BRAINSTORM

Chapter Thirty-six - Under the gun.

Ellen's gut told her running away was the more perilous option. She pivoted slowly. At another time, the sight of Scott holding a gun would have been laughable because he was so unmasculine, but now his eyes—small, pitch black, and inflamed—offered conflicting evidence. Ellen saw in their uncompromising blackness the truth about him. He would kill her, and worse than that, he wanted to. She wished she could believe he wouldn't do it, but then she would be lying to herself again. She wasn't going to do that anymore. Look where it had gotten her.

"I can explain about Jack." 

"This isn't about Jack."

Ellen brought her brows together in confusion. What?

"You can screw him all you want, for all I care. I don't want you anymore." Scott took a threatening step toward her. "But—oops—hold on a second. I guess if I shoot this gun and kill you—" He waved it with a little swooping side-to-side motion, and Ellen briefly contemplated trying to grab it. But he straightened it upon her once again before she could make a decision. "You won't be able to do anyone at all, Ellen." He smiled with cruel pleasure. "Not ever again." 

His high-pitched tone was too sweet. It gave Ellen chills.

"I told you I could explain."

Scott's face flushed with rage. "And I told you it's not about that. Why don't you ever listen to what I say? You believe me, Ellen, don't you?"

Ellen remained immobile. She flicked her eyes right and left, looking for a way out of this nightmare.

"You believe me, don't you?" Scott repeated. He took another step toward her, narrowing the distance between them. He was just a couple feet away now.

Ellen stared at the gun. It seemed to wobble in space. She felt dizzy and searched for something to hold onto that could steady her, but there was nothing.

"Ellen?" Scott demanded. He took a step backward.

The gun was farther away now. Could she still reach it? Ellen shook her head in confusion. Had Scott asked her something? His words were all tangled together. Nothing made sense. She squinted her eyes to see better and strained her neck forward to catch what he was saying because she couldn't hear right, either.

"Ellen, look at me!"

What? Wasn't she looking at him already?  Ellen closed her eyes tightly and opened them back up carefully. Scott looked so strange to her, so different. Was he taller? Her mind was a puddle of thoughts and emotions.

"Ellen, listen to me. You should believe me that this—" He jerked the gun in his hand to make his point. "—is not about you wanting to play around with Jack Kerwin. You understand that now, don't you?"

Ellen nodded so wildly that it felt like her head might shake loose and float away. Her senses rapidly overtook her reason. She had no idea what Scott might do next, and she didn't know what she was going to do, either. Possible outcomes filled the space between them like a complex web. Ellen squinted to try to see them more plainly.

"Ellen, come back inside for a minute. I just want to ask you a few questions." His voice made her feel like she had swallowed something oily and foul-tasting. Nevertheless, her feet moved forward as if controlled by marionette strings. In a stupor, she followed him back into the apartment.

Scott pointed the gun at a nearby chair. "Sit down."

With movement devoid of will, she walked to the chair and perched on its edge, her body not yet committed to sitting. It still might jump up and run at any moment. The thudding of her heart echoed with each passing second. A cacophony of conflicting information smothered her ability to think. It was like one of those dreams in which she made the decision to run, but her body wouldn't obey.