Layna

After getting the okay from my doctor, we left for Toronto the following afternoon, arriving in the evening. Tom and Steve were also coming down, but they weren't able to fly in until the day of the funeral.

As Derek drove us in our rental car through the city, I couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia. I was back in the city that I had grown up in, and seeing everything again for the first time in a while caused a warmth to spread through my chest. It was December now, and a light snow had started to fall as we drove, making everything look just that much more beautiful.

But as happy I was to be back home, it also brought me that much closer to Timothy as well. When the case on him had gone to trial, he had pleaded not criminally responsible, and the judge had accepted the plea. He had been sent to a maximum security prison for the criminally insane just outside of Toronto, where he was getting treatment.

Dr. Jones words were running through my head, and I was at a loss for what I should do. I wanted desperately to bring it up with Derek and get his input, but I didn't want to burden him now when he was so emotionally compromised. He had just lost his father and was barely holding it together. I was scared that if I brought up anything to do with my kidnapping it could break what little control over his emotions that he had.

There was a comfortable silence in the car as we drove towards Derek's childhood home. Mrs. Jackson had invited us to stay at her house during the time we would be back in Toronto and we had accepted. I knew Derek missed his mom, and to be honest so did I. Talking to her over the phone, and the occasional Skype session wasn't the same as having her physically in front of us, so we wanted to be able to spend as much time with her as we could while we were in the city.

When we arrived at the house, Derek pulled into the driveway and parked the car. I got out stretching my sore back, and couldn't help but look over to where my old house was. It looked the same as I remembered it, but also completely different. A warm hand on my waist broke me out of my reverie, and I smiled softly up at Derek.

With Derek carrying our suitcase, we made our way up the path to the house, and I rang the doorbell. It only took a minute for the door to be opened, and I was greeted by a very enthusiastic Adelia Jackson who immediately pulled me into her arms, efficiently squeezing the life out of me.

"Oh Layna, I've missed you so much!" She said happily. She looked the same as I remembered; Derek had gotten his dark hair and light eyes from his mom. The only change I could tell was that her eyes had dark circles under them from lack of sleep. I couldn't help but hug her a little tighter, unable to imagine the pain she was going through.

"Thanks mom," he huffed as he made the way up the walkway. "Nice to see that I'm loved around here."

I ignored him, and pulled back from the hug, "It's nice to see you again too, though I wish they weren't under these circumstances."

"I know," she said sadly, resting her hand on my stomach. "But, in a couple of months this little munchkin is going to be here, so that's a beautiful miracle that I get to look forward to."

"You're going to be the best grandma that this baby could ever have," Derek said, putting down his suitcases and wrapping his arms around his mother.

"That's because I'm going to be the only grandmother."

"That is also true," he said, a smile on his face as he placed a kiss on the crown of her head.

Shaking her head while she tried to hide her own smile, she ushered us into the living room where we made ourselves comfortable on the couch. Adelia made us some tea, and we sat together, catching up until late in the night. When we could all barely keep our eyes open, we said goodnight, and made our way to our respective bedrooms.

That night I fell into a deep sleep, lulled by the familiarity of Derek's old room, and the gentle beating of his heart as I rested on his chest.

***

I woke up the next morning to the light filtering in from the curtains in Derek's old room. Stretching out sleepily I moved my hand trying to find him, frowning when I realized the bed was empty.

The door to the bathroom opened as I sat up and Derek came out, a towel in his hand as he dried his hair.

"Good morning," he said with a smile, and I smiled back sleepily. He came and sat down on the bed beside me, running his thumb along my cheek. "How did you sleep?"

"Good. Where are you going?" I asked him as I realized he was fully clothed.

"My mom wants me to come with her for some last minute funeral arrangements. It shouldn't be long, maybe a couple of hours," he said as he pulled me into his arms, and rested his hands on my stomach. "Will you be okay by yourself?"

I rolled my eyes even though he couldn't see it. "Yes, Derek, I'm pregnant not an invalid."

He chuckled and turned me to face him so that he could kiss me softly. "I'll see you later, babe. We're taking my mom's car, so if you need to go anywhere you can use the rental."

I gave him another kiss as a goodbye and watched him as he left the room. I waited until I heard the door close downstairs before throwing the covers off of me. I quickly got dressed, throwing my hair in a messy ponytail, before grabbing the keys to the car. I punched in the address on the GPS and I was ready to go.

It took about an hour for me to pull up the large building in front of me. It was a light grey colour, and looked completely normal except for the chain-link fence that surrounded the building, with several signs letting me know that there was an electric current running through it. There were armed guards positioned around the entrance, each one intimidating with their blank stares and strong stances.

With my heart pounding in my chest, I lined up at the entrance where I could see some other visitors as well. I watched as each person got their belongings checked, and walked through an x-ray machine, similar to those at the airport. When I got to the front of the line, they checked me thoroughly, and then directed me to another area where I would have to sign in.

I wiped my hands on my jeans as I got closer, trying to dry them of the moisture that was collecting on them. When I got to the check in desk, the lady there smiled at me.

She was dressed in light blue scrubs with little butterflies that looked out of place in the stark white of the building. She was an older lady, with kind brown eyes, and grey hair that was pulled back into a neat bun. On her nametag Leila was written in bold, black letters and there was another little butterfly after her name.

"Hello there, sweetie! I'm just going to need your name, and the name of the resident you're here to see."

I cleared my throat before I spoke, "My name's Layna Jackson, and I'm here to see Timothy Thornton."

She typed something on the computer in front of her then, with another smile, she pointed me in the direction of a large room, where she told me to wait while they brought the patient out. The room was white, as all the walls in this institute and several tables were spread around the room where the visits happened. There were only a couple of tables occupied, so I sat down at an empty table near the back of the room and watched the seconds tick by on the clock on the wall. The longer I sat waiting there, the harder my heart pounded in my chest, and I just wanted to run out of there. I felt like I was going to be sick.

This had been a bad idea. I had tried to take the advice my therapist had given me, trying to get some closure from what happened to me, but I realized that I shouldn't have come.

I was just about to get up and bolt when the door across the room from me opened, and in walked Timothy with two guards leading him along. His hands were shackled together connected to a long chain that lead to the leg irons around his ankles.

In his hands he carried a rolled up stack of paper that he clutched tightly as he shuffled across the room. His blond hair was longer now; it went just below his shoulders, and was held back in a ponytail. He had also grown a beard, which was something I wasn't used to seeing on his face. While I knew him, he had always been clean shaven.

When he saw me waiting for him, his face lit up like a kids on Christmas day. He was smiling broadly at me, but I was so stunned that I could only stare back at him. He sat down at the table, and the guards unshackled his hands, but attached the cuffs on his feet to the table so that he couldn't move. Then, they left without another word.

"This is a surprise," he said, his usual husky tone reminding me of years before when we were dating. I curled my hands into fists under the table to try and stop the shaking.

"I thought since I was in town I would pay you a visit," I said, unable to bring my voice above a whisper.

"Ah yes, I heard about Derek's father. Such a ...tragedy. Please, send him my deepest condolences."

"How did you know about that," I croaked, my heart banging against my ribcage in fear. This was a bad idea. A very bad idea.

He leaned in close to me, a smirk on his face. "Leila sneaks me in the paper every night if I have good behavior during the day. I like being informed of what's going on in the outside world."

Leaning back, he smoothed out the papers on the table in front of him, and pulled out a pencil from his pocket. I could see that the paper was crammed with writing, so small that I couldn't make out what was written.

"I'm better now you know," he said, focused on the paper. He was adding words to a tiny, open space at the bottom of the sheet. "I've been taking my medications, and I don't see my dad anymore. The urges to hurt you have gone away as well so you don't need to be afraid."

"That's...great I guess. I'm glad," I said but my mind was going crazy. He seemed a little odd, but there was no evidence of the craziness that everyone claimed he had.

"Can I ask you something?" I said, relaxing my hands so that they rested flat against my thighs.

"Anything."

"Why did you do it? Why did you take me, and all those other girls?"

He looked at me, his face deathly calm. "Because I had to, my Layna. But don't worry, you weren't anything like them. They meant nothing to me, but you...you're special. You passed the test. And when I get out of here, you and I will be together again."

I stood up, my whole body shaking; I had to leave and I had to do it right now. "It was great seeing you but I have somewhere I need to be."

Timothy stared at me as I stood up, his eyes narrowing at my stomach.

"You're a liar!" he yelled, his voice echoing around the room. His hand tightened around the pencil as his eyes darkened with anger, "You promised!"

Before I could even comprehend what was happening, he had whipped the pencil at my face, catching me in the cheek. Within seconds he was standing up and struggling against the chains the held him to the table. He yelled profanities as he tried to get towards me.

Guards rushed over from all around the room as he kept yelling and several of them held him down as another unlocked him from the table. He continued fighting against the guards that dragged him away. I was frozen in terror, unable to move from my spot.

"I waited for you, you stupid whore! You promised me that we would be together! Just wait you bitch, just wait!"

The guards pulled him from the room, but I could still hear his muffled scream down the hallway. Leila, the nurse who had checked me in came over to me and led me to an unused office. She gave me some water, and sat beside me on one of the chairs. I watched the water slosh around in the cup as my hands shook.

"Is there anyone who we can call for you, sweetheart? I don't want to let you drive home by yourself."

"My husband, please," I whispered. I needed him right now.

She nodded, and I have her his number and she left to go call him. I was alone for a while, and I wasn't sure how much time had passed before Derek came bursting into the room. He pulled me into his arms when he saw me, but didn't say anything.

He pulled away, his finger running over the scratch on my cheek, before shaking his head. "Let's go," he said, his voice gruff.

He led me to the rental car, and I assumed that his mom had dropped him off here when he got the call. He didn't say a word as I got in, just stared ahead as he started the engine. His hands clutched the steering wheel so tight that his knuckles were turning white, and I was afraid that he would snap the steering wheel right off.

He started driving, the only sound being the soft humming of the engine. The silence was deafening, and I was afraid I'd scream if it was not broken soon.

"Derek—" I started.

"Don't. Just...don't," he said sharply.

"Please, let me just—"

"You know I've been trying to...wrap my head around this. Ever since I got the call I've been trying to think of a logical reason why you would come here. Why you would want to come to face the person that almost murdered you? It doesn't make any sense at all to me."

"Because I didn't know, okay! I didn't fucking know and it was stupid and I know that but I couldn't just take everyone's word for it. When I knew him he wasn't like that, he was one of the nicest people I knew. I don't know what he became," I finished in a whisper, my voice cracking over the words.

"There was a reason that we didn't go into detail about what happened, Layna! He's not that guy that you knew; he never was."

"I thought it would help. My therapist thought it would too. I just needed to know."

"He hurt you, Layna. He's in a fucking mental institution and shackled up and he still managed to hurt you," Derek said, his voice low. "What if it had been worse? I saw what he was capable of, and I can't see it happen to you again."

"Derek—" He shook his head for me to stop, but I suddenly got so mad that I couldn't stand it, "You don't think I know what he capable of? I fucking lived it, and I'm still living it to this day! I live every day of my life knowing what he did to me, even though I can't remember a thing! Do you know how crazy that makes me feel? Having all these scars, and yet not remembering how the hell they got there? I'm going insane Derek, and I thought this was my chance to stop that!" I was yelling by the time I finished my speech.

I was breathing heavily by the time I finished, on the verge of hyperventilating. We had stopped in front of Adelia's house, so I quickly wrenched open the door, the cool air hitting my feverish skin and relaxing me a little as I stumbled out of the car.

"Layna," Derek said, getting out of the car and coming towards me, but I stopped him, holding my hand out in front of me.

"I need to calm down, and to do that I need you to leave for a little. I'm not continuing this conversation with you right now; I can't. We both need to clear our heads so please, just leave."

I didn't wait for him to respond, just made my way inside the house, relieved when I heard the car start and drive away. Adelia was waiting for me inside, and all it took was a look in her direction and I burst into tears.

"Oh honey," she murmured, stepping towards me and hugging me. I wrapped my arms around her waist, sobbing into her shoulder.

***

I lay in bed later that night, hugging a pillow to my chest as I waited for Derek to come home. I wanted to talk to him before I fell asleep; I had calmed down a bit and I was ready for the conversation we had to have. I didn't want to go to bed mad at each other.

Even though we talked a lot about what happened to me, I had never revealed to him how crazy it was making me. I guess it was my stupid way of protecting him. It had been so long since it happened and I just wanted to convince him, and myself, that I was actually getting better. That maybe I wouldn't have this hanging over my head for the rest of my life.

Just as I was on the verge of sleep I felt the bed dip, and I was pulled into someone's arms. I smiled.

"I'm sorry, Derek, really sorry," I said, and he hummed an agreement. His hands roamed over my belly and froze resting there. We lay there for a bit longer before I realized something.

The hands that were resting on my side were definitely not my husband's hands, and when I subtly looked down, I could see that the forearm resting against my side was completely bare, confirming my suspicions. There were no traces of the tattoos Derek had inked on both arms.

Just as I was about to run out of the bed, the intruder pinched the side of my stomach hard enough to bruise, and roughly turned my body so that he was straddling me just below my belly.

"You broke your promise, Layna, and now I'm going to break you."

I screamed as loud as I could, but a hand covered my mouth and plugged my nose so I couldn't breathe. I thrashed around, but the hold was firm.

As I slipped into unconsciousness, I saw a glimpse of my intruder's face in the moonlight shining in from the window.

It was Timothy.