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"Hey ladies, how bout you join us for a drink. I think you all could use some real men to liven up your party!"
They stopped, mostly because they were surrounded, and chuckled out loud at the statement that the drunken idiot had made. Leah was the first to respond, with a simple "F*ck You, A$$hole." She and Kanike both led the way, trying to walk past the men, and were immediately grabbed by one of the men. Kanike sneared at the man who had grabbed her, and Leah was struggling against the one that had her.
I poked Steve in the ribs, directing his attention to the problem, and he whistled at the other men at the table. It took all of five minutes before the men who had dared to lay their hands on Kanike and Leah had been knocked unconsious and tossed out the door. They all came back to the table, and I could tell that the women were both spitting mad. We decided at that point that we had partied enough and headed back to the hotel.
Steve and I headed into our room, and I noticed that there was a small box on the bed addressed to me. I looked at Steve, "Baby do you know where this box came from?" He shook his head, "No, I guess housekeeping must have brought it in here, why don't you open it and see what it is."
"Yeah, I guess that would be the smart thing to do wouldn't it…" He laughed and headed into the bathroom, while I picked the box up off the bed. I pulled the lid back on the box and when I saw what was inside, I screamed, threw the box on the bed and backed as far away from the bed as I could get.
Steve came out of the bathroom, and pulled me into his arms, he looked over at the bed and saw the tarantula crawling out of the box. "Jesus, where the hell did that come from?" I was shaking and my skin was crawling, just from the site of the thing and I couldn't stop the chills running up and down my spine.
"I don't know where the hell it came from, but please get it out of here. I hate spiders, more than you could possible know." Steve grabbed the box that had landed on the bed, and one of his boots, scooting the spider back into the box and putting the lid back on as fast as he could. He took it out and killed it, not knowing what else to do with it, and put it in the garbage. When he came back into the room, I was still trying to shake the image of that spider out of my head.
We sat on the bed together, neither of us saying anything for a long time. I looked at him when he finally broke the silence "Baby, do you have any idea why someone would send you something like that?"
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, "No real concrete idea, just a flash that I got when I opened that box. I got a flash of a tattoo, I think it was on the arm of one of my attackers. Do you think it might have been a warning?"
He pulled me up against him, "I'm guessing it must have been. We're going to have to double up the security when we travel, at least until this a$$hole makes himself known and I can stomp his head in. I don't want you going anywhere by yourself anymore. If I can't go with you, get one of the other guys to go with you, I'm not going to risk losing you."
I spent the next several weeks, living my life feeling like a prisoner. I wasn't able to go anywhere or do anything without someone with me. Steve was so overprotective, that at times he would nearly attack strangers on the street for looking at me. While we were on the road I was never alone, if he was working, I was with one of the other wrestlers or with Storm, Kanike and Leah. When we were home, things eased up a bit, but not much. If Steve had to run an errand, and Janice was not home, I would have to go with him. Most times I didn't mind, but there were times when I felt like I was in the way, that I was preventing Steve from doing things he really wanted to do.
I had reached a point where I almost wished that the people that had been involved in "the event" would show themselves so that I could return to living a normal life. I longed for some privacy, and I felt guilty because I was interfering with everyone else's lives. We had been home for a few days, enjoying the relaxation of being off the road for a little while and sleeping in our own bed. I walked into the living room, and overheard Steve on the phone.
"I don't know Glen, I hate to go anywhere and leave Lashana here alone. I just don't think it's a good idea."
I stood there for a second, and decided enough was enough. "Steve, you can not spend your life babysitting me."
He started a little at the sound of my voice, he had not heard me come into the room. He turned around and looked at me. "Glen, can you hang on a minute?" He took the phone away from his ear and put his hand over the mouth piece. "Lashana, you know as well as I do that its not safe for you to be alone. If someone shows up here and I'm gone what are you going to do?"
I shook my head at him, "I've not had any form of contact from those people in a good month, the odds of them showing up here, tonight are slim and none. You should go out with your friends and have a good time. Janice is here, and besides, I could use some quiet time to myself anyway." I walked up to him, smiled and kissed him briefly, "Baby look, I understand that you worry about me, but I really think that those people have given it up. You need a break and to have some fun…go out with you friends tonight."
He stood there for a minute, "Are you sure?"
"Absolutely" I smiled at him and he got back on the phone to let Glen know that he would meet them at the bar in an hour or so. When he got done, he pulled me against him. "Baby, I'm sorry if I've been overprotective of you lately, but I just don't know what I would do if something happened to you."
I wrapped my arms around his waist and squeezed him tight, "I know you worry, and I love you for that, but what kind of life do we really have if we have to spend all our time looking over our shoulders? I'm done hiding and I'm done living my life afraid." He leaned down to kiss me, then headed up the stairs to get dressed. About a half hour later, he came down, showered, shaved and ready to go.
"Ok, Lashana, you've got my pager number and the cell phone. I'm only gonna be gone for a couple hours, but if you need me, call me. Oh, and keep the door locked and the alarm on." He kissed me goodbye and headed out in the rain to his truck. I locked the door behind him and set the alarm. I grabbed a book, poured myself a glass of wine and curled up on the couch to read. The phone rang, and I let Janice get it, I was in the mood to be quiet and didn't really want to talk to anyone on the phone. She walked into the living room a few minutes later, concern written all over her face.
"Janice? What's the matter, you look upset."
"Well, Lashana, that was my brother. It seems that my mother has had a car accident, something about the road being slick and her sliding into the ditch, they are taking her to the hospital. I don't want to leave you here alone, but they really need me to be there."
I could tell that she was torn, she was so very loyal to Steve, and since I had been here, we had become good friends, but she needed to be with her family. "Janice, don't worry about me. The house is secure, and Steve will be back in a few hours. I'm just fine here with my book. You go be with your family."
"Are you sure? Really I could call and tell them that I can't…"
"No, you go take care of your mother." I stood up off the couch and herded her into her room off the kitchen, helped her gather her things and turned the alarm off to let her out. "You take care of your family, don't worry about anything here, I'll be fine." I watched her run to her car, trying to keep dry in the downpour. I noticed that it was starting to thunder and lightening, and I was a little concerned about Steve being out in such nasty weather.
~"Lord let that be all the interruptions this evening."~ That thought ran through my head briefly, and I settled back into the couch to get back to my book. I had been reading for about half an hour, when I heard the dogs barking out back. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, so I went to the kitchen to look out the window. I didn't see anything out there, and the dogs had settled down, so I figured it was just some animal that had set them off. I turned to head back into the living room when the lights in the house went out. I stopped in the middle of the kitchen, waiting for my eyes to adjust, figuring that it was a power outage caused by the lightening. I went to the kitchen drawer, pulled out the flash light and headed back to the living room.
I had just gotten to the couch when I heard glass breaking in the kitchen. My heart started pounding and my breath quickened as I heard someone reach in and unlock the door. ~Of all the luck, the one time I forget to reset the alarm and Steve goes out, now they show up~ I couldn't believe this was happening, but I moved as quickly as I could, to the hallway off the living room, and then headed down the stairs into Steve's fitness room, figuring that if there was a weapon in the house anywhere it would be there. I could hear the men, there seemed to be two of them, walking around above me. Their voices were muffled, but I caught enough of their conversation to realize that they were looking for me.
I found a baseball bat in the corner with the rest of his equipment, grabbed it and headed for the phone. The phone in the weight room ran on a second line, so I knew that if the intruders cut the phone line, this one would likely still be working. I dialed Steve's cell phone even though I figured he would not be able to get here in time. I knew that if I didn't call him he would never forgive me. He answered the phone after one ring, and I could hear the concern in his voice the minute he picked it up.
"Lashana? What's wrong. I tried to call the house and the line has been busy for the last half hour."
I was whispering into the phone, trying to talk to Steve without the men above me hearing me, "Steve, I can't really talk, there are two men in the house. I'm in the training room on the second line, I think they cut the line on the main phone."
"Sonofab*tch, I knew something like this would happen. Stay where you are, I headed home when I couldn't get through on the phone, I should be there in less that five minutes." I felt a sense of relief when he told me that, but that faded quickly when I heard the door to the basement open. I put the phone down, and crept quietly over against the wall, waiting for the intruder to walk around the corner.
My heart was pounding so loudly in my ear that I knew he could hear it, and I could barely breath because my throat had constricted in fear. I didn't think it was possible to feel any more fear than I was currently, but that proved to be incorrect the minute I heard the man's voice.
"Lashana….I know you're down here. There's no place to run, so you might as well just give up and come out." That voice belonged to one of the men who had raped me as well as the man who had grabbed me in Chicago. I could hear Steve yelling into the phone, and I held my breath, waiting as I heard the man walk down the stairs, one step at a time. I reared back with the bat when I heard the creak of the bottom step, and when he stepped around the corner I swung. I heard the sickening thud as the bat struck flesh and heard the man grunt. I pulled it behind me and over my head, hitting him, square on the back and knocked him unconscious.
I grabbed the flashlight and shone it on him, nudging him with my foot, trying to see if he was conscious. I heard the front door open, and Steve yelling, calling my name. Apparently he arrived at the same time as the other intruder headed back up the stairs, because I heard the fight going on above me. Since there had been no movement from the man laying at my feet, I started up the stairs, baseball bat in hand to make sure that Steve was ok.
When I reached the top of the stairs, I saw Steve, Glen and Mark, who had apparently decided to come back with him to make sure I was ok. The second intruder had apparently met with the three of them and lost because he lay prone on the floor out cold. Steve took one look at me, noticed the bat in my hands and pulled me against him. Mark and Glen headed down the stairs to see what had become of my other attacker.
"Lashana are you ok? They didn't hurt you did they? God you have no idea how terrified I was when you didn't answer me on the phone, and then when I heard that sonofab*tch calling to you from the stairs."
I wrapped my arms around him, relying on his strength to take what was left of my fear away, "I'm fine, really, just a little shook up. I nailed the bastard with your Louisville Slugger, and he should still be out cold on the floor at the bottom of the stairs."
Steve chuckled and squeezed me against him, "Remind me not to piss you off when you're near a bat, baby, cause from the looks of this guy you really did a number on him." I turned and saw Glen and Mark carrying a still unconscious man down the hall to drop him on the floor next to his friend.
Mark called the police on his cell phone, while Glen lit the candles that were located around the house, providing us with some minimal light. Steve and I headed into the living room, when it occurred to me that something must have happened to the dogs, since they stopped barking before the intruders cut the lights.
"Steve, the dogs, just before the men broke in, they were barking. When I looked out the window they were laying down and were quiet. Someone better check on them, make sure they're ok."
Mark had just hung up the phone, and smiled at me, "The police are on their way, Lashana, I'll go out back and check on the dogs. I'm really glad you're ok."
"Thanks Mark, I appreciate all that you and Glen have done. You really are good friends." I looked over and smiled at Glen who was on his cell phone telling Storm what had happened and that they would be late coming home. He walked into the living room and sat down in one of the empty chairs as he was getting off the phone. "Storm's going to call Kanike and let her know what happened, and she said to tell you that she's glad you're ok."
There was a knock at the door just about then, and I jumped three feet when I heard it. The police came in, and I scooted closer to Steve. I was still uncomfortable around them, although I had no concrete reason for that feeling. They sat with us and asked me some questions, and while this was going on, Mark came in and let us know that the dogs had apparently been drugged and were out cold. He told us that he would take them to the emergency vet before he went home to Kanike, and he and Glen headed out. Steve gave the police what little information he had, and after about an hour of questioning, they took the now awake and handcuffed men out into the police cars and off to jail. Steve pulled me against him, and I lay my head against his chest.
Once the house was quiet, and everyone was gone, it occurred to Steve that Janice was no where to be seen. I told him about her mother's accident and although he was concerned for her mother, he was relieved that she was ok. We stayed on the couch, curled up together for most of the rest of the night, until Steve carried me upstairs and we went to sleep wrapped up in each others arms.
It had been several days since the attack, and we were all enjoying the new found freedom that came with my captors being in jail. Although most of my memory had returned regarding the beatings and rape that I had suffered at the hands of those men, I still had no memory of my life prior to the three weeks I spent on the road with them.
I knew that I had been running from something when they grabbed me, and could only assume that the reason that my family hadn't been looking for me, was that I was running from them. I remembered being caught by them at a truck stop and being dragged to their car and tossed in the back seat, I remembered the beating at the bar a few days later, and the rape that followed it. I even remembered Steve, Glen and Mark finding me on the side of the road. It was all clear as could be, and those memories were the main reason that my attackers would be spending the rest of their lives in prison.
I had decided that the rest of my memory was not important, I had what was important. My life with Steve and my friends in the WWF. I was laying in bed, wondering where Steve had gone to, looking out the window at the beautiful day that was just starting, when he opened the door and came in carrying breakfast in bed for me. I sat up in the bed and smiled at him as he approached.
"What's all this? Breakfast in bed…you didn't wake Janice up and make her cook this did you??"
He laughed, "No, believe it or not, I cooked this all myself." He put the tray across my lap, and leaned down to kiss me good morning. The tray was beautiful, he had made scrambled eggs, bacon, toast and brought me juice and coffee. There was a beautiful single red rose in a bud vase as well.
"Steve, this is just so sweet. I do love you, you know that right."
He smiled, "Baby, it's a good thing you love me, and speaking of that, I have something I wanted to talk to you about."
I looked at him, wondering what he wanted to say that was so serious, when he moved the breakfast tray from between us, pulled a small gray velvet box out of his pocket and handed it to me. "Lashana, you and I have been through a lot, and through it all, my love for you has grown stronger. I've been thinking about this for a long time, and had wanted to wait until you had your memory back, but I've decided against that. I know you don't remember your family, and don't know what your last name is, but I want to change all that. I want to be your family, I want my last name to be yours…"
He took the little box from my hand, opened it and pulled out the most beautiful ring I've ever seen, it was a tear drop shaped emerald, surrounded by the most beautiful sparkling diamonds. He took my hand and looked into my eyes, "Lashana, will you marry me?"
My heart pounded, and my eyes teared up. "Oh, Steve. I love you more than life itself, and yes, I would love nothing more than to marry you." He slipped the ring on my hand, and leaned down to kiss me. I wrapped my arms around him and kissed him, trying without words to show him how much I truly loved him. I pulled him down on the bed with me, and began undressing him, when he pulled back and looked at me.
"Lashana? Are you sure you want to do this? I don't want to push you before you're ready."
I put my fingers over his lips, "Shhh, I love you. Yes I'm sure, I want to make love with you." I kissed him again, and he groaned in surrender. We made love for the first time in our relationship, it was slow and beautiful and after it was over, we lay in each others arms.
The next several weeks were spent planning the wedding. I had asked Storm, Kanike and Leah to stand up with me in the wedding, and Steve had asked Mark, Glen and Hunter to function as his grooms men. Several of the other wrestlers were to function as ushers. We had set the date for June 3, three months from the day that Steve proposed and were down to about a month before the wedding.
Storm, Kanike, Leah and I were going dress shopping, and the guys were going to hang out at the house, discussing work and planning some future events.
We hopped into Storms car, and she drove into town.
"So Lashana, what kind of dresses are we looking for? Something lacy or frilly or something plain and simple." I looked at Leah, and shook my head.
"You know, I really have no idea. I figured I'd look until I found something that I fell in love with. As far as your dresses, I'm wanting to do a very classic black and red and white wedding, so I was thinking about black dresses for you all with maybe a white scarf and red and white roses for your flowers. What do you all think?"
Kanike grinned, "You know me Lashana, anything black is great! I think that sounds beautiful. I'm so happy for you and Steve, and I bet you're relieved to have all that nasty mess behind you."
"Happier than you know, but…"
Storm looked at me, puzzled, "But what??"
"Well, can you all promise me not to say anything to the guys about this if I tell you?"
They all looked a little concerned, but nodded in agreement anyway. "Well, I had another dream last week about the man that I saw in the bar. I don't know who he is, but whenever he's in my dreams I get this cold terrified feeling and all I want to do is run."
Leah sat forward in her seat, leaning on the back of the front seat. "Lashana, do you think this guy might be a threat to you of some sort?"
"I don't know really…all I know is that he's still in my dreams. I've not had any threats or anything since that night the men broke in the house, but I can't shake this feeling that something is not quite right."
Kanike looked at me, "Lashana have you said anything about this to Steve?"
"Heavens no, if he thought there might be another threat out there, we'd go back to living like prisoners. I don't think I could handle that again. I love him to death, but when he thinks I'm in danger, he become this over protective warden, instead of my fiancé and lover."
We pulled up in front of the dress shop just then, and I smiled, "Enough of this dreary conversation, lets go find me a dress to get married in! We're gonna have fun this afternoon ladies…" We headed inside and spent the next several hours trying on dresses until I thought I would scream. There were so many styles and options to choose from, sequined, pearled, satin.
I had tried on probably my tenth dress that day, when I noticed one hanging on a rack in the far corner. It was ivory, made of silk and sleeveless. It was very simple, and I walked over to look at it closer. I called the sales lady over, "Do you have a silver rope chain belt anywhere in this store?" She looked at me a little curious, but went to the back to find the accessory I was hoping she had. She came back with the belt and handed it to me
"I have this one, Lashana, but I'm afraid it's going to be a little to big for you." I smiled and shook my head, "It'll be perfect." I took the dress into the dressing room and put it on. The belt I put on so that it hung slightly diagonally across my hips.
The neckline of the dress was a simple rounded neckline, and the silver chain that I always wore hung beautifully against the front of the dress. The dress hung so that it accentuated every curve and line of my body and I smiled as I looked in the mirror. I walked out of the dressing room, Storm, Kanike and Leah were standing there with their mouths hanging open.
Leah was the first to speak, "Oh, Lashana that is beautiful. It so simple and classic, but so sexy. Steve wont be able to concentrate on the ceremony with you in that dress."
Everyone laughed, and I chuckled, "That's kind of the point"
I went back into the dressing room, changed out of the dress, very reluctantly and after we had paid for it, we headed back to the house. The guys had fixed lunch, and we got back just in time to eat with them. I took the dress upstairs and hung it in the ward robe of the room that Steve had given me when I first came to live here.
"So, baby, did you find your dress? When do I get to see it?" I smiled at Steve and wrapped my arms around him.
"Yes, Steve, I found the perfect dress, and you get to see it on the day of the wedding and not a second before…it's bad luck you know."
