I order another glass of wine and find a couple girls from the office, Christina and Michelle. Sitting down, I start chatting with them about our latest project. As we’re talking, my phone rings. I don’t recognize the number, but hoping it’s Chase, I answer. “Hello?” I say, and plug my other ear, trying to hear. The bar is so loud, I say, “Hold on, I can’t hear anything.” I turn to the girls. “Can one of you make sure the bartender doesn’t take my glass? I’ll be right back.”
“Sure, Liv,” Christina answers.
“Thanks,” I mutter as I head toward the back door. Once outside, I say, “Sorry, couldn’t hear you. Who is this?” I wait, but there is no response, not even background noise or static. “Hello, anyone there?” Again, dead air. Standing in the back of the restaurant, the hair on my arms stands on end. I look around frantically, but there’s no one out here but me. Not taking any chances, I hurry back into the bar.
Coming back to the table, I find my glass is still here but the girls have shifted down the bar to another conversation. Since it’s almost eight, I decide to finish my drink and then call it a night. I pick up my glass, take a long sip, and start at the back end of the bar, slowly making my exit.
I still have a half of a glass left when I start to feel dizzy. The room sways and I stand for a moment, waiting for the moment to pass. Seeing as I ate something earlier and only had three glasses of wine, I shouldn’t feel this drunk. I almost lose my footing and grip the side of the bar, hard. My legs feel like jelly and my vision blurs.
“Liv, there you are. I’ve been looking all over for you.” That voice is so familiar, yet I can’t place it. I try to lift my head to see who it is, but my body isn’t responding to my brain.
“Hey, Liv, are you okay?” I hear someone ask.
“She’s just a little drunk. I’m here to pick her up,” the familiar voice says. “C’mon, Liv, I’ll take you home.”
An arm wraps around my waist before lifting me in the air. Feeling dizzy and nauseous, my head falls back against something hard. I feel like I’m floating, but the backs of my eyelids won’t stop spinning.
“I’ll have you home soon enough,” the voice whispers into my ear, the tone changing from friendly to hostile. The overwhelming urge to run takes over, but I can’t move, I can’t see, and my body won’t obey any of my commands. I feel so tired, I just want to crawl up into a ball and sleep.
My body is placed on something soft, a mattress maybe? No, it can’t be. The soft thing is moving. I must be in a car, but why am I lying down? This can’t be real, I must be dreaming. I must have gone home and now I’m in this vivid nightmare. “Now, I have you all to myself,” the voice says right before everything fades to black.
Warm breath fans across my cheek, causing me to stir. Pain consumes me. My head throbs and my skin feels like it’s on fire. I try to open my eyes, but the pain in my head won’t let me. I try to move, but it’s like I’m glued to something.
“Good morning, beautiful,” a voice hisses in the darkness, the words like acid dripping off his tongue. There is only one person who calls me that, and that wasn’t him. I try to speak, but my throat is dry, and nothing comes out. “I hope you’re comfortable,” the acidic voice continues.
I need to know where I am and how I got here. I don’t remember anything, except being at the bar and getting really drunk, really fast. Fighting through the pain, I force myself to open my eyes. Only one eye listens, but it’s enough.
My eye travels from the floor, working my way up the strangers body. When I get to his face, I gasp, a feeling of dread overcoming me. “Evan?” I whisper, horrified. “What have you done?”
“What have I done? I haven’t done anything. It’s you. You are responsible.”
“Where am I?”
“You’re home.” Taking my eye off him for a second, I look around. The surroundings are familiar, so very familiar. It’s not my apartment, or my mother’s house.
“Where am I?” I repeat, my voice slowly coming back to me.
“You don’t know?” The pain in my head causes my eyes to go in and out of focus. I try to pinpoint an area in the room, and it’s then that I figure out where I am.
“We’re on Fire Island?”
“Good girl. Got it in one try.”
“Why?”
“Because no one will find you here.” He’s right. The island is deserted this time of year; there’s no one here to save me.
“Evan, what have you done?” I whisper, horrified.
“I’m going to make sure you’re mine, no matter what it takes.” Continuing to fight through the pain, I lift my head and look around. I’m in my old bedroom, tied to the bed, with a blanket covering me. My body throbs.
“What have you done?” I say, tears running down my face.
“You’re mine,” he growls. “Now and forever. I’ll make sure of that.”
Throwing the blanket on the floor, he strips and climbs on top of me. I’m so weak, I can’t fight back, even if I weren’t tied up. Forcing my legs apart, he takes me. I could scream, but no one would hear me. Tears stream down my face as he continues his torturous assault. “You. Are. Mine,” he growls against my ear. “No one will have you but me.”
“Please, Evan. Stop,” I beg. He ignores my pleas and slaps me across the face.
“Shut up!” he screams. “If you would have just listened to me, this could have all been prevented.”
“Stop!” I moan, sobbing. The last thing I remember is blinding pain before everything goes black again.
Slowly, I start to come to. I’m lying on the bed, cold and naked, every inch of my body sore. My wrists are raw and bleeding from the rope. My arms ache from being over my head. I need to find a way out, and fast.
Looking around, I search for something, anything that could free me, but the room is empty. Evan removed everything but the bed. I try to pull against the knotted rope, but it’s no use. The binds are too tight. Noises come from the living room and a minute later, Evan strolls in. “It’s about time you woke up. We need to talk.”
“Fuck you,” I yell.
“If you insist,” he says, a smirk across his face.
“Don’t come near me. Leave me alone.”
“Olivia, you are mine, and I will do with you as I see fit.”
“You’ve completely lost your mind.”
“You did this to me,” he snarls.
“No, you did this to yourself when you went and knocked up Brandi.”
Evan stares down at me and laughs. “Well, that’s no longer an issue.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You see, when I pushed her down the stairs—I mean, when she fell down the stairs . . .”
“You’re a psychopath!”
“She was never going to have my baby. You are the only woman who will bear my children.”
“Fuck you! That’s never going to happen.”
He paces around the room like a wild animal, staring down at my breasts. “It will, and sooner than you think.” Reaching down, he cups my breast roughly.
“Don’t touch me,” I screech, trying to move out of his reach.
“Olivia, Olivia. The sooner you realize you’re mine, the easier this will be.” He grabs my nipple and pinches hard, sending a wave of pain through my body.
Reaching behind him, Evan pulls something out of his back pocket and swirls it around his index finger. Realizing it’s one of the pairs of panties that went missing the night of the break-in, a wave of nausea overtakes me. I turn my head just in time to puke all over Evan’s shoes. “Fuck,” he yells, trying to jump back. “You bitch,” he screams, and cracks me across the face. Darkness overtakes me once more.
As I start to regain consciousness, I hear the faint sound of music. Concentrating, I try to make out the notes. After a few minutes, I can hear the tones of an acoustic guitar. Straining to hear more, I make out the raspy voice of a male singer, but I can’t make out the lyrics. Finally, once I’m fully conscious,
I know exactly what’s playing. It would have been my wedding song, had the nuptials with Evan taken place. It’s playing on a loop, and the lyrics of Collide are repeating over, and over.
The room is pitch black, I can’t see anything. As my eyes adjust to the darkness, I faintly see something in the corner of the room. Straining my neck, I can see what resembles a figure sitting in the darkness. “Remember this song, Liv?” Evan says, and I squeal in surprise. He’s been sitting here the entire time, waiting for me to wake, waiting to torment me further. “Remember how good we were?”
“Were, Evan. That’s the key word. That isn’t us anymore,” I say, trying to quell my panic.
“But it can be. It will be.”
He’s totally lost it. He is completely delusional.
“It’s too late, you’ve gone too far. Just let me go,” I whisper into the darkness.
“Let you go?” He starts laughing, and I go into full on panic mode. “Let you go? Olivia, that will never happen. You are mine, now and forever.”
“Chase will find me.”
“Chase, Chase, Chase. You really think he’s smart enough to look here? If he even thinks you’re missing.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I mean, as far as everyone is concerned, you just left.”
“What do you mean, I just left? I don’t understand.”
“You emailed your job to tell them you quit, your apartment is free of all your clothes, and you texted Chase to tell him it was over and you never wanted to see him again.”
“I did what?” I scream, horrified. “No, he knows I would never do that! He’ll find me!”
“Well, if he does, it will be after you’re pregnant.”
“Chase will find me before that can ever happen”.
“You could be pregnant right now.”
“That would be impossible. It would take days for my birth control pills to get out of my system.”
“Yes, if you were taking birth control pills,” Evan says, his voice icy cold.
“I have been for years.”
“Yes, you have. But are you sure what you were taking was indeed birth control?” What he’s saying doesn’t make any sense.
“Of course I’m sure.”
“Are those the same pills in the purple case you keep in the nightstand next to your bed?”
“Yes, they—” I stop short, realizing he could have done something to my pills. “Evan, you couldn’t have.”
“It’s called a placebo. They looked identical to the real thing, didn’t they?”
“Someone help me, please!” I scream at the top of my lungs. Evan charges around to the side of the bed and shoves something into my mouth. I gag as it hits the back of my throat.
“There’s no one on the island, but I’m not taking any chances.” I struggle, trying to break free of the ropes, but it’s useless. A sardonic grin crosses his face and whatever he’s thinking, I know it’s not good. “I think we should get down to some baby making, what do you think?”
Before opening my eyes, I strain my ears to pick up any sounds in the room. Staying perfectly still for what seems like an eternity, I determine Evan isn’t in the room and open my eyes. My hands are no longer tied over my head, but bound together, attached to a long chain. A light shines from inside the bathroom and I’m grateful for Evan’s laziness. There is a small transom window above the shower, giving me just enough light to see once I’m in there. Turning slightly, I pull the chain to see if there are enough links to walk to the bathroom and struggle to get out of bed.
Pulling my legs over the edge of the bed, I attempt to stand. I don’t have the strength and collapse face first onto the floor. Fuck, I need to move. Rolling onto my side, I slowly crawl across the cold wood floor until I reach the toilet. After a few attempts, I manage to get myself situated.
Sitting here, I try to think. How the fuck am I going to get out of here? I pray Chase doesn’t believe my text, but after the fight we had, I’m not so sure. God, why didn’t I just call him?
Finishing, I lean on the sink, trying to stand. My legs are weak, but they’re keeping me up for the moment. I take a good look at myself in the mirror. My face is bloody and bruised, my right eye puffy and swollen. My lips are split, covered in dry blood. I look like shit, and it mirrors how I feel. Afraid at what I’ll see, I look down at my body. I can’t find a place that doesn’t have a bruise, especially the insides of my legs.
I start to sob and grip the roots of my knotty hair, pulling hard, trying to wake from this nightmare. I’m trapped in hell. I scream at the top of my lungs, praying someone will hear me. With every fiber of my being, I yell until my throat is dry and my voice is nothing but a whisper.
Falling to the floor, I lay here, frozen, filled with incapacitating hopelessness. By the time anyone finds me, I’ll either be knocked up or dead. I should just let Evan do whatever he wants and if I’m lucky, maybe he’ll kill me. The pain is too much to bear, I just want it over.
As I lay on the floor, my mind begins to wander, and I think about Chase. I’m tired, I’m beaten, but I’m not ready to give up on him. I know he’ll find me. He has to. Trying to push the thoughts out of my head, I force myself to stop crying and focus on getting out of here.
Slowly, I walk back to the bed. With the little bit of light in the room, I hold the chain out, following it from my wrists to where it’s attached to the bed. If I can somehow manage to get it loose, I can get the hell out of here.
I feel around, finding the chain attached to some kind of lock on a pole within the wrought iron frame. As hard as I could pull, I would never be able to break that. The rope, however, is a different story. If I can find something to loosen the knot, I can slither my wrists from the noose around them.
Following the light back to the bathroom, I shove the knot in between the sink head, twisting and turning as I go. Back and forth, over and over, using all my strength. But no matter how much I rub, how much I twist, the knot holds steadfast.
Slamming my hands on the sink in frustration, I attempt to give it one last try, until I hear the front door open. If he catches me here, I’m toast. Pushing through the pain, I rush out of the bathroom, collapsing on the bed. I’m able to pull the covers over my beaten body, without a minute to spare.
“Liv, I’m home,” he yells from the other room. As he enters the bedroom, an evil smile overtakes his lips. “I see you’ve been up and around.” Evan points to a trail of blood leading to the bathroom, and another one coming back.
“I had to pee,” I whisper.
“Well, if you can be a good girl, I’ll leave the chain on. Otherwise, I’ll tie you back up to the bed.”
“I’ll be good,” I plead.
“I know you will. Here, I brought you something to eat.” Evan places a paper bag on the bed. “It’s a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I know how much you love those,” he mutters, a trace of sadness in his voice. Next to the bag is a bottle of water.
“Thanks,” I whisper, my voice weak. I’m hesitant to take either. What if the water is drugged, or worse, he put poison in the sandwich? Seeing my hesitation, he says, firmer, “I said, I brought you a sandwich.”
I’m not hungry,” I insist.
“Don’t make me angry,” Evan growls. “Eat the fucking sandwich.” Unwrapping it, he practically shoves it in my face.
“Okay, I’m sorry.” Taking the sandwich in my hands, I nibble the bread. Once I take a few bites, I realize how hungry I am and devour it within seconds. A smile crosses Evan’s face for a fleeting moment.
“That’s better.” Evan opens the bottle of water for me, placing it in my attached hands. The water is down my dry throat and the bottle empty before he can put the cap down. “Thirsty, were we?”
“Yes,” I admit. I’m not really sure how long I’ve been here, and this is the first time I’ve had anything to eat or drink, but I know I’ll need everything ounce of strength in order to escape.
After I’ve f
inished, Evan stands and starts to leave, but I stop him. “Evan,” I say as sweetly as I can muster.
“Yes, Liv?”
“You were right. I don’t know how I could have been so stupid,” I say, deciding to change my approach.
“Go on,” he murmurs, his expression thawing slightly.
“Chase was fun, but he isn’t you. Seeing you with Brandi, and then finding out she was pregnant, made me so angry.” I try the jealous girlfriend act, and Evan seems to buy it.
“Really?” he asks.
“We were supposed to be married, and she ruined it.”
“Yes, that was rather unfortunate.”
“We can start over, things can be different.”
“I was hoping you would say that.”
“Evan,” I say, pushing down the bile rising in my throat, “untie me so we can make love the way we used to.”
Evan slowly walks toward the bed and leans in close to my ear. “You want me to untie you so you can ride me the way you used to?”
“Yes,” I choke out, schooling my features so he can’t see how disgusted I am.
He runs his nose along my jaw. “I love how you would grind your pussy against my cock. Is that what you want?”
“Yes, Evan.” Fuck, I don’t know if I can do this. I have to do this. Smiling, I look up at his face, trying to sense what he’s thinking. He remains impassive, but there’s a trace of a smile across his lips.
“You want me deep inside of you, fucking you until you explode?”
Make it believable, Liv. “All night.”
Evan reaches for my bound wrists, gripping the rope keeping me in my place.
“Nice try, Liv, but your tricks won’t work on me,” Evan says, laughing.
“What do you mean, tricks? You brought me here to see how good we could have it, and I want to know.”
“You’re lying so I’ll let you go.”
“No, Evan. I love you, and missed you.”
Lost Without You: Book 2 in the Chasing Olivia Series Page 19
