The motel room door slammed behind them as he shoved Jackie hard onto the bed near the doorway, giving her a warning look and walking to the bathroom. "Don't you move a fucking inch." He yelled over his shoulder as the sound of water running in the sink drowned out most of anything else he had to say.
"Please, just let me go." Jackie begged from her seat on the bed. " Whatever I did to you I'm sorry, but just please-"
"Shut up." He said, turning off the taps crossing the room back to where she sat on the bed, shoving her back angrily. "You stupid bitch!" he yelled, shoving her again. "You don't get it do you!" Climbing onto the bed he leaned over her, breathing hard and glaring down with a hate she'd never seen before. "This isn't about you!" she just stared at him defiantly.
"Well then what pray tell is it about?" she asked condescendingly.
"Don't you dare take that fucking tone with me." He said, sounding more hurt than anything as he backhanded her hard, causing her to reel back, and slamming her head into the corner of the night table. "You're no better than me. Fuck, none of you are. You and your fucking social groups and your parties and you're perfect parents and your perfect homes and your perfect FUCKING life. You're NO BETTER!" grabbing her by the hair he pulled her head up, slamming it against the wall behind the bed and placing his face inches from hers. "Are you?"
"No." she said apologetically. He was insane…or at least on the edge and all she could do was go along with it, make him happy, apologize for things other people had done. Other people like her.
"Fucking right you're not. I went to the same fucking parties as you! Every single one! I endured all the fucking looks from your friends, all the insults, all the times I got kicked out just to see YOU. All for you, and you never even noticed me did you? And if you did you didn't act like it, which, by the FUCKING way, is worse than the insults."
"I'm sorry!"
"SHUT UP!" he slammed his fist into her stomach, causing her to double over…or at least as much as she could against his grip on her hair. "But you did notice me, didn't you? you did because we fucked, TWICE! You might have been drunk but you knew EXACLTY what was going on, not that you let on. That's right, at stupid fucking Abby's party on graduation night and YOU got pregnant, didn't you? But you didn't tell me, noooo. You went and got yourself a fucking abortion. Kill our child, MY child without even so much as a note, a memo maybe. Well doll face the ride ends here, a life for a life. That's what my dad always used to say."
"Get OFF OF ME!" she yelled, pushing with all her strength against his chest as he straddled her, placing both hands on her throat and his thumbs under her chin, pressing hard. Her breath hitched in her throat, as the pressure built up behind her eyes and tongue she continued to fight. The room was swimming around her, she knew her face was purple, it felt like it would pop like a grape at any moment, her tongue was swelling inside her mouth, pressing against her teeth, bleeding as she was forced to bite down. She couldn't die like this, there was no way. Not Jackie Burkheart. She tried to cry out, but it only caused the pain in her throat to intensify, her vision was going black around the edges, fading out like a badly made movie and she did the only thing she could think of, reprimanding herself inwardly for not thinking of it before.
"Jesus!" he hissed as her knee made full contact with his groin. Doubling over, he winced, reaching for the crotch of his pants. Jackie lay still on the bed, her breath coming in dry heaves, coughing heavily. Why couldn't she move? In every action movie she'd seen, as soon as the girl hits the bad guy, she's fine. But not this time, her vision was still slightly blurry, though vastly improving and she was regaining the feeling in her arms. Head throbbing, she sat up, feeling as if she was extremely hung over. The need to throw up hit her suddenly and she rushed for the bathroom, locking to door just as he began to recover. Falling to her knees on the tile floor, she winced, knowing they too would be bruised. And then it came. A wave of vomit caused her to lurch forward and throw up, luckily not missing the toilet which stank enough to cause her to throw up again. He was banging on the door and it was quite obvious he'd make it through in a matter of second. Another wave of nausea hit her and she threw up again, this time for longer. The sounds around her were sharpening, her senses were becoming stronger and she stood, wiping her mouth with the corner of a motel towel and stared at the door, which was beginning to give under his weight. Scanning the room, her senses not yet in full recovery she reached for the curtain rack on the shower, yanking it down with all her might and pulling off the shower curtain.
The door burst open and before she had the chance to use her new found weapon he was upon her, his hand covering his mouth and squeezing her jaw forcefully. "Uh uh sweetie, you don't win." He replied, the insanity once again gone from his features, the cool calculating side was back and he pulled the rod from her hands, throwing it to the floor. "But hey, how about one quick romp before I top you off. You know, for old time's sake?" Grabbing her around the waist and tucking her neatly under her arm he carried a struggling Jackie back towards the bed, tossing her onto the mattress and climbing on top of her and pinning her wrists above her head, much in the same way he had in the barn at the beginning of this terrifying dream. Pulling at his belt buckle he smiled down at her almost affectionately, yanking it off and beginning to undo his pants. Jackie shifted, reading to send another disabling blow to the groin but he laughed, placing his knees on top of hers and resting all his weight on them. "Not so fast better cup." A well aimed blow to the nose caused her eyes to water and sending agony throughout her face…it was broken. She could fell it crunch under his fist. There was no escape and she knew it, all options were spent, all tricks were impossible and all exits were sealed.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"What do you mean you can't give out that information? Of course you can it's your goddamn job!" Hyde yelled at the small man behind the counter in the check-in area of the motel office. "If you don't tell me what room my friend is in, she's going to die, ok?"
"Listen." The manager said tiredly rubbing his brow over his large brown glasses. "I can't tell you which room they're in, it's against policy. You could be a jealous boyfriend for all I know." He opened the check-in record and scanned it lazily, not making eye contact with Erik or Hyde as they stood there, keeping their anger and frustration in tact. "There's haven't been any complaints…not that there would be. They're the only ones checked in tonight. But that doesn't matter cuz I can't tell ya. What I can do, however. Is offer you a room-"
"Fuck your room and fuck you." Hyde muttered, yanking open the door and stepping out into the cold Wisconsin air, Erik at his heels. He turned, walking quickly along the motel room doors, scanning the numbers.
"Hyde man what are you doing?" Erik asked, jogging to keep up.
"If they're the only ones who checked in then they're in room 6." He replied as they passed room 5. "That's the only one with the key missing." Stopping outside room six, he glanced at Foreman to make sure he was ready, but only waited a half a second before shouldering open the unlocked door. The scene that lay before him made him sick to his stomach and he just stood, staring. Jackie was on the floor beside the bed, body sprawled in a position that implied she'd been struggling fiercely. What was left of her clothes were hanging bloody off her shoulders and hips, other than that she was completely exposed, naked for anyone to see. Bruises covered her body from head to toe and a small stream of blood trickled from the corner of her mouth as well as a large gash above her left brow. The worst however were the deep purple, black and red marks around her neck, ranging from the under side of her chin where they were lighter to the middle of her neck which was almost a steady shade of black and red and down her collar bone where the greeted other less severe bruises. He watched, frozen to the spot, for the rise and fall of her chest but there was none. Her captor- gone.
"Oh shit…oh shit…oh…Jackie." Erik was the first to move, grabbing a blanket from the bed a draping it over her motionless body. Placing his ear above her mouth he waited, eyes waide and praying silently but after a few moments he cursed again, shutting his eyes tightly and shaking his head.
"She's not dead." Hyde stated, still not wanting to approach her, still too afraid it would make it real. "Do something Foreman."
"I can't." he replied miserably, placing the blanket over her face and beginning to stand.
"Get the fuck back down there and do something!" Hyde said pointing at the body, "Check for a pulse, a heartbeat, anything. Just do it."
"Hyde-"
"FUCKING DO IT!" he yelled, walking towards the Jackie's limp body and yanking the blanket from her face. Erik reached over and grabbed her wrist, a look of defeat on his face before he'd even touched her. He pressed his thumb and forefingers on either side of her wrist and waited nothing. Sighing he began to let go but something stopped him, there was something there, it was faint but it was there.
"Hyde…HYDE!" he yelled, shoving Hyde farther back from Jackie and placing his mouth over hers, breathing out sharply three times and pulling away. Placing both hands on her chest he pressed down three separate times and repeated the procedure. For 60 seconds he did this, not giving up, not looking at Hyde who was holding her hand and stroking it softly. And then it happened, surprising Erik more than anything. Jackie body lurched forward, chest first, and dropped back down. She was coughing, clutching her throat, desperately trying to get some air into her lungs.
"Hyde." She gasped, her body relaxing as her breath came back slowly. Leaning forward he pulled her to him with a gentleness that Erik had never seen before in Hyde. Leaning back against the bed, he watched to two embrace. Jackie's first word after that whole ordeal was Hyde, it was always Hyde and it was always going to be Hyde. And that was fine, he had Donna. And if Donna ever had a near death experience, her first words would have been Erik. That's how things were and they would never change. That fact that Jackie was alive was enough to alleviate any sense of jealousy or malcontent in him. And then her arms were around him, whispering thank-yous into his ear over and over again. He hugged her back and Hyde stood up, walking over to the phone.
"Lie back down Jacks." He said, pointing at the bed, "I'm calling an ambulance."
Fifteen minutes later, the motel parking lot was abuzz with cops and paramedics, from the back of an ambulance a police officer asked Jackie a series of questions, mostly descriptions. Opposite her a paramedic was laying her back onto the stretcher and pulling an oxygen machine mask over her face. Closing his notepad the officer left, patting her on the leg and heading for his car. Others were in the room, taking pictures, and poking around. Hyde climbed into the ambulance as the engine started up, waving at Erik who was heading back to the vista cruiser and eventually home.
"Please, just let me go." Jackie begged from her seat on the bed. " Whatever I did to you I'm sorry, but just please-"
"Shut up." He said, turning off the taps crossing the room back to where she sat on the bed, shoving her back angrily. "You stupid bitch!" he yelled, shoving her again. "You don't get it do you!" Climbing onto the bed he leaned over her, breathing hard and glaring down with a hate she'd never seen before. "This isn't about you!" she just stared at him defiantly.
"Well then what pray tell is it about?" she asked condescendingly.
"Don't you dare take that fucking tone with me." He said, sounding more hurt than anything as he backhanded her hard, causing her to reel back, and slamming her head into the corner of the night table. "You're no better than me. Fuck, none of you are. You and your fucking social groups and your parties and you're perfect parents and your perfect homes and your perfect FUCKING life. You're NO BETTER!" grabbing her by the hair he pulled her head up, slamming it against the wall behind the bed and placing his face inches from hers. "Are you?"
"No." she said apologetically. He was insane…or at least on the edge and all she could do was go along with it, make him happy, apologize for things other people had done. Other people like her.
"Fucking right you're not. I went to the same fucking parties as you! Every single one! I endured all the fucking looks from your friends, all the insults, all the times I got kicked out just to see YOU. All for you, and you never even noticed me did you? And if you did you didn't act like it, which, by the FUCKING way, is worse than the insults."
"I'm sorry!"
"SHUT UP!" he slammed his fist into her stomach, causing her to double over…or at least as much as she could against his grip on her hair. "But you did notice me, didn't you? you did because we fucked, TWICE! You might have been drunk but you knew EXACLTY what was going on, not that you let on. That's right, at stupid fucking Abby's party on graduation night and YOU got pregnant, didn't you? But you didn't tell me, noooo. You went and got yourself a fucking abortion. Kill our child, MY child without even so much as a note, a memo maybe. Well doll face the ride ends here, a life for a life. That's what my dad always used to say."
"Get OFF OF ME!" she yelled, pushing with all her strength against his chest as he straddled her, placing both hands on her throat and his thumbs under her chin, pressing hard. Her breath hitched in her throat, as the pressure built up behind her eyes and tongue she continued to fight. The room was swimming around her, she knew her face was purple, it felt like it would pop like a grape at any moment, her tongue was swelling inside her mouth, pressing against her teeth, bleeding as she was forced to bite down. She couldn't die like this, there was no way. Not Jackie Burkheart. She tried to cry out, but it only caused the pain in her throat to intensify, her vision was going black around the edges, fading out like a badly made movie and she did the only thing she could think of, reprimanding herself inwardly for not thinking of it before.
"Jesus!" he hissed as her knee made full contact with his groin. Doubling over, he winced, reaching for the crotch of his pants. Jackie lay still on the bed, her breath coming in dry heaves, coughing heavily. Why couldn't she move? In every action movie she'd seen, as soon as the girl hits the bad guy, she's fine. But not this time, her vision was still slightly blurry, though vastly improving and she was regaining the feeling in her arms. Head throbbing, she sat up, feeling as if she was extremely hung over. The need to throw up hit her suddenly and she rushed for the bathroom, locking to door just as he began to recover. Falling to her knees on the tile floor, she winced, knowing they too would be bruised. And then it came. A wave of vomit caused her to lurch forward and throw up, luckily not missing the toilet which stank enough to cause her to throw up again. He was banging on the door and it was quite obvious he'd make it through in a matter of second. Another wave of nausea hit her and she threw up again, this time for longer. The sounds around her were sharpening, her senses were becoming stronger and she stood, wiping her mouth with the corner of a motel towel and stared at the door, which was beginning to give under his weight. Scanning the room, her senses not yet in full recovery she reached for the curtain rack on the shower, yanking it down with all her might and pulling off the shower curtain.
The door burst open and before she had the chance to use her new found weapon he was upon her, his hand covering his mouth and squeezing her jaw forcefully. "Uh uh sweetie, you don't win." He replied, the insanity once again gone from his features, the cool calculating side was back and he pulled the rod from her hands, throwing it to the floor. "But hey, how about one quick romp before I top you off. You know, for old time's sake?" Grabbing her around the waist and tucking her neatly under her arm he carried a struggling Jackie back towards the bed, tossing her onto the mattress and climbing on top of her and pinning her wrists above her head, much in the same way he had in the barn at the beginning of this terrifying dream. Pulling at his belt buckle he smiled down at her almost affectionately, yanking it off and beginning to undo his pants. Jackie shifted, reading to send another disabling blow to the groin but he laughed, placing his knees on top of hers and resting all his weight on them. "Not so fast better cup." A well aimed blow to the nose caused her eyes to water and sending agony throughout her face…it was broken. She could fell it crunch under his fist. There was no escape and she knew it, all options were spent, all tricks were impossible and all exits were sealed.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"What do you mean you can't give out that information? Of course you can it's your goddamn job!" Hyde yelled at the small man behind the counter in the check-in area of the motel office. "If you don't tell me what room my friend is in, she's going to die, ok?"
"Listen." The manager said tiredly rubbing his brow over his large brown glasses. "I can't tell you which room they're in, it's against policy. You could be a jealous boyfriend for all I know." He opened the check-in record and scanned it lazily, not making eye contact with Erik or Hyde as they stood there, keeping their anger and frustration in tact. "There's haven't been any complaints…not that there would be. They're the only ones checked in tonight. But that doesn't matter cuz I can't tell ya. What I can do, however. Is offer you a room-"
"Fuck your room and fuck you." Hyde muttered, yanking open the door and stepping out into the cold Wisconsin air, Erik at his heels. He turned, walking quickly along the motel room doors, scanning the numbers.
"Hyde man what are you doing?" Erik asked, jogging to keep up.
"If they're the only ones who checked in then they're in room 6." He replied as they passed room 5. "That's the only one with the key missing." Stopping outside room six, he glanced at Foreman to make sure he was ready, but only waited a half a second before shouldering open the unlocked door. The scene that lay before him made him sick to his stomach and he just stood, staring. Jackie was on the floor beside the bed, body sprawled in a position that implied she'd been struggling fiercely. What was left of her clothes were hanging bloody off her shoulders and hips, other than that she was completely exposed, naked for anyone to see. Bruises covered her body from head to toe and a small stream of blood trickled from the corner of her mouth as well as a large gash above her left brow. The worst however were the deep purple, black and red marks around her neck, ranging from the under side of her chin where they were lighter to the middle of her neck which was almost a steady shade of black and red and down her collar bone where the greeted other less severe bruises. He watched, frozen to the spot, for the rise and fall of her chest but there was none. Her captor- gone.
"Oh shit…oh shit…oh…Jackie." Erik was the first to move, grabbing a blanket from the bed a draping it over her motionless body. Placing his ear above her mouth he waited, eyes waide and praying silently but after a few moments he cursed again, shutting his eyes tightly and shaking his head.
"She's not dead." Hyde stated, still not wanting to approach her, still too afraid it would make it real. "Do something Foreman."
"I can't." he replied miserably, placing the blanket over her face and beginning to stand.
"Get the fuck back down there and do something!" Hyde said pointing at the body, "Check for a pulse, a heartbeat, anything. Just do it."
"Hyde-"
"FUCKING DO IT!" he yelled, walking towards the Jackie's limp body and yanking the blanket from her face. Erik reached over and grabbed her wrist, a look of defeat on his face before he'd even touched her. He pressed his thumb and forefingers on either side of her wrist and waited nothing. Sighing he began to let go but something stopped him, there was something there, it was faint but it was there.
"Hyde…HYDE!" he yelled, shoving Hyde farther back from Jackie and placing his mouth over hers, breathing out sharply three times and pulling away. Placing both hands on her chest he pressed down three separate times and repeated the procedure. For 60 seconds he did this, not giving up, not looking at Hyde who was holding her hand and stroking it softly. And then it happened, surprising Erik more than anything. Jackie body lurched forward, chest first, and dropped back down. She was coughing, clutching her throat, desperately trying to get some air into her lungs.
"Hyde." She gasped, her body relaxing as her breath came back slowly. Leaning forward he pulled her to him with a gentleness that Erik had never seen before in Hyde. Leaning back against the bed, he watched to two embrace. Jackie's first word after that whole ordeal was Hyde, it was always Hyde and it was always going to be Hyde. And that was fine, he had Donna. And if Donna ever had a near death experience, her first words would have been Erik. That's how things were and they would never change. That fact that Jackie was alive was enough to alleviate any sense of jealousy or malcontent in him. And then her arms were around him, whispering thank-yous into his ear over and over again. He hugged her back and Hyde stood up, walking over to the phone.
"Lie back down Jacks." He said, pointing at the bed, "I'm calling an ambulance."
Fifteen minutes later, the motel parking lot was abuzz with cops and paramedics, from the back of an ambulance a police officer asked Jackie a series of questions, mostly descriptions. Opposite her a paramedic was laying her back onto the stretcher and pulling an oxygen machine mask over her face. Closing his notepad the officer left, patting her on the leg and heading for his car. Others were in the room, taking pictures, and poking around. Hyde climbed into the ambulance as the engine started up, waving at Erik who was heading back to the vista cruiser and eventually home.