by ML Ross
“What the fuck?” He yells. “You are such a fucking tease! Why would you bring me back here if you didn’t want to screw around?!”
“Um…helloo!!! I’m totally fucked up here. I can’t even remember how we got here. I’m sorry!”
“Whatever bitch!” He pulls up his pants and then he storms out.
What the hell? I am not cut out for this. Maybe James and I are really meant for each other. He was right. I feel so lost. I should be having the time of my life right now. Why can’t it be easy, like in my romance novels? I lay there feeling like trash. I’m used now and James won’t take me back. I feel like I might cry or pass out.
I wake up laying in the same position I was in last night. I must have passed out. The first thing I notice is that I am, in fact, still completely naked. I move slightly, my body not really wanting to. I feel dried spit on the side of my mouth. I finally pull myself to a sitting position and look around the room. The girls are all sitting at the table having their coffee and checking their messages.
“Well look who woke up from the dead! Naked! Looks like you got your birthday wish.” Lisa shouts.
I cover my ears while looking for my clothes on the floor. After I’m dressed, I shuffle my feet over to the table collapsing onto the stool. “What happened to you guys last night?”
“We closed the bar! It was a good time. You missed it. We danced all night.” Megan replies.
“What happened with Matt? Obviously you got your birthday wish, but he came back to the bar pissed.”
“We had sex but didn’t finish. I pushed him off me. It didn’t feel right.”
“Oh man, no wonder he was pissy. He was suffering from an intense case of blue balls.” Lisa says shaking her head at me.
“Yeah, well I didn’t go either. No big explosive orgasms here. I was really fucked up.”
“He’s a nice guy Vanessa, and you really needed to loosen up. You both were looking for a good time so what was the big deal?” Megan is starting to piss me off. She’s making me feel like the sole purpose of this trip is to get me laid. I admit I thought it might be a possibility. I just thought I would feel differently about it. It didn’t feel right.
“He was having sex with me and I was practically passed out. Some nice guy.”
“Vanessa, you told us James bored you and you wanted passion and orgasms but yet you won’t step out of your comfort zone and let yourself have some fun. No commitment, multiple orgasm fun! You’re being ridiculous!” Now Megan seems pissed at me.
“I felt like trash. I didn’t want to be used and thrown out.” Why do I feel like the bad guy here?
“Hey you guys!” Kate interrupts as she’s reading the news on her tablet. “Remember that girl that used to go to our high school, her name was Sophie Carsen. She ended up going to Western Colorado?”
“Yeah, I remember her. She was the one that got attacked and murdered near campus last year.” I remember that. It was an awful story. She went to a party on campus and the next morning, they found her naked body in the woods. She had been brutally attacked and cut up with a knife. They never caught the guy.
“Yeah, well there was another girl too. Her name was Mia. Well, just last month, another girl came forward. She was attacked with a knife and left for dead out in the middle of the woods but she survived. This article says that the guy who did it was her boyfriend. His name is Ryan Jenson. He goes to Western Colorado too. After she was found, he disappeared. They suspect he is the same guy that killed Sophie and Mia.” They all lean over and look at his picture.
“He’s fucking hot!” Lisa squeals.
“He murdered two girls and then tried to off his best friend, Lisa!” I yell at her.
“I know! I’m just saying. That tattoo is sexy as hell.”
“I remember that story last month. She said they had been friends for years. That he was the nicest guy and then all of a sudden at a party, she felt funny. She thinks he slipped something into her drink and then she said he attacked her. She said he was like a completely different person.” Says Kate, shaking her head.
“Creepy. Maybe he has multiple personality disorder like Sally Fields? Remember that movie?” I ask.
“Cybil! Yeah, freaky…or remember that movie with Richard Gere.” Megan stops to think. “Primal Fear! The guy blames it on his other personality but it was all just an act, he was just a psycho!” Megan blurts out.
“So girls?! We hitting the slopes, or not? It’s starting to snow. We might get a few more inches of fresh stuff!” Lisa asks enthusiastically.
“I think I’m going to take some aspirin and catch up to you guys a little later. My head is pounding.” I say, holding my head up with both hands.
“Okay. Just come look for us.” Megan says.
I take the aspirin and down two full glasses of water. My mouth is dry as hell. I grab a bagel and choke it down knowing I’ll feel better with something in my stomach. I lay down for an hour or so and take a shower. I feel a ton better and decide to join the girls on the slopes.
I’m standing at the bottom of the hill where we were skiing yesterday, scanning all the people coming down the hill looking for bright orange pants. I don’t see them for a while so I get a coffee in the lodge and sit on a bench just watching the people walk by. It’s colder today and dark clouds are moving in. It’s snowing lightly. I’m sipping the hot coffee warming both my hands on the cup when I see him. Matt. With the waitress from last night. He’s got one hand on her hip leaning into her and she is giggling into his shoulder. Good for her.
Ah! There’s the orange pants. She walks right past me with Davis, not seeing me sitting on the bench and joins Matt and the waitress. After a few minutes they all walk into the lodge laughing together. Shit, I don’t know what to do. I am certainly not joining them in there. As I stand up to decide what to do, Lisa and Kate walk past me with Nate trailing right behind them. They all disappear into the lodge together.
I can’t believe Megan would do this to me. Does she expect me to hang out with Matt and the waitress?
Screw them! I head back to the cabin and take all my ski gear off. I throw my jeans on and a hoodie over my white tank. I gather my toiletries from the bathroom and throw them in my backpack and glance at the clock. It’s only 4pm. I could be home by 9pm. That’s not too late. I’d be leaving tomorrow morning anyway. I just don’t want to be here if they come back with Matt. Maybe they won’t even come back. Maybe they’ll hang out at the bar and I’d be stuck here by myself. I check my phone. No calls or texts. Except from James. They haven’t even checked on me.
“Mom?”
“Hey sweetie! How’s it going?”
“I’m coming home. I’m going to leave now. I should be home by 9.”
“Why? What happened Vanessa?”
“Just girl stuff, Mom. It’s nothing.”
“Well. Okay. I’ll make sure to keep some leftovers from dinner for you in case you’re hungry when you get home. Be careful. I hear we’re getting some snow tonight.”
“I will Mom, I’ll see you soon.”
I write a note to Megan telling her I needed to leave. I am really upset with her but I don’t want her to worry either.
I get into my bug and set my GPS for home and pull away from the cabin. I feel a tightness in my throat and then my eyes burn as tears start to fall down my cheeks. I was really hoping this weekend would be different, a new start for me. I don’t have James anymore and my friends kind of deserted me. I feel like I don’t fit in anywhere. Except home. My family loves me unconditionally. I smile at the thought of us all together exchanging presents and my Mom cooking apple pies in the kitchen. Last year, we were at the hospital. It was awful. My Mom was barely conscious. My Dad was working in the ER. Mason and I sat in my Mom’s hospital room watching It’s a Wonderful Life and eating tuna sandwiches that the nurse brought us from the cafeteria. Our presents sat under the tree until my Mom came home the day after New Year’s.
I stop at the first gas st
ation I come to before I hit the long stretch of nothingness on Highway 50. I fill up the gas tank and grab a snickers and a mountain dew. I pull out onto route 50, turn up my radio and enjoy the drive down the winding roads. I’m so excited to get home. I can already smell the apple pie. I can’t wait to see the look on Mason’s face when I give him my present. I bought him a custom skateboard. He is going to be extremely surprised. I smile to myself as I picture the look on his face.
I’ve been on the road for about two and a half hours. It’s really dark now. It’s starting to snow heavier and this road is so deserted, it’s starting to creep me out. Just as I’m starting to really panic, my phone lights up in the passenger seat and makes me jump. I’m thinking that if it is James again, I’m going to pick it up. Maybe I was too hard on him. I turn to look at the picture on the screen and I see James smiling back at me. I smile and lean over slightly to grab my phone but I can’t reach so I unbuckle quickly so I can grab it.
Suddenly, out of the darkness, I see a pair of bright lights coming right at the driver’s side of my car. Before I have a chance to react, I hear a loud screeching sound and then I’m thrown from my seat. I feel my body hit glass, land on the ground and bounce and roll like a rag doll. I lay there unable to move, groaning, as I hear hurried footsteps hitting the concrete and sounds of crunching glass. Then I see a blurry face standing over me.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I didn’t see you. Fuck!” The voice sounds like it’s under water. I see blurry lights fading in and out as I start slipping away. “Can you hear me? Shit! Stay with me, okay? You’re going to be okay.” His voice fades in and out. I don’t want to die. I immediately think about Mason and that skateboard. And oh God, my Mom! I need to call my Mom. Then everything fades to black.
Chapter 3 - Ryan
“Fuck!! Stay with me. Hey!! Can you hear me? Shit! Don’t die, please don’t fucking die!” I look around me into complete darkness, aside from the headlights from my FJ shining on this girl’s lifeless body. The only sound is the hum of my engine.
I drop to my knees on the glass covered cement and lean my head down to her chest to listen to her breathe and count the faint beats of her heart. As I glance down the length of her mangled body, I take in her shredded jeans and hoodie and the blood seeping through the threads. I tear her hoodie down the middle and pull it off of her. I ball it up and place it under her head. I lift her tank top over her belly looking for injuries, softly touching her torso. Her skin is pale except for the bruising that’s starting to appear on her ribs. Her belly is moving up and down with each panted breath. I touch her arms and legs gently looking for broken bones. Her hair is tangled and bloody, cascading around her face on the cement. She looks like an angel that fell from the sky. What the fuck am I going to do with this girl? I can’t take her to the hospital. I can’t fucking call the police. I can’t leave her here.
“Fuck!” I place one arm gently under her knees and the other under her neck and lift her unconscious body. I slide her into the back of my FJ and stare at her as she lay there motionless. I wonder who she is and where she was going. I shake my head at the unbelievable shit that only seems to happen to me. Jumping in the truck, I think about my options. I need to hide her car. I slowly push her little crunched up VW bug with the front end of my FJ until it is hidden in the trees on the side of Route 50. They will find it but it might take them a bit longer. I have to get off this road before I’m seen. I guess I only have one option. She has to come with me.
I turn on the dark dirt road trying to dodge the potholes, looking in the backseat every so often to make sure she isn’t awake. When I finally reach the cabin, I check on her one more time. She hasn’t moved a muscle. I jump out of the truck and quickly open the door to the cabin and throw on a light. I dart into the bedroom and pull the sheet down on the bed and then run back to the truck. I open the door and watch her chest rise and fall while I stand there with my hands on my hips trying to catch my breath. Shit! She has great tits. I can’t even think straight. What the fuck am I doing?
I carry her into the cabin and lay her on the bed and assess her injuries again. Her legs are torn up. Her arm looks swollen. Her ribs are bruised. I run into the bathroom to rummage through the medicine cabinet. I gather a bunch of prescription meds, peroxide, towels and bandages. As I stand next to the bed with my arms full of supplies, I gawk at her broken body. Shit! I can’t believe this is happening. My eyes drift up to her face. She’s covered in cuts and bruises but she is absolutely beautiful. My dick strains against my zipper, wanting her so bad.
I place all the items in my arms down on the bed. I take a deep breath and unbutton her jeans as I look up to her eyes to make sure she is still unconscious. I unzip them and try to slide them down her legs carefully but her blood is starting to dry to the fabric. I run into the kitchen and grab a knife. I swallow heavy and place the blade of the knife under her jeans and slice my way up one leg and then the other, slowly pulling the denim away from her skin. As hard as I fucking try, I cannot stop my eyes from drifting to the soft white cotton between her thighs. She makes a soft whimper and moves slightly and I freeze, my eyes locked on hers until she seems to settle back down. I grab a towel and soak it in peroxide and begin to clean her legs. She lets out a few long moans and winces as I touch her with the peroxide but she doesn’t wake up. Pushing her thighs slightly apart, I notice a nasty cut on her inner thigh. She’s going to need antibiotics. I lift her shirt once again to check her ribs. Yellow and purple bruises are beginning to spread across her torso. They are definitely going to be sore. Her swollen arm might be sprained. I don’t think it’s broken so I make her a sling out of an old t-shirt so she doesn’t move it in her sleep and twist it worse. Once I have her cuts cleaned, I sit next to her on the bed willing her to wake up. I sit there for an hour until my eyes start to droop. I’m so tired. I have to close my eyes. I can’t sleep. If she wakes up, she will panic and run. Maybe try go to the police. Or she will fucking kill me in my sleep. I can’t take that chance. I sit there a bit longer but I keep nodding off. Shit! I can’t take it. I go into the closet and lift the lid of the box I found when I got here and pull the handcuffs out. I hold them in my hands and start to think that this must be a fucking nightmare and I am going to wake up soon. I stand over her again and just shake my head in disbelief. I grab the wrist of her good arm and handcuff it to the iron headboard. I pull the sheet over her naked legs and back my way out of the room, watching her face. I slouch down on the armchair in front of the fireplace and close my burning eyes.
I’m in so much trouble.
Chapter 4 - Vanessa
My body feels like it weighs a ton. I can hardly lift my eyelids and when I do, the light causes me to close them again. I’m in pain. I think hard about what happened and it all comes back to me in a flash. I was in a car accident. I remember the lights, the sounds and a voice before I must have blacked out. I must be at the hospital. I can feel that I’m lying on a bed and I can feel a sheet covering my legs. I wonder if my parents have been notified. I hope they’re here. I’m so scared. As I come to, I realize that my arm is in a sling but it looks like one made out of a shirt. My other arm is stretched above my head uncomfortably. When I pull on it, I feel something tight around my wrist and hear a clanking sound. What the hell?
I try to pull on it again and panic. I force my eyes open and wait until they adjust to the light streaming from the window. I move my head slowly around me. It’s pounding and tears are swelling in my eyes from the pain. I’m in a very small room with a window. It smells musty and old. The wallpaper on the walls is old and peeling and the color is faded. There is a nightstand next to the bed with a small lamp that looks like the base was made from a tree branch. The lamp shade is yellow from age. I see three yellow prescription bottles next to the lamp and an old alarm clock that reads 3:52pm and a knife! I pull on my arm again frantically and hear the clanking sound again. My eyes turn to the noise as I continue to pull and then I finally realize that
I am handcuffed to the bed!
My heart starts beating rapidly. I’m trying to figure out what the hell happened and where I am. My vision becomes more blurred from the tears in my eyes and my head starts to pound even more. I start pulling on my arm desperately. The more I pull, the louder the clanking sound becomes. I can’t move my body. My ribs are burning. My legs feel heavy and torn up. Every time I move them, the sheet rubs against my raw skin like sandpaper.
I lay there gasping for air from the panic that has set in when I hear the squeak of the door opening. My heart feels like it’s going to beat out of my chest. Tears are streaming down my face, so I can’t make out the large figure that’s coming toward me. I don’t know where I find the strength but I scream as loud as I can. I don’t even recognize the sound that comes out of my mouth. Digging the heels of my feet into the bed, I scurry backwards and curl up into a ball facing the headboard, pressing my face into the arm that is cuffed there. I feel a draft of cold air hit my bare legs and my body starts shaking violently. I continue to scream into my arm terrified of what’s going to happen to me. I’m not sure how much time passes but I don’t hear or feel anything so I try to calm my breathing. I drag my face across my arm to wipe the wetness away. Hesitantly, I turn my head towards the door and I see him. Clearer now. He’s standing in the doorway just inside the room. I try to focus but my vision is still blurred from the intense pain in my head. I can’t make out his face. My lips begin to quiver and I start to cry hysterically. I am horrified and in an incredible amount of pain. I squeeze my eyes shut and start praying to God. Please God, I don’t want to die, please. Help me. I force my eyes open when I hear his footsteps slowly coming towards me.
“Please!!! Please don’t!! Please dddd…..” Blackness is trying to take over. I feel like I’m going to pass out. Then I feel him touch my shoulder and I become panic-stricken. I fight with everything I have in me. My body is broken but I continue to kick and bite and buck my body. I’m screaming so loud my throat becomes raw and my screams turn silent. “Don’t touch me you son of a bitch!!” I force out of my tight throat.
