A/N: This isn't your typical Ace-meets-superhot-chick-falls-in-love-and-it's-all-gravy-baby story. This is going to be Ace Merrill as close as I can get to the character. I figured that, seeing as he was as bad as he was, he'd be one hell of an abusive boyfriend. So please do Read and Review, and I'll get the next chapter up as soon as possible x
I was shit-scared of Ace Merrill.
Heck, anyone with half a brain would be. He was the toughest guy I ever met, and cruel with it. It didn't matter that I was his girl- actually, I think that made things a little worse –I was scared of him, just the same. He had a way of fixing me with those cold, cold eyes of his that put a fear in me nothing else could. One glance from him filled my guts with ice. Everything he'd ever done to me would flash through my head and I'd pray that he'd leave me alone. It got to the point where I didn't dare do anything he wouldn't approve of in case he did a number on me although mostly he still did, whether I'd crossed him or not. I'll never be sure if he beat his other girlfriends or if I was just a special case. Seemed I was good at getting him riled, anyhow. While I was with Ace, I must have felt his fists over a hundred times. Sometimes I even got the blade, but I'll get to that later.
So, as I said before, I ended up so terrified of getting a beating that I was always on my best behaviour. That meant no smart talking, no wandering off to see my friends and especially no talking to other boys. I couldn't even buy myself a drink if I wasn't standing in his eye line. Ace kept me on a short leash and no mistake. I started to hate him more than I'd ever loved him, even in the early days. And, thinking about it, I never loved him back then either. It was obvious he never saw me as anything more than an easy lay and... and a possession, I guess. And you know something? I resented that fact over all the others.
More than once I tried to leave him. The first time, I was just utterly sick of both him and Castle Rock and planned to start anew someplace in West Virginia where most of my relatives were living in tose days. My pal Annie-Lee was gonna give me a ride out, since she was heading up there herself. Crafty as a rat, I waited until Ace went out with his posse before packing my bags. Mom was suffering one of her endless migraines so wasn't in no fit state to hold me back, and my father could have been anywhere from France to Uranus for all I cared. I dragged my stuff out onto the sidewalk and waited there for a few long minutes. It was a while before Annie-Lee turned up. By then I was practically hopping with nerves.
"Annie-Lee," I said to her, twisting the sleeve of my jacket up in my hands. "We've gotta get out of here now. And I mean now. If Ace gets wind of us leaving he'll thrash me and put a rock through every darn window in that car of yours."
"Breathe, Shane," she told me, tugging a coloured scarf nonchalantly through her hair. It was sort of brassy and curly, like something off a box of dye colour. It looked real pretty, shining in the sun like that, but now wasn't the time to spend preening."We'll be outta here before you know it. Ace doesn't know jack-shit about us hitting the road. As far as he's concerned, you're still sleeping and I don't even exist."
"Well, let's keep it that way," I said, and after dumping my stuff in the trunk I got in beside her and faced the road ahead. We drove cautiously; avoiding the main routes to make sure we didn't bump into Ace along the way. For a while we were real nervy. Every kid we passed looked like a criminal, and more than once we were convinced we spotted Ace's '52 Ford tailing us, high speed but subtle, like a Fed car or something. But eventually we both relaxed, leaning back into the hot leather of our seats as we listened to Elvis and Buddy Holly. The drive was sort of nice. There weren't many other people on the road, and the sky above us was this flawless blue. I think we started to think we'd finally got away from it all. We hugged each other one-armedly with stupid tears in our eyes, both of us grinning. Annie-Lee was just as glad of escaping Castle Rock as I was.
I put my feet up on the dashboard and closed my eyes lazily. Crooning along to the radio, I realised that for the first time in weeks I was happy. Annie-Lee was too. I could hear her whistling softly, the folded sleeves of her outsize shirt rustling in the wind. One freckled arm brushed my knee and we giggled hysterically as a static shock passed between us. It was starting to feel like it used to be, years ago. But then, just as I was dropping into a shallow doze, Annie-Lee cursed sharply and jerked the steering wheel so hard a bone clicked in her shoulder. I opened my eyes again, swinging my legs back down from the dashboard with a fat clunk. Annie-Lee was biting her lip and staring ahead in a blind, panic-stricken way that frightened the skin off of me.
"What is it?" I asked her.
She tossed me a look so wild and helpless that I guessed straight away.
"It's Ace. He's blocking the road," said Annie-Lee. "He's blocking the road, and we can't get past him. What in hell do we do?"
I followed her gaze and saw him, leaning against the hood of his Ford with all his gang clustered around him. Something winked in the sun and I knew that it was his knife, shivering lightly between two of his fingers. I felt that familiar chill pass through me as I looked at it. Hey ho, old friend, I thought. Not so nice seeing you again.
"Shane," moaned Annie-Lee, and her expression was so distressed that I almost screamed then and there. "Whadda we do? He's gonna kill us."
I didn't miss a tick.
"Turn around," I said flatly. "Do a U-turn, and up your speed as far as it'll go. We'll find another road and take that one."
"We can't," said Annie.
Her face was sweating so profusely that it glistened like a hunk of fat. All of a sudden, she didn't look so pretty anymore.
"Why not?" I yelled at her.
Annie-Lee didn't answer. She simply pointed to the wing-mirrors, struck speechless with terror. I looked, and saw three rough-looking guys stood behind us grinning the arrogant, dumb-fuck grin of a cronies who know they've done good. They must have slipped round in their own car without us noticing. Normally, I would have been wetting my panties at the sight of them. But by now I was so determined to leave that I didn't give one fuck about them. I was reckless.
"Run 'em down," I said grimly. "Run 'em down, and we'll still make it out."
But Annie-Lee wouldn't do it. She just sat there, gulping and shivering with her sweat-soaked top flattened to her tits with heat. I bawled at her to drive, begging her as hard as I could. Yet it was like she couldn't hear me. I even tried slapping her. Even that failed to gain a reaction. Desperate, I yanked her out of the driving seat and sat in it myself. I forgot that I had no idea how to drive. With a grunt, I slammed my foot down and gawped in slack-jawed horror as the engine spluttered and gave out. Later, I would find out that Ace had messed up the machine, but at the time I was convinced that God hated me. I'd never been a big believer in the old man, so I figured here he was, getting his own back. He'd picked a prime time to do it, too. I let out a violent shriek and kicked the car door so hard it dented. We were caught, and we knew it. Our luck had well and truly given we'd had any in the first place, that is.
I was forced to watch in paralysed dread as Ace strolled over, flanked on all sides by his worshipping crowd. They yanked Annie-Lee and I out onto the road. Somehow I tripped and fell down into the dirt. I tasted sand and burned rubber. I tasted death.
"What ya doing out here, Shane?" asked Ace in a mild, almost pleasant tone. He always had that way of saying things nice, like he was your old buddy roo, when he meant to twist your head off of you neck afterwards."Weren't you supposed to stay home with your Mother?"
This had been our agreement the night before. He 'd slapped me silly and made me promise not to leave the house, all because I made a fool of him in front of his ape-skull friends. This was an unforgivable offence in the mind of Ace Merrill. Now I found that I couldn't look him in the eye, knowing that I had disobeyed him. Makes me sound like a yellow belly, I know, but I figure even a gator'd turn up its gut if they got Ace mad.
"Mom went out," I lied. "And Annie-Lee's Aunt is sick. She wanted somebody to come up with her to visit the old lady, since she doesn't get much company these days. I said I'd do it. Ain't no crime."
Ace went silent for a little while. I could see him turning this falsehood over in his mind, tearing it apart word by word. It didn't hold up to scrutiny. Tossing it aside, he turned to Annie-Lee and sneered. His scrutiny fell upon her outlined nipples. His eyebrows quirked.
"That isn't what I heard," Ace said finally. One of his boys shuffled, and Ace tossed a thumb at him. "Timmy here says the two of you were skipping town together."
"Timmy's a fucking liar," I snapped. The boy flinched as if I'd struck him. Wish I had. "Why would I leave when all my friends are here? I think this guy's led you on with his shit stirring. I'm not going anywhere. At least, not permanent."
"Shut the hell up, you bull shitting Lizzie," said Timmy. His face was scarlet, cheeks blazing with outrage. "You and the red-head bitch are heading out to live in some shack together, like a pair of full-on faggots. So don't even den…"
I dived at him, but Ace got in there first. There was a sound like meat hitting a tiled floor and Timmy crumpled to the ground, clutching his stomach. There were tears streaming down his face. The wind had been knocked right out of him. That was one good thing about dating Ace Merrill: you could be sure no guy would ever call you names twice in a row. But this time I wasn't grateful. I just felt a sick, black ache that hovered close to pity as I looked down on the sobbing loser.
"Don't you ever call my girl a faggot again," said Ace, crouching grimly over him. "If you do, I'll cut your tongue right out of your mouth. You know that isn't how you talk to a lady, Tim. I'm surprised at you."
Timmy could do nothing but groan. Beside me, Annie-Lee shuddered and whispered something under her breath. It sounded like a prayer, but I'll never be sure. I put an arm around her and turned to Ace.
"Let us go see her Aunt," I said. "We'll be back in an hour or so. I swear it."
"That so," said Ace, unimpressed. He shrugged as if he didn't care either way. "Well, I'd better give you a ride up. That car isn't gonna move another inch, believe me."
I glanced at the smoking vehicle. I knew he was right, but I couldn't leave my luggage behind.
"Alright," I said. "You can do that. But first there's something we need to get… out of the trunk. Bags and, um, stuff."
I darted round and tugged my belongings out onto the ground. Ace stared at me. I sensed danger immediately in that fixed expression. In fact, I could almost smell it. No matter how I tried to worm my way out of this one I knew he had me cornered.
"I brought this in case… in case we broke down," I floundered, and Ace gave a dismissive jerk of the head that made my mouth slam shut. Annie-Lee grabbed hold of my hand and squeezed hard. She was apologising, in advance, you know. There was genuine remorse in that grip of hers. It made me feel even bleaker than before.
"Get in the car," said Ace.
It was an order I couldn't refuse.
Reluctantly, Annie-Lee and I clambered into the back and stared into our laps. I tried to comfort myself by thinking how long it would be until I would have to face Ace's wrath. He would never admit to having problems with his girl in public. He always saved it till after the last of his boys had trailed away and the two of us were alone. That was the time I feared the most.
Eyeball, who had slid into the front passenger seat, swivelled round to leer mockingly at me.
"You're dead, Shane," he mouthed. "Dead fucking meat."
And, with a nauseating certainty, I knew that it was true.