Truth Out Of Darkness
Chapter 45
The next day, Christmas Eve…
Brady pushed through the crowds at Salem Place, trying to control his temper. Every happy, smiling person talking about how magical and wonderful Christmas was grated on his nerves, and he was down to his last one. {Why am I here?} He rolled his eyes disgustedly, beginning to empathize with poor, misunderstood Ebenezer Scrooge.
Even the weather had turned against him. He looked up in disgust at the bright, blue, clear sky, and the sunshine beating down on him. {Traitor.} It should have been gray, and cloudy to match his mood. {I am here to get something for Chloe.} He reminded himself, {even though it's going to be long time before I can even give it to her.} he added sourly.
Brady paused a moment to calm himself. He replayed Marlena's pep talk from earlier this morning. "Chloe's strong, she will get through it, you both will. You just have to give her time. It hasn't even been 24 hours." {Don't give up now, Brady. Chloe's too important.} He tried to encourage himself; remembered what he was fighting for. {Fight for her, fight for the both of you.} {Chloe needs me, whether she knows it or not. I have to be there for her.}
Thus, the reason for his shopping excursion. By getting her a Christmas gift, he was thinking about the future, their future together. He envisioned when he would give it to her. It would be a symbol of their love for each other and would be all the more wonderful because of the hardships they had endured. Which meant that the gift had to be just right, perfect.
He entered a jewelry store and was immediately unimpressed by the selection. He passed row after row, counter after counter. They were all too conventional, too flashy. He was headed on his way out of the store when he saw it. It was tucked away in a small display case. {Perfect.} He picked it up. It was a Celtic promise ring, comprised of interweaving bands of sterling silver. It looked old, antique. It was beautiful in its simplicity. Just like Chloe.
He carefully studied the ring, turning it every which way, making sure there were no flaws. He held it up the light, and was suddenly assaulted by a vision.
He was running through a twisted maze of stone tunnels, deep underground. He was holding someone's hands. He looked over at a stunning redheaded woman, a woman whom he loved more than life itself. She was the missing part of his soul, his soul mate. And she carried their son with her.
Others were behind them, friends, family, who were watching their backs as they escaped. They went through countless turns, they were almost there, almost free. They rounded the last bend, and stopped dead.
He was in front of them, his evil laughter echoing off the tunnel walls. "Did you really think you could escape me, Brady?"
Brady moved in front of his wife and child, shielding them with his body. There was a blinding flash, and he heard someone scream his name.
"Brady!" Brady looked up in surprise to see Belle in front of him. {What the hell was that?} He shook his head to clear his mind of that… whatever it was.
"Belle, what are you doing here?" He noticed that Belle lacked her usual cheerful disposition.
"Shopping." She answered simply. She tried to be subdued around Brady. He was really hurting right now.
He cocked an eyebrow. "Shopping? Weren't you done shopping, like months ago?" He asked with a small chuckle.
"Well, the gift I got Chloe isn't really appropriate right now, so I'm going to give it to her later. But I still wanted to get her something. Mom said that Chloe is probably having a hard time feeling safe right now, so I went kinda crazy at the sporting goods store. I got pepper spray, a pocketknife and a flashlight. And it's really cool because she can put all of them on her key chain and always have them with her. I also got her a nightlight for her room, and a blank diary, because Mom said it might be good for her to write down what she's feeling until she's ready to talk about it. Oh, I'm also giving her the teddy bear you got me when I was in the coma, but it's just a loan." She finished with a small smile.
"Wow, Belle that was really thoughtful of you." Brady said, gratitude shining in his eyes.
"Well, I just feel kinda helpless. I want to do something, but I don't know what. I know she has to go through most of it on her own, but I still want to help. Chloe's been a great friend to me, and I'm a better person for knowing her."
Brady ruffled his sister's hair affectionately. "Thanks, Belle. This means a lot to me, I know it will to Chloe, too."
Belle just nodded. "Have you talked to her?"
"No, I was thinking about stopping by her house later, just to see how she's doing. Maybe there's something I can do for the Wesleys. I hate that this is happening right at Christmas."
"I know. Maybe our family should stop by for a little while tomorrow; we could bring food. Nancy probably doesn't feel like cooking."
"That's a good idea."
"Brady, if you do go by the Wesleys', will you drop off my gift bag for Chloe?"
"Sure."
"Thanks! Gotta go. Shawn still hasn't done ANY of his shopping and he needs my expertise. I love you, Brady. Take care, okay?"
"I will. Luv ya too, Tink." He smiled affectionately at her as she left the store. {Leave it to Belle to raise my spirits.} He paid for the ring and left the store.
Her first thoughts had been about Brady. She stretched out full length in her bed, and watched the sunlight streaming through her window. She remembered dancing with Brady, his arms around her, his lips on hers. She looked at her clock. It was early afternoon. {I can't believe Craig and Nancy let me sleep in. They must have been hit by the Christmas spirit.}
Chloe slowly got out of bed. {What am I wearing?} She saw the heavy, flannel ugly sleep shirt and suddenly had a case of déjà vu. It wasn't long, though, before it all came flooding back to her. The session yesterday, everything she had remembered came back to her. "I was raped." She said simply.
Once more, tears threatened to flow from her puffy eyes. {No.} she told herself firmly. {I have shed the last tear over what that bastard did to me.} She stood shaking, trying to calm herself. {Come on, Chloe. You're stronger than this. That @$$hole has no power over you. He's in jail. You put him there.} She brought to mind the trial.
She had been so screwed up by what he had done to her. But somehow, she found the strength to testify against him. She forced back the insanity that was threatening to consume her mind, and told everyone what he had done, clearly, so there was no doubt. She had done it for one reason, to make sure he could never do it to anyone else. She remembered the overwhelming feeling of pride, of relief, when he was found guilty. She hadn't gone through it for nothing.
But after the trial, she had had no other reason to be strong, and the realization of what he had done to her hit her full force. She was so tired, tired of living, tired of surviving every thing that happens to her. So she gave up, and fell into nothing.
Chloe looked around her room. Once again, she found it hard to breathe, she was suffocating. "I need to take a walk. I have to get out of here." She headed for her bedroom door and stopped. She could hear Craig and Nancy downstairs.
"I can't deal with them now. I can just see the pity in their eyes. And Nancy will be all like 'I'm so sorry. Oh boo hoo.'"
So she opted for the window. She carefully climbed down the trellis. Once she hit the ground, she took off at a run toward her place of solitude.
She sat on the pier, looking out over the water. She watched the reflections on the bouncing surface. The memories still haunted her, tormented her. But she refused to surrender to them. Instead, she focused on the good things in her life. Like Brady.
She was lost in her daydreams, when she heard a sound behind her. She whirled around.
"Brady?"
Chapter 45
The next day, Christmas Eve…
Brady pushed through the crowds at Salem Place, trying to control his temper. Every happy, smiling person talking about how magical and wonderful Christmas was grated on his nerves, and he was down to his last one. {Why am I here?} He rolled his eyes disgustedly, beginning to empathize with poor, misunderstood Ebenezer Scrooge.
Even the weather had turned against him. He looked up in disgust at the bright, blue, clear sky, and the sunshine beating down on him. {Traitor.} It should have been gray, and cloudy to match his mood. {I am here to get something for Chloe.} He reminded himself, {even though it's going to be long time before I can even give it to her.} he added sourly.
Brady paused a moment to calm himself. He replayed Marlena's pep talk from earlier this morning. "Chloe's strong, she will get through it, you both will. You just have to give her time. It hasn't even been 24 hours." {Don't give up now, Brady. Chloe's too important.} He tried to encourage himself; remembered what he was fighting for. {Fight for her, fight for the both of you.} {Chloe needs me, whether she knows it or not. I have to be there for her.}
Thus, the reason for his shopping excursion. By getting her a Christmas gift, he was thinking about the future, their future together. He envisioned when he would give it to her. It would be a symbol of their love for each other and would be all the more wonderful because of the hardships they had endured. Which meant that the gift had to be just right, perfect.
He entered a jewelry store and was immediately unimpressed by the selection. He passed row after row, counter after counter. They were all too conventional, too flashy. He was headed on his way out of the store when he saw it. It was tucked away in a small display case. {Perfect.} He picked it up. It was a Celtic promise ring, comprised of interweaving bands of sterling silver. It looked old, antique. It was beautiful in its simplicity. Just like Chloe.
He carefully studied the ring, turning it every which way, making sure there were no flaws. He held it up the light, and was suddenly assaulted by a vision.
He was running through a twisted maze of stone tunnels, deep underground. He was holding someone's hands. He looked over at a stunning redheaded woman, a woman whom he loved more than life itself. She was the missing part of his soul, his soul mate. And she carried their son with her.
Others were behind them, friends, family, who were watching their backs as they escaped. They went through countless turns, they were almost there, almost free. They rounded the last bend, and stopped dead.
He was in front of them, his evil laughter echoing off the tunnel walls. "Did you really think you could escape me, Brady?"
Brady moved in front of his wife and child, shielding them with his body. There was a blinding flash, and he heard someone scream his name.
"Brady!" Brady looked up in surprise to see Belle in front of him. {What the hell was that?} He shook his head to clear his mind of that… whatever it was.
"Belle, what are you doing here?" He noticed that Belle lacked her usual cheerful disposition.
"Shopping." She answered simply. She tried to be subdued around Brady. He was really hurting right now.
He cocked an eyebrow. "Shopping? Weren't you done shopping, like months ago?" He asked with a small chuckle.
"Well, the gift I got Chloe isn't really appropriate right now, so I'm going to give it to her later. But I still wanted to get her something. Mom said that Chloe is probably having a hard time feeling safe right now, so I went kinda crazy at the sporting goods store. I got pepper spray, a pocketknife and a flashlight. And it's really cool because she can put all of them on her key chain and always have them with her. I also got her a nightlight for her room, and a blank diary, because Mom said it might be good for her to write down what she's feeling until she's ready to talk about it. Oh, I'm also giving her the teddy bear you got me when I was in the coma, but it's just a loan." She finished with a small smile.
"Wow, Belle that was really thoughtful of you." Brady said, gratitude shining in his eyes.
"Well, I just feel kinda helpless. I want to do something, but I don't know what. I know she has to go through most of it on her own, but I still want to help. Chloe's been a great friend to me, and I'm a better person for knowing her."
Brady ruffled his sister's hair affectionately. "Thanks, Belle. This means a lot to me, I know it will to Chloe, too."
Belle just nodded. "Have you talked to her?"
"No, I was thinking about stopping by her house later, just to see how she's doing. Maybe there's something I can do for the Wesleys. I hate that this is happening right at Christmas."
"I know. Maybe our family should stop by for a little while tomorrow; we could bring food. Nancy probably doesn't feel like cooking."
"That's a good idea."
"Brady, if you do go by the Wesleys', will you drop off my gift bag for Chloe?"
"Sure."
"Thanks! Gotta go. Shawn still hasn't done ANY of his shopping and he needs my expertise. I love you, Brady. Take care, okay?"
"I will. Luv ya too, Tink." He smiled affectionately at her as she left the store. {Leave it to Belle to raise my spirits.} He paid for the ring and left the store.
Her first thoughts had been about Brady. She stretched out full length in her bed, and watched the sunlight streaming through her window. She remembered dancing with Brady, his arms around her, his lips on hers. She looked at her clock. It was early afternoon. {I can't believe Craig and Nancy let me sleep in. They must have been hit by the Christmas spirit.}
Chloe slowly got out of bed. {What am I wearing?} She saw the heavy, flannel ugly sleep shirt and suddenly had a case of déjà vu. It wasn't long, though, before it all came flooding back to her. The session yesterday, everything she had remembered came back to her. "I was raped." She said simply.
Once more, tears threatened to flow from her puffy eyes. {No.} she told herself firmly. {I have shed the last tear over what that bastard did to me.} She stood shaking, trying to calm herself. {Come on, Chloe. You're stronger than this. That @$$hole has no power over you. He's in jail. You put him there.} She brought to mind the trial.
She had been so screwed up by what he had done to her. But somehow, she found the strength to testify against him. She forced back the insanity that was threatening to consume her mind, and told everyone what he had done, clearly, so there was no doubt. She had done it for one reason, to make sure he could never do it to anyone else. She remembered the overwhelming feeling of pride, of relief, when he was found guilty. She hadn't gone through it for nothing.
But after the trial, she had had no other reason to be strong, and the realization of what he had done to her hit her full force. She was so tired, tired of living, tired of surviving every thing that happens to her. So she gave up, and fell into nothing.
Chloe looked around her room. Once again, she found it hard to breathe, she was suffocating. "I need to take a walk. I have to get out of here." She headed for her bedroom door and stopped. She could hear Craig and Nancy downstairs.
"I can't deal with them now. I can just see the pity in their eyes. And Nancy will be all like 'I'm so sorry. Oh boo hoo.'"
So she opted for the window. She carefully climbed down the trellis. Once she hit the ground, she took off at a run toward her place of solitude.
She sat on the pier, looking out over the water. She watched the reflections on the bouncing surface. The memories still haunted her, tormented her. But she refused to surrender to them. Instead, she focused on the good things in her life. Like Brady.
She was lost in her daydreams, when she heard a sound behind her. She whirled around.
"Brady?"