Arthur wakes up the following morning on the couch to hear the TV on in the other room. He had the map laying on his chest, having fallen asleep over his planning. He grimaces as the sharp pain of his shoulder comes back to him… where his wife had stabbed him.
He decides to go check on the wound in the bathroom. He removes the bandages in front of the mirror, wincing as it's like peeling off a layer of skin. The wound looks no different from the day before, there is still some blood and a little bit of oozing. It also feels hot and sensitive to the touch. Gwen sure got him good. He cleans the wound again as best he can before applying a fresh bandage.
Arthur goes into the other room to see Megan and Ben sitting watching TV.
"Morning Daddy," Megan says, rushing over to hug her father.
"Morning Baby girl,"
"Why is all your hair gone?"
"I felt like it was time for a change,"
"I don't like it," Ben says firmly. "You look like Lex Luther."
"It's okay buddy, I'm not Lex Luther. I'm not a bad guy. Are you ready for an adventure."
"And the water park?" Ben asks eagerly.
"And the water park," Arthur nods. "But let's get ourselves cleaned up and have breakfast before we go."
Arthur has his kids shower and changes into clean clothes before they check out of the motel. They eat at the same diner as before and get some snacks for the road. Arthur also asks for information about water parks in the state. Once the kids are in the car and distracted, Arthur opens the trunk.
Emma lies in the trunk, still unconscious, bound and gagged like before. The ice pack he'd given her had long since become warm, so he tossed it into a nearby bush. Arthur checks her pulse and breathing. He hopes she doesn't wake up just yet, he must find a place for him and the kids to stay, a place where he can hide Emma.
Arthur then starts the car up, a large lump in his throat, so nervous about what will happen next. He checks the map of Connecticut and pulls out onto the main highway.
He turns the radio on and continues to think about what he's going to next. Sooner or later, someone was going to find Gwen and she would tell them everything. He knew he couldn't be on the road for too long, especially with the kids and Emma… She would likely wake up soon and make a racket. How would he explain this to his children, that he had kidnapped a woman to give them a sibling and that he beat their mother up to allow him to escape? Technically, the children were kidnapped as well and the police would ramp up their investigation to bring them home. He had to find a new city to live in, a new place which was far away from the prying eyes of the law and basically starts his life over again, with a new identity and everything.
How the hell did identity thieves or criminals manage this? He wonders. Keep their identities straight and become someone completely different.
Plus, identities for the kids… It all seems overwhelming. Who would've thought that going on the run would be so stressful and complicated? All those criminal heist movies were wrong, it will not be easy to become someone else and hide kidnapped victims.
…
A few hours later, Arthur sees a sign for an indoor water park and resort. Immediately, the kids become excited and begin squealing and shouting with delight. Arthur turns off one of the interstates and pulls into the resort parking lot. The kids are already out of their car seats by the time Arthur parks the vehicle, furthest away from the building.
Arthur grabs the bags from the trunk, checking on Emma, before following his children who are already waiting at the door for him.
"Welcome to William's Indoor Water Park and Resort, fun for the whole family," the receptionist at the blue coloured desk says with a smile. The entire place is decorated like it's supposed to be underwater, with starfish and fish taped to the walls, blue shimmering lights in the background and under the sea artwork. It looks like a fun place for the kids to go and there is a large aquarium that Megan and Ben stare at in wonder while Arthur checks them in.
"Hello," Arthur says as casually as possible.
"How many nights are we staying sir?"
"Two," Arthur answers.
"Number of adults and children?"
"One adult, two children."
"Any particular room in mind? Would you like our Deluxe suite?"
"No thank you, whatever is your cheapest," Arthur says. He leans in so his children won't hear. "We're a fixed budget for this trip."
"Understood sir, our cheapest is 350 dollars a night."
"That'll be okay," Arthur says. It's not his money anyways.
"How would you like to pay?"
"Debit please," Arthur says, he takes out his wife's credit card and taps it over the machine.
"Thank you very much," the receptionist says with a smile. "Here are your wristbands to allow you to get into the park and the arcade. You're room 217 on the second floor. Enjoy your stay."
Arthur takes the wristbands and room key from the woman and the three of them take the elevator to the second floor. Arthur finds their room and opens it. It's quite a small room, with two double beds, a bathroom and small lounge area with a TV.
Arthur places the bags on one of the beds and the kids go after their swim suits.
"I want to go on every slide!" Ben says in excitement.
"What about you Daddy, will you come with us?" Megan asks
"Not this time Baby Girl, I forgot my suit. This trip is for you and only you. You don't want me to slow you down."
The kids get ready and Arthur takes them down to the water park.
It's hot, humid and smells of chlorine, but the kids don't seem to mind, they look up at all the water slides. Some have special rafts that you must ride in, and others you just go down by yourself. There's one that looks like a giant toilet bowl and one that has so many turns, it might make someone sick. There are kiddie sized slides, different spouts that squirted water on the little ones from the ground. There was a play large structure with all sorts of climbing equipment and a giant bucket that dumped gallons of water on the screaming children. There was even a hot tub for the adults and an area with lounge chairs where many parents just sat back and watched their children run around.
Arthur makes his way to a lounge chair.
"This is home base okay guys?" Arthur says to his children. He places the towels on the chair. "I'll be here okay?"
"Okay Daddy," the two both say at the same time.
"Now go have fun."
The kids scream in delight and run off to have fun.
Arthur sits back awkwardly with his sore shoulder and ponders his plans once more. He watches his children run around, trying not to get dumped on by the giant bucket and waiting in line for several of the smaller slides.
You've certainly dug yourself a grave haven't you Arthur? His conscious says firmly. In no time, the police will be looking for you and your children and you cannot force your children to change their appearances or give them new names. You can't trust them to keep quiet for very long, especially if they find out about Emma… I need some place far away from where I can make sure Emma has a baby… Like a cabin in the woods or on an island. You cannot force your children to endure that, his conscious says. It'll make you into more of a monster than you already are. You are holding a woman against her will after all.
Arthur sighs heavily. Tears come to his eyes briefly as Megan holds Ben's hand and pulls him over to a spout. He's a man of few values and with little money of his own, he couldn't take care of his children, let alone himself. Plus, if Emma does get pregnant, he'll have to care for her too. If he wants a healthy child, he'll have to make sure she eats three times a day and gets some form of exercise. Then there are medical expenses that will come from this baby… Without a social security number… and his wife's credit cards can be traced easily too… What will happen after the baby is born? Is he going to let her go? If he does, he'll never get to see his children again.
I'm caught between a rock and a very hard place, Arthur sighs and he tears up again. I'll have to give my children back… he sighs to himself again. They don't deserve to be locked away and forced to wait until the baby's born. They need stability, they need a good life, not one on the run… I still want to have a couple more days with them. I deserve that much.
Arthur lays back and tries to rest for a little while, his shoulder aching every so often. Megan and Ben play all morning and well into the afternoon. They make new friends and eat snacks at the snack bar. They swim until they're so tired, they can barely keep their eyes open.
Arthur takes his children to a restaurant afterward and then takes them upstairs. Instead of having them fall asleep in front of the TV, he reads them a few books that he brought. He does his best not to cry, thinking that this maybe the last time he ever gets to read with them. The two children fall asleep, curled up with one another.
…
The following day is very eventful. Arthur takes the kids to the arcade and for another round at the water park. The smiles on his children's faces are worth every minute of it. While the kids are in the water park again, Arthur goes to check on Emma.
…
Emma feels very groggy and she can't breathe very well. Her mouth is very dry and she can't feel most of her body. Her throat is aching very heavily in pain and her head is throbbing as well. It takes all her strength not to be sick. Her head is lying on something soft and she feels a blanket over her, keeping in some form of warmth. There is an air of cold around her, making her shiver.
She doesn't know where she is. For a few sweet seconds, she thought that she managed to escape and her head hurts so much that she can't fully recall what happened to her. There is the memory of that woman… Gwen and how shocked she looked. Emma had a gun with her and an ax and then the man came. She remembers the unbearable pain and suffocating… then darkness.
She tries to open her eyes but all she sees is darkness. She tries to move her body and finds that her hands and legs have been bound. Emma's hope that she'd escaped fades very quickly as she tries to move around or break her bounds. She feels the texture and realizes that it's duct tape, thick and sticky, it will be harder to cut through. Emma tries to spit out whatever is in her mouth, it feels like cloth. Her mouth attempts to make some saliva as she tries to feel around her environment. Immediately, her feet hit the end of the trunk, however, she doesn't know that yet. She feels objects all around her and there are muffled sounds coming from outside of whatever she is in. Emma at first assumes that it is a box, but as she moves a little more, the entire car shakes. The problem is, she's doing this almost completely blind.
Suddenly, footsteps can be heard, someone coming towards… whatever it is. Emma does her best to try and be ready to fight, but with her body almost completely immobilized, she can't do very much.
There is a loud thunk and the sound of hinges being moved upwards. The noises that were muffled suddenly become clearer, it's the sounds of cars.
"I see you're awake," a voice that Emma was dreading to hear says.
"Where am I?" Emma asks.
"Not something to be concerned about," he answers.
"Why didn't you just let me go?" Emma says angrily. She then begins to shout out, despite how scratchy her voice is.
Emma feels a hand go over her mouth.
"You scream again and I'll end you," he hisses in her ear. This sends a shiver up Emma's spine.
"You'd better drink something," he says. Arthur opens the bottle, grabs a straw and forces it into Emma's mouth.
Emma nearly chokes and starts gagging loudly.
"You'd better drink, or you'll die of thirst," Arthur says.
Emma doesn't want to drink in case it's poisoned or drugged or something, but her stomach growls loudly and her throat begs for some fluids. Emma leans forward and drinks.
"You'd better drink the whole thing," the man says. "It might be awhile before you get something again."
Emma doesn't answer, but just drinks to get her strength back up. Once the bottle is empty, she tries to move or do something to attack this man, but he has the advantage with having his limbs free. He presses her deeper into the trunk, despite Emma squirming to get out.
Arthur then opens the bag of beef jerky and offers it to Emma. She tries to turn away.
"You'd better eat it if you want to keep your strength up," he says.
Emma reluctantly begins to eat what he holds in front of her mouth. The jerky is bland and pretty much tasteless, but it's food. Arthur also holds an apple in her mouth for her to eat.
Once she's relatively full, Emma feels something being shoved into her mouth. More cloth, she tries to fight it by squirming and spitting it out, but then something is placed on her face to keep the cloth there… more duct tape.
Emma still tries to scream out, but Arthur hits her with the taser, wraps her in the blanket, puts the pillow back under her head and locks the trunk again.
Emma has never felt so helpless. She's lost control of her body as in convulses, but her bonds hold strong as this happens. She can't make any noise and her limbs are taped together. She's been blindfolded and locked in the trunk of a car…. Emma feels so useless and powerless, the only thing she can do is cry. She cries until her body wears herself out enough to go to sleep.
…
Arthur tucks his children in for the night. With Emma awake, it'll be harder to hide her from the kids, but with the car moving, they probably won't notice, at least not for a while. He stares at his children for a long while and cries silently, knowing what will happen. He wants to memorize their beautiful faces before he sends them back to their mother. Spend what precious time they had left together, making some good memories before everything would go bad.
Arthur goes into the lounge area of their hotel room and looks at the map again, deciding to go on more of a road trip, to see the capital city of Connecticut and maybe do a few tourist activities for the kids, but eventually, he'll have to leave them somewhere and call his wife or the police to come pick them up. When they do, he'll have to be long gone. Then he'll have to find a place to live, he'll also have to keep giving Emma food. Hopefully, she'll be pregnant soon and he can finally put things into action.
Hopefully...
Here's Chapter 33. Thank you for all the comments. It really helps me out.