Chapter 62: Imprisonment
A/N: I've done a lot of fluffy pregnancy fics before, but I get the impression people prefer the darker storylines. Of course we will eventually revert to fluff again, but I felt this might be interesting to cover for the time being instead of doing the usual same-old pregnancy stuff. It's a risk, and a difficult one to write. Let me know what you all think.
Trigger warnings:
POV 1: graphic descriptions of violence.
POV 3: homophobic language
POV 4: references to rape.
POV 5 (rated M): graphic descriptions of violence and strangulation, references to rape, strong language.
POV 6: references to violence and grief.
Warning: please read triggers, this chapter is rated M.
Michelle
"You lied to me." Will's eyes are full of disbelief but anger, his hand falling from where it had been softly brushing my cheek. I try to grasp some kind of excuse, my fear building as I stare back into his cursed expression. "Who's up there?" He asks with a sudden force, his tone inflamed with intimidation, infuriation, deceit. His face twists with hatred, contorting all his evil thoughts and intentions. "Then let's find out." He spits out bitterly before grabbing me in a headlock, his other fist pulling my hair back. I scream out in fear, the desperation bouncing off the walls of the modernised living room. I am dragged up the stairs, like a piece of meat, begging, pleading, my life flashing before my eyes. "Whoever's there, you've got three seconds to show your face!" He shouts up the staircase, grasping me tighter with every cry i release, searing pains through my scalp.
"Please, please let me go!" I scream at him. "Please Will."
Please.
Let me go.
My eyes snap open, vision unfocused in the dark room, relieved to realise it was all just a dream.
I roll over, noticing the bed felt hard and cold, reaching out to feel no warmth next to me.
And then my heart sinks, and I remember.
"No..." I just whimper, sitting up suddenly, my eyes adjusting under the assistance of the flickered beam of light that shines under the office door. I wrap my arms around myself, backing against the wall again. Surely the staff would be along shortly, Daniel or Faye would rescue me. But there was a sinking feeling in my stomach. I didn't know Ray well, but I did know Will. And if he was anything like his nephew, he'd have taken all precautions to make sure I was punished for whatever it was I'd done to wrong him.
Carla
"Ey!" I call across the street, wrapping my coat around me tighter when I spot my sister. She looks at me with a sense of avoidance, head dipped, hair falling over her face. "I need to speak to you."
"Look, Carla, I really don't want to talk about it." She dismisses, shrugging slightly as I reach her side of the cobbles.
"Well you're gonna have to." I huff, folding my arms forcefully and she shoots me a glare. "Because I'm five months pregnant and I don't know where the mother of my children is!"
"...Eh?" Confusion contorts her features as she finally looks back at me. "What are you on about?"
"This business trip. Where is it?" I spell it out for her, but she just continues to look puzzled at my hints. "For the bistro, the conference Michelle's gone to."
"...How would I know?"
I stare at her blankly for a moment. Was I on the right planet today? Was everybody just trying to wind me up? "Because you're the flamin' manager, Kate!"
"...No I'm not." She says slowly and I ponder her response for a moment, flicking my tongue between my teeth in frustration. "Not since Ray took over."
"Ray? Ray Crosby?" I repeat, now the one to be confused.
"Yeah, you think I'm gonna work with him as my boss?" She states bluntly, my head spinning. "After everything he did to me?" I hesitate, trying to absorb the information that was being thrown at me in the street. Kate pauses, slowly latching on to my absence of knowledge. "I thought you came to pester me about the arrest."
"What arrest?" I suddenly exclaim, feeling like one thing was being piled on top of another and I was buried beneath it all.
"...Me and Rana..." She trails off, stopping at the realisation that I clearly knew nothing. She tilts her head to the side, puffing out her cheeks in slight surprise. "...What exactly has Michelle told you?"
Michelle
I hear the keys in the main door so vividly, as if it were a woodpecker drilling on a tree. My heart thumps so loudly I can hear it ringing in my ears. My breathing hitches and my stomach churns. I hear the footsteps getting closer. One, two, three, four. A drop of his keys, tinkling cheerily on the bar. The screech of the furniture he had used to block the entrance as he moves it out the way. The click of the lock. The creak of the door.
"Ah, you've calmed down then." Ray observes brightly, as if he were meeting a mate in The Rovers. My eyes dare to glide up to his, fixating on his wickedly pleasant grin. "Not a vegetarian, are ya?" He chucks a paper bag at me and the scent of what was inside makes my stomach physically ache with hunger. "Then again, all you dykes are nowadays, eh?"
I refrain from arguing with his use of language, not even daring to move in case I regretted the decision. I just swallow, taking a deep breath before hesitantly and quietly asking, "...Why are you doing this?"
"Well, you attacked me with a fork. It was self defence." He shrugs his shoulders casually, his tone remaining upbeat and unbothered. I failed to see how he misunderstood the severity of the situation, and so put it down to him instead being a psychopath. He taps his finger just below where he has taped a small round plaster to his neck. "Had to go rooting through the first aid kit because of you."
"...I'm sorry." I stupidly say, even though I'd never offered somebody a more false apology. He doesn't proceed with much of a response, just goes about shuffling the paper work on the desk. I watch his every move, my eyes darting back and forwards, backed against the wall like a rabbit caught in headlights. "...Will you let me go? We've got to open up soon."
The amused chuckle that emits his lips is enough to communicate that my hopes were shattered. He just turns back to me, his expression a look of glee as he announces, "we're not opening today. We've got some business to sort."
"...Carla will be wondering where I am." It's another long-shot for the sympathy vote and he just holds my phone up. The one I had left on the bar the night previous.
"Nah. I've seen to that." He informs me and a lump forms in my throat at his words. "Don't worry."
"...What have you done?" I dare to ask and he just rolls his eyes in sudden annoyance, as if my desire to know my wife's welfare was an extreme irritation to him. "You haven't hurt her?"
"No!" He just groans, rubbing his temples with his hand. "Honestly you women, you're so dramatic."
"Dramatic?" I can't hold back now, my tone wavering as I pluck up the courage to speak back to him. "You've locked me in an office overnight... No food, no water, no toilet. And then you tell me you've 'seen to that' when I ask about my wife?"
He just pauses, like a shield which my hysteria just rebounds off, before calmly asking, "are you going to eat that bacon butty?"
I blink twice, trying to understand the situation I was in. Was I dreaming? Was this some kind of everlasting vicious nightmare? Angrily, I snatch the paper bag from my lap, hurling it back at him. His tongue flicks between his teeth as he contemplates his next move, weighing up the fear in my eyes. "Psychopath." I hiss at him, realising how much I was beginning to feel like a caged animal.
"Oh is that so?" He just arches a brow cockily, producing a bottle of water from his coat pocket and dropping it on the table. "In that case, I guess I'll string this out a bit longer."
"No!" I shout but his back has already turned, slamming the door behind him.
Carla
My hands stay clasped in my lap, the tick of the factory clock timing each thought that passes. "So... You and Rana got arrested... Got in debt to pay for the solicitor and deportation fees... Sold your shares to Ray to pay off the debts... Then he tried to rape you?" I break everything down and Kate nods slowly, my eyes flickering to hers in shock. "And Michelle told me none of this?"
"...Apparently not." Kate's eyes just flicker downwards, as if guilty for my wife's lack of honesty. "I'm sure she probably just didn't want to stress you out."
"So Ray is now in business with Michelle?" I finalise and she nods slowly. "And you have no idea about this business conference she's apparently gone on?"
"...No." Kate looks uneasy at the subject. "...Why? What are you thinking?"
"Well it's just weird that she refrains from telling me about it, and then just drops me a text to tell me she's going away on a business conference until Saturday." I state, worries clouding my mind. "...What if she's..."
"Having an affair?" Kate almost chokes on the word with laughter. "With Ray? Please tell me you're joking!" Her face creases with disbelief and I just shrug, not too sure about anything anymore. "Carla, she hates the man." She keeps her voice quiet so as to not catch the attention of any machinists on the shop floor. "She knows what he tried to do to me. He's sick in the head." She does a good job of talking me round and I just emit a sigh, watching as she pulls up Sarah's chair and takes a seat next to me, clasping my hands in hers. "She loves you. She's having a baby with you. Two babies! You're way off the mark, Carla."
"You reckon?" I double check.
"I don't reckon. I know." She persists and the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach settles slightly at her words. I flash her a smile, grateful for the reassurance, my eyes gliding up as I hear a tap on the door.
"Sorry to interrupt." Vicky enters hesitantly. "Just wondered if you've got those spare van keys so I can shift this order?"
"Oh Kirk needs to get over it and get back." I groan, my thoughts hitting reality again. My eyes avert to the safe, before just holding out my own set. "Here, just take mine." I offer her and she accepts with a warm smile. "There's a van key on there somewhere. Well, there's a key for everything on there somewhere. The flat, the bistro, my car. I must trust you, ey?"
"Thanks. Well I should be there and back in forty minutes anyway." She roots through the keys for the correct one, before looking up and checking my aura. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah it's just... Michelle." I admit, shrugging it off, pretending it wasn't all that was weighing on my mind. "She's gone away on some business trip. No goodbye, no explanation, just a text." I pour my feelings out to yet another person, which wasn't very typical of me. I blamed the hormones. "Anyway, you don't want to stand here and listen to me whining on. Go get that order out."
"Ok." She just passes over a smile. "Take care."
"Lovely woman." I comment as Vicky leaves, Kate eyeing her up as she walks away.
"Wouldn't kick her out of bed." Kate shrugs and I tap her leg lightly, letting out a giggle.
"Oi you! You're engaged now, don't let Rana hear you say that." I tease her and she laughs softly, before I notice a slight twinge of sadness in her expression. Taking a moment of hesitation, I reach for her hand gently, her eyes lifting to mine. "Hey... How are you holding up? After what he did? Honestly?" I ask carefully and she just shrugs, fear communicated in her expression. "You know... It happened to me once." I quietly admit, eyes dropping to her lap at the admission. "My ex-fiancé, he raped me."
"...What?" Kate's expression creases with shock. "Who? When?"
"Oh years ago now... 2011." I recall, flashing her a sad smile. "Frank, his name was. Frank Foster. A complete control freak... I called off the wedding and... Well he couldn't take it."
"Carla..." Kate trails off slowly. "I never knew."
"Ey, how were you supposed to?" I brighten slightly, realising how I have brought the mood down. "Anyway." I tap her hand, composing myself. "Point is, missy, that I understand. So if you need to talk, you know where I am. Anytime."
"Love you." She says it so genuinely that tears spring to my eyes and I mouth the words back to her, before pulling her into a hug.
Michelle
"What's the time?" Is the first thing I ask in what feels like forever, light flooding in to the room with no windows. "It's ironic how you were so desperate to get your hands on this business, clearly only to run it into the ground."
"You've got a bit too much lip." Ray warns me, slamming the door with such a force it makes me shiver. He suddenly crouches before me, eyes menacing, tongue curling. "And I've had quite enough of it. Girls like you need to learn when to shut up."
"I'm not a 'girl'." I point out, rather unnecessarily, my eyes fixed on his. "I'm a woman."
"Eh..." There's an evil twinkle in his eye and I swallow as I dread what is coming next, his hand sickeningly slipping onto my thigh. He leans forwards, the scent of whiskey burning my skin as he whispers, "so prove it."
"...What do you mean?" I dare to ask, despite knowing exactly what he was getting at.
"Well, there's one way out of here." He clicks his teeth excitedly at the prospect. "I guess it comes down to whether you're enough of a 'woman' to earn yourself that redemption."
"You're sick." I nearly spit in his face and anger contorts his features. "I'd rather die than go anywhere near you."
"Well at this rate, it might just come down to that choice." He checks his watch, rocking back on his heels slightly. "Tik tok." His fingers latch onto a lock of my hair, grazing my scalp in a way that makes every nerve in my body burn with discomfort. "Yes or no?"
"No." I force out with such defiance that it angers him more.
"I said..." He suddenly grabs me by the throat, pushing me up against the wall. His lips are so dangerously close to my cheek that I squirm for freedom. The heat of his breath repulsive. My eyes lock with his. The answer I so desperately wanted to utter slipping out of my grasp. "Yes or no?"
His grip on my throat gets tighter and I begin to fight for breath, eyes wide as I soak up the monstrosity of his features. I feel my body weakening, as if draining of my energy. Only able to force out one word, "no."
It's eerily quiet for hours after Ray has left again. The room plunged into darkness. I don't even try to make out the silhouettes this time. I just stay in the crumpled ball in the corner of the room, shaking, sobbing, wondering if I could actually die in here.
For a few minutes of insanity, I debate whether my brothers actually had it better off than me - going when they did. Aside from Dean's death, until we lost Liam, I'd experienced nothing as terrifying as what I had since. My heart aches with grief. I needed my brothers. I wanted them here to protect me. Just for an hour, to tell me things would be ok. I longed for Liam's caring voice, the way he put his arm around me and cracked a joke every time I was upset. After he had calmed down about the pregnancy as kids, he was the one who really reassured me. "Whatever happens, you've got me." He'd said, and between my parting friendship with Carla and the concern that Dean would never stick around, I knew one thing: I had him.
But now I didn't. Now I had nobody to save me.
I gradually open my eyes to see the door wide open again, my body shuddering suddenly in fear as I crawl backwards against the wall, my back hitting it with force. But it wasn't Ray. It was a woman stood in the doorway, staring at me with such concern. My eyes focus.
"Michelle?" A thick Irish accent fills the room, an accent I vaguely recognised. "What the... I'm calling the police. Come on." It beckons me and I just freeze in position. Shock. Pure shock. "Michelle!" She shouts again and I manage to force my legs to work, pulling myself up and dragging my body in the direction of the light. "Who put you in there?" Her eyes shoot back to the cave I had been trapped in. "How long were you there?" The questions spin around my mind, breaking when I hear her tone change. "Police please." Vicky reaches to rub my back and I suddenly flinch, moving away. Moving far away. Towards the door. Towards the street. "Michelle!"
"Chelle?" A voice tugs my attention. A different voice now, a soft, loving, reassuring voice. My head snaps around and my eyes focus in on Carla, stood with concern on the Underworld steps. "I thought you were..." She begins, before taking me in. Maybe it was the fear in my expression. Maybe it was the tangled hair, the marks on my neck or the tear stained, pale face. She's pacing towards me then, not wasting a second as she appears at my side. "Hey, hey. What's going on? What's happened?"
"Ray." Is all I can say, tears spilling from my eyes all of a sudden. I gasp for breath, finally comforted by the feel of her arms around me. "I... He trapped me..." The words fall out my mouth as a shaky murmur.
"What's he done to you?" Carla raises a hand to my ice-cold cheek, her eyes scanning me with terror. I don't answer, and she swallows again, trying to absorb the situation. "Michelle, what's he done?" My breathing is rapid as Carla's head spins in the direction of the bistro, where Vicky was now appearing from.
"I've phoned the police, they're on their way." Vicky announces as she reaches us, Carla's eyes gliding between us in confusion. "Somebody'd locked her up in there... I don't know what they've done but-"
"Stop." I just manage to choke out, Carla's hand gliding down my back, her face frozen in shock. "Oh God... Oh God."
"Ok, it's ok." Carla just breathes, trying to compose herself for my sake. "You're safe. You're with me. Everything's okay."
I let out a low hum of dolour, slowly sinking to the ground. Carla drops next to me, my eyes focused on the cracked cobble that sat before me. I wonder what caused it to crack. Maybe it had been Steve driving Steph around the block at a high speed to impress her. Maybe it had been the joinery explosion or David's hammering feet as he raced towards Kylie's sinking and bloodied body. Or maybe it had just worn gradually over time. Once fresh and new, now broken and tattered. Shaped with history but one day closer to complete destruction.
"Ray locked you in there?" Carla asks gently and I just nod. "You didn't have your phone?"
"He took it." I stammer, trying to steady my shaking hands and I notice Carla drop her head in some kind of realisation. "I'm sorry."
"Hey. No." She lifts my chin as gently as possible, my eyes finally focusing on hers. The care, the fear, the love. "Why are you apologising?"
I swallow, my breathing hitched as I ponder my response. It broke me that she was supposed to be happy. We were supposed to be happy. But with every passing season, something made that more and more difficult. My mouth drops open, before just confessing, "for not being honest with you about everything."
Her hand moves to my hair as I fall into her chest, unable to even cry. "It's ok, sweetheart." She whispers in my ear and my eyes drift to Vicky's, the look on her face more intense, more interrogative, maybe even more concerned. She looked like she wanted to ask me a million questions. I just force a weak smile of appreciation, snapping my eyes away as the distant sound of sirens takes over my senses.
