Everything I Need

28

I leave the school and start driving towards mine and Lauren's house first and look closely at any and every black suv I see. I'm going to stop by our house and grab my phone charger so I can make sure my phone doesn't die and grab a kitchen knife and take it with me. This is the time I wish I owned a gun, a damn pocket knife or a taser. I can quickly grab a knife and my charger that's on the kitchen island and be on my way to continue looking for the black suv and any signs of my wife.

As I pull into our driveway, I press the button on my visor to open the garage door so when I go in I'm right at the kitchen. As the garage door raises, I see a black suv parked in our garage. Not just any black suv though, it's the one from the security camera footage at the school. Anger and terror wash over me knowing that worthless piece of shit apparently had been watching Lauren to know where she lived or forced her to tell him. I shut my car off and quickly get out, easing my car door closed. I realize the door leading to the kitchen is not closed all the way because the doorknob appears to have been shot.

My anger is replaced with fear as I realize that Mike or whoever it is has a gun and is most likely inside with my pregnant wife. I slow my movement and as quietly as possible ease the door open to make my way inside. My only thoughts and concerns are to find Lauren, make sure she is okay and get her to safety. I see nobody in the kitchen as I quickly glance around. I quietly step forward to make my way to the knife block so I can grab the chef's knife. My movement is halted when out of nowhere a metal baseball bat connects brutally with my ribs. I immediately double over as a sharp pain shoots through my ribs and it's suddenly hard to breathe. Every breath I take hurts like hell as I try to inhale enough oxygen.

Suddenly the bat connects hard with my back, knocking me forward and my knees slam against the ceramic tile floor of our kitchen. My knees are throbbing from colliding with the floor and my ribs hurt but I try to get up anyway because I have to find Lauren. A swift kick connects with my side causing me to drop back down to the floor "you fucking dyke. You ruined everything for me." Mike says as another kick connects with my side. "You're such a fuck up and ruin everybody's life." Then another kick connects. "You ruined my life, your mothers life and now Laurens life." Another three kicks back to back connects with my ribs. "You're the reason your own mother is dead. She died because of you." Mike yells as he kicks me again.

Pain violently shoots through my ribcage and burns all the way to my stomach. Another kick connects with my side so hard I'm coughing and gasping for air. I hear muffled cries coming from the living room and I know it's Lauren. I close my eyes and try to breathe through the pain as he drops the bat to the floor. I roll on my side as I fight for oxygen but his shoe collides viciously with my ribs again before I can try to block the blow. He doesn't stop this time and kicks my ribs over and over and over so many times that I lose count. He continues to kick me until I hear a muffled scream come from the living room. "You caused this. You had to move here and ruin my life. You thought you could take my wife, you fucking lesbian." He angrily says as he kicks me a couple more times then finally walks away laughing as I am coughing and gasping for air.

I hear Mike talking to Lauren but can't understand what he is saying. I know I have to get to her and get her out of here somehow. I don't care what happens to me as long as she and our baby are safe. I press my palms against the cold ceramic tile and my ribs seem to protest as too many sharp pains run through my body. I push through the pain somehow and manage to get to my feet as more pain radiates through my ribs causing me to wrap my arms around my torso. I manage to push through the exscrewciating pain and bend over to grab the bat.

As I make it to the corner of the living room I lean against the wall for support and I see Mike kneeling in front of a crying Lauren as he is looking in a black backpack. I notice she is tied to the chair, there's tape across her mouth and as I'm looking at her, her beautiful blue panicked filled eyes meet mine. I raise a finger to my lips telling her to be quiet as I try to quickly glance over her to make sure she is okay. I see her blouse torn open and dried blood on it and my adrenaline is kicking in more as I think about what he may have done to her.

Mike stands back up and says "don't waste tears on her she isn't worth it. She's not dead... yet. I will finish her off once I'm done with you. I want her to hear everything as I have my way with you. I'm going to take this tape off of your mouth so you can try something new and put that mouth to some good use. You better not scream unless you want me to go ahead and kill her and make you watch me."

Mike removes the tape from Lauren's mouth and she flinches as he quickly raises his hand. He strokes her cheek "see you're learning your place and doing as you're told. Now that mouth of yours is going to do something else. Something I should have had you doing when we were married before." A sob escapes Lauren's mouth as a terrified look crosses her face.

I quietly move forward a little at a time so I can get closer. Mike's hands move to in front of him and I hear him unbuckle his belt and unzip his jeans. A faint sob escapes Lauren's mouth again and I see red as I know what he is going to make her do. "Don't you fucking touch her!" I yell as I lung forward, swinging the baseball bat as hard as my injured ribs will let me. I stumble from the pain in my ribs and the bat connects with his knee and his leg buckles under him as I hear a snap and he hits the floor.

"You fucking bitch!" Mike yells in pain as he grabs his knee. I stumble towards him and swing the bat again, hitting him as hard as I can manage right in the stomach. He starts gasping for air and I hit him in his other knee with the bat hoping that breaks his other leg too. I drop the bat as I suddenly feel dizzy and fall to one knee beside Mike. Before pushing through the pain radiating in my ribs and forcing myself back to my feet, I swing my fist and connect it with Mike's nose. Blood flies from his nose as he yells and I double over in pain from my ribs. I hear Lauren yelling my name through tears and I manage to get back to my feet and stumble back towards her so I can untie her.

I hear sirens from a distance and hope like hell they are heading here. "Hey... it's okay baby. It's okay Lauren, I-I got you." I softly say as I work on untying her arms from the chair then her hands. As soon as her arms and hands are free I move beside her and she quickly wraps her arms around my neck and cries more. It hurts my ribs like hell to be bent over like this but I don't care as long as my wife is safe.

Lauren stands up and wraps one arm around my torso and I winch through clenched teeth at the pain of her arm around my rib cage. "I'm sorry baby, what hurts?" She hurriedly asks as she moves her hand and arm away.

"My ribs," I hiss as the pain gets worse and I feel Lauren flinch next to me. I quickly reach for her hand "I'm sorry Lauren. I didn't mean to snap at you, the pain is just really bad. I'm sorry baby."

Lauren's worried eyes frantically look me over then she says "it's okay but what did he do to you?" as she gently takes hold of my arm to steady me so we can get out of our house. She turns towards me as she helps balance me but all of a sudden she screams "Kyler!" As I try to turn around, I suddenly hear the loud noise of a gunshot as an excruciating pain courses through my shoulder and I fall to the floor as Lauren's terrified eyes look at me. She gasps "oh my god Kyler" and drops to her knees beside me. With shaking hands, she applies pressure to my shoulder. Her beautiful blue eyes are filled with tears as she looks at me and cries.

Lauren's mouth is moving but I can't hear what she is saying because of the ringing in my ears. Finally I faintly hear her as she is crying, "b-breath baby, breath. Please keep breathing for me. Y-you're going to be okay. Stay with me baby, please stay with me." I can feel myself drifting and my eyes get really heavy and my vision blurry. The blurred outline of Lauren leans towards me and I feel her lips softly touch mine and tears fall on my face. "I love you. You have to be okay, you just have to. Please baby stay with me!"

I want to tell her I love her too but I can't get a single word out of my mouth. My eyes are really heavy again and I just can't keep them open any longer. Another gunshot is all I hear as I slip from consciousness and darkness consumes me as everything fades to black.