I'm Not Giving In

"Kerry," she whispered "Please, please tell me that you didn't have anything to do with Junior's plane going down."

He seemed to look at her for a moment before smiling.

"You still haven't figured it out yet, Kris, have you?" He seemed to chuckle as he spoke and Kris had never been more confused in her life.

She watched as he grabbed his cell phone off the counter and walked into the other room. She could feel the tape around her wrists biting at the skin, making it sting as she struggled against it. She closed her eyes at the pain and the image of junior in the club flooded her mind.

It was Junior; she would know those eyes and that smile anywhere. She knew it wasn't possible, yet she also knew that she had never been surer of anything in her life. Her heart seemed to ache at the memory of him and that quickly replaced the pain of the tape.

She heard the door open again and she could hear Kerry talking on his cell phone. Had he just asked someone to come there? She was sure that he had. She was lost in her own thoughts, in her mind.

"I think I'm in love with you"

Stop, focus, she silently told herself. You need to focus on Kerry's phone call.

"I see you"

She swore she heard him say something about moving, was that what he had said? Or had he said removing.

"Are they going to slap me too?"

She tried to focus on what he was saying. She swore she had heard her name.

"I would do anything. Kris, please don't go. I love you."

She felt weak, tired, and alone and she momentarily wondered almost hoped that this was all just a dream. She heard him close his cell phone and then she heard him say her name.

"Kris"

She chose to ignore him, chose to block him out. She could hear him coming towards her, could feel his presence. Her hearing was getting dimmer and the last thing she remembered was his hand on her shoulder shaking her.

She was on Wildfire running through a field. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest, could hear it in her ears.

"Focus Kris" she told herself "breathe, stay calm."

She urged him to move faster, to ride harder, and pushed him. She could feel her hair whipping around her face and tumbling behind her.

She could hear herself laughing as he continued to stampede forward.

"That's it boy," she said "keep going. Don't stop, don't ever stop."

She relished the feeling of him moving beneath her, the two of them on the same wavelength. She could feel it calming her, making her more relaxed.

"Wait for it she told herself. Wait for it."

She could feel him standing in front of her; she took that as a sign to make her move. She moved her leg slowly to get it into position and then she kicked, hard. She opened her eyes to see him lying on the ground, and she kicked him again.

She was not going down without a fight.

--

They had been riding for what seemed like forever, but they were still nowhere near the cabin. The air between them had become clouded with silence. He looked over at Matt and could see a look of determination on his face.

They had taken the horses, went on their own. It was stupid, sure, and even more dangerous. He didn't care. It would take the cops hours to get to her, hours that they did not have.

He could feel his body urging the horse to go faster, even though he knew it was dangerous. He had to get to her before it was too late, if he didn't he would never forgive himself.

He could see Matt next to him keeping pace as they followed along the back paths to where they needed to go. They had decided not to take the roads to avoid being seen. Thinking back he realized the roads would have been faster but this was safer. He knew they were getting closer and he slowed the horse down.

He looked at Matt for a moment before signaling him to stop. As they stood in the shrub planning their next move, Pablo swore he could hear a car engine in the distance.

--

He was out; she had made sure of that. She looked at his body lying on the floor and was thankful that she had good leg strength. Trying to think of what Kerry had said on the phone, she realized that someone was probably on their way there.

She knew she needed to get out and fast, but she had to be careful too. She looked around the cabin trying to gather her surroundings. She went to the kitchen and cut the tape from her wrists. Rubbing the chaffed marks that the tape left she winced a bit at the pain.

She grabbed his cell phone off of the floor and momentarily contemplated calling someone. Realizing that she probably didn't have much time she stuck the phone in her pocket. She would call after she had gotten far enough away that she thought it was safe.

As she headed for the door she could hear a car engine slowing and then stopping. Looking back at Kerry, she realized she was too late. She could hear two car doors slam shut and a man's voice saying something she couldn't understand.

Opening the door, prepared to fight, she stood in shock at the two men in front of her. She could feel a scream wanting to escape her lips, but it didn't. Tears formed in her eyes as she looked at the man, this had to be a dream.

"Junior!" she cried.