Chapter Fifteen

~Zachary Goode~

I could still see her.

All I could see was her.

I so desperately needed to reach out to her, but it was like she kept getting lost in the crowd. Just like that night on Halloween. And no matter how many times I called her name, she still wouldn't answer because the blizzard blocked out our voices. Disheveled our sight so that no matter how many steps I took, she would be lost to me.

She would be missing, yet still there.

Missing, but never gone.

Except this time it was she who was calling out to me. It was me who couldn't answer back because this time it was my pain.

So much pain.

"I can't kill you yet, now can I?" Luther sneered but I could barely hear him.

I could only hear the blood rushing through my ears. I so desperately wanted to grab my arm, maybe put off some of the pain to stop the flow of blood that was pooling on the cement floor of the cold basement.

"Stop it! For Gods sakes STOP!" Cammie begged Luther from where she lied sideways on the floor, immobile.

Luther bellowed out a laugh at the sight of her writhing helplessly on the ground and crying out for her secret lover.

"Oh, my wife, see how you've ruined the life of this man? If you weren't going around behind my BACK…then maybe he would still live…" Luther chuckled darkly. "Well, now he's going to pay for touching you…for knocking you up when YOU BELONG TO ME!"

The wind was knocked out of my stomach as his fist collided with my ribs.

I gasped for breath, but I had to say it. Even though he wouldn't listen, I still had to say it.

"She…d-doesn't b-belong to y-you," I gasped out once more and winced at the throbbing pain in my arm and sides. "She was never yours, Luther…never…and…our daughter…was not a mistake…both of them…are my life…and you're gonna die…you sonofbitch!"

Luther held his sides as he laughed again, but the tension was palpable as he ran his hand along the electric prod.

Then he swung with so much force.

Crack.

"CAMMIE!" I cry out as her eyes drew back inside her head and she seized at the force of the electric shock, her body already so weak…

"IF SHE ISN'T MINE, THEN SHE BELONGS TO NO ONE! NO ONE! Not even the popular Zach Goode. Not Luther Finnigan…THE FREAK!"

"CAMMIE! Open your eyes, baby, please," I couldn't concentrate on anyone but her. Only her, "Please, Cammie…"

"She was the only one who would talk to me…the only one that smiled my way," Luther dropped to the floor, his electric prod and gun scattering beside him. There was an eerie silence as I realized that Cammie had gone unconscious…

Luther's beady eyes snapped open and zeroed in on Cammie. "Nobody can have her."

He stood up and picked up his gun, laughing at the sight of Cammie sprawled on the ground. He aimed and clicked off the safety.

"NO! No, no no no no no! STOP!" I pulled on my restraints, fighting the pain, "Don't hurt her! Please, please…"

"Now you want to be my friend, huh, Old Zach?" He glanced at me, his eyes hungry and dark, "No one can have her."

And just as he aimed again, footsteps pounded down the stairs and into the basement. Everything spun as bright flashing lights swirled into the dark doom and sirens blared, stopping Luther in his tracks.

"FREEZE!" a man in an FBI uniform held up his AK47. "Luther Finnigan, you are under arrest for the kidnap, rape, and assault of Agent Cameron Morgan, dealings of illegal substances, multiple cases of murder of the first and second degrees, violations of your parole, violation of restraining orders against you, government trespassing, carrying of illegal weapons, vandalizing government property, and arson. You are to remain silent, everything you say can be used against you in a court of honor. Drop all of your weapons and step aside from Cameron Morgan."

Luther chuckled as he turned to face the crowd of FBI agents.

"Is that all you bastards could dig up on me? I was sure there were plenty more charges…" he laughs, still gripping his gun.

"DROP YOUR WEAPON!" the FBI agent yells once more.

Luther looks me in the eyes, "You'll remember this day, Zach. I'll be missing, sure, but I'll never be gone. You will always remember this. Even when I'm missing, I will haunt you. I will burden you."

"DROP YOUR WEAPONS!"

"And it'll burden her too. And you'll never forget me. Never," he sneers.

I seethe, hatred and pain blurring my eyes and I don't even realize I'm crying and my cheeks are wet.

"DROP YOUR WEAPONS! NOW!"

Luther grins at me one last time, "Like Hell I will," he points the gun to his head.

BAM!

And I felt his limp body fall on me, his blood spilling out of his head and dripping all over me and I couldn't get away.

I was suffocating.

And the last thing I could see was my Cammie, my Cookie.

And then she was missing from my sight. But she wasn't gone because I could sense her, like how I could always feel my pull to her even after seven years.

And that's when I knew that she was finally safe.