Chapter 23: Karl

I stir, and my eyes open. I'm strapped to a table in a pitch black room. Where am I? I struggle to get up, and suddenly the lights go on. I blink in the sudden glare of the room. It's stark white, and the only things in it are are the table, a chair, and Ben. "What the heck are you playing at, Ben?!" I yell at him. "Oh, I just wanted to talk with you, Karl." "Keep your mouth shut!" I say angrily. He gives me a cruel smile. "Now, Karl, I don't believe I gave my permission to sleep with my daughter." I yell. "What the heck, Ben?! I love your daughter! Why do you hate me do much?!" The smile drops from his face. "Because you slept with her, Karl. Because you, Karl Elijah Martin, are the difference between my daughter living or dying. You will be the one that kills her with your child!" "She loves me!" I yell. "She loves me! She married me! See I have a ring-" I stop, because my ring is no longer on my finger. "Looking for this?" Ben asks, holding up a plastic bag. A bag that contains my wedding ring. "You give that back, you cold-hearted-" "Od choose my next words very carefully if I were you, Karl." He says snidely. I yell. "Go rot in hell, Ben! And leave me and Alex alone! I love Alex!" "Well, this is a bittersweet moment Karl. This is when you die, because you married my daughter!" "I love your daughter! And she loves me!" "Well, let's see how much she loves you when she's dying on an operating table, because you got her pregnant. Then how much will she love you?" "She loves me, I love her, what don't you get, Ben?" He glares at me. "I don't get…what she sees in you." He says coldly. I say. "Listen here, Ben. I would die for your daughter!" "Well maybe I can make death a reality for you Karl." "Why would you kill the man she loves, Ben?" "You're not a man, and she's delusional. She doesn't love you." "Would you just swallow your pride, and admit that she truly does love me?" I say angrily. "Never." He snaps. "I'm still hoping she'll come to her senses and marry someone half decent." "You know, I'm just glad Alex didn't inherit your mouth! Or your ugly bug eyed face!" He snarls. "I'm going to kill you, Karl Martin, so here's something for you to have to remind you of Alex!" He throws my wedding ring at me. "So," I say. "Before you kill me, I should probably mention that.." "That what?!" Should I tell him? Yes, I should. He should know. "You should know that…Alex… is pregnant."