My Body guard.
Heart
We live life everyday, taking the good things for granted, and complain about the bad things. Life is usually monotone, eventually composing a rhythmic pattern of events.
But, to some lucky people, something out of the ordinary happens. Something exciting or greatly sad in the daily routine.
Me? Well, my life was one of those boring ones. I was a wife and mother. At age 24, I was young and my life was easy. Well, that's what I thought.
I worked in law and was on a jury, getting a rather high pay. My 2 year old baby boy was healthy, walking and starting to talk. My husband, Troy, was handsome, and worked hard as a carpenter.
But then my like took a turn. And it wasn't for the good.
The moment I walked into my house at 11:37 at night, I knew something was wrong. All the lights were off; I could have sworn I left the kitchen light on, and I could see some moonlight in the open sliding back door. The breeze was blowing through my brown, wavy hair, and something in the air smelled wrong. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, and frankly, I was scared to know.
"Hello?" I called cautiously, closing the front door behind me. "Troy? I'm home!" I yelled, carefully taking one step forward. I heard glass crunch under my high hills. Uh oh.
I froze, straining to see in the dark room, trying to look for any sign of suspicion.
"Benny?" I whispered my only child's name, more a plead than a question. Something was definitely wrong. I shuffled over to the light switch, failing to ignore more glass crunching under my heel. I felt around the wall until I found the switch.
Then, a grimy hand covered mine, flipping on the light. I screamed, starting to flee, but the same, hasty hand grabbed my wrist, restraining me.
I came face to face with an untidy man, greasy and unshaved, dressed in black. No wonder I couldn't see him. And more to my horror, there were two other, equally disgusting men behind him.
"Hello, sweetheart." The one holding onto me said with a smirk. I swallowed down my bile, trying once more to jerk my wrist away. I grimaced when his grip tightened.
"Where is Troy and Ben?" I asked through gritted teeth. Although my heart beat like a drum in my ears, I was still concerned for my family's lives. Who cares about my own? The men laughed. I glared, narrowing my eyes. "You think I'm joking?" I hissed. They laughed harder.
"Why don't we just show the pretty lady, boys?" The guy jerked me even closer to his unbathed body, suffocating me with his ghastly breath. He and his group pulled me up the stairs to the master suite. My bedroom. My whole body shook with fear, and I felt quite nauseous. When we were about to turn into my bedroom, I stopped in my tracks.
"No. Please… are they ok? Did you hurt them?" I raised my voice. The man slapped me across the face, leaving a stinging sensation. His eyes glistened before he jerked me into my bedroom.
One of his handymen turned on the lights, revealing the scene. I broke down into sobs on the floor, my head cradled in my hands. My world was shattered. My life -my normal life- had took a turn. My husband and baby boy… were… on the king bed.
Troy had a knife sticking out of his chest, with Benny cradled in his arms. Benny had a bullet shot through his head, his deep blue eyes still open.
"No!" I cried, jumping off the floor, running to Troy. By the looks of it, he was holding Ben when someone shot Ben through the doorway. Then they stabbed Troy, who fell onto the bed, still clutching Benny to his chest. I threw myself onto both of them, non stoppable tears flowing. "No! No! No!" My voice cracked. I kissed both of their heads, whispering I love you.
After about 10 minutes of tears, it felt like I dried out. My body still shook with held in sobs as I slowly peeled myself from my perfect family. I turned my head towards the 3 men -the culprits-, who were staring intently me. I took a steady breath, ready to see how much I remember from my 5 years of karate.
"Oh look, Lenny, she's getting angry." One of them said. His words were true. Anger boiled inside me with such a fiery passion, I had to let it out. My scream pierced through the now stuffy room. One of the men jumped, and the other two guys looked at him, giving me my chance.
I took the knife out of Troy's chest, careful not to look at him. I ran at the man that first grabbed me, stabbing him in the heart. The other two guys had me slammed against the wall before the guy with the bloody knife now sticking out of his chest even had a chance to fall to the ground.
My head hit the wall hard, causing a searing pain to strike through it. One guy was against my body with my arms above me against the wall. The other guy had a handful of my hair, practically ripping it out of it's root. He gave it a good tug, and I screamed in pain.
"You just killed him!" The guy in front of me said. I coughed from his smelly breath, my head throbbing.
"Let go of me." I said through gritted teeth. He gripped my wrist tighter.
"I could and should kill you right now." The man said with an angry grin. "The only thing stopping me is Jim. We need you to keep our old man, Paul Hickory from jail."
My eyes widened. Paul Hickory was the man who I found guilty in trial. He said his case, and the jury was making a decision in a month. These people wanted me to cause a mistrial. One non-guilty vote created a mistrial.
"Yes. You finally know." This was not happening. I squeezed my eyes shut. Please, please, please when I open my eyes, let this all be a dream. I opened one eye. The two nasty faces stared back at me.
"I… I can't do that though." I whispered, only for the guy in front of me to wrap his greasy hands around my neck in a tight hold.
"You can and you will." I coughed, spluttering up air. After 30 seconds, he let me go. I leaned my head against the wall, rubbing my neck. "Get some sleep, beautiful." I scowled.
"Don't call me that." I growled, staying put.
"Sleep in your bed. I hope you don't mind if we watch you all night." He said, a sly grin on his stupid face. The one holding my hair let it go, walking over to Troy and Benny. I closed my eyes as I heard him lift them up, hauling them downstairs. When I didn't hear his foot steps, I opened my eyes. The guy got off me, allowing me to go to my bed.
I slowly walked over to the side that Benny and Troy weren't on, slipping off my shoes and sliding under the silk covers. I curled into a small ball, pretending to sleep. I, of course, didn't.
The next morning was worse. The house smelled gross, proof that Guy 2 didn't take Troy and Benny outside. I was tired, for the amount of sleep I had was zero. It was raining, and I was given instructions ten million times. When it came time to vote, I was to vote not guilty. I could tell no one, and once Paul was free, I was free. If I didn't follow instructions, they would track me down till I was dead.
By 10:00 at night, I was eating dry cereal on my bed. Guy 2 was nicer than Guy 1. Not that he is nice, just nicer. They were both watching me, waiting for me to make a move. Frankly, I didn't know what to do. If it was one, I could take him without a doubt. But then… there is two. No way.
"Go to sleep." Guy 1 said. I rolled my eyes, pulling the box of cereal behind my pillow for later use.
"Ok, mother. But can I get a glass of water?" I said, in a rather annoyed tone. Surprisingly, Guy 2 got up and got me one from the bathroom. When he delivered it, I muttered thank you. I gulped it down, sliding back under the covers. I pretended again to fall into a deep slumber.
The next week was exactly the same. And I mean, exactly. Nothing eventful happened, and I ate cereal and water. It wasn't until 8 days after my hostage-ness, when something happened. It was that night, I was pretending to sleep. My eyes dropped a couple of times, but they refused to sleep. Everyday I got more sluggish, until I finally just stayed in bed.
I heard crickets outside, and the snoring of Guy 1. Snoring should have been my first sign. My eyes sagged, and when I finally thought I would fall asleep, a shadow loomed over me. I snapped my eyes wide open.
It was a man, a gorgeous man. He had black, short, thick hair, and deep blue eyes that seemed to glow in the moonlight. His features were perfect. He was wearing, from what I could see, a black t shirt and jeans. He looked very muscular, and very toned. I instinctively reached out and ran my fingers through his hair. It felt soft and smooth.
He raised his eye brows at me. I blushed, retreating my hands. I immediately felt guilty. My poor husband. Actually, I was a single woman now. A widow. "Sorry…" I looked away, inhaling. He smelled of fresh Dove soap. I smiled, despite my situation.
"Sophie Palmer? I'm here to rescue you." His voice was deep and as beautiful as an angel's. His words processed. I sat up, bumping heads with him. "Ow…" He muttered, rubbing his forehead. I rolled my eyes, forgetting about my forehead.
"Who are you?" He looked at me, then over at the guys. They both looked knocked out. I was about to ask, but then, figured I probably didn't want to know.
"Vince Hallow." He said. Vince. It fit his looks. "Let's go. I have to get you out of here before they wake up." He nodded is head towards the guys. I raised my eye brow.
"Um… I don't think so. You could be just another bad guy. I can't trust you." I said, crossing my arms over my chest. It was Vince's turn to raise an eye brow.
"Would you rather stay with these guys who don't feed you well, don't let you shower," I looked down and blushed, embarrassed that he would notice. "or would you rather stay with me. I will treat you well. I am a part of a spy corporation. I am your body guard now." He had a point.
"So, Vince," I said, pausing to look up into his mesmerizing blue eyes. "you expect me to just come with you, without me knowing anything about you?"
"You know my name." He pointed out, smart aleck. I rolled my eyes. "Please, I'm trying to provide you protection. Please… Sophie?" The way my name sounded on his tongue made me shiver, and it wasn't a draft. I huffed.
"Fine." Vince offered me a hand. I got up, ignoring his offer for help. "I don't care what you say, I'm taking a shower. I haven't slept in 8 days, and I need to sleep." I pushed past him, walking across my room into the adjoining bathroom. I quickly shut and locked the door, stripping off my clothes. I washed my hair and body in record time, getting out. I found a white, fluffy towel, wrapping it around my body. It only went to my mid thigh. Oh well, Vince would have to get over it.
I stepped out of the bathroom, ignoring Vince was watching me.. I noticed his eyes roam all over my body as I walked across the room to my wardrobe. My back was turned to him, but I decided to strike conversation. "Are you going to start packing my things or gawk at me all night?" I asked, picking out blue jean shorts and a blue camisole and throwing them on the floor. I still felt Vince's gaze on me.
"I think I'll go with the second option." I blushed. Another pang of guilt washed over me. I felt like I was cheating on Troy. Calm down, Sophie. I assured myself. Troy is… is… dead.
"Suit yourself. We will just be here longer." I heard Vince get off the bed and approach my vanity. "My suitcases are in the closet." I said, pulling on my underwear, the towel still on.
"Where in your closet?" I sighed. Couldn't he just go look? I dropped the towel, topless, my back still facing him. I pulled my damp hair to the side, grabbing a black lacy bra, and putting it on. I then turned.
"Can't you just go look for it yourself?" Again, his eyes roamed over me. I rolled my eyes, walking past him to the closet. He chased after me. "Your eyes better not me on my derrière." I said with a smirk, walking into the closet.
"And if they are?" I ignored him, going to the corner, where 8 large, blue suitcases were.
"Here. I need to put on clothes before you pitch a tent." I said, glancing down to his groin, smirking when his eyes grew big and he looked down, as if checking. I chuckled, walking past him. I put on my shorts and camisole, throwing my hair up into a sloppy pony tail. I started to grab all my clothes from the drawers onto the floor, but my hair band snapped.
"I like you hair down." Vince's voice said from behind me. I rolled my eyes, turning around. I went to grab the broken ponytail holder, in hopes that I could fix it, but he pulled it out of my reach. "I'll keep this." He put it in his jeans' pocket. I scoffed, going back to packing all my clothes.
With our combined effort, we managed to pack everything in a little under an hour. Vince took me back down the stairs, bring back memories from 8 days ago. I shuddered. He led me outside to a beautiful car. A black Carrera GT. Vince opened the passenger door for me. I slid in.
"Don't go anywhere, Sophie. I need you to be safe." Vince pleaded with me, leaning against the car door. I nodded. "I have to get your luggage, and somehow manage to fit it in the car."
I waited in the beautiful car, my arms crossed. Outside was dark, I guessed it to be about 1:30. I heard nothing from the outside of the car. I listened to my rigid breathing, realizing I was so tired it wasn't healthy. If I let my eyes shut, they would be shut for a while.
I decided to stay awake until Vince returned, wanting to see his face one more time, for, when I woke up, who knows where I would be, or who I would be with.
Vince returned, with all 8 of my bags. It looked pretty funny. Two were on each of his arms, the handle strap hooked on his arms. The last 4 were in his arms, piled on top of each other. I couldn't see his face. He put 5 in the trunk, and 3 in the back seat. When he got into the drivers seat, he immediately locked the door, started the engine, and was rolling down my driveway in less than 5 seconds.
"Chill out, speed demon." I said, gripping the leather arm rests. I never was really fond of fast vehicle. Vince glanced over at me.
"Just sleep, Sophie. I know you haven't had near enough sleep." Vince's voice was compassionate. I simply tried to be stubborn.
"Sorry Vincey dear, but I don't trust you yet." I said, crossing my arms. Vince sighed, rolling his eyes.
"How long are you going to play this, Soph?" My heart fluttered. Soph. His first nickname for me. I remember when Troy gave me my first nickname. It was our first date, and he called me Fee. We were at a…
Stop! I told myself. Thinking about Troy and Benny wouldn't help with anything.
"However long I want to." I said, sticking up my chin. My head swayed, and the flying images before me blurred even more. I couldn't even tell they were my town.
"Don't make me put a liquid in you that will make you fall asleep." I snapped my head in his direction, my eyes narrowed in a glare.
"You wouldn't." A smile played at Vince's lips.
"I would." I kept staring at him as he looked at the road. It was a while until I decided to just go to sleep. If he killed me, who cares? I have nothing to live for anymore.
I rested my head against the cool window, the soft hum of the engine underneath me lulling me into a surprisingly peaceful sleep.