Chapter 9

Natalie was in the trunk of a car; she was tied up and had a rag in her mouth so she couldn't scream a word. He was driving and she was disoriented so she couldn't figure out where they were going. A tear came to her eye but she refused anymore to fall, she pushed them back, there would be time for crying later, time for crying about this situation, time for crying about what she remembered, what she remembered, she thought, It was him, it was Louie, she had forgotten all about him since that day on the beach, she was very young and some off the stuff that happened that day was fuzzy, but she remembered him, he was always nice to her, buying her stuff, he was the only person who ever paid any attention to her, but he tried to do something, and he was arrested, taken away, she remembers not understanding it at the time , but she did remember a feeling she got that day, a feeling of security, someone held her till the cops brought her mom, that someone made her feel safe, the first and only time she had ever felt safe till Christian came into her life.

Natalie felt the car stop and she started to kick the inside of the trunk with her feet, but then the car started again, she tried to think about what she could do to get out of this mess, what John might do to get out of this mess, John, she thought, how was he ever going to find me, and is he looking for me? Or is one of the detectives at the station looking, No, she knew in her gut he was out there somewhere looking for her, although they just met a few days ago it was as if they had a connection, a connection at their soul, she felt safe with him, she felt as if she knew him her whole life, almost as if he was sent to her, sent to her when she needed him, and needed him most. The day she had met him, the day he wanted to have her cited for bad driving, that day had been Natalie's worse day in a real long time, not since the day Chris died and the few days after had it been that bad. She silently prayed to Christian for help as she continued to wait to see what Louie had in store for her.

John raced to the train station, he had hoped that Louie Stokes was dumb enough to drive back to AC. that way the train could help John make up time, make up time cause he had figured out that she couldn't have been gone that long before they knew she was missing, he was sitting in his seat and he was getting anxious, anxious thinking about finding her, finding her before he did anything to her, the only upside that he could see was that Natalie didn't remember it, she may have remembered him, but she was young and Roxy said she didn't remember it, or was it just one of those things that Natalie spoke about blocking out. How he just wanted to take her in his arms like last night and hold her, hold her till it all went away, till all of it left her, her fears, insecurities, her loss, her bad childhood. He thought about that day on the beach, it's weird how life works, how he was the one to find her, to save her from that horrible man and then to find her again and to be the one that will once again save her. It was as if he was destined to, destined to save her, destined to hold her, destined to Love her. John used the Love word in his thoughts and wasn't sure where it came from, he had only known her a few days. How could he love her already, how could he know, know that he did. He shook his head. He just did, he just knew, maybe he knew back then, the day on the beach, maybe some how this was their fate. John came out of his thoughts when the train pulled into the station; he jumped off the train and ran to the police car that was waiting for him. John knew he had to find her, he knew she had to be alive; he knew his fate depended on it.

Natalie continued deep in thought about her life and about everyone she loved and John came into her thoughts, how she thought she felt love for him already, how she was already in love with him, she closed her eye's thinking it impossible to already be in love with someone she just met but she did. She loved him, her heart was still also in love with Chris but she felt it for John too, love for him, a different love almost like she loved him before she met him. Thinking that was odd she opened her eyes again and stared into the dark tight area of the trunk surrounding her until she felt the car stop again. This time she heard Louie get out and walk to the back of the car, to the trunk, he was coming for her, she heard his hand on the lock to open it with a key and then she heard a thump, she listened real hard to try and figure out what was going on and she heard voices they were men's voices, she couldn't make out what they were saying and next thing she knew it she heard a gun shot go off and a car sped off, things went silent. Natalie was panicking inside, she didn't know what was going on and she felt like she couldn't breathe when she heard another car pull up.

The cop car pulled up to the back part of the abandoned pizza shop and John looked an saw a car by the back door, but something was wrong their was a man lying on the ground and he wasn't moving, there was a puddle of blood surrounding his body and John didn't wait for the car to come to a complete stop and he jumped out of it, he ran, ran as fast as he could, his heart was racing, racing a million miles a minute, he had hoped, no he prayed she wasn't dead. He searched the area by the car with his eye's and he didn't see her, she's here I know it, He said to himself, as he started calling out her name over and over and then he saw the cops check to see if the man who he knew was Louie, was dead. He heard one of the officers say he was but where was his angel, he started to say her name louder and louder till he heard it, heard something in the trunk, he walked over to it, took the key that was laying on the floor next to Louie's body and he opened it, opened it to the most beautiful blue eye's in the world. She was tied and gagged, his thoughts immediately went to rage and he thanked god that someone beat him to killing this man, this man who took her, this man who tried to.. His thoughts were cut off when he saw her try and mumbled something through the rag in her mouth. He immediately came out of his rage and untied her.

Natalie saw him and she was hoping, no praying he wasn't a dream, a figment of her imagination, but then he untied her, and he removed the rag from her mouth, she knew he wasn't, he was here, and he was real.

Natalie tried to speak but before she could get a word out he picked her up out of the trunk and carried her in his arms, her arms immediately went around his neck as he carried her over and sat her down on a few near by boxes.

"John" Natalie spoke softly but he wouldn't let her continue he put a hand to her mouth and he pulled her into an embrace, rocking her back and forth he held her. After a few minutes they heard an ambulance and they broke apart. John moved only slightly apart from her and he looked into her eye's, he tucked a piece of her hair that had fallen in front of her face behind her ear as he softly caressed her cheek in the process.

"Did he.. I mean.. Are you.. alright?" John asked hesitantly, he needed to know but he didn't necessarily want to know.

"I'm fine, a little creeped out, but I'm fine, now that you're here," she said and he pulled her close again and held her.

After a very long time of John holding her, Natalie pulled back and looked at him.

"I'm confused, very confused " Natalie said as she looked passed John to see the medic's putting Louie on a gurney, they zipped up the large body bag he was in and loaded him into the ambulance. As they did Natalie saw a pink bow on the ground, the same with the hearts that he had sent to her, it must have fallen out of Louie's hand when he was shot. She turned back to John.

"I don't understand what he wanted from me " she asked sounding like the small child she was when he found her. She looked at him and then back to the body on the ground and she remembered, remembered something. John knew by the look on her face she knew the answer to her own question and he saw the tears start to fill her eyes. He automatically without thinking pulled he back to him while she shed her eyes free of her tears.

Natalie held on to him for dear life, she needed his security, she needed his strength, she remembered stuff that she was sure she didn't understand at the time but she knew what it meant now. He was nice to her, Louie was nice to her because he was sick, she shook her head remembering all the times she spent with him, all the times he made her feel special. John felt her tremble and softly pushed her out of this arms, he placed his hands on both sides of her cheeks and looked straight into her beautiful eye's as Natalie began to speak.

"I was young... he tried to .. to .." Natalie said, as she couldn't get the words out.

"It's okay, it's okay, he can't ever try and hurt you again" John said still looking into her eye's

"I didn't know, I didn't know, I was to young," Natalie said grabbing his wrists with her hands and holding them while they were still positioned on her cheeks.

"It wasn't your fault, this isn't your fault." John said and then he needed to know how far her guilt and confusion went, he needed to know how much help she was going to need, he just needed to know.

"Did he.. I mean. Now or when you were.. little I mean.. did he " John tried to ask but couldn't get the words out

"No, not now and not then, he was trying, back then, if I remember it correct but a boy, some boy older than me, he started screaming, they took Louie away, some boy held me and tried to make me feel better" Natalie said still not realizing John was that boy. She continued to look into his eyes, and she saw something, her mind flashed back to that boy on the beach and their eye's matched. That boys eye's and John's, they matched, they were the same, it was him.

"It was you, John, it was you" Natalie said and she let go of his wrists and his hands came off her face, she leaned into his body for him to hold her and he did.

"I know, " he said softly as he tightened his hold on her knowing, knowing that this was their fate.