| Desperate Choices Posted: Rochelle Rathbone flirts with danger when she accidently meets Tobias Chandler, Miami drug czar; thus, setting the stage for horrors she never knew existed until after they married. Innocent and vulnerable, she becomes his prisoner. She devises a desperate plan and successfully escapes, despite his threat to kill her if she does. She meets and falls in love with Michael Matheson, knowing Tobias will come after her. She realizes there are only two things that will stop him from pursuing her—her death or his...  |
| Spared Posted: As I adjusted my eyes going from absolute darkness to the bright lighted street corner, I could see the silhouettes of several soldiers around me. As I was being dragged backwards, I could hear the gravel grind together underneath me and feel the pain of my skin being ripped off as the soldier easily dragged my tiny body behind him. Both my wrists were squeezed together into one handcuff behind my back as the soldier used the other end of the handcuff to drag me along the gravel road. I let out a scream from the bottom of my lungs from the pain in both of my shoulders. I feared both my shoulders and arms would break very soon if the soldier does not let up. The soldier stopped, turned around and kicked me really hard in my ribs, taking my breath away, and he said "Oh, so you can scream but you can't talk? I see what kind of game you are playing". As the soldier continued to drag me to what seemed like an eternity, I was crying and coughing uncontrollably but couldn't get any words out of my mouth. The soldier stopped at a light post, grabbed me by my hair and stood me up, and tied me to the light post. Ah what a relief that my arms are not being stretched backwards anymore. I would take the pain of beatings and hair pulling over that anytime. I could see thru my swollen, watery eyes that I was at the end of a street. Not a residential street but a street full of shops, stores, and offices. I have walked in front of these stores many times to get to school every day, and sad that this time may be my last. As I looked around I saw large amounts of fresh blood on the ground, and suddenly the gravity of the situation weighed heavily on my mind. My level of fear went up another gear when I saw the fresh blood, because I knew that they must have killed someone in that very spot just earlier, tied to the same light pole I am tied to, and I was next. I felt my stomach tie up into a knot as I got physically ill. I tried hard to hold myself back from throwing up. Ten to fifteen soldiers swarmed around me staring at me, as if looking at a hunted animal. Like a flash they all walked back and lined up in front of me with their rifles pointing right at me with such precision that you could tell they had done many times before. I could feel the end was coming soon, this is it, and this is where I will be executed. The gravity of what will be happening hits me, and I am hyperventilating and crying. How can this be happening? My tears are pouring down, and my heart is beating so fast that it makes breathing difficult. I was cold and shivering and my teeth are chattering. As my impending death nears, a feeling of calmness came over me. I was not worried about me or my death, all I could think about was my mother, how sad she will be to find out I was executed. I always thought execution was for murderers, revolutionaries, or criminals, so why am I being executed, it just didn't make any sense. The countdown starts, and it snaps me back to reality. I can hear the voice of an authoritative and powerful man outside the firing squad telling his men: "Get ready….get set…… "I can hear all the rifles being cocked and the noise echoing in my ears. I close my eyes and brace myself for the moment of impact. Fire…………  |
