Sneak peek of Eden's Pond~ Chapter One

The ticking clock pounded inside Winter’s ears. She sunk down in the oversized chair staring into space. The numbness that coursed through her body made her edgy and she couldn’t relax.
                “Winter…what are you thinking about?”
                She wouldn’t gaze up to answer Dr. Woodland. She disliked her from the first moment she met her six months ago. She irritated her. This doctor belittled her—made her feel like she wasn’t smart enough to figure out how to do anything for herself. Nor would she allow Winter to make her own decisions and she analyzed everything she said.
                “Okay, I see isolation has left you speechless. Maybe if I were to put you in the cooling off room, you would open up and talk to me?”
                A rush of adrenaline washed over Winter. She jolted from the chair, fell to her knees and scurried under a desk, hiding her face in her hands. “Please… don’t put me in that room! It hurts! It hurts!” she cried. “Alfred will touch me again in the no, no spot! I hate him!”
                Her sobs grew louder as Dr. Woodland knelt down to take hold of her hand. “If you don’t come out from there right now and talk to me, I will put you in that room and then I don’t care what happens to you. Putting you in ice cold water is the only thing that makes you talk. And you’re wrong about Alfred, Winter. He has never touched you like that. Shame on you for lying. You could get him into all kinds of serious trouble with that kind of talk.”
                But she didn’t lie. He really did touch her in an offensive way. He forced her to take off her clothes and perform horrible sexual acts. She’d close her eyes and drift into another world until he finished sinning, she called it. “But he did…he did do it and I can prove it!” She crawled out from under the desk, stood up, then pulled up her gown to show the doctor her big rounded belly. “I’m having a baby and he did this to me.”
                Dr. Woodland’s eyes grew big. She sat back against the cushion in the seat and gestured for Winter to sit next to her. “You caused this, I’m sure. You egged it on. Penny told me how you flirt with the men in here.” Her voice rose and she stood up waving her finger in Winter’s face. “You should be ashamed of yourself. Oh, my, gosh…if the board hears about this...”
                The doctor’s eyes glowed with madness. The blood vessels in her neck surfaced and her face turned a crimson red.

Tears rained down Winter’s face as she pleaded to defend herself. “No, you’ve got to believe me; I didn’t flirt with him. He started it. He pinned me down and coerced me into doing naughty thing to him.”      

“Enough! I knew you’d cause me grief the minute your grandmother brought you here. I saw it on your face—in your slutty actions. I just stood by and ignored it. But this time, I’m not going to let it go on any longer, so you can ruin me. I will keep your condition under wraps and the moment you go into labor, I will get rid of the baby and lock you so far away in this facility, the staff will no longer remember you.”
                Winter froze as fear engulfed her. The room suddenly spun. Heat rose on her face. Someway, somehow, she had to escape. Perhaps Norma, the head nurse, would help her if she explained Dr. Woodland’s cruel and unusual intensions. Would she take pity on her serious situation? Out of control, Winter shot out of the chair and raced toward the door, bashing her fist against it, until her hand throbbed. “Let me go. You’ll never have to deal with me again and I promise I won’t tell anyone that you let me leave.”
                A throaty laugh erupted from the doctor. “You do want me to lose my job, don’t you? I wouldn’t let you leave these premises if that meant saving your life. If you haven’t figured it out yet; I despise you. Why would I help you?”
                It was no use to beg this psycho maniac therapist for help. She obviously had a vendetta against Winter and for whatever reason. If she wanted to make it out of Bridgetown State mental hospital alive; she’d have to do it on her own.

                                                                               ***

                After dinner that evening, Winter returned to go to sleep and as she stepped inside the dim room and closed the door behind her, the rocking chair in the corner of the room began to move back and forth. It startled her to the point; she jumped back and went for the door. “If you leave the room, I’ll find you and cut off your fingers then you’ll think twice before running away from me again.”
                She couldn’t tell who sat in the rocker giving her orders, but whoever it was, his strong voice sent gooseflesh all over her body. “Please…don’t hurt me. I promise I’ll do as you say.” That didn’t stop her from backing into a corner near the door and crouching.
                This person stood to his feet and came toward her. Right before he got to her, he took off his black clothed mask. “Do I look familiar to you now?”
                Winter slowly gazed up from the shadows. She placed her shaky hand near her face for protection, in case this person tried to strike her. As his features came into view, she winced. It couldn’t be. He died. The paramedics said a semi ran over him, killing him and their baby son, Dylan. “Oh, my, God, you’re not real! I saw you lying inside your coffin. You were dead!”
                Creed laughed at her. He took hold of her arms and shook her. “You stupid broad; you believed that? It was fake; all of it. I gave Dylan to a nice family. They gave me lots of money for him and in turn, I sold a lot of stuff and made even more money.” He shoved her onto the lumpy mattress. “When you lay in your bed at night, you can thank me for putting you in a place like this and I think it’s hilarious. You deserve it after what you did to me. I saw you with that other guy.”
                Winter had no idea about another guy. She loved Creed and the last thing she’d do, was cheat on him with another man. Oh heavens, how she wished she’d have listened to her grandma now. Her grandma tried her best to tell her what a low life he was, but she refused to take heed.

He was mean and conniving. He may not have gotten her in trouble with the law, but he took her son and caused her to end-up in a mental hospital. He ruined her life. He took away the most precious thing she had.
                Her child…
                She’d never get him back…
                “How could you do this to me? I never cheated on you Creed! I was faithful and I treated you good.” She wiped away the warm tears. “Someday, you will get your up and comings and you’ll beg for mercy. Mark my words.”
                Winter rolled over on her side and gazed at the white wall. She wanted to blink and Creed would disappear. He’d be back inside his grave where he belonged. She squeezed her eyes shut, pursed her lips and blew out her anger audibly. “Shut up, Winter. Throwing a fit will not change what has happened and I promise you…I will spend the rest of my life making your life miserable.”
                She couldn’t take much more of his hostility. “Is that a promise or are you just blowing smoke? I need to know which is it if I’m gonna kill you… or not!”
                Her anger heightened. The pain and anguish roared out her like a wild beast. She came off the bed, reached up, wrapping her hands securely around his neck and squeezed his windpipe. It felt good—her fingers pressing hard into his flesh—his bones. Laughter escaped her lips. Her eyes smiled and she felt a sense of rejuvenation wash over her.
                After two minutes of hard pressure to his throat, Creed’s eyes turned beet red. He tried to pry her fingers away, but she held firm, leaning into his body. “Don’t worry darling, no one will ever know about this. Shoot…you wanna know what I find so amusing about all this? I won’t go to prison for murder, because you can’t kill a person twice.”
                As his face turned a deep purple now, she shook him with great force and during her mad spell; hands gripped her from behind, pulling her backward. Something sharp pierced her arm. “Candace…get me the restraints. This one is going crazy!”
                Winter saw leather bands draped over the nurses arm as she walked toward the bed and from the other eye, she saw Creed lying on the floor, lifeless. “He made me do it, so I killed him. It’s his fault,” she roared, pointing at his dead body.
                The nurse who stuck her with a needle shook her head. “Darlin’, what are you talking about? What body? There’s nothing there. It’s all in your head. Now lay back and shut your eyes.”
                Winter refused to listen. She had to make them see this dead man. He wasn’t a figment of her imagination. He really existed. He threatened her. He sold her son, Dylan for drug money and for that, he deserved to die. “Listen you idot, he’s lying on the floor with a crushed windpipe. If you can’t see that, then you’re the one who needs…”
                The room suddenly turned pitch black. Voices muddled together. Winter went to sleep.

                                                                                        ***

                “Good morning, nutcase. Rise and shine,” she heard a voice say. Her eyes fluttered open.
                Removing the thin sheet from her sweaty body, Winter rubbed her hand over her stomach and discovered “the bump” no longer existed. What happened to it? It scared her so bad; she jolted from the mattress and raced into the bathroom in front of the mirror. “No…oh, my, gosh, where’s the baby? What did you do with the baby?” When she ran her hand over her stomach again, she felt stitches and then a burning sensation.
                The nurse came into the bathroom and took Winter by the wrist, leading her back out into the room. “Don’t you remember? You can’t have children. Dr. Woodland fixed you so you can’t conceive. Mercy…”
                But that wasn’t true. Alfred touched her in her no, no spot and she got pregnant. She felt the bump and the baby used to kick her insides. “Liar! If that’s not true, then tell me how these got here?” She pointed to the incision.

                The nurse’s expression changed like she had been caught. She smirked and shrunk back toward the bed.

Winter stepped toward her. “You killed it, didn’t you? I know you did. I had a baby inside my stomach. Alfred was the father.” Winter was through playing their manipulative games. She snatched a pair of scissors off a silver tray in the hallway when no one was looking and pressed it against the nurse’s neck. “If you don’t give me back my baby right now, I will cut you up! I promise!”
                The nurse nodded, and she raised her arms in the air as if surrendering. “Okay, okay. I will go get the baby, but first, you’ve got to give me your weapon.”
                How stupid did this nurse think Winter was? “I don’t think so. If I give you the scissors, I won’t get my baby. Now move!”
                The nurse did as Winter instructed. Down the hall, they went and when they reached the double elevators, they stepped inside going down to the first floor. “You’re not going to get away with this you know. They can see you on the camera behind that wall. And you can forget about seeing the baby.”
                That just made it more interesting for Winter. She glanced up and a huge smile spread across her devious face. “My right side is my best view. The left side just makes me appear so much older than what I am.” She kept the instrument pressed against the nurse’s flesh. “Oh, and I’m sure after they’ve seen this, they will do whatever I ask of them. Otherwise, I feel so sorry for you.”
                The nurse gulped loud enough to hear ten feet away. She went limber in Winter’s strong arms and closed her eyes. “If you’re going to kill me; please make it snappy. I don’t want a slow death.”
                Ha! She had this woman buffaloed. As if, Winter would take her life for no reason. Creed was a different story. “You can rest a sure that as soon as I have my baby in my arms, you are free to go. I’m only doing this to get what I want.”
                As soon as the elevator door opened, an OBGYN nurse stood there holding a newborn wrapped in a big hospital blanket. “Winter…when you put down the weapon, I will hand you the baby. Until then, you are not allowed to hold it.”
                Again, she wasn’t stupid. Moreover, this wasn’t going to work out. The escape door to the back was about twenty feet away and she didn’t have a prayer of a chance of making it there without them stopping her. Well…if she made the nurses’ walk with her, she could do an even swap. “You…walk with us to the back,” she told the nurse holding the baby. “And I need a phone.”
                Nodding, the lady did as she asked. Winter kept the scissors pressed against the other nurse’s throat and hurried down the corridor before an army of staff members formed behind them. Once they reached the back, the nurse handed Winter a cell phone. After she made her call, she pressed the metal bar and the double doors swung open. “On a count of three, I want you to give me the baby and I will release the nurse. Ready?”
                The nurse nodded. “Where will you go Winter? And how will you take care of this precious child?”
                Why did this person need to ask all kinds of questions at a time like this? It wasn’t any of her business where she went or what she did with her child. She was very well capable of taking care of it. “Shut up and wait while I count. One…two…threeeeeeee…”
                The nurse hesitated, handing her the child and Winter pulled the other nurse back into her grip. “Oh, I see. You wanna play another game do ya? You know, this could get very ugly and bloody. Please, don’t make me use this weapon, because I will you know.”
                Again, the nurse with the sharp tool pressed against her flesh, gulped and her gaze wandered toward the other nurse. She had tears forming in her big brown eyes. “For the love of God; do as she says. I don’t want to die tonight.”
                The nurse holding the baby sighed. She nodded and disregarding the child’s safety, she handed it over. “Take care of this precious creature. Babies are so fragile Winter and they’ve got to eat or they’ll die.”
                She must have had stupid written across her forehead, because these people acted as if she was so incompetent of doing anything for herself or for others. Winter knew how to care for a baby. She took care of Dylan so well and she loved him with all her heart. What Creed did was all on him. She had nothing to do with he did to her son and she wished the guilt would subside. “Don’t follow me or I will hunt you down and cut out your tongue.” Not really, but it sounded good and it made her feel like she had the upper hand. After all, they treated her like a crazy, so she might as well act like one.
                “Fine…we’ll back off. But just know, they will find you Winter. You’ll not get away with this.”
                Laughter permeated the air as she stepped out into the darkness. Waiting just a few yards down the way was Paige, Winter’s friend from way back, sat in her car with the window rolled down. She lightly rapped her nails against the door, so Winter could follow the sound to find her. “Paige,” she whispered. “Is that you?”
                “Over here.”
                Holding the baby close to her chest, Winter fled into deeper darkness and found her way to the passenger’s side door, opened it, slid in, and she, Paige and the child took off into the misty night.
                “Girl…it’s so good to see you! How has life been treating you in that joint?”
                Winter wanted to shout to the top of her lungs to release the anger that built up inside of her for those two years she spent in that hellhole. Nevertheless, she waited to get as far away from that place before she said a word. She feared someone around there would recognize her voice.
                Her hometown was forty-five miles away, but that wasn’t far enough from the hospital for her taste. She wanted a great distance between them and she knew the perfect place to go.
                As they crossed the train tracks, Winter slumped down into the plastic seat and sighed. “Do you know how long I’ve waited for this moment? I can breathe and have something to look forward to.”
                Paige giggled. “I don’t understand why your Grandma put you in a place like that to begin with. You’re not crazy. You’re just a tad depressed, but who doesn’t experience depression every now and again? My lands, if everyone had to go into a place like that every time they had a problem, the entire world would be in there.”
                Paige had a point. Winter agreed, but it still didn’t erase the bad memories she experienced in that horrible place. “I never want to go back. That’s why I have to leave the East coast and head for the Rocky Mountains where no one knows me. I do have some money stashed away in an old suitcase at my grandma’s house. That will buy me a one way ticket.”
                Paige glanced over at her and back at the road. “Just like that huh? You’re going to traipse off across the country with no means to live? What about the baby? How to you plan to take care of it by yourself?”
                Paige reminded Winter of that desperate nurse from the hospital. She insulted Winter by questioning her ability to take care of the child and herself. “I’ll make it. I always do. Besides, I can work.”
                The tension grew between them the moment they pulled into Ridgeport, which switched her attention to the baby. The child hadn’t cried nor moved too much the entire trip. Winter worried about it. For that matter, she didn’t even know if it were a girl or boy. Through all the chaotic mess, she forgot to check. As luck would have it, her grandmother wasn’t home when they pulled up into the driveway. Thank, God, I don’t have to face her, she thought. “You can either go with me inside or wait out here in the car?”

Paige turned off the car and got out. “I don’t care much for this neighborhood. Let’s hurry before someone sees us.”

Winter reached for the spare key inside the flowerbox sitting next to the window and let them inside the house. She flipped a light switch on in the living room and as usual, the place looked much lived in and smelled like rotted hamburger meat. “Good Lord…the woman could clean up a bit,” Winter said traipsing off into the back bedroom. 

When she pushed open the door, the room sat as empty as her hand. Not a stick of furniture nowhere and the closet sat empty as well.

“It looks like grandma cleared out your room for you.” Paige walked past Winter checking every inch of the room.

“This can’t be! She can’t do this to me! I need that money. It was mine.” Whether or not she needed it, she no longer had a suitcase. “That’s okay; I will pawn her T.V. and her microwave and whatever else I can carry out of here.”

 Pushing her way out of the room, she headed for to the front bedroom, laid the baby on her grandmother’s bed and begun to unwrap the blanket. Gazing down, she saw the baby’s tiny face. Then she quickly removed the diaper. About that time, Paige came up behind her. “Oh, just, great! A darned ole’ split-tail.”

Paige shook her head. “Excuse me; what in the world is a split-tail and why are you calling your baby that?”
                Winter heard her grandmother use that expression a few times before whenever someone had a girl. The phrase meant that girls were useless creatures. Having too many girls,’ meant worse poverty for families. They needed strapping young lads to work the farms. “Well, I guess I’ll call her Emilee. She looks like my mother and since it was her middle name, it suits her.”

The child had flawless porcelain skin and black ringlets atop her perfectly rounded head.  She had tiny lips and as red as cherries. “Winter, if you don’t want her…”

“What? You’ll raise her? Is that what you’re trying to say?”

Paige nodded. She smiled with warm tears rolling down her cheeks. “You know how long I’ve wanted a baby. Josh and I can’t have babies.”

Winter wanted to grant her friend her wish, but this child reminded her too much of Alfred and Emilee was a seed from his sin. His fruit could not live. Not the way he intended it to. As cruel as it sounded, Winter had to eliminate this child’s life. She would always have a black cloud following her throughout her existence. “I can’t let you have her. For that matter, I can’t let anyone have her. She’s a bastard child and you know how people frown upon those kinds of children. So the only choice left is to terminate her.” She made up her mind. Before she went on to Colorado, she’d do something with Emilee to release her from the curse—from her father’s sin. “Well, let’s go before my grandma comes back and finds me here.”

Paige stood beside the baby sobbing. “Winter, I can’t let you hurt this baby. She is innocent and she can’t help what her father did to you.” She reached down and took Emilee in her arms. “Maybe your grandmother was right; maybe you are crazy.”

“I thought you were my friend? How can you call me that?”

“How can you not think what you want to do isn’t insane? Think about it Winter. Normal people do not kill their children just because they are fatherless. Many kids don’t have dads in their lives and they turn out just fine.”

No! Paige had no knowledge of what she said. Kids do have problems living with single parents, Winter thought. Families fall apart. Children become violent. They turn to drugs and alcohol for comfort. She was living proof of that. “Forget it! The answer is no. I’m not changing my mind. Now, I need your car…”

Copyright Mackenzie Drew Inc. 2005