by J. Daniels
“I’m not here for her,” Remy quickly said, slightly taken aback by how calm he was. If he wasn’t looking after his pride, he’d have been trembling now.
Jaxon let out a slow breath. “What are you here for then?”
Desperation.
With a hard swallow, Remy put aside the past and uttered, “Your help.”
ONE
The pain was what woke me up.
I felt like my brain had been scrambled, and the throbbing in my temples was unlike anything I’d ever experienced.
For a very long moment I didn’t know which way was up and which way was down.
I blinked hard but kept my breathing at ease. I didn’t want him to know I was awake, that I could see the window from where I lay in the back of the moving car. It frightened me how dark it was. Not one star in the sky, not one passing street light washing over the car… It was like driving through an endless black tunnel that never ended.
Tears stung my eyes but I swore them away. The last thing I needed was to feel sorry for myself. I was here because of my stupidity, because I believed I could allow an attractive man walk me to my car. My tombstone shall read: Christy, former med-student and the dumbest girl in the world.
Grandma would have a field day with this.
Now was not the time to bitch and moan about my wrongdoings, though. I needed to think and think fast.
In the darkness I raised my hands up to my face and eyed the harsh rope binding me at the wrists and up my forearms. It was tied in such a spectacular way, it allowed absolutely no room for movement. It was futile to even entertain the idea of getting out of this kind of knot with nothing but my teeth.
Helplessness clawed up my throat and I wanted to vomit. Was this really happening to me?
Breathe, Christy, breathe. Just breathe.
I couldn’t breathe. What was I doing here? How could this have happened? Why did this happen? All my life I walked the line and never strayed. I was that obedient overachiever people rolled their eyes at. Always I’d lived to please others, putting to the forefront everybody else’s feelings before my own. And just when I finally decided to branch out on my own, I’d been snatched away into the darkness of another man’s world.
What was he going to do to me?
He’ll rape you, torture you, and then he’ll kill you. If he doesn’t kill you, he’ll toss you aside and use you when it’s convenient. Then he’ll kill you.
I was going to be another statistic. Another missing girl, soon to be forgotten amid the sea of other unfound faces with their stories untold.
Forgotten.
Utterly forgotten.
The tears fell from my eyes and slid down my face, gathering at the hollow of my neck. I was going to be those girls. Those damn girls on those mystery shows I used to stay up at night and watch. I pirated that shit online, watching with sick fascination at all the faces that disappeared, their trail gone cold, their killers unknown.
You’re one of those girls now.
I pitied myself, and I never did that. If shit flowed downhill, I climbed back up again with a natural smile on my face. I never let the wounds of personal failure fester. I cleaned them up and went on with my life because that’s life for you – an endless cycle of disappointments and short sprints of happiness tackled on by more disappointments.
I could hear Grandma’s words echo in my mind, hitting one wall and then another, over and over again. “You’re a disappointment, Christy.”
Yes, Grandma, I know. I know already.
*
Maybe an hour passed. Maybe two. Hell, it could have been an eternity.
When the car began to slow down, my whole being exploded with jittery terror. Painful tremors rocked my body, distressing my arms like barbwire feasting on my flesh.
For a while, I’d been content in the never-ending ride. It meant more time to think of my situation, more time to pity myself, and more time away from the hands of what this man was going to do to me. But it was all coming to an end now, and the wheels of this oppressive car began to slow down.
I quickly wiped away my tears and shut my eyes. He couldn’t know I was awake.
Be strong. Be strong. The little voice in my head was my only companion and I listened to it like an old friend.
The car door opened and the harsh press of boots hitting the earth sounded loudly from where I lay. In the silence I could hear his every movement. The sound of a lighter and then the scent of smoke wafted into the car. I always liked to inhale the first cloud of a cigarette burning, but now it stood for something far more sinister; warning me of imminent danger that was coming at the end of that cigarette. He would finish it soon and then he would be coming my way.
I heard the sound of buttons pressing. I opened an eye and saw his large figure a foot away from my window, back turned to me. Light emanated from a cell phone in the palm of his hand. The other light was from the cigarette dangling from his lips.
My eyes wandered up to the door against my head. I saw the handle and I slowly raised my hands up to it. My eyes never left the man as I gripped it and slowly pulled. Take your time. Take your time.
I didn’t take my time.
My body disobeyed me, too intent on wanting to make the run for it. The door swung back and the sound of it was inescapable.
GET OUT!
The second his face turned in my direction, I pushed myself up the seat. My head and shoulders hit harsh concrete. I heard his hurried footsteps around the car. In under a second I was on my feet and running. I screamed as I ran, senselessly sobbing against the hot air as his footsteps followed after me.
I didn’t know where I was going. Just away! Away from him!
We were running in an open field with no end in sight. I aimlessly moved, uncaring of my direction, uncaring of anything except getting away. In the back of my mind I knew there was no way out of this, and that this sudden exertion was meaningless. With no idea where I was and how alone we were in the middle of nowhere, I knew it was going to end badly.
But, shit, I didn’t care. I pushed myself even long after my muscles screamed and writhed, even long after my lungs burned and my head swam in wooziness. Everything inside of me wanted to shrivel and die and give up this uneven fight.
I couldn’t. No, I just couldn’t.
I pushed, feasting on the saltiness of my tears in my gaping mouth as the blackness descended all around me. Arms like vines gripped my upper body and then I slammed forward into the ground, hitting my front so hard my teeth chattered.
I screamed as long and loud as possible as his hands continued to tighten around me. I writhed in his grip, and then I heard his laughter behind me. Laughter! This sick, sadist was enjoying this! Maybe he’d been waiting for me to make a run for it. Maybe he liked the fight.
He turned my body around and I screamed again as I thrashed my body against his.
“Stop it now,” his deep voice gritted out.
“Let me go!” I screamed.
To my surprise, he did. As he moved away, I turned back around in a crawling position and tried to get back up. A hand grabbed my leg and he shoved me down flat on the earth.
“Stop it,” he demanded.
I didn’t. I tried again, panting now as everything in my body ached. When he grabbed my leg, I twisted my body around and kicked wildly at him. I felt flesh against my shoes and then an angry growl erupted out of him. He descended upon me once more, his upper body trapping me against the hard earth. I could see nothing but the wall that was him. His weight stifled me until I could barely breathe against the pressure in my chest.
He grabbed at my bound wrists and threw them over my head, pressing them against the earth as his face lowered over mine. I cried out in horror at those dark eyes; so full of anger and emptiness, they consumed me until my body gave up and I lay limp beneath him.
I felt a hand grip my chin, and it was surprisingly soft and warm, but it tightened as he forced my face up to his own.
“Don
’t you fucking dare run again,” he growled in anger.
Terror gripped me at the look of his unrepressed rage, and it oozed out of him with such harshness, it was wholly primeval. This man was an animal, and I was well aware of what he was capable of. It screamed out of his eyes, inescapable and unforgiving.
Suddenly death didn’t seem so bad. Not if it meant being far, far away from this monster.
*****
Maybe an hour passed. Maybe two. Hell, it could have been an eternity.
When the car began to slow down, my whole being exploded with jittery terror. Painful tremors burned up and down my body, distressing my arms like barbwire feasting on my flesh.
For a while, I’d been content in the never-ending ride. It meant more time to think of my situation, more time to pity myself, and more time away from the hands of what this man was going to do to me. But it was all coming to an end now, and the wheels of this oppressive car slowed and slowed.
I quickly wiped away my tears and shut my eyes. He couldn’t know I was awake.
Be strong. Be strong. The little voice in my head was my only companion and I listened to it like an old friend.
The car door opened and the harsh press of boots hitting the earth sounded loudly from where I lay. In the silence, I could hear was his every movement. The sound of a lighter and then the scent of smoke wafted into the car. I always liked to inhale the first cloud of a cigarette burning, but now it stood for something far more sinister; warning me of imminent danger that was coming at the end of that cigarette. He would finish it soon and then he would be coming my way.
I heard the sound of buttons pressing. I opened an eye and saw his large figure a foot away from my window, back turned to me. Light emanated from a cell phone in the palm of his hand. The other light was from the cigarette dangling from his lips.
My eyes wandered up to the door against my head. I saw the handle and I slowly raised my hands up to it. My eyes never left the man as I gripped it and slowly pulled. Take your time. Take your time.
I didn’t take my time. My body disobeyed me, too intent on wanting to make the run for it. The door swung back and the sound of it was inescapable.
GET OUT!
The second his face turned in my direction, I pushed myself backwards. My head and shoulders hit harsh concrete. I heard his hurried footsteps around the car. In under a second I was on my feet and running. I screamed as I ran, senselessly sobbing against the hot air as his footsteps followed after me.
I didn’t know where I was going. Just away! Away from him!
We were running in an open field with no end in sight. I aimlessly moved, uncaring of my direction, uncaring of anything except getting away. In the far back of my mind I knew there was no way out of this, and that this sudden exertion was meaningless. With no idea where I was, and how alone we were in the middle of nowhere, I knew it was going to end badly.
But, shit, I didn’t care. I pushed myself even long after my muscles screamed and writhed, even long after my lungs burned and my head swam in wooziness. Everything inside of me wanted to shrivel and die and give up this uneven fight.
I couldn’t. No, I just couldn’t.
I pushed, feasting on the saltiness of my tears in my gaping mouth as the blackness descended all around me. Arms like vines gripped my upper body and then I slammed forward, hitting my front so hard, my teeth chattered.
I screamed as long and loud as possible as his hands continued to tighten around me. I writhed in his grip, and then I heard his laughter behind me. Laughter! This sick, sadist was going to kill me. He was enjoying this. Maybe he’d been waiting for me to make a run for it. Maybe he liked the fight.
He turned my body around and I screamed again as I thrashed my body against his.
“Stop it now,” his deep voice gritted out.
“Let me go!” I screamed.
To my surprise, he did. As he moved away, I turned back around in a crawling position and tried to get back up. A hand grabbed my leg and he shoved me down flat on the earth.
“Stop it,” he demanded.
I didn’t. I tried again, panting now as everything in my body ached. When he grabbed my leg, I twisted my body around and kicked wildly at him. I felt flesh against my shoes and then an angry growl erupted out of him. He descended upon me once more, his upper body trapping me against the hard earth. I could see nothing but the wall that was him. His weight stifled me until I could barely breathe against the pressure in my chest.
He grabbed at my bound wrists and threw them over my head, pressing them against the earth as his face lowered over mine. I cried out in horror at those dark eyes, so full of anger and emptiness, they consumed me until my body gave up and I lay limp beneath him.
I felt a hand grip my chin, and it was surprisingly soft and warm but it tightened as he forced my face up to his own.
“Don’t you fucking dare run again,” he growled in anger.
Terror gripped me at the look of his unrepressed rage, and it oozed out of him with such harshness, it was wholly primeval. This man was an animal, and I was well aware of what he was capable of. It screamed out of his eyes, inescapable and unforgiving.
Suddenly death didn’t seem so bad. Not if it meant being far, far away from this monster.
