Chapter 11

She got her first good night's sleep lying in bed with Franklin. She woke and got up after noon, Frank had already left for the day when she collected her clothes off the floor. Sex with him was great, simply for the fact that there was nothing beyond a night of physical pleasure. Natalie had no desire for any romantics and Franklin had obvious hang-ups about his ex girlfriend. Natalie knew she played the part of rebound last night, but she didn't care.

She tossed her old clothes into her bedroom and grabbed a new set, she opted for more comfortable than appealing like she usually did nowadays since she wasn't allowed out. Nat ventured upstairs to the living room and to the TV to watch the news. She wasn't a fan of the news, she still wasn't. But it was the only source of info she really had about the outside world since Trevor pocketed her phone in case The MC turned out smart enough to track it.

The brunette wondered what Janet thought happened to her. She knew her adoptive mother thought the worst of her not-so-professional relationship with Trevor, so she feared that Janet thought she wasn't just missing, she was dead. But somehow she felt like she would know if her boss thought she passed, like the older redhead was some holy force that would send the world crumbling if something happened to her kin.

She was interrupted from her daily dose of celebrity gossip when Franklin's home phone rang. Natalie let it go to voice mail like she usually did. She was pretty sure Frank never even checked his mailbox anyways, but she let it save just in case it was important this time around.

The scripted voice ended and the beep rang through, there was a moment of silence before someone spoke up, someone familiar, "Hey, Natalie, I know you're there, they don't let you leave." Her blood ran cold when she realized who it was, the man who kept her captive. She always knew he had a bit more of a brain than his friends, but by then she thought she was in the clear. He continued, "You know if you don't answer I'll just have to come for a visit."

She found herself by the phone before she realized she had gone up and practically ran to the kitchen, her hand gripped onto the phone so tightly she might've shattered it if she was a bit stronger, "How'd you find me?"

She could almost hear him grinning from the other end, "Now, that doesn't matter. What matters is that I need to see you."

Natalie's head was pounding and her breath felt scarce, "I'm not leaving here."

There was a sigh, "It doesn't matter if you leave or not, I'm going to see you. We can make this easy or difficult. Up to you."

She frowned, running her free hand through her hair, feeling like ripping it out, "Won't I die either way?"

"True. But if you cooperate, then no one else has to die."

"You're going to have a hard time killing Trevor."

"Not Trevor. Rebecca. You know her, right?" As if he needed to ask, he knew he had her in the palm of his hand.

She felt sick to her stomach just then, dragging the trash bin closer just in case all the anxiety made her lose it. She couldn't hide the fear in her voice, "D-Don't hurt her."

"Then meet me at the Senora park, I don't like to be kept waiting." His line went dead immediately after, giving her no room to respond.

She dropped the phone on the counter, dropping down to the floor herself and crying. She didn't try to hold back or collect herself, just letting the pathetic sobs and wails echo through the house. She didn't want to move, she just wanted to cry. But she got up anyways, forcing herself to make it back to the living room and grabbing her gun off the couch all while crying.

Despite her blurred vision she found money lying around the home, she grabbed the phone again, dialing the local taxi service. The man on the other end sounded startled to hear someone whimper out their address to him, but he still did his job, telling her someone was nearby and would pick her up soon.

She looked at herself in the mirror before she went out the door. Her face was puffy and red, her eyes bloodshot and her hair was more mess than anything else. Despite that, she went out the door, wiping her nose on her sleeve and tucking her gun into the waistband of her sweatpants, waiting for the taxi to stop by and deliver her to the man who could probably kill her.

The drive back north was a long one, long enough for Natalie to regain her bearings. She spent most of the ride turning the gun over and over in her lap. It was her only means of escaping her fate and as much as she cursed herself for not even calling Franklin or Trevor to help her out, it was too late now. The brunette knew she had to face her foe alone.

The cabbie dropped her off right at the mouth of the dirt path that ran through the park. She could see Trevor's trailer from there, and if she ran there quick she could grab him before this little showdown occurred. But the lights were off and his truck was nowhere in sight. Yes, she was alone in this. Natalie turned back to the park, closing her eyes for a few moments. With a deep breath, she suddenly felt a little braver, willing her feet to walk forward and meet him.

She found him by a car near the center of the park, leaning against it and watching the last bits of sun disappear past the mountain. He looked at her when he heard her approach, a smile forming across his lips. He stood up properly and opened up his arms in a welcoming gesture, "I almost thought you weren't going to show."

She swallowed the lump in her throat but still managed to stand tall, "Well I'm here."

It wasn't hard to see the gun he held in his hand, but she looked more to his eyes. They were dark and hard to see in the dim light, but she still remembered them perfectly from her time with him, they were so dark brown they were almost black there was no warmth to be found in the hue, almost like his own abyss. He cocked his head to the side, "How's your hand doing?"

She pushed her left hand behind her back, it was still bandaged and healing from the damage he'd done, a constant reminder of him when she refused to sleep and meet him again in her night terrors, "Better." She hated how she only could give short answers, she needed time if she could ever give herself the courage to kill him before he killed her, "I never got your name."

He looked slightly aback, before laughing, "Haven't heard that one before." He calmed, crossing his arms, the gun still in his hand, "Evan."

"Evan." She repeated, more for herself. There was some strange relief for finding the name to her nightmares, "Where's..." She paused, trying to remember the name of the other man who caused her all this suffering, "Charlie?"

Evan grimaced, "On of your boys, the rich lookin' fella, shot him down."

"Oh."

He didn't like the response, flicking the safety off his gun, "Shall we get on with it then?" The brunette took a step back, her knees feeling weak. But she reached for her gun anyways, turning her safety off as quick as she could and holding it with two shaking hands. His eyebrows furrowed, his gaze turning into a glare, "Fucking bitch!" He yelled out, advancing on her quickly.

She yelped, aiming her gun as quickly as she could and shooting, but missing by a mile. It only pissed him off more as he neared closer. She back away quickly and lost her footing, just as she was about to tumble back his meaty fist collided into her nose and she screamed. Blood spurted out of her nose as her head smacked against the ground beneath them.

He was on top of her in a flash, grabbing for her gun and trying to pull it from her grip. She held on tight while her adrenaline kicked in and she felt new-found strength. The shorter girl's elbow slammed into his eyes, he cursed and threw another punch. This one weaker than the other but she barely felt it as she tried to aim the gun towards him. He gripped onto her hand with his, nearly crushing her fingers until her knee collided with his crotch.

Evan howled in pain, falling off of her and rolling onto his side as he tried to ease his pain. She scrambled up while he was distracted, aiming her gun again. He saw her advantage and quickly got up as well. She bit her lip and tried to aim well this time, "Well? What the fuck are you waiting for?" He snapped, his hands balling into fists, his gun having fallen beside her. She shot again and was closer this time, but missed again.

"Dammit!" She screamed at herself just as her tackled her back onto the ground. He had her pinned, his finger against her windpipe, choking the life out of her. She struggled for breath that wouldn't come, digging her nails into his arm and trying to rip him off with no luck. She saw in the corner of her vision his gun, just close enough for her to reach.

And so she did, with some struggle and her vision blurring into oblivion she managed to get a good hold onto the pistol. She squeezed her eyes shut as she drew the gun back towards them, pointing upwards and firing. The hold on her neck loosened and his body collasped full force on top of her, the gun pinned uncomfortably between them.

She shoved him off of her with all the strength she had, slowly sitting up and inspecting the body beside her. There was a bull that went right through his head, entering at the bridge of his nose and exiting out of the back of his head. She looked away and then closed her eyes, rubbing away the sensation his fingers left on her neck.

She slowly got up, dropping his gun and finding her own in the sand. Natalie felt somehow calm but robotic at the same time. She tucked her gun back into her waistband, looking back at Evan's body. Somehow his lifeless corpse still scared the shit out of her despite the fact he couldn't do any harm to her or Rebecca. Despite all that happened she didn't feel like crying, she just wanted to go home. She missed home so badly it made her heart ache.

She heard a car coming by, she looked back, surprised to see Trevor's Bohdi navigating through the rough terrain of the dirt path, stopping mere feet from where she stood the headlights illuminating her. Trevor hopped out, stalking over and stopping, looking her over and seeing the dirty, bloody mess she was, his gaze then fell on the body beside her, he let out a breath, "Jesus, you do that?"

She swallowed, nodding slowly, "How'd you find me?"

He looked back at her, the night too dark to see him properly, not sure how he felt, "Frank said you went missing, we tracked this fucker over here."

She nodded again, hugging herself to dash away the sudden chill she felt creeping through her body, "What are we going to do with him?"

He turned to Evan's body, grabbing it and hauling him over his shoulder, "Gotta ditch it in the Alamao Sea." She didn't question it, she was sure he did it all before, so she simply hopped into the passenger's side of his truck while he unloaded the body into the truck bed, "Want me to drop you off at your trailer?"

She shook her head, leaning back into the sea and looking back to where his final moments rested, "No, I need to see him go under."

Trevor didn't question her reasoning, just hopping back into his truck and driving them out of the park and back onto the main road. He looked at her from the corner of his eye, watching her, surprised to see her so calm, "You think you're gonna be okay?"

She was quiet for a long time, trying to think if she really was going to be. The people who tormented her even after she escaped were dead and soon to be gone, she could finally return to Sandy Shores and see the few people who actually cared for her again, and above anything else, that's what was going to make things okay.

She nodded slowly, "Yeah."

They left Evan behind to sink off the pier and into the Alamo's polluted depths to turn into nothing more than fish food. They sped off back towards Sandy Shores, Natalie staring off aimlessly at what passed by. She didn't say a word since the dropped his body off, and Trevor didn't try for any sort of conversation until he finally reached into his center console, pulling out the cell phone he made her give up and returning it to her. She looked at it for a second, then him, "Thanks." He shrugged nonchalantly, keeping his eyes on the road.

She turned it back on, finding several messages and missed calls. Most came from Janet, she knew she had to call her back and tell her she was okay, but later, she was too tired to play Clarissa and explain it all. But who else had called her had shocked her; it was her mother. Her parents were the last people she expected to ever contact her since they had pretty much disowned her in favor of their quiet life. Before Natalie had time to dwell on why she called the phone had rang and it was just who had left her with so much confusion.

She answered quickly, but coming up short on what to say, "Hello...? Mom?"

Her mother spoke as if the 5 years of silence never happened, like the last time they saw each other Natalie's father wasn't throwing her out, "Hello darling, I've been trying to reach you all day now. I need you to come home immediately."

She frowned, glancing at Trevor, believing he was listening in, "Why?"

She sighed through the door, "Grandmother passed away, Natie. Her funeral is tomorrow."

She froze up for a second, her grandmother had probably been the only one who truly accepted her non-conservative pursuits of her ultimate happiness, the only one she left behind on good terms. Natalie remained quiet before squeezing her eyes shut and sighing softly, "Okay, I'll be there as soon as I can." She didn't say goodbyes to her estranged parent, just hanging up and dropping her phone in her lap.

Trevor finally spoke up, "What's wrong?"

She ran her hands over her face and laid her head back, looking up into the endless expanse of night sky and the billions of stars that dot the darkness. She let out a laugh humorlessly, biting her lip, unable to believe the amount of bad luck that never seemed to end, "It doesn't ever get easy, does it Trevor?"