A/N: Two chapters in one day? Enjoy! ;)
September 3, 2004
Angel Grove, CA
"Nick." I breathed, taking a step back. I bumped into the wall behind me, startled. "What are you doing here?"
"I thought I was following Trini. I've been waiting for days for her to go somewhere on her own but you all group together like ten girls in a bathroom. When I saw her car leaving their house, I figured this was my chance to finally get my hands on the Asian bitch. Imagine my surprise though to find my doting wife. How are you, honey? Anything new going on?"
"Just let me go." I said. "I won't tell anyone I saw you here. The police are looking for you. You can just get in your car and take off without any trouble." I said. "Nick, you don't want to spend your life in prison. You can go back to Miami or go wherever you want. I won't say a word about seeing you here. We can just go our separate ways and pretend none of this even happened. I promise. You never have to see me again"
"Well, I can't do that now, can I, Kim? I mean, since I'm gonna be a Daddy and all." From his pocket, he pulled out the pregnancy test and tossed it to my feet. That solved the mystery of where it had gone. Nick must have found it when I was packing up Marci's things. He had been in the house with me this whole time. I just hadn't heard him or noticed. "I guess you were right. Coming here to Angel Grove was the key for you to get knocked up. Now you, me, and our baby can be a happy little family. We can have everything we've always wanted, baby. We're gonna be parents!"
"No." I said, shaking my head. "You're never gonna be near this baby. Look what you did to me! I could have lost them when you threw me down the stairs! You expect me to just raise a child with you?"
"Oh, c'mon, Kimmy! I didn't know you were pregnant. I wouldn't have done that if I had known. I promise that I won't hit you anymore. You just have to learn to do what I want you to do without your little attitude. It's something we can work on. You will be a better wife and I will be a better husband. It's the best thing we can do for the baby. No more fighting. It's what's best."
"You are a liar." I said. "You left me for dead. If Marci hadn't come home, I would be dead right now. The baby and I would have died right here because of what you did to me. No more. I'm done. You need to leave right now. I don't want to see you anymore. You don't give a shit about me or this baby. You just want us around so you can have something to control and knock around when you're pissed off at the world." I knew I sounded brave but pure terror was rippling through me. I didn't like that he was between the door and me. I also didn't like that he would be able to cut me off if I tried to make a run to the back door. Nick laughed.
"You think you get to decide when we are done? That you can just walk away from me?" He stepped closer, stopping a few feet away. "We're married. When you said I do, you became mine. It was a done deal. You belong to me. And so does that baby."
"No, it doesn't." I said, narrowing my eyes. "I don't care what I said at our wedding. I'm not going to let you hurt me anymore. I'm not letting you anywhere near my baby."
"That is my kid and you won't stop me from having them! Do you think I would really let you take care of them alone? You can't even take care of yourself. You're worthless, Kimmy. Just face it. You could never take care of a kid by yourself. If it wasn't for me, you'd still be nothing back in Florida. You've never amounted to anything in your life. You wouldn't even have that baby if it wasn't for me."
"It's Tommy's baby, not yours!" I yelled.
In retrospect, it might have not been the best idea to say to Nick. The anger and the resentment that was swirling around in my chest as I screamed it flooded out. I hated Nick. I hated him for everything he had done to me. I hated how he had hurt me and how he thought that I was his to do whatever he wanted to. I wanted him to feel pain. I wanted him to know that he had no power over me anymore and would never have any say over my baby. He needed to know that he hadn't given me anything and that I was the reason there was a baby inside of me, not him,
The words seemed to vibrate off the walls around us and I saw them sink into Nick slowly. His eyes grew wide before they narrowed. The veins in his neck started to stick out. Redness filled his face and rage fired in his eyes. Gripping Trini's keys in my hand, I put her house key and the car key between my fingers. Nick ran towards me, reaching out to grab a hold of my hair. When he was close enough, I swung my fist. I felt the keys dig into the flesh off his neck. He swore, drawing backwards away from me. Blood trickled down from the wounds, covering him and me. I took it as the opportunity to flee. I ran around him, heading to the front door.
"You whore!" He roared. I felt his fingers tangle into my hair and he yanked me back as hard as he could. I tumbled back into him and we both fell. I landed on top of him and he wrapped his free arm around my torso, rolling us away from the door. I clawed at it with my fingers, kicking any part of him I could. "I knew I was right." He seethed, his breath hot in my ear. "I knew you were a no good whore. I bet you were fucking Tommy the second we rolled into town."
"No. "I waited until I knew for sure you were a dead beat." I said, elbowing him in the rib cage twice with quick jabs. He wheezed in pain, the air getting knocked out of him. I rolled off, climbing to my feet. We were now closer to the middle of the living room, half way between the stairs and the kitchen. I decided to head towards the kitchen, the back door in plain sight. I just needed to get outside. If I could do that, I could scream for help and get the neighbors attention. Mrs. Reynolds was always nosey and I knew she'd come running at the sound of screaming.
Halfway towards the back door, I saw that there was a latch now installed about four inches from the door knob. There was a padlock on it, preventing the door from being opened. I cursed out Jason, wondering if he had found a clearance sale on padlocks or something. I turned my focus back on the living room where Nick was now getting back to his feet, holding his neck. Blood was still gushing from it, slipping through his fingers. It was smeared everywhere, staining his clothes and dripping on the floor. I darted towards the stairs, hoping to lock myself in our bedroom where my cellphone was. I could call for help and pray to God they would get there in time before he broke the door down.
As I ran up the stairs, I heard Nick right behind me. Halfway up the stairs, Nick grabbed my right foot. I tripped, landing on the stairs. I put my elbows out first, catching myself before I could land on my stomach. Nick yanked on my pant legs, trying to pull me further down the stairs towards him. I used my other foot to blindly kick behind me. My heel connected with something that felt like his face and I heard a loud popping noise. He swore loudly but continued to pull me down the stairs. He roughly pulled me towards him and my head bounced off one of the steps. My vision clouded, stopping my counter attack. This allowed him to turn me onto my back and drag me so I was underneath him. We were at the bottom of the stairs, in the same place he had left me last time to die alone.
"I'm going to kill you and that little bastard child you got growing inside of you." He said, wrapping his fingers around my throat. I regained clarity as he did, my air pipe being blocked off by his fingers. I noticed his nose was at an angle and blood was also pouring from it. I had clearly broken it but it did little to phase him. Reaching up, I pushed against anything I could get my hands on; his chest, his face, his neck. The blood made everything slippery though and I couldn't get a grasp on anything. The edges of my vision started to blacken and I could feel myself begin to panic. I couldn't let myself do that though. It would eat up at the oxygen that the baby needed in my body. I needed to get Nick off of me. I needed him to let go. I had to figure out a way to save my baby. I had promised myself that nothing like this was going to happen again and I couldn't break that promise. My life might mean nothing to anybody but this baby was my entire world and I wasn't ready to give this up yet.
Bringing up my arm with the cast in it, I swung it as hard as I could towards his head. Pain rocketed up my arm at the contact but it caused Nick to release my throat just enough for me to breathe. I moved to do it again but he let go of my throat with one hand and grabbed my arm. He pinned it to my side with his knee, pieces of the cast flaking off as he did. With the distraction, I brought up my other hand and tried to dig my thumb into his eye. He batted it away though, letting go of my neck and pinning that arm as well. I couldn't move, him holding me in place between his legs. Laughing, he looked down at me. He looked like pure evil, the blood only heightening the frightful features on his face.
"Maybe I won't kill you." He said, wiping blood from his eyes. "You are good at something, after all. Even Tommy would agree with me on that." Bending down, he brought his face close to mine. "You're coming with me. We can go somewhere else where I can do whatever the fuck I want to you whenever the fuck I want. And when that little fucker is born, I'll make sure they never know what happiness is."
"Fuck off." I said, glaring up at him. "I'm not afraid of you anymore."
"Oh. Let me give you a reason then." He said, straightening his back. Reaching down, he tore at the tank top I wore. One of the straps ripped, exposing my chest. I struggled against him, trying to free myself. I kicked my feet and tried to buck him off of me. He didn't move an inch, my weight no match against his. He grinned, blood staining his teeth as he undid the fly of my jeans. "I'll fuck the Tommy right out of you." Leaning in again, he dragged his tongue from my chin up the length of my cheek, stopping at the cheekbone. I shivered, feeling tears slip from my eyes.
"Just please don't hurt the baby." I whispered, closing my eyes. I knew I had to let him do this. If I kept trying to fight, he was not going to stop until either I was dead or he made sure the baby was. If I just let him do it, I would at least make sure the baby would be fine for now. He chuckled and I felt him reach between us for his fly.
"That's my girl." He whispered. I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for it to be over. Once it was, I would run at my first chance. I would run as far away as possible and make sure that Nick would never find me again. Even without my powers, my Ranger abilities have taught me a thing or two about how to do just that. I thought of Tommy, his face coming to mind. I wished he was here. I wished that I could have told him the truth. I wished with every fiber of my being that I hadn't broken up with him and that we were together still, not having to worry about Nick or figuring out what was going on between us. I thought about that day at the theater when we were together and how sweet he had been to me. I cried, wanting him to know that I needed him in my life no matter how screwed up it was.
"Get the fuck off her!" A voice roared and suddenly, I didn't feel the pressure of Nick's weight on top of me. I opened my eyes in time to see him go flying off of me as a body collided with his. I scurried to sit up, covering my chest with the tattered remains of my shirt as I watched the person begin to pummel Nick in the face with their fists.
"Kim! Are you alright?" Jason asked, kneeling down next to me. I looked at him for a moment, surprised to see him there. I turned back to the person beating my husband and saw they had long hair pulled back in a ponytail. I didn't know why it took so long for me to recognize it was a Tommy but it was. He had Nick on the floor underneath him, beating away at his face with punch after repeated punch. "Are you hurt? What did he do to you?" I could hear Jason's questions but they felt far away as I watched with tunnel vision.
"He's gonna kill him." I whispered. "Jason, you have to stop him before he kills him! Tommy will get in trouble!"
"Right. I should stop him." Jason replied, not moving as we watched Tommy. Sighing, Jason finally stood up and walked over to them. Jason grabbed Tommy around his torso and pulled him back. "Lay off, man!" He said, dragging Tommy back towards me. Tommy fell back on his behind in front of me. Pure rage was etched on his features, a degree I had never seen before. I half expected a glint of green to flare up in his eyes as he glared over at the moaning mess that was my husband.
"Tommy." I said, putting a hand on his arm. Tommy instantly relaxed, his eyes softening as he turned to face me.
"Kimberly! Are you alright? Did he hurt you?" He asked, moving so he was sitting on his knees. When he saw me holding my shirt up, he pulled the flannel shirt he was wearing off and draped it over my shoulders. His focus went to my forehead where I felt a throbbing. He gingerly touched his fingers to it and I winced when he made contact. I probably had a mark where I had head butted the floor.
"I'm alright." I said. I saw there were cuts on Tommy's knuckles and blood coated them. I wasn't sure whose it was more of, his or Nick's. Jason walked over to Nick who was trying to sit up. His face looked like a package of minced meat, blood coming from cuts all over it and his mouth and nose.
"Man, you don't look so good. Let me help you lay down." Jason said, kicking Nick in the jaw. I saw the tooth fly out of his mouth and across the room before he fell backwards. Jason drew his foot back and kicked Nick in the ribs four times. "That's for trashing my house and making Trini cry, asshole." He stomped right on Nick's stomach with everything he had. "And that's for trying to kill my little sister, you unbelievable excuse of a piece of shit human." Jason spit on his, wiping the sweat off his brow. Walking back over, he knelt next to Tommy. "You okay, brow?" Tommy nodded.
"Yeah. Thanks for stopping me. I didn't know what would have happened."
"Oh, I think we all know what would have happened." The two turned to look at me.
"How did you find me?" I asked.
"When we noticed you and Trini's car were gone, it didn't take much to figure it out." Jason replied. Outside, I saw flashing blue and red lights and heard sirens. "I'll wave them down." He stood up and went out the door. Tommy turned his body to face me.
"What happened?" He asked.
"He tried to…" I trailed off, looking up at Tommy. He wrapped his arm around me, pulling me into him.
"Shhh. It's alright. He's never going to hurt you again."
