Page 107 of The Sound Of Us

I rush forward, but Frank beats me to it.

“Frank,” I scream, banging on the door as he closes it shut and locks it from the outside.

I bang, tears streaming down my face.

The tick-tick-tick of Pepper’s nails on the floor tells me she’s moving around fast. I press my ear to the door. She must have seen Eli, because her whimpering has been replaced with excited yelps.

“Where is Axel?” Eli’s voice booms through the house, thick and strong. He pauses between words, making sure he's spoken clearly. His voice is so beautiful. Its sound gives me so much courage. So much hope.

“I’m here. I’m here. I’m right fucking here.” The screams tear through my throat and end in unbearable chokes and my palms sting with my desperate banging on the door. It’s ridiculous and fruitless because he can’t fucking hear me, but I do it anyway. “Oh, God, help me,” I cry into the air.

“Help,” I scream. “Someone fucking help me.”

“He took his stuff. Said he was going to stop at the bookstore.” The lie slithers out of Frank’s mouth.

“No. Frank, open this door right fucking now.” I scream and bang and scream and bang. And nothing happens.

“You owe me an apology,” Frank says. He talks loudly so I can hear. He’s enjoying this. His voice is calm. He has all the power now, and he’s working it for everything.

Eli’s voice comes loud and clear and thick. “I regret nothing,” he says.

My heart leaps with joy. “I regret nothing too,” I scream. “I regret nothing.” I’ve lost my mind. I race to the nightstand and yank the drawer open.

It’s empty.

My heart slams into my chest, exploding as every scenario involving a gun races through my mind. I yank the unmade bedding of the bed in search of the weapon. In a matter of seconds, I turn the bedroom upside down, but nothing. The gun is not in this room, which means—

I scramble back to the door, slamming into it with the weight of my body. “Eli, get out of there. Frank, please. Please, Frank. Leave him alone.”

Pepper’s tick-tick-tick drives me crazy as I scream until my voice is hoarse and my screams have died down to a pathetic, sobbing mess.

Don’t hurt him. Like a madman mumbling incoherencies, I beg every entity, every demon and devil and every god to please not hurt Eli. To let him go. Let him go.

“Frank,” I scream, as my throat renews its ability to channel my raging fear. “I’ll stay, Frank. I’ll stay. I’m sorry. Tell Eli to go. I don’t want him. I’ll stay with you. Please, Frank.”

Pepper barks, the kitchen door slams shut and everything goes quiet. The lock rattles and I scramble backward on my ass until my back hits the base of the bed. Drawing my knees up to my chest, I brace myself for whatever is coming next. It’s hard to choose Frank’s mood. His calm is as terrifying as his fury.

He’s calm. Pepper bolts into the room, crowding me, licking my face before she settles in front of me, her eyes following Frank.

Frank gives me a lopsided grin. “I wasn’t going to shoot your fuckin’ lover, Axel.” He lifts both his hands and then taps his chest and pockets. “See? No gun. And what’s up with his voice, anyway? He sounds like he swallowed a fuckin’ frog.”

No gun? I lunge forward. He only stumbles back slightly, more from my surprise attack that the force of it, I’m sure.

“He does not sound like a fucking frog.” I scream while my fists make insignificant dents on his chest.

“Why do you do this to me, Frank? Just let me go. Just let me fucking go. I don’t want to be here.”

Pepper’s whines escalate with my screeching. I claw and bite. Never mind he swats me away like I’m some kind of annoying house fly. I fight, losing my mind. Screaming at the top of my lungs. “Just let me fucking go, Frank.” I’m going mad. Like I used to in the early days.

He laughs.

He. Fucking. Laughs.

I’m going insane. I’m screaming. Long, psychotic screams. “Aaahhhhhhh. Hhhhhhaaaaaa.”

And the more I scream, the louder he laughs.

“Fraaaannnnkkkk.” No other words come out of my mouth. Only his name. Like I’m trying to purge myself of him. If I can scream his name enough times, I’ll be able to vomit out every part of him I’d ingested these last ten years.

---