All Good Things Must Come to An End
Incessant pain plagued me, getting more severe by the second. I wasn't sure how much time had passed since I'd crawled off the floor and onto the bed, but it was long enough that my thirst had become dire and my stomach was turning over in painful grumbles. He'd beaten me so badly; I was surprised I woke up at all.
I dreaded the next time I saw him or maybe I should say if I ever saw him again. After what I pulled, he could decide I wasn't worth keeping alive any longer. But I already knew that before I ever tried to strangle him. Even though I failed, it had been worth it. Watching him panic and struggle for breath gave me a little bit of my power back. I might not have done as much damage as I'd wanted and I hadn't managed to get away, but I'd at least hurt him and for that I was satisfied.
I moaned and tried to get more comfortable, but no matter how I moved, it hurt all over. When I tried to open my eyes, they wouldn't budge. I gently ran my fingertips over the crusted lids, feeling the dried blood and tears. I carefully tested the area, wincing as I pushed with the tiniest pressure against the bruises and swelling. Tears gathered behind the lids, helping to loosen the gunk. I was finally able to get one eye open, but the other was pretty much swollen shut.
Being as careful as possible of my ribs and other injuries, I levered myself into a sitting position. I was seeing everything through a filmy haze. Ever since he'd shown me the women, the first thing I've done when I wake up is check on them. It might be cowardly, but I'm afraid they'll somehow wake up and get me while I sleep. I glanced at the women and frowned. There was a pristine glass case standing beside Melissa.
And it was empty.
I carefully blinked, thinking I wasn't seeing things correctly since I had only one functioning eye, but when I looked again, it was still there. For a split second I questioned whether one of the women had gotten out. I started gasping for breath and looking around the room. When I didn't see anything out of place, I focused back on the women, counting them. There were eight, just like there had been from the beginning, but why was there a new case?
Breath stalled in my throat.
It was for me.
I was looking at my final resting place.
A wave of dizziness hit me, and I closed my eyes against the glass abomination, rubbing my hand over the pain in my chest. He was sending me a message, telling me he was done with me. The finality of it all hit me like a ton of bricks.
I can't explain what happened next. When I opened my eyes, and looked around, the cellar was gone and in its place was the beautiful balcony from the hotel in Cuba. As if I was watching a movie, I saw myself sitting at the white metal table as Joe got down on one knee to propose. It seemed so real, but it wasn't possible. I quickly squeezed my eyes shut, giving my head a brisk shake to clear it, but when I looked again, Joe was still down on his knee smiling up at me as the sun glinted off the diamond in his hand. While I watched myself staring at the ring, the balcony began to melt away. "Joe," I called out to him from my place on the floor, but he didn't seem to hear me. He continued staring at the other me as they gradually faded into nothingness.
What's happening to me?
I squeezed my eyes again and this time when I looked, Joe was standing at the end of a beautifully decorated aisle lined with tall candelabras and scattered with red rose petals, wearing a black fitted tuxedo with his arm stretched out to me. "Joe," I screamed as I got up to run toward him, but it hurt to move. I looked down to see why I was in so much pain and couldn't believe what I saw. The blanket was gone, and I was standing in a white wedding dress with high heels on my feet.
I was so relieved I started laughing. Being trapped in the cellar had been a horrible nightmare. Now that I was awake, I could marry Joe. I picked up my dress to keep from tripping and started running, but the faster I ran, the further away he got. "Joe," I desperately called out, reaching for him.
I didn't want to stop running. I told myself I'd catch up to him soon, but I was getting tired and my chest was hurting from breathing so hard. My feet became tangled in the hem of my dress, and I fell flat on my face, knocking the breath out of me. When I looked up, I expected to see Joe rushing to my side, offering a hand to help me up, but he wasn't there, and neither were the rose petals or beautiful decorations.
I looked around in confusion at the drab concrete prison surrounding me. I glanced down, cursing the dress that tripped me. I was shocked to find myself naked and chained. This couldn't be right. The cellar had been just a bad dream. How could I be back here?
But then I felt something cool around my neck and remembered I'd been wearing Grandma Mazur's pearl necklace on my wedding day to Joe. I breathed a sigh of relief, hoping all this confusion was finally ending. I was confident I just needed to find where I put my wedding dress and everything would be okay, but when I ran my fingers over the pearls, I frowned. Instead of little balls on a string, I felt a thick metal band… like a… collar? The savage cry that ripped through me was unnatural.
"NOOOO!"
I hung my head and cried, great big gut-wrenching sobs, so intense I thought I'd die.
"Stephanie."
Abruptly, I stopped crying and held my breath, afraid to look up.
"Cupcake."
I heard him. It was faint, but I heard him calling. I slowly raised my head, and there stood Joe, five feet away, more handsome than ever in his jeans and green Henley. "You're here," I sighed in pure joy. "You're really here."
He smiled, looking ethereal, but didn't come closer.
"I'm glad you found me." I tried to stand, but for some reason I couldn't get my body to cooperate. I held both hands out to him, shackles dangling. "Hurry, Joe! Get these off me." I looked behind me at the door. "He'll be back anytime."
Joe pressed his lips tightly together in disappointment. "I told you something like this was going to happen, Cupcake." He shook his head. "I can't help you now. Your luck's finally run out. You should have said yes when I first asked you to marry me. I would have taken care of you; given you a family, but you had to think about it. No matter what I did, you just wouldn't settle down. You had to keep running into danger expecting me to clean up your messes."
I reached for him. "You don't understand. This wasn't my fault. I just wanted ice cream."
He sighed and walked toward the door.
"Wait! Joe—wait! Please, don't leave me here!" I begged.
He disappeared through the closed door without a backwards glance.
My outstretched hands dropped to the floor and tears drenched my face. It wasn't my fault. It wasn't. I hung my head in defeat, more broken than I'd ever been.
When my tears finally dried up, I found myself lying in a broken heap in the middle of the floor. My thoughts weren't connecting properly. My brain felt like it was stuffed with cotton, but there was something flickering around the edges, coaxing me to look up. I slowly lifted my head and gasped. I was inside the empty case standing next to Melissa, wearing the frilly red dress and a smile on my face. A blood curdling scream erupted from deep inside me; so loud it could wake the dead. Over the sound of my scream I heard hands clapping as if applauding a good performance.
"Bravo. That was all very entertaining, Cupcake."
I craned my neck to find where the voice was coming from. Melissa was jumping up and down on the balls of her feet, laughing with glee and then the rest of the women joined in. When their laughter died down, Donna smiled coyly and asked, "Soooo, Who's Joe?"
"And is he cute?" Sharon chimed in with her higher pitched voice. "Please, tell me he's cute."
Karen turned her head to Melissa and asked, "What kind of woman lets a man call her Cupcake?"
Kelly stuck her chin out. "Did you really think you were better than us?"
"My baby and I didn't get away, so why should you?" Ashley barely whispered through the tears in her voice.
"Leave her alone," Jenny yelled. "She fought harder than all of us, and you know it."
Melissa yawned openly. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I didn't see her do shit. And anyways, she's still here, isn't she?"
"She was our last chance to go home." Jenny said sternly.
"No. No. No." I squeezed my eyes shut and gripped the sides of my head, forcefully shaking the delusions away. "This isn't happening."
I was losing it. I had to get out of here before there was nothing left of me.
"Joe! Ranger! Somebody… anybody, please find me," I yelled as huge gut-wrenching sobs jerked through my body.
I woke sometime later, my body aching, and burning with fever. My head was so full of pressure I thought it might explode. I moaned and gasped for breath, making the congestion in my chest break up, nearly strangling me. I tried to turn over so I could breathe easier, but as soon as I moved, I was wracked with coughs. When my breathing became steady, I lay on the bed, depleted of energy and sick out of my mind.
I had a fleeting memory that Joe had been here—that I'd begged him to get me out of here—and he abandoned me instead. But that didn't sound right; Joe wouldn't do that. He was probably scouring all of Trenton and beyond looking for me.
I also remembered something else. Something truly disturbing. The women had been yelling and saying nasty things to me, but there was no way that happened. They were dead. I sighed at my stupidity. I had to have been hallucinating. That was the only explanation. It was probably due to my fever. I hadn't lost my mind… yet. But just to be sure, I glanced over at them. They looked the same as always… except for the empty glass case standing beside Melissa. I hadn't hallucinated that.
Was this how my life ended?
Tears started to fall. It wasn't supposed to be like this. I was supposed to get married again one day and get my life straightened out. There was supposed to be time to figure all that out and now… now there was no more time left. I started shaking so hard I was practically vibrating with anger… fear… and sadness. He put me through weeks of hell only to end up just like the others. I had no fight left in me and now that I was sick, it was just a matter of time. All there was left to do was wait for him to finish me off.
My food was all gone—had been for some time now. Without it, I barely had the energy to roll over. All I seemed to do anymore was sleep. I knew I had a fever because I was both sweating and shivering, but my chattering teeth were the least of my worries. What hurt the most was the burning in my throat and the rattling congestion deep in my chest. I rubbed my nose and let out a pitiful moan when my hand brushed over the raw skin for the zillionth time. Even though it was running, it was also stopped up. If I wanted to breathe, I had to keep my mouth open, making the sensitive lining inside my mouth dry and cracked.
Because of my measly allocation of water, trips to the toilet were rarely needed, and I knew my kidneys were suffering. The urge to cough hit me again and after I calmed, I adjusted the blanket, trying to get comfortable. Now that I'd lost so much weight, it was almost impossible for my body to generate any heat. That's probably one of the reasons I got sick. My immune system had weakened to the point I couldn't shake whatever cold or virus that plagued me.
Tears clouded my eyes, flowing down my cheeks. It only made breathing harder and yet I couldn't stop. I wanted my Mom. I wanted her to take care of me the same way she did when I was little, bringing me chicken soup and grilled cheese sandwiches with the crusts cut off. I cried harder, knowing I'd never see her again.
Even though the jerking motions made my entire rib section feel like it was on fire, I still couldn't stop the gut wrenching sobs. The sorrow went too deep. Between the tears and the congestion in my chest, I felt like I was drowning. After I was all cried out, I managed to push myself into a somewhat upright position with my shoulder against the course block wall, wincing each time I put any pressure on my broken ribs. Now that I was elevated, I could breathe a little easier.
Somehow, I was able to fall asleep while in that awkward position, and my head fell to the side, nearly resting on my shoulder. Being awake had become almost unbearable and I was glad I'd been able to drift off. My head jerked when I heard the keys being turned in the lock of the door and winced at the crick that had developed in my neck. He came inside, not bothering to glance my way, let alone say hello as he crossed the room.
Being startled awake had me breathing faster and I held my ribs as I coughed violently. The wet rumbling sound filled the room, but he didn't seem to notice. I opened my mouth to ask for a doctor or medicine, but nothing came out. I used the blanket to gently wipe the snot from my nose and tried again. "I'm… sick… " It was all I could get out. I needed a moment to catch my breath before I went on. "I need… a doctor." I forced the words through my constricted throat and then was struck with more violent coughs.
He didn't even glance my way. He went about his business, switching the generators and the batteries in the lanterns. When his work was complete, he approached the women and held whispered conversations with each of them. He'd been here mere minutes and he was already gathering his box to leave. When he got to my bed, he stopped to toss the paper bag my way.
"Can you… " I coughed. "Medicine." I coughed again, choking as I strangled on the mucus. "Please." I broke out in a coughing fit so painful that tears streamed down my face.
I'd hoped he'd show me some kindness—that somewhere deep down inside him there must be goodness, even if it was only a little—but his face was devoid of any expression. He stared at me as if I was an inconsequential bug that he could stomp out of existence. Finally, he took a slow deep breath and exhaled while shaking his head. He didn't need words to tell me he was disappointed in me. When he started for the door, panic set in and I started to cry in earnest.
"Please." My voice cracked as I begged, but he didn't look back.
Durant hadn't been back in a while, or at least he hadn't been back while I was awake. But, I guess, in my feverish state, anything was possible. During that time, I hadn't gotten any better, in fact I was worse. I knew if I didn't get help soon, I was going to die down here.
Was this what happened with the other women? Had they gotten sick from lack of proper nutrition and the conditions down here and he just let them die? I had a feeling it was more complicated than that. Granted, I was missing a lot of the pieces to the puzzle, but from his reactions and the things he'd said, I believed he was waiting until I was almost dead before raping me. And maybe even after.
My thoughts kept coming back to Ashley. He never smiled at her and rarely talked to her. I'd go so far as to say, he hated her. If I was going to die down here, I was going to make it my mission that he hated me too. I wouldn't be one of his beloved that he talked to and masturbated in front of. I'd be the one who caused his dick to shrivel every time he looked at me. It would be my final gift to him.
An idea started to form.
I needed to make him so angry that he'd gladly end my suffering.
Now that I was resigned to what lay ahead, I had time for regrets… and I had a lot of them. Mostly, I regretted never taking the time to tell my family and friends how much I loved them. It was a hard pill to swallow. But even though I never told them how I truly felt, I could honor those feelings now. Maybe, they could feel my love across the distance.
I pictured Mom, Grandma, Valerie, and I as we stood in my parent's kitchen making Christmas cookies just a few short weeks ago. Dad waltzed in, grabbing the dish towel, swatting Mom on the bottom. We all burst into laughter when she shrieked. I froze the image in my mind so I could memorize every line on their faces. Then Dad kissed Mom on her cheek, surreptitiously stealing a cookie to eat in his recliner while watching Jeopardy. On his way out of the kitchen, I pulled him in for a hug and whispered. I love you Daddy. Thanks for putting up with me. I know I was a trial most of the time.
I swiped my hand across my face to dry my tears.
As Dad continued to his recliner, Mom and I stood side by side, staring after him. It warmed my heart to see such deep love in her eyes toward him. I'd wanted a happy marriage and a family of my own, but I guess it wasn't meant to be. I'm sorry I wasn't a better daughter. If I could go back, I'd change so many things, but I do love you, Mommy.
I couldn't stop the tears from rolling down my face. I was going to miss out on the rest of their lives. It wasn't supposed to be this way.
I turned my head as Mary Alice galloped past. Grandma Mazur cackled at the child's antics. Oh, Grandma, you'll never know how much you inspired me. I probably would've stayed married to Dickie if it hadn't been for you. I hope you squeeze every bit of happiness out of the time you have left.
Mary Alice smiled up at me and I stuck a carrot in her mouth.Don't ever change. You're perfect just the way you are.
As she galloped away, she ran straight into Angie, knocking her books to the ground. I helped her pick them up, and we sat down at the table so she could study. Don't let life pass you by while you have your nose in a book.It's Christmas break, Angie, go out and have some fun, your lessons can wait.
Valerie plopped down beside me, tired from a day of cooking. I grabbed her hand in mine and squeezed. I forgive you for tattling on me when we were kids. Don't settle for what other people think is best for you. You deserve more than you think you do.
I got up and walked to the living room. Lisa was holding onto the side of the playpen, singing a song that only she knew the words too, and Bert was lying beside her, kicking his chubby little legs. I leaned down and ran my fingers through their red curls. I always thought I had time. One day I was going to have a little baby just as sweet as the two of you. Take care of each other.
I wiped another tear from my eye as I left my family home for the last time. I blew out a breath. That was harder than I thought it was going to be. Bringing those memories to life in my mind was causing a painful squeeze around my heart. But I had more people I needed to say goodbye to.
I thought about the day I captured Wally Parker and smiled. He was a big bond that I'd been after for three weeks and I was pretty proud of myself when I brought him into the station. Lula was supposed to be waiting for me in the parking lot, but as usual, she left me stranded. When I finally made it back to the bond's office, Lula was sitting on the couch, eating chocolate donuts. As soon as I opened the door a guilty smile lit up her face. I blew out a breath. This was going to be hard because I carried some guilt of my own involving Lula. I'm sorry my nosey nature almost got you killed, but I'm so proud of the way you've turned your life around.
Connie coughed to get my attention. When I turned around, she was waving my check in the air. If it weren't for you, Connie, I never would have become a bounty hunter or met Ranger. Thanks for the encouragement. It truly changed my life.
With those parting words, I walked right into chaos.
Mare and I were sitting at her kitchen table, drinking coffee and splitting a cheesecake, while Kenny and Mikey were busy fighting over a Transformer action figure and her newborn daughter slept peacefully through it all. It wasn't often we were able to get together since our lives had gotten complicated, but I'd been trying to be a better friend. My emotions threatened to flood over as I took her hand in mine and told her everything I'd always wanted to say, but never had the time.
You've stood by me through every good and bad thing that's ever happened to me. You've listened to my troubles and guarded my secrets. Even though we aren't related through blood, there is no better sister than you. Years from now, when you think about me, do it with laughter—not sadness. Remember the good times at the shore and running through the neighborhood playing Wendy and Peter Pan. And when your children ask about their Aunt Steph, feel free to blame all our misadventures on me. It probably was my fault.
The next memory that came to mind was bittersweet—unrequited love usually was.
I'd been running from Junkman and hiding in Ranger's apartment. I looked up from his bed to find him leaning against the door frame, looking amazing as he debated whether to throw me out the window. Luckily for me, he chose to get in bed with me and the next morning when I woke up in his arms, I felt butterflies in my stomach. I ran my hand over his chest, kissing his neck and smelling the intoxicating scent of Bvlgari on his skin. No one's ever had complete faith in me until you. You make me believe I can do anything. You are the most amazing man I know, and someday, some woman is going to come along and knock the breath right out of you. As much as it pains me to say it, I'm glad I won't be here to see it. I fight my tears as I tenderly kiss his lips for the last time. I love you, Batman.
Saying goodbye to Ranger had rung me out, but there was still one important person left to visit.
Joe and I were sitting in our usual place on his couch eating pizza and watching a hockey game with Bob cuddled beside us. His arms were wrapped around me, and I felt safe and secure—loved. I looked up into his eyes. I can't remember a time when I wasn't in love with you. I take his hand in mine. I should have said yes. I should have trusted in your love for me—trusted you'd never cheat on me. If I had, we'd be married by now, and I'd die as Mrs. Joseph Anthony Morelli instead of Stephanie Plum.Tears run down my face, and I wipe them away.Mourn me, and then put my memory in a little place in your heart so you have room to love again. Let yourself have the life you deserve.I cuddled closer into his arms, feeling content that I had everything I'd ever wanted
When I opened my eyes, the memories weren't as vibrant. I sighed knowing that everything I'd once had was now gone. I was going to miss everyone, but my time on this earth was over. It was over the minute I woke up in this cellar. I fought as hard as I could, but I was no match for the likes of Hunter Durant.