Behind the Fence, page 14
The circles under his eyes spoke of sleepless nights, and he smelled awful. His eye was starting to have a yellow hue to it and the blood from his broken nose ran down his shirt. My monster. The man who wrecked so many lives. Everyone's monster. Just sitting there, head down, looking so pathetic. Maybe he wasn't so much a monster. Maybe he was just as fractured as those that came to see him. A horrible, vicious cycle. At that moment, I wasn't going to go through with it. I reached down to start undoing his restraints. I couldn't do it. He was a human, a living breathing person. His head slowly raised as I touched him. His eyes were empty. There was nothing in them. No pain, no anger, just resignation.
“When are they coming?” He mumbled so low I had to process what he said for a second.
“Who?” I figured he was so out of it that he was just confused. I figured at least if I un-did him now, he would be fuzzy and I could get away. He wouldn't have the energy to hurt me.
“Her parents...” He began to cry “She waz so pretty. And so new. No onez 'ad her yet. I waz 'er first. But she dizrespected me. I 'ad to teach her.”
Huh? Now I was the confused one.
Turns out, he told me, that he brutally raped a fourteen-year-old girl three days before I kidnapped him. She was fourteen. He left her bleeding in the park. Dying. He said he didn't know if she was alive, there was so much blood. A fourteen-year-old girl had suffered at the hands of him. She had her whole life ahead of her. Now she would never go to prom, never have a first love, never know the joy of the stages of life. He took that from her. Now a whole new cycle of fractured people had begun. He would never stop.
I knew then what I was going to do. There was no doubt in my mind. I showed him pictures of Indy. I told him the speech that I had thought about from the beginning of all this, “Two days you kept Indy, so I kept you for three days. You killed her. Now you are going to die as well. It will be a nicer death then what you granted her.”
I did what I did and left my pain there with him. So when Eric asked me, I knew that I had ended this violent rapist's career and helped others heal. I wasn't able to save the world from him having another victim, but I knew I saved the world from him having any more. I stopped the continuation of the cycle.
The bee sting wasn't hard to do. All I needed was a cup on his leg with some bees trapped in it. I just made sure to set the scene just right. Nobody was going to look too hard into the death of a rapist who was also a drug addict. Even if they did, I covered my tracks.
Hardest thing I had to do was descend into his world, letting go of my morality and taking a life. But in taking his, I gave many people back theirs. As far as my friends knew, Barney died of the bee sting the first day. They knew nothing of the details, the three days I had him tied to the chair. They just knew I killed him and was probably going to stay on Stacy's yacht for quite awhile. They didn't ask any further. Alice was never told about what occurred. She just thinks Barney stopped calling her. Maybe one day I'll tell her, but for now she thinks I'm just taking advantage of Stacy's friendship and going on a long vacation. I bet that front desk guy was enjoying his new retirement from that hole. Stacy doesn't ask what all her money went toward, better she didn't know the details. Carrie-Ann seemed to brighten up. She even came out on the boat to spend some time with me. I hadn't seen her laugh like that in a long time. It seems like a big weight was taken off her shoulders. Eric and I are still pretty close, we even have said the big “L” word to each other. I don't know if it's going to work out, but for now, it's pretty awesome. Jack has pretty much stopped talking to us. We are all confident that he isn't going to say anything. He just can't handle seeing us.
As for me, well, I'm still damaged. My time behind the fence changed me. Whether for the good or bad, each person will judge differently. All the things I have heard and witnessed, it hardens a person. I often wonder what Indy would have said. Her parents believed she wouldn't have approved, but I think she may have been a bit proud in spite of her disapproval...After all, I did change the world for the better, one person at a time. And I feel at peace because of it.
Afterword
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About The Author
Adalynd LaVerne
Adalynd perhaps likes to stir the pot to get a reaction. After all, best behavior isn't always fun...Life experiences have included a MA in Forensic Psychology, sailing to Denmark bored out of her mind, pouring drinks in a seedy California strip club and attempting to not make a fool of herself as a Vermont Ski Instructor. Loving every aspect of people, the good and the bad, has been the catalyst for writing. There is a fascination for the complicated equation which makes each person unique. When not writing, you can find Adalynd taking pictures, riding horses and making wine in the Sierra Mountains. Not necessarily in that order.
Adalynd LaVerne, Behind the Fence
