anything for you.”

She snuggled into his shoulder. “I know,” she replied. “That’s why I love you so much.”

They stood silent as the thunder rolled on by.

“But we
have
to see this through to the end, don’t we?” she asked.

“Yes,” he replied. “We do.”

“But if Fox isn’t here, where is he?”

Jesus, where do I start?

What can I tell her?

“The answers are back at the church.”

She turned to look at him.

“The
church?
”

He nodded.

“How can you be so sure?” she looked confused.

John sighed.

“I just know, that’s all.”

“How?”

Damn, I have to tell her.

I have to!

But not here.

Not now.

There’s plenty of time for that.

“I found some things,” he replied. “In that back room…and in the barn. Helen’s back near the church somewhere.”

“We came all this way for
nothing?
” she asked.

“No,” he shook his head. “By coming here we learnt the truth. Finally.”

She stared at him and he smiled at her.

He turned to be by her side and placed his arm around her.

She noticed the blood on the arm of his shirt.

“You’re injured,” she looked concerned. “Are you okay?”

He nodded, “Must’ve just opened the wound slightly when I fell to the floor.”

“You want me to check it for you?”

He shook his head. He didn’t want to know what damage Zoe’s bite had done. Not yet, anyway.

“Come on, my love. We’ve got unfinished business to take care of.”

They walked out the front door and around the twisted remains of the verandah.

Lightning glowed in the night sky as they walked out into the rain.

“Will Fox be at the church?” she asked as they walked down the muddy driveway.

“Fox is the least of our troubles now,” he replied.

Seventy

The pines stretched out in front of them.

“Couldn’t we take the road?” Sherrie called from behind him.

“No,” he replied. He was walking faster, head down, pushing through the rain. “Too exposed. It’s dangerous. This way is safer.”

“How do you know we’ll even find the church this way?” she continued. “We’re not even retracing the route that got us here!”

Because this is the way Zoe came,
he thought to himself.
It has to be!

He’d decided that while they had been hiding in the forest, taking a diagonal route and walking by the river on the other side of the road, Zoe had been making a direct line to the barn on this side of the road.

That’s how she got here so fast and was waiting for us.

“John,
please
,” Sherrie called from behind him. “Slow down!”

No time, I can’t.

Lightning jagged above them.

“You’re walking too
fast!
” she called. “
Please!
”

He stopped in his tracks and turned to face her.

She walked towards him looking tired and worn-out. Her long hair was plastered across her forehead and on her shoulders. She was walking with a limp and holding her side. A painful expression flashed across her face every time she took a step with her right foot.

Poor Sherrie.

She just doesn’t understand…

Doesn’t she have a right to?

Yes, she does.

Zoe said she loved Sherrie too.

She said she was doing all this for her.

There were still pieces missing. And John wanted to fill in some of the gaps. The more he knew, the better his chance of beating Zoe at her own game.

Time to play the game like she does. Time to know everything before I strike.

The rain fell heavily around them, punching into the ground and their bodies.

He waited until she had caught up to him.

She smiled, “Thanks. You were walking too fast.”

He couldn’t wait any longer. He needed to know now. No matter what.

“You knew who Zoe was,” he said to her. “You
know
her, right?”

Her smile vanished as thunder echoed around them.

“Yes,” she looked to the ground. “I know her.”

“How?”

“It’s a long story, John,” she began, her face turning dark.

“We’ve got time.”

“I don’t really want to talk about it now.”

“Honey, I think we
need
to.”

She sighed. “I don’t know where to start.”

He turned and put his arm around her once more. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s talk while we head back.”

She nodded and smiled up at him.

More pieces…more pieces of the puzzle…

They continued walking through the forest, sludging through the wet undergrowth and being careful not to slip.

The wind blew through the pines, but not nearly as hard as it did in the valley. They weren’t as cold now. It was almost as if the forest kept the worst of the wind and night from them, sheltering them as they walked.

Thunder rolled above. John noticed the thunder was moving away, taking longer to break after each bolt of lightning.

Maybe this storm will soon be over.

Maybe…

“I’m listening…” he prompted her.

She sighed deeply.

“Anything you tell me might be able to help us
stop
Zoe. You know her better than I do. Anything you can tell me could help.
Please?
”

“Okay,” she began after a few more seconds of silence. “Here it goes! I’ve known Zoe for a few years. Probably about five in fact. Before I met you, we used to live together. Actually, even when I met you, she was still living with me. But eventually we grew apart. It wasn’t the same as it used to be. She moved out after we had a big fight. We used to be good friends, but then something happened and it just changed how we were with each other. We couldn’t live together anymore. So, she packed herself up and left. I haven’t seen her for at least a year.”

She fell silent.

John didn’t say anything.

“I got such a shock at the church,” she continued as they walked further through the forest. “I mean, I had
no
idea whose Jeep was out the front. She never owned a car when I knew her. But when I talked with you on the phone I could tell you were scared and in danger. And when you didn’t show up at the hotel, I feared that maybe something had gone wrong and you were
really
in trouble. So I parked the car out of sight at the end of the driveway and walked the rest of the way.

“It was so quiet when I got there. I couldn’t hear anything. I first thought maybe the place was deserted and I’d missed you somehow back at the hotel. But after a few seconds, I could hear a voice from inside the church. I walked around to the side and looked in the window. I could see Zoe standing there near the kitchen. I didn’t see you then. I couldn’t see the bed from where I was. But I saw her.”

Lightning flashed.

“I didn’t know what she was doing there. My mind couldn’t connect it all together in those few split seconds. So I just barged into the church and asked Zoe what the fuck was going on. Then I saw you down on the bed all tied up and in a dreadful state. And then I
knew
.”

They walked in silence for quite a while.

The pieces were beginning to fit together.

“She loves you, you know,” John said.

“I know,” she nodded. “And I loved her…for a while.”

“You were living together as lovers?”

Sherrie nodded.

John was too tired and too exhausted to be surprised. Part of him suspected anyhow. After what Zoe had told him at the barn, what else could he think?

“It was a one bedroom apartment, John. We were a couple for a while.”

“And you never thought to tell me this?”

“I wanted to. But I didn’t know how you’d react. I would’ve told you one day, John. Honestly, I would’ve. But I saw it as a little side-step that I took, just to experiment and to see what it was like. It didn’t work out, so I didn’t think it mattered.”

“What broke you both up?” he asked.

Thunder rumbled in the distance.

“You did,” she replied.

He closed his eyes and let out a sigh.

I did…

Of course…

Then he turned to face her.

“That’s what all this is about, you know…”

She nodded, “I know. From the moment I saw you tied to that bed in the church, I knew. She swore she’d hurt the next person I fell in love with. She told me she would. But it was part of our huge final argument and I just thought it was an empty threat. I had
no idea
she would take it this far.”

John nodded.

“This is all
our
fault.”

“You can’t think that way,” he replied.

“But it’s
true!
”

They walked on together. He squeezed her hand.

“Was she always that extreme?” he asked. “In bed, I mean.”

“Yeah,” Sherrie replied. “She was a rough fuck, that’s for sure. She was always into tying me up and spanking and stuff. For a while I enjoyed it, but then it just got too dangerous. Her games always got out of hand. She was always pushing to the edge.”

John nodded.

“And further…” she whispered.

“She wants us all to live together, as a threesome.”

Sherrie sighed and ran her fingers through her wet hair.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” she muttered. “When did she tell you this? At the church when she had you tied up?”

Here goes…

“At the barn.”

“
What?
”

“She was at the barn, waiting for us. That was when she told me why she was doing it all.”

“You said
no one
was at the barn!”

“I know.”

“
Why?
”

“Because I thought it was for the best.”

She shook her head and let go of his hand, “Really?”

“Yeah,” he muttered.

“You
lied
to me, John,” she said in a firm voice.

“I know,” he replied. “I’m sorry, but I
did
think it was for the best. While you were still stuck down there in that hole, I didn’t think telling you what Zoe said in the barn was going to help the situation.”

She nodded.

They walked through the rain.

Silence.

“I
don’t
believe it!” Sherrie continued after a short distance. “That’s why you were so long?”

“Yes.”

“I can’t believe you stayed there and actually
talked
to her!”

“I didn’t have much choice, she still had the gun.”

“
Jesus!
”

They walked on in silence.

“She said she’d made Fox up.”

“She
made him up?
” she turned to look at him, surprise in her eyes.

John nodded. “He doesn’t exist. It was all a story to get me out here.”

Sherrie walked on in silence, shaking her head. “
No…
” she finally said.

“She’s the one who abducted Helen. She told her about you and me having an affair. But Helen didn’t believe her, she said it wasn’t true. So Zoe killed her instead.”

“Oh, John. I’m so
sorry.
”

John walked on, his head down in the rain.

“Now, Helen’s back at the church somewhere and there’s evidence to prove I’m the one who killed her. She’s set me up perfectly, sweets. And she’s going to use our relationship as extra proof.”

“
Shit!
I can’t believe this is happening…”

“Neither can I, but it’s true. That’s why we have to get back to the church before she does. We have to find Helen and we have to stop Zoe!”

“I understand,” she said in a soft voice.

“It’ll be dangerous.”

“I know.”

“She’s
totally
insane,” he continued.

“I know that
now
.”

“And I understand if you want to continue walking on past the church and back to Hepburn Lakes.”

Sherrie stopped and turned to face him, her bottom lip quivered. “Oh, honey, I want to be with
you!
I can’t leave you to fight this battle yourself.”

He smiled at her as his heart beat hard.

“You can walk away if you want to,” he replied, reaching out and touching a soaked curl on her forehead.

She leant forward and kissed him on the cheek. “No way. Anyway, looks like this is
my
battle as well.”

He looked deep into her gorgeous green eyes. He knew she meant it and he loved her even more.

“Okay,” John nodded. “As long as you’re sure.”

She nodded. “I’m here for you. I want to see this through with you. I want to be
yours
forever.”

“You can leave at any time. I’ll understand.”

“I won’t be leaving,
ever
.”

John leaned forward and kissed her hard on the mouth. He felt her salty wet skin and live hot tongue. He wanted her so badly.

Right now.

Make the whole world disappear.

If only it were that easy!

He pulled away from her.

“I’m yours too, you know that,” he said.

She nodded.

The rain continued to fall.

They turned and walked through the forest.

If only I hadn’t gone to the hospital that first time,
he thought to himself.