Family Ties-Chapter 36

~Again, more violence towards Katie in this chapter.

Katie wasn't sure how much time had passed since their kidnapper had left them; 10 minutes? An hour? A day? She was only aware of the pain in her arm and the fear that was coursing through her body. How would they get out of here alive? Did anyone even know they were missing? They were supposed to be on their way to the cabin, would her dad begin to wonder when neither of them called? If so, that could take hours and by then it might be too late…at least for her.

Why did Erin's family hate her so much? She had never figured out what Ellen's problem was, other than she seemed to be a nasty, jealous bitch, and now this guy was blaming her for the same thing. Was she really that much of a home wrecker? Did her very existence really break up the Strauss family? Even if it did, was it her fault? She didn't ask for Erin and her dad to sleep together and she didn't ask to be born and she sure as hell didn't ask for Clara to get sick, so how was this her fault exactly? Maybe Ellen and her father should take their heads out of their own asses for once and realize that if Erin had to go to all of the trouble of hiding her pregnancy, maybe their family's foundation hadn't been on solid footing to begin with. As she contemplated the situation a bit more, she felt her sadness and guilt turn to anger. She would be damned if she let them blame her for things that were well beyond her control.

Erin, who had also been pondering their predicament, didn't know which was worse, Katie's crying or the complete silence she was getting from the girl. While she didn't want her scared or in pain, at least when she was crying she knew she was conscious. She decided to speak up, if only to hear her daughter's voice.

"We'll get out of here Katie, somehow we'll make it out," she promised. She expected her daughter to snap at her again, but instead she heard her take a deep breath.

"Do you really love me like I'm one of your daughters?" She asked quietly. "That night at the cabin, you said you couldn't imagine your life without me in it; did you mean that or were you trying to get my dad off of your case?"

Surprised by the change in subject, Erin knew this was probably her one opportunity to have her daughter's undivided attention on the topic. "I meant every word I said. I really can't image not having you in my life and I don't love you like you're one of my daughters; you are one of my daughters and I love you as much as I do Clara, Allie and Ellen." She heard Katie sniffling but she pressed on. "I was terrified when I was pregnant with you…I was terrified, confused and emotional and that's why I wrote what I did, but writing those words was a horrible mistake. You keep a diary, don't you?"

"Yeah," Katie responded, allowing herself to hope that maybe, just maybe her mother actually did want her.

"Haven't you ever written something in it that you later regretted?" After her bathroom excursion, Katie's chair had been moved more into her line of sight and she saw her daughter nod. "Well that's what happened to me; I wasn't thinking clearly when I wrote all of that and I regret it more than you can possibly imagine."

"You promise? You're not just saying that because we might d-die here?" Katie asked.

"I promise, Katie. I love you and when we get out of here I hope you'll give me another chance."

The teen was about to answer, but a slow applause from the back of the room stopped her. "Now that was a touching moment; too bad it was all for naught. There is no room in our new life for another child, especially one that was fathered by another man," Timothy said as he stepped in front of them.

"You can't ask me to choose between my daughters Tim," Erin told him, wondering if she could actually get him to see reason. A look of anger came over his face and she knew she had, in fact, made it worse.

"This girl is NOT your DAUGHTER!" He screamed and then smacked Katie across the face. This time she had kind of been expecting it, so she was able to brace herself but it still hurt like hell. "Your daughters…OUR DAUGHTERS are waiting for us to come get them and believe me Erin, I WILL get them, with or without you. It's your choice."

"Tim, you can't-" Erin started, but the irate man interrupted her.

"The hell I can't, Erin!" He said as he struck Katie again and this time her chair toppled over and she was laying on her right side, facing the two of them. She was still tied to her chair and her arm was screaming in pain and she wished she could just pass out. "We WILL be a family, Goddammit!" He raised his hand to hit Katie again when Erin shouted, "OKAY!"

The crazy man lowered his hand and asked, "Okay what?"

"Okay, I will do anything you ask me to, just please stop hurting her!" Erin begged as tears coursed down her face.

"Anything?"

"Anything," she affirmed.

"Okay then," Tim said as a smile came over his face. "Come back to me. We can go get the girls, come back here and finally be a real family again."

"Alright," Erin agreed; she would do anything if it meant he would stop hurting her daughter; she just hoped Katie knew she was stalling for time.

"You mean it?" He said as his face lit up. "You'll come back to me?"

"Of course," she lied as he untied her. "I never say things I don't mean." Tim pulled her to her feet and gave her a loving kiss.

"All right, sweetheart," he said. "There's just one last thing you have to do before we go get the girls."

"What's that, Tim?" She asked in what she hoped was a loving tone.

"You need to get rid of this one," he said, gesturing at Katie.

"What do you mean?" The woman whispered, knowing exactly what he meant.

"I mean, you have to kill her; it's the only way we can get a fresh start as a family." When she heard this, Katie started crying softly; while she was fairly certain her mother wouldn't actually kill her, she knew her ex-husband would and she knew her time was coming to an end.

"I can't kill her, Tim!" Erin said, aghast that he would even suggest such a thing.

"Yes you can Erin, you can if you really care about our family!" He told her.

"I do care about our family but you can't ask me to choose our other daughters over Katie!"

"Yes I can," he said as he pointed the gun at her. "Now do it!"

"I won't," Erin said defiantly.

Tim put the gun up against her forehead, "Goddammit Erin, kill that fucking girl right now!"

"No," she simply said. Katie had been watching their exchange in fear and she both saw and heard Timothy Strauss cock the gun that was against Erin's head and she was no longer able to stay silent.

"NO!" She yelled, hoping to stop whatever was about to happen to her biological mother. As soon as the shriek was out of her mouth, Tim swung the gun around and pointed it at her. Erin could tell he was about to pull the trigger and she jumped in front of her daughter just as she heard the sound of the gunshot.