To Journey's End Part Ten

                Todd slowly straightened up and Beth released him. They both jumped when the phone rang loudly.

               “Excuse me Todd, I better get that.” she left to answer it. “Hold it, Sam, calm down.”

              “I will not calm down. I told you last night, that I thought Amy and her mother were off their rockers. A couple of more days, my eye. Amy’s water just broke and her Mom is all the way over in Baton Rouge. You better get here, I’m not delivering this baby by myself.”

             Beth was holding the phone away from her ear and even Todd could hear how upset Sam was on the other end. He stood in the doorway of the bedroom watching Beth try to settle Sam down.

            “Sam Clayton there’s no need to blow a gasket. Just get her settled in one of the beds in a holding cell.”

           “Holding Cell! Are You Kidding Me! She’s threatened to castrate me if I even think of putting her in one of the cells.” Sam was sounding desperate.

Beth was finding it hard to control her laughter. And she looked over to find Todd with a huge grin on his face. “Okay Sam I’m leaving now. Put her on the office couch and I’ll be there as quick as the jeep will get me there.”

Sam got serious when he suddenly realized what he was asking Beth to do. “Beth I’ll hold down the fort here, but make sure that Todd stays put and doesn’t answer the door while you’re gone. It wouldn’t be wise for him to be seen by anyone. I found out some information before Amy’s water broke. Todd’s going to want to hear it.”

Beth’s face got serious and Todd knew the topic had changed. “All right Sam. I’ll do that. Now remember just try and keep Amy calm." Beth hung up. “You heard the majority of that, it looks like my patient has decided today is the day her baby is coming. So I need to go into town. Todd, I urge you to stay put. The infection in your ankles will probably cause you to start getting feverish and the medicine I gave you still needs time to clear your system. Will you still be here when I return?”

Todd really didn’t feel up to going anywhere. He was doing everything in his power not to let Beth know how hard it was just to stand up without leaning on the wall. “I’ll still be here. Beth.”

“Good. Now listen, I usually leave a sign to let people know I’m out of the house. So hopefully no one will bother trying the door but please, please don’t answer it. A number of people who helped in the search yesterday have your description and we wouldn’t want all of Sam’s hard work to make everyone think you’re dead, to go to waste.”

“Beth, why did you guys do it?”

“Why did we do what?”.

“Help me like that? You don’t know anything about me. I could be a dangerous criminal or something. I mean, I’m not even sure why I was being held. Maybe I did something horrible.”

Beth walked over to Todd. “I don’t believe you’re a dangerous criminal, and Sam and I helped you because you needed help. Todd no matter what you were being held for, no one deserves to be tor...treated the way you were. We want to help you get back your life, Todd. As a doctor I want you to be healthy before you leave. Now take it easy. I’d better get out of here or Sam will be screaming bloody murder the next time he calls.”

Todd nodded and watch as Beth locked the door behind her. Once she was gone he slumped against the wall. Taking a moment to let his legs stop shaking, he pushed away from the wall once he felt steady again and took the long walk to the bathroom. He stood in front of the sink leaning on it and got a good look at himself in the mirror. His hand reached up to his scar, “I’m Todd Manning.” He traced the scar as a memory flashed before his eyes. He was laughing at her, stuffing a piece of her shirt into her mouth and behind him he heard a woman yell, then the unbelievable pain. “Marty... I raped her...” he closed his eyes seeing more and wishing it would just go away, but knew it never would. He sighed and turn the water on and splashed some in his face. The coolness of the water felt good against his skin. He unbuttoned his shirt and slipped it off. Beth had told him he need to stay out of the shower or baths for a while until his wounds healed but she hadn’t said anything about just washing up.

Lathering up a cloth, he first washed his face, then began to clean his arms and chest. The muscles in his arms moved and flexed as he washed across his toned abs as the light from the bathroom accentuated the muscles and his many scars. To any onlooker he had a physique many would envy. His waist was trim and there wasn’t an ounce of fat on him. They had taken care of him in a certain sense. Keeping him healthy, someone had made sure that his muscles were moved and exercised even though he hadn’t been aware. For that he was grateful, but his body also showed what else they had done to him.

He paused and carefully cleaned some of his newer scars. Scars where his keepers had played their sick games with him. They had seemed to get a great deal of amusement trying to see how many times they could do something before he would scream. He found himself thinking of how they had reminded him of Peter. There had been one guy, who hadn’t like the smell of burning flesh so he had usually just used his pocket knife. He had been into stripping tiny pieces of Todd’s flesh off. Todd had a lots of scrapes and bruises as a child, but when his captor had begun to literally cut and remove his actual flesh and expose his raw nerves to the air it had been sheer agony. Todd looked at the lacerations. He had several across his abs and he knew there were several more on his back. They were now healed and merely scars, but the damage had been done. Todd had escaped into his mind the third time the man had appeared in his cell. The next time Todd came to, he had had a new handler.

He relooked into the mirror. Thanks to Beth, he now knew where he had gone every time to escape. It just hadn’t registered. As a child he had done it often. It had been a means of shutting out what Peter was doing to him. Then, he had snapped at age fourteen and instead of hiding he had begun to lash out. He hadn’t escaped into his special place again until the year he had found himself faced with 350 years of imprisonment. He had fled then as his world had collapsed around him. Beth said he probably saved himself retreating like he had, but Todd couldn’t help feeling like a bit of a coward.

Todd looked down at his arms and saw the numerous old needlemarks. “I look like a junkie.” They had drugged him and bled him both. It didn’t matter. They would try one drug after another some times and during those periods he couldn’t hide. His mind was so muddled he couldn’t think clear enough to escape and then they would start in with the questions It was always the same. “Where is it? Who did you give it to?” When he couldn’t answer, another handler would come in to play.

He rinsed the cloth and wiped down his torso, as his finger grazed some of his scars he was reminded of the feel of Blair’s fingernails and the way she used to trace his scars setting him on fire with her light touch, just thinking about her caused his body to respond. Taking a deep breath he fought to bring his body under control. Once he was sure his body had relaxed, he dropped his jeans, stepped out of them and sat down to wash his legs. He could feel the heat around his ankles and see the redness, Beth was right. Even he knew they were infected. He was beginning to get chilled so he finished and pulled the jeans back up and reach down to pick up the shirt he had dropped. He slipped it back on and left the bathroom slowly buttoning it up. Although chilled he felt steadier and figured the medicine Beth had given him earlier was wearing off. After getting another cup of coffee, he decided to explore the house a little bit. Noticing shades on the front windows he lowered them, so he could walk around the room unseen by anyone who might stop by to see Beth.

It was a comfortable house, not fancy like La Boulaie. Todd paused. “What the heck is La Boulaie?” He envisioned a mansion, very ostentatious and not really to his liking, but then he saw a picture in his mind. It was a portrait of himself with Blair and Starr and baby Jack. I lived there, I lived there with my family. If he could just remember where it was. The image of Blair filled his heart with such longing, he wandered back to the bedroom and began fantasizing about being with her again. He laid down closing his eyes to picture her. She was standing in front of him, her emerald eyes sparkling and that mischievous smile she would get when she was excited about besting someone.

She loved to lick her lips and as he lay there, seeing her in his mind, he felt his body stir again. This time he decided to go with it. Todd wanted her so badly, he opened his jeans, reaching in to free himself from the confinement. His hand closed around himself beginning to rub up and down as he took his fantasy farther in his mind. Blair was stroking him, and alternately massaging him. He continued flexing his fingers along his length; it had been such a long time since he had really touched her, held her, seen her. Eight years with little relief, constantly tied up, the few times he had found himself able he had played out fantasies with Blair in his mind to comfort himself. Now, as then, he pictured her fondling and working him with her body, and that marvelous mouth. Every muscle in his body tensed, and his breath increased as he felt himself getting nearer to release. He could hear her breathy voice moaning and talking to him, and it happened. He felt the stickiness on his hand, but his mind was with his wife, remembering; holding her as they made love in the stables, the night they made Starr, the night she forgave him for Jack. Tears came, as they always did. Would he ever see her? Would they ever get another chance? He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. He had to believe it would happened, it was the only thing keeping him going.

Todd sat back up on the side of the bed and looked at the mess on his skin and shirt. Sighing, he removed it and headed for the dresser where Beth had gotten the shirt he had been wearing. As he began buttoning the clean shirt, he heard a knock at the door. Todd walked out to the living room, he was hoping whoever had knocked would see Beth’s sign and leave.

On the porch, Kent and his boss “Jerry “ stood waiting to see if anyone would answer the door. “I don’t understand what we’re doing here. It’s pretty obvious the man is dead. What good is a doctor going to do?”

“Kent, I told you earlier I’ll not be satisfied until we have proof he’s dead. The director isn’t just going to take my word.”

“But there’s no way to get anything yet. Those gators won’t let anyone near the remains, and I don’t think you made any friends out there yesterday with the searchers. You could have showed some sympathy for the guy. We told them he was a friend but you acted like he was a stranger.”

“Where do you get off chastising me Kent, you work for me. What those locals think of me isn’t my concern. I need to get that proof.”

Todd had come to a standstill as he recognized the voices of two of his tormentors and a cold chill washed over his body. He slowly back out of the living room and returned to the bedroom. He shook his head. Todd wake up you can’t get caught again, you’ll die if they take you back, heck they’ll probably kill you rather than take you back . Think there is probably a back door to this house. Todd took a look around the room he had been staying in. He quickly straightened the bed and made sure all signs of someone being in the room were gone, all the while he listened as the two men continued to argue. He picked up any medicine sitting in the room and carefully moved it into Beth’s office. Seeing a pair of Sam’s boots sitting in the corner, he quickly shoved his feet into them grateful that Sam’s feet were about the same size as his own. Outside, the conversation was getting heated.

“I don’t understand why we’re here. What’s the local Doctor going to be able to tell us? If the man is dead, She wouldn’t have even seen him.”

“I keep telling you, just because the clothing was his, doesn’t mean the man killed was our guy. If our guy was merely injured he might have come here for help. I’m just covering all the bases.”

“I still say it’s a waste of time, besides she’s not here. The sign says she’s out on call. What? Are you thinking that she’s got him in there? That’s a little far fetched.”

Todd inched his way through the kitchen and towards the back door. He carefully opened it. He would have to get out. Something told him, Baker wouldn’t let a small thing like a locked door and a missing Doctor stop him from searching her home. He was just closing the back door when he heard the sound of glass breaking. Todd moved away from the house. He entered the forest and skirted around so that he could watch the front, while hidden from view. He was startled briefly when a cold nose touched his hand. and he found Red beside him. “Down Red.” he whispered and the dog obeyed crouching down next to him.

Inside the house, Baker walked into the doctor’s office but was unable to find any signs that the doctor had been working on anyone there. Kent had searched the bedrooms and also found nothing concerning their prisoner. He did, however, find one thing that disturbed him. “Damn Baker we need to get out of here.”

“Why? What’s the hurry? We can wait until she returns home and ask her some questions.”

“We just entered her home illegally, I think her husband might have something to say about that.” Kent handed Baker the picture he had found in the bedroom.

Baker took one look at what Kent was showing him and realized Kent was right for once. The doctor’s husband was the Sheriff who had formed the search party. The last thing they needed was for the him to find out they had been there. Baker was pretty sure the sheriff already had questions about them. “Shit, let’s get out of here. This whole thing has gotten out of hand. You still have that piece of shirt. Right Kent?”

“Right.”

“It’s just going to have to do for now. We’ll take it back and hope the director accepts the possibility that he’s dead.”

Kent put the photo down and they left the house. Red started growling softly when he saw the strangers on the porch, and it was all Todd could do to hold the dog and prevent him from attacking the men. He knew if the dog had attacked, he would have ended up dead. Neither Baker no Kent would have had any qualms about shooting him.

He wasn’t sure how long he sat there, holding onto Red. The adrenaline that had flowed through his system and helped him flee the house, had left him and he had just huddled there on the ground hugging the dog. He didn’t have the energy to move. If he hadn’t had Red there with him, he knew he would have fled back into the forest. The urge to flee had been so powerful the minute he had actually seen his torturers, but when Red had started to go, Todd‘s instincts to keep the dog safe had kicked in and he had held the dog back. Finally, Todd found the energy to get up and return to the house.

Red walked beside him and when Todd slumped down into the chair exhausted, Red planted himself next to him. He laid his head on Todd’s lap and watched him fall asleep. Then he curled up at his feet and remained watchful determined to protect him until his humans returned home.

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