Chapter 10 - Falling Mask

 Chapter Ten: Falling Mask

It had been a few days since the car accident and now Valerie was recouping at home. She was resting in the living room, studying for her upcoming finals, but found she really couldn''t keep her mind around International Business. She was deeply distracted, because as of now, she technically had two boyfriends and that wasn''t going to work.

She had tried breaking things off with Nathan, but every time she got around to saying something about it, she chickened out. He was just such a nice person and the last thing Valerie wanted to do was hurt him. Especially when she realized, when he had came over the other day holding a baby name book, that she still hadn''t told him the child she was carrying wasn''t his. “Damn, I am in this deep,” she thought out loud as she finally put her book down. She crossed her arms as she leaned back on the couch and stared at the cordless phone on the coffee table debating how she should go about with what needed to be done.

If she could, she would have driven over to his dorm, but the medication she was on for her head injury really didn''t permit that. Valerie then finally picked up the phone to call Nathan over. “Hello?” he answered his phone.

“Hey, Nathan,” she began. “I was wondering, do you think you could come over for a little while? I want to see you.” she told him.

“Uh, now?” he asked.

“Yeah, now,” she said as she thought, before I lose my nerve again. She then heard something strange in the background on Nathan''s end. “Nathan, what are you up to?”

“I''m in the middle of a project. Give me half an hour, an hour at most, okay?” He then hung up without her giving him a reply.

“Okay,” Valerie drawled as she looked at the phone curiously. “That was weird,” she declared before deciding she would go back to studying.

Two hours later, Nathan finally arrived at her front door. “Sorry I''m late,” he said immediately when he stepped inside. “I really am.” He then gave her a quick kiss before she closed the door behind him. Nathan made himself at home as he went and took a sit in the living room. He picked up the remote and began channel surfing. “Come sit with me,” he said patting the space next to him. “I got news you''re going to love.” Nathan then looked at Valerie strangely as she took a sit on the lazy-boy. “What?”

Valerie''s nervous habit then kicked up as she began to tug at her clothes. “Um-well,” she thought she would start with the good news. “Remember when you mentioned that you needed to complete an internship at a hospital before you graduate?”

“Yeah,” he responded as he crossed his ankle over his knee and threw his arm over the edge of the couch. “What about it?”

“Well, I''ve talked to the owner of Amity Park General and if you want, you can do your internship there,” she suggested. “You can get an interview with the department of your studies as soon as next week,” she informed him.

Nathan smiled. “You did that for me?” He was generally surprised. “Thank you, I really appreciate it, but you didn''t have to. I actually got news yesterday, that I got approved to have an interview with Texas Children''s Hospital. It''s been ranked as one the best pediatric hospital in the nation,” he said excitedly.

“Wow, that''s a great opportunity for you, Nathan.” Valerie than made clear, “But if for some reason things don''t go your way, know that the offer for AP General is always opened.” She then said softly, “No matter what may happen between us.”

Nathan''s eyes narrowed. “What''s that suppose mean?” he asked.

“It means-” she looked at him for a moment before lowering her head. “I''m sorry, Nathan-” he frowned at her words, “-you''re a good person and I wish there was an easy way to say this-”

“Stop,” he told her, causing her to once again look at him. “I know where this is going.” He lowered his head before shaking it as a small chuckle escaped his smiling lips. “Can''t really say I didn''t see it coming.” He looked back up. “I saw you with Danny in the hospital. You two are back together, aren''t you?” he asked sadly.

“Yes, we are. I''m sorry,” she said again. “You shouldn''t have had to find out like that.”

“It''s alright.” He stood back up. “I kind of had my suspicions, but when you didn''t break up with me right away, I kind of hoped I had been mistaken. But I know you have to do what''s best for you.” Valerie smiled. She really didn''t see him taking it this well, but was glad he understood, as he walked back over to the door. “I mean, just as long as we stay close enough for our child''s sake, that''s all that really matters, right?”

“Oh, god,” Valerie whispered to herself before standing and going over to her now ex-boyfriend. “Nathan, there''s something else you should know before- before you-”

“Before I what?” Nathan looked concerned. “Before what?” he asked again when she gave him no answer.

“Before you become too attached,” she finally said. “Nathan,” she shook her head, “this baby- I was pregnant before we met.”

“What?” Nathan didn''t want to believe his ears.

“I''m now only starting to show, but I''m a little over six months,” she explained as she watched him clinch his jaw and his face grow pale.

“Fenton''s?” he asked, his eyes no longer able to look upon her. “The baby, is it Fenton''s?”

“Yes,” she replied softly.

Nathan shook his head as he licked his lips. Everything else he had planned, everything else he was ready for, but this? To lose the connect he thought he would always have? No, something had to be done. “I got to go,” he said quickly, opening the door and stepping out. “I''ve got things to do,” was all he offered as he started to walk away.

“Nathan, please.” Valerie reached out and grabbed his arms, but he didn''t turn around to look at her. “Don''t leave like this, not this angry. Can''t we still be-”

“If you say friends, I swear to God I''ll-” he stopped himself before saying something he knew he would regret. He turned his head and stared into her eyes, his voice was lost of the warmth Valerie had grown to know. . . and almost love. “Funny, how girls always want to be your friend after crushing you beneath their heel,” he told her.

“Nathan,” she whispered as concern filled her face.

“I have loved you since before I knew what love was,” he began, his voice now gentle. “You may not see it now, my sweet Valerie,” an eerie smile crept onto his lips, which caused Valerie to finally let go of his arm slowly, “but what we have isn''t over.” He then drew a little closer before whispering, “You''ll always be mine.” He then chuckled at the confused looked on her face before making his way down the porch stairs. “Sweet dreams, love,” was the last thing he said to her before getting into his truck and driving away.
OoOoO

It was late- well, it wasn''t really late, it was a only a little after ten, but to Valerie, it felt as if she had been up for days. It hadn''t been the easiest day for her, putting aside her studies all together, she found her mind wondering back to Nathan and what he had said to her when they – when she decided to call it quits. His eyes had been different somehow, after finally telling him that the baby wasn''t his. Valerie would never mention it out loud, but they had frightened her a little. So Valerie just chalked it up to him being upset and tried to put it out of her mind as she fastened up the buttons on her pajamas before climbing into bed for the night.

Valerie dreamt of Danny that night. He was laughing, smiling, and just plain happy as he played with three small children, which Valerie soon realized were theirs. They were in a small backyard with a swing set and one of those small inflatable pools on a bright summer day. Valerie sat in a lawn chair with a book in her hands as she pretended not look at her playing family. The three children, which made up a two boys and a girl had tackled their father to the ground. “Look ma!” the eldest yelled out while sitting on Danny''s back. “I caught me a ghost!”

“Yeah, this one definitely takes after my sister,” Danny said with a smile. “Val, some backup would be nice,” he told her as he found himself at the bottom of a dog pile.

Valerie laughed. “Now, I can''t do that. I don''t want to ruin their confidence.”

“Their confidence? What about mine?” he asked, which only caused more laughter. Then, without warning, their sunny day turned into night. “VALERIE!” she heard Danny yell out alongside the cries of their children as it grew darker.

“Danny?” Valerie rose from her seat. “Danny!” she shouted as she ran where they once had been, but there was nothing.

“It''s alright, Valerie,” she heard a soft voice. “You''re having a bad dream, but I''m here now.”

Valerie opened her eyes only to see someone sitting beside her in her bedroom. “Nathan?” she whispered unsurely. She then began angrily, “What the hell are-” but she never finished her question as she gasped in surprise when a cloth was placed over her mouth and nose.

“Shh, dream now,” was all he said as the woman before him fell unconscious. Nathan looked at the clock and smiled, he had plenty of time. He stood up before throwing back the blanket and sheets on her bed. He then gathered the sleeping Valerie into his arms and carried her out her room and eventually out her home. It was the dead of night as he placed her into his truck and made sure she was security in place before driving off. A smile was on his face the entire time.
OoOoO

Valerie felt groggy and weak as her eyes finally opened. She looked around the room only to discover that she was no longer in her own bedroom, but in the bedroom of a cabin like place. There was a door on the far left side of the room and another next to the bed she was laying in where light was coming from. Valerie could tell from where she was it was a bathroom. Her face then cringed in pain as she tired to move and heard the rattling of chains. Her right ankle was throbbing, as she found she was bound to the bed with a long chain attached to the bed.

Her head then turned to look at the door on the far left of her as she heard it open and a man stepped through. He carried a small tray in his hands as he approached her and as he came into the light Valerie saw Nathan''s face. She then instantly remembered, that he had been in her bedroom, and realized that he had brought her here. “Ah, it looks like I''m right on time,” he said happily as he set the tray down on the nightstand and took a seat next to her. “Did you sleep well?” he asked her as he took her left arm. He then reached over to the nightstand and picked up a cotton ball soaked in alcohol before running it crossed Valerie''s skin.

“What- what are you doing?” Valerie asked tiredly. She then watched under drooping eyelids as Nathan picked up a syringe and checked it. “What are you doing?” she asked again as Nathan found a vein and stuck the needle into her arm before slowly pushing down on the plunger.

When the syringe was empty and back on the tray he placed a band-aid where he had stuck her. He then kissed the place where he had placed the band-aid before looking to Valerie and saying, “Doctor''s orders, you know.” Nathan than sat back up and cocked his head to one side as he continued to look at her. He ran his fingers across her lips. “You are so beautiful,” he told her softly.

“I want to go home,” Valerie said as she tried to move his hand away. She was able to wrap her hand around his wrist, but didn''t have enough energy to do anything else. “Please.”

“You are home,” he told her. “This place was my surprise to you when I thought you had chosen me over-” he didn''t want to say his name. “A little cottage, out in the middle of nowhere. The nearest neighbor? Three point four seven miles away,” he explained. “Welcome home.”

“Nathan-”

“I thought buttons were a no-no?” he asked, completely ignoring her plea as he played with the buttons in question.

“Please, stop,” she begged of him as he unfastened her top and she felt his cold fingers fondle her breast. Once again he ignored her and he lend forward and gently kissed her cheek. Valerie turned her head away.

“Don''t act like you don''t like it,” he told her as he released her, but relief for Valerie was short lived as she then felt his hands tug on her pajama bottoms.

Valerie gasped silently as her own hands went to tug them in the opposite direction, but Nathan easily won the little game of tug-of-war and so he got up and pulled them down until he could pull them down no more because of the chain around her right ankle. He then retook his seat next to her as his hand found the inside of her thigh. “Look at me,” he told her as he found she was wasn''t looking at him again.

Valerie slowly turned her head towards the man she once called kind, the man she once called sweet, still not able to believe that he had drugged and kidnapped her. Had her judgment of people always been this far off, she couldn''t help but wonder. Valerie tried to hold back her tears, not wanting to give Nathan the satisfaction of seeing her cry as his hand cupped over her sex, a thin layer of fabric separating him from his true intent.

“Let''s play a game,” he spoke, the smile on his face no longer presence. “Who''s child are you carrying?” he asked her. Valerie was confused, she had already told him just yesterday the truth about her baby.

“Danny''s,” she whispered, before a lightening strike of pain shot though her leg causing her to scream loudly.

“WRONG ANSWER!” Nathan yelled as he squeezed a major artery located on the inside of her thigh. “Again, who''s child are you carrying?” he asked, furious at the last answer she had given him as he slowly released her leg.

Valerie shook violently as she whispered again, “Danny''s,” before he took a firmer grip on her leg. Valerie yelled for him to stop as tears ran down her face, not only from the pain, but at the feeling of being so helpless. It was a foreign feeling she didn''t want to become used to.

“Do you like making me angry, Valerie, huh!” he yelled, letting go of her leg and grabbing the syringe on the tray and pulling the plunger so now that it filled itself with air. Valerie froze as Nathan held her shoulder and placed the needle near of neck. “Do you know what a bubble air can do in the bloodstream?” he asked.

“No,” Valerie answered, her frightened green eyes not leaving the now unrecognizable man before her.

“And you won''t have to know, if you answer my question correctly,” he warned her. “Who''s child are you carrying?” he asked for the third time.

There was a moment of silence before she began to answer. “Dan-” she stopped as she felt the needle touch her skin. “Yours,” she finally answered. “The baby is yours.”

“Good answer,” the red head said, as he dropped the syringe back on the tray. “Very good answer,” he told her as he kissed her lips tenderly as if a moment ago he hadn''t threatened to kill her.

Valerie found herself not surprised, but still scared, as a moment later he pulled away from her and stood up before taking off his pants. “Nathan, please,” she begged, not knowing why as he pretended not to hear her as he positioned himself between her legs. He didn''t even bother to remove her panties as he simply pushed them to the side. “Why are you doing this?” she asked him.

Nathan''s eyes then met hers. “To erase him,” he gave her an answer that only made sense to him. Valerie grew angry, helpless, she decided wasn''t a word she wanted to use to describe herself, and so she tried to fight, but it was unless as it only help to spread the drugs Nathan had given her run through her body, causing her to feel weaker and more tired than she did before. “Done now?” he asked her, but it was him this time that was ignored.

Valerie said nothing more as she turned her head away from him and closed her eyes. A moment later, she felt Nathan push himself into her and her body betray her as it arched forward to greet him. She then felt the steady rocking of the bed as she heard the headboard rhythmically hit the wall behind her. She cried, as he violated her, as she concluded it was the only thing she could do. “I love you, Valerie,” she heard him say to her. “And I''ll never let you go.”

To Be Continued. . .

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