Forget Me Not (Remember Me Series)

by M. G. Morgan

  Christopher couldn’t have taken me very far. I didn’t remember the journey but it didn’t feel as though he had taken me far. I pushed again, using all the strength I had left in my body and the door opened another fraction. But it was enough. Enough to allow me to slip out through it.

  I pressed my body into the tight space and squeezed my way through. A sharp edge on the side of the door dug into the soft skin of my stomach. I didn’t have any choice but to carry on. The further I squeezed out through the gap the more the metal tore into me. With one final strangled sob of pain I wrenched my body free. I gasped as pain lanced through me. I pressed my hand to my stomach and I could feel the warm sticky feel of my own blood. But it wasn’t bad enough to stop me.

  I started to run. Dirt and sharp stones digging into my feet with each step I took. Trees surrounded me on all sides, pressing down on top of me. The air was heavy with heat and sweat trickled down my body. It ran into the cut on my stomach and the sting of the salt from my sweat made me chew my bottom lip.

  The sound of running feet behind me had me veering into the trees. I had to stay away from the paths. If they knew where I’d broken out then it wouldn’t take them long to find me. And I had no intention of making anything easy.

  I hopped over fallen branches and dodged in and out between the trees, my breathing ragged. I wasn’t a runner, and the pace I was forcing myself to keep up was wearing my body down. The only thing that kept me going was the urge to escape. I could practically hear Aidan in my mind, urging me to keep running, to get away, to come home to him. And I wanted to go home to so badly. My heart ached for him. What must he have thought when he arrived home and I wasn’t there?

  If he came home.

  The twisted voice in my head piped up, momentarily distracting me. My foot came down on a rock, wrenching it out from underneath me. I stumbled, my arms windmilling violently as I teetered on the edge of a steep slope. But I was too far gone and my foot refused to take my weight, making me lose my balance.

  My body went over the edge, careening down the steep embankment. I didn’t make a sound, I was too surprised to even scream as I fell. Instead, my body tumbled head over heels, small trees, broken branches and rocky debris, biting into me as I fell.

  I came to a stop at the bottom of the embankment. There was no air in my lungs and no matter how hard I tried to drag a breath in, I couldn’t. Tears trailed from the corners of my eyes. How was I going to find my way back to Aidan, if I couldn’t even run in a straight line without falling over?

  Lights flickered through the trees, followed by the sounds of boots crunching through the underbrush. Rolling onto my side I crawled until I could finally drag my battered body onto my feet. The world swam around me, in streamers of colour. I still wasn’t drawing enough air into my lungs. I couldn’t hear whoever was behind me properly, my head felt stuffed with cotton wool.

  But through sheer desperation I continued to run, each step a lesson in agony. But to me it was worth it. I preferred injuring myself, at least it was done at my own hands and it was while I was trying to escape. I didn’t want Christopher to brand me… I didn’t want him to use me up and then spit me out.

  An image of Tanya floated in my head… The things he had done to her, he’d broken her completely and I didn’t want to end up the same. I would do anything to avoid a fate like that. Anything.

  The trees opened up suddenly, open space spreading out around me. I continued to run. My lungs ached and the world was beginning to tilt but I didn’t care. I could escape, I would escape.

  Headlights flared up a small road at my side, lighting the area in its golden glow and that’s when I saw it. I was running straight for it, and I hadn’t even realised. Would I have seen it in time if the headlights hadn’t appeared?

  The large SUV veered off the road and onto the grass that I was running across. The headlights bounced crazily around me as the car closed in on me. It came to a halt as I reached the edge of the cliff. I was beyond dizzy as I stared over the ledge. It was a sheer drop below me, a drop that would kill anyone who went over it.

  “Bella, what are you doing?”

  Christopher’s voice rang out in the still night air.

  At the sound of his voice I found myself backing up. I could feel the cool wind as it whipped against my back. It was an eerie feeling, knowing that there was nothing behind you. Nothing that could save you, and if you went over then that really would be it. Was I willing to do that? Was I willing to go over the edge and lose all chance of Aidan ever coming for me.

  What would he do if he came looking for me and I was dead, dashed to pieces on the rocks below, killed on impact with the sea? Would it break his heart to know that I had jumped rather than just give him a chance?

  “You have to let me go…”

  My voice shook, a mixture of fear and adrenaline. I didn’t dare take another step back, I was already far too close to the edge. And I didn’t know if the cliff was stable or not.

  “And why would I do that? You just got here… You and I haven’t gotten to spend any time together.”

  It was the way he said it, the way the tone in his voice suggested far more than what he was actually saying that made me take a small step back. I couldn’t see his face, he was simply a black shadow behind the glare of the lights. But I could imagine the look on his face, imagine the way his tongue flickered out to moisten his lips as he thought of all the ‘time’ we would spend together.

  “You can’t just do this. You can’t just take me and think that it’s alright. Aidan will come for me. He’ll find me and when he does…”

  Christopher’s laughter froze the words in my throat, choking me completely.

  “Come for you? Nah, he won’t be doing anything, anytime soon.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “He’s dead, Bella. Did I forget to mention that? I killed him before I came and got you. I told him about all the fun things you and I would get up to and then I blew his brains out.”

  “No, no you didn’t, you couldn’t have. Aidan’s not dead, he can’t be dead, I’d know it.”

  Christopher moved into the light, his boots crunching across the small spray of gravel near the cliff edge.

  “And how would you know? Are you psychic, Bella? I doubt that very much, but it would be fun if you were… You’d know everything I was going to do to you, even before I did.”

  I took another small step back, barely inching back to the edge of the cliff. Pebbles skittered from the edge, falling down across the rocks, disappearing into the dark waters below.

  “He’s not dead. And I’ll never let you have me.”

  I closed my eyes and sucked in a deep breath. I let my body go, for a second I seemed to hang in mid air, the wind buffeting against my back, holding me up. And then without warning I was falling, the wind whipped through my hair, pushing it into my eyes.

  Strong arms grabbed me, tugging me back as I struggled against them. But I wasn’t exactly a match for the man that had grabbed me. Christopher wrapped his body around mine as he tackled me to the dirt.

  I fought him, punching, lashing and kicking, he pressed my face into the dirt, driving the taste of sand and soil into my mouth. He pushed his hands against my ass, holding me down as his fingers slid lower.

  “Hold still or I’ll have you here like this, with everyone watching.”

  I grew instantly limp, my body quietening beneath his touch. I didn’t want him to ever ‘have’ me. I didn’t belong to him. But I knew none of that mattered. He would rape me, torture me, do whatever it was that he did to the girls that he took… And he would enjoy every second of it. Every fibre of my being told me I should fight him. And yet, I lay still beneath him as he pressed his hands onto my back, holding me down like some sort of animal.

  He wrapped his fingers into my hair and tugged me up from the ground. My vision swam as he pushed me towards the edge, letting me take one last final look over.

  “You’ll pray for the day
when you get another chance at that cliff.”

  He pulled my body in tight to his as he whispered the words into my ear. I didn’t struggle, I didn’t move, instead I let him drag me towards the car. He pushed me into the back seat and slid in beside me before barking orders at the man in the drivers seat to get moving.

  I watched the cliff disappear as we turned and started the drive back. Part of me couldn’t help but wonder if he was right? I didn’t want him to touch me but if it meant survival so Aidan come and get me, then I would do it.

  “He’s not dead.” I let the words fall from my lips in a whisper.

  Christopher turned his body to face mine, a smile lighting him up, making him look younger.

  “No… He’s not dead yet, but if he so much as thinks about setting foot on Freedom Island he will be dead.”

  “Freedom Island?”

  Confusion cocooned my brain making it hard to think.

  “Whoops, where are my manners. This is Freedom Island.”

  Christopher spread his arms wide in the back seat, his fingers brushing against my hair. I shrank back away from him, my body curling in on itself. There was no escape, there never had been an escape. We were on an island. Aidan didn’t stand a chance of getting her. He didn’t even stand a chance of finding out where I was. It was a hopeless situation.

  “Awh, don’t be like that. You’ll soon grow to like me.”

  He leaned across the seat and trailed his fingers down the side of my face. I did my best to shrink further away from him but I was already pressed tight to the door of the car. My attempts to get away from him only seemed to piss him off more and he grabbed my hair and jerked me across the back seat towards him.

  I whimpered, as tears blurred my vision. The sound of my pain made him happier and he gripped my face in his hands, tilting my head until I was forced to look up at him.

  “Make that sound again. I like it when you cry.” He tightened his grip and I winced but I didn’t whimper.

  He pressed his mouth to my ear and trailed his tongue down my cheek.

  “I said, make that sweet sound again, Bella. I want to hear how much it hurts.”

  “No.”

  It took all of my will to squeeze the word out. I didn’t want to make little pain noises for him. I didn’t want to whimper and make him enjoy his torture even more. I wanted him to hate it, I wanted him to detest touching me. I wanted him to look at me and feel repulsion and if that meant suffering in silence then I was willing to do just that.

  Christopher growled against my neck and bit down on me, hard enough to force a gasp past my gritted teeth. Hot white pain flared through my shoulder and tears dripped down my cheeks a little faster.

  “Do you want me to break you, Bella? Is that it? Because I can do that, I can break you.”

  He moved his lips along my shoulder and my entire body tensed. I was waiting for him to strike again, waiting for him to sink his teeth into my flesh. He was a snake, a very poisonous dangerous snake, but I still wouldn’t give him anything… Not if I could help it.

  The SUV drew to a halt in front of a large sprawling house. From this side it looked completely different, but I still recognised it as the place I’d escaped from. He opened his door, his hand still wrapped in my hair. As he slid out he dragged me after him. I didn’t speak, biting my tongue as the pain of his hold lanced through me.

  His stride was swift as he mounted the steps to the front door and I had no choice but to follow him. I half ran, behind him. It was either that or he was going to drag me along the stone steps behind him.

  The doors opened, swinging inwards to reveal a huge entrance way. Part of me wondered if this wasn’t a mansion but some sort of hotel. It was certainly big enough to be a hotel and the men and women milling around in the foyer helped cement my assumption.

  Christopher never broke his stride as he dragged me through the main doors and into the foyer. The conversations in the room died instantly as the gathered couples turned to watch what was happening.

  “Please…”

  The word left my lips before I had a chance to stop it. I didn’t want Christopher to hear me making any sort of pleas but there was so many people around surely one of them had to help me.

  Christopher swung me forward, propelling my body forwards onto the marble floor. I slid to my knees and skidded to a halt. A small cry of pain escaping me as the jolt of hitting the floor raced up through me.

  My hair covered my face, obscuring my view as I sat on the floor. But no one moved to help me. The room was quiet, only the sounds of whispering could be heard among the other guests. I pushed my hands back through my hair and sat up. My eyes wide and frightened as I took in the view in front of me.

  Most of the women in the room wore very little, lingerie and skin tight latex outfits seemed to be the order of the day. The men wore business suits, jeans and shirts. But that wasn’t what shocked me. All of the women in the room wore collars. Each and every one of the was wearing some sort of collar around their necks, all different sorts of collars. Some of the girls wore the same types of collars, plain black leather. Did they all belong to the same person? It was the only thing that seemed to make sense.

  But how was any of this possible? How could any of these women have allowed themselves to get caught up in a situation like this? Or were many of them here through the same situation as me? Had they been kidnapped? Taken against their will and held hostage by a crazed lunatic?

  “You wanted help, Bella? Plenty of people here, do you think any of them will help you?”

  I stared up at Christopher. He stood over me, full of arrogance and self-assurance. I would have done anything in that moment to wipe the look of his face. I wanted to see him reduced to a quivering mess. I wanted him to suffer in the same way that he was making me suffer… That way he had made Tanya suffer and countless other women.

  He smiled at me, a cruel twist of his lips as he walked towards me.

  “Do you think anyone here will come to your aid?”

  I glanced around the room. Some of the women watched me with pity in their eyes. Most of them couldn’t even look at me. They wouldn’t help me, of that I was certain. All of the men leered at me, their yes raking over my body and face, almost as though they could see my body beneath my shredded clothes. There was no help coming from them either. I was alone, utterly and completely alone. No one would help me, I could only help myself.

  “Well do you?” He crouched down next to me, his hand stroking down over the side of my face to my neck.

  “No.”

  The word came out as more of a breath than a real word. He leaned down a little closer to me and wrapped his hand tighter around my throat.

  “What?”

  “No.”

  “I want to hear you say it, Bella.”

  “No one will help me.”

  He smiled again and dragged me up from the floor. I went with him, my body limp in his grip. I had to survive, that was what mattered now. Aidan would come for me and I needed to be here for him when he arrived. He wouldn’t let me down of that I was certain. He loved me and I loved him. He would come for me.

  Christopher moved in front of me, his hand wrapping around mine as he began to walk through the room. For a brief moment I thought about resisting, my feet planted firmly to the floor. But Christopher looked back at me, one look from his eyes was all it took to make me move.

  The room remained silent, the people within merely watching my progress as I followed Christopher to the bottom steps. He started up them and I followed, his body guards bringing up the rear behind us. We ascended the steps and soon the noise in the room resumed its normal levels. I knew what they were discussing and I was glad I couldn’t hear it.

  We made it to the second floor and Christopher led the way down a long carpeted hall. A set of large wooden doors stood on the other end and I knew whatever lay beyond wouldn’t be something pleasant.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Aidan


  The bar was gradually beginning to fill up. It was the first place I’d thought to go once I left the station. My head was starting to pound and the best cure for a hangover was another drink. It was also the best cure for the thoughts of failure that swirled in my head. I had no clue about the best direction to go in first, everything was a jumbled mess in my head. All I needed was a few minutes of peace. Just a few minutes to give myself enough time to think. If I could find that, then maybe I could figure out a plan of action.

  The apartment where Christopher had his goons beat me was empty of anything constructive. The air strip was equally empty. And any of the men I knew he used for personal security were either dead, or missing. It didn’t seem to matter what avenue I took, Christopher was always one step ahead of me.

  The sound of raised voices from the front door of the bar drew my attention. Just two men having a heated argument, probably over a bar tab, or an unpaid debt. It certainly wasn’t anything I was interested in. That was until I heard his name uttered.

  “St James is going to hear about this.”

  I swivelled on the bar stool, my eyes raking over the crowd that had gathered. None of them looked familiar. Not one of them resembled any of the men he had hired in the area. And yet, they had mentioned him by name.

  Standing I made my way towards them, straining to pick up their conversation. I bumped into one of the men near the back, a black leather jacket type. He turned on me instantly, like some sort of rabid dog. His knuckles and hands were covered in tattoos, in fact any little scrap of skin that was exposed wore the inky markings of prison tattoos, crudely applied either by his own hand, or the shaking hand of another inmate.

  “What’s your problem?” His voice was gravelly and it blocked out most of the conversation I was trying to listen to.

  “No problem, just trying to see what’s happening.”

  I kept my tone as neutral as possible, I had no interest in him. But I watched the way his eyes narrowed, as though he was trying to figure out where he had seen me before. Was he one of my past arrests? Had I been the reason he wore some of his prison tattoos? If it were true, it would simply prove that I had the worst luck in the world.