Author’s Note: this is one of the few assignments in Stephen King’s On Writing (page 173 in the Pocket Books edition, 2001). It’s kind of a dark piece of fiction, darker than I’ve written for a while. Tell me what you think!

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He knew, without a doubt, that Jane was somewhere in the house. He knew because he could smell her perfume, the expensive, slightly flowery eau de cologne he always got her for her birthday. It makes sense she would be wearing it, even in prison, he thought wearily. Jane had style. As to how she’d escaped, who knows? But he had been expecting it for some time. Nothing could keep her from what she wanted.

It wasn’t as if he wasn’t scared. He was. Scared stiff, in fact. But he knew whatever he did, it wouldn’t be any good. Jane would find him in the end. He was only glad little Nell was at school. She wouldn’t have to witness her dad’s humiliation as his ex-wife, her mother, beat him up yet once again.

Footsteps paused outside the door. Dick knew she knew where he would be: he was sitting in his favorite chair, next to the bookcase, facing the door. He sighed. “Hello, Jane,” he said.

She filled the doorway, her feet landing heavily. “Hello, Dick.” She was wearing a red dress, cut to reveal as much of her breasts and legs as possible. It was a far cry from a prison uniform, and he stared for a minute, forgetting himself. She smiled, pleased to see she still had power over him. “Like my dress?” Sexiness radiated out of every pore in her body, making it hard for Dick to breathe. Damn it, why did she have to turn up this way? He could handle anything she would throw his way, as he had done before, but he hated to be made to feel weak, a product of an oversexed society. He made a conscious effort to disregard her clothes.

“Why are you here?” Dick asked.

Her smile disappeared. “Aren’t you glad to see me?”

Dick swallowed. The dangerous part had begun. He would have to tiptoe around her, see if there was a way to get her out of here, or subdue her. He wasn’t kidding himself, he knew it wasn’t likely he’d come out of this alive, but he also knew he had to try.

“Sure I am,” he answered. “I was just surprised. I didn’t know you were in the house.”

“I thought I’d come see where my loving husband and dear little daughter lived, now that I’m gone.” Jane resembled nothing as much as she did a cat, purring and practically wrapping herself round Dick’s ankles. Dick reminded himself of the many vicious catfights. She’s dangerous, he thought, more dangerous than I know.

“It’s such a nice house,” Jane continued, pretending to be unaware of the tension thick in the air. Or perhaps she really wasn’t aware. One never knew, with Jane. “Much better than the rat trap we lived in.”

“It’s good for Nell,” Dick said, ignoring her barb. “She loves it here, at her new school, with kids on the block and her grandparents just behind.”

Jane’s expression softened. “Nell,” she said, “I’ve missed her. I can’t wait to see her again, after school. What time does she get out?”

Dick was loath to tell her, but he knew he had to. He didn’t want Nell to come to harm. Hopefully, this would all be finished by the time Nell came home.

“Three o’clock, like always,” he answered. “She’ll be here by three-fifteen. Today’s my day off, normally a baby-sitter’s here until I get home from work.”

“I know. I know all about you and Nell. I was just checking to see if you’re telling me the truth. Luckily, you are. Luckily…for you.”

Dick decided it was time to stop pussyfooting around. “What do you want?” he said, his voice coming out surprisingly firm.

“Isn’t it obvious? I want you. I want our family back. I want little Nell back to tuck in at night. If you don’t give me what I want, by God, I will kill you where you stand, and after that, I’ll go after Nell. Better dead than kept apart.”

Dick gazed at her in horror. It was worse than he thought. His mind flew back to the abuse she had put him through the last fifteen years, and he corrected himself. He should have expected it, he knew what she was capable of, and, more importantly, how deranged she was. He had visited her once, in jail, and she had said as much, that she would do anything to get him and Nell back. At the time, he hadn’t paid much attention, although a chill had run down his spine. She was locked away and in therapy. How much damage could she do?

Well, he was about to find out. “I’m sorry,” he said, ”but you can’t have Nell. You can do to me whatever you want, but I will not let you lay a finger on Nell. Besides, be realistic. You’ll be caught and back in jail before you know it. Hurting me will not change that. Go on, kill me if you have to, but be sure you will be hunted down like an animal, and put in the deepest, darkest cell they can find. You can kiss your chances of getting out on parole goodbye. And they won’t let you escape again. If you go now, I’ll wait an hour before calling the police. If you kill me, well,” here he paused and glanced at the clock, “you’d better be fast, because Nell is going to be here in fifteen minutes.

“Fifteen minutes is long enough for what I have in mind,” Jane said. Her long red nails glinstered in the sun streaming through the window as she leaned down and grabbed hold of her attributes. She straightened up, holding ropes. And, more importantly, also a gun. Dick was startled, he hadn’t been expecting that. Jane had never needed guns before. At least it would mean his death would be quick and relatively painless.

Jane had him blindfold himself, then used to ropes to bind him to his chair. She didn’t bother to gag him. Who was going to come check at three o’clock in the afternoon? Besides, she had closed the blinds. She placed the gun on the table next to him, then straddled the chair, sitting on his lap. She undid his shirt as far as she could, with the ropes in the way, and scratched her nails down his chest.

“You always used to like that,” she whispered. Her fingers circled his chest, looking for his nipples. She pinched them once, hard, and they responded in kind. In horror, Dick felt himself grow hard, and he knew she had felt it too.

“I knew you missed me,” she said, before slipping her hand down and feeling his cock through his jeans. She paused, and removed his blindfold. She had taken off her dress and stood before him, completely naked. Prison had done her body good, she was as firm and beautiful as she had ever been. Dick recognized that even through his fear and humiliation. She sat back down, and slapped him, with a resounding crack. Dick felt tears come to his eyes. He didn’t care if she saw him crying, she had seen it before. He knew just what was coming, knew it was much worse than death. He was an expert, he had lived through fifteen years of hell, and wasn’t stupid. He knew nothing had changed, and that he would never be free of her.

Just then, the door slammed. Dick’s heart leapt up, and plummeted at the same time. Nell! One half of him was praying for it to be Nell, to save him, but the other half knew she’d die now too. Only it wasn’t Nell. It was Dan, the next door neighbor.

“Dick? My wife sent me to tell you Nell’s at our house,” He peeked around the corner, then jumped back. “Holy shit Dan, what are you doing?”

It was all the diversion Dick needed. He rocked the chair violently, knowing the left leg was shaky and likely to break. It did, and he fell with a satisfying thump. Even more beautiful was the sound of Jane falling with him, and hitting her head on the bookcase.

“Dan! Come in here, grab the gun, call the cops!”

Dan hurried in, white as a sheet, and looked wildly for the gun.

“There, under the couch! Hurry up, we don’t have much time!”

Dan found it at last. With trembling fingers, he pointed it at Jane, then called 9-1-1 and screamed for help.

Dick relaxed his head as much as he could, lying on the ground. He cried, but not from fear. He cried because he would live to see another day, live to be Nell’s dad. At the moment, it was all that kept him going.