Chapter Text
Chapter 1: This Is A Normal Family
Location: El Paso, Texas
Year: 2030
Normal POV:
Ruth Jimenez had a life once.
It wasn’t glamorous or even what most would call nice, but it had been a life she created for herself and it had come with an unlimited amount of freedom, freedom that she realizes that she had taken for granted.
But how was she ever supposed to know that a day would come when simple things such as the choice to work, what she wore, the decision on what to make for dinner, whom she could communicate with, and even the ability to step outside for a moment of fresh air was dictated by someone other than herself. And even worse she was f……..
“It’s over cooked…..”
Ruth’s entire body jumped back. Her empty eyes that had been staring out the window came back to focus on her present environment. The process of being frightened from her thoughts had caused her to drop the spatula she had been holding into the oil filled pan in front of her- fiery droplets of oil splashed upward onto her shirt and exposed skin.
“Papá doesn’t like his meat overcooked…..” The young girl continued to speak matter-of-factly unfazed by the woman’s pained mumbles or urgency in cleaning hot grease from her skin and clothes.
Ruth lowers the heat under her chicken cutlets and drops the cloth on the counter next to her. It took everything she had to hold in her annoyance. “Laura please go back to the living room! Dinner will be done soon.”
Laura’s expression twists in ire for being dismissed so flippantly, but after a beat she exits the kitchen as silently as she had entered it.
Another three minutes pass before Ruth feels like she could properly breath and return to making dinner. Laura had been right about her overcooking the cutlet and she’s grateful that it was only one piece. She would take it for herself and hope he didn’t notice. With another sigh Ruth forces herself to stay present- there were two more cutlets to fry, potatoes to cut, and gravy to make. She didn't have time to be slipping away into daydreams of self pity.
Thirty minutes later Ruth’s setting up the table and calling Laura to go wash her hands. It was as she was pulling a couple of bottles of water and beer from the fridge when the front door of the farm home slams open.
The change in Ruth’s demeanor is instant. She wishes it wasn’t, but it was a reaction beyond her control. Every hair on her body stands up, her stomach knots into itself, her feet quake, and her eyes begin to water at the corners.
‘It’s okay……’ Ruth mentally soothes herself, controlling the pace of her breathing. Taking a few shaky steps she gets herself to the dinning table to set the bottles down and takes hold of the back of one of the chairs knowing she has seconds to compose herself.
She hears Laura excitedly calling out ‘Papa’, she hears his low and gruff voice say something her ringing ears can’t quite make out, and then the thud of his boot clad footsteps. One, two, three……it only takes twelve steps for him to get to her.
Nine…..
Ten…….
Eleven……..
Twe……..
Ruth pulls herself up from over the chair's top rail, standing as straight as she possibly can, her hands move to rest behind her back, and an exagerated agreeable smile plasters itself across her face.
A man enters the kitchen. He’s dressed in a cheap off black two piece suit with brown work boots that don’t match the attire, but it all does well in hiding his powerful physique underneath. He isn’t much taller than Ruth, but he is much older and intimidating. His appearance is weathered and scarred, but his salt and pepper hair and beard is well kept.
In one hand is a plastic bag with the logo of the local liquor store on it, and Laura is holding onto his other hand.
“Welcome home Logan. Dinners ready.”
Logan lets go of Laura’s hand approaching Ruth he takes her by the back of her shirt pulling her flush against his chest. The kiss is deep, and slightly rough, and it might have been something that would have caused her to melt in her teen years when she fantisized about love. It might have been something that would have made her adult self weak in the knees if it wasn’t him agressively man-handling her. The smell and taste of cigarettes and liquor didn't do him any favors either as both tempted her gag reflexes.
Closing her eyes and holding down the bile building in her throat Ruth lets him kiss her knowing what trying to push him away will lead to.
“What’s for dinner?”
It takes a minute for Ruth to answer. Partially because she needed to catch her breath, and partially because she needed to turn her back to him to wipe away his taste.
“Chicken cutlets, mushroom gravy, and roasted potatoes.”
He always told her what he wanted for dinner before he left for work, so she couldn’t understand why he always asked when he came back.
“Sounds good.” Logan places the bag in the fridge and he and Laura gather at the dinner table. Ruth serves the two first before she herself can sit to join them.
Her plate of food is much smaller than the two of them. Not only because they eat significantly more than the average person, but she rarely ever had an apitite these days and any food she ate she had to force herself to keep down.
Dinner is filled with small talk. About Logan’s day, about what homework Laura did and what shows she watched on television. Ruth only answers when directly spoken to.
The less she says…..the smaller she makes herself…..the easier it is to get through the day in his presence.
“It’s dry.” Laura lifts up her fork with a piece of cutlet on it and waves it in front of her face.
“I’m sorry I…..” Ruth looks towards Logan, her mind scrambling for an excuse as to why but instead of a scowling coming towards her it goes to the ten year old.
“It’s fine. Your mother has a home cooked meal for every night. Show her some appreciation.” Logan's voice is gruff and direct between the bites of his own food.
Laura appears to be as suprised as Ruth with the tone her father had taken with her. She pouts but apologies and continues eating the food in front of her but not without making a face.
Ruth hadn’t expected that. Usually he’d get angry at her for not doing something to his standard or doing something that caused Laura to complain. And if the latter was out of sight he'd even become violent. She can't remember Logan ever reprimanding Laura. She was sure he’d let her get away with murder.
Dinner finishes in relative silence, and once done Logan and Laura make their way towards the living room while Ruth stays back to clear the table and puts away any leftovers for tomorrow's lunch. Ruth doesn't have to take a look into the living room to see the dynamic at play as it rarely shifts.
Laura is sat on the beaten leather sofa and Logan on a love seat that matches nothing else in the room. Hardly anything in the house came with a matching set. Most nights they found themselves sitting in front of the television watching the news or some outdated television show that fascinated the ten year old.
In the earlier days Ruth would be glued to the news hoping, praying that a picture of her would show up. That the anchor would solemnly report that she was missing and give details of her search party and a number to contact if anyone knew about her wearabouts. That hope died after two months of nothing and she hardly payed attention to anything they watched anymore.
After finishing up in the kitchen, Ruth brings Logan a glass full of whisky and takes a seat on his lap. One hand holds his glass and the other wraps around her stiff waist, resting his nose at the back of her head.
Ruth allows for him to pet her and sniff at her between his long gulps of whisky as she escapes to the back of her mind, only becoming present again when she needs to refill his glass, and once more when he is ready to retire for the night.
Usually around ten- but much later on the weekends. When he’s had his fill, Logan will push her off of him wordlessly and make his way to the bathroom to take a piss, sometimes shower, and then make his way towards the bedroom.
Him turning in for the night would signal to Ruth that it was time to start her own nightly routine. She’d pull Laura from the television (some nights were harder than others), clean her up, help her change into her pajamas, get her into bed, fix up the living room, wash the dishes, take out the trash and take care of her own personal hygiene.
Never once has Ruth been in a rush to get through her routine, but she knows if she takes too long he’ll come searching for her and that’s never a good thing.
It’s past 11:30 when she enters their shared room. It’s an act of bravery for Ruth every night that she forces her steps to take her in that direction. The only lights come from the dim bulbs of the lamp and he’s splayed out in the middle of the queen sized bed in nothing but his boxers, eyes closed and body far too still. An optimistic part of her hopes that he had somehow died in the half hour since she had last seen him. There should be no way that he was able to drink so much and still have healthy and functioning internal organs.
“She in bed?” He questions, eyes still closed.
“Yes.”
He grunts and lets out a deep exhale. Ruth continues hovering near the door. The amount of anxiety that consumes her should be enough to give her a heart attack, but it somehow hasn’t. Some nights were good, most weren’t. But there were rarely ever any outward signs to let her know what sort of night it would be between them.
“C’mere.”
The distance from the door to the bed is a short one but for Ruth it feels like crossing a mile long highway. Slowly she lays herself down on the small available space on the left side of the bed, and just as she does, he’s already rolling over and pulling her under him. He’s squeezing her sides and breathing her in but nothing else comes. If something were to happen it would be almost instantly- no foreplay or nice words.
“I’m tired……” He mumbles.
The relief she feels allows her to ease in his arms just slightly.
Ruth says nothing. She rarely ever knows what to say to him especially when they’re alone together at night like this. Most nights are quiet, but some nights he talks about things she doesn’t understand and people she doesn’t think are alive any longer. Ruth never adds anything of substance to his pillow talk and he doesn’t seem to either notice or care, for the exception of one part.
“You’re a good wife. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
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The days hardly ever vary for Ruth. There’s a routine, an expectation, and for reasons of fear and survival she sticks to it exactly. The only times things changed were the days in which Logan was consumed by his foul moods, and while they had been few and far in between in their time together, Ruth lived in anticipation of them.
Not that she had the power to do anything once they aroused.
It was a weekend and Logan rarely worked on the weekends. The days he was home would either be spent with him locked away in his bedroom or on the porch making his way through the house's liquor stock. Sometimes he would work on the limos motor or do some sort of work on the property. Anytime he found himself in the house his would follow her around like a hawk stalking prey.
That weekend Logan had woken up just after one in the afternoon and called Laura to take her out to town. Ruth watches them drive away from the window of the kitchen and she gets a rare moment of peace. A moment where she can openly cry and feel sorry for herself.
It wasn’t uncommon for Logan to take Laura out to town with him, but he’s never offered to take her. He’s never said it, but she knows that he doesn’t trust her not to try something if he were to and she doesn’t trust herself either. The only reason she doesn’t try to run off when left on the property by herself is because it's too vast and all the main roads are too far to reach by foot. He always ends up back and finding her before she can get far. Same thing goes for anytime she tries to hide. His ability to to find her wherever she hides was terrifying, and so is the look in his hazel eyes when he’d drag her back screaming and blubbering.
Ruth doesn’t let herself wallow in her misery, at least not for too long. This moment was too rare to allow it to pass in that way. She needed to continue working on her escape plan. There was never a perfect timing for anything like this, but she’s never been this patient and methodical.
She’d been collecting the right ingredients, she has clothes and loose change stashed away, and she knows where she wants to go. She just had to get there in one piece.
Logan and Laura return two hours later.
At the back of the house Ruth is pulling down clothes from the clothing line and placing them into a plastic basket. She can hear the slamming of the car door, Logan’s footsteps, and Laura’s voice but she tries to push all the noise back and pretend that she is still alone for a little while longer, not knowing when the next time will be.
The sun is still heavy above her but its accompanied by a light breeze and something about the afternoon air reminds her about her childhood in New Mexico. Of when her grandmother would gather herself and her cousins to the backyard and cut each of them a piece of Valenciano melon with all of them always fighting for the biggest pieces.
Ruth is surprised to be able to pull forward a pleasant memory from her childhood but she holds onto it and she even starts smiling remembering how her favorite younger cousin would rest her head on her lap to take a nap and her other cousins would chase each other around.
The slamming of the back door pulls Ruth away from her joyous childhood memories and the only outward reaction she has to this is the smile slipping from her face. The heaviness of the footsteps automatically let her know that it’s Logan walking onto the back porch.
This isn’t something that immediately alarms her knowing that he always needs to know where she is and even have her within his line of sight whenever he’s home.
“Where is it!!?” It’s more of a growl than a scream, but it causes Ruth to freeze in her spot nonetheless. “Where is it!!?”
Logan rips away a yellow and dark purple bed sheet that Ruth had been standing behind bringing the two face to face. Seeing the barely repressed anger and the tense muscles of Logan’s neck and back, Ruth takes several steps back but has to stop when she almost trips over the basket of clothes.
“W-where i-is wha....?”
“What the fuck did you do with it!?”
Before Ruth can once again express her confusion and fear, Logan is grabbing her by the upper arm with enough strength to bruise. Ruth cries feeling his jagged nails dig into her skin, the pain made worse when she tries to pull away and he pulls her to him growling into her face.
“Don’t fucking lie to me!!!”
“I-I do-don…I wh-what…y…you…….” Ruth struggles to yell the words out at him, and whether in impatience or anger he back hands her with enough force that her eyes roll into the back of her head and for a moment everything goes blank.
The only thing which Ruth can process is the aching pain on the entirety of her left side of her face. It felt as if he had used a crowbar and not his hand.
“Nnnn….nnnhhhaaa……”
Whatever words Ruth tries to say comes out babbling. She doesn’t realize that she had fallen to the ground knocking over the basket of clothes, until Logan had yanked her up by her shoulders and began dragging her towards the house.
From her blurry peripheral vision she can see Laura peaking out at them from the kitchen, her expression hidden behind a pair of yellow sunglasses.
In a movement that continues to make her head spin Logan throws her into the bedroom slamming the door behind them. Ruth goes flying into the wooden post of the bed, stumbling back and hissing at the pain blooming through her left thigh.
“I didn’t do anything!”
“You’re fucking lying!”
Logan grabs Ruth by the back of the neck, while still on her knees he drags her across the room towards a faded wooden vertical chest that was the nicest piece of furniture within the house.
“Where the hell is it?”
The bottom drawer was open, filled completely by folded sheets.
Ruth’s eyes widened and a sense of dread passed through her. Her fingers clutch the top of the open drawer. The longer she stays quiet the tighter Logan’s hold becomes on her neck interfearing with her ability to breath.
She had been cleaning, maybe snooping, but mostly trying to find space and make life slightly easier. The drawer had been empty with the exception of a torn, shredded, and bloodied navy blue and yellow suite. Upon first glance she had been barely able to make out what it was due to its state and when she could she couldn’t understand why he would own something like that. But then again she couldn’t understand a lot of the things that the man threateningly towering above her did.
But honestly she couldn’t have foreseen the furry that throwing out the suite would send him into. He usually never minded or even noticed when she moved things around or got rid of them.
“I-I threw it away.”
Logan’s fingers flexed around her neck, causing her to gasp and struggle and for a moment there was no doubt in her mind that he was about to break her neck.
“Please……please…..don’t…..I-I’m sorry……I didn’t know……I’ll get it back…..I’ll get it…..it…….back……don’t…….”
Ruth's eyes shut tightly, tears running down her face, and air struggling to make it through her windpipe. She can hear him cursing from above her and then his hand is no longer squeezing on the back of her neck.
He leaves the room as furiously as he had entered it with her. She slumps over shaking and crying into the drawer of sheets but she doesn’t move from her spot, fearing for his return and what that would bring with it.
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That evening Ruth didn’t cook dinner.
Logan had come back with the tattered and now repulsive smelling suit. Pushing her aside as if she had not even been there as he empties the sheets onto the floor and puts the suite back into its rightful place before slamming it shut and threatening that if she ever touched it again he’d ripped her head off.
Ruth’s tears didn’t last long but she spent the rest of the evening in their shared bed nursing her aching body. She thinks that at some point Laura had popped her head in but neither of them bothered her.
She doesn’t know what time Logan comes to bed, and she only cares because as soon as the door is closed he’s on top of her stripping her clothes away. He’s in her in less than ten seconds and she knows he thinks of it as a form of apology but it is only one more form of abuse which her body has to endure.
The ‘I love you’ he whispers means even less to her that night, and as soon as she hears his snoring she slips away from under him, finds a random towel to clean him from her, then finds her shirt and underwear and makes her way to the beat up sofa. It wasn’t good for her neck but she couldn’t imagine sleeping next to that monster tonight.
She knows that once morning comes that he would be more………cautious around her and less demanding of her to do her ‘wifely duties’. The days after his abusive attacks are the closest she gets to a break. But it would never last long.
‘We need a clock…….’ Ruth thinks to herself, laid on her back and staring at the ceiling. Both the interior and exterior of the home was engulfed by darkness and there was no way for her to accurately tell how much time has passed or how much more time is left until she has to wake up.
Ruth's groggy mind thinks that at some point she had started dozing off because of the way her body jerks and her eyes go flashing around the still dark room. A minute passes before she is able to comprehend that what had woken her up was a pained whimpering sound……an animal? At first Ruth thinks it was some wildlife that had hurt itself and made it to their front porch, but straining her ear the sound is too close.
A grunt escapes her when she stands up and looks around her before her ears perk up and she realizes where the sound is coming from. Carefully Ruth walks towards Laura’s bedroom. The girl doesn’t have a door, just a gray curtain that separates her space from the rest of the house. Ruth pushes the curtain open just enough for her to pass over the threshold. Laura’s simple room is engulfed by the light of a nightlight that is placed by the entrance.
Said girl is sitting in bed against the headboard with her head between her knees. The whimpering sound of someone holding back tears can not be denied and for a second Ruth doesn’t know what to do. She has never seen the girl cry before…..irritated, angry, destructive, all yeses but never sad.
Ruth takes two more steps inside when the girl's head flies up. The red around her eyes was a clear indication that she had been crying. The two watch one another with uncertainty but neither say anything. Eventually it is Ruth who makes the next move, walking to take a seat on the full sized bed next to Laura.
It takes a few more moments for Ruth to figure out what to say. Even though she spends the majority of her days with this child their interactions were never close or emotional.
“Did you have a nightmare?”
Laura nods yes.
“What was it about?” Laura looks away from Ruth, and the older woman can tell by the way the child's body tenses that it was something that her body remembers well. Another moment passes before Ruth tries to gently encourage a conversation. “I won’t tell anyone. Sometimes it helps to talk about the things that hurt us.”
“People hurt me.”
“In your nightmares? ”
“And in real life. They get mad at me for not doing what they want and punish me.”
Ruth wants to ask who.
She tries not to think about it often but there was the obvious fact that she doesn’t know much about Laura. She doesn’t know who her mother is. She doesn’t know where her mother is. She doesn’t even know if Logan is her real father.
Ruth thinks of asking some of these questions to Laura but she isn’t sure how much information she would openly share. And she’s scared that Logan would possibly hear. He had scarily good hearing, and there isn’t much that she says when he’s around that he doesn’t know.
Instead Ruth rubs Laura’s back and attempts to sympathize which isn’t hard. A bad person doing bad things to her is something she had to force herself to get accustomed to.
“I’m sorry that you ever had terrible people like that in your life. But you’re safe now.”
“I know.” Laura leans into Ruth’s touch. She had calmed down a lot in the last few minutes. For the first time since Ruth had come to live with them Laura was feeling genuine kindness from the woman who was supposed to be her new mother. Up until this moment she didn’t believe the older woman cared for her, but she never knew how to express that to her father because he was happy about bringing them a mother and wife. Laura didn’t want to make him sad by saying she didn’t like her.
“Papa says he’d never let anyone hurt me again.”
Ruth stiffened at the mention of Logan, and other thoughts began running through her mind. Her brain almost didn’t know how to string together the words to ask the pressing question on her mind.
“Has…..has Logan ever……has he hurt you before?”
“No. Papa always keeps me safe. He’s good.”
‘Good……He’s good……..’ The words play through Ruth’s mind on replay even when Laura slumps against her and eventually falls into slumber again. Despite the dull pain and exhaustion she couldn’t let go of said words long enough to rest. She had been making plans to escape since she had been brought to this hell on earth. She had even made a few unsuccessful attempts in the past and had plans to continue making as many attempts as it possibly took for her to attain her freedom.
But never in those attempts had she factored Laura. It was too risky and she seemed content with her father- if he was even her father……but there was also the real possibility that Laura was just as much of a victim to his insanity as she was. The biggest difference was that Ruth hadn’t bought into him. She knew what he was doing was wrong. She understood that he was the bad guy and had hope to one day escape.
But Laura was a child. Innocent and helpless. She didn’t know any better.
“I’m going to make sure you’re safe…..” Ruth mummers into the night, stroking a strand of hair from Laura’s face. Seeing her in this state of rest only caused her resolve to intensify. She was leaving and she was taking Laura with her.
She was going to get them as far away from El Paso and Logan as humanly possible and they were going to start a new life together.
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FLASHBACK:
Location: El Paso, Texas
Year: 2029
“Do you need a ride?”
“What!?” Ruth’s head whips to her side. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t noticed the man standing under the rain shelter besides her. She was far too aware of him when she stepped outside from the hospital, but she wasn’t expecting him to speak to her. She had never heard him speak before but his voice was what she imagined it would be. Deep, a bit gravelly, and a bit of an accent that she wouldn’t have expected from these parts.
“A ride? I can get ya where ya goin.”
“Thank you but I don’t think I’ll have enough money to pay you.”
“It’s fine. The buses stopped running for the night and I doubt you’ll make it far in this weather.”
Ruth’s eyes jump from the man in the two piece suit to the parking lot. The rain was pouring so hard that everything in front of her was blurring. The weather report had called for rain although not this bad and he was also right. There was no way she could walk home in this weather and she didn’t want to pay for a cab.
But should she take a ride from a virtual stranger?
“Are you sure?”
Logan doesn’t give a verbal response. He drops his cigarette onto the wet earth in front of his boots and gestures for her to follow him to where his limo is parked. Hurriedly the two rush across the parking lot, but the heavy rains from above still soak through them before they can manage to get into the shelter of the car.
Logan slides into the driver's seat and Ruth into the back seat. Shutting the door with a loud thud she does her best to make herself comfortable against the beat up leather seats and wipes her face of rain droplets.
“Thank you.” She finally breathes after a moment.
Looking at her through her rearview mirror, Logans gives a reassuring nod and starts the limo. “Where do you live?”
Logan knows the answer before she gives it off, just as Logan knows that’s not where he will be taking her tonight or ever again, but he doesn’t want her to start worrying. She’s looking at him with rosy cheeks and a bright smile and he likes the full trust and appreciation that she's giving him.
“What?” Logan sees her mouth moving, but he’d missed whatever she said. His mind was preoccupied with everything that would be happening within the next hour. He had been planning this for months even though he wasn’t a planner. He had to because this couldn’t go wrong, and he was sure it wouldn’t.
“Uhm….I was……I was saying that my name is Ruth.”
He knows.
“Logan.”
“I’ve seen you around the hospital before.” She almost seems embarrassed to say so. It was hard to miss him when he made deliveries of late night medical equipment and medication. He was very handsome for his age and all the nurses would gather to swoon over him whenever he was in the building, but he never seemed to notice. He was only ever focused on his deliveries. “I didn’t know you also chauffeured.”
“Not much these days. Just something for extra money.” Logan had cut back on his chauffeuring since Laura didn’t like him being away from home for long, especially at night and he didn’t like bringing her with him. But having another adult in the household would make working more hours easier.
Ruth nodded in understanding. The economy was hard and people had to have multiple jobs to survive. On top of working as a phlebotomy technician she also worked as a deli worker, and if she could find anywhere to fit it she would also take on a third job.
The pitter patter of the rain is the only noise that can be heard within the car and Ruth knows she should stay silent. He was doing something kind for her, but her nervous energy was causing her mouth to move and make words come out without her control.
“That’s a pretty necklace.” Ruth takes notice of the handmade beaded necklace hanging on from his rearview mirror. It’s long and colorful and it isn’t something she would expect him to own.
“My daughter made it.”
“You have a daughter?”
“She’s nine.” Logan reached up to touch the necklace with affection. “Do you have any kids?”
“No. I’m too young and broke for children. I also don’t have any mothering instincts.”
“I think you’d make a good mom.”
It wasn’t the first time that she had heard something like that. But the tone he had said it in and the way he was looking at her from the rearview mirror……..Ruth shifted in her seat…..she was no longer just uncomfortable because of her wet clothes, but…..but something wasn’t right……..
Wanting to avoid his gaze she looks out her window. It’s dark, the rain is heavy, and the street lights barely exist.
“Oh uhmmm…..Hey I….I think you passed my exit.” They should be at her apartment complex by now. Not receiving an answer from him Ruth repeats herself, this time her tone more panicked.
“I’m bringing you home. You’re going to be a part of our family.”
His tone was so matter of fact that Ruth almost couldn’t react. Logan pressed down harder on the gas pedal and they’re going down the highway at illegal speeds. He ignores her screaming and vain attempts to get the back door open. He knows she’s scared but when she better understands what he wants from her she’ll be fine. She’ll even be thankful, when she realizes that this will be something that benefits them all.
He had seen her every time he came to the hospital to make a delivery.
She was alone and unhappy in her life.
Everyday was a struggle for her to get by.
She needed a family.
She needed someone who could take care of her.
And Laura needed a mother.
And he needed a wife.
This would benefit them all.
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Ruth endures two more weeks and despite everything she’s been through she doesn’t believe she could take a day more so she finally decides to act.
It was a plodding process starting from the second which Logan woke up that morning.
The other times she had run, he had been on her heels in less than an hour. This time she would make sure he wouldn’t be able to follow. She would make sure that her and Laura had an actual chance at an escape.
Just a little in his coffee, a little bit more in his eggs, a dash in every beer that she had brought him throughout that evening, and she’d cooked him a separate serving of sauce for dinner from herself and Laura stating that she’d made his extra spicy- which she did, and it was also a great way to hide a significantly larger amount of the crushed pills.
The pills which she had found weeks ago in a carry-on suitcase hidden in one of the trucks of several wrecked cars that littered the property.
Inside she had found opioids, sleeping pills, anti-seizure medications, and a few other medications that she couldn’t pronounce.
There were other things too……articles of clothing that she was sure didn’t belong to Logan because of their size, money, useless nicknacks, more money, papers that had been weathered by time, keys, a gun, and several pictures held together by a rubber band. Some of the pictures had Logan in them, some didn’t. She had momentarily wondered who the people were and what type of life he had lived with them. She wondered if any of the women shown in the pictures were Laura’s biological mother and what had happened to them.....all of them.
One of the pictures was a group picture where several adults all posed in front of the nicest mansions she had ever seen. Logan was standing next to a beautiful woman with long red hair almost similar to her own. Her face was turned away from him, laughing at something and he was looking up at her.
‘You never lost your way. You have always been on the road to where you belong.’
~ Charles Xavier
When Ruth turns the photo over she reads the faded cursive writing. She turns it back over again and can’t help but look at Logan and the red headed woman. The way that he was looking at her with admiration and affection was something that Ruth could feel through the picture. It was something she had never seen from him in real life.
‘Who was she to him?’
Ruth puts the pictures back.
‘These things don't matter…..’ She shouldn’t care about him or his past, because in the present he was a monster. He stole her and kept her against her will…….he didn’t deserve her sympathy. And whoever that woman was, she was sure that she was luckier than her.
It had only taken a few days to days for her to come up with a plan after finding the suitcase, and a few more days to build the resolve to go through with said plan. That’s when she had returned for the medications, money and gun.
Her first idea had been to walk through the doors and simply shoot him in the back of the head while he was sat down in his favorite chair, watching the evening news. But that wasn’t her. Despite everything she had been through she wasn’t a killer. She also wasn’t a fool. If it came down to it she would choose her life and this was the best way to ensure it.
She could tell that the drugs had properly made its way through his system when by eight he was stumbling to their bedroom but she waited longer, checking several times in the next two hours to make sure that nothing would stir him awake.
When Ruth was sure that he wasn’t going to wake up and ruin her plans, she collects her things placing them in the car that she had choosen for this venture and returns to the house one last time to collect Laura.
“Hey….hey Laura…..” Ruth crouches down at the side of Laura’s twin bed and whisper yells while shaking Laura until she begins to stir awake.
“Hmmm…..”
“Wake up. Come on now. Wake up!”
Feeling like it was taking too long for the ten year old to come to, Ruth pulls her into a sitting position, pulling a cardigan over her shoulders and moving to grab her socks and sneakers but deciding that they can wait to put them on while in the car.
“What’s happening?” Laura throws her legs over the edge of the bed but she is too confused to know what to do.
“Just follow me okay.” Ruth guides the still half asleep Laura through the darkly lit living room and kitchen and then onto the back patio.
“Where are we going?”
Laura becomes more alert when Ruth opens the door of her fathers limo and ushers her in.
“We’re going on a trip.” Ruth slides into the drivers seat, and attempts to make her voice sound joyful and unsuspicious. Ruth holds her breath when she turns off the headlights and starts the engine and pulls the car into drive.
“What about Papa?”