Chapter 2
Even though Annabelle was supposedly in her 'terrible-twos', Nicole found her to be an easy terrible-two'er. She could hear the baby's cries had ceased shortly after 'the monster' had left, and she was probably resting in her bed again. The woman carefully padded her blue eye, and tried to avoid the other. She recoiled and hissed whenever she was not careful enough with the fabric.
"Nic, come on out, let me do that for you hon."
Nicole sighed, and let her hands fall. She knew that Sarah was right. She had always been the one who was a great nurse, and surely knew what to do besides padding it with toilet paper, which was a crappy way of helping yourself already. Nicole threw the paper in the toilet, and watched the maelstrom destroy the soft paper.
Sarah knocked on the door again, and stepped back as she heard Nicole unlocking the door and stepping out. A flood of hate and bitterness washed away all other feelings when she saw the beautiful face turned into a mix of colors.
"How long have you been free?" Sarah asked, and carefully placed a warm hand on her sister's cheek. When the palm touched the cheek, Nicole let out a sigh of satisfaction.
"Not long. I drove to Miami first; I dared not go to Mobile, Birmingham or anything else. The farther away the better. I got on a plane two days ago, found the nearest rental car, and now I'm here. I'm finally here…"
Her head got heavier as she relaxed completely, and trusted Sarah enough to hold it. Sarah placed her other hand on the opposite cheek, and rested her forehead on Nicole's.
"I have waited for this so long Nic. It's amazing, you're finally here."
Sarah planted a tender kiss on her sisters forehead and cupped her face lovingly. It was only when the tears reached her lips she realized both of them were crying.
They were crying together, as they usually had when they were small. They cried for love, hate and agony. The sisterly love they had longed and missed, the hate they felt for the same man, and lastly, the agony the both had been through for so long. Both girls had escaped it for a certain amount of time, but one had been trapped in the evil circle again.
Her face and body was the proof.
"You remember when we did this back then?" Nicole mumbled and felt her sister nod.
"How can I forget it?", she replied, "You refused to go to sleep if we didn't sit like this, until you did fall asleep."
A weak and exhausted smile spread on Nicole's face. Sarah sighed heavily, and sniffled before pulling her head away.
"I gotta make dinner, but I'll find some antiseptic for that first. Just sit down in the living room; I'll get you beautiful again in no time."
Nicole nodded and wiped her eyes rather roughly, at least the blue one. She winced as she was too rough on the bruised eye, and pitifully tried to wink the other tears away in her right eye. It was painful to have the liquid sticking in her eye, and she found no way to get it out.
"Nothing I can't stand…" Nicole thought, and walked down to the living room.
The dog warily lifted his head, and just looked at her. When she noticed, she squealed in fear.
"Buddy, leave her alone!" Sarah yelled from the kitchen, and the dog, Nicole figured his name was Buddy, laid his head down again. But he kept on watching the guest, and never took his eyes off of her.
Nicole sat down on a large couch, with room for three people and all black. It was quite comfortable, and she remembered how she loathed the couch at her old home.
"My old home…"
For a minute, Nicole just sat there, and stared blankly into the wall. She was tossing and turning the sentence in her head, tasting it, and loving the meaning it held.
She heard Sarah rustling around in the kitchen, probably searching for some better than toilet paper. When she found it, she came in with a quick pace, and soaked the fabric in her hand.
"You know its gonna sting a little love, but just wait till I'm done alright?" Sarah asked her sister, who just nodded.
She usually hated it when Sarah had talked to her as if she was a child, as it truly made her feel like the younger one, and that she couldn't take care of herself. This time, she didn't mind.
Nicole winced when the wet fabric got in touch with her cheek, and she couldn't help but pull away. But she was a big girl, and leaned forward again.
"Good girl…" Sarah muttered, and more careful this time started to pad again. "Did you bring anything?"
Nicole didn't do anything, but when Sarah took her hand away, giving her room to breathe, she talked.
"Just mom's pendant, his money and my wedding ring." She couldn't help but get a little devilish smile on her broken face. "I'll get some good money for it."
Sarah returned the smile and started padding again.
Nicole took off the ring, and beheld it. It was a beautiful ring, and it had indeed cost Tom a lot of money. Even though the memories of bad outnumbered the good, she remembered when they had gone to the jewelry store, for a surprise.
"Tom!" she giggled and held his hand tight. "Where are you taking me?"
"You'll find out soon enough Nic, calm down." He comforted, and carefully guided her inside a store. She got a little nervous when she heard the familiar pling when entering a store. But she couldn't help but being excited.
"Alrighty, now you can see!" Tom said and dramatically removed the blindfold. Nicole let out a loud gasp, as she saw where she was.
The most expensive and prestige filled jewelry shop in town. It couldn't get any fancier than this.
"Now love, go pick one. As a gift." He said with a smile and nodded towards the glass containers, displaying the various gemstones of the world. There was rubies, amethysts, emeralds and of course a girl's best friend, the diamond. The male assistant stood with a smile plastered upon his face, clearly just seeing Nicole as another silly woman, who just received another glittering stone.
"Oh Tom, really?" she gasped, and overdosed the man with kisses all over his face. He nodded again with a big smile, and let his love having her go at it. With the smile equivalent of a child in a candy store, Nicole started to raid the store. She asked for every ring possible, until she found the one she wanted.
The ring itself was silver, and on the middle, there were 2 lines of diamonds. First a sapphire diamond, a tiny pattern around it, then two lines on each side with three diamonds aligned next to each other, then another sapphire diamond, again a tiny pattern around it, another two lines with three diamonds, and a final sapphire diamond.
"This one Tom!" she squealed, and showed it off on her slim index finger.
"We'll take it, but let me have it for a second love." Tom gently said, and took it off her finger. Nicole smiled slightly, but her face turned into a happy shock when Tom got on his knees.
Nicole sighed when she thought of it. At least it could pay for most of the daily things she'd use when staying with Sarah and Will. She knew that there was no way they'd accept it, but in this crisis, nobody could say no to some extra money.
"There, all done. Now just give it time, and it'll go away in a couple of days, maybe 2 weeks."
Nicole nodded and smiled gratefully. She held her sister tight, and squealed when she heard a loud bark from Buddy.
"Sorry, he only barks when Belle cries or a car pulls up. " Sarah said with an apologizing expression on her face. She remembered how Nicole hated dogs, and that Tom had gotten a German shepherd just to manage to scare even more.
"I suppose Will is home then." Nicole muttered, and tried to rise. Sarah pushed her down and sternly shook her head.
"No way missy. Stay here, and relax. Will is probably gonna be a little bit surprised to see you."
"I didn't think it was a problem me staying here." Nicole muttered and looked down.
She had forgotten how selfishly she had truly acted, just showing up and expecting to get shelter. But she didn't know where to go otherwise. Tom knew where her mother lived, not many hours away from where they resided. That would not have been safe for either of them, as he would've laid hands upon them both. Nicole had been wise to hide the address she had received from Sarah a couple of years before, and never showing it to him, leaving him without a clue where to search for her.
Sarah forced her sister's head up, and looked her straight in the eye.
"Nicole, where would you have gone if not here?" she asked, and patiently waiting for an answer, that never came.
"My point. You are not a burden." She insisted, and kissed her forehead, before winking at her. "Besides, Will is easy to maneuver around. You know how men are."
Nicole smiled weakly and nodded.
Buddy was scraping his paw against the front door as he longed to see his master. When Sarah opened the door, he flew out the door and attacked Will just as he got up on the porch, knocking the man down.
"Urgh! Hi Buddy!" he cheerfully exclaimed and tried to avoid the attack of the tongue. His head twisted and turned until Sarah managed to hold Buddy back with a grin.
"Hi love!" she said and his smirking face leaned in to give her a kiss, but she turned away.
"Not with all that slobber all over you! I prefer my kisses without dog saliva!"
"Aww, you're mean! Fine, just one on the cheek then." He smiled and pointed on his cheek. Sarah rolled her eyes, and give him a quick peck.
"Who's here? I don't recognize the car." He said, and eyed the vehicle. He looked over at his own truck, and nodded slightly. There was a low buzzing sound, and then silence again.
"A rental vehicle from 'Joe's best rentals', blue Ford Focus, rented by Nicole Workman."
"Who was the renter again 'Hide?" Will asked with shock in his voice and eyes. He looked at Sarah suspiciously.
"Nicole Workman I said." Ironhide gruffly said and revved his engine a little in annoyance.
"Is Nicole here?" Will asked, and his mouth shaped a tiny 'o' in surprise.
"Tom beat her Will. She got here a couple of hours ago. You should see her, Belle cried when she saw her."
Will's anger rose, and Ironhide sensed it immediately.
"Why is your anger rising so quickly Will?" he asked before getting on high alert. "Is there any Cons' around?"
"No Ironhide, that's not it." Will muttered with gritted teeth and clenched fists. "I will tell you another time."
"Very well, but don't hesitate to tell me if you spotted the coward." Ironhide responded, and relaxed.
"Will do 'Hide, thank you." Will muttered, and padded Buddy who was annoyed by not getting much attention.
"She's staying her for now, is it alright with you?" Sarah asked and grabbed Will's hands.
"Of course it is! Which man would not give his sister-in-law shelter when abused by her husband?" he asked and held his wife tight. "I'm so sorry…" he mumbled into her soft hair.
"I know, I am too."
Sarah sighed heavily and pulled away, grabbed Will's hand, whistled on Buddy and went inside again. Nicole jumped when the door slammed shut, and awkwardly stood up to greet the man of the house.
"Hi Will." She stuttered and stretched out her hand in a greeting. Will looked at Sarah over his shoulder with an eyebrow raised. She really looked awful. Her left eye was almost black, her lip was swollen, and so was most of her right eye. So badly, she could barely see out of it. It seemed that she was shivering, as her tiny frame seemed to never stop shaking.
"Hey Nic, it's nice to see you again!" he smiled, accepting the hand, and then pulling Nicole into a hug.
Nicole freaked.
It had all gone so fast, that it had reminded her of Tom's rough ways. The man before her was not the loving husband her sister had, but the abusive man that she had been married to. By reflex she placed her hands on his chest, and pushed him away with all her might. Will seemed startled, and widened his eyes at the woman. She had started to shiver, and sat down on the couch, while letting out small cries, and rocking back and forth. Sarah was immediately by her side, and cooed gently into her sister's hair.
"It's not your fault…" she mouthed to Will, who just nodded.
"What did he do to her?" he mouthed back in shock.
Sarah smacked her hands together, so Will would understand how Tom had punched her. Nicole instantly reacted, and winced loudly at the sound.
Will shock his head, and felt his anger rise again.
"Anger is truly one letter short of danger…"