Page 64 of Two Daddies for Little Jenna

I hung up and picked up my mobile phone off the couch before running towards the stairs. To my horror, I saw a figure rise from behind the kitchen counter in the distance. He was wearing the dark attire of the killer from the film, except the mask was the strange satanic mask that I'd found in my closet a few days ago, and he had a knife in his hand. Now it all made sense. Just like Daddy had suggested, someone had in fact broken into our house and placed it there, but I'd written it off as his paranoia.

Nico was by my feet and barking his head off at the stranger. He began running towards him but I managed to pick him up into my arms. I screamed as I ran up the stairs, turning around to see the mountain of a man getting closer every few steps I took. At the turn of the stairs, I grabbed the expensive and heavy vase off the stand and hurled it at him. It crashed into him and he let out a pathetic little sound as he tumbled down the stairs.

Running into the nursery, I locked the door and stood before it, putting Nico back on the floor. The door was strong, but the stranger seemed stronger. I opened the closet door and it was just wide enough to block the door to the nursery. I knew I was supposed to call the cops, but my body refused to move. I was still in shock that this was all happening again.

My hands trembled as I fished the phone out of my pocket. Just as I was about to dial in the number, there was a loud slam on the door. At first, it refused to budge, but then the lock broke open. Luckily the closet door was strong enough to block the door.

"After all you've done, you still refuse to ask for forgiveness and accept your punishment. Open up, bitch! Or I'll end you right here instead of giving you your punishment."

"Do you take me for a fool?" I said, gathering all my strength and trying to be the brave Little girl that my Daddies taught me to be. "You have a knife in your hand. What other punishment could you have in mind other than murdering me, you maniac."

The stranger wasn't having any of it. Like a child denied candy, he let out a loud sound of frustration before pushing his hand through the gap in the door and waving the knife around in the air. I dropped my phone on the floor as tears rimmed my eyes, but I had to be brave for my Daddies. I had to survive. I had run away from the cult and I’d seen a glimpse of what my future could be with my Daddies. I couldn't let it all come to an end because of a maniac.

I pushed the door as hard as I could, trapping his hand in the process. He tried to free his hand, but I had my body weight against the door now. I bit onto his trapped forehand as hard as I could, causing him to howl in pain.

"What an amateur," I said and bit again, this time twice as hard, causing him to scream and curse. "Don't come waving a knife around if you're not willing to finish what you started, fool."

As I bit for the third time, I couldn't believe how brave I’d gotten. When Otis tried to kidnap me months ago, I had pretty much resigned to my fate. But by now Daddy Clark's love had begun to heal me, and Daddy Nick's love had given me courage.

The stranger now put his weight against the door and pushed it enough to free his hand. I tried holding onto his forearm with my teeth, but he was too strong. Once he was free, he began violently slamming his body against the flimsy door, which I knew couldn't bear the assault much longer. This was it. My life was going to come to an end.

I now pictured my Daddies going down on one knee together. It was my go-to safe zone whenever I panicked. I always wished it would come true one day, but now I knew I wasn't going to live long enough to know if the day would ever come.

"I love you, Daddy Clark," I whispered to myself as I felt the door hinges struggle to stay intact. "I love you, Daddy Nick."

One's life was supposed to flash just before you go, but all I saw was my future, the future I so desperately wanted but I couldn't have. In this future I was old and on the porch knitting a sweater. My Daddies returned home after a long day of work and I was calling them husbands. Michael had just called to let me know he and Elijah were coming over for a playdate. We had all gotten old but nothing had changed, not even Michael's naughtiness. Just like me, Michael still liked to be carried around on his Daddy's hip. With each push of the door, the image got bleaker, until it was replaced with one where my Daddies were old and still mourning my death years after I'd gone. How could they go on without me? They needed me just as much as I needed them.

Just as the door was about to give in, I heard something downstairs. It sounded like a car parking in our driveway. Were my Daddies already back? Or was this a trap and he had an accomplice waiting?

Suddenly the stranger pulled away from the door. Oh no! He could go downstairs and kill my Daddies like he threatened to. I couldn't bear to go downstairs and find their lifeless bodies, all because I refused to go with him. But what would my Daddies want me to do in such a situation? They'd probably want me to save myself, but I couldn't be selfish anymore. Not after Clark had risked his life to save me from Otis. The love I had for them was just as great as the love they had for me, and it was time to prove it. They would get to grow old and live a happy life, be it with or without me. I had to ensure that.

"Fine, I confess my crimes and I accept my punishment," I begged as a tear ran down my cheek. "Just leave my Daddies alone. They've done so much for me. I can't repay their kindness by getting them killed. Kill me if that's what you want, but let them live."

With a deep breath, I accepted my fate. How strange was life? I thought I could never repay my Daddies' kindness, but now I could by giving them life. So what if I had to sacrifice myself in the process? I loved them more than anything else in the world.

I closed the closet door and then opened the nursery door, bracing myself to be stabbed in the stomach violently. But the stranger wasn't there anymore. He had probably gone downstairs to kill my Daddies! The mere thought was so traumatic that my knees threatened to buckle. I felt a little lightheaded from all the anxiety, but I had to warn them of the danger at all cost.

Chapter 27: Clark

"I'm sorry, Nick," I said as I drove us home. "I know you've been looking forward to this. I'm eager to get to know you as a friend, too. But…"

"I understand," Nick said with a smile. "There will always be other times. If you're not ready, you don't have to force yourself."

We were halfway there when I had started panicking. I just had to turn around and get back home because I wasn't ready to leave our babygirl alone yet.

"The memory is just too fresh," I confessed. "When Otis kidnapped her, it was the end of the world for me. When I rescued her, I told myself I'd never leave her alone ever again. I know it's impractical, that I'm just being paranoid. I know when we reach home, we'll find her safe and sound because Otis is locked up for good. It's just that I have this incessant thought that I might lose her all over again. I promised that sweet girl I would protect her, and I feel like I'm a bad Daddy every time I even think of staying away from her."

"You're not, really," he said. "Remember when you panicked because she was missing from the nursery when she was supposed to be napping? We turned the house upside down trying to find her. You were so worried and called everyone we knew. It was then that I knew how good of a Daddy you are."

I chuckled. "You were just as worried. How were we supposed to know she had fallen asleep trying on the new puppy costume in the closet? I feel just as worried now, except it's ten times worse. Feel like I can't breathe because she's out of my sight where I can't keep her safe. I mean, every single day since Otis was sent to prison, I secretly check online to make sure he's still locked up and didn’t run away or something. Secretly because I don't want Jenna to know. Don't want her knowing her Daddy's going mad with worry. Sorry, I tend to ramble when I'm scared."

"It's fine, really. You don't have to apologize. What you went through was scary. I'd be just as paranoid if I'd come home to find her kidnapped by a mad man."

Nick didn't know much about Otis, just that he had tried to kidnap Jenna because he wanted to forcefully make her one of his wives. She let me know I could tell Nick everything about her past, but I felt it had to come from her, whenever she was ready.

"She wants us to be friends so bad, you know," I said.

"I could tell." He laughed. "She does that happy little dance when she's excited. God, she looks so cute when she does that. But she has nothing to worry about. You became my friend the day you let me into your home."