Silk

by Heidi McLaughlin

  I gasped when he grabbed a hand full of my hair and jerked my head back. His dark brown eyes looked black as night as he pierced me with his gaze. His voice was low and menacing when he growled in my ear, “I’m not delusional, Melissa. I’m impatient. I don’t think you want to see what I’ll do if you disobey me. I’ve tried to get you back being the nice guy, but you’re too fucking stubborn to see that I love you and that I can give you everything you want. When will it be enough?”

  My scalp burned with his insistent tugging and it immediately drew tears to my eyes. What have I gotten myself in to? The tears fell and I couldn’t stop the whimper from releasing from my lips. The last thing I wanted was to appear weak; I was not weak. When Daniel’s eyes cleared he blinked rapidly and swiftly let go of my hair, pulling me to him in the process.

  “Oh my God, baby, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what came over me. You have to know that I don’t want to hurt you, except you drive me so crazy when you push me away. You loved me before and I know you can do it again. Yeah, our situation isn’t conventional, but we can live happily for the rest of our lives. Just wait … you’ll see.”

  Holy shit, he’s crazy. He has literally lost it and talking nonsense. Wide-eyed, I stared at the man before me who used to be my husband, but was now a complete psychopath. Mason told me stories of people and what they did when they were desperate, that they could turn into completely different people. Taking a deep breath, I swallowed hard and whispered, “Daniel, are you even listening to yourself? We will constantly be on the run. The police just aren’t going to forget about what you did. There will never be peace.”

  He turned away and clenched his jaw, the muscle ticking in his cheek as if it was a time bomb about to explode. I needed to tread carefully.

  “Please let me go,” I cried softly. “Deep down I know you don’t want to force me to do this.”

  Abruptly, he let me go and pressed on the gas, squealing the tires as he swerved back on the road. “I’m sorry, Mel, but I need you with me. It has …” Before he could finish his sentence, his cell phone rang. When he pulled it out of his back pocket and looked down, he sighed. “It’s my sister.”

  “You might as well answer it, Daniel. You’re not ever going to see her again,” I said, starting to feel nervous and scared for the first time. If by some chance I couldn’t be found, I wondered if I’d ever see the people I loved again. The thought of never feeling Brett’s arms around me made my chest tighten in fear. Maybe his sister could talk some sense into him.

  The phone kept ringing in Daniel’s hand, and I’d almost given up hope he’d answer it until finally he did. I breathed a sigh of relief when I could hear Claire’s voice come through the line. Daniel put it on speakerphone so we could both listen while he drove.

  “Why hello there little sister,” Daniel greeted.

  “Where are you at?” she hissed. “If you don’t bring Melissa back they’re going to charge you for kidnapping, among other things.”

  “How do you know I have Melissa? She could be anywhere right now.”

  Claire snapped, “Don’t play stupid with me, Daniel. I know she’s with you because I was here at your house. I know everything you’ve done and what you were planning to do with my land. How could you do that to me? You sent me off so you could start this project and leave me in the dark. If you would’ve discussed it with me we might’ve been able to come up with a plan together, but you chose to be the arrogant shit you are and take advantage of me, thinking you can control everything.”

  Daniel glared at me and gritted his teeth again. I didn’t like it when he did that. “Well, dear sister, you don’t have to worry about that anymore now do you? It’s all yours so congratulations,” he remarked sarcastically.

  I could hear a commotion in the background, but Claire came back on the line. “If you bring Melissa back unharmed then I’ll give you all the land you want. I’ll get it put in writing.”

  “No,” I shouted. “Don’t you dare do that.”

  Immediately, Claire gasped and cried, “Oh my God, Melissa, are you okay? Everyone is so worried about you.”

  “She’s fine,” Daniel growled. “And I can’t accept your offer because it doesn’t mean shit to me anymore. It’s too late. Melissa and I will be disappearing for good here shortly once we get out of the states.”

  It was my turn to gasp, but then my breath seized up when I heard Brett yell over the phone. His voice didn’t even sound like his, all gravelly and deep, laced with violence. “Like hell you are you fucking prick. When I find you you’re going to wish you were dead.”

  Daniel burst out laughing. “Well, well, if it isn’t the ex-lover come to save the day. Sorry, Mr. Walker, but you’ll never find us and neither will Melissa’s sorry excuse for a cousin. You’re more than welcome to say your last good-bye’s to her, though.”

  “Brett,” I whispered, trying hard to hold back the tears. Daniel tried to touch my cheek, but I slapped his hand away and glared at him.

  “We’re going to find you, baby. In time we will find you. Just hold out as long as you can. I need you to trust me.” He paused. “I love you, firecracker.”

  Before I could respond and tell Brett I loved him too, Daniel clamped his hand over my mouth. Angrily, I clawed at his hand and screamed, but it didn’t deter him one bit. “Don’t worry, Brett, I’ll make sure to take good care of her. Just know that each night she’s away from you I’m going to enjoy her in my bed. She’ll be screaming my name … not yours.” I shook my head violently to loosen his hand from my mouth, but his strong grip was unwavering.

  “So help me God you better not fucking touch her!” Brett roared.

  “Too late, loverboy. I’m touching her now and she loves it.”

  All I could hear after that was Brett’s violent outburst before Daniel rolled down the window and tossed his phone out of the car, shattering it into a million pieces on the desolate highway. Daniel finally took his hand away from my mouth.

  “Why wouldn’t you let me talk to him?” I screamed.

  Daniel rolled his eyes and shook his head, exasperated. “I didn’t want to hear you two going on and on about how much you love each other. You’re supposed to love me, not him.”

  In the state he was in there was no arguing with him. I wasn’t going to win no matter what I said. “What about my family and my job, Daniel? You’re taking me away from everything. Don’t you know how unhappy that’ll make me? I thought you wanted me to be happy with you.”

  He sighed and kept his eyes on the road. “It’s for the best. You’ll see that I’m right in time.”

  Oh my God, he has completely lost it, I thought to myself. Turning away from him, I laid my head against the window and gazed down at the watch on my wrist. It was the only thing that was going to keep me sane. It was my only comfort … my only hope.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  After three hours of nonstop driving, a screaming bladder, and an empty gas tank, Daniel finally decided to pull over at a rest stop and give me a break. He parked by the gas tank and got out of the car to open my door. I groaned when he took my hand and wrapped his arm around my waist as we walked inside the station.

  Daniel smirked and leaned over to whisper in my ear, “You didn’t honestly think I’d let you go in the store by yourself now did you?”

  “Are you going to watch me pee, too?” I asked sarcastically.

  “Tempting,” he teased. “But no. I have no desire to watch you take a piss. I’ll get us something to eat and drink while you’re in there and then we’ll be on our way.”

  Once inside the store, the bathrooms were just off to the left. Daniel walked me over and opened the door for me. “You have three minutes, Mel. Make it quick.”

  The second he sidled away, I shut the door and locked it. I used the bathroom quickly and cringed when I saw my face in the mirror. I had makeup smudged under my eyes and my hair looked like it hadn’t been brushed in a week. I combed my fingers through it and splashe
d water on my face to wash the makeup off. As I sat there staring at the haunted reflection in my eyes in the mirror, a flash of light caught my attention.

  How did I not notice the window!

  Up above, there was a small window, that if I stood on the toilet seat I could probably reach. Immediately, I scrambled into the stall and stood on the nasty toilet seat that I just had to squat over to use. The window was one of those that could push out, but not fully open. I could squeeze through, except I knew it would take more than a minute to do so. Daniel would soon be pounding on that bathroom door in just one second.

  Undoing the latch to the window, I gently pushed it open and it gave. The cool night breeze flew into the bathroom, and I could already taste my freedom. It was so close. Turning around, I put my back to the wall and extended my arms outside so I could grasp onto the edge. It was a good thing pull ups were my specialty in gym class. Once I had a firm grip on the ledge of the window, I began lifting myself up. As I slid across the edge it tore through my shirt, and scraped across my bare skin underneath. I hissed as the burn from my straining muscles and the searing pain of my torn skin radiated throughout my entire body. When I was halfway out, a loud knock sounded on the bathroom door.

  “Shit, shit, shit. Come on, Melissa, you can do this,” I whispered to myself. I was so close.

  Another loud knock.

  “Melissa, are you okay in there?” Daniel asked, sounding agitated. “What are you doing?”

  “Nothing,” I growled. “Can I not have a little privacy?”

  Gritting my teeth, I pulled myself the rest of the way out of the window and collapsed onto the ground for a few seconds to catch my breath. Except, now my problem was where was I going to go? Being in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night all by myself was probably a bigger risk than taking my chances with Daniel. All I knew was that it was a risk I was going to take.

  Looking around, my only option to hide was the woods out behind the rest stop. With my luck I’d probably get eaten by some wild animal and then this whole getaway attempt would be for nothing. Slowly, I made my way toward the back of the building, and when it was all clear I took off for the woods.

  My feet pounded hard on the wet, muddy ground as I raced to my freedom and yet through a set of dangerously looking woods. I could barely see since the moon overhead was shadowed by a sheen of clouds not to mention the thick canopy of trees that blocked it out as well. My lungs hurt from the cold bite of the wind so I stopped to take a break and slumped against a tree.

  “I’m free,” I whispered.

  And just as I said that, a twig snapped in the distance and echoed as if it was right beside me. Or was it right beside me? My breath ceased in my chest and I froze. Please don’t let it be him, please don’t let it be him, I repeated over and over. I stayed perfectly still, hoping that if it was him or just an animal that it would pass me by. It was pitch black and my clothes weren’t bright so I knew I could blend in. A few moments passed with nothing but silence, so I blew out a shaky breath and pushed off the tree, except I didn’t get far …

  Chapter Thirty-three

  “Did you think you could get away?” Daniel snarled in my ear, wrapping his arms around my waist. “You should know better than that. I guess I’m going to have to do this the hard way.”

  “No,” I pleaded desperately. “Please don’t knock me out.”

  I sagged in his arms, defeated. Was I ever going to escape him? What was taking Brett and Mason so long to find me? Surely they would’ve caught up to us by now.

  “Why should I trust you?” he growled. “You broke it by trying to run away from me. You have a lot of making up to do if you want to gain back that trust.”

  Trembling, I swallowed hard and stood there with my back to his and his arm still squeezing down on my neck. What was he going to do? Slowly, his grip started to cease and he swiftly lifted me up and threw me over his shoulders. “There’s only so many incidents I can take before I get fed up, Melissa. All I can say is that you’re walking a thin line right now.”

  Daniel hustled us through the trees and in no time at all we were in the car and headed back down the road. My back hurt from the scrapes and I cringed every time I moved. Daniel handed me a soda and a bag of chips that he must’ve gotten at the store. As much as I hated to take his offering, I was starving and my head hurt like hell.

  I guzzled down the soda and sighed as the fizziness filled my belly and helped the starving ache. At least the caffeine would help me stay alert and awake for a little while longer. Only when I gazed down at the bag of chips did I start to panic. It wasn’t the chips that had my heart beating out of control, but the absence of something on my wrist. My watch is gone!

  In that moment, everything came tumbling down. I could feel the blood draining from my face and the dread settling in the pit of my stomach like a ton of lead. My only hope of getting away from Daniel had just been lost by my stupid attempt to run away. It was probably lying in the woods somewhere all broken, shattered, and untraceable.

  “Are you okay?” Daniel asked, looking back and forth from me to the road. “You don’t look so good.”

  “I don’t feel good,” I choked out. Now that I thought about it, I didn’t feel good at all. The car felt like it was swaying back and forth and my eyes were getting heavier by the minute. Everything moved in slow motion as I turned my head to look at Daniel. My tongue felt thick and dry when I opened my mouth to speak, slurring my words, “What’s happening to me?”

  Daniel smirked and reached over to rub my thigh. “I decided I wasn’t going to take any more chances on you tonight. You need to sleep anyway if you’re going to be worth a damn to me, so rest up. You’re going to need it.”

  My mind couldn’t form a coherent thought from the dizziness, but I did understand one thing. He drugged me. Probably with the sleeping pills I knew he took on a regular basis. “How … many?” I asked slowly.

  “How many what?” Daniel retorted innocently.

  I swallowed hard and opened my eyes to see him one last time. “Pills … how many of your sleeping pills did you give me?”

  His hand traveled up higher on my thigh and I didn’t have the strength to push him away. I couldn’t even feel where he was touching anymore. Devilishly, he smiled and licked his lips. “Don’t worry, baby. I didn’t give you much. Just enough to put you out for a few hours while I find us somewhere to stay.”

  The last thing on my mind when I passed out was the cold realization that there was a huge probability that I would never see Brett again, but by God, I was going to try my hardest to find a way. I am going to find a way.

  ***

  When my eyes fluttered open, I had no idea if it was day or night. All I knew was that I was lying on my stomach, naked from the waist up in a bed. Daniel must’ve gotten us a hotel room and carried me in because I sure didn’t remember a single thing. The shower water was running and I could feel the steam billowing out into the room and coating me in the moisture. My back didn’t hurt nearly as bad, but I could still feel the sting.

  Groaning, I moved my arms and legs and sat up, covering my breasts with the sheet. It took a few minutes for my blurry vision to adjust and focus on the room we were in. It wasn’t a fancy hotel by far, but I assumed Daniel did that on purpose. If the police were looking for us they sure wouldn’t think to look for him in a dumpy motel.

  The bedside table had some brochures on it so I scooped them up and read over them quickly to find out where we were. Holy shit, I’m in Ohio!

  Daniel exited the bathroom just as I was about to have a meltdown. Wide-eyed, I held up the brochures. “Are we really in Ohio? How long was I out?” I asked incredulously.

  “Yep,” he quipped, sitting on the edge of the bed. “We’re right outside Cincinnati. By tomorrow we will be two Canadian newlyweds on their way to their honeymoon. I have a friend who lives in Toledo who’s going to fly us over the border and give us all the paperwork we need. I talked to him while
you were out and he said everything’s good to go.”

  “Oh my God,” I breathed, closing my hand over my mouth. The bile rose in the back of my throat and I felt sick. Running to the bathroom, and taking the sheet with me, I collapsed onto the floor and dry heaved into the toilet.

  I could feel Daniel’s presence behind me but I didn’t want to look at him, or even begin to think that my life was really that screwed up. “Are you okay?” Daniel questioned cautiously, but then immediately turned angry. “You’re not pregnant are you?”

  The thought made my chest ache, but from out of nowhere I actually sat there and laughed. I laughed until I cried and Daniel stood there staring at me as if I was the one who was crazy. Wiping away the tears, I got to my feet and glared at him. “For your information, no I’m not pregnant. It might happen to be the fact that you drugged me with God knows how many sleeping pills. Not to mention I haven’t eaten anything since you kidnapped me.”

  Daniel crossed his arms over his chest and shrugged. “I wouldn’t have had to drug you if you didn’t go running off. That was your own fault.” He tilted his head back in the direction of the room. “I actually picked you up something to eat while you were passed out. Why don’t you take a shower and then you can eat. Your back looks like shit and needs to be cleaned. When I saw all the blood I had to make sure it wasn’t serious.”

  “Well, thank you for your concern, but I don’t need an audience while I take my shower. You can leave now,” I remarked through gritted teeth.

  Daniel’s grin widened and he bit his lip, his eyes wandering down my body. I held the sheet tighter and swallowed hard. “Okay, I’ll leave you alone … tonight,” he said, backing out of the bathroom. “But soon, baby. I have needs, too.”

  The second he was out of the bathroom, I slammed the door shut and locked it. There was no escaping out of this bathroom, but at least I could have some privacy for a while. I turned on the shower water and waited for it to get hot. I glanced at the door one last time before I stripped off my now ragged jeans and tossed them to the floor. My toiletry bag wasn’t in the bathroom and I refused to walk out, so I decided to make do with what was already in there.