Chapter 24

“Take whatever you want, just please don’t hurt me,” I begged. He looked at me for a minute.

“Turn the light on,” he ordered. I turned and flipped on the closet light. I looked back at him wondering what he would want me to do next. “You’re a beautiful girl. Maybe we can arrange something,” he said running his hand through my hair. I closed my eyes and swallowed. This couldn’t be happening to me right now.

“The money’s in the dresser in the top drawer. I have all my jewelry here in the closet,” I told him. He laughed.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get it all. I just think there’s something else I want at the moment.” I felt like I was going to be sick as he looked me up and down.

“Loralei?” I heard Sidney call from downstairs. I hadn’t even heard his car or the door open.

“Get rid of him,” the man ordered. I started to walk out of the room. “I’ll be listening and watching. If you say anything about me or try to leave, I’ll kill you both.”

He cocked the gun to show me that he’d really do it. I turned and walked out of the room and down the stairs. Sidney was standing at the bottom of them waiting for me. I walked past him and walked into the hallway where I had a table with a pad of paper and a pen on it. It was just out of the guy’s sightline.

“You can’t just walk in here whenever you want,” I said doing my best to sound angry and act like nothing was happening. I heard my voice shaking.

“You were right. I never give you a chance to explain so I came back to give you that chance.” I wrote a quick note as I kept talking.

“I’m sorry, I’m sick of this. Maybe the age thing is just too much. I expect more out of you than I should. Maybe you’re just not old enough or mature enough to handle a relationship right now.”

“What are you saying? Lor, let’s talk this out.” I quietly ripped the note off the pad and folded it into a tiny square.

“I’m sorry. I just can’t do this anymore. We’re not working out.” I walked past him to the front door. “I think you should leave now.” He looked hurt and stunned but I had to do whatever I could to make sure he was safe.

“Babe, please. Give me a chance here. I’m doing my best. Don’t leave it like this.” I fought back the tears that were threatening to start falling down my face and opened the door. Then I grabbed his hand slipping him the note and pushed him through the door onto the front porch.

“Get out.” With those words I shut the door in his face. Please read the note, Sid, please. I turned and saw the man step out of the shadows at the top of the stairs.

“Okay, let’s finish this.”

Reluctantly I walked up the stairs. He put the gun to my back and pushed me towards the bedroom. Instead of going into my bedroom I walked into a guest room. If this was going to happen I didn’t want to hate my bedroom for the rest of my life. He followed me in.

“What do you want me to do?” I asked.

“We’ll start with you taking that shirt off,” he answered.





Sidney stood looking at the door for a minute in shock. Had she just broken up with him? He couldn’t believe this was happening. Hadn’t she been the one that wanted to talk? Now she was the one not giving him a chance. He turned off the porch and walked back to his car. He got in and threw the piece of paper she’d put in his hand in the cup holder. He started the car and backed out of the driveway. He started down the street but stopped and pulled over. Why had she given him that piece of paper? He unfolded it and read what she’d written.

Guy with gun upstairs. Call the police.

His heart stopped as he reread it. Then he grabbed his phone and did what she asked him to do.





“I said take your shirt off,” the man said holding the gun up at me. The tears fell as I shakily removed my sweater. Why was this happening to me? He pulled his ski mask off to reveal a 40-something balding man. He looked at me appreciatively. “Now the pants.”

“Do I really have to do this?” I asked. I wanted to waste as much time as possible hoping Sidney had called the police.

“Shut up and take them off!” he yelled taking a step closer, the gun pointed at my face. I pulled my pants off. He walked over to me then and started groping me. I just stood there and let him do what he wanted. I was still hoping I would make it out of this alive. “On the bed,” he demanded.

I did what he asked and laid down on the bed. He put the gun down at the end of the bed out of my reach. Then he pulled my panties and bra off leaving me laying there naked. My body shook with sobs as I watched him pull his pants down.

“Please don’t do this,” I pleaded as he moved over me. He grabbed me by the throat, choking me.

“Open your mouth again and I’ll snap your neck.” I shut my mouth and my eyes and clenched my fists as I felt him invade me. I thought of Sidney and wondered if I’d ever see him again, if I’d ever be able to tell him that I didn’t mean any of what I had said to him. That’s when I heard the sirens. I felt his body stiffen and I knew he heard them too. The sirens got louder and I heard cars pulling up in front of my house. “What the fuck?” the man yelled getting up and running to the window buttoning up his pants, bringing the gun with him.

I took the chance and jumped out of bed. I ran out of the room before he had time to realize what was going on. I ran into the room I used as an office, shutting the door behind me. I locked it and grabbed a bathrobe out of the closet. I didn’t know what I was going to do now. I heard the man cursing at me and pounding on the door.

I looked at the window and knew it was my only chance. I ran over and opened it, getting hit with a blast of the cold February wind. I hesitated before I stepped out onto the roof. There had just been a snowstorm and my roof was covered. It was slanted and it was going to be slippery. It didn’t help that I was afraid of heights. I hesitated and thought of Sidney again. I knew if I wanted to see him or any of my family and friends again I’d have to go out that window.

As I stood there trying to get up the courage to do it there was a gunshot. I turned and saw the man had shot a hold in the door. I had no idea where the bullet had gone and knew I had to get out. As I was stepping out onto the roof I heard another gunshot followed by a searing pain in my left side. I saw the robe turning red quickly. I ignored the pain mostly due to adrenaline and stepped out onto the roof almost sliding down. The snow was cold and my feet were already getting numb. I closed the window behind me and made my way as far from the window as I dared hearing another gunshot. Then I huddled there hoping that the police found the man before he found me.

I sat on the roof shivering from the cold. I looked at the blood that had soaked through the robe. The snow around me was quickly turning red. I feared that the bullet had hit an artery and I was in danger of bleeding to death or that it had hit an organ. I could no longer feel my feet and I was quickly losing feeling in my legs altogether. I started to feel lightheaded and I knew I needed to find a way to stop the bleeding. Then again, if I had really lost Sid I didn’t want to survive this. I’d lost him once and I couldn’t bear to lose him again.

I heard a commotion in my house. Then I heard someone break through the door. I didn’t make a sound afraid the man was running into the room to try to find me before the police did. I could hear shouting but I couldn’t hear what was being said. I closed my eyes and pictured Sidney and imagined that his arms were around me and everything was okay.





Sidney stood on the street being held back by the police as they moved toward the house. He was terrified of what had happened or was happening to Loralei. He tried not to think about it, but every bad case scenario ran through his head. His eyes filled with tears. He was scared he was going to lose her tonight. He tried to stay positive as the police mobilized. He saw some head to the backyard to block off all the exits.

He couldn’t believe that this was happening. He should have known something was wrong when Loralei was kicking him out. She hadn’t been acting right and he should never have let her kick him out. He knew Loralei wouldn’t break up with him over something so trivial without as much as a conversation. He knew her better than that. How could he be so stupid? He never should have reacted the way he had without hearing what she had to say. If he’d let her explain they would probably have gone to his place together and this wouldn’t be happening. Then he heard the first gunshot.

The police rushed forward, pushing into the house. Sidney couldn’t breathe. He heard the second and third gunshots and he felt like his heart stopped. Not Loralei. Please don’t let Loralei be dead. He hated that there was nothing that he could do. All he could do was wait. He felt nauseous. He heard more gunshots after the police had entered the house and he couldn’t help but feel that something had gone horribly wrong. As much as he fought it the thought that he wasn’t going to see Loralei alive ever again bombarded his brain. Police began exiting the house and paramedics rushed in. It was a disheartening sight.

“After we shot him we got into the room he had the woman trapped in. There was blood everywhere,” Sidney overheard one of the officers say solemnly. The tears that were threatening to spilled down his face. Oh, God, the guy had killed her. He fell to the ground as he tried to catch his breath. This could not be happening to him. How had he found the woman he knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with just to have her taken away like that?





As the commotion died down I started to wonder what was going on. I felt nauseous and lightheaded from the loss of blood. I knew if I didn’t do something soon I was either going to bleed to death or get hypothermia. It had been below freezing before I went to the game. I couldn’t imagine what it had dropped down to by now.

As I huddled there on the roof I wondered what Sidney was doing. He’d obviously called the police but was he still here waiting to see if I was okay or had he gone home? When he’d come back to talk was he going to forgive me or was he going to tell me it was over? I began to struggle to stay conscious but focused on Sidney. If I really focused maybe I wouldn’t pass out.

I realized I had two options. I could stay out on the roof and hope someone found me before I bled out or I could try to get back inside. I decided to take the chance and try to get back inside. At the very least I could hopefully find something to stop the bleeding. Then I could find Sidney, I could try to explain. I stood up but I was so weak and my legs were so frozen that they didn’t support my weight. I began to slip off the roof. I thought of Sidney as I felt myself falling through the air.