Chapter 41: Toxic Cycle

Justin dragged me back through the gate. As he kicked the door to the fence closed behind us, I dug my heels into the grass, hoping to slow him down.

At first, I thought he intended on taking me back into the house via the deck, but when I saw the open cellar door that he’d emerged from, I fought harder.

Justin’s grip only tightened, and I began to wheeze as my lungs struggled for air. At the top of the steps, he paused, as if unsure how to proceed.

I used his indecision to my advantage and wedged my foot against the concrete frame of the cellar door, hoping to prevent him from dragging me down the steps with him.

But he anticipated complications, so he did what was most convenient and chucked me through the opening.

I raised my arms to protect my skull as I tumbled down the steps. The momentum sent me rolling across the floor, only coming to an abrupt halt when I collided with the opposing wall.

My head was spinning, and before I had a chance to recover, Justin was kneeling next to me. Though I was hurt, his expression showed no concern. Instead, he wore a strange, twisted smile, as if he was taking joy in causing me pain.

For a moment, I thought I saw the ghost of a young Jackson squatting next to Rosie, saying, “See what happens to girls who disobey?”

“It shouldn’t have had to be this way, Dharma,” Justin whispered as he seized my right wrist and cupped his hand around my throat.

Gasping for air, I dug my fingernails into his skin, but it was to no avail. Keeping a tight grip on my neck, he easily lifted me to my feet as if I were nothing more than a rag doll.

“I never wanted to harm you, Dharma,” he whispered. “I wanted to make a life with you. I wanted to marry you and fill our lives with happiness and children. That way we would never be alone again.”

His eyes glistened as he spoke. Attempting to take advantage of his emotions, I managed to gasp, “We can still—”

Justin grimaced and tightened his grip on my throat, silencing me. “No, we can’t. Not now. There have been too many obstacles and too much has happened. If your friend wasn’t such a nosey bitch—”

An odd sound escaped my throat.

He focused on me. “She was determined to keep us apart, Dharma. I did what I had to do.”

I forced myself to swallow back my emotions. I had to keep him talking so I could buy time and figure out how to escape. His grip relented enough for me to whisper, “Toby?”

“He saw me that night,” Justin answered my implied question. “I couldn’t risk him blabbing to the cops. But apparently he survived, so I’ll be paying him a visit once I’m done with ~you~.” He jolted me, slamming my head into the wall. I cried out in pain.

“But if I’m gone, then who will bear your children?” I begged.

For a moment, his eyes flickered, and for a moment, I was hopeful. But then the sapphire light darkened as he said, “I’m not stupid, Dharma.”

My mind scrambled to think of a way to regain control of the conversation, but Justin no longer seemed interested in what I had to say. He was studying the wall, as if calculating how much force he would have to use to crack my skull against it.

I opened my mouth, not ready to give up just yet, but found myself unable to utter a sound as his fingers constricted around my airway again.

“Don’t try to speak,” he urged me. “I promise I will make this quick.”

He cocked his head so that he could meet my gaze, like he wanted to witness the light leave my eyes. I squeezed my lids shut, determined to deprive him of the pleasure. As he pulled my head back, I braced myself for the blow I was about to receive.

Instead, I heard a sharp crack.

Surprised, my eyes flew open, and I saw that Justin appeared as stunned as I felt as his free hand grasped the back of his head. Before I had a chance to wrap my mind around what had just happened, a slurred voice spoke.

“Let her go, Justin.”

Justin bared his teeth as he released me, allowing me to fold to the floor like a puppet who’d had its strings cut. He hardly glanced at me before he turned to face his assailant.

“Toby, I was meaning to come visit you,” he said. “It was nice of you to save me the trip.”

“This ends here,” Toby warned Justin in a trembling voice as he backed away, limping on a bandaged leg. He swung the tire iron so Justin would have to keep his distance.

“Well, who would have guessed,” Justin baited him. “Toby Conners isn’t the big pussy I had taken him for.”

Toby swung his weapon again as Justin advanced, but to his surprise, Justin caught the iron and tore it from Toby’s grip.

Toby stared at him, dumbstruck, but before either boy had a chance to move, another voice rang out from the cellar steps.

“Everybody, freeze!”

Justin stood back and gazed up at Detective Dunn, wide-eyed. I could see the wheels turning in his head as his expression softened, and he opened his arms helplessly.

“Jessie!” he proclaimed. “Perfect timing, as always.”

Unrelenting, Detective Dunn lifted her revolver and repeated her order. “Drop the tire iron, Justin.”

Justin’s eyes darted around the room. Realizing that he was out of options, his mask slipped, and his face contorted into the expression of a cornered animal.

His gaze traveled to each one of us, suddenly landing on Detective Dunn. Recognizing her as the primary threat, he leapt towards her, swinging the tire iron at a downward angle.

Detective Dunn rocked back on her heels and lifted her weapon. A loud bang rang out, and suddenly the basement was filled with the unmistakable smell of gunpowder.

Justin stumbled backwards, his weapon clattering across the concrete floor as he fell back. Blood blossomed across the center of his chest.

Suddenly, my eyes rolled back into my head.

My vision swam as I sank into darkness. I wasn’t afraid. I welcomed the cool calm, judging it to be a reprieve from the adrenaline-rushed existence I had been living for the past forty-eight hours.

Unfortunately, my respite didn’t last long, because suddenly I was standing in a room I didn’t recognize.

It had once been a grand room. But now, paint was peeling from the walls, and the carpet was threadbare. Though several lamps filled the room, their brightness was dimmed by a noxious cloud, heavy and looming overhead.

But my fear of it was forgotten when I noticed the still figure who lay in the center of the room.

Rosie Johnson lay face up on the carpet, her lovely blonde locks fanned out around her face and her large, blue eyes still and unmoving. I knew she was dead before red liquid began to flow from her chest and soak her shirt.

Behind her, Jacob Johnson was pacing the room and beating the side of his head with what appeared to be a pistol. I recoiled as he paused and gazed at me.

“I’m sorry,” I began, raising my hands, but I had no sooner made the gesture than I realized he was not looking at me but through me.

I glanced over my shoulder and noticed that a toddler with golden hair stood behind me. I gasped, then looked back at Jacob, who regarded the tot with an odd expression.

For a moment I feared that he would shoot the child next, and though I was certain I wasn’t solid, I side-stepped, hoping to shield the little boy from harm.

Jacob’s eyes were wide and wild, and for a moment he lowered his gun to the boy’s head, but then he abruptly turned and exited through a door that led outside.

The child appeared uncertain as he approached Rosie, his eyes nervously glancing at the door as if afraid his uncle would return.

As he drew closer to her body, he suddenly lost interest in the door as he gazed down at his mother. “Mama?” he said as he squatted beside her and cupped her face in his hands.

When she didn’t respond, he curled up beside her and stuck his thumb in his mouth.

The boy’s eyes remained wide and unseeing as the cloud began to descend like a mist, and I could do nothing but watch in silent horror as the darkness caused the child’s eyes to fog, sucking any remaining light from them.

I cried out in anguish and pleaded with the universe to return me to the calm absence of light, and for a moment, I thought I had received my wish.

But then someone was calling my name.

I blinked away tears, clearing away the vision from the past as my own stark reality welcomed my return. “Dharma?” Toby said as my eyelids fluttered.

As grateful as I was to discover that he was alive and well, I felt an urgency to see someone else.

“I want my mother,” I uttered as I burst into tears.