for June

29. Home, Sweet Home

For a moment, Chad had almost forgotten the phone under his legs, since the voice had gone quiet. In a rightful mind, he should have been panicking, trying to make certain the aide was still there, on the other end of the line, listening. In an ideal world, he would have gotten back to her already, giving as much information as he could about his situation. In an ideal world, he would not have walked up to his stalker who held a gun. But this wasn't an ideal world, and Chad wasn't an ideal anything.

He heard bangs and stomps of Cassie's feet as she threw things about in search of her 'proof'. What proof could she possibly have? He wondered.

"Sir? Are you still there? Are you okay? Sir?"

Chad's trance broke at the last word and he splayed his legs open and folded over the phone again. "Hi, yeah, I'm still here. She has me tied to a water heater in the garage. I'm not really going anywhere," he said, finding it slightly amusing. A man at the mercy of a petite woman he could have overpowered if the gun hadn't terrified him.

"Okay. Good. Keep her calm," the woman instructed. Her soothing voice was what he needed. "What's your name, sweetie? Can you tell me where she took you?"

He looked around the garage, at the lone light bulb too weak to light the room well. Plenty of shadows, but not much detail. "I don't know, and my name is Chad Gilligan. The woman holding me is Cassandra Micha. I have a restraining order against her."

Chad waited for a reply, helplessly thinking he probably sounded stupid. Didn't women usually have a restraining order out on men? The hair on the back of his neck stood when he heard a guttural scream from somewhere in the house, followed by a "Where the fuck is it?"

Whatever Cassie was looking for, she had no luck finding it, and that was not a sign of good things to come. He lowered himself further towards the phone as if the phone itself could save him. "She has a gun. Please. Help me."

"I need you to stay as calm as you can, okay, Chad? And stay on the line. I'm sending you help."

"Thank you!" he mumbled, his head reeling from the low angle. He shook it, sending pain rattling through his head. Everything suddenly compounded. His sense of smell got stronger and the stench of something rotten in the room whacked him hard, making him nauseous. He could hear the thrum of his pulse. His shoulders ached from being tied back and his hands were feeling numb. "I don't feel so good," he muttered once more, not sure if the person on the line heard or not.

"I'm sending an ambulance, Chad, bear with me."

"Who're you talking to?" Cassie's voice boomed above him in a crescendo. He jumped in fright. He hadn't even heard the floor creak this time.

"No one," he answered, trying to hide the phone again, but she'd already seen it.

Cassie eyed the phone between his legs suspiciously. He tried feebly to keep her from it, but she smacked his legs aside and grabbed the phone off the floor.

She glanced at the screen, at the call which was still connected. Rage flared in her eyes and she bellowed down the line. "Leave us alone, or I'll kill us both! I just want to talk, okay?" With that, she hurled the phone at the brick wall.

Chad watched with an equal amount of horror and shock as it shattered and with it his hope. It pushed him dangerously close to tears.

Cassie spun around, hovering over him with malice, her teeth gritted. "Why do you keep making me angry? You promised we could talk and work this out. Then why is it that every time I turn my back to you, you find another woman?" she screeched, thrusting the gun to his temple.

He held his breath, paralysed with fear, so much so that all bodily functions suspended, including his bladder. He felt warmth spread below him, soaking through the cushion, and he was glad she couldn't see it. Couldn't see the terror she was inflicting.