Red Red Rose

by Stephanie Hoffman McManus

  “I kept driving, because I knew I needed to cool off or I might go back there and do something I would regret. I went as far as Seattle.” He released the counter and faced me again. “Do you remember where we would go to escape? Do you remember where our safe place was?”

  “To the water,” I replied softly. A small stream ran along the back of the Johnson’s property. During the summers we would splash in it when we could get away with it, but any time Judd and Linda were on one of their tears and we needed to make ourselves scarce, that’s where we’d go.

  “That’s right. To the water. So that’s where I went, just to clear my head, and there she was. Like it was a sign. Walking along the lake, all alone. Looked like she’d wandered off from a party, the way she was dressed and stumbling. She had hair like yours used to be.” He came close again and combed his hand through my locks.

  “So beautiful,” he said wistfully. “She was beautiful too with all that red hair. Not as beautiful as you, but I thought she would do. She was more than happy to join me when I offered her a drink. She was fun and I talked her into leaving with me. It wasn’t hard. She wanted me. I brought her here, you know.”

  I knew where this story was going and I didn’t need to hear the end, but I did want to know one thing. “Where exactly is here?”

  He released my chin and held out his arms in a wide open gesture. “This is home. At least for now. Until you’re ready to move on.”

  I swallowed dryly. “Are you going to hurt me like you did that girl and the others?”

  His features softened and he knelt down in front of me, taking my face in his hands. “I would never hurt you. I promised you I would always take care of you, and that’s what I’m going to do.”

  “But then why did you hurt them?” I asked meekly. “Why did you take Emily?”

  “Don’t you see? I had to get rid of them. Missy, the first one I brought here, I thought she could make me forget you, but she couldn’t. She wasn’t you, and after I’d fucked her, I realized she was a poor substitute. She was an obnoxious whore who wouldn’t shut up. I knew there would only ever be one for me, but I realized you needed time. It wasn’t your fault that you didn’t know me. It had been so long since they took you away from me and tried to keep you away, and I know I hardly look the same.” It was true. As much as I hated to admit it, there was no denying he’d grown out of any adolescent awkwardness. Gone were the glasses, gangly limbs and scrawny frame.

  “Why didn’t you just tell me it was you?”

  “I wanted you to figure it out on your own. I wanted you to see me. So I waited and I went to your coffee shop every day. You were as sweet and perfect as I remembered, but you never remembered me. I was patient, and thought in time even if you didn’t remember me, that you would see how perfect for each other we were anyway. Then you started dating that fuck-up Nathan. Once again I got pissed at you, for choosing him when I was right in front of you. I tried to forget you in someone else, but just like Missy, she wasn’t you, and so I got rid of her. I liked them better once they were silenced for good. They looked like they were sleeping, so peaceful. I could almost pretend they were you again.” He slid one hand back through my hair, grabbing the ends and bringing them to his face where he inhaled.

  “Mmm, you smell so good. So sweet. They didn’t smell like you either.”

  He was so sick and twisted.

  “What are you going to do with me if you’re not going to hurt me?” I asked hesitantly.

  He frowned. “We’re going to be together, Nora,” he replied as if it was obvious. “Now that I have you, I won’t let anyone or anything take you from me again.”

  “What about Emily? Why her?”

  His scowl deepened. “That was a mistake. She wasn’t supposed to be home that night. You said she was gone, but she came home and found me there. I had no choice.”

  “But why keep her all this time?”

  “Because I know how much she means to you. I don’t want to hurt you, Nora. I need her to make sure you don’t try anything stupid.”

  “You don’t need her. I won’t try anything. I was scared before because I didn’t know it was you.” I forced myself to lift my hands to the sides of his face. “I never thought I would see you again. I cried for weeks and weeks after they took me away from you.” That part was the truth. “Having you back is like a miracle. I don’t want to lose you again either.”

  “I can’t just let her go, Nora,” he said sternly.

  “Yes you can. And then we can leave here. Go somewhere no one can find us. We’ll be together, just me and you, like you said. No one else. Just let her go. She’s my best friend–”

  He stood suddenly and jerked my chair around before grabbing the back of it and tipping it until it was off its front legs and leaning against the table. He brought his face low over mine.

  “No. I’m your best friend,” he growled angrily, “and I know you better than anyone, so I know when you’re lying to me.”

  He curled his other hand around my throat, not squeezing, but just holding it there while he brought his face lower and grazed his nose along my jaw and then down to my shoulder where he inhaled me again. “You’re right, that we will be together, and in time you will come to love me again, the way I love you, but don’t you ever fucking try to play me, Nora. Not you.”

  I blinked back terrified tears. He grabbed my arm roughly, jerking me up out of the chair. The legs slammed back down on the floor and he dragged me from the kitchen toward the end of the cabin I hadn’t seen yet. There were two doors. He yanked one open and shoved me inside, following and closing the door behind us.

  It was a small bedroom. The bed took up most of it. It was the only decent piece of furniture I’d seen in this place, and he shoved me down on it. I wasn’t able to suppress my fear or panic anymore. I tried to scramble away from him, but he grabbed my arms and pinned them before lowering himself on me. I struggled and cried out, but he was so much larger than me and his weight was too much. He started kissing my neck and rubbing himself against me and I could do little more than squirm beneath him as the tears ran down my cheeks.

  He transferred my wrists to one hand and the other began caressing up and down my body. I whimpered and cried out again. “Please don’t do this,” I begged.

  “You’re mine,” he breathed in my ear. “And I’m going to show you. You let that fucking pig Nathan touch you. You gave yourself to him, and then that asshole Shaw. I saw you with him. Kissing him in the woods. The way you moaned when his hands were all over you, and then last night in your bedroom. I watched, and now I’m going to make you moan for me like you did for him. I’m going to make you forget his touch, make you forget all about him. I’m the only one who can touch you. I promise you’ll enjoy it. They all did.”

  I whimpered and my body shook with sobs. “Please don’t do this. If you love me, then please don’t force this. I need time.” I knew he wanted me to want him, to want this, I just prayed it would be enough for him to hold off right now.

  He stopped and pushed himself up by the hand that had my wrists pinned and looked down at me.

  “Please,” I choked on my cries. “If you want this to work, I have to be able to trust you,” I begged. My entire body sagged with relief when he released my hands and shoved himself up from the bed.

  “Fine, I’ll give you time.” He bent down and grabbed my chin, holding my head in place so he could run his lips along my jaw to my ear. “But you are mine, and the sooner you accept it, the better everything will be.”

  He stormed out of the room, shoving the door closed forcefully, and I was sure I heard it lock behind him. I curled into myself and cried. I knew I should have been searching for a way to escape, or planning some kind of sneak attack, but all I could do was sob into the bed and pray that Spencer was out there looking for me. I had to believe that if I couldn’t find a way out of here, that he would find me before it was too late.

  Twenty-Six

  “Can I
see Emily?” I looked up hopefully from the plate of meat and vegetables in front of me. He hadn’t let me see her since my first night here, no matter how much I pleaded with him. Three nights had passed since then, and I was no closer to getting us out of here.

  “No,” he replied and went about cleaning the food from his own plate.

  I shuffled the food around on mine. “Why can’t I see her?” I needed to see her. I had to make sure he wasn’t hurting her because he was frustrated with me. It’d been three nights of fending him off with excuses that would only work for so long. Three nights of trying to get into his head and make him trust me, which wasn’t going so well since most of my time was spent locked in the bedroom. Will– er Aaron– left in the mornings after bringing me food, and wouldn’t return until evening. He was going back there. Back to Bellingham. He told me as much when I asked him why he was gone all day. Said he couldn’t just disappear until it was time.

  Fury swam in my belly when I thought of him going back there. To my friends. My real ones. Probably pretending to be scared and worried. I could imagine him and Cassie comforting each other and it made me sick. He was right in front of them the same way he’d been right in from of me all this time. I couldn’t do anything but sit in that bedroom and wait. I’d exhausted every effort to break out of it and the tiny bathroom attached, it was useless, he’d secured them both. I was trapped until he came home each night and let me out.

  He made me eat dinner with him like this, and then we’d sit on the couch together.

  He wanted to talk and spend time together, as if we were a real couple. It was pure torture being near him and pretending his touch didn’t make sick. He brought me books and clothes and other gifts. He’d even stocked the bedroom with some of my own things, and I found all my preferred bathroom products in the bathroom.

  When we were together, he’d force me down memory lane with him, reliving all the memories and moments I’d buried for so long, and he’d talk about our future. He genuinely believed we were going to be happy together, and all the while I felt like I was navigating a minefield, trying to keep him from exploding if I said the wrong thing or didn’t give him the reaction he was looking for.

  At the end of each night he would take me to bed. The walk from the living room to the bedroom felt like a death sentence. When he had me in there was the only time my mask would slip and my carefully constructed façade would fall apart. I couldn’t pretend or do anything to stop the tears and trembling. I would beg him for more time. He would get frustrated and then lock me in there and I wouldn’t see him again until breakfast time. I knew he was running out of patience. I wouldn’t be able to hold him off much longer.

  I just needed to buy Spencer more time, because I was beginning to give up hope that I would be able to get free with Emily. Believing that Spencer was coming for us was the only thing that kept me playing Aaron’s stupid game when all I wanted to do was bash him over the head or stab him with the nearest sharp object.

  I knew I was no match for him, and if I failed, if I couldn’t take him down, he would make Emily pay for my mistake. If I made a move, I needed for him to not see it coming, which was hard when he never left me alone for even a second anywhere but locked in the bedroom. Right now, even when he seemed relaxed, I knew he was watching me closely.

  His fork clinked against his plate, bringing me back to our conversation. Finished eating, he leveled his gaze on me. “You’ve done nothing to earn that, Nora.”

  “What do you mean?” I protested. “I’ve done everything you’ve asked. I’m trying, Aaron, I’m really trying.” Trying to keep from ramming my fork in your eye.

  “I told you, Nora, I know you. So you think that means I don’t know when you’re lying or putting on a show. You think I don’t see the way you cringe every time I touch you, or the way you’re clenching your fork right now?”

  I looked at my hand, and indeed I was squeezing it pretty tightly. I guess I wasn’t as good of an actress as I thought. I dropped the fork. “I’m sorry.” I hoped it sounded convincing. It was sincere. I was genuinely sorry that I was failing Emily.

  “It’s okay.” He stood and came to me. “We have all the time in the world for you to come around, but I’m done waiting to have you. You are mine, and tonight I will have you in every way.”

  I shook my head, desperately. “No. Not yet, please–”

  “Save your pleas. I’ve been patient with you, but you need to see that you belong to me. You need to stop fighting it.”

  “I do know. I swear I do know, and I’m not fighting it. I just need more time to adjust to this new life with you,” I tried to reason, but it did little good. He grabbed my arm and yanked me up.

  “Enough. Tonight you’ll see how good things can be between us. Tonight you’ll see how good I can be to you . . . or how bad if you insist on fighting me.”

  He dragged me from the kitchen toward the bedroom, and I did fight. I fought him every step, because I knew once he got me inside that room, he wouldn’t stop tonight. I clawed at his arm and begged and cried and screamed and kicked and none of it did any good. He easily managed to force me inside and throw me down roughly on the bed. I scurried backward and cornered myself against the wall.

  I watched as he stripped off his shirt, and then his belt. He pulled his keys from his pocket and tossed them on the dresser, and then he stalked toward me. I tried to run, to jump from the bed and flee, but his arm caught me around the waist. He threw me back down and then he came down on top of me, tugging and tearing at my clothes. I kicked and screamed some more. I scratched and even tried to bite him, but the harder I fought him the more his eyes seemed to light up. He said he wanted me to want this, to give myself to him willingly, but I think he got off on the fight. He was enjoying my tears and my pathetic attempts to fight him off.

  I got one good swipe of my nails across his face before he managed to pin both of my wrists in one hand and then his other came around my throat. This time he wasn’t gentle. He squeezed just tightly enough to cause pain and make breathing difficult, but not enough to cut off my oxygen completely. I could do nothing except try to buck my hips uselessly. His lips were all over me as the tears streamed furiously from my eyes. I squeezed them shut, unable to watch as Aaron claimed what wasn’t his to take.

  His hand finally left my throat, but only to start undoing my pants. Without my hands, I couldn’t stop him from tugging them down along with my underwear, and then I heard the zipper on his jeans. My body shook harder and my sobs grew louder. I threw my head up hoping to catch him in the nose, but he avoided my headbutt easily. A sinister laugh fell from his lips before he dipped his head to whisper in my ear. “Don’t fight it. You used to like when I would touch you.” I shook my head furiously as he closed a hand over my breast and then snaked it lower. A pitiful cry worked its way out of my throat, and I closed my eyes, praying for it all to stop. The next thing I knew, his weight was gone and there was a loud crash in the room. My eyes flew open and I shot up when I saw Aaron wrestling with someone.

  Spencer.

  I cried out in relief, yanking my pants and underwear back up. Another loud thud sounded and I looked over to see that Aaron had slammed Spencer against the wall. I sucked in a short breath, but then Spencer’s fist came up and connected with Aaron’s face and he staggered backwards. A part of me wanted to hide under the bed until it was over, and an even bigger part of me wanted to jump in and help Spencer, but I knew he could take care of himself. I had to get to Emily. I had to get her out no matter what. I leapt up, dodging the fight and snatching the keys from the dresser and then I tore through the house to the basement.

  Emily was sitting up, looking terrified when I came down the stairs. When she saw it was me, her eyes grew hopeful. I ran and dropped down on the mattress, reaching for her ankle to unlock the shackle.

  “Where is he?” she choked. Her voice was little more than a cracked whisper.

  “Spencer is here. We’re getting out of he
re.”

  “Who’s Spencer?” She rubbed her ankle when I had the cuff free and then I helped her stand. I didn’t know how to answer her question.

  “He’s like Batman, and he’s here to rescue us.” That would have to do for now.

  “Is he hot? How’s my hair?” she asked weakly.

  I wanted to cry, but instead I smiled and threw my arms around her. She was still in there. He hadn’t broken her. I pulled away because we didn’t have time, but not before I gave her a fat grin and said, “Back off, he’s mine.”

  Then I grabbed her hand and we ran for the stairs. At the bottom I listened for noises from upstairs, but didn’t hear anything. It made me nervous, because if the fight was over, Spencer should be calling my name and searching the house for us. But he wasn’t. I put my finger to my lips and then signaled Emily to wait at the bottom while I slowly made my way up. At the top, I drew in a deep breath. The door had closed partially behind me. I carefully shoved it open and peeked my head out, only to come face to face with a bruised and bloodied Aaron. His face was contorted in rage and as soon as he saw me, he made a grab for me and I screamed. He caught my arm before I could turn and run back down the stairs.

  I swung my fist and it connected with his cheek, but still he didn’t loosen his painful grip on my wrist. I raked my nails down his arm and he hissed in pain and then grabbed my other wrist in his hand. He tried dragging me away from the basement door but I dug in my heels. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a large shadow barreling toward us. My eyes widened in relief when I turned and realized it was Spencer. Although there was blood dripping down his head, he looked okay. I swung my knee up, hoping to catch Aaron between the legs just as Spencer grabbed hold of him again. In Aaron’s attempt to swing around and fight Spencer off, he knocked me backwards. I reached for the door frame or anything to grab hold of as I fell backward, but caught nothing. I remember hitting the first step, and Emily screaming my name, but then everything went black as my body tumbled down the rest.