Page 46 of Strange Love

After a moment, the doors whip open. “Hurry up, Ivy,” the dairy truck driver urges. “You need to go.”

I cautiously lift the corner of the blanket, and my eyes fall upon a second man slumped over the dashboard. Crimson streams of blood pour from a deep wound on his head, staining the fabric of his shirt. His limp body gives off an eerie stillness.

“Is he dead?” I ask frantically, my voice coming out in high-pitched squeaks of panic.

“Don’t look at him,” my accomplice instructs, his eyes darting nervously. “Listen to me. We’re only a few blocks away from the police station. You need to go in there and get help. I’m leaving the van here. There is evidence on these computers and in these boxes that can put everyone away for a long time. You need to go now.”

This is it. After years of plotting and waiting, my chance to escape this nightmare has finally arrived. Adrenaline surges through my veins as I jump up, grab my makeshift bag, and fly out of the back of the van towards the police station.

I sprint down the street, but I can’t resist glancing over my shoulder to see the man staring at me with a mix of relief and fear on his face. Then he turns and bolts in the opposite direction.

I ran faster than I ever thought possible until I burst through the doors of the police station and collapsed onto the cold tile floor, completely exhausted but filled with a sense of liberation.

Chapter 25

“In The Air Tonight”

Corey - Age 18, 1988

My eyes are shut tight, my heart beating rapidly in my chest as I grasp Ivy’s hand with a newfound strength. Her voice is steady but laced with emotion as she tells me her story. I have never felt such an overwhelming sense of admiration for someone as I do for her at this moment. Every word she speaks paints a vivid picture in my mind, revealing the indescribable pain and fear she endured during her kidnapping. It’s like staring into an abyss of unimaginable horrors that were inflicted upon her.

When I first heard about her abduction, it was abstract to me. Now, hearing the details from her lips, I realize the gravity of what she has been through. The words and phrases that were once just distant concepts are now painfully real in my mind. And yet, despite it all, she sits before me with an unwavering strength and bravery that leaves me in awe.

Slowly, I open my eyes to find Ivy’s face hovering over mine, her blue eyes full of tears that spill down her cheeks. She reaches out and gently brushes away a tear from my eye. It takes me a moment to realize that I have been crying. I can’t remember the last time I showed such raw emotion.

“I’m so sorry,” I whisper to her, feeling guilty for all the pain and trauma she has gone through.

“It’s okay now,” she assures me with a small smile, though sadness still lingers in her eyes. “Well, as okay as it can be,” she shrugs.

“What happened to the cult?” I ask, hoping they have all been brought to justice and put behind bars. “I don’t remember hearing anything about it on the news, not that I watch a lot of news,” I admit.

“I was interviewed at the police station for hours,” Ivy begins, her voice tired and strained. “It was exhausting. They had called my parents, who were six hours away at the time. Somehow, they managed to get there in less than four,” she says with a weary chuckle. “The man who helped me escape was right. Those computers and boxes in the van were filled with incriminating evidence of everything the cult had been involved in.”

“So it was never about an alien race?” I ask, still trying to wrap my head around everything that has happened.

“God, no!” Ivy exclaims, shaking her head vehemently. “That was all just a front to lure people in. In reality, it was all about drugs and human trafficking. Auron, or Les Shaffer as we know him now, was caught in New Mexico shortly after I escaped.”

“How did he manage to evade capture for so long?” I ask, my mind spinning with disbelief.

“He was a master manipulator,” she responds, her tone heavy with bitterness. “And extremely intelligent.”

The more this story unravels, the more it ensnares me. “It’s hard to believe,” I murmur, struggling to grasp the magnitude of the situation. “And it went on for years.”

“Indeed,” she confirms, her voice dripping with resentment. “He had quite the lucrative operation. He had connections in high places, even within the government, who aided him in trafficking drugs. An influential state senator was implicated.”

I can’t help but shake my head in disbelief, “That’s beyond wild.”

She laughs ruefully, “Sometimes, I still can’t wrap my mind around it. It’s like it happened to someone else entirely. But then I’ll have flashbacks or nightmares, and it all comes crashing back, the harsh reality of what truly transpired.”

“Incredible,” I remark, trying to imagine what it must have been like for her when she returned home after everything had come to light.

“What was it like when you finally got back home?”

A deep sigh escapes her lips as she shakes her head, her words heavy on her shoulders. “It wasn’t easy,” she says with a hint of sadness. “You know when you’re in a difficult situation, you romanticize what life was like before? You make it perfect in your mind, but honestly, no situation is perfect. No family is perfect.” She pauses for a moment before continuing. “I had made everything perfect in my head. In my mind, I would go home, and everything would return to the way it was. I didn’t give much thought to the time that had passed and the changes that had happened.”

She takes a deep breath and leans against my shoulder, seeking comfort. “When my parents arrived at the police station, I could tell something was different. They looked older and worn down. And when we finally hugged and cried for what felt like hours, it hit me harder. They were looking at an older version of me that they had missed out on for so many years. They were angry about all the time they had lost but also relieved that I was alive and safe. It was such a mix of emotions all at once.”

My grip tightens on her hand as I experience a surge of anger coursing through me. I struggle with the intensity of my emotions, unable to fully comprehend the depths of Auron’s depravity.