Part 3
Rachel's terrified screams and sobs of helpless terror were now killing him inside when only moments earlier they had excited him. With a strangled sob, Max threw himself onto the tracks next to her and started jerking at the first knot he saw, the one at her waist, and although he knew it was hopeless and that he would die too while trying to save her, he simply couldn't give up and watch her die.....and that's when he saw the knife.
It lay there between the wooden crossties, partially hidden under her dress--the realization that it must have dropped there while he was raping her flashed briefly thru his frantic thoughts and as he seized it from the ground he cried out again with a yell that was both triumphant and edged with grief. Risking a quick look at the train's progress he was dismayed to see that it had to be less than a mile from them and showing no signs of slowing.
Like a madman he sawed thru the every bit of rope he could, freeing her wrists and elbows and neck first. In places where the rope had been wound several times he cut thru a few of the strands then hurriedly loosened the rest before moving on to the next snarl of knots.
Rachel, far from laying idle and waiting for Max to cut her free, worked on the loosened ropes with her newly freed hands, pulling them free of herself while Max worked on the next coils of rope binding her to the rails. Although loosened, the rope had been coiled several times in places and was stubbornly clinging to her. She could hear her own frantic whimpers and tried to control her panic while yanking and tugging it off her, knowing that even if the worst of it was cut it would do her no good at all if at the crucial moment she was still bound to the track by stubborn tangles. If she were to escape the oncoming train it would have to be a team effort.
In his own panic Max had cut Rachel in several places during his hurry to slice thru the ropes that held her, but neither one of them took much notice in the face of the oncoming death that was now only moments away from claiming them both.
When Max finally had all the rope cut from her and they both dared to look up, the train was huge...filling their vision and blocking out the day because it was now only a few yards away at best. He grabbed her by the arms while she was scrambling to get up, kicking at the loosely coiled rope around her ankles, screaming with horror and frustration when it refused to let go.
Once he pulled her up Max shifted his hold to her waist and with both arms firmly around her he propelled them the few feet it took to reach the other side of the tracks, refusing to look anywhere but straight ahead.
"OOWWW MAX WAIT" Rachel screamed and he nearly screamed himself again in frustration when his leap to the other side was stopped short by the rope that still clung to one of her ankles. He forced himself to stop his forward motion long enough for her to kick the remaining slack free, knowing there was no time to go back and cut it again.
The train was now impossibly loud, drowning out both their cries as Max, unable to wait another second launched himself off the edge of the track, hauling her with him even as she kicked the remaining loop from her ankle, lurching them headlong over the side where they tumbled painfully to safety.
They clung to each other, wild with a fright that hadn't yet abated to relief as they lay on the ground where they'd landed, listening to the long freight chugging past harmlessly now, the rattling of the cars and the shrill blast of the engine's horn the only sound in the entire world. When they looked up, they seemed to be staring at the passing train, but their eyes were fixed on the part of the track they'd just hurled themselves from....mere seconds before it was filled by tons of onrushing steel.
It was a long time after the train finally passed that Max and Rachel were able to stand. It's horn, so loud before was now only a barely-heard echo on the air. Neither spoke as they made their way to their feet, still clutching at each other, helping each other up.
As if by mutual agreement they wordlessly made their way back to the track, both treading carefully with legs that were trembling violently and threatening to buckle at any moment. They stared at the same empty space of track, unable to look anywhere else, even at each other--especially at each other. Max did notice from the corner of his eye that Rachel was swaying slowly in an alarming way and he put his arms around her instinctively to prevent her from falling in case she was about to faint, although he didn't feel very steady himself and wasn't sure he could keep either one of them from hitting the ground if she did. His arm seemed to steady her, however and she seemed to snap out of her trance. He was dimly grateful that she didn't cringe from him.
They slowly walked closer till they were nearly standing on the tracks and looked down. There were only a few strands of rope in sight; most of it had been dragged by the train to parts unknown. Max's knife, dropped in his haste to pull Rachel from the tracks had once again fallen between the wooden crossties and lay there unharmed, gleaming brightly in the afternoon sun. Max made no move to pick it up.
He had begun breathing harshly, his chest suddenly heaving with emotion, his whole body trembling. Rachel spared him a glance, saw the stricken look on his face, then followed his gaze back to the track where she saw it too--the sight that had upset him so. One of her shoes lay on the other side of the track intact, having landed there while she'd been kicking the loosened rope off her ankles. The other one must have come off while Max was pulling her off the track and it must have landed badly--perhaps part of the heel had gotten caught on the rail. In either case the shoe had come to a bad end. What was left of it was badly shredded and mangled and didn't really resemble a shoe anymore.
Rachel shuddered all over knowing that could have been her--that indeed it would have been her had the frantic rescue taken only a few seconds longer than it did. She fought the waves of nausea and blackness that washed over her again, determined not to faint. Max, however was completely losing control. His manly efforts to control the enormous tide of emotion swelling within him had finally broken down and he was openly sobbing.
Rachel looked at him with some alarm and broke her own shocked silence by saying the first thing that popped into her head.
"Hey.....don't cry.....I didn't like those shoes anyway..."
A short bark of laughter burst thru his sobs and he pulled her closer to him, burying his face in her hair, inhaling her scent, her essence into himself. Her crazy sense of humor had been one of the things that made him fall in love with her, even before he'd gathered his courage for their first fateful meeting. His face contorted into fresh weeping, his tears mixing with the blood on her neck, as the reality of what had just almost happened swept thru him again: all this beauty, all this life, all this joy that was Rachel had come so close to disappearing forever because of him.
They held each other fiercely while Max's bout of crying spent itself. His voice, ragged with the unaccustomed tears wailed "I'm sorry....Oh God, Baby I'm so so sorry" over and over again while she silently held him and waited for the storm of his emotion to pass.
When he finally got control of himself, they moved away from the tracks and Max held Rachel gently by the shoulders, doing his best to look her in the eye thru his shame.
"What you said....what I made you say...that you would marry me....forget about it. I....I don't know what's wrong with me.....I'm ...you're off the hook, ok?"
Rachel was gazing at him quietly as he spoke. She almost seemed too calm. Something seemed different about her....something in her eyes...
"I won't hold you to it. I know you only said that so I'd get you off the tracks. God, I'm so stupid!"
She stood there in the makeshift wedding dress he'd adorned her in, and he saw that she would have made a very dissheveled , yet still lovely bride. The dress was shredded in several places where he'd frantically cut thru the many ropes and spattered with small amounts of blood from her wrists and neck. He leaned closer to examine her wounds and was relieved to see that the cuts hadn't been deep. Her hair was wild, her eye-makeup streaked across her face, which was too pale, deathly pale--almost alarmingly so. But she gazed at him steadily, the ghost of a small smile playing about her lips. She almost looked amused.
Her gaze unnerved him somewhat, and he almost wished she'd curse him, shriek at him, hit him--maybe even seize his knife from the track and stab him with it a few times....anything but that strange way she stared at him, as if sizing him up.
"Anyway, you're off the hook with me....I'll never ask you to marry me again--what a joke!", he hung his head as he spoke, unable to meet that strange gaze anymore. "Like you'd really be stupid enough to throw your life away on somebody like me...".
His voice broke on the last word as he felt the tears threatening to break again, but this time he managed to hold them down.
"Don't say that, Max...", she spoke quietly but clearly, "I do love you....I never stopped."
He was so shocked by her words that he couldn't speak for a few moments. He figured she must be in shock.
"My God, Rachel! How can you say that?" he said when he finally found his voice, "I almost killed you! And....and I ....I raped you....for real this time."
He looked away, still unable to meet her eyes directly.
"Yes....never mind that for now," she replied. She spoke the words softly but Max heard an edge under them, and when he did meet her eyes again he saw that they weren't dull with shock, but flashing the green fire he'd only seen when she was angry...yet she didn't appear angry in any other way. As he looked at her she actually smiled at him outright, but something in her smile chilled him all the same.
"Rachel...", he began, but she touched his lips with her finger and he stopped, unsure of what he would have said anyway.
"I know you almost killed me...but you were willing to die trying to save me. That's not something I can just blow off"
Max couldn't believe she was looking at things that way. He'd been suffering such shame since their close call that he hadn't considered his actions anywhere near heroic. His willingness to die with her if he failed to rescue her seemed only fair.
"Rachel....I couldn't have just stood by and let you die! I was so crazed that I ....I guess I thought I could...if you said no...I was so mad at you....but...but ..", he just couldn't find the words to explain himself and didn't think he ever would, but incredibly she didn't seem to need an explanation, when by all rights she should have been demanding one.
"You could have saved yourself....that's my point. You could've run. But you didn't. You saved me, Max"
Max's thoughts swirled with confusion. This was just too surreal. She actually sounded warmer towards him than she had since long before their breakup.
"But....what I did to you..." his voice betrayed the horror he felt at his own actions. It was a crazy stunt that could have killed them both. She should want to see him dead...locked up at the very least, yet she was acting as if she forgave him....simply because he couldn't let her die.
"You must have been feeling desperate," she murmered as she slid her arms around his neck, kissing him lightly on his lips, "My poor, poor Max..."
She was actually looking at him with love...and something else he couldn't quite identify. Outwardly she was calm, soothing him with her carresses and her smile, but deep in her eyes something was happening....something manic. Her lovely eyes kept flashing...the lights and colors seeming to twirl madly...but they were so beautiful....and he couldn't believe she didn't hate him.
"You went to a lot of fuss to get my attention Max....now you have it. Don't you want me anymore?" "Oh God, Rachel....I'll never stop wanting you! If I thought I had half a chance to start over with you...Oh, baby....I'd spend the rest of my life making this all up to you. I'd spend every single day thinking of ways to make you happy."
"I think you mean that"
"I've never meant anything more", he said fervently.
"Then I'll marry you", she declared quietly.
Max was taken so much by surprise that he could only stare at first...looking for the trick...the punchline, the kick in the balls...ANYthing! All he saw was that same look of love.
"You....you what?", he stuttered when he could speak, "You will??"
She nodded and he threw his arms around her again with joy instead of shame, finally allowing happiness to flood his tortured emotions.
"Oh....oh Baby! You won't be sorry, I swear you won't! I'll make you happy, you'll see....so happy!"
His babbling was cut short when he heard her voice near his ear say, "On one condition..."
He stepped back, releasing her from his wild embrace and grasped her hands in his. He was sure what the condition would be and was more than happy to promise it.
"Rachel, I swear I'll never ever hurt you again....I'll worship you from this day forward....I'll do anything you want...I'll..."
"The tape", she said, cutting off his string of promises. He didn't know what she meant at first and looked at her, puzzled.
"The videotape....of what happened", she clarified, her eyes shifting to the camera, which was still running. "I want it".
Max had completely forgotten about the tape and his look of happiness quickly morphed into one of shocked and stricken horror.
"Omigod, Rachel....for God's sake....why?? How could you want to see that?", he shuddered, knowing there was no way he could ever watch it after all....what had been so exciting to him before...watching her fear and panic as she struggled in vain to free herself....would only be a horrible reminder, a stark and brutal documentation of what he'd done to her....how he'd raped her, cursed her and sadistically placed her in the path of a horrible death...one she had narrowly escaped from, all the while taunting her and enjoying her unbearable torment.
"I don't want to see it", her voice was now sharp, edged with the rage he'd expected before, but controlled. "I just want it....to keep. To hide where you'll never see it again....for insurance"
He was silent and didn't question her...only waited for her to continue.
"There will be copies made, and instructions left somewhere....in case anything ever happens to me, or in case you ever mistreat me. If you kill me someday others will do it. If you mistreat me and I'm still alive I'll do it myself"
"Do what yourself?" he asked quietly, although he knew.
"Send out the copies....everywhere. To television stations, newspapers, my family, your family....the police...everywhere".
Max hung his head again. Of course she didn't trust him....he'd been a fool for those few ecstatic moments to think that she'd forget about this. So why did she agree to marry him when she'd been so dead-set against it before? Why now? The question bothered him, but immediately he realized it didn't matter. Without another word he walked over to the camera, shutting it off and ejecting the incriminating tape, then walked back, holding it out to her as he would a gift...a sacrifice to his goddess.
She rewarded him with a sunny smile to rival the day as she took it from him, and he knew that nothing mattered but seeing that smile for the rest of his life. He knew he would willingly be a slave to this woman if that's what she required.
"Now take me home, Max....I need to clean myself up. We have a wedding to go to..."
He was so happy later as they drove to the chapel he'd planned to take her to earlier that he didn't care about the manic lights in her eyes....or what could be going on behind them....Her smile was so beautiful that he didn't think about what visions she saw that made it that way...
Behind her eyes...behind her smile, behind the looks of genuine love she bestowed on him....were deafening screams....a handsome face contorted in unbearable agony...powerful masculine limbs that strained in desperation to break the ropes that held them...ah yes, she thought...Max will make me happy....so happy....
The End