by Sam Crescent
“I won’t let anything happen to you, Skye. Remember that,” Noah said. He kissed her head, and she thanked him for that brief glimpse of tenderness.
Her body was close to shutting down. She felt it. Every single cell of her wanted to die. Her feet hurt, as did her body.
Noah held the gun at his side, and she tried not be scared as the door opened. Noah held her a little tighter, and she was more than happy with that.
She let Noah do all the talking as she sagged against his side. Seconds passed until finally, everything went black for her.
Whatever happened, she didn’t want to be awake to see it.
PART TWO
Chapter Ten
Noah stared out of his bedroom window, and it overlooked the town where he grew up. Six weeks, three days, and ten hours they’d been gone. He and Skye, locked together in a cell, tortured, beaten, raped.
It had been two weeks since they’d been home.
In the house they had found, the old man had been appalled, calling the police and then their parents. Within a matter of hours, their parents were at the farmhouse and they were being taken back home.
First, to the hospital, where they were questioned about everything.
He’d expected to get arrested, especially when they told him they had questioned Skye about what happened. She’d given her statement, leaving out everything that he’d done and been forced to do to her.
He admitted to the murder of the men in their cell, and also the men who had been in the arena.
The cops had seen it as self-defense. He’d never forget what he’d done though.
There were nights he’d lie awake, staring at the empty spot on his bed, thinking about Skye.
They hadn’t seen each other since getting out.
Skye had to go to the hospital as some of her cuts had been infected. He wanted to see her, but her parents had stopped him from even going to the hospital. They wanted her to have time to heal without him.
Their ordeal meant nothing to them. No one understood what had been going on in their lives.
His brother and sister had showed him everything on the internet that had happened. The social media page set up for both of them, begging for anyone who saw them to get in touch.
The cops had wanted to call them teen runaways. They didn’t want to acknowledge they’d been kidnapped.
No one had even thought of that. They had both just disappeared without a trace.
He’d stared at Skye’s smiling face on the pages that were set up. There were barely any pictures of her and certainly none together. Not even now, even though the press had been involved.
The place they’d been held was a private mansion that had recently been renovated. After they escaped, the other victims had been killed. The cops had found some of their captors still intent on escaping, and it wasn’t lost on Noah that Mitch hadn’t been one of the people arrested.
The footage was still there though.
The cops got enough evidence, and Noah expected the tape of him and Skye to come out, or at least for him to be questioned over. So far, no trace of it, not that he’d asked for more details than necessary.
The cop that had come to talk to him clearly didn’t like him, which he didn’t understand. He’d escaped. They now knew there was some kind of sexual criminal ring going on right under their noses, and he’d helped to expose that. Noah kept expecting him to arrest him.
“What are you doing here all on your own again?” Kasey, his younger sister, asked.
“Sorry, I was just thinking.” He turned from the window, moving to his bed. He sat down.
Even though he could walk and do whatever he wanted, freedom was his, he still remained in his room. Hours at a time, he lay in bed, looking at the empty space, missing a part of Skye. He couldn’t sleep, not well. He missed her.
When they first got to the hospital, he’d tried to visit her, but her parents kept him at bay. Since then, his own parents had stopped him from doing anything. They were always asking questions, always wanting to know what he was thinking, feeling, doing. If he had nightmares.
“You think a lot nowadays. I remember when you just liked to play ball, hang out with your friends, and do nothing but talk about girls.”
“Did you stand at my door all the time, listening to what I was doing?”
“Nope, but it’s not hard when you were never quiet. Do you miss her?”
“Who?”
“Skye. Mom and Dad talk about her a lot.”
“I don’t miss her, but…” He thought about her brown eyes and long brown hair. “Yeah, I miss her.”
“I thought so.”
“Did you hear anything else Mom and Dad threatened?”
“Yeah, they want you to see a shrink.”
“A shrink?”
“Uh-huh, they think it’ll be good for you. They think you’re too … dark right now.”
He smirked. “What do you think?”
“You’re dealing in your own way. You’re my big brother, and of course you’ll deal with everything in your own way. It’s what makes us, us.”
“You know, for a ten-year-old, you seem to know a lot of things.”
“It’s because I’m a girl. It’s a fact we’re smarter than boys on everything.”
“Smarter, huh? What about stronger?”
“Nope, we’re not stronger. We don’t hold as much muscle mass, so we’ll never be stronger than guys, but one day, you never know.”
He chuckled and rubbed her head.
She shoved his hand away. “Don’t mess with the hair, dude.”
“When did you get so damn grown up?”
The smile fell from her face. “I missed you, Noah. It wasn’t the same around here without you.”
“I missed you too. More than anything. Who took you trick-or-treating this year?”
“No one. We couldn’t go. Mom wouldn’t allow it.”
“Mom, you mean she didn’t even bother to take you?” he asked.
“It got really bad around here, Noah. I mean, really, really bad. People were scared.”
“I know.”
She threw her arms around him, and he held her tightly. “I don’t want you to go again, or ever. I missed you so much.”
“I missed you too.”
He hugged her, recalling how many times he wished he was doing exactly this. His thoughts drifted to Skye once again. He had to see her.
“Come on, let’s go downstairs.”
“Mom and Dad are there.”
“I know.”
“I’m going to sit this one out.”
Before he could say anything more, Kasey ran out of the room as if something was chasing her ass. He rolled his eyes but followed her out. Closing his bedroom door, he slowly made his way downstairs to where his parents were sitting in the living room.
“This isn’t healthy for him. You know that.”
“Kate, we can’t force him to do anything he doesn’t want to.”
“He’s a damn teenager. He doesn’t know what he wants. He just sits all day up in his room. David, I know you think this is a man thing, but … stuff was done to him back at that place.”
Noah paused as he recalled being strapped down, being taken against his will. The pain and of course the fear as he was forced to hurt Skye. He had to watch her.
“I’m going out,” Noah said.
Being around his parents caused the flashbacks, the memories, to crash around him like waves.
“Noah, honey, we’d like to talk to you.”
He looked back at his mother. “I’m not going to see a shrink, no matter what you say.”
“You need to talk to someone.”
Noah looked past her shoulder toward his father, who pressed his lips together.
“You agree?”
“Look, son, she’s only wanting what’s best for you.”
“What’s best for me? How about you help me get to see Skye? Can you do that?” He looked from one person to
the other, seeing it was useless. They didn’t understand his problem.
“We can’t force anyone to see you, Noah.”
“So Skye doesn’t want to see me?”
“Well, that’s not entirely true—”
“So her parents are keeping us apart.” He cut his mother off.
“Son, you’ve been through a lot.”
“Yeah, exactly. I’ve been through a lot … with Skye. She was right there. Right by my side. If it wasn’t for her, I’d still be in that fucking cell, or worse, sold off, or maybe even dog meat. Without her, I wouldn’t have been able to escape. She saw they were drugging our food, and without her, I wouldn’t be standing here right now.”
He saw the sadness on their faces. They knew part of what happened, or what the doctors had told them.
He’d not talked about his time there. He refused to. No one but Skye would ever know what happened, and of course the men that got away, and the people who paid for that shit to happen.
Clenching his hands to fists, he had to get out. He wasn’t a trapped prisoner anymore.
“Noah, please, don’t go.”
“You don’t get it. None of you do.”
Leaving the house behind, he slammed the door closed, heading down the end of the drive. He breathed in deeply.
The air was cold, and he’d pulled on a thick jacket. The cold bothered him since getting out. He couldn’t stand the thought of being naked or cold. The baths and showers he took were long as well.
His parents now shared a look as if he’d gone insane.
He couldn’t help it. Some mornings he woke up, and it was like he had forgotten where he was. Who he was.
Only when he heard his family and smelled bacon frying did he realize he was home.
He ate everything that was on his plate. When he wasn’t eating or in his room, he was training. He hit the basement gym hard. Weights, running, fighting, all of it was his new strength.
Never would he be weak again.
One day soon he’d have to go back to school, back to reality.
On the outside, everything was the same as it was before. He could play ball, do what needed to be done. All of it.
Only, he wasn’t the same guy as he once was.
He was far from the guy he’d been before he was taken.
Walking down the street, he ignored the calls toward him. He’d not been outside of his home in a long time, saving it for the day he’d finally have to return to school. His friends were always calling around, wanting to see him, but he had nothing or no one he wanted to see, only one person.
Before he even realized where he was going, he stood in front of Skye’s home. It was smaller than his own but still nice. They lived in different neighborhoods. Skye was the rougher of the two, but he’d grown up walking these streets. Besides, after everything he’d gone through, nothing scared him anymore, least of all kids.
Gripping the gate, he stared up at the house, willing himself to keep on walking, but instead, he made his way up toward the front door, and before he could even stop himself, had knocked.
Shoving his hands into his pockets, he waited, knowing deep down, it was a long shot.
The door opened, and he stared at her dad, Clifford.
“Evening, son,” he said.
“Hey, Mr. Carver. I’m so sorry to bother you. I was wondering if Skye’s available to talk to.”
Shouting, screaming, wouldn’t get him what he wanted. The only way to get to Skye was to make sure he was levelheaded and calm.
“Son, I know you mean well, but we don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“Could you ask Skye if she wants to see me? It’s really important.”
“Cliff, who is it?” Lilly asked, coming to the door. “Oh.”
“Evening, Mrs. Carver.”
“Noah, I know you want to see Skye, but now is not a good time.”
“Is she okay?”
“She’s fine,” she said. “Doing much better. Thank you for stopping by. It means a lot that you do.”
Lilly took the lead, closing the door, and he heard the lock.
Deflated, he turned down the driveway and headed out. He didn’t go back home, but instead walked toward the school, where he would have to go back.
With his hands in his pockets, and a few flurries of snow for company, he tried not to think about his time away.
It was hard to do.
His life was separated into three sections in his head. The time before, the time during, and now.
All of it was complete and utter bullshit.
He didn’t know how he was going to be able to handle his life like this. Everywhere he turned, he was reminded of who he was before all the shit, and now, he had to remember that people were expecting him to move on. To party, to get wild.
None of them understood him now.
They didn’t know what it was like to fuck a woman just so men would stop hurting her. Wiping a hand down his face, he stopped just outside of the school. He stared at the front doors.
He’d been in and out of those doors so many times. Even now, with it dark and the streetlights to keep him company, he could see himself, arm over the shoulder of his latest conquest, feeling on top of the world. No one could stop him, or step in front of him. Anyone who did, he’d easily knock them down.
He was a grade-A asshole.
The sound of a car coming toward him cut the memories off from him. He turned in time to see Derek’s banged up old car that had been passed down from his old man to his brothers.
“It’s about time you joined the land of the living,” Derek said.
“What are you doing here?”
“You parents called. Told me you were out walking or doing some shit. I figured you wanted some company.”
“I’m okay, man. I’m fine. You know. Just dealing with some shit in here.” He pointed at his head.
“I get it. I do. I don’t know everything you’ve been through, but I’m here if you want to talk about it.”
Derek wasn’t like his other friends. They both played football, but they were closer than any of the other guys on the football team. Derek climbed out of the car. The door stayed open, the engine running.
“You want a ride?”
“Sure.” He rounded the vehicle, climbing inside.
“If you’re not wanting to head home, Rebecca’s having a small party at her place.”
Rebecca was one of the cheerleaders he’d banged before being taken. She was often game for anything as she’d worked her way through the football team.
“Sure, why not?” He didn’t have a reason for not going to the party.
Derek let out a whoop, and that was it, they were heading to a party. One he didn’t really want to go to.
Rebecca was one of the rich girls, so her place was a mansion. She was a daddy’s girl, and with it, she got everything she ever wanted. Car, new wardrobe, pool, whatever her heart desired, she could have. Most of the guys were the same way, but deep down, she was a huge bitch.
He climbed out of Derek’s car, hands in pockets, and headed into the house.
The house was warm, and of course, “a little party” was anything but. There were so many people.
Noah recognized some but not all.
“I thought you said this was a little party.”
“I may have lied. Come on, I remember how you loved these once,” Derek said. “You want me to take your jacket off?”
“No, it’s fine.”
He kept the jacket on. Since coming back, he had a thing about taking his jacket off. He didn’t know if any of these jackasses would steal it, and walking home in the cold, he had no desire to do.
Derek grabbed a beer and offered him one.
He took it but again, made no move to drink it.
Walking out of the main house, they came to the pool. It was in a heated room, so a lot of girls were in their bikinis. There was a time he’d have been all over them, partying, living it up.
/> None of them knew what real pain felt like.
“Do my eyes fool me, or is Noah King finally in my house?” Rebecca asked.
Before he could stop her, she’d jumped into his arms and her lips were on his. It felt weird to have her wrapped around him, kissing him.
What was more, he didn’t like it. She was too strong, her lips pressing too hard against his own.
“Down you go,” he said, tapping her ass.
“What is it?” Rebecca asked, pouting. “Don’t you want me anymore?”
“Give the guy a break. I picked him up out of the cold. You’ve always been too much for everyone,” Derek said.
“I’ve never been too much for my guy here. He knows what he wants and is more than willing to take it, aren’t you, Noah?”
“Not tonight, Rebecca.”
She rolled her eyes. “Whatever. You got the whole dark and brooding thing down, but it’s going to get old real fast.”
“Rebecca, cut it out,” Derek said.
“Oh, come on, you guys don’t think the same thing?” she asked. “So you were taken, but you weren’t alone. You had that fat chick, Skye, right? The one that was tutoring you.”
Noah stared down at his bottle. Gripping it tightly within his fist, he ignored her, needing the break, needing to ignore everything that was happening right now.
“I’m out of here.” He put the bottle of beer down and headed out.
Before he left, he saw the shock on Rebecca’s face. For all of her popularity, people would remember this party as her rejection. Guys and girls from their school had seen him put her down and then leave as if she meant nothing. It would hit her reputation more than anything else.
He failed to give a fuck. The guy they had all known was gone. He slammed the front door closed, but he heard Derek.
“Man, you know what’s she’s like. She has no fucking filter. She doesn’t know when to shut her mouth.”
“I don’t care. I don’t need to listen to her shit, or any of it.”
“Being away really did a number on you, didn’t it?” Derek asked.
“Dude, I wasn’t on vacation. It’s not like I had a choice about what I did or where I went. You know what? Fuck this shit. I’m out of here.”
****
Skye watched as Noah walked down the driveway. It wasn’t the first time he’d come to her house or even at the hospital. Her parents were being … overprotective. She didn’t know how to stop them. Sure, she could call to him, but he looked so defeated with his drooped shoulders, and his sadness. It clung to him like a second skin. Besides, she didn’t want him to feel responsible for her. This was their clean start, and he needed to have that as well. He was a good guy, and he didn’t need to keep feeling guilty for her.
