Ocean Harvest
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Bethany Crouch stood in front of the television, a mug of hot chocolate held between her hands. The smell of the chocolate filled her nostrils – it always did when she thought about something sweet and comforting. She sighed to herself and sipped at the warm liquid before letting it dribble down the side of her mouth.
A small smile appeared on her face as she felt another sip leave her lips. She loved the way that it made her feel like she hadn’t eaten for days and suddenly a plate of food fell from the sky into her lap. But she knew this feeling would be temporary; soon the cold reality of her situation would kick in and ruin any comfort feelings she might have been experiencing.
She’d tried not thinking about her circumstances but it was all she could do lately, especially since moving to this new house. It had only been two months, but it seemed like an eternity.
She’d never liked being alone. Being home-schooled she had always wanted to learn more than her parents were willing to teach her. She craved the attention and approval of teachers who wanted nothing more than her grades and test scores.
She had been told by numerous professionals over the years that she was intelligent but that her emotional issues might get in the way of actually reaching her full potential. Her parents had agreed – they’d said that they weren’t going to spend every single day of their lives trying to teach someone with learning disabilities how to learn.
But Bethany hadn’t been satisfied with that. She desperately wanted to succeed despite what anyone else said, to prove everyone wrong. And then she saw it – the solution. She could become like them, and become whatever she wanted.
She’d discovered online that there was such a thing as a mail-order bride, and that women across the globe would exchange marriage vows with men from around the world if they could. So she had written to the first person which seemed like an option.
A man who lived in a small village named Ocean Harvest. It wasn’t anything she had seen in any guidebook or magazine. She didn’t know exactly where this place was. She didn’t even know what it looked like – but that didn’t matter. What mattered was that he’d written back and asked her to come.
He offered to take care of her until his father could arrange everything for them. So Bethany had accepted the offer and moved here – and she knew she’d regret it, but there was no turning back now.
As Bethany sipped her drink she tried to decide what to watch on the television. Most of the channels were showing nothing but infomercials, and while she loved shopping, she had neither the means nor the time to buy all of the items advertised just by watching television. There was one movie playing, and she decided to give it a try.
The film showed a woman, also home-schooled, who had escaped from a small town and had finally found her dream job. She was working with a famous film director, and she seemed to adore every moment of her work. It had been hard for Bethany, being homeschooled, to imagine what her life would be once she graduated from school.
This was her answer to her problems; to find something that she loved and to put all of her energy into making it better.
“Bethany?”
She turned from the television screen to see her mother standing in the doorway. Bethany’s heart sank. Her mother’s face was so full of pain, and a look of fear was etched across her brow. For a moment Bethany feared that she might have done something wrong without realizing it.
“Yes, Mom,” Bethany answered. There was a lump in her throat, and she knew that there was no way her mother could’ve seen the film. She couldn’t remember the last time she watched television – it just wasn’t the same anymore.
“The house phone is ringing, honey.”
Bethany frowned as she picked up the receiver, “Hello?”
It was the voice of the man from Ocean Harvest, speaking through his speakerphone. Bethany swallowed nervously. She had no idea why he had called her so early in the morning. She took a sip of her drink and waited for him to speak.
“…and you’ll make us both proud.”
She nodded at him, unable to trust herself to speak. She didn’t remember agreeing to anything with this man, but if she hadn’t she would have regretted it for the rest of her life.
***
A few days later Bethany sat on a chair inside the house and watched the man who claimed to own it prepare some food. She was sitting in the kitchen, and as she watched the large man walk past her with a platter of steaming meat, steam escaping from the top, her stomach gurgled at the scent.
He had been very clear that she must not eat or drink anything outside of what he provided. It had been the first time she’d seen him in almost three weeks, ever since the move.
“I’m glad you can hear me, little one,” she heard the voice of the man on the speakerphone, “because I have some news for you.”
“Yes, Dad?” Bethany asked, suddenly feeling nervous.
“You’ve done well, and you’ve impressed me. I’m sure you’re eager to know more about where we are, but you need to understand that all of this is under surveillance. You have to be careful, and if you do this correctly, you can expect many years of happiness.”
Bethany shivered. She didn’t understand anything he was saying. Where were they? How did he know that she could even be trusted? Why hadn’t he sent someone to meet her and take her away from here if they were so willing to help her? As she listened to him, she began to understand her situation.
She was in a small village in Oregon, far away from the nearest town, and she knew that she wouldn’t get out of there alive if she tried to escape. She had been promised freedom, but she would never see it. She was trapped here, and she didn’t know how long she’d be able to keep quiet before he made her speak.
“Dad,” Bethany said quietly, “What kind of people will I be living with?”
She heard a pause on the line, then her father’s deep voice, “Oh, don’t worry about that, sweetheart. They’re all harmless. There’s no need to worry about them.”
She sighed, “So they’re going to kill me, then?”
For a moment there was silence on the other end of the line. Finally, he spoke again, “I suppose you could say that, yes. The thought of death doesn’t seem to faze your generation, does it?”
Bethany was silent as she tried to think of a response to her father’s questions. The truth was that she had been taught to love and respect life; it was one of the core values of their religion. Even so, she had always felt that there must be a higher purpose for all of the suffering, especially when children suffered as she had.
At times like these, Bethany prayed to the god she believed in every night, asking for forgiveness and guidance.
“If I agree,” Bethany finally said, not wanting to hear anything else about it, “what is it that I’m agreeing to do?”
Her father laughed, “You’ve been so curious lately. I don’t blame you. You’ve been so sheltered, and I suspect that this has affected your mind in ways that I’m not sure that you’re aware of.” He paused for a moment, and she heard him take a drink of water, “Your father had an interesting upbringing, and I am proud of the woman that you’ve become.
We’ll talk more about what exactly you’re agreeing to do later. All I want you to know right now is that this is the chance of a lifetime. You’ll find that out soon enough.”
Bethany heard the door slam, and the man walked in. He had a glass of wine in hand, and he held up the platter of steaming meat toward her. She got up, took the platter from him, and walked over to the sink. As she watched, the man took a seat beside her and placed the platter across his knees, eating from it, and drinking from the small bottle of red wine.
He seemed completely oblivious to everything around him, and Bethany found herself watching the movements of his lips, the subtle gestures as he ate, savoring the flavors of his food and listening to him chomp down. After a moment she realized that he was talking to her.
“Can I help you, sir?” Bethany asked, trying to hide the disgust in her voice.
The man swallowed the last bite, wiping his mouth with a napkin before speaking, “I just wanted you to know that I’ve decided that you should call me Jack.”
Bethany was confused by the sudden change, “Sir?”
The man chuckled quietly, “You really are innocent, aren’t you?” He looked at the door, where the sound of a car coming down the street was audible, “That can wait, though. I have a lot of work to do. Eat your meal, please.”
Bethany continued to eat, feeling her anger growing inside of her. She had learned how to control her emotions, but being around this man was like trying to keep a pot of boiling water from exploding.
“How long am I expected to remain here?” she asked. The man was so self-involved that he seemed unaware of her presence. She wasn’t surprised, because that was what she had been told to expect; that he would not even notice her presence, let alone treat her with respect. Instead, he treated her like a servant.
She was supposed to obey without question, and in return, she would have the freedom she needed to pursue the greater opportunity he had promised her.
Jack chuckled again, “It’s your choice.” The tone of his voice suggested that she was not worth wasting any more time on, and he was clearly bored, which annoyed Bethany. “You may stay as long as you like. It’s your decision.”
She nodded, taking another bite of her dinner. She wasn’t hungry, though. She didn’t feel like she had eaten for days, and the meat was too rich. She was beginning to understand what her father had meant about her generation, that the concept of hunger didn’t seem to affect them.
Her father had taught her to appreciate the simple things, and to cherish the value of each day. When she had lost her mother, she had felt as if a piece of her soul had died, and she had learned to live with pain, learning to live one minute at a time, one hour at a time. For a moment, she wondered what her father had been like when he was younger.
He mentioned the times before television and air conditioning, and the things that people had done back then that they might not have the ability or desire to do anymore.
“What is your plan?” Jack asked, finishing off his second beer. It was a large bottle, and even without the alcohol, it contained enough calories for two people.
Bethany was taken aback, shocked at the change in conversation, and unsure of how to answer. She knew that when she left here tonight she would be on her own. She wasn’t expecting to have to explain her plans to him. “Plan?” she asked. Her voice was soft, and as much as she hated it, she sounded like a child.
Jack grinned briefly, “Yes, what are you going to do after I leave?”
Bethany shook her head, “Why should you care?”
She saw the change in his face. His eyes were dark and angry, and he leaned forward slightly until their faces were almost touching, “Why should I care? You’re my slave now, remember?”
Bethany stared into the darkness of his eyes. She could hear the anger behind them, and she felt something inside her snap, a tiny flame of rebellion igniting deep within her gut. She had no idea what had made her react, and it scared her.
She had never done anything like this, she had never fought back before, and now, suddenly, she was standing up for herself. She was shaking, and her breathing was ragged and rapid. She took a deep breath and tried to calm her nerves, and as she did, her heart began to slow. Her eyes locked onto his, and she watched his lips curl into a sneer as he opened his mouth and spoke.
“I’ll tell you why I should care,” he said quietly, and his voice was low and menacing, “because there is very little here that you cannot take away from me, and I don’t want to be without my power. If you continue with your attitude, you might find yourself back in the kitchen.”
Bethany’s chest heaved under the pressure of her anger. She wanted to speak, to say something, to do anything to stop him, but she couldn’t speak. Her mind was racing, and she was afraid.
Her father would have been proud of her, and his memory made her brave, but in the end, she had to do as he had told her; go along to get along, and if she wanted to achieve the great success he had promised her, she needed to show some loyalty.
Even though she felt like spitting in the face of the man who had enslaved her, the truth was that she did not know how to defy him, which worried her. What had she gotten herself into? She was trapped in the house. She had nowhere to go, nothing to do, and the more she thought about what the consequences would be for defying him, the more frightened she became.
It was one thing to think of her father, but what if she was wrong? What if this man would have killed her?
She was silent again, watching him as he leaned back against the couch. He seemed content, and as he finished off his third beer, she realized that she was going to stay here, locked in the mansion for as long as Jack wished, she felt sick. She hated to admit it, but the reality was that she was trapped.
With his reputation, she doubted anyone would come to rescue her, and that worried her even more.
As she sat alone in the study, Bethany’s mind returned to the subject of her father, and she wondered what she had missed by having him gone all these years. What had he been doing for so many years? Had he ever really loved her? The questions circled endlessly in her mind.
She had no other source of information than herself. She remembered the way he had looked at her as a child, the pride and love she had seen in his eyes, and she wondered what had happened between them. What had changed? She knew he had worked very hard to make sure her needs were met, and that if she wanted something, he would work for it.
There were always gifts around the house, and whenever she wanted something expensive, her father was always willing to help her purchase it. What had caused the shift in her relationship with her father to the distant and cold man he had become?
Had something else happened, or was it simply that she was growing up? She didn’t know, and the more she thought about it, the more confused she became.
In the end, she only had one thought, and it made her feel sick to her stomach. This had happened because of her. She had brought it upon herself, and if she chose to live this life, then she was stuck with it.
She had to find a way to deal with Jack and, more importantly, figure out a way to break free of him. She needed to escape, and if she could not, well, she would rather die than be his slave forever.
The End