Forevermore

"Go to sleep and stop bothering me!" which he duly did.

On Thursday, they had Chicken Korma. So funny watching two people with diarrhea in a house with only one toilet. At the height, Raven actually shat his pants while pounding on the toilet door. He went into the back yard, threw his pants in the bin, and washed with the outside tap! I literally wet myself laughing.

Regaining my composure, I decided that it was time to stop playing and start work on getting Lenore back. It was one thing to watch her, but I wanted to hold her in my arms and coset her -

Forevermore.

Chapter 14

While I had been distracted with Patten and Poe, I had not been keeping such a close eye on Lenore. I'd fallen into a routine; Sunday, make up drugs to spike food; Monday pop round and contaminate. I had given up on the emetic - it didn't seem to work! Had I been watching more closely, I would have seen what was happening to Lenore and Raven. A combination of Lenore's sleeping every night, more than occasional diarrhea and especially the irritability they felt when they came down off the Crystal Meth' was playing havoc with the dynamics.

Things finally exploded on the last Saturday in July; unbeknown to me, Lenore had been saving the Butter Chicken for a special occasion. It was apparently six months since they had consummated their relationship. Lenore had cleaned up the worst of the mess (it still looked, like the inside of a dustbin). She made an effort to dress up nicely and put makeup on. By candlelight, Lenore served Raven his favourite dinner.

I was furious and heartbroken. The reality of the situation was thrust down my throat! This wasn't a game, this wasn't fun, and this wasn't a TV program. This was my wife with another man!

They finished the Butter Chicken, chatting pleasantly and reminiscing about the first Saturday that Lenore had come round to the house to help celebrate his birthday in style. Raven was well into the beers.

"Ha, and your dumb husband thought you were mountain biking. What a pathetic loser he is!" snorted Raven.

"Please don't talk about Edgar that way. He is - was - a great husband. I, I still love him."

"He's a loser who couldn't even keep his wife!" I wanted to kill him.

Looking sad, Lenore went to get a cake that she had spent hours decorating.

"Ta-da! Chocolate cake!" Raven looked at the cake, the emetic took hold and he projectile vomited all over it.

He shook his head back and forth, hosing puke everywhere. It was like a scene from a horror movie.

"You drunken bastard!" screamed Lenore and ran to the bathroom, locking the door. I could hear her puking and taps running.

Raven got up and hammered on the door. When Lenore finally emerged from the bathroom, he dashed inside shouting over his shoulder.

"Clean up this mess you useless old cunt." Lenore was shocked! She started to clean up; had one more session of puking (in the sink this time) then sat on the sofa, defeated.

Raven came out of the bathroom - clearly furious.

"That's it! I've had enough of you! You're a filthy pig. This place is fucking unhygienic!" I had to agree with him there!

"How could you have got so old and never learned how to clean? We're always getting food poisoning, I seem to fucking live on the toilet. Start cleaning this place up or I'm throwing your useless, wrinkly old arse out!" Lenore teared up.

"Edgar never spoke to me that way..." she blubbed.

"Don't compare me to that fucking loser! Why don't you go back to him you stupid old cunt? Oh, that's right, you can't! Even if he would take you back, which I doubt! We both know that it'd only be a matter of time before you came back around here! You're addicted to this!" and he grabbed his crotch.

"Face it you're nothing but a sad old whore!

Always have been, always will be!"

"How dare you speak to me like that! I'm not old and I'm not a whore!" standing up, her face livid. Good for you Lenore.

Holding nothing back, Raven slapped her, knocking her to the ground.

"I'll speak to you any way I want, you stupid OLD cunt - and you will do whatever I tell you when I tell you. You are my whore, don't forget it! Now clean up this fucking mess and don't even think about coming into my bedroom tonight, you can stay out here until you can earn the right to step in there!" and he stormed off the bedroom, slamming the door.

"Edgar would take me back," She quietly told the door.

"He would forgive me anything. I'm sure he still loves me. Oh, Edgar, I wish you were here! You promised to always come to my rescue,

Forevermore."

Chapter 15

He had to die. I was going to kill him. That was a simple fact.

The next day was Sunday, I would cut his heart out (as he had cut out mine).

I hardly slept that night, early the next morning, I loaded Lenore's mountain bike in the back of the car and followed Raven into the hills. I noticed that the tracking was spotty - the batteries were running down and the trackers were failing; well their job was almost done. Using the tracking app, I made sure he had set off down a trail before I followed him. Right you bastard, just wait until I catch up with you!

What I hadn't taken account of was that he was really good at mountain biking and I was really not!

He didn't even seem to be following a marked trail. I had my phone taped onto the handlebars, so I could follow him easily enough, but it was bloody scary! As I turned a sharp corner, disaster struck; I came off the track and plunged down a steep embankment, coming to stop, sprawled on my back under a Tea tree. Ow! I thought; then it got worse; I had landed right next to a tiger snake - a big one too! It was early, still quite cold and he had not quite woken up. Without thinking, I grabbed him just below the head. He was furious and curled around my arm. Not knowing what else to do, I shoved him into my backpack, somehow managing to get my hand out unbitten. Deciding to sacrifice the backpack; I grabbed my water bottle in its foil cooling sleeve and set off.

Lenore's bike was a few meters away; the back wheel had come off. Luckily, I had grabbed my toolkit on the way out of the house. It was only my 'Raven's house' toolkit, but there were sufficient tools in it. I quickly popped the wheel back on and started the arduous climb back up the hill. I had broken a big branch off on my way down and I used it as a prop.

After what seemed like forever, I got back onto the 'trail'. Checking the tracking app, I was surprised to see that, a) I had signal (one bar) and, b) Raven had done a complete circuit and was almost upon me. I could hear him coming down the trail. It all happened so quickly; as Raven emerged from the corner, I smacked him baseball bat style, with the branch. He went straight down the slope.

From the top, I spotted an easier path down, I hopped on the bike, rode down the trail about 50 meters and backtracked to Raven. I found him in almost the exact same spot where I had landed. He had come out worse than me. He had clearly broken both his legs - they stuck out at funny angles, I had to take a big chug of water to stop myself being sick. A dark patch on his right thigh suggested that one of the bones was sticking out. His right hand was smashed and his fingers had already started to swell up like bananas. I had caught him a good one on the jaw. His lip was split, there were several teeth missing, the whole left side of his face was swollen. For a moment, I thought he was already dead, but then, he started to groan. I panicked and stuffed my handkerchief into his mouth. He tried to get up, then winced in pain and fell back.

"Don't move, I'm a first aider," he went to get the handkerchief with his good hand. I stopped him.

"Leave it, it's, err, stopping the bleeding. I've called for help, the ambulance will be here soon." I lied.

I was so panic-stricken that I even considered saving him! Perhaps, I reasoned, he would be so grateful that he would agree to let Lenore come back to me. Then I remembered him holding his groin and saying that she was addicted to it, and my resolve returned. Raven would die.

An idea popped into my head. "I'm just going to check your legs," I pulled the front of his shorts down a bit, revealing his pride and joy. I had to admit it was bigger than mine. Grabbing my backpack, I opened the zipper and tipped the snake into his crotch, then quickly pulled his pants back up. The snake went crazy and bit him all over his cock and his balls. Raven convulsed in agony. I grabbed his good arm and sat on his chest. He looked up into my eyes pleadingly. Desperately trying to scream through the gag.

After a few minutes of biting, the snake managed to get out through his trouser leg and with one last angry look at me, it disappeared into the bush. Raven was trying to say something, so I pulled the handkerchief out of his mouth.

"Why?" he begged.

"Because I hate you." I stuffed the gag back into his mouth, sat on his chest and waited.

After what seemed like hours, but was probably less than one, he stopped moving; so I got up and took the gag out. I checked his crotch. There was no mistaking the bite marks and bruising.

It was obvious that he was going to die but it wasn't enough, my hatred demanded more. I retrieved his phone, it had fallen out of his pocket. Luckily, the index finger on his left hand unlocked it. One bar. I stripped the insulated foil holder off my water bottle and shoved the top of the phone in it; no signal, perfect!

I quickly dialled 000 (emergency services in Australia) and hung up after 30 seconds. Then I opened the message app and found Lenore. I typed a message.

'Lenore, I have fallen off my bike and broken my legs. I have been bitten by a snake.

I think I am going to die so I need to come clean.

I drugged you to get you to leave your husband. I have been drugging you ever since. I used a cocktail of Methamphetamines, Rohypnol and Ketamine. You will need to go to hospital.

Go back to your husband.

I never loved you and I was going to throw you out today.' I left it unsent.

Then I grabbed my tool kit. Inside were some packets of drugs. I shoved some crystal meths' under his tongue. Fishing in his pocket, I pulled out his wallet and tucked the rest of the drugs in (carefully wiping the packets to make sure there were no prints).

Then there was nothing else to do but sit and wait. At 2:15 that afternoon. He took one last shuddering breath and died. I cried my heart out. Not out of guilt, I felt no guilt at all. It was just sad that a young man had wasted his life. Killing him was necessary, he deserved to die and I was performing a public duty.

I gathered up my stuff, double, then triple checked that I had left no traces. I put the phone in his left hand and pressed send. I watched the message bar. Satisfied that it was sent, I picked up Lenore's bicycle and rode off to my car.

When I got to the car, I drove fifteen minutes to a parking spot, Raven had been dead for about half an hour. I checked on Lenore using the cameras. She had obviously got the message and called the police. I watched a young policeman taking a statement from her. The house was still a mess, Lenore looked like a crack-whore; her left eye was blacked and she was sitting on a puke stained sofa. The whole house must have stunk!

The coppers called an ambulance and she was taken away. The cops bought a dog in and started to search the house. The dog quickly found the drugged teabags and the coffee and the empty Coco tin; getting rewarded with some treats. Satisfied with their haul, the coppers left - taping up the front door.

I suddenly remembered the cameras! I drove to Raven's house in a blind panic, let myself in through the back door and using a chair; clambered into the roof-space. Luckily I closed the hatch behind me because as I removed the last of the cameras, I heard the door open and voices. I was shaking with fear, how the hell could I explain why I was in the roof-space with a bag full of spy cameras? Would they spot the chair?

"Fucking odd case," female voice.

"Yeah, apparently the bastard has been drugging her for years and using her as a sex slave." Male voice.

"How'd you know that?"

"The Sargent said, apparently the bastard made a full confession before he died,"

"He's dead then?"

"Oh yeah, they tracked his phone, broke both his legs and got bitten by a snake,"

"I hope he died slowly, fucking bastard!"

"Yeah, rot in hell you piece of shit!"

"Anyway, grab some clothes for her and let's get out of this shit hole, Christ it fucking stinks!"

"Bastard kept her like an animal!" I heard a door open, 10 minutes later.

"That will do, let's go..."

"Wayne you bastard what the fuck are you doing in here? Get the fuck out, this is a crime scene!"

"Give me a break, I'm just getting some pictures, ow, OK, OK I'm going."

"Fucking reporters, bunch of fucking vultures!" Then the door slammed. I just about ran out of the roof-space through the hatch and out of the back door! Shit that was close. Then I calmed down a bit, went back inside and pressed the reset button on the modem to return it to factory default. Checking the rock-cams to make sure the yard was clear, I left Raven's house for the last time grabbing the rock-cam in passing.

I drove home, put Lenore's bike in the garage and poured myself a whiskey. I was halfway through the bottle when my phone rang.

"Dad, it's Elizabeth. I'm with Mum in the Woman's and Children's hospital, she's really sick!"

"Isn't her boyfriend with her?" my voice shook, I'd rehearsed this.

"No, the police said that Raven is dead. Dad, I'm scared. Please come to the hospital. Please dad, for me."

"OK, but I've been drinking, I'll get an Uber." I hung up, had a shower, put my clothes (including shoes) into a boil wash and called an Uber.

As I walked into the hospital room, Elizabeth ran into my arms in tears.

"Dad, the police say he was drugging her! They found Methamphetamine and Ketamine in her blood. I always knew he was a bastard. Oh Dad, how could you let this happen? You were supposed to look after her! You promised to look after her! You promised, remember,

Forevermore!"

Chapter 16

The End.

If you want a hanging ending, it ends there. You can stop now and make up your own ending.

However, the story continues.

After a couple of hours, Elizabeth fell asleep on the chair. I stood and stared at Lenore. Although I had watched over her for months, seeing her with my own eyes was a delight. I just loved her so very much. About four o'clock in the morning, her good eye flickered open.

"Edgar, thank god, I've had such a bad dream,"

"It's Ok my love, it's just a nightmare, everything is OK. Go to sleep, I'll watch over you and keep you safe."

"Oh Edgar, I love you..." I watched her face relax as she fell into a peaceful sleep.

The next day, I stepped out for a piss and when I returned Lenore was awake. Elizabeth was holding her and she was sobbing uncontrollably.

"Morning Lenore, how are you?" She buried her head in Elizabeth's arm and sobbed even louder.

"Edgar, please don't look at me, I've behaved so horribly..." sob, sob sob.

"He, he sent me a text, Edgar..." sob

"He never loved me, he was going to throw me out, Edgar..." sob

"So the only thing you're upset about is that your lover was going to throw you out?" I was more than a little angry. Elizabeth glared at me.

"Perhaps I should go, give you time to get over your beloved Raven!"

"NOOOOO, DON'T LEAVE ME!

PLEASE EDGAR! PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME!" the words seemed to rip the skin off her throat.

I ran to her. Elizabeth moved aside and Lenore threw her arms around me. She buried her face into my stomach, her nails ripped me painfully as she pulled herself desperately closer. Her body convulsed with sobs. Thankfully, a doctor arrived and sedated her. Even sedated, it took two nurses to pry her hands off me. One of the nurses then dressed the claw marks on my back.

The doctor said he needed to talk to me. I was still her husband and her next of kin. He told me that it would take weeks to slowly wean her off the Crystal Meth's (I felt incredibly guilty - I hadn't realised she would become an addict). I arranged to have her transferred to a private clinic as soon as she could be moved.

As I left the doctor's office, a policeman was waiting for me. He introduced himself as Acting Sergeant John Smith. He took me into a side room and explained what they had found.

"I think you had better sit down sir. It seems your wife has been the victim of a callous criminal called Theodor Raven," I held my head in my hands, he came up and put his hand on my shoulder.

"I know him, she left me and ran away with him,"

"Well, it would appear that she couldn't help herself. He was drugging her the whole time."

"The Doctor said she was addicted to methamphetamines?"

"and other things, we believe he also fed her Rohypnol and Ketamine, they are date rape drugs."

The events of the previous couple of days caught up with me. Whatever it was that had kept me going just ran out and I collapsed unconscious on the floor.

I woke up in a hospital bed. The room was dark and the curtains were drawn.

Two days later, Lenore was transferred to a small private clinic. Money was no object; they started the process of weaning her off the Methamphetamines. Needless to say, I was wracked with guilt, and it showed. Lenore's therapist insisted that I take some sessions; she told me that I was feeling guilty for not protecting Lenore, that I was not at fault; it was the monster: Raven.

And what a monster Raven had become! The press went wild.

'Happily married wife, drugged and stolen away from loving husband';

'Mother ripped from family and kept as a sex slave, forced to live in squalor,' with pictures of the inside of Raven's house - mess with puke on top!

Pictures emerged of Lenore, wrapped in a blanket, filthy, hair unkempt, sporting a black eye, being led to an ambulance. The fact that Lenore was tiny and vulnerable made great TV.

The story went national, then worldwide. Luckily the clinic was well able to control the throngs of press desperate for a picture.

I still had one more loose end, the rock-cam outside the front door. I drove to Raven's house and parked in my customary spot. The road was packed with reporters. I walked down the road without being spotted. Acting casually, I bent down and picked up the rock-cam.

"Mr Poe put the rock away! I know how you feel, but that won't solve anything." A young constable had recognised me and seen me pick up the rock. I pretended that I was going to throw it, then visibly reconsidered, thrust the rock into my pocket and stormed off. The picture that made the papers, was me lining up to throw the rock at Raven's house.

'Wronged husband seeks revenge on sex fiend,' not a very catchy by-line I thought.

The coroner's court was called; because of the worldwide interest; the press were given special permission to televise the proceedings; Elizabeth and I watched from the hospital TV room. Lenore was to be a key witness, by the televised link. Since she was the last person to see Raven alive, she was the first called.