Marie Taylor

A young girl saves a boy as a child, and in the end the boy returns the favor. However, there is an interesting twist at the very end.

 

 

 

 

 

Before you read this, think about all of the people
you have known in your life. Everyone you love
and everyone who loves you.
Keep this in mind as you read.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 “Fia, I think someone’s following me,” Marie said in an undertone. Fia raised an eyebrow. Her brown curls fell in front of her heart-shaped face, and the summer breeze made them bounce about her forehead. She smiled broadly, and her piercing brown eyes seemed to stare right through Marie’s cloudy blue ones. Fia’s real name was Fiducia, the result of having an extremely weird Latin teacher as a mother.
 

“Why do you think that?” she asked Marie. Marie blew a stray strand of short, wavy blonde hair out of her face.
 

“I keep seeing this man like everywhere I go,” Marie looked around cautiously. Everything seemed normal. Her backyard wasn’t large enough for someone to hide where she couldn’t see them, but she eyed the windows of the old white houses across the badly paved street.
 

“Are you serious?” Fia sighed.
 

“Duh!” Marie glared angrily at Fia. “Why would I joke about something like this. Some guy is almost always there whenever I leave my home. I’m afraid to go anywhere alone.” Fia took a break from chewing her gum and stared into her friend’s frightened eyes. Marie held her gaze for only a few seconds before straining her eyes at the dark windows of the houses beyond her own yard.
 

“He could be watching me right now,” Marie shivered.
 

“You’re making this up,” Fia said cautiously, “right?”
 

“No!” Marie shouted in anxiety, then quickly lowered her voice to a whisper. “He’s tall. He wears a long black trench coat and he’s always holding something in his hand that I can’t see… What if it’s a gun?”
 

“Calm down,” Fia said. “Why haven’t you called the police?”
 

“I don’t have any solid evidence. Maybe, I’m just imagining things.”
 

“Do you know exactly what he looks like because if you can remember that, then, he has probably been following you.”
 

“Fia! I’m an artist. I remember like everything I see. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen him. I didn’t even realize that I’d started seeing him places until just a few moments ago at Carson’s Ice Cream.”
 

“That’s why you grabbed my arm and dragged me out of Carson’s before I’d finished my fudge sundae. You saw him there?”
 

“Yeah. He was standing beside the counter. When I looked at him, he got this strange look in his eye. It frightened me, Fia.”
 

“Come on. Let’s go inside. I think you need a drink of water.”
 

“Do you think I should call the cops?”
 

“Nah,” Fia said. “It’s probably nothing.”
The man’s dark eyes followed Marie and her friend into her house.
 

***
 

Marie groped for her alarm clock as the steady ringing seemed to grow louder and louder until it was almost unbearable. She finally found the button, pressed it, and pulled the covers over her eyes.
 

“Marie!” the warm blankets were yanked away. “I can’t believe you slept in again! You only have a half an hour to get ready for school, and you had better get ready because I don’t have time to drive you today. I have a meeting. I’m leaving in five minutes, so sit up.” Marie sat up stiffly. Her dreams had been full of malicious men following her every move, and she felt as though she hadn’t slept at all.
 

“Mom,” she said slowly, “I’m tired.”
 

“Get up!” her mother said sternly. “Now!” Marie forced her feet over the side of the bed.
It didn’t take her long to get dressed. She packed her lunch swiftly and thanked God she had had the foresight to take a shower the night before. The bus came early as usual and Marie barely made it.
 

“Scoot over,” she told Fia, who made room for her.
 

“So, did you see any more mysterious men?” Fia asked, raising her eyebrows to such an extent that her curls almost hid their existence.
 

“Fia, shut up,” Marie emphasized every syllable.
 

“Maybe he’s a stalker.” Fia seemed more excited than nervous.
 

“Fia!” The bus-ride to the high school was only ten minutes from Marie’s bus stop. Marie and Fia walked into the large, yellow brick building together.
 

“See you third period,” Fia said cheerily and vanished in the direction of her locker. Marie and Fia’s lockers were on opposite sides of the school, as were their homerooms. Marie walked into the large art classroom and took a seat at one of the tables. Art class seemed to take forever. Marie sketched a picture of the man with the dark eyes. She drew his straight, neatly combed hair, one strand of which always seemed to remain on his forehead. She drew his square chin, his broad nose, and his thin lips. She waited to draw the eyes until the end. They seemed to stare at her through the paper, and Marie quickly turned it over.
 

Mr. Thomas collected the sketches at the end of class, and Marie hurried out of the room. She was frightened. She didn’t know why she was haunted by this man, why she kept seeing him in her mind. Who is he? She wondered.
Marie sat down in the back of the small, dim German classroom. Frau Allen began writing preposition charts on the board, but Marie wasn’t really paying attention.
 

A small cough brought her out of her thoughts. She looked in the direction it came from. Ethan was crying. Marie had never heard Ethan talk since the beginning of the year unless he was called upon. His messy, unkempt black hair shook as he cried silently. No one else could see him because he was sitting in the corner behind Nate, who always looked over six feet tall. Marie stared at him. She didn’t know whether she should say something or just let him cry. She didn’t even know him after all. Marie resolved that it would be better to let him cry it out. Sometimes crying is the best thing for someone when they’re sad, she thought.
 

The bus ride home that afternoon was uneventful. Fia had finally stopped making fun of Marie about the evil-looking man.
 

That afternoon, Marie decided that the best way to forget about the man would be to go for a walk. If she didn’t see him, then she would stop being afraid. Marie kept a tight hold on her cell phone as she walked along the sidewalk. The sun beamed down on her forehead, and the humidity made her hair into a frizzy blonde mess.
 

“Huh,” Marie breathed. She had not seen the man with the dark eyes, but in front of her, on Ella Bridge, was Ethan. He was standing on the side of the bridge, which overlooked a twenty-foot drop to a wet, rocky stream. He leaned forward.
 

“What do you think you’re doing?!” Marie screamed, rushing forward to grab Ethan, but as she pushed him back onto the safety of the bridge, she lost her balance and fell. Marie screamed and shut her eyes tightly. She waited for the impact of the jagged rocks beneath her, but it never came. Slowly, Marie opened her eyes. Someone had grabbed hold of the back of her shirt, and she was being hauled back onto the bridge.
 

She was set carefully on the bridge, and then she looked up at her dark-eyed rescuer and screamed. The man seemed taken aback.
 

“Are you okay?” he asked.
 

“Who the heck are you!” Marie screamed.
 

“I’m Doctor Anderson,” his voice was gruff.
 

“How come I keep seeing you everywhere?”
 

“I’m afraid that’s impossible,” Doctor Anderson replied. “I only just got to this town two hours ago.” Marie blinked. He sounded sincere, but Marie was positive that this was the man she had seen at Carson’s Ice Cream the day before.
 

“Thank you for saving me,” Marie managed to choke out. She looked around for Ethan. He was lying on the ground, staring at her with frightened eyes.
 

“Why did you save me?” he asked angrily. “That would have been the end. I wanted it to end. I wanted to…”
 

“You can’t just… kill yourself!” Marie screamed. “No one knows for sure what happens after death. There are too many different theories to be positive. Are you sure you would want to thrust yourself into the unknown that badly?”
 

“It doesn’t matter,” Ethan sobbed. “Nothing does.”
 

“And just why not?” Marie snapped at Ethan.
 

“Because no one cares!” he screamed. “This world is horrible. People sit in their big living rooms and watch TV while only a plane-flight away, someone the same age struggles to even breathe and drinks water full of sewage. I don’t want to be in this nasty place anymore. I want to get away.”
 

“And how do you know death is any better?” Marie said condescendingly. “For all you know, you might end up in an even more unfair place. Most religions believe that only people of their faith go to heaven.  If only one faith goes to heaven then the people who have done barely anything but charity, who happened to be born into the wrong family, would be burning alive while someone who had not been as charitable, but happened to be the right faith, would have a big feast. Is that fair? Maybe death is the ultimate end-all. You would be gone completely, never able to think again. Then, who would help the poverty-stricken people you were so upset about. You said no one cares, and by killing yourself you would only prove that you are a part of that gruesome fact, nothing more!” Marie took a deep breath. “Are you an idiot?” Ethan stared at her open-mouthed. Marie looked back to where the doctor had been standing, but he was gone.
 

“I didn’t…” Ethan tried to stand up. “People don’t think about it… You… you talk too much?”
 

“I know I do, but you seriously needed a lesson. Maybe, you’re here to help people who are suffering when others don’t think about them. Maybe, you were sent here by God to help those who lack understanding and those who have nothing but their lives and starvation.” Ethan leaned against the side of the bridge. “Don’t you try jumping off again!”
 

“I wasn’t going to,” Ethan snapped. “I didn’t realize… I didn’t even try to help. I just tried to commit suicide. I’m sorry.” He burst into tears. Marie patted his shoulder.
 

“It’s okay,” she said. “You just misunderstood reality. That’s all. Why did you think that way, anyhow?”
 

“I… I don’t know. My father… he died… a year ago,” Ethan’s green, almond-shaped eyes stared at Marie. “I … I just wanted… I don’t know.”
 

“Come on,” Marie held out a hand. “I’ll walk you home.” Ethan took her hand, stood up straight, and began to walk home.
 

After a few minutes of walking, Ethan paused.
 

“He was a lawyer, you know, and some men were mad because he had won a case involving one of their gang and put him in jail.”
 

“I see,” Marie said. “My father died too, but I didn’t know him that well. It probably isn’t the same. I only ever saw him twice. Plus, I have an amazing step-father.”
 

And so, Marie forgot about the dark-eyed man and gained a new friend, Ethan Ross, but Doctor Anderson’s eyes followed her as she walked Ethan to his door. They followed her as she turned around and took a shortcut through a narrow alleyway to her own home.
 

“Perfect,” he whispered.

Four years had passed, and Marie’s impending birthday party brought a tense excitement into the air. Marie only wanted to invite two people because her birthday the previous year had been so hectic. Marie, of course, invited Fia and Ethan, her two best friends.
 

“Hey. What time is it again?” Ethan stared down at Marie and Fia from his perch in the only tree in his yard.
 

“What time is what?” Fia asked.
 

“Marie’s party.”
 

“3:00 o’clock,” Marie said, tossing the blue rubber ball up to Ethan. He caught it and tossed it to Fia. Then, he jumped nimbly down from the tree.
 

“I’m bored. Let’s go to the mall,” he said, putting his hand in his pocket.
 

“You just want to drive somewhere in your new car,” Fia said.
 

“Do you know how long it took me to save up for that awesome ride!”
 

“No one says ‘ride.’” Marie looked at Ethan condescendingly.
 

“You have to admit it’s a cool car,” Ethan said.
 

“Only if you took it to a car-wash once in a while,” Marie laughed.
 

“There’s one on the way to the mall. Besides, Jennifer gave us some money to buy party stuff; remember.”
 

“Just cause my mom gave us money doesn’t mean we have to go to the mall yet. I haven’t even decided on a theme for the party.”
 

“What about a Frisbee party?” Ethan suggested. Marie crossed her arms.
 

“Don’t make fun of me. It’s been like two or three years since we played Ultimate Frisbee in gym class. You can stop laughing at me already..”
 

“It was funny,” Fia said smiling.
In ultimate Frisbee, if a team scores a goal, they have to hand the Frisbee to the other team, and whenever the team opposing Marie’s scored a goal, they would try very hard to give her the Frisbee because Marie could not throw a Frisbee correctly to save her life. Hence, the opposing team would get the ball back.
 

“I got better!” Marie shouted. “I can throw and catch a Frisbee with moderate accuracy, so there’s no point making fun of me any more.”
 

“It’s only fun cause you get so upset about it,” Ethan stated.
 

“I am not having a Frisbee party.”
 

“How about Disney princesses?” Fia suggested.
 

“I’m turning nineteen,” Marie raised an eyebrow.
 

“I know! It could be like a flashback to younger days!”
 

“Fia, your mom is the one obsessed with flashing back. You don’t have to be!”
 

“She is not. She’s just obsessed with Rome. Besides, I like childhood flash-backs.”
 

“I don’t think Disney princess parties are really my style,” Ethan cut in.
 

“Aren’t you secure in your masculinity?” Fia stuck her tongue out at Ethan.
 

“Maybe Ethan’s right,” Marie said. “We might get some ideas if we go to the mall.”
 

“You’re only agreeing with him because he’s your boyfriend!” Fia said.
 

“Oh come on,” Marie looked calmly at Fia. “You know you want to go.”
 

“Fine,” Fia said. Ethan pulled out his cell-phone, hit a few buttons, then put the phone up to his ear.
 

“Hey, Jennifer,” he said. “Marie, Fia and I are going to the mall just so you know.”
 

“Ethan,” Marie said. “My mom doesn’t have to know where I am every second of the day. I could go live in my own house if I wanted to.”
 

“But, doesn’t telling her make me look more responsible,” Ethan said hanging up. “Why do you think Jennifer likes me so much.”
 

“And why do you have to call her that. Can’t you call her Jen or even Mrs. Taylor?”
 

“She said she liked Jennifer.”
 

“Kiss-up,” Marie and Fia said together.

 

Finally, Marie’s party came. In the end, Marie, Fia and Ethan couldn’t agree on a theme, so the decorations were extremely random and varied.
 

“So, you’re only a year younger than me now,” Ethan smiled.
 

“Ugh,” Marie grinned. “Your birthday is only a month before mine. Besides, technically, you’re always a year and a month older than me.”
 

“Happy birthday!” Fia shouted, nearly dropping the rich chocolate cake. It didn’t have icing because Marie could not stand its sticky-sweet taste.
 

Ethan reached into his jacket pocket, fingering the gift he had spent five months saving up for.
 

“Just a second!” Marie said suddenly. “I left my camera on the back porch! I feel so stupid. Wait here. I’ll go get it.” Ethan followed Marie anyway, just to bother her because she liked her ‘personal space.’ Marie walked onto the back porch, only to find herself in the tight hold of a stranger, one of his hands over her mouth, the other gripping her arms behind her back.
 

“Marie!” Ethan screamed. The gruff kidnapper dragged Marie to a black car, parked on her lawn and pushed her inside. Ethan ran after them, but he was too late. The car backed out of the yard and drove away with a terrible screeching noise.
 

“MARIE!” Ethan could barely hear his own voice through the screaming in his mind. He couldn’t think straight. He ran after the car, not caring that there was no way he could possibly catch up with it. “No!” Ethan stopped suddenly.

 

“My car.” He ran around the side of the house, fumbled in his pocket for his keys, slammed the car door swiftly, started the engine, and hit the gas petal as hard as he could.
 

Ethan could barely see through his tears of frustration. He drove the direction he knew the black car had gone. He knew he was going almost double the speed limit, but that didn’t matter. He had to catch up with Marie. His car came to a screeching halt.

“Marie,” he whispered, grinding his teeth. He could see the car that Marie had been so gruffly shoved into. He felt around for his cell-phone to call the police, realizing too late that he had left it on Marie’s kitchen table. “No!”
The black car drove further away, and Ethan followed it at a distance. He had no choice.

 

“Where are you taking me!” Marie screamed at the driver.
 

“You don’t have to know,” Dr. Anderson’s chilling voice floated back to her. “I saved your life, so you belong to me now!”
 

“What the…!” Marie banged against the car door, but the windows had been painted black, and there was a board between her and the front seat, so attacking the doctor was impossible.
 

“Don’t waste your energy,” he laughed. “I’ve been planning this for years. It is perfect.”
 

“Planning what exactly?!” Marie wasn’t sure that she wanted to know the answer, but the question escaped her lips before she had a chance to stop it.
 

“’What?’, you ask,” Doctor Anderson asked. “Kidnapping you. I was going to do it four years ago, but then, that boy came along.”
 

“What do you mean?” Marie asked perplexed, still straining to find a way of escape.
 

“You know, you look just like her,” Doctor Anderson laughed.
 

“No! I don’t know,” Marie cried. “Let me out of this car right now!”
 

“I was intending to take more than just you, but your face just reminded me of her so much. She died you know. You look like her.”
 

“Let me out!” Marie screamed and began sobbing, no longer attacking the doors and windows.
 

“I’m not going to kill you right away. I waited this long, didn’t I? I planned to go on a killing rampage, killing everyone who dared to look like she did, but then I saw you. You’re eyes are so similar. My Beatrice was beautiful, but she…” There was silence.
 

“Why?” Marie choked, more to herself and to God than to Dr. Anderson.
 

“I wanted you to know love first. That’s why I didn’t take you right away. I guess it’s unlucky that you met that boy because now, I’m going to wrench that love away from you by killing you, and know that when you die, I will kill him as well. My love was taken from me. Everyone who looks like her deserves the same. She was stolen from me.”
 

Marie stared at her sweating palms. She knew she was going to die. She regretted never getting around to reading the whole Bible or doing enough charity. She had only recently converted to Catholicism with her mother and stepfather. She regretted not making more friends. She even regretted her own birth.
The car came to a screeching halt.
 

“Home-sweet-home,” Dr. Anderson snickered. “Enjoy earth while it lasts because soon, you will join Beatrice in the eternal furnace that is the afterlife.” Marie bit her lip. She had never known such fear. Somehow, it all seemed unreal to her. Everything about it seemed unreal to her.
 

“I’m terrible at math. I should have studied more. I love my mommy. I didn’t tell her good-bye,” Marie mumbled under her breath, not even paying attention to what she was saying as the childish words escaped her lips. “Happy birthday to me. I’ll miss my mommy, and I’ll miss Ethan. Dying is too easy.” Marie half-laughed, and she couldn’t see through her insane tears. Her confused emotions clouded her thoughts and she didn’t even know where she was going or remember her own name. Death loomed over her like a shadow in a dark alleyway. “I don’t want to die!”
 

“Shut up or I’ll kill everyone you’ve ever been in contact with!” Marie’s jaw snapped shut, and she swallowed hard. The dreamlike, unreal atmosphere confused Marie. She didn’t know what to do or where to go. Dr. Anderson tossed Marie into the basement of an abandoned house and shut the door, locking her inside. Marie looked around desperately for a way out, but only darkness confronted her. She heard a rodent scamper across the floor and held back a scream. Soon, her life would end, and she would never be able to love or laugh or cry again.
 

“Step-daddy,” she whispered to herself. “Remember, when I introduced you to mommy and told you that she thought you were sexy. I told you that you should marry my mom. You were probably really embarrassed, but look, I was right in the end… I was so little then, just five or so. You made mom so happy. She never had very much money to take care of me before. I don’t think I ever thanked you properly. Well, better late than never, even though you can’t hear me. Ethan too, I love you so very much.” CRASH! Marie felt the vibrations as something slammed against the door. Then, there was a gunshot and a scream.
 

“Ethan!” Marie fainted as she recognized the scream.

 

“Marie!” Ethan clutched his bleeding shoulder and stared into the gun, which was pointed at his face.
 

“The daring rescue!” Dr. Anderson laughed. “So, you came to save your love, but instead, your dead body will be shown to her as the last thing she sees on this earth. How does that sound?” Ethan gritted his teeth in disgust. There was a clicking noise as Dr. Anderson pulled the trigger… nothing.
 

“You’re out of bullets,” Ethan smiled. Perhaps, he had a chance after all. Dr. Anderson lunged at him, knocking the wind out of his stomach. Ethan reached into his pocket for his knife, but too late, he realized that the only object there was the present he had spent so long waiting to give Marie.
 

“How dare you!” he shouted, clutching Marie’s gift in his fist. “This is for ruining Marie’s birthday!” Then, he punched Dr. Anderson with so much energy that the doctor’s jaw cracked. Then, he punched him again in the stomach. The sound of sirens made him turn. Dr. Anderson used the opportunity to lunge a knife into his side.

 

“Marie,” Fia looked down at her best friend. “Are you all right?” Marie woke up. She felt a terrible pain in her stomach and a soft bed underneath her.
 

“Where am I? Ethan?”
 

“Ethan’s fine,” Fia smiled. “He followed you, and I called the police. I remembered Ethan’s license plate number because he kept saying it over and over. The police found his car, and they were able to find you. The man, Jake Anderson, I think is what they said, had gone into the basement and tried to kill you after stabbing Ethan in the side. He stabbed you in the stomach, but he didn’t manage to kill you because the police shot him in the leg.”
 

“Where’s Ethan?” Marie tried to sit up, but the pain in her stomach prevented her from doing so.
 

“Here,” Ethan’s voice came from the other side of the bed. Marie turned. There was Ethan, covered in bandages and a hospital gown, sitting in a wheel chair beside her bed.
 

“You saved my life,” Marie cried with a little more energy than she thought she had.
 

“Well, I couldn’t let my fiancée die, now could I?”
 

“Your what?” Marie started. Ethan placed a small object on Marie’s blanket.
 

“I meant to give it to you on your birthday, but that didn’t work out too well,” Ethan smiled.
 

“It’s beautiful,” Marie picked up the ring. The gold inlay glimmered in the sunlight from the window, outlining the embedded diamonds.
 

“Do you want it?” he asked. “I think I lost the receipt.”
 

“Don’t be silly. Of course, I’ll marry you.”

 

After two years, Ethan kissed his new bride.
 

“I’m glad we met,” the sparkle in his eyes was reflected in hers. “You look so beautiful in that dress, Mrs. Ross.”
 

“My mom always makes the best dresses,” Marie smiled, “Mr. Ross.”
 

“Jennifer is truly something isn’t she,” Ethan looked at Marie’s mother and smiled. Then, he frowned suddenly. “Why?” he said softly. Jennifer stepped back. “Why did you do it, Jennifer?”
 

***
 

Jennifer woke with a start nearly breaking her alarm clock as she hit it. It had been fifteen years since she aborted her child.
 

“Why am I suddenly dreaming about her, and that dream was so vivid,” Jennifer wiped the sweat away from her forehead. “Doctor Anderson told me I might have regrets, but it’s been fifteen years. Why is this guilty feeling suddenly appearing? I didn’t have the money to take care of a child. I had no choice.”
 

Jennifer started the coffee maker. She slipped into her fluffy purple robe and walked out into the summer air. She picked up the day’s newspaper and brought it into her cramped apartment.
 

After a little while the coffee finished brewing, and she sat down to read the paper and drink her coffee as she did every day.
 

Jennifer glanced at the front page.
 

‘The Blonde Serial Killer Still At Loose’
    Unknown Serial Killer continues to elude police, killing

only young girls with blonde hair and light eyes. On top of each

victim, he leaves a love letter to an anonymous person. The

police have yet to find any traces of DNA…

“The world is as depressing as ever,” Jennifer turned the page and her heart all but stopped.

 

‘Shy Teenager, Ethan Ross commits Suicide off of Ella Bridge.’