Talia's Torment

Chapter 22: Moonlight, midnight and mayhem.

                Tanner didn’t disappoint.  The location, the meal and conversation were definitely memorable.  It turned out that Tanner’s dad had planted the willow trees around the glade for his mother when they had gotten engaged as a gift to her.  He had planned it all out and even picked the moss and the flowers around the border.  Talia looked around and had the thought that Tanner’s dad was definitely a master when it came to romance.  Surely it seemed that Tanner was following well in his father’s footsteps.  She smiled to herself knowing that she could definitely get used to the cherished feeling that him bringing her here had given.  It was more than anyone had ever done for her before and this was a first date.

                It was getting late and Talia was curled up in Tanner’s arms alongside a fire pit that was dug off to the side in a stone and brick hearth next to an old wooden bench.  It was romantic to Talia, but then the moment was cut by the ding of a notice on Tanner’s cell.  “If you have to answer it go ahead.”  She was trying to hide the disappointment in her voice, she had known that the night would have to end eventually, but she had hoped to see the moon crest above the willows and fill the moss filled clearing like a spotlight.  She could just imagine the glow it would cast and how it would look so otherworldly.

                Tanner cleared his throat and looked at his phone.  He then smiled and her, “It’s not a message or a call, it was a notification for me to let me know the moon should be cresting soon.  Kind of like a notice of when sunset or sunrise would be.  I didn’t want to miss it or go back to early, you are going to want to see this.”  He had a very satisfied smile on his face, like he was proud to tell her how well he had prepared for tonight.  She couldn’t help but smile back at the joy he was displaying so openly, then the moon crested and she gasped at the sight it made.

                The moon hit the moss and some of it actually glowed.  Like shimmery stars on the ground.  It really was like magic and it made her jaw practically hit the floor.  Tanner reached out to her, “Dad added the luminescent patches when Mom told him she was pregnant with me.  He told her it was because she had brought unexpected light into their lives.”  He looked down a bit as his face blushed.  “I’ve never brought anyone here before, or told anyone about how this place came to be.  I always thought they would think it was too sappy but I knew you would love it and I wanted to share it with you.”  Talia placed her hand on his cheek and leaned in as she pressed her lips to his.  “Keep treating me like I am the moon to your world and I am going to start to get spoiled Tanner.  I do love it here though.”

                “I don’t see a problem with that.”  Tanner smiled as he reached for her hand and led her to the middle of the clearing.  “I do believe I promised you dancing at midnight my lady.”

                “We don’t have any music, what are we going to dance to?”  Talia couldn’t help the mirth from entering her voice as he made her feel like a giddy teenager.  She just kept seeing images in her head of all the lovey dopey movies she had seen as a teen, where the couples danced to no music at all holding each other in the street.  That was until she watched Tanner pull up an app on his phone and start playing some music.  She had expected either something with a twang, or maybe a little heavier beat, but it was playing smooth jazz and had a bluesy note that she really liked.  She didn’t know who it was that was playing but she could definitely see some up close and personal dancing going hand in hand with the dulcet tones coming from the speaker.

                Tanner reached for her and pulled her body up against his.  She felt him put his hand on her waist as he held her other hand in his over his heart.  She tucked her head into the crook of his shoulder, where it seemed to fit perfectly.  If she had been taller, or more accurately average height rather than the shorty that she was, or if Tanner had been shorter or taller they wouldn’t have fit so well.  As it was they were like a pair of puzzle pieces that fit together like they were made to do just that.  It made her feel complete and calm.  She rather enjoyed just spinning slowly in his embrace.  She thought she would have gotten dizzy with the constant twirl but she found herself focusing on them and their closeness rather than the spinning view around them.  It seemed to drown out what ever force would have made her stumble and try to regain balance and instead steady her feet under her and allow her to just enjoy the moment.  It was bliss.

                Suddenly the moment was cut off by the phone chirping, interrupting the music and causing both Tanner and herself to sigh in defeat.  They had been hoping that the outside world away from this secluded heaven would have stayed away a little longer, but that was life always making its own plans. “That one is a message; maybe it will be good news?”  Tanner sounded hopeful as he fished his phone up from the moss covered ground and turned it over to open the messages.  He stiffened and then began to look agitated as he watched what was apparently a video sent to his phone.

                Talia looked around his hands to see what had him on edge.  It appeared to be a slightly blurry video that just kept replaying.  On the video was a man who looked like he had seen better days.  He was tied to a chair and you could see that the video was from a side angle, as if the person who had recorded it wanted you to see both the man’s face and the person standing in front of them.  The video had panned in front of the man and then the device had been placed to stabilize it.  Talia didn’t want to think about why the person now standing in front of the captive man would need both hands.

                She didn’t have to wonder for long, as the man then began punching the bound man repeatedly as his head slowly lulled to the side. The man laughed cruelly as the bound man glared at him and spit out a mouth full of blood.  He whispered something before he spit at his assailant but his face lips were so swollen that Talia couldn’t make it out.  Then the attacker attached a chain with a hook to the end of the bindings on the man’s hands and Talia felt her heart plummet to her feet.  As a nightmare took hold of her mind the assailant faced the camera head on and spoke.  The voice from her nightmares took life as Laurent was displayed in front of her eyes.  “I don’t know who you are, but I have your dog and if you want him alive you might want to hurry.”  The video cut off with Laurent’s laughter being the last thing they heard as the man in the chair was yanked up and dangled in the air.