by A. J. Downey
He turned those brown eyes on me and in the full light of day the amber colored flecks in his irises stood out more, almost glowed with a fierce inner light. I arched a brow and kept my mouth shut. The decision was his on if he wanted to be permanently branded ‘asshole’ or if he wanted to at least give me an actual name.
“It’s William,” he said finally.
“William what?” I didn’t mean for it to come out sounding so demanding but I was kind of glad it did. I needed to stand my ground with him. I couldn’t keep letting him run roughshod over me.
“It doesn’t matter,” he grated finally, after some more silence and a tense standoff.
“William the Asshole it is then,” I muttered.
“Just William, Little Huntress. Just William.”
“Chloe,” I demanded and he chuckled, rummaging around blindly in his bag of food for some more.
“Whatever you say, Princess. What was so funny anyways?”
“I was thinking at least your mother taught you how to chew with your mouth closed, it’s just too bad she skipped the lessons about kidnapping and hurting girls.”
His hands tightened on the wheel and that tick in his jaw resumed at a faster rate. He cleared his throat, “My mother’s dead,” he said. “She died a long time ago.” I looked out the window, the scenery swishing past as he kept a steady course on the freeway.
“Guess we have something in common then,” I said solemnly. I saw him turn his head in my direction and I turned and met the look.
“My mom’s dead too,” I said.
He nodded, “I know.”
The calm way he said it, with such assurance and something bordering on pity that it pissed me off. Wise or not, I lashed out at him.
“What the fuck do you think you know?” I snapped, “You don’t know anything about me!”
“Chloe Young. Twenty-four years old, twenty-five next month. Only child of Mathias and Marianne Young. Your mother was killed when you were eight by a hit and run driver who was never caught. You’re studying Law at NYU in prep to transfer to Harvard’s Law school. You want to be a lawyer. Based on some of the papers you’ve turned in, your focus is on prosecution not defense. Your favorite color is lavender. You like to play pool and enjoy martial arts but never practiced much yourself beyond the one tournament you competed in as a yellow belt when you were ten. You took second place. You like to do things yourself but you’re not too stubborn to ask for help when you need it. You have $10,327.58 in your checking account and your social security number is–”
“Stop, stop, stop, stop!” I shouted completely aghast. I was horrified, when he’d started talking my mouth had dropped open against my will. I couldn’t believe the flood of information he rattled off so quickly. I didn’t even know exactly how much money I had in my bank account! I hadn’t checked it in a while.
“What the fuck! How long have you been stalking me, you fucking ass?” I demanded.
“Eat,” he said and I reared back and let fly. I punched him, or I tried to at least. I hadn’t even stopped to think what would happen if I punched the guy in the face while he was driving but I was too furious to think straight. It didn’t matter though because his right hand came off the wheel and he caught my fist in a vice-like grip an inch before it would have touched him.
“You really, really, don’t want to do that,” he said in a low tone that sent all the rage I felt fleeing back to hide under a rock. A shiver of fear ran through me that I couldn’t begin to explain. He knew so much about me, too much about me. Which meant that none of this was a mistake. He knew too much about my life, my family for this to be any kind of mistaken identity which means he really did mean to kidnap me. Oh my God…
I jerked my hand back out of his grip and he let me, otherwise I’m sure I never would have been able to break his hold. He didn’t lower his hand, in case I decided to try to hit him again I guess, but I didn’t. I didn’t try. I shrank in on myself, trying to become as small as I could in the passenger seat. He waited a few moments before he put his hand back on the wheel and we descended back into an uneasy silence.
“Eat,” he said again after about ten minutes and, with nothing really better to do, I complied, even though I wasn’t at all hungry anymore. It was a while before he reached for more of his crazy amount of food. The fact that it had all long since gone cold did nothing to deter him and he rapidly put away every bite. For some reason, I found it supremely unfair that he could eat so much, and even began to wonder where it all went.
We drove for hours in silence. I didn’t try to engage him in anymore conversation and he didn’t try to talk to me either. Which was fine, even though I was dying to ask him like a million questions. I figured it was an exercise in futility so I didn’t bother. I mean, he’d been so forth coming up to this point, am I right?
The sun was beginning its descent, completing its arc across the sky, sinking towards the tops of the trees when he pulled into a rest stop.
“We’re stopping?” I asked, hopeful.
“You’ve been fidgeting for the last twenty miles,” he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“Didn’t really think you’d care if I had to pee or not,” I muttered.
He scoffed a laugh, “I happen to like my car, I don’t need you pissing on my seat, besides,” he made a sweeping gesture with one hand, taking in the whole of my nightgown covered body with one motion. “You need to put on more than that. My self-control is good, but it’s not that good.”
I stared at him as he pulled up to the brick restroom out buildings and looked around. It was just us here. One lone big rig was parked on the other side, towards the freeway but it looked deserted. Past the bathrooms we were parked in front of there was a flat, wide expanse of grass. And beyond that? A steep incline and a whole lot of trees. William the Asshole reached behind the seat and hauled a bag over the back and dropped it in my lap.
“Packed you a bag, now let’s go Princess.”
He got out of the car and was around to my side before I could register that the bag I held in my hands was mine, from my room, I mean, from my closet.
He grasped me firmly by my elbow and I got out of the car feeling both hot and cold at the same time. I padded carefully across the blacktop and paver stones of the rest area and he pushed open the women’s room door. I blinked a little dazed and went in, the door shushing shut behind me.
I quickly pulled it together and went through the bag. Jeans, tee shirts, a long sleeved, fitted blouse in blues and greens, a flannel print without the shirt actually being made from flannel material. It was just a light weight cotton. He’d packed copious amounts of both bras and panties, loads of them in fact, which with everything so far, did that really surprise me? William the Asshole was good looking, psycho and a Grade-A number one pervert. Who I thought was hot. God what did that say about me?
I went through everything in the bag, which was a surprising amount, looking and hoping… but no, no shoes. Damn. I wondered if it was an oversight or if it had been intentional.
“Chloe,” he called through the closed bathroom door, “I’m going to piss, you can’t run so don’t try it.”
I dressed with lightning speed. Bra, panties, jeans and a white fitted ladies tee. I pulled on the cotton blouse and snapped the buttons closed. I smoothed my damp palms over the tops of the thighs of my light blue jeans and stuffed my nightgown in the top of the open bag before I pushed out of the bathroom. I dropped the overnight bag to the ground and looked from the car to the woods. I may never get another chance, shoes or not, I had to try and so I bolted.
I ran across the grass and was dimly aware of a frustrated growl and a curse back behind me. I didn’t dare look. I hoped against hope that I could and would make it to the trees; that I somehow would be lost among the foliage, my hair blending with the orange of the falling leaves.
The notion was ridiculous but the adrenaline was flowing, making my body buzz with nervous energy. I barely no
ticed my feet, I felt like I could run forever, but nothing lasted forever did it?
I reached the tree line, breath exploding out of my lungs in ragged pants, heart beating a fierce thrum in my chest, and the blood rushing in my ears. I risked a glance over my shoulder and poured on the speed. William was closer than I’d like, despite my head start. He was already midway across the grass. I plunged headlong into the woods, leaping over fallen branches and crashing through underbrush. Fallen tree limbs reached for me and it felt like the woods, well, like they were trying to trip me up, slow me down, like they were somehow in league with my captor. I whirled and stopped, looking this way and that, waiting, listening.
A blur of motion ghosted from one tree to another, and my brain tried valiantly to make sense of what I was seeing. It didn’t make sense though, it was dressed like William, but it wasn’t him. I mean it wore his clothes, his black jeans, at least. It looked like he had tossed his jacket and his shoes. Though it looked like him at the same time it appeared as if he’d bulked up, filled out and his skin… it was darker somehow, it just didn’t make sense!
Fear, I was hallucinating from fear. I had to be. A noise tore through the twilight. A sound like a giant dog would make and I jumped. I whirled and continued to make my way up the hill hands over feet, trying not to slide back down, trying not to lose progress. God I should have thought this through better.
I scrabbled up the side of the hill and pulled myself under an outcropping of rock and hid there. I fought to calm my breathing and my pounding heart. My ears strained against the silence, listening for something, anything… I waited huddled small and close, I waited to hear him thrashing through the leaves as I had done, waited for him to shout, but there was nothing.
Seconds ticked by, drawing out into minutes and my breathing slowed, returning to normal until finally I let out a pent up breath, slow and steady, my lungs deflating in minute increments. That which had been numb with adrenaline, began to come alive, my feet hurt, burning with a mix of cold and likely, cuts. I couldn’t care about that right now, I wouldn’t care and I didn’t dare look either. My hands were filthy, and I’d torn a nail, but I was more concerned with if he would find me or if I had effectively hidden myself away.
“Did you really think it was going to be that easy, Princess? I told you, you couldn’t run. I warned you not to try.”
My shoulders dropped, my eyes slipped shut as my body and soul were weighted down with defeat.
“Come out of there, before I drag you out.”
“Okay, okay! I’m coming,” I said and I heard him sigh.
“You’re bleeding, hurry up. I want to see where you’re hurt, what you’ve done to yourself.”
I froze for a moment. How did he know I was bleeding? I had barely been aware of it myself in my adrenaline fueled state. I crawled out from under the outcropping and his hands closed around my arm, hauling me to my feet, I cried out and staggered and he swore, with feeling.
“I got you,” he said and I was up, off the ground, feet dangling. I hadn’t even been close to getting away. Not even close. Defeat washed over me as he held me, one arm beneath my knees, the other curved behind my back as if I weighed nothing, nothing at all. It was driven home how horribly I was outmatched by him physically. He had been absolutely correct, I couldn’t run, so why had I tried it?
“So stupid,” I whispered, berating myself, cheeks flaming with humiliation.
“Yes, yes it was,” he stated flatly.
Damn it.
Chapter 5
William
I guess I should have expected the escape attempt. I really should have. I’ll be honest, this was my first kidnapping. Most people didn’t remain alive long after they ran into me under such circumstances. I didn’t usually have to try very hard to keep a corpse from running away. It just doesn’t work like that, you know? I growled and bit off an oath that I’m fairly certain I can’t repeat in polite company or Nan would’ve torn a stripe out of my hide… literally.
I’d thought we had started to bond there a little bit, Chloe and I, but I guess it was too much to ask for her to voluntarily stick around, considering she still didn’t have the slightest clue of the danger that was out there. By far I was the lesser of two evils, but all she saw was the danger that I represented, which sucked. I sighed, I really hadn’t expected her to be so damn clueless or half so plucky and determined. I really only had myself to blame for keeping her that way. This was such a mess in just so many different ways.
I shucked off my coat, dropping it to the ground and kicked off my oversized boots. The concrete beneath my feet was chilly but as I started to run I didn’t even feel it. The air against my bare chest and arms was cool and refreshing instead of slicing through me to the bone as it had moments before. Anger swelled in my chest, rage beat at the walls I had carefully erected. I didn’t have time for this shit.
The scent of peaches and fear tore through my anger, leaving it in tatters and my feet left deep gouges in the dirt as I left the manmade surfaces and picked up my pace to plunge into the trees after her. With every step my hunter’s instincts to track, find, and rend flesh grew. I slammed a lid on the ‘and rend flesh’ part and tried to stick to just tracking and finding her ass.
She didn’t make it far before she cut herself. Her feet weren’t tough and calloused like mine. They weren’t used to the conditions and it wasn’t like she took any care in her flight to watch her step. She was just so intent on getting away from me, and again, I couldn’t blame her. I’d been a real douche-weasel so far.
Branches bent and cracked, leaves rustled and flew through the air in the wake of her passage and thirty feet from the rest stop’s outbuildings I saw the first brilliant splash of red.
It was barely the size of a penny, gleaming wet against the muddied ground. The blood practically glowed with an intensity normally reserved for summer sunlight against closed eyelids and it was so not helping me suppress the predatory instinct that was fundamentally a part of me, that whole ‘rend flesh’ thing jumping out to the fore again.
The scent of her lingered still, in the air. Peaches and fear mixed with desperate pain and the coppery tang of her blood. God, it was touching off such a deep longing ache in me to drop to all fours and make a meal out of her that had absolutely nothing to do with sex. It took everything I had to lock those instincts down, to keep my focus, to stay…
Fuck! I lost her trail! I paused, swinging my gaze from side to side, scenting the air across my tongue and… There!
On a tree, two trees ahead and to the right, there was a brilliant swatch of indigo, the scent of her where she’d touched the bark in her flight past it. The further I got, the closer I drew to the tree, the stronger her scent until my eyes landed on another swatch of blood in the leaf litter. I followed it, tracking out from it in a spiral pattern until I saw another and another. The closer I drew to her the brighter each bloody footprint became, the color gleaming brilliantly to my senses.
The lingering scent of peaches and blood, such a strong and intoxicating mix, led me directly to her and it didn’t go unnoticed by me that the longer she ran, the more blood there was in a trail for me to follow.
Stupid little idiot! She was going to get herself killed and I was the last person she even had to worry about! I fumed, the inferno of rage subsiding to an ember when I caught sight of the rocks, indigo emanating from the outcropping, billowing from the crevice, amorphous and wild like untamed smoke from a signal fire. That sparkling reddish hue painting the ground in the brightest swatch yet, just in front of the dark mouth of the little hollow she’d fitted herself into.
The gray wash of the world around me slowly faded, allowing a touch of normal color to bleed back in. The breeze which had been cool and refreshing, became almost painfully cold against my exposed skin as my humanity returned, rushing back to the surface.
“Did you really think it was going to be that easy, Princess?” I drawled as calmly as I could. A new hunger gna
wed at my gut. A hunger that had little to do with burgers or fries but I had greater concerns on my mind. I could see her shoulders drop in the deep gloom created by her chosen hiding place.
“Come out of there, before I drag you out,” I said as calmly as I could. She was caught and she knew it, there was no need to snap at her, but my impatience at the whole damned situation made me do it anyways.
“Okay, okay! I’m coming,” she said, and I heaved out a quiet sigh.
“You’re bleeding, hurry up. I want to see where you’re hurt, what you’ve done to yourself.”
Stupid little girl, she really should have known better, but how could she? My mind argued.
The deepening gloom around us was becoming oppressive and more difficult for my enhanced vision to pierce, she had to have been nearly blind in there. I couldn’t understand what she thought she was going to accomplish by attempting to run like that.
She froze for a moment before she continued out and as soon as she was close enough I grabbed her arm and hauled her to her feet. She immediately cried out and raised one foot gingerly and I bit out a curse as I scooped her up into my arms. The little idiot, she really had managed to hurt herself.
“I got you,” I said as gently as I could, I couldn’t disguise the edge of irritation in my voice if I wanted to though. To be fair, I was almost more irritated with me and the situation than I was with her, though. Holding her close against my chest I turned to make our way back toward the rest stop and the car. She was quiet, too quiet for several heartbeats.
