CHAPTER 20
SAIA'S POV:
"Wait daddy! Wait!"
"SHUT UP!" He yells at me. Grabbing what looks like a mallet off the table, he swings it at my right shoulder and I cry out in pain as I feel it dislocate. I can hear my mother's muffled shouts as my body contorts with pain. I start to dry heave as my stomach rolls in protest and I'm glad I have an empty stomach. I've had many dislocated joints from ballet but it still doesn't make it any less painful.
My father ties a leather strap painfully tight on my left arm just below my armpit. It's so tight it feels like it is cutting off my circulation. My right shoulder is still throbbing in pain and I don't see my father pick up the scalpel. But I feel it. I can't stop the scream of pain as he cuts my arm from beneath the strap all the way to my elbow. He makes another incision on the other side and one more beneath the strap to connect the two. I desperately try to pull away from the pain but my feet barely touch the floor and my dislocated shoulder is useless. The pain is excruciating and tears flow freely down my cheeks. He stops and I pray that it's over but then he starts to peel my skin away from my muscle and I scream again. It's too much. I have never felt pain like this before. The sickening sound only makes me cry harder and I hear my mother's muffled screams as well. In so much pain, I don't realize he has stopped. I don't hear the alarm go off from the computer on his desk. Blood is dripping off my arm and I'm grateful that the strap is tied so tight to slow my blood loss.
He grabs my chin and forces me to look at him. His face is contorted with rage. "I told you not to say anything! I guess you don't care about what happens to the twins after all!"
"...What? What do you mean? I didn't tell anyone!" I say thickly. Trying to keep conscious, I focus harder on his face.
"Bullshit! Why the fuck is someone coming here then?" he roughly ties a towel around the wound on my arm but leaves the leather strap in place.
"I don't know! I've never lied to you, you know that! Why would I start now?" He unties me from the beams and I sink to the ground in pain. My legs are unable to support my weight. I know that whoever is coming has to be Woo Bin and Ji-Hoo. The part of me that always knew Ji-Hoo wouldn't let me go finally realizes just how right I'd been.
My father goes over and speaks to my mother but I can't hear what he is saying. Using every bit of strength I have, I slam my right shoulder against one of the beams to pop it back in place. Gritting my teeth against the pain, I slump against it, grateful to have the joint back in place. My father roughly pulls me up and I notice my mother still tied to the chair. He is taking me and leaving her.
"Mom, please! Look after the twins!" I try to tell her as he tie's my hands behind my back. "And don't let Ji-Hoo come after me! Please! I beg you! Don't let him come after me!" I shout as my father drags me towards the back of the building.
My right shoulder still throbs. My left arm is numb with pain and slick with blood. The towel he wrapped around it is quickly becoming soaked. He roughly throws me into the back seat of an SUV and begins tying my feet together. I look out the side window to see people getting out of another SUV in the distance. I stare in shock as I see a copper haired man climb out of the car and watch the others enter the building. JI-HOO! my heart cries out. He pauses and my heart starts to pound as I hungrily take in every detail of him that I can see from this distance. He tilts his head and suddenly looks at me. I know he can't see me through the tinted window but I start to panic as I realize that if he catches us, my father will kill him.
"Daddy, they are coming! We have to go! Now!" I tell him desperately. He sees my panic and knots the rope around my ankles before closing the door. I look up one last time to see Ji-Hoo and Woo Bin running towards us before my father starts the car and takes off.
I breathe in a sigh of relief that we left in time. I'm sorry, Ji-Hoo. Will this ever end? Will you ever be safe? Maybe only when I'm dead but even then, this monster will never stop. My father is going to kill me. It's just a matter of when. I watch him drive and I suddenly realize that I have to stop him. It's the only way to protect Ji-Hoo once and for all. If am going to die anyway, it may as well be on my terms and not my fathers.
Sliding behind him on the back seat, I brace my back against it, pull my knees up to my chest and kick the back of his headrest with everything I've got. His head jerks forward and slams into the steering wheel. The car swerves and suddenly the whole world is upside down. I feel my body become weightless before my head makes contact with a hard surface and I blackout.
(^_^)
I groan as my left arm screams in pain from the wound. Raising my head, I can hardly see. The SUV is upside down and I realize in horror we are underwater. Struggling to see where my father is, I see that he is awake and starts kicking the door with his feet.
"Wait-" I croak but I'm too late. The door gives way and water starts crashing in as he swims out. My arms and feet are still bound and the water makes it impossible for me to brace against anything to kick open another door. I struggle to maneuver myself into the front but I can't. I'm scared. I can't get out. Desperate for air, my lungs breathe in water and I realize that this is it. I'm not going to make it this time. I have to accept my fate. The water rushes into my body as I gasp for air and I feel myself being pulled into a strange, calming void.
The only regret I have in my life is that I was unable to stop my father. Looking back on the rest of my life though, I can say that I have lived and achieved everything that I wanted for myself. The twins had a better home before father took them, I was accepted into the Seoul Ballet Company, and I found the love of my life, my heart's song. I experienced what it was like to be loved and treasured by someone else. My memories of him play in my consciousness on screens as if they were on TV. Every smile, every kiss, and every laugh... I treasure each and every one. I'm sorry that I have to leave you. Thank you for loving me, Yoon Ji-Hoo. I love you so much. Everything fades out as I feel an overwhelming sense of calm and acceptance. Goodbye...
(^_^)
JI-HOO'S POV:
I exit the car anxious to get inside and look for her but something stops me and I hesitate. No. I can't go inside yet. Why? I turn my head to see an SUV parked in the distance. The windows are too dark for me to see inside it clearly but I catch sight of movement and I know she's there.
"Woo Bin-ah!" I call. He is instantly at my side as we make our way towards the vehicle but before we reach it, it takes off.
"Damn it!" Woo Bin says angrily. "Come on!" We jump back into one of the SUV's, leaving his men to check out the building.
Woo Bin drives as fast as he can on the bumpy dirt road but we still don't seem to catch up to them. As we turn the corner, a huge dust cloud appears to be settling up ahead of us and Woo Bin stops the car. Jumping out, I look down the embankment in time to see the tires of an SUV disappear beneath the water of a lake. Shit!
My heart starts to pound in panic as we run towards it and dive into the water. The water is murky from being disrupted by the vehicle and it's hard to see. Woo Bin and I have to resurface a couple of times to get our bearings. I finally find the car and the driver side door is already open. Su-Jeong is gone. I desperately reach around inside the car and I feel someone in the back seat. The rear door refuses to budge but with Woo Bin's help, we manage to pry it open. Reaching inside, I pull her out and swim for the surface. Keeping her head above water, I anxiously swim for shore.
When my feet finally touch the ground and I'm able to carry her, my heart goes cold at the sight of her. She's deathly pale and so still. She isn't breathing and I can't feel a pulse.
"Ji-Hoo…" Woo Bin says uncertainly besides me.
"We need to free her hands and legs." I tell him. Laying her down on the shore, he cuts her hands and legs free from the rope as I start CPR. I don't know how long she has been underwater. My heart begs and pleads that we are not too late.
"Don't leave me! Please! Don't leave me, damn it!" I tell her as I do chest compressions. Breathing into her mouth, I realize I am crying but I don't care. "Come back to me! Please!" I beg her. Continuing with the compressions and breathing my heart starts to sink. It isn't working. I'm not getting through to her.
"She's gone, Ji-Hoo." Woo Bin says quietly.
(^_^)
SERENA'S POV:
I scream in agony as I watch him begin to pull the skin away from Saia's arm. I know too well what he has planned and I sob in anger. I desperately pull against the ropes but they are tied too tight. It takes me a moment to realize I hear an alarm going off on his computer but when he walks away to check it, I pray that it is someone coming to help. He's angry as he approaches her again and I see him say something to her as he removes the straps from her wrists. She slumps to the floor as Su-Jeong approaches me and he grabs my chin to look me in the eyes.
"This isn't over. It will never be over. I will send her to you piece by piece. It doesn't matter where you go or where you try to hide. I will find you. Then I will make you watch as I take apart your husband & bastard son before I slit your throat and let you die. You will experience pain unlike any other before I am through with you." He kisses me hard on my forehead and goes back to Saia. I cry out, trying to beg him to let her go. Her eyes lock with mine as he binds her hands.
"Mom, please! Look after the twins!" she begs me. "And don't let Ji-Hoo come after me! Please! I beg you! Don't let him come after me!" I watch Su-Jeong drag her away and I nod at her. I'm helpless to do anything but try and grant her last requests. I watch in despair as she disappears.
Suddenly surrounded by men, they untie me and begin to search the building.
"Are you okay?" one of them asks.
"Please, you have to go after him! He took her! You have to stop him!" I beg.
"Where did he go?"
I point to the back of the building and they all head in that direction except two men stay with me. I force my shaking legs to stand up and I make my way to where the twins are. Seeing Su-Jeong's gun sitting on his desk I take it, stuffing it in the back of my jeans. As I open the door, I see the twins huddled in the corner and I call out to them.
"You can come out now. It's alright. He's gone." They run to me and shaking, I sink to the floor with them in my arms. Holding them close, I rock them gently, taking comfort in being able to finally hold them. I didn't need to promise Saia to protect them. I wanted to do that from the moment I saw them.
I stiffen as I hear a muffled cry and look up in horror to see a very wet Su-Jeong coming towards us. The men that stayed behind now lay in a heap on the floor.
"Close your eyes and cover your ears. Don't open them till I tell you." I whisper to the twins. They comply and I look back at Su-Jeong as I draw his gun from behind me. He stops and his eyes widen in surprise as I flick the safety off. I point it directly at his head and look into his eyes.
"Time for you to die, you son-of-a-bitch." And I pull the trigger.