by Mandie Mills
She had no idea where they were but they’d pulled off the highway. There was no way a service road would lead to nothing but fields. There had to be a farm out there.
After making sure Tom was still asleep, Elena carefully pushed the blanket that was half covering her body down, sliding it over so it was piled between the seats. She put her hand on the door handle and took a deep breath before she gently started to pull on it.
Moving millimeter by millimeter she pulled on the handle until the door unlatched. The slight clicking sound echoed like the crack of a whip in the silent car, and she held her breath. When he didn’t move and she was sure he was still asleep, she gently pushed the door open.
She’d been watching while he’d been using the interior light and had seen him flick the switch all the way to the right. She didn’t have to worry about the light coming on and waking him.
As cold air began seeping into the cab of the car through the open door, she picked up her pace and risked moving a little faster. He might not notice the change and wake up now, but he would if she left the door open too long.
When the door was a third of the way open she let go and took in another deep breath. Now she had to move quickly, but still be as silent as possible.
Being careful not to kick the door at all she slid her legs to the side until her feet were hanging out of the car. She planted her hands on the seat under her and then sat up. The moment her feet hit the dewy and cold grass she leaned forward and let her momentum pull her out of the car.
Her ballet flats slipped and she had fight to keep her balance but she managed to stay on her feet as her body slid out of the car.
Every instinct she had was telling her to run as far and as fast as she could, but she had to close the door. The cold would eventually wake him up and she needed to be as far away from him as possible before he noticed she was missing.
Biting her lip she steeled her resolve and gently pushed the door closed. When it was only inches from latching she pulled the handle up and then closed it the rest of the way. It wasn’t quite flush so she gave it an extra little push. When she heard and felt it latch she started to lower the handle.
She’d done it. She was out of the car and he was still asleep.
She stood up straight and looked around. There was nothing around them. They were in a clearing with only the dirt road they’d driven in on. She couldn’t see any lights or structures in the distance, or any signs of life at all. She would have to take the road. There was no way to know just how far the nearest farm was so she would just follow the road back the way they came in and get back to the highway so she could flag down a car.
It was so dark she couldn’t see the road from where the car was parked, but she knew it was behind them so she went around to the back of the car. She would follow the tire tracks just to be sure she found it.
They were faint but they were there, and she almost cried in relief as she began walking away from the car.
All she had to do was put one foot in front of the other and keep moving. Eventually she would find help and she would be free.
Just then the sound of metal springs rang out in the silence.
It was the door to the car being thrown open, and she was frozen in fear as the realization that she’d been caught settled over her.
“Hey!”
Tom’s shout hit her like a brick wall, knocking her out of her momentary shock. Then her instincts took over. Her mind went blank and she started to run. She didn’t look behind her to see if he was coming after her, she just kept her eyes forward and moved as fast as she could.
She managed to run about six feet before her shoe slipped on the wet ground and she lost precious seconds as she fought to stay on her feet. That was enough time for him to close the gap between them.
“No!” she shrieked as his arm tightened around her waist and he hauled her right off her feet. “Let me go. Please!”
“And here I was being nice and trusting you.” His voice was gruff as he spun them around and started to carry her back to the car.
“I’m sorry. Please just let me go. Take the car. Take everything. Just let me go.” She was almost sobbing as every emotion she’d repressed since the moment he’d jumped into her car hit her at the same time. She tried to dig her heels into the ground, but he was too strong and they were back at the car in only seconds.
“You actually think this is still a hijacking?”
His words made her freeze as she looked up at him. There was a cold and slightly sadistic smile tugging at his lips. This wasn’t a hijacking?
“What?” She gasped as he let her go and shoved her against the car. Her back hit the smooth side and he stood in front of her so she was boxed in.
“This was never a hijacking, Elena.”
“What do you mean?”
Her head was spinning. What the fuck was he going on about?
He nodded as his eyes raked up and down her body. “My name isn’t Tom, and I’m not going to Midland.”
Elena just stared at him. Now that her eyes had adjusted to the dark she could see more than just the outline of his features. She could see his eyes, and the look in them was so heated and dark it scared her.
“I don’t understand.”
“This is revenge, Elena.”
“Revenge for what?”
“Did you know that fifteen years ago your father was involved in a hit-and-run?”
“What?”
“He probably didn’t tell anyone about it. You were barely a teenager at the time so you wouldn’t have noticed anything.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Think. Fifteen years ago. Something must stand out to you as being unusual or strange.”
Her mind was spinning, but she thought back.
Fifteen years ago she’d been twelve. She didn’t have a ton of memories from back then and nothing was jumping out at her.
“I don’t know.”
“Think!”
She jumped at his voice and closed her eyes, willing herself to think back.
Sixth grade. She’d played little league that year. She’d gotten her period, her first training bra, and had broken her arm when she fell out of a tree while trying to climb it. They’d moved before Christmas and she’d had to start the New Year in a new school.
That wasn’t what he wanted her to remember. She needed to think about her father.
He’d worked a lot, she remembered that. She’d been a latchkey kid ever since she’d outgrown afterschool care. She tried to think of the car they had back then. It had been an old hatchback wagon. They’d had it for as long as she could remember, and it had been green.
Her eyes flew open as she remembered something.
One day she’d come home from school to find her dad burning something in the fireplace. That had been strange because he never used the fireplace. He’d told her how he hated to have it cleaned.
That was also the day a brand new car had been sitting in the driveway.
“What do you remember?”
“Dad was burning something in the fireplace. He told me it was just to make sure the flue was clear. Then he took me for a drive in our new car.”
“Anything else happen after that?”
“We moved.” She stared at him. “We got the new car and moved a month later. He said it was for work.”
“On October seventeenth your father was in a hit-and-run. He was driving on some back roads and blew through a red light. A car was crossing the intersection. They didn’t even have time to swerve.
“Your father’s car hit the front end of their car and the impact forced them to spin out until they hit the stoplight head on. Your dad got out of his car and came over to the other car. There was a man and a woman in the front. The woman was unconscious and laying on her airbag, covered in blood. The man was pinned in the car and bleeding. Your father looked into the car, and when the man he’d hit grabbed his arm and begged him for help, he ran.”
�
��What? That can’t be true.” She shook her head as the gravity of the story settled over her. “I would know if my dad was in an accident.”
“It was late. You were probably sleeping in your bed, alone in the house, or maybe at a sleepover. It happened, Elena. I know because I was there.”
She just stared at him, her mouth dropping open. “What?”
“I was there. I was sitting in the backseat. I was fifteen and I remember everything.”
“You had to have made a mistake. It wasn’t my dad. It couldn’t have been.”
“It was him. I saw his face. I got half the plate before he ran away.”
“It can’t be.”
“It is.” He nodded. “That night he took everything from me. My parents died and their killer was never brought to justice. I had to live with the fact that my mom and dad died in front of me while your dad got to go and live free.”
“So why not call the police? Why wait fifteen years to fake hijack me? If any of this is true it makes no sense at all.”
“The case was closed. I had no evidence. I only know what I saw and the police didn’t do jack shit to find the man who killed my parents. So I had to do it.”
“And it took you fifteen years to figure out it was my dad?”
“Your dad was smart. He trashed the car in a junkyard, moved across the state and got a new license. With only a fifteen year old partial plate it took me a long time to track him down. Then I had to make sure it was him.”
“I hate to break it to you, but my dad is dead. He died two years ago of cancer.”
“I know.” He grinned. “I wanted to get revenge on him, but he’s not here so I figured you were the next best thing.”
“So my dead dad did something terrible fifteen years ago and you’re going to hurt me in order to get revenge him? That makes no sense.”
“No, it doesn’t.”
“Then what the fuck are you going on about?”
She was so confused. So that whole spiel had been a lie? Had there even been an accident? What the fuck was the truth?
“After I realized your father was dead, I knew it was over. I couldn’t get revenge on a dead man, but then I saw you.”
“What?”
“I wanted you.”
She just stared at him.
“I wanted to possess you. To master you. I don’t want to get revenge on your father through you. I want you.”
“And you came up with this elaborate plan to kidnap me, bring me out here, and then what?”
“Break and rebuild you to exactly what I want.”
“What? What the fuck are you talking about?”
“What’s the date today?”
“October seventeenth...” her voice trailed off. “So that’s why you had to wait until today. Because it’s the anniversary of the accident?”
“I didn’t have to wait. It just happened to fall at the perfect time.”
“What?”
“You have the next few days off. No one is going to miss you.”
Her blood ran cold at his words.
“How the hell do you know my work schedule?”
“Jeanie told me.” He grinned at her expression.
“Jeanie? How the fuck did you ever get close enough to my supervisor to get my schedule?”
“It was really fucking easy. I called the store and asked to speak to your supervisor. Jeanie was very eager to help me when I told her I was a long-lost cousin and we were planning a surprise family reunion. I wanted to make sure it was on a day when you were free so she told me exactly when you were scheduled to have a long weekend. I swore her to secrecy, and then all I had to do was wait for it.”
“So this whole thing was a big set up? You stalked me, called my work and managed to get my schedule out of my supervisor with some lame story, and then you waited for me to leave me house so you could hijack me? You made me drive out to the middle of fucking nowhere, and now we’re god knows where and you’re telling me the truth about all of it?”
“Pretty much.”
“I can’t think. None of this is making sense.” Her head was spinning. “I don’t get it. Any of it.”
“I told you. I wanted to possess you.”
“You did.” She shook her head. “You possessed me on the side of the road and in the car? What else do you want from me?”
“I fucked you. I haven’t possessed you—yet.”
“What?”
“It’s all part of the mindfuck. You jerking me off was only the start. I knew you’d feel threatened and do it, but I also knew you’d enjoy it. I wanted to fuck with your mind before I fucked your body.”
She gaped at him. He’d planned that entire thing?
“Then on the side of the road? That was me testing to see if you were willing. You fought beautifully, but all I had to do was shove my fingers in your cunt and you were putty in my hands.”
“I...I...but in the car. You were being nice, talking to me. You fingered me but didn’t want anything in return? Was that all part of the plan?”
“I wanted to show you a different side of me. See if you’d trust me and stay or run.”
“So you weren’t asleep?”
“No.”
“You honestly thought I’d stay?”
“I didn’t want you to.” He grinned. “I was trying to fuck with your head again, Elena. I wanted you to question everything. Was I a nice guy in a bad situation? Was I a sociopath that was going to rape and murder you before leaving you on the side of the road? Should you stay, or risk running.”
“Fucking asshole.” A wave of anger washed over her and she balled her fists up as she tried to keep her temper in check.
He’d already proven that he was faster and stronger than her. He might just break her neck if she punched him.
“I am.” He nodded and stepped closer to her. “You want to hit me?”
“Stop.”
“I don’t think I will.” He stepped even closer to her. Now their bodies were only inches apart.
“Get back.”
“Make me.”
“Don’t fuck with me.”
“I’ve been fucking with you this whole time.”
“Yes. You have. You win. Is that what you want to hear?” she demanded. “You want to hear me say that you win? That you fooled me and fucked with my head so now I don’t even know what’s up or down?”
He just grinned at her.
“Now what? You fucked with my head. You fucked me, and here we are.”
He didn’t say a word. He just kept grinning at her.
“Stop fucking smiling like that and tell me where we are and what you want!”
“Where do you think we are?”
“I don’t know, a few hours outside of Midland?”
“Guess again.” He grinned.
“Just outside Midland? I don’t fucking know.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a phone.
“You have a phone?”
“Of course I have a phone. Don’t try anything. Just look at the GPS.”
“You have GPS?” She shook her head and looked at the phone, trying to actually see the screen as she stared at it. “And I’m guessing you can read a map too?”
He just laughed.
“All a part of the mindfuck— wait, what?” That couldn’t be right.
She was staring at a map of the township just outside the city. Her city. She briefly wondered what cell carrier he was with if he had such strong service in the dead zone, then she realized there were much more important things for her to focus on. They were less than an hour from her house. “What the fuck? How did we get back here?”
“I turned around while you took your nap.”
“How did you know I was going to be out like that? What if I’d of woken up? I would have seen we were heading back to town.”
“You would have, so I made sure that you didn’t.”
“How did you...you drugged me.” She gaped at him as she realized
the truth. That was why she couldn’t remember falling asleep or anything that had happened just before. He’d fucking drugged her.
He grinned again.
“How? How did you drug me? How?” she demanded again when he didn’t answer her.
“I’m not going to tell you so you can stop fucking asking.”
“What did you give me?”
“I’m not telling.”
“You fucking drugged me and you’re not going to tell me what you gave me?”
He laughed and shook his head at her.
“Okay, Tom, or whatever the fuck your name is. What was your master plan? What was the point of all of this? What was your fucking endgame?”
She didn’t know what she was expecting. Maybe some sort of villain-type monologue as he explained everything to her. Or maybe he would just keep grinning at her. Perhaps there was another bombshell he was going to drop. It’s not like he’d told her enough fucked up things. What was a few more?
Suddenly his hands lashed out and he grabbed her wrists. His grip was tight as he bent her arms back, forcing her onto her knees as she cried out in pain. He tossed her aside and she hit the ground. Her breath was forced out of her lungs in the impact, and she couldn’t pull in a new one.
Panic rose in her body as she rolled onto her stomach and tried to get her hands under her body. She couldn’t breathe, but still needed to get away from him.
Her hands gripped at the soft ground as she struggled to get up. She was barely aware of him opening the door to the back of the car as she focused on breathing and getting away.
She crawled forward, moving inch by inch as she struggled. The pain in her back was lessening, and the tension in her chest seemed to be getting better. She was able to pull in a shallow, gasping breath, and a moment later it was as though her lungs opened up and she was finally able to breathe again.
Her relief was short lived.
As the car door was slamming closed he was on her. He used his bulk to pin her lower body down, straddling her butt as his hands grabbed her wrists.
“Ow!” she shrieked as he wrenched her arms behind her. “Stop. Please stop it.”
She felt something on her wrists, and it took her a moment to realize it was the rope from her emergency kit. He was tying her up with her own rope.
“Please, don’t.” She struggled against him, desperately trying to get her hands free and shift her body. All it took was one hard yank on her wrist that caused pain to radiate right up into her shoulder and down her back for her to realize he was too strong and he had her at a disadvantage. In this position she had no leverage and no strength. He was in complete control and tears prickled in her eyes as she stopped fighting. He was going to win. Again.
