by Bella Jewel
Fuck.
This isn’t happening.
It can’t be.
Not after the way she ran out.
Not after I fuckin’ broke her so bad.
I get out of the chair and grab the keys to Alarick’s truck. “We’re goin’ to find her.”
“I’ll send Kendric and Samson to give you a hand.”
“Samson’s back?” Mykel asks, from his spot at the end of the bar.
“Don’t know what he is, but the more eyes the better,” Alarick mutters. “Tell us what you find. If nothin’ shows up, we’ll go from there.”
She’ll be somewhere, she fucking will be.
I move to my car quickly and Carson comes with me, getting in the front seat. We drive in silence, doing laps of the town, going down back roads, going to her cabin and back again. The sun is starting to set by the time we’re rolling back into the club, and we haven’t seen sight nor sign of Merleigh. I’ve called her phone, over and over, even though I know she doesn’t have it.
I just can’t fucking stop myself.
Panic grips my chest when we walk into the clubhouse and go straight to Alarick’s office.
The second he sees my face, he knows we haven’t found her.
“Fuck,” he mutters, running a hand down his face. “Okay, anyone got any ideas where she might be?”
Briella walks in carrying two plates of food. She looks to us and her face falls. “You haven’t found her.”
“No,” I growl. “Any idea where she might go when she’s upset? A friend? Someone we don’t know about?”
Briella shakes her head. “No, she’s shy, and she doesn’t know anyone yet. Merleigh isn’t the sort of person to let us worry, either.”
“She was pretty upset,” Carson points out.
“Yeah, she was,” Alarick agrees. “It’s getting late, it’s pouring with fucking rain, she could be anywhere. We can’t do much during the night.”
“She could be in trouble and you want me to fuckin’ sit here and do nothing?” I bark.
“What will you have us do, Bohdi?” Alarick throws back, voice tight. “Go on a hunt in the dark? We can call around to some bars, check some hotels, and the hospitals. We can’t do much more.”
“What if someone picked her up and ...” Carson says, and his voice trails off.
“That’s what I’m fuckin’ worried about,” I say, running my hand down my face.
“Merleigh wouldn’t get into a car with a stranger,” Briella shakes her head. “No way.”
“How do you know?” I ask. “She was upset, stuck out in the rain, and her keys were locked in the car. She wouldn’t have had a great deal of choice.”
“He has a point,” Alarick agrees with a nod. “She might have had no option.”
“If that’s the case, she could be anywhere, with anyone,” Briella says, her face going a little pale. “How are we going to find her?”
I have no fucking idea, and it’s terrifying.
“Think in this case, we have to use the cops,” Alarick says, standing. “We don’t have the resources to look into this if that’s what has happened. They can check cameras, things like that ...”
“The fuckin’ cops?” I growl.
“We may have no other fuckin’ choice, Bohdi.”
I hesitate, because he’s right – there might be no other choice. If Merleigh isn’t found by morning, we’ll have no option but to go to the police because they have a far bigger chance of finding her than we do.
“I’m goin’ to search for her again,” I mutter, grabbing my keys and turning, walking out of the room.
“I’m coming with you!” Briella calls, coming after me.
I don’t say a word to her as we get in the truck and drive around town again, going all the way back out to Merleigh’s cabin that is still empty. We go around and around until the morning light settles on the earth and that’s when I know, I fucking know, that something has happened to her.
The fear in my chest makes me sick to my stomach.
If I lose her ...
God dammit, why was I such a fucking idiot?
If I lose her and the last thing that happened between us was a fight that caused her to run, I’ll never forgive myself.
Fuck.
Please.
Let her be okay.
20
NOW – MERLEIGH
I watch as the man moves into the room, his eyes on me. Thus far, he hasn’t done anything, but this morning he has come in and there is a look in his eyes that’s terrifying.
It’s time for me to make him question everything.
It’ll take every strength I have, but I’m determined to get out of here.
I will not be anyone’s captive.
Not ever.
Not in this life.
I calm my facial features and watch him with a curiosity that has him doing a double take. I tip my head to the side as he walks toward me, and I give him a cold smile that would put anyone on edge. “Have you done this many times before?” I ask in a sultry voice.
He blinks. “What the fuck happened to the scared girl I picked up yesterday?”
I give a huff and a smile. “You wouldn’t have taken me if I wasn’t screaming, right? I know how this goes. God, it’s my fantasy. Do you have any idea how long I’ve been waiting for this moment?”
He stares at me with narrowed eyes. “You’re trying to trick me, it won’t work.”
I keep the smile.
He hesitates.
“You expect me to believe you want to be held captive?”
“Well, you’re here, stealing girls from the side of the road. I’m expected to believe you’re into that, why wouldn’t I be into something equally as sick? You don’t think girls have it in them to create fantasies?”
“You’re lying. You’re fucking lying. Shut up.”
“I’ve been in this situation before. If you don’t believe me, look at the scars on my body. They’ll tell you just how much I loved it.”
My voice is low, unwavering.
Inside, I’m terrified.
But, I have a feeling I’m on the right path. This man, he doesn’t look like he’s the smartest guy out there catching women. Instead, he seems to be just fulfilling some sick fetish that he has, and isn’t really thinking it through. I can tell by the way he hesitates.
I’ve dealt with some of the cruelest monsters in this world, and let me tell you, they do not hesitate.
Ever.
“Hurt me,” I whisper, my voice so low that it scares even me. “I’ll prove to you how much I want this. Please. Hurt me.”
He looks confused and a more than a little thrown off.
But he pulls himself together.
He pulls a knife out of his pants and walks over to me.
This is going to take every strength I have inside, but if I don’t prove myself, he’s going to rape, and likely kill me. This may very well be my only chance at getting away from here. Sure, he might not be the smartest man, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t killed people before.
It’s very likely he has.
He kneels on the bed and places the knife against my leg, his eyes flashing with a lust that makes me want to vomit.
“Do it,” I growl, my voice sultry.
He presses the knife into my skin and then drags it down. The pain is horrific, but I’ve dealt with so much worse. God, so much worse. Still, it makes my stomach twist and my body tense up. It takes every single strength I’ve built over the years not to scream, not to cry and not to show him any sort of fear. My god, it hurts. It hurts so fucking bad.
I force myself to look into his eyes and give him a smile that has his smile stretching, like he’s struck gold.
“Well, I didn’t think I’d ever find someone just like me.”
“Oh, honey, you have no idea. Tell me, what are you going to do to me?”
I lick my lips.
“Oh, you have no idea the things I’m going to do to your body.
Would you like this knife inside you?”
“Yes,” I whimper. “But not until the end.”
“What parts of your body do you want me to cut?”
“All of it. Every single inch of flesh.”
He laughs, wildly and in a way that makes me so damned sick I have to bite my lip to stop it from trembling.
I’ve got this.
God dammit, I’ve got this.
Blood is flowing down my leg and onto the sheet. I glance at it and watch as he runs his finger through it and puts it in his mouth. I clench my teeth together, because if I don’t I’m going to gag. He grins at me.
“Tell me, what did you do to all the others? I want details.”
He sits on a chair beside the bed and gives me a look that makes my insides twist. Then, he starts telling me all the horrific things he has done to the three other girls he has captured. Things I can’t even let penetrate my mind, because they’ll break me. Instead, I tug on my chains, squirming like it’s turning me on.
I need to make him unbuckle me.
It’s the only way I’ll get out.
“You want to touch yourself, don’t you?” he growls
“Yes,” I plead. “Keep me chained, just let my hands free so I can.”
He does as I ask. The stupid fucking moron.
As soon as he releases me, I let my hands down and rub my bound fists over my crotch. I’m not touching myself, not even close, but he thinks he has struck gold. He shoves his hands down his pants and it takes everything, absolutely everything inside of me, not to vomit and cry until I can’t breathe.
“Tell me more,” I plead.
He does, stroking and talking, telling me the most horrific things. He finishes with a grunt in his pants, and I give a giggle that terrifies even me. “I think you’ve made a mess.”
He chuckles. “I’ll be right back.”
He gets up and leaves the room.
The stupid, pathetic, sick asshole just got up, walked out, and left me unshackled. He didn’t even lock the door. He fell for my little trick so well, that he has already forgotten I’m a prisoner. My hands are cuffed, but that isn’t going to stop me. I leap out of the bed so quickly I stumble. I’m losing a little more blood than I’d like, but I can’t worry about that now. I have seconds. Sheer seconds.
I run out of the door, hands bound in front of me.
I make it to the living room and I can hear the shower running.
That moron.
Honestly, I didn’t think it would be so easy to trick someone.
But my plan worked.
I see his phone on the table and I grab it, stuffing it down my pants. I’m going to need that. I also open the front door, to make it look like I’ve gone out.
He thinks I’m going to run, that’ll be exactly what he assumes has happened and that’s exactly what I want him to think. Most girls, if any have ever escaped before, would run straight out into those woods that I have no doubt he knows incredibly well.
We’re out in the middle of nowhere, I know that much—running is pointless.
So, I walk around the house until I find a secure spot to hide. He’ll never assume I’ll stay in the house.
Why would he?
I find an old, shut up room with sheets over the furniture.
An old closet is shoved in the corner. Perfect.
I open it quietly, heart racing, and I climb in. It’s dusty and dirty, but it’s the perfect spot. I close it, and then I open the phone. It’s only a cheap phone, so it isn’t locked. I dial Waverly’s number, the only person’s I know by heart.
“Hello?” she answers.
“Waverly,” I whisper. “It’s Merleigh.”
“Merleigh, oh god, honey, are you okay?”
“I’ve been taken. I’m hiding. I escaped, but I don’t know where I am. I didn’t have time to find a location. I stole his phone. I need you to find out where I am and come and get me.”
“Okay, okay, yes. I’m going to take this to the police and they can track the number. Do not part with that phone Merleigh, do not, no matter what. It’ll be what leads us to you. We’re coming, honey.”
I go to say more but I hear the shouts as he figures out I’m gone. I double check the phone is on silent and I clench my eyes shut as I hear him barreling through the house. I’m right, he doesn’t even bother to look around. I hear the sound of a gun cocking and then the front door slam.
The world goes quiet then.
I clench my eyes shut, and I pray.
Please.
THE SOUNDS OF SIRENS come two hours later. I know, because I’ve been checking the phone, over and over. I text Waverly’s number, telling her he’s outside looking for me, and he’s armed. She has the police call me to get a location from the phone, and then they assure me they’re on the way.
So I sit and wait.
I don’t know where he is—I haven’t heard a thing.
Car doors slam, shouts can be heard, and I press my hands to my chest in fear, waiting for the horrible sounds of him coming out and shooting, but they don’t come. The shouting gets more frantic, and then it stops. Only once it stops do I hear footsteps through the house and the sound of a voice I need more than anything in this world right now.
Bohdi.
“Merleigh?”
I push the cupboard doors open and step out just as he enters the room. The moment I see him, tears burst forth and roll down my cheeks and I’m running toward him. He catches me and pulls me into his arms, burying his face into my hair. I sob, finally releasing everything I’ve been holding inside. I kept strong, and I got out.
I got out.
Bohdi steps back and his eyes scan over me. “Did he hurt you? Are you okay?”
“I have a cut on my leg, but otherwise I’m okay.”
Bohdi kneels down and sees the slice on my leg and he mutters a curse. Then he rips his shirt off and ties it. “You’ve lost a hell of a lot of blood.”
I look down and see my entire leg is soaked in it.
Now the danger is gone, I am feeling a little queasy.
Bohdi stands, scooping me into his arms and carrying me outside just as two police officers step inside. They take one look at me and seemingly exhale with relief. “Ma’am, are you okay?”
I nod. “I’m okay, thank you for coming.”
“Can you tell us what happened?”
“She will, outside,” Bohdi growls. “This house is filthy.”
He walks me outside and I see Briella, Alarick, Waverly, and Mykel all standing by a police car, speaking with an officer. Briella sees me and she comes running, throwing her arms around me as soon as Bohdi puts me on the ground. I hug her tightly, and then Waverly when she comes over. I step back and see an officer putting the man into the back of a police car. He’s cuffed and protesting.
“We’ve been looking for him for quite some time, you were incredibly brave doing what you did,” a police officer tells me.
“I wasn’t letting him keep me captive,” I say softly. “I did what I had to do.”
“If you don’t mind me asking, how did you escape?”
I tell them everything, from me locking my keys out, to him picking me up and the show I put on to get away. They all look stunned when I’m done.
“You tricked him?” Waverly asks. “Girl, that is the smartest thing I’ve ever heard.”
The police officer nods. “That was an incredibly smart thing to do, and it worked. Well done. We’ll get a statement from you, but you’re free to go.”
“She needs a hospital,” Bohdi says, taking my hand and leading me to the truck.
Bohdi and I get into his truck, and the others follow behind in Alarick’s. We’re quite a way out of town and as we drive, I realize I made the right choice not running into these woods. I would have gotten lost and likely died. They’re dense, thick, and go for miles and miles. Even in a car, it takes us a while to get back onto the main road.
Bleeding like I am, it would have been dan
gerous.
“You really trick him like that?” Bohdi asks.
“Yeah. I guess because I’ve been a prisoner before, I know what it is people like him are looking for in a victim. I decided to go a different direction. It was foreign and it was without a doubt the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but it worked.”
“You’re fuckin’ incredible, do you know that?”
I smile weakly. “I was just ensuring I survived.”
He glances at me. “I’m sorry, Merleigh. The entire time you were gone, all I could fuckin’ think was if something happens to you, the last memory we have is of you bein’ so fuckin’ hurt. It killed me to even consider it. I need you to know that I’m sorry.”
I know he is.
God, do I know he is.
The anger I felt before I got taken, has gone. The fear of being captive again erased so much pain and made me realize just how lucky I am.
That luck includes Bohdi.
“Tell me why you didn’t go to the police when you killed her, Bohdi,” I whisper.
“I was tired, I was broken, and she had taken so much from me already. I didn’t want her to take my freedom, too. I didn’t mean to hurt her, fuck, I’m not like that. She was attacking me and I pushed her. She fell and hit her head. I could have done the right thing and gone to the cops, but I knew the chances of them believing me were next to none. I had no family. No support. I knew nobody would care if she went missing ...”
“You’d care, though. You had to live with that choice,” I say softly.
“Yeah, I have had to live with it. Every fucking day, but if I could go back ... I’d do it again. There is more shit you need to know. The night Sherry went over that cliff, I was hanging onto her, trying to pull her back up. She was pulling me down with her and I couldn’t pull her up without going over the edge, too. I had a choice, go over and die, or let her go. I let her go. I’m a fuckin’ monster, Merleigh. You have to know that.”
I swallow, horrified. Not because I think he made the wrong or right choice, but that he was faced with such a choice to begin with.
