Its all about control CH 12 (the last)

Hope is an anchor, and love is a ship, Time is the ocean and life is a trip You don't know where you're going, 'Til you know where you're at And if you can't read the stars, Well, you better have a map A compass and a conscious so you don’t get lost at see, around some old lonely island, where no one wants to be…

The song echoed throughout the building.  It seemed more haunting now than any other time anyone had heard it.  Oversized wrestlers filled the place wall to wall with Hunter, Shawn and Shane standing near the front of the crowd.  With all of that testosterone you wouldn’t expect a single tear, but finding a dry eye would be a challenge.  Shane stepped up to the mic, clearing his throat, desiring the attention of the crowd.

“Let’s get this thing started shall we?”  Shane turned to Shawn, motioning him to come up.

The men shared an emotional, tearful hug, before Shane stepped back.

“Man, I never though this was where it would all end.  Imara, man, through her fear and hesitations, she fought like hell.  Nom matter what she said or did, it took a hell of a lot of strength to go as far as she did.”  He paused to dry his eyes and choke back tears.  “This girl man, I wish I would have had the chance to get to know her better but what I did know…this girl had a beautiful soul.  She deserved the world.  Most of you didn’t get a chance to even see her like I did.  Man, this girl.  She never asked for the cards she was dealt, but she played them the best way she could.  Imara, darling,” He turn his head up to the ceiling, “I’ll see you on the other side.”  Shawn sent a kiss up her way and turned to Shane and Hunter, all three of them loosing tears down their flushed cheeks.  Shawn embraced Hunter and Shane once more as sniffles echoed from the crowd.

From the beginning of creation, I think our maker had a plan For us to leave these shores and sail beyond the sand And let the good light guide us to the waves and the wind To the beaches and a world where have never been And we'll climb upon a mountain, y'all we'll let our voices ring Those who've never tried they'll be the first to sing.

Shane stepped up to the mic.  “You know, I was never the best big brother.  I turned a blind eye to what my father put Imara through for a while.  I regret every day I sat and did nothing.  This girl was, like Shawn said, a beautiful soul.  My sister is-was-my sister was one of the nicest girls you’ve ever met.  She would have never told you how awful it was, she took it all with a smile.  I wish every minute I would have been the big brother she needed but at least she got a few days of peace.  This girl, man, I can’t even speak.  She was loved by a lot of people.” Shane choked up, took a second to regain his composure.  “I loved her with all my heart.  She ran like hell from her own hell of a reality.  Imara, her eyes sparkled when she was happy and glossed over when life was starting to win but through it all she held on to her McMahon million dollar smile.  This girl man, you should have known her.  She would have changed you.”  Shane let his head fall into his hands as the emotion over took his put together composure.  His body shook with tears as he took a few steps back from the mic.  Before leaving he said one more closing thought, “Ima, Imara, Sister, I’ll see you on the other side.”  He too sent a kiss to the heavens and rejoined the other men, hugging once more.

Woah, my, my I'll see you on the other sid,e If I make It, And it might be a long hard ride But I'm gonna take it, Sometimes it seems I don't have a prayer, Let the weather take me anywhere, But I know I wanna go Where the streets are gold 'Cause you'll be there.

Now it was Hunter’s turn. Shane purposefully saved him for last. He knew that Hunter would be the last straw to send everyone over the edge. That man loved his sister. He didn’t speak for two days after the hospital visit. Hunter cleared his throat, sucked back his tears and stepped up to the mic, water bottle in hand. “Imara showed me how to live and she showed me how to love. When I first met her, her ice cold exterior was just antoher challenge for The Game to win over, I never meant to get involved. If you knew Imara, you know not getting involved is not an option. There is just something about her.” He heard him self, and before he could correct the mistake he had to turn and swallow more tears. “There was just something about her. The few days Imara and I spent with each other, she opened up more and more. I still remember the first time I saw a hint of a real smile. Not that McMahon ‘I’ll smile through everything’ smile, I mean the smile that lit up her eyes. Everything changed. That’s when I knew that I loved her. From that moment on, I loved her. I did everything I could for that girl and it just was not enough. Life caught up.” Hunter paused to take some of his water. “You know, if anyone ever deserved a break, she did. She never gave up no matter how easy it would have been to just go home and back to the house she feared. This girl kept going. When I was holding her in my arms while the life bled out of her, all I wanted was for her to say something, move, anything. You know what her last words were? ‘Thank you for everything’ and finally ‘I love you Hunter.’ Those were the last words she spoke to me. Imara, baby girl, I love you too. I wanted to show her how much I loved her, and I tried for the short time she stayed with me at that mansion of a home. Well Imara, I guess all that’s left to say is,” tears couldn’t be gated anymore and the fell freely down the strong face and onto the quivering bottom lip of the strong man, “I’ll see you on the other side…I’ll see you on the other side.”

You don't bring nothing with you here And you can't take nothing back I ain't never seen a hearse, with a luggage rack So I've torn my knees from praying Scarred my back from falling down Spent so much time flying high, 'til I'm face first in the ground So if you're up there watching me, can you talk to God and say, Tell him I might need a hand to see you both someday.

Hunter walked back to the other two men, and again, the three hefty guys embraced, heads on shoulders. Their dark suits now stained with feeling. John stood up from the front row and walked towards the wooden box, waiting for the others. The trio solemnly walked over to join him. They each grabbed a corner of the wood containing the girl they all loved so much. A couple other random burley men helped with the weight as they started the parade out of the church and down the stairs to the waiting vehicle. Never in your life have you seen such strong men out pour so much emotion. As they made there way on the sidewalk, Hunters foot nearly slip out from under him on the newspaper that was mashed into the cement. He smiled at the headline.

WWE Chairmen of the Board charged in the death of his young daughter. District Attorney seeking like without parole.

Its all about control CH11

Before Imara had a chance to scream, her father had her mouth covered with one of his strong hands while his other hand continued to drag her out of sight. He got her behind a small wall of shrubbery where he maintained the strong hold on her mouth and waited to see if Hunter had heard any of it.

****

Hunter went upstairs to get out of the wet suit hanging off of his physique. While making his way upstairs he smiled. Imara appeared to finally be coming alive. She was laughing, and splashing and even at the most basic level, Imara was talking to him. The girl he met not too long ago, who the ice cold exterior and the greenest eyes that never cried, was finally feeling again and Hunter had a front row seat. Her happiness gave him a skip to his step. She was doing a lot for him as well. Imara was showing Hunter how to live, one moment at a time. As Hunter changed into warm, dry, sweats he barely heard the buzzing of his vibrating phone on the bed.

“Hey Shawn, miss me already?” Hunter grinned.

“Hunter, listen to me. Where is Imara?”

“She’s in the pool. Man this girl is a mermaid I swear! Didn’t think I would get her in it now I have to drag her out!” He laughed.

“HUNTER! Shut it! Look, Vince hasn’t been seen around these parts in a while.”

“What do you mean? He’s gotta be there, where else would he be?” Hunter maintained his smile. He didn’t want to admit what couldn’t be.

“Hunter, he isn’t here. He has Coach covering for him and his droids are guarding his vacant office. Shane went and found out what he could but, Hunter he is not here…Hunter, are you there?..HUNTER!? HUNTER!!”

***

When Vince was sure Hunter didn’t here the struggle he turned to his daughter, who was shaking with fear. “Well, well. I found you didn’t I? You and your brother think you are so clever. Baby-sit, PSH, I should have known. Stupid girl trying to make a fool of me.” He slapped her hard across the face, drawing blood and sending her to the ground. “How dare you think you can deceive me! You and those degenerates humiliating me on national television!” His anger again manifested it self in the form of strong punches to her mid section and face.

One fist full of rage after another landed on Imara’s frail body. She felt almost everyone, until her body gave in and began to shut down. She tried to scream but instead choked on the metallic liquid pooling in her throat. Her eyes began to swell shut and she felt the welts and bruises form. As the blood continues to drain from her wounds and through her body she struggled for air while rib after rib cracked from the beating.

While he continued to attack her with insults as to what she did to make him so angry, Imara began to imagine she was somewhere else. Through the fists of rage Imara imagined being back in the water. There she was free and weightless. She could float effortlessly through the clear water. It was a better place to be than her current reality. Imara held onto as much consciousness as she could, she knew if she held on long enough Hunter would be out there soon. There was no way he would forget about her, and with Vince’s voice, which started out as a quiet rumble, now a full blow scream, Someone had to hear. They just had to.

Vince continually laid into her. When she stopped flinching with each hit and kick, his anger increased. “Whatssamatter? Playing dead? I’ll show you playing dead!” Vince took a handful of her precious hair, now red from her trickling skull, and forcefully slammed it into the ground. “You stupid girl. You should have stayed at home. Now you kno-” Vince was cut off, courtesy of a blow to his head.

“No, Vince, now YOU know.” Vince crumbled to the ground. Hunter had taken a shot with a spare metal pool accessory. Quickly, Hunter fell to his knees next to Imara, pulling her body up to him, tears already falling from his eyes. “Imara, Imara honey wake up.” He stroked her hair and cheek hoping for a sign of life. “Help is on the way, just hang on okay?” Hunter continued to stroke her lovingly, all he wanted was a response. A groan, a movement, a squeeze of his hand, anything, instead she just lay there motionless in his arms.

Imara heard Hunter take down Vince in one hit. Hunter was so strong, stronger than she would ever be. She continued to lay in his arms without moving attempting to save up what little energy she had left inside. As the sirens came into earshot she found the strength to open her eyes, as much as she could.

“Hunter-”she coughed.

“Imara, don’t talk, save your strength, you’re going to be fine. It’s going to be okay.”

“Hunter. Thank you for everything.” She coughed up more blood, wincing in pain. “You did your best. I love you Hunter.” Imara had run out of strength. She folded back into his arms, closing her swollen eyes. She drifted in and out of consciousness as the paramedics came and boarded her. Her broken body was strapped in and loaded into the screaming vehicle all the while, Hunter never left her side.

The medics administered what they could and monitored her thready pulse throughout the ride to the hospital. She was aware of Hunter holding her broken hand, and could feel his body cry.

Hunter leaned down close to her ears, so he was sure she would hear him. “Imara, they took him away, he’s never coming back, he will never hurt you again.”

No, he won’t ever hurt me again. Everything will be okay now. It’s over. Imara felt the pain leave her body as the paramedics rushed her through the ER doors.

Its all about control CH 10

McMahon hardly slept the night. He went over the plan in his head a thousand times. It would be simple. All he needed to do was wait. Hunter would leave her side eventually, he would blink. That’s when he would strike. It was only a matter of time. A smile crept to the corners of Vince’s mouth as he fantasized about what he would do when he got his hands on her. Oh she would pay. He hoped he wouldn’t have to wait long; his blood was already boiling with rage. As dawn broke, McMahon was sitting on the edge of the hotel bed. Large, powerful hands were clasped tightly around each other and rubbing in tension. His grey pinstriped suit, accented by is gold tie, began to cling to his warming body with the leaking perspiration. With the sun continuing to rise, McMahon grabbed his wallet and phone and adventured to the hotel lobby to search for a cab. Today he was going to watch the couple and see what they were up to, and of course, wait for his chance.

----(another arena in another city)

Shawn paced the empty locker room. He had noticed that Vince had disappeared off of the radar. His assistants were covering for him and maintaining he was around, just keeping to him self from the stress of his daughter. Shawn new better. The question now was, where was he? What was he doing? As Shawn’s anxiety hit a new high, Shane walked in to the locker room.

“Shane! Man, where is your father?!”

Shane approached the ball of stress carefully. “Shawn I don’t know for sure, but I am worried that he…”

“Figured out she left with Hunter?” Shawn interrupted. “That is what I was afraid of as well.”

“Well, what can we do? You can’t leave you are right in the middle of a story, and I don’t know if I should leave…someone might tip him off.”

Shawn sank into the provided couch in frustration. “We should call Hunter. Tell him what we think.”

“Is it worth scaring Imara? She seemed to finally be letting herself open up to Hunter and I would hate to offset that.”

“I don’t know Shane. I don’t know.” Shawn looked up at the young McMahon with helpless, confused, sad eyes. Neither man knew what to do. What if Vince really was there and was in fact hiding? However, what if he was in Connecticut near Imara and Hunter?

“Okay, I will see if I can get past the lemmings protecting him and his location, and if I can’t find him or find him to in fact have left, then we will call them and tell them what we know and that is it. Okay?”

“Yeah okay. Man, this is screwed up.” Shawn covered his emotional face with his hands, breathing deeply.

“Try and have a good show buddy, I will come and find you after.” Shane gave Shawn a pat on the shoulder, and in return Shawn smiled at Shane as he left the locker room.

Before leaving to make his entrance to the fans, Shawn blew of some steam by sending a few of the standalone lockers crashing to the ground. He was overwhelmed with emotion and he couldn’t take it for much longer, this needed to end.

--(Back in Connecticut)—

“Imara, what about this? It’s cute right?” Hunter held up some cartoon riddled shirt covered in pink and purple.

At least he’s trying, she smiled. “Um, yes if you are five or six. Hunter, I am too jaded for pinks and purples. I prefer something….like…this!” She held up a dark grey t shirt with metallic skulls and crossbones over the left shoulder.

“Oh whatever, I give up.” He threw up his large arms in a smile. He walked over to the rack Imara was rifling through. She had picked out a few things, but he could tell she was loosing steam. After all, she wasn’t a normal girl, she didn’t spend her life in malls shopping for the latest fashions, this was foreign to her. “Hey, when we are done at this store you want to go get a drink or something?”

“Yes! This is ridiculous…I hate shopping.” She huffed. “Okay, with an offer like that I am going to try these one and get out of here.” Imara found her way into the dressing room. She had been trying on clothes all morning. This time was different. In the other rooms she was avoiding the onslaught of mirrors until she was clothed. Imara had little desire to see her wounds, even if they were healing. In this room, she caught a glimpse in the mirror and couldn’t help but look. The bruises began to look worse than they were, in that awkward healing phase where everything looks just awful but was in deed better. Her small body was still a mural of blues, greens and purples, but at least she couldn’t see anything new and some older marks actually had time to disappear. It was easier to find normal colored skin. She was snapped out of her trance by Hunter’s voice outside the room.

“Hey, slow poke, everything okay in there?”

“Oh, yeah, sorry I got tangled in a sleeve, I’ll be right out.” She quickly dressed herself and walked out, having not tried on a single thing. It didn’t matter, she was a good judge of what would fit, she had to be, so she just picked out what she liked, including a one piece swimming suit Hunter insisted she buy, ‘just in case’. “Okay, I’m ready let’s get out of here, shall we?”

“Yep!”

The couple made their way to a checkout and walked out into the mall. Imara was a sight. For a girl who hated shopping, you couldn’t tell. She had bags hanging off of every limb. Hunter just laughed, until she kicked him, then he offered to help. They walked up stairs to the food court which smelled of a potpourri of different foods, some better than others. The duo decided on orange julies’ and sat down in a spot to watch the ice skaters below. In Imara’s world, things were looking better.

--(from across the dept store/mall)--

Look at them. Shopping as if nothing is wrong in the world. He watched as Hunter held up a shirt and as Imara laughed at his attempt at her style. How dare she laugh! She doesn’t deserve anything, except for what I am going to give her. Oh what, now she is going to try on those ridiculous things? I can’t even believe this. He won’t leave her side that sick sonofabitch. God, what is she doing in there, picking her nose? How long does it take to try on some clothes? Oh good, there she is. Of course he had to remind her he was waiting for her lazy ass. Jesus, she was such an idiot. Vince noticed them head for the check out. Stalking them, he moved slowly and quietly behind some other oversized clothing displays. He had been following them all day, through all of the stores. Vince found it unbelievable how Hunter would act to her. Shit, where are they going now? Out of the store huh…no problem. He followed them as they made their way out of the store. If she ever kicked me, that would be the end of her…well this is the end of her. What? Now he is buying her something to drink? She is such a freeloader. She is a McMahon damnit! These two are unbelievable. I can’t watch this anymore. I will wait for them at home. This is making me want to throw up. Vince left the two to their drinks and ice skaters. Aware that Hunter had a state of the art alarm system in place, he needed to find an open window. The girl was careless enough, there had to be something left open somewhere.

Mr. McMahon pulled up to the mansion, again. In the day light it had a glow to it from the crisp white paint. When he was done, the house wouldn’t sparkle anymore. He ventured around the property carefully examining all of the windows and doors.

Aha! That dumb girl messed up. Her own bedroom window is open enough. McMahon searched for a way up and decided that it would be impossible to sneak up that high without being seen or heard. Damnit, that girl. Teasing me like that! Who does she think she is… Vince continued to inspect the property. No obtainable open windows left him with one option. To hide out back, by the pool, and wait. He did just that. He found an uncomfortable spot in the back near overgrown trees and plants designed to keep prying eyes out of Hunter’s back yard. Normally Vince wouldn’t have the patience to wait. This time, the only thing keeping him from charging in was the images he had in his mind of everything he wanted to do to her. He imagined her begging for her life while gasping for breath. Images of her throat being crushed from the pressure of his hand almost sent him into bliss, a mental orgasm. This, he was going to enjoy.

----

“Well Imara, it is a little late for lunch and a little early for dinner, but I am hungry. What about you?” Hunter inquired and Imara unpacked her new wardrobe into the shared closet.

“I could eat. I was also thinking maybe someone should get some use out of your pool.” Imara gave Hunter a wink.

“Well then, lets go swimming! I’ll meet you at the pool in five!” Hunter smiled like a school boy.

Imara wanted to feel comfortable in her own skin. She was tired of hiding in long sleeves and dark jeans. Ultimately, Imara desired to feel normal and that wasn’t going to happen unless she took baby steps. She wiggled her way into her new, black suit. It wasn’t anything special. It was the ‘little black dress’ of swimming suits and it accented her curvy figure nicely. Shyness and embarrassment still took over and she coyly wrapped herself in an oversized towel. When she got outside to the pool, she found Hunter flipping off of the diving board like a 12 year old boy. Her laugh forced its way out of her stomach causing her whole body to shake with delight.

“You are ridiculous Hunter! Anyone ever tell you to act your age?!” She hollered his direction.

“Hey Imara…how old would YOU be if you didn’t know how old you were? Uh huh, EXACTLY, right now, today, I’m an adolescent boy, deal with it and jump in!”

Again, Imara let out a laugh. She dropped her towel and hurriedly cannon balled into the waiting water. It felt wonderful. She began to swim here and there all over the pool, allowing her body to glide through the water. The water rushed over her, and under her. For a while, Imara forgot about her healing wounds and the circumstances that led her to the water. When she popped up, Hunter was waiting to say something.

“Hey, fish, the sun is starting to go down, we should go inside, order a pizza.” Hunter offered her a towel.

“Yeah, can I stay out for a few more minutes please? This is really nice.”

“Yeah, okay but just a few minutes. I will go change and order the pizza, and then I am coming back out and dragging you out of here even if I have to use fishing net.”

Imara responded by diving back underneath the water, splashing Hunter with her feet as she went deeper.

Hunter made his way inside.

Imara continued to swim pseudo laps along the pool. She had no idea that of the man whose moment of opportunity had just presented itself. She came up for a breath of air one last time but quickly found a large, strong hand holding her small head underneath the surface. Imara struggled, flailing her arms and attempting to grasp the arm holding her. The water made it impossible, her grip consistently slipped. Finally, after what felt like forever, the strong hold was released and instead began dragging her out of the water by her head and neck. Imara struggled to see through her coughing fits spitting up pool water and continuing to fight for breath. Seeing her assailant was no longer necessary when she heard the low rumble in the voice.

“Gotcha.”

It's All About Control CH9

CHAPTER 9

“This is your house?!” Imara gawked at the sight of the mansion.

“Yeah, I know. It gets lonely though alone. Look how big it is, all by myself.” He stood next to her looking at the site before him. Imara had changed significantly during the flight to Connecticut. She seemed to breathe easier. He still had some work to do on her, but she was slowly coming around. “C’mon lets get inside. Get you unpacked.” Hunter ushered Imara into the house. They walked through the front door and Imara again was stunned. His house was something out of a dream. Her house at home was big and she was accustomed to a wealthy lifestyle of sorts but this, this was different. The entry way was covered in marble flooring and on either side of the large room were spiral staircases leading to the next level. To the right she saw a living room with larger than life furniture and a monstrous flat panel television. Strait ahead was a kitchen equipped, from what she could see, with stainless steel appliances so clean ad shiny you could see yourself in them. There was a hallway off to the left and she was unable to see where that ended. “Okay, I have plenty of extra rooms here. There is one right across from my room, so if you need anything you can find me quickly. You can put your stuff down in there for now.” Hunter led her up the stairs and down a long hallway. The white corridor ended in a split with two rooms angled off on either side. You can use the room on the right; I’ll be on the left. They are double master suits. You have access to your own bathroom and shower just over there.” He motioned to the doors off to the side of the bed.

Imara walked into the room. It was unbelievable. The room was crisp and clean. White sheets and bed spread on a black four post bed added a dramatic element to the clean, crisp, empty room. She dropped her bag as she walked around the room to take it all in. Then, she found the closet. It was wonderful. There was room for an entire boutique inside. She let out a small laugh in disbelief. Hunter surprised her from the other end of the closet.

“Here is the one catch. The closet in your room connects to the closet in my room. I promise not to abuse the power but I just want you to know, just in case.”

“Well, I’m glad you told me now instead of walking in on me while you think I’m sleeping.” Imara shot Hunter a smile and a wink.

“Yes well, you could turn around and kick my ass if I scared you one night so I am really just looking out for me.”

“Sure you are.” She sarcastically returned at him.

“So, I was going to throw some food on the grill…you interested?”

“Actually, yes that sounds amazing. I need to get out of these clothes though. I have airplane stink on me.” Imara made a face as she smelled her shirt.

“Alright well, I’ll let you change. And Imara, tomorrow we can go shopping so you can get some clothes and stuff. I know you only have that small bag of stuff.”

“Oh Hunter, I can ask Shane to send me some stuff you don’t have to do that.”

“No, I want to. It really means a lot to me to help.”

“We’ll see.”

“Plus I have this gorgeous heated pool that needs to be used so we should at least get you a swimming suit.”

“Um, Hunter, I don’t think I would be very comfortable in a swimming suit.” She admitted bashfully.

Hunter felt bad about forgetting. “Well it’s something to think about, and you can just get a one piece if it makes you feel any better.”

“We will see. Hey, can I do some laundry, do you have a washer/dryer?”

“Oh yeah, right down the hall.” He motioned, pointing down the hallway. I’ll let you get changed and I will go fire up the grill.” Hunter turned and disappeared from the closet.

Imara dug through her bag for something to wear. She hadn’t been able to grab a lot but she had a few pairs of jeans at least. She was just zipping her jeans when there was a knock on her door. “Yeah?” She hollered from the closet. Hunter stepped in.

“Hey so, I know you don’t have a lot and it’s not like we are the same size but I do have some merchandise lying around.”

“Oh, okay.” Imara walked out and joined Hunter.

“I know it isn’t necessarily the ‘in’ trend or some current hip fashion whatever but…” he tossed her a small DX shirt that had an interesting cartoon image of the two trouble makers printed on the front. Imara let out a giggle.

“What are you talking about? This is all the rage!” She teased. “I’m kidding. Thank you I appreciate it.” She flashed him a smile.

“You’re welcome. Alright I am going to go get back to the food.” Hunter turned, and disappeared once again.

Imara changed out of the long sleeve shirt she was in and into the shirt Hunter brought her. It was a little baggy on her small frame but it was clean. She gathered all of the clothes she had and walked the bundle down the hall way. On top of the washer she found laundry soap and fabric softener and all of the things one would need to get some clothes clean. However, his laundry soap wasn’t typical masculine “I don’t care what kind of soap it is I just buy whatever is biggest” soap. No no, it was a girlie brand with a cute cuddly mascot on the front, and to top it off, the bottle was pink. Again, Imara could not hold back her chuckle. “Some big tough man! How much testosterone could you possibly have if your laundry soap is pink?” she asked to no one, shaking her head. After getting her laundry started she made her way downstairs. It wasn’t immediately clear as to where Hunter and the grill were and after discovering the kitchen, she decided he must be out back. After searching a little bit more she found the large glass sliding door.

“There you are!” She spotted Hunter being domestic leaning over the grill, beer in hand.

“Dinner is almost ready. Hey, nice shirt!” Hunter winked.

“Gee thanks.” She returned with more than a touch of sarcasm. “So, what are you grilling?” Imara peeked over the side of the shiny silver grill.

“Chicken breasts and some red and green peppers, does that sound okay?”

“That sounds great Hunter.”

The couple visited over the grill until everything was perfect, to Hunters standards. Imara helped him carry the food inside and together they sat at the table and ate.

While they talked and laughed, Hunter observed Imara. He watched the way she moved, talked, ate, and laughed. She was opening up to him, and relaxing. However, when she thought he wasn’t looking she would wrap a free arm around her rib cage, and trace the bruises on her body, covered by cotton. He noticed her eyes change when she broke eye contact. They went from the happy Imara to a scared girl almost instantly. Vince must have never seen her smile…there is no way he could have touched her like he did if he ever saw that smile.

Dinner ended and the couple cleared the table together. “Hunter, let me do the dishes, please. You have done a lot for me recently and I want to feel like I’m doing something, okay?” Imara pushed him out of the way, well tried.

“Imara, stop. I am never home; rarely do I get to do this sort of thing. It is kind of fun to feel like I am contributing.”

“I am not going to argue with you. Can we just tag team these things then?”

“Fine.” He let out a dramatic sigh and rolled his eyes and an exaggerated fashion. “You know Imara, I realize that we just got here, but I really enjoy having someone else in this big house.”

Imara looked at him and smiled. “I am just glad you gave me a reason to fight. I was moments away from giving up.”

They finished the dishes and did some general clean up around the kitchen and dining room. After everything looked okay, they decided to plop down on Hunter’s overstuffed and oversized couch in front of the glow of the television. Imara drifted off to sleep in the corner. Hunter clicked off the TV and carried her up stairs and to her room. After she was in bed, he walked to his room, making sure the closet doors were shut and let him self fall into a deep sleep.

****

Vince arrived in Connecticut well after the other two. Never in his life had he been happier to get off of the plane. The overstuffed man had spilt soda all over Vince’s pant leg and the woman in the illegal sweater conversed his ear off about her son and how he is saving the world in some foreign country building houses. This just fueled his raging internal fire. He knew where Hunter lived; after all he was his superstar. After hailing a cab, Vince carefully thought out his new plan. While waiting to arrive at the mansion, he called his second in command.

“Coach, this is Vince, listen I need you to do me a favor…yes everything is fine…please just do not let anyone especially my son and Shawn know that I am absent. Lie, do whatever you have to, but do not let them figure it out. Now while I am gone, please do not let things get out of control, you know how I like things, keep it that way…thank you Jon, I knew I could count on you.” He flipped his phone shut as the cab pulled up to the giant dwelling. Vince threw money at the immigrant driver and let himself out. “Wait here, I won’t be too long.” He ordered. McMahon stalked his way, silently, up through the gates and the long driveway. He noticed a glowing of light emulating from the large picture window in the front room. Ducking, to remain being unseen, he made his way behind a tree but in line to see in the window. He watched the two on the couch. Immediately he noticed Imara asleep on one end. McMahon watched Hunter notice his daughter sleeping soundly and carry her out of his eye line. Carefully, he watched as various lights turned on and off to allow Hunter a clear path to different locations in the house. When he was sure both were soundly asleep he took not of where Imara’s room was and quietly made his way back to the waiting cab, directing the driver to take him to the nearest hotel. He knew all he needed to about the house. Tomorrow he was going to remind that girl who she belonged to and that was that.

Its all about control CH 8

Hunter and Shawn gathered there things, rounded up Imara, and piled into their car. Shawn was driving them to the airport to fly back home. Imara remained silent. She had this feeling in the pit of her stomach, this wasn’t going to be good, but what choice did she have. They parked the car in the garage and unloaded their luggage. Shawn and Hunter whispered to each other frequently while Imara just went through the motions. She lost interest in their conversation after they came up with this silly idea. Shawn accompanied them to check in and all the way to the end of the security line. Then the goodbyes came. Imara, politely, removed her headphones and turned to Shawn.
“Imara, do not let Hunter do anything but take it easy. He earned this time off.” He tried to lighten the mood.
“I enjoyed spending time with you Shawn.” She responded.
“Imara, it is going to be okay. This is the right thing to do. Be strong, I will come visit you guys as soon as I can.” Shawn grabbed her in a tight hug. At first she fought it, but realizing his compassion was genuine, she gave in to the emotion. She hugged him tightly back. A lonely tear escaped the clutches of her eye and stained Shawn’s shirt. Her ice cold exterior these last few days was slowly breaking down. Shawn grabbed her face and looked her square in the eye. “You are going to be fine. We are going to take care of you. It’s okay, you are finally safe now, darling. Breathe.” He kissed her for head as another rebellious tear fell down her cheek. He brushed it away with his thumb, and gave her one last long look. He turned to Hunter, “Take care of our girl Hunter. Ill visit as soon as I can.” The men embraced in a testosterone hug, you know, the hug where they never actually embrace fully, just a double arm pat on the back. Imara chuckled inside, these men, she thought.
As Hunter and Imara turned to enter the security lines, Imara heard her name.
“Imara! Imara, wait one second, please!”
She turned to see who was calling her name. To her unbelievable delight, it was Shane. She dropped her bags and ran to him. “Shane!” She grabbed him tightly.
“Hi Ima…” He sighed hugging her back. “I had to see you before you left. I am glad I made it in time.” He rubbed her back lovingly. “I am sorry I couldn’t keep you safe. Hunter will do a great job though I am sure of it. He is so strong. He will protect you better than I ever did.”
Imara couldn’t fight her emotion anymore. This has all been so crazy. She cried, again. This cry was different than earlier. She was allowing herself to feel what she had been fighting rather than crying out all of the fear and frustration. Onto her brother’s expensive suit, she let the warm liquid fall from her eyes. It was a different cry though. As scared as she was, she was starting to feel strong, and safe. Imara began to let the emotion she had been fighting over come her, and it was scary. When her last tear fell she pulled away from her brother. He, like Shawn, grabbed her face in his hands.
“You are going to be just fine now, okay? I will come out and see you whenever I can. Talk to Hunter, let him in all of the way. He will help you if you let him. We all care about you.” He kissed her cheek, the way brothers do. “I love you Imara.”
Imara looked at her brother, holding his hands on her face. “I love you too, Shane.”
He let her go as she walked back to Hunter and her luggage, and the future. She looked back a couple times. When she got back to the line with Hunter, he smiled at her.
“Are you ready for this?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be.” She sighed. She waved one last time at Shawn and Shane, who just stood, watching them as they made their way through security and to their gate.

“She’s gonna be okay, right Shawn?” Shane asked.
“Hunter will take good care of her. He really cares about her man. You should hear some of the tricks he pulled to get her to trust him. She’s going to be fine. Come on, let’s get back to work before anyone suspects anything.” Shawn and Shane turned, and made their way out of the airport.

**
Hunter and Imara got their seats and buckled in. Hunter gave Imara the window seat. He was surprised she hadn’t put her music back in her ears. Maybe she would talk to him. He let her stare out of the window a while before he started up a conversation.
Hunter smiled and helped himself to one of her ear phones. As she turned to see what he was doing, he pressed play on her MP3 player. He was surprised to hear Poison rock out from the small device. A smile crept up on his face.
“Wow Imara, I didn’t know you had it in you.”
Imara smiled at him. “What? You thought I was pining away from some washed up boy band? Please.” She rolled her eyes.
Hunter took notice of the smile in her eyes. She was playing with him. She was almost happy. As the plane began to gain speed Hunter grabbed Imara’s hand tightly. She squeezed back.
Once they hit altitude, Imara, who had been planning this conversation since they boarded the plane began to speak. “Hunter, look, about what happened earlier, I am really sorry. I was wrapped up in emotion. You were trying to make me feel better and safe. The only other person who has ever done that is Shane and I just wasn’t sure what I was feeling. I acted out of my ass and I am sorry.”
“Imara, I understand. We both got a little caught up in that room. Don’t worry about it okay? It is over and done with and in the past. Let’s just focus on the future. We are going to Connecticut and we are going to have a blast! I haven’t had time off in a very long time and you need a good time. I’m happy you’re coming home with me.” Hunter smiled down at her, stroking her hair.

***
Vince watched the group say their goodbyes and the airport. He hid inside a restaurant near by. He watched the tearful hugs and emotion out pour. He watched that bitch play the victim. What did they think they were doing, he was the only victim here. He fought to control himself to avoid being seen by the party. He couldn’t risk them knowing he was there. The only way this would work is if they didn’t know he was there. He watched Shane and Shawn head back to work after watching the other two check into security. When He was sure they were out of sight, Vince made his way to a counter.
“Hi, I need to be on your next flight to Connecticut.” He slammed down his visa.
“Oh, I’m sorry sir you just missed a flight.” The vested woman responded, pretending sympathy. “The next flight isn’t for a few hours.”
“I don’t care, just get me on the flight.”
“You know sir, that tone won’t help this situation. Oh and it looks as if we only have coach seats available left, is that going to be alright?”
“Listen woman, I do not care about anything but getting on that flight. GET ME THAT DAMNED TICKET!” He roared through clenched teeth.
“Someone has no manners.” She responed, unaffected by his anger.
Who is this bitch? Thinking she can talk to me, Vincent Kennedy McMahon like that! If I wasn’t in such a hurry I would teach her a lesson she would NOT soon forget.
She slid him the ticket and began to explain what the abbreviations were when he just snatched the ticket from her hand.
“I do not care, I just need the ticket.” He stormed off.
He spent his time stewing in his anger. His blood was practically boiling out of his skin he was so angry. He could hardly wait to get his hands around her little neck and squeeze as tight as he could. She would regret ruining this for him.
When he took his seat in a crowded cabin, he was squeezed in between an oversized business man who had no understanding of personal space and a woman in the most offensive sweater he had ever seen. Oh she is going to pay for this…

Its all about control CH 7

Hunter and Shawn were packing up their bags to head to the arena. Imara was fresh out of the shower and had fresh clothes on. She watched the men busy themselves around the room to the soundtrack on her MP3 player. It was almost comical, really.
In the midst of packing, Hunter’s phone went off, nearly buzzing itself off of the bedside table.
“This is Hunter…oh hey Shane…yeah Imara’s fine…yeah um listen, could you swing some downtime for me...Well I was thinking she could stay with me for a while until we can get her somewhere safe…yeah of course…of course Shane, yeah we are leaving here in a few minutes…alright…yeah…bye.” Hunter hung up and turned to Shawn. “So, how are we going to keep her safe at the arena? We really can’t afford for other people to know, it’s not a smart idea for them or us. The less people know the better.”
“I agree, but Vince will be gunning for us tonight, man. We have to remain available and ignorant as much as possible.”“What about John? He isn’t a huge McMahon fan and I know he can keep a secret.” Hunter offered.
“Yeah, okay. Can we call him?” Shawn responded.
Imara took off her head phones and joined in, after all it was her welfare they were concerning themselves with. “Um, guys? Can’t I just hide in your locker room like I did before? I’ll keep it locked and you can have someone check up on me if you’re gonna be gone. I don’t really want to include anyone else. I don’t want anyone else to get caught up.”
“Imara, it’s different now. Vince knows where to look for you. He knows that we have you. He won’t care about the locked door, he’ll just plow through it like its nothing.”Imara laughed to herself. She was all too familiar with her fathers disregard for doors.
“Hunter...what if I got on a plane and went back. He would never know I was there, it would be the last place he would look.”
“Imara, don’t you think he has someone paying attention to whether or not you come home?”
All she could do was sigh. She was so tired of running. Never was she more ready for it to be over, no matter what that meant, than right now. This was becoming ridiculous.
“Imara listen. We just have to get through tonight. Then I’m going to take a break for a while and you are coming with me. You are going to come stay with me for a while until we can figure something out.”
“Hunter, you want me to come stay with you at your ‘bachelor pad’?”
Shawn chuckled. “Imara, Hunter’s house is no bachelor pad what-so-ever.”
“Hey! It’s a nice house.” Hunter defended is million dollar estate. “Yes Imara, I want you to come stay with me. Shane supports the idea as well. It will only be temporary.”
Imara chuckled. “Hunter…is that really a good idea? Seriously?” She shot him a look referring to the events that had transpired earlier.
“Imara, it’s the only option we have right now. It will only be temporary, and the house is big enough, you will hardly notice the big guy there.” Shawn attempted to sell her the idea. He knew there was not another option but he wanted her to want to go along with it.
Imara quickly realized she was fighting a loosing battle and her only option at this point was to go along with their scheme. She shrugged her shoulders in compliance and replaced her head phones. She gathered her stuff and they all started to the arena.
*****
Vince was now pacing the floor of his office. He had caught wind of Hunter requesting his due down time and was smart enough to know the girl had something to do with it.
“This is the last straw. First she humiliates me on national television and now she is costing me an indeterminate amount of main events! She won’t know WHAT hit her!” He roared, sweeping everything off of his desk in one fluid motion sending the contents crashing to the floor. He threw various breakables against the office walls causing them to shatter to the floor. His raging anger could be heard throughout. After everything in sight had been destroyed, Mr. McMahon regained his composure and went on with the program. He had a new plan.

****
Hunter’s story went without a hitch. He allowed a fellow superstar known for taking down the legends to seemingly leave him unconscious in the center of the squared circle, apparently with a concussion. As he “stumbled” back up the ramp to the backstage area he caught a glimpse of Mr. McMahon. The two locked eyes and never said a word. Hunter’s eyes offered a challenge to find her again and Vince’s eyes looked back with a nonchalance that implied he didn’t care. He would find her. He always did.

Its all about control CH 6

The trio arrived at pdx, Portland’s international airport early the next morning. They made there way to baggage claim without a problem, and in silence. Imara was still upset that Shane had left her. She hardly knew these two strangers, what was she going to do? She shrugged it off as Shawn hailed a cab and they all climbed in. She sat in the middle of the two men, staring straight ahead. Not really paying attention to anything.
Hunter noticed her ice appearance. He wanted to melt her cold exterior but he was going to have to earn her trust first. He devised a plan. He smiled, sliding his arm around the back of the seat. They arrived at the hotel, checked in and found their room, again still in silence. There were only two beds this time both in the same room. Hunter gave a Shawn a knowing look.
“Don’t worry one of us will sleep on the couch.” Shawn attempted to comfort her.
“Oh, it’s fine. I don’t mind really. I’m not much of a sleeper anyway.” She sat down on the furthest bed and stared out the window at the Oregon rain. She pulled out her MP3 player and listened to the healing melodic sound as the rain continued its down pour. She liked it here. This place cried for her.
Hunter and Shawn snuck out into the hall way.
“Look, Shawn, I have an idea to get her to trust me but I need to do it alone. Do you think you could disappear for a few minutes? I know this is an awful thing to ask but she’s gotta trust one of us and since her and I already started to bond a little bit…” Hunter pleaded.
“Say no more. I was going to go get some food anyway. I will be back in an hour though. It can’t be too obvious, she knows games better than we do, dude.”
“I know man. Hey thank you I appreciate it a lot.” He shook hands in that ‘we’re too cool for school…and hugging…’ kind of way with his partner and watched him make his way down to the hotel restaurant.
Hunter walked back into the room and watched her for a moment, staring out the window. He walked up to her, careful not to startle her. He gently placed his hand on her shoulder but he ended up making the poor girl jump a clean foot in the air.
“Hunter! Didn’t your mom tell you not to sneak up on people like that?” She tried to catch her breath. She took out her ear phones and looked at him. “What’s up?”
“Well, I wanted to try and make you feel better because I know this is hard for you. I have an idea.” He went to his bag and got out a mystery bottle of creamy goo.
“Hunter…what is THAT?” she asked in absolute disgust.
“It’s a secret. It helps heal bruises and things faster. I’m not sure how and it’s probably just a mind over matter thing but hey, it works.”
“Oh, Hunter, I don’t need that. I’m fine. I am so clumsy it’s nice to remind myself to be careful and if you take those reminders away, well,” she tried convincing herself, to no avail. “Imara, stop it. We both know that I’m not stupid. Please let me in at least a little. I want to help.” He took a few steps toward her.
She stood there, just looking at him. Her eyes lost their sparkle and her timid smile faded into sadness. She tensed up as he approached. “Hunter…” she whispered.
He warmed some of the lotion up between his hands. He was now centimeters away from her. He teased the bottom hem of her long shirt, never breaking eye contact. He slowly lifted the cotton garment up, revealing her bruises. Imara, too embarrassed to acknowledge what was happening, looked away and closed her eyes tightly. Hunter took her chin in his hands and pulled her gaze back up. “Imara, open your eyes, and look at me.” He demanded, softly. “Trust me.”She looked up at him through wet eyes fighting with all she had the tears threatening to empty down her cheak.
Hunter began to rub the lotion on her damaged skin with the softest touch he could manage. He knew that this was all a hoax, and he was sure she did too, but that was not the point. He wanted her to trust him and see that he would do anything to make her feel safe.
Imara couldn’t take it anymore. The stress of all of this was too much. She broke down and let out a colossal sob falling face first into Hunter. He was more than willing to catch her and hold her until she got it out. He guided her sobbing body to the bed. He sat down with her and just held her in his arms. They sat in silence, with the exception of the sound of Imara crying. Hunter stroked her hair and rubbed her back. He waited their, patiently and affectionately for her to let it all go. Her sobs began to subside and soon she just lay there in his arms.
After a while of silence and safety in his arms, Imara pushed herself up and looked at Hunter. Her eyes were a swollen mess and mascara traced tear lines down her flushed face. As long as she couldn’t see it, she did not care.
Hunter looked at her, and never in his life had he seen a woman look so stunning, especially after crying her heart out, purging her soul. He could not contain himself. What came over him, he didn’t know.
Hunter leaned in towards Imara.
Imara took hold of Hunters face in between her fragile hands.
The both locked their mouths onto each other. It felt like a lifetime in the blink of an eye. As quickly as it happened, it was over and both retreated from the kiss.
“I am so sorry. I don’t know what came over me. That was inappropriate. Imara I hope you know that I had no intention of allowing that to happen when I started to help you…” Hunter stood up, in shock, and mumbling.
Imara thought about too. That was an awful thing to do. He as at least twice your age and might as well be a complete stranger for all you know about him.
Then she wised up. Who cared? This was the first time in her whole life someone actually cared about her and stuck around, who was not her brother. She stood up and pulled Hunter by his shirt. He collided into her and was met with a strong, passionate kiss.
The strength of this tiny, frail girl surprised him. He knew this could go one of two ways and one of the options was not pretty. I should not be doing this, he thought. Not like this. If being close was what she wanted, then they could talk about it. Besides, what if Shawn walked in right now…no that is not a good idea. Hunter pulled away, again.
Imara hung her head. “Hunter I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that, it was wrong.” She whispered.
“No, Imara. Sit down, we should talk about this.” Hunter softly spoke, sitting down. Imara followed. “Look. This is not a good idea.”
“I am sorry.”“Imara-”
“Hunter, all that crying really tired me out. Will you just lay with me for a while?” She asked through a yawn. She fell back onto the bed resting her tired head on the pillow.
Hunter obliged and rested up against the head board. He stroked her back gently as she drifted off to sleep. He whispered to her when he was sure she was asleep.
“I promise you, as God as my witness, I will make sure that you are safe. Nothing bad will ever happen to you again. No matter what.” He leaned down and kissed her sleeping forehead. He continued to rub her back until Shawn came back in.
He came in quietly, not sure what he was going to find. He saw Hunter on the bed with Imara. “Is she sleeping?” He mouthed.
Hunter nodded and motioned for the hall way. Both men congregated in the vacant space out side the hotel room door.
“She lost it man. Imara cried into my chest, and cried hard.” Hunter informed, shaking his head.
“That poor girl. We’ve gotta do something. What are we gonna do though? We can’t keep running her from hotel room to hotel room? What did Shane have in mind for the long term?”
“Man I don’t know. I don’t think he thought we could pull it off and get this far. We have to somehow get her off the road and into some sort of stable housing.”
“Hunter, don’t you have some leave coming to you?”
“Yeah, Vince won’t sign that now though. He wants both of our asses.”
“Well Shane still has some power; I bet he could swing it.”
“Yeah. We should get back inside, I hate to leave her alone.”

-----------

Vince was seething with anger when he arrived at Portland International Airport. This was not okay. Imara belonged to him and damn it he was going to get back what was his. He tracked down a cab and made his way to the Hilton. That’s where he assumed the Musketeer’s had gone off to, that is where the Raw superstars had rooms reserved. When he asked the front desk for room information for the rouge wrestlers, he was disappointed to say the least when the young woman refused to offer up any information.
“Don’t you know who I am? I am Vincent Kennedy McMahon, DAMN IT. Tell me where my wrestlers are!”
“I am sure you are sir, but I don’t care if you are the president of the United States, I can not give out that information. Now sir, if you do not calm down I will have to ask security to remove you from the premises.Mr. McMahon was in shock as to the way he was being treated. No one treats him like that. NO ONE. While he stormed away from the desk he decided he would meet them at the arena posting lookouts all over. He would know where they were at all times. This was going to end, and it was going to end tonight

Its all about control CH 5

Hunter stood at the gorilla position waiting for his cue. Mr. McMahon was in the ring with his son rambling about something or other and being angry about something else and setting matches that did not need to happen. While Hunter jumped around getting the blood flowing, his music started…Time to play the game…
Hunter began to stalk his way to the ramp and down towards the ring while the McMahon men looked on, seemingly confused. Hunter grabbed a mic from the camera crew to his side and stopped halfway to the ring.
“McMahon. You’re out here making matches and causing a commotion, and I figured, you might as well make one more match. I want my title back, and I want it now, right here, tonight.”
“Hunter, how dare you interrupt me and my son with your senseless demands! I will do no such thing now get out of here!” He spat.
“Oh Vince, I think you will. I think you will do whatever I ask you to do tonight.”
“Oh you do, do you? What makes you so confident?” At this point, Vince was up against the ropes screaming at Hunter. He did not like being interrupted especially by this arrogant s.o.b.
“Well Vince, I have something you want.”
“What could you possibly have that I would wa-” he was interrupted by the image on the screen. It was the picture Hunter and Shawn had taken earlier of Imara. The crowed didn’t really know who was on the screen but knew it was someone close to Vince; at least they believed as much.
“I am pretty sure that, sir, is your youngest daughter, is it not?”
“Hunter, you give her back to me right now!” Vince ordered. All the while Shane pretended to be upset but on the inside he was relieved this was going so well.
“Like I said earlier, I want a title shot and I want it now.”
“No way Hunter, not a chance. I will not reward behavior like this. You give me my daughter back right now!”
“Sorry Vince, you leave me no choice.” With that being said, his music picked back up again and he casually made his way back up the ramp, never breaking eye contact with Mr. McMahon.

-----Meanwhile back in the locker room-----

“Okay Imara, that’s it, lets get out of here. Hunter will be here in a minute. Grab your bag and follow me.” Shawn clicked the television off after seeing what just went down.
“Where are we going?” She inquired, zipping up her bag.
“Back to the hotel.”“Shawn that is a little obvious, is it not?”
“Imara, like we’ve said, trust us.” Just then Hunter came quickly into the room.
“Is everyone ready? We have to get out of here.” He managed, though a bit winded.
“Yeah, she’s packed and my bag never got unpacked. Let’s go.” Shawn stepped in front of Imara, leading the way. Hunter trailed, forming a protection barrier around her as the walked out of the locker room.

As the show cut to a commercial and the lights dimmed Vince turned to his son. “You…” he seethed. “Come with me NOW!”
Shane followed only because he could hardly wait to see this all go down.
“Shane, you had something to do with this, I KNOW it.” He condemned shaking his finger in his son’s face. “Where the HELL is she?” He roared.
“Dad, honestly I do not know where she is. Maybe she’s still in the DX locker room. Try there. I am going back home to be with Marissa and the kids right now. I am sure you’ll find her.” Shane patted his dad on the shoulder with a condescending attitude and walked off. He could hardly believe this was actually working. That Polaroid was a nice touch…had to be Hunters doing, he thought to himself, smiling. Shane got into the waiting limo to head back to his house and decided he should probably check up on his sister. By now she must have figured out she was not going back to the house at all.

Hunter, Imara and Shawn arrived at the hotel with little incidence. They snuck up the back stairs into their room and began to discuss the next move. Imara’s phone rang. Instinctively she jumped to it to silence it half expecting her dad to jump out of the ringing phone and then punish her for allowing it to ring.
“Hello?”
“Ima, how are you? Are you safe?”“Oh, hi Shane. Yeah, I am fine. We are back at the hotel now. When are you coming?”“Imara I’m not. You are going to travel with DX for a while. Staying with them at ALL TIMES until we can get you somewhere safe.”
“SHANE MCMAHON. You’re leaving me? This was all your idea and you’re leaving me?” Imara was in no way okay with what was going down.
“You have Hunter and Shawn. Imara it will be fine. You will see me on occasion and Steph will be around a couple of times too.” He knew that she and Steph did not get along. Steph was Dad’s other punching bag and it hurt her too much to see that on Ima’s face so she just avoided the problem all together.
“Shane, I can not believe you. I can’t believe you’re doing this. You’re the reason why I even left Dad’s house in the first place.” She sighed, not letting the tears threatening behind her deep eyes fall.
“Imara, breathe sister. You will be fine. It’s better for you if I’m not around anyway. I will not be the reason Dad found you once again. I can not have that on my shoulders.”
“Fine Shane, whatever. I need to go talk to the other two so I know what I am supposed to do.” Click. That was it. No good-bye, no I love you, nothing. Just blah blah blah, done.
“Okay guys, what do we do now?”
“Well we really need to get out of the hotel. Vince will look here and you shouldn’t be here when he gets here. Grab your stuff and I’ll get you down stairs. Shawn will worry about checking us out. Let’s go.” Hunter motioned for the door. Imara grabbed her bag and followed.
This is just NOT going to end well for me I can tell. Imara couldn’t shake the defeating thought from her head. She had a sinking feeling that this was not the beginning of something new and safe, this was in fact the beginning of the end.

-------

Vince was livid. How could one of his own turn on him like this. It was none of their business. That girl was all his. He put in the money to raise her he could do as he liked. Hunter was going to pay for this. He strutted his way to the DX locker room. He didn’t bother with courtesies like knocking. He was Mr. McMahon and he’d do what he liked. He knocked through the door, causing it to swing open and slam the wall. “IMARA!” He screamed. “Hunter? Shawn? Where are you at?” He began turning the room upside down. Kicking things over, tearing things off the wall. He was a raging animal. He had snapped. He was going to find her no matter what. She was going to pay for humiliating him in front of everyone like that. The nerve of that girl. Didn’t she know who she was? She was a McMahon damn it.
McMahon pulled out his phone and began frantically dialing.
“Barb? Where is the Raw roster off to next, which city?...I don’t care, just tell me WHAT GODDAMN CITY!..thank you.” Click. Well, they could run, but no one can hide from Mr. McMahon, in this world he is God. He grabbed his stuff from his office and made his way to the airport. They wanted to play chase, fine, he’d meet them in Oregon.

Its all about control CH 4

Mr. McMahon grumbled a low, threatening growl. His morning had not gone well. His shaving cream exploded into a white mist all over his favorite suit, and to top it off, his new crocodile skin shoes now were caked in dog feces from the rude neighbors who left the surprise for him on his front lawn. As he strutted his way into the arena in a suit he hated and shoes he didn't want to wear, he had one thing on his mind.
“Where is that damned girl. She had something to do with this I am sure.” he plowed through assistants and writers and trainers all the while mumbling angry utterances under his breath.
Shane saw his dad storming down the hall way. Oh shit, he thought to himself.
“Shane!!! Where is she?” Vince shouted, loud enough to shake the walls.
“Dad, hey, I don't actually know where she ran off to, I'm sure she’s around here somewhere.” He lied.
Mr. McMahon shoved his son out of his way and continued to storm down the hall way.
*******
Imara was sitting with HHH on the couch when she heard the familiar stomping. Her whole body tightened. Hunter, noticing the quick rise in room tension, wrapped an arm around her in an attempt to comfort her. She jerked quickly at the touch.
“Imara,” he whispered, “don't worry, it will be fine. I'm bigger than he is, remember that.” HE started to stand.
“Hunter, what are you doing?” She began to worry as he turned towards the door.
“Imara, you are going to have to really trust me on this one.” He grabbed a DX head band and a green belt that was lying around, messy boys, and walked back over to Imara. “Okay, I am going to make it look like I have kidnapped you and am holding you for the ransom of a title shot. Play along okay?” He reached for her wrists to begin binding them with the belt.
“You think my dad won’t knock you over when he sees me in here like this?” She looked at him with pleading eyes.
“No because he will see it on the giant tritantron via Polaroid picture.”
Shawn walked in just now, witnessing the ploy.
“Hunter, did Vince come by or something?” He let his stuff fall to the ground as he walked over to Imara.
“No, but he stormed by here. You could tell he was not happy. Figured we’d better get ready and get her good and hid.”
“Okay, I’ll go get the camera and call Shane.” Shawn disappeared.
“Alright Imara, let’s get this head band on and get this over with okay?”
“Yeah, okay.” She sighed, her hands now tightly bound. She felt silly but more than silly she was scared. Deceiving her father was not a good way to get him to leave her alone. It was, in fact, inviting bigger problems.
Shawn returned with the camera in one hand and Shane via cell phone in the other. “Yeah dude, you should sneak over here. The plan is starting.” He folded the phone shut, disconnecting. “Shane’s coming over.” He handed the camera to Hunter.
Hunter took the camera and turned back to Imara. She was sitting there, bound in green memorabilia just looking up at him. Her eyes held so much pain. He could see her attempts at covering the hurt with strength, however reality still shown through.
“Okay Imara, sit up strait with your hands on your lap and try and give a pleading look in your eye.” He knew it wouldn’t be hard for her to accomplish that look but wanted to at least make her feel like she hid it well. She followed his instruction and assumed the position. With a brief click and flash of light, it was over. Shawn immediately went to her and began untying the belt and removed the head band from her mouth.
“Wow, never thought I’d have the pleasure of tasting sweat.” She joked, spitting off to the side.
Leave it to this girl to make a joke through all of this.
“Hey, some girl’s would do anything to taste anything off of this body.” Shawn spat back, rubbing himself as he delivered is comedy.
“Yeah, I’m sure.”
Shane walked through the door at the tail of the jokes and was relieved to see smiles all around. “Hey Ima, how you doin’?” He sat next to his sister, offering some comfort.
“Oh, I’m alright. Hunter did a good job of keeping me company while the rest of you were gone. Shane, what’s going to happen next?”
“Don’t worry about Ima. Everything will be fine. The show’s about to start so you hang out here, just watch the T.V., and be ready to leave quickly.” Shane kissed her forehead. “I gotta run, I have to make sure everything’s is ready and get this picture to the camera and tech crew. I’ll see you in a while.” He squeezed her hand as he got up, taking the picture and let himself out of the locker room.
Imara turned to Hunter, “I do not see this ending well.”
Hunter sat beside her again. “Imara, I know it’s hard but you have got to trust us, everything will be fine.”“Yeah, we promise. Nothing is going to ever happen to you again.”
Imara sank back into the couch. There truly was no turning back now. Should she ever find herself in the way of her father, it would be the last time.

Its all about control CH 3

She woke up to the banging on the adjacent door. As she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes she heard Shane jump out of bed and throw open the door with a sense of urgency.
“The world better be coming to an end with a knock like th-” he was cut off by the giant standing in front of him.
“Shane, we gotta get her out of her and to the arena before one of McMahon’s kiss asses spots her. Grab your stuff let’s go.” The king of kings rumbled. He wore a scowl on his face and spoke quickly.
“Yeah okay, give us three minutes.” Shane compromised.
Hunter gave Imara a long stare with his stern eyes. If looks could kill…he retreated back to his room to wait for the slow asses next door.
Imara hopped out of bed and gathered her things. She used the sink in the room to brush her teeth while Shane dressed himself.
“Look, Hunter's right, if this is going to work no one else can know you are here right now, you can shower later in a locker room or something.” He tried to explain in a poor attempt to comfort her.
Shane was never very good at things like that, but she appreciated the effort.
“Shane its okay, you don’t have to explain it to me.” She tried to soothe his anxious mind, to no avail.
“& you know H, he’s not all bad. I know he seems a little rough around the edges but once you get through his thick skin he is really a nice guy.” Again with the big brother tactics.
“Shane, it’s fine, really.” She mumbled through a toothpaste filled mouth. She really didn’t care if he was or not. She was just so relieved to have had some time off from being a punching bag and fighting dummy that it didn’t matter if others liked her. She spit out the mint foam and rinsed with water. She turned to see her brother still struggling with his shirt buttons. His anxiety was endearing. She approached his fumbling hands and finished the last few buttons for him, like a good sister. He smiled embarrassed.
“Thanks buddy,” his eyes smiled at her. “Let’s go next door and see about getting you out of here.”
They walked next door and found both men talking quietly to each other, their bags packed and next to the door. “You guys ready finally?” Shawn asked impatiently. Without waiting for their responses he continued. “Okay, so, everyone is still pretty much asleep. A few early risers are at breakfast but we can still get out of here. Hunter moved the car closer to the door this time and we jut assumed we would sneak back down the back stairs.”
“Sure, okay. Let’s get out of here then.” Shane agreed. Hunter left the room first checking for stragglers roaming about the halls. As the hall was clear he continued to walk, leading the others down the hall. Shawn and Shane had Imara tucked between them, with both of their hands around her back and shoulders. They made it to the car just fine and within the safety of the tinted windows everyone could breathe a little easier. Imara remained quiet and patient, expecting it all to fail at any moment and prepared for the whole thing. Shawn and Shane began to discuss the plan once the reached the arena. Imara felt eyes on her again and through the corner of her eyes she spotted her watchman. He thought he was being clever using the rear-view mirror, but she spotted him. He looked up and back at her every chance he could the entire drive to the arena. There was no other excuse for his actions, the few cars that were on the road were distant memories at the speed he drove. At the arena sneaking her inside was much easier than at the hotel as no one was paying attention to the superstars just yet, it was still too early. They got into the DX locker room and quickly locked the door behind them.
“Ok, I can not stay here; too obvious that something is up. You guys know what to do right?” Shane asked.
“Yep it will be just fine.” Shawn smiled in agreement.
“Okay. Imara come here for a second.” He motioned his sister to a corner in the room to talk privately. “Look, they are nice guys; they’ll look after you until after the event. We will figure the rest out later. One day at a time I guess. I’m sure they will let you use their shower if you-”
“Shane, I’ll be fine. You go do what you need to do. I’ll just wait here.” She was happy to be alone with her midnight visitor; she wanted to know what exactly he was thinking.
“Okay,” he sighed, “alright guys, I am out of here. Thank you a lot for this, I owe you big!” Shane offered as he let himself out of the room. Shawn locked the door behind him.
“Hey Imara, you can use the shower if you want. Hunter and I have to get to workouts, we’ll shower later.” Shawn tossed her a bright green towel, with the DX logo all over it.
“Oh, thanks.” She caught the towel, startled.
“Lock the door when we leave. We have a key. Don’t open the door for anyone.” Hunter ordered.
“Yeah of course.”
The two men left her to her own devices. She locked the door behind them as they requested. A hot shower sounded delicious.
The bathroom was awkward and wide open. Not a lot of privacy, but enough. She turned on the hot water and allowed the room to steam up as she stepped out of her clothes. She slid into the shower and pulled the curtain around her closed. She allowed the hot water to pour over her bruised body. She avoided concentrating on the sting the water brought to her open wounds. She lifted her head up into the stream and closed her eyes. It felt so good. She could stand here for ever. Just then, her peacefulness was interrupted as she heard the locker room door open and swing shut. She jolted, shocking open her eyes, rubbing the water out of them. She turned towards the sound as if she could see through the white curtain. She thought she heard someone stomping around for a while and then leaving once again. She returned to the water and quickly finished cleaning up. She wrapped the green cloth around her and stepped out. She peaked around to make sure she was alone. She grabbed her clothes and found a back corner and began to change. She had everything on but her shirt when the door swung open again. Her hands were tangled in the sleeves and tied themselves up even further after the startling intruder.
“Oh, Imara, I’m sorry.” Hunter entered the room.
She couldn’t say anything, she was slightly frozen.
He couldn’t help but look at her. Then he saw the extent of her upper wounds. God, he wouldn’t even treat a punching bag that way.
“Imara are you okay?” He asked, truly concerned for her well being. She looked awful. He took a few giant steps toward her.
“Yeah,” she shook her self out of her fear, “I’m fine honest. It looks worse than it actually is.” She threw her shirt over her self and fought with the fabric the whole way. “That was a quick work out.” She offered, trying to break the conversation.
“Oh, yeah. I just wasn’t in the mood for a workout. Shawn is hitting it hard though.” He grabbed a bottle of water and sank into the leather sofa.
This was it, an open invitation to question his actions. “Hunter, how did you sleep last night?” She didn’t have the courage to come right out and ask why he had traveled to her room last night.
Busted. He knew that she had spotted him in her room last night. “Fine.”
“Hunter, I know this one word, I’m tougher than pig skin thing is just an act.” She outted him.
“Okay okay. I was curious. I couldn’t sleep and I wanted to see what he did to you.”
“I assumed. Mind if I sit there, next to you?”
“Oh, no, go right ahead.” He moved over to give her more room. “Imara, how old are you? “I’m 19.” “Excuse my forwardness but what are doing still living with him?” “Hunter, have you met my father? He might hate me most nights but that doesn’t mean he wants me to leave. What my father doesn’t want doesn’t happen. He wants me at home, whether for a punching bag, scapegoat, or because somewhere down there in that cold heart he actually cares about me, I don’t know. If he wants me there, leaving is useless. Trust me. The last time I tried to run, well.” She stopped suddenly.
“What, what happened the last time?”
“Nothing, never mind. Nothing happened, he just got really mad.” “Imara, you can trust me. I know you don’t really know me but you can’t just keep that all. You can talk to me.””Hunter, please. Let it go. In a few hours, maybe a day, I’ll be back home and it won’t matter what we say here.” She stared strait ahead.
He could hardly stand this anymore. He wanted her to trust him. He wanted to help her. Screw Shane’s plan, he wanted to take care of this himself. This beautiful girl needed someone to protect her. No one else had. “Imara, come here.” He quickly embraced her with his tree trunk arms.
She didn’t fight. It was nice to be embraced like that. To feel protected in those strong arms. She didn’t hug back, but she was enjoying every second. Before breaking the embrace he kissed the top of her blond hair. “You aren’t going back there.”
“Oh yeah? Well you'll have to forgive me for not believing you. It’s been too long to think its going to end now.” She yawned. Her body was trying to take advantage of the situation and resting up for future battles with her father. She laid her head back onto the couch and closed her eyes. She felt his eyes look her over.
“Imara, if it’s the last thing I do, you will not have to go back there unless you choose.”
She sat up, knowing deep down that he wouldn't let her rest. “Hunter, why do you care so much? You hardly know me? Why are you so sure I'm worth saving?”
“Imara-”“Hey, didn't Shane tell my father that he would have me back here first thing...isn't he going to wonder where I am?” She cut him off. The conversation started turning in an uncomfortable direction.“Yeah I have an idea though.”

Its all about control CH 2

They arrived at the hotel and parked in the dark back corner of the lot. They were trying hard to remain anonymous and unseen. They, Shane, Paul, and Shawn, formed a sort of barrier around Imara as they snuck her into the hotel via the back entrance and up the back stairs to their adjoining rooms. They were right, they did indeed have an extra bed, two to be precise. They had two full size beds in each room, both with a desk, a full bathroom, a mini fridge, stocked with expensive treats, a TV worth more than a small house and a view of the city anyone would kill for. This was what Imara imagined heaven to be like.
“Paul and I will sleep in here, Shane and you can have this room. Try and get some rest.” Shawn smiled politely as he shut the door to their rooms, separating them. “So, what do you think? Do you think you can handle this? Are you ready to start fighting back?” Shane asked pulling back the covers on her bed for her.
“Shane I don’t know. I mean, yes I am ready to get out of there for good but this can’t have a happy ending for me. Dad is going to find out and when he does, that’s their careers, and yours too, and who knows what he will do to me. I am happy to try because I have nothing left, but my expectations are low. Thank you for tonight though.” She slid into bed, leaving on her day clothes afraid to change into anything that might allow her brother to see her battle wounds. She sank into the inviting mattress and almost the instant her eyes closed as her head met the pillow she was asleep. The safety of this room allowed for a quick fall into sleep.
Shane watched her for a few minutes as she drifted off. He knew that there was no other option, this had to work. He stood and watched over her. She turned in her sleep and her shirt began to rise up creating a rift between the bottom hem and the waist of her jeans. Peaking out from the cotton was a deep purple contusion that looked to be the size of a softball, judging from what was visible. Shane cringed. He had been in his fair share of street fights, some even with his own father, but they had all been carefully orchestrated and monitored and rarely did anything serious happen to any party involved. Here his sister lay, looking like she got into a few street fights on her own without the safety of the ring, referees or medics. Her fights weren’t choreographed or practiced. She just got beat up. He couldn’t stare anymore. He had to turn away. He stripped down to his boxers and climbed into the bed across from his sleeping sister. He eventually drifted off to sleep but no matter what he did he couldn’t get her out of his mind.---------------(in the next room)He tossed and turned for a few hours before he gave in to the insomnia. He heard the sounds of sleep from the bed next to him. Not wanting to disturb his roommate he went out into the bright hotel hallway. Quietly shutting the door behind him he sank into the wall next to him. He sat, rubbing his face, stressed from the events of the night. He was honored Shane asked for his help, and understood why. Vince didn’t like DX, ever, and so it was the last place he would look for something that belonged to him, and they were the last people he would physically confront. He knew so little of the situation though. He knew it was bad stuff, Shane wouldn’t do all of this for something trivial. He had to know how bad it was. He saw the mark left on her face when she climbed into the car earlier, but tried to ignore it placing the blame on her biting her lip or something. He knew he shouldn’t, but he had to know. He snuck back into his own room, ever so quietly and then let him self in to the adjoining room. His stealth-ness would have made the SEAL’s proud. He saw Shane asleep on the bed across from her, sleeping like a baby. He turned to her. He saw her small, vulnerable frame laying there. She had kicked the covers off of her from the heat of the city. As his eyes adjusted more and more to the darkness he began to see the same thing Shane had seen, only he had a better view. He could tell the bruise was dark. It was pretty big for such a tiny girl. Seeing that imprint, that pain, made him hurt inside. He couldn’t imagine the anger it would take for someone to do that to someone else, outside of the ring anyway. Even there they rarely walked away with memories like that. His heart ached for her. She was far too beautiful to survive what it looked like she had been fighting with her whole life. He wanted to scoop her up and take her away from here. He wanted to run away with her to some place safe where he couldn’t touch her again. Without realizing what he was doing he began to close in on her, slowly, and caught himself just before he began to touch her wound. He shook himself out of it and made his way back to his own room. He climbed back into bed and laid there awake the rest of the night. He would make McMahon pay for every mark on her, visible or not. He played the tough guy on TV and to everyone around him, but he felt just as much as everyone else did. He was a big softy deep down.

She wasn’t as asleep as he thought she was. Imara heard him leave his room into the hall way. She was still awake when she heard him sink to the floor. As she was about to drift she heard the adjoining door creak open. She was used to sleeping lightly, she had to know when/if her dad was coming back for round two or three so she could mentally prepare. She was almost an expert at telling where someone was in the room simply through the sound of their steps on the floor. She felt him stare at her through the darkness. She wasn’t sure which one of them it was but she would sneak a peek when he left. She could feel the covers off of her, and the holes exposing her bruises from her clothing which was tangled in knots all over her. She wanted to act as if she was shifting in her sleep to hide, but she didn’t want to alarm him so she lay there, perfectly still, careful to maintain the slow deep breaths of someone asleep. She felt him inch closer and she was almost certain he was going to stroke her when suddenly he backed away and left the room. Just as the door closed her eyes popped open. She got a glimpse, and that was all she needed. She only had two options and both men were significantly different in volume, she knew who her midnight guest had been. She listened to him creep back into his bed, and she allowed her self to glide back into sleep, certain he was there to stay.

Its all about control CH 1

No matter how loud her headphones were she could still hear his shattering anger from the other end of the house. Her door was shut but that was no longer an element of protection as he had broken the lock years ago, it was hardly an effort for him to kick through the wall plug anyway. She clasped her ears and pulled her knees to her chest, closing her eyes shut with all her might, doing everything she could to transport to another place. It was a lost cause but she had to do something. All she could really do was hope he passed out from the alcohol before he got to her. Tonight, she wouldn’t be so lucky. She felt his angry stomps make their way towards her. She watched the light depart from his shadow underneath the door. He was so upset. Not that she cared, because in reality it didn’t matter, but this time he had just been passed over by a superstar for a contract. A fan favorite had decided to step down for a while, their body couldn’t take the beating anymore. Ironic. She winced as the door flew open revealing the towering, incensed beast. “IMARA!” he growled from the doorway. His 6’1” frame loomed over her small 5’6” physique. She peered at him with intense fear through partially closed eyes. She didn’t cry anymore, nor did she tremble. This had been going on most of her life and she learned fast that those two signs of alarm did nothing but augment the problem. At 19, you would hope she would have moved on and out of that house but unfortunately he kept her on a short leash and held too much power for her to run anywhere; it was useless. She tensed up as his hand rose above her. In the moments it took for his hand to reach the soft spot on her face she said a quick prayer to whomever might be listening. Instantly her body shot back onto the bed as his hand made contact. She felt the familiar warm liquid begin to ooze out of the corner of her mouth, she could taste the copper. She tried to fight him but it was worthless, as worthless as she felt. He didn’t stop with the slap. He quickly mounted her and continued the beating. She couldn’t even tell where he was hitting, it was so fast and sharp, and the pain was everywhere. The only thing she knew for sure was that he was being careful to confine most of his punches to areas easily disguised with regular clothing. He was so worried about appearances. Blow after blow she squirmed to try and get away. He yelled obscenities at her spitting a disgusting mixture of alcohol and saliva that landed all over her face and neck. Suddenly, the punches halted. Her father sat up, and turned an ear towards the hallway, and then she heard it too. Someone was at the door. He shoved her one last time, for effect and climbed off of her. As he walked out of her room he slammed the door behind him and marched down the hallway. She felt a tear escape her eye as the door shut. She quickly wiped it away and went into her bathroom. She inspected the lesion on the side of her face and dabbed at the blood dripping down. A little face makeup would take care of that. She lifted up her shirt, grimacing, and watched as bruises and welts seemed to form before her eyes. She had hardly any “normal colored” skin left. It would be humorous if it wasn’t real. She brushed her shirt back down and left the bathroom. She didn’t enjoy looking at herself anymore, she didn’t recognize that girl in the mirror, they had been distant for some time now. She strained her ears to hear what was going on beyond her door. The voices where a tad muted but she could make it out.“Vince, man, I’m sorry to just drop by like this, unannounced and all, but I needed to talk to you.” She couldn’t recognize the voice through the door but she was pretty sure it was someone from work.
“Coach, don’t mention it, come on in, sit down, talk to me.” Yep, someone from work. She was just retreating to her bed to clean up the blood stained pillow case she fell on when her phone began to ring, well, vibrate, her dad got angry when it actually rang out loud.
“Hello?” She answered. “Imara, hey it’s Shane.”
Her brother, finally a friendly voice in the world of fear. “Shane, where the heck have you been? Dad’s upset about loosing-“
“I know, and I’m sorry I couldn’t be there to rescue you.” He knew what had already happened, it wasn’t a family secret. He truly felt bad he couldn’t be there for his sister but he was setting something else up, something better for her. “I was working on something.” “It’s alright, Coach is here. I caught a break.” She lied; she didn’t catch much of a break. “Look Ima-”( that’s what her brother called her, so affectionately, when he was trying to be the protector brothers are supposed to be) “I am so sorry. I am coming to get you right now. I have an idea. Pack up some things in your backpack, if it can’t fit in there don’t take it, and don’t stuff it either, this has to be believable alright?” “Shane, the last time you had an idea I ended up in the E.R. I am not looking for a repeat.”
“Imara, trust me this time. Pack your bag, and quickly. I will be there in five minutes.”
“Okay Shane.” She had very little hope this would end well but what choice did she have really, she had to try something else because putting up was going to land her in an early grave. “Okay. I am on my way.” Click. He hung up.
Well, she thought to herself, here we go. On the bright side, if I do end up the hospital at least I will be safe there for a few days, assuming of course this isn’t THE time he goes too far.
Imara grabbed her bag and put in a few things. She was sure to grab some make up, to protect her pride, a hair brush, toothbrush, various other toiletries, her favorite shirt, and a pair of jeans. She shoved her MP3 player in a side pocket and her wallet was forced into her own back packet. She wrapped her phone charger up and stuck it next to her MP3 player and squeezed her phone into her other pocket. She set the pack on her bed and returned to her door to listen for Shane, and to see what was happening with her father and “coach”. She strained her ears once again next to the door. “Coach, Jon, look, I hear ya, and I promise I will take care of it. First thing in the morning I will talk to the writers and we will figure something out.”
“Thank you Mr. McMahon, again, I am sorry to just drop by.” “Don’t worry about it! Now go on back to your hotel, we will get you what you want.”
“Thank you sir.”Another happy customer…woo hoo. She rolled her eyes. She heard them walk towards the door, the door open, another exchange of good byes, and then the shutting of the door. She wasn’t sure what his next move was going to be so she hurriedly, and silently, tossed her bag under her bed. She got comfortable on her bed with a magazine she found on her nightstand, seeming to act unaffected and busy in case he came in for round two. Instead of reading the words on the page she focused on the sound of his steps throughout the house. She heard him enter the kitchen, probably for something more to drink, and then heard his footsteps fade into his office. Just as she heard is office door close she heard Shane’s car pull up. A feeling of relief crept over her. She was careful to not let it get too much of her as she was no where near safe yet and didn’t want to get ahead of the situation. Shane still had his house keys even though he had lived with his wife and their two sons for a while now. She heard him let himself in.
“Dad?!” he called out. “Dad, its Shane, where you at?” He began to walk the house, careful to avoid his sister at first; he didn’t want to be obvious. He noticed the study door closed and knew. He was the only McMahon child balls-y enough to let himself in. He found his father on his laptop sitting in front of a huge cherry wood desk with a glass of something his liver wouldn’t appreciate.
“Shane, I didn’t hear you come in. How are you son?” His father stood to shake his hand, some father. They hadn’t shared anything more than a handshake since Shane was a tiny boy.
“Oh I am just fine. Listen, I was wondering if I could borrow Imara. I need someone to look after the boys for a few hours.” He silently prayed this would work.
“Of course, but why don’t you just bring the boys over here?”
“Well I would however they are really into a movie right now and with it being night time, I want them to be able to sleep in their own beds. It will just be for a couple of hours, unless you would rather me just keep her all night and I will bring her to the arena tomorrow?” He was really hoping his dad would buy that last bit, that’s where the success of his plan was hindering. “I don’t know Shane, I like to keep Imara close to me, she is the baby you know,” he smiled at his only son. Shane winced inside knowing his concern and emotion was anything but authentic. “I know dad but it will be sort of late and we have the extra room, so why not give her a chance to get out, a change of scenery, and it would really hope me out a LOT.” He pleaded. “Alright Shane, you can take her. JUST FOR THE NIGHT. I want to see her first thing at the arena tomorrow, make sure she knows that.” He paused and took a long drink. “I think she’s in her room, you can go talk to her, I’m going to bed.” He barked and disappeared into the hallway and then into his master suite.
A feeling of relief washed over Shane. He was finally being able to protect his youngest sister. He made his way to the other end of the house and found Imara sitting on her bed, feet on the floor, waiting.
“Well?” she asked inquisitively and expectantly.
He could see the cut on her lip. “Come on, you are staying with me tonight, lets go.” He reached down for her bag. As he got hold of one of the straps he touched her face, his voice lowered. “Did Dad do that?”
She brushed him away. “No, I bit my lip chewing gum earlier, I was nervous and chomping around and just being careless.” She knew that he knew she was lying but it wasn’t easy for her to just admit everything point blank. Just because it was written all over her body did not mean she had the words. The walked silently to the car and the drive to Shane’s house was much the same the only break was the soft sound singing from the car stereo system. As they pulled up to Shane’s house, er, mansion, and into the driveway, Shane broke the silence.
“Ima, the kids are gone and so is Marissa, and you aren’t staying with me tonight either.”It was then she noticed the other car in the driveway. She looked at her brother, and for the first time in a while allowed the tiniest bit of fear show throug her piercing green eyes.
“Don’t worry I am coming with you, we just aren’t staying here. I called in a favor to some friends, they are gonna help me help you. You are going to stay with them for a while until we can figure something out, get you away from Dad, okay?”
“Shane, I don’t want to stay with people I don’t know, it is going to be bad enough when Dad finds out that you lied about needing me to stay with the boys but this…Shane-”
“Don’t worry. Please trust me. It will be fine. Grab your bag and let’s go. We are getting in their car so if Dad decides to drive by my car will be here.” He got out of the car and opened the door for her. He could tell she was terrified but he knew that this needed to happen. She was too far gone to help her self anymore and it was his job to protect her, & so far he had failed. This was his chance and this was going to work.
As they approached the over sized truck waiting patiently, she could make out two heads sitting in the driver and passenger seat. Shane opened the passenger backseat door and made sure she was in safely first, and then joined her on the other side. She instantly recognized the two men in the front of this beast on wheels.
“Imara, do you remember-” Shane began but she cut him off.
“Hello again Paul, and Shawn, it has been a while hasn’t it?” She flashed him her McMahon million dollar smile, acting as if nothing in the world was wrong.
“Hi Imara.” Paul responded, hoarsely. He wasn’t sure what the right thing to say here was. All he knew was what Shane had told him and it hadn’t been much other than that Vince was mistreating her and she needed a sanctuary away from him for a while until something could be done.
“Hey pretty girl. We are going to take you back to the hotel we are staying at. We have an extra bed you can crash on tonight and tomorrow we will figure out where to go and what to do. Try not to worry about anything alright?” Shawn had turned around to look in her eyes as he said those words. He flashed her that HBK smile and for a fleeting moment, she felt safe. Shane grabbed her hand tightly, knowingly, as they began to drive off into the darkness.