Pain throbbed like a drum all over my body as I laid at the bottom of the hill, covered in dirt, gazing at the stars.
Chapter Twenty-One
Over the last several hours, Leah had been sitting beside the window, watching the sun slowly dip toward the horizon. Her hands were still tied together with metallic wire, which had sharp edges that dug into her skin and rendered every subtle movement painful. Her ankles were tied together as well, leaving her trapped and motionless in this tiny room. It was pitch black outside. Through the window, she watched a neon CLOSED sign blink and buzz in the lonely silence. Judging by the migration of the sun across the now black sky, she had been awake for at least three hours. Within that time, her senses had sharpened. She could finally see where she was and hear her surroundings clearly, as opposed to being in a constant state of fog. She didn’t know what drugs had been pumped into her veins over the last indiscernible amount of time, but they were strong enough to distort her sense of reality and wipe away her recent memories. But today, the man in the ski mask had skipped her dose for some reason. Perhaps he wanted her to be conscious, or maybe he had gotten lazy and forgotten.
As she lay wide awake, her stomach gurgled with hunger, and her body ached relentlessly. She wished the man in the ski mask would just kill her already. She couldn’t take the maddening loneliness anymore. When it was still daylight, she could at least stare blankly at the sun and watch it’s slow descent toward the edge of the earth. She could observe the leaves as they rustled in the light breeze. But now, darkness had enveloped her, leaving nothing but the blinking neon sign to distract her from her thoughts.
All she could think about was that she was nearing the end of her life. She felt so fatigued, ill, starving, and dehydrated that she wouldn’t make it much longer. As she lay in the dark, she thought about how her life would soon end without anyone to love her.
Leah’s mother had loved her in her own twisted and toxic way. Their relationship was dependent on guilt and unconditional obligation. The woman’s pain had gotten so severe that it consumed her, propelling her to grow mean and bitter. She no longer looked at Leah lovingly, but with resentment and distaste burning through her eyes. The only way for Leah to win back her affection was to support her financially, but after a decade of emotional abuse, Leah was drained. She felt as if all of her energy was expended and no reward was offered. Eventually, Leah had no choice but to distance herself from her mother. It was the only way to focus on her own life, but Leah still felt guilty about it.
Leah’s thoughts also wandered toward Dani, causing a wave of guilt to course through her. Leah shouldn’t have broken up with her at the party. She shouldn’t have pinned so much blame on Dani, when in reality, they were both responsible for the failure of their relationship. Leah’s frustration toward Dani wasn’t just because Dani didn’t visit home often. As much as Leah tried to deny it, jealousy and territorialism were the main culprits of her anger. The way Rosie clung to Dani so possessively, watched her with predatorial speculation, and sometimes brushed a light, sensual finger on Dani’s shoulder when she thought no one was looking. Dani was oblivious to the flirtation and attempts of seduction, which concerned Leah even more. How could Dani not see it? Rosie was either in love with her, or a narcissist that was determined to secure complete power over Dani. But the question was…why? Was Rosie a deeply lonely and insecure person? Did she need to control and allure other human beings in order to validate her own superiority? Was it to stroke her own ego and protect herself from vulnerability? Leah didn’t know Rosie on a deep level, so these were questions that she didn’t have the insight to answer.
Leah leaned against the wall and closed her eyes, hoping for sleep to take over her. For reasons she may never come to discover, she was being held hostage by a stranger and hidden from everyone she’d ever cared about. Most importantly, she was hidden from Dani. She’d never see her again, and she’d never be able to mend the loss that had shattered her life.
Her eyes shot open when somewhere on the floor below her, she heard a door open and slam. Hurried footsteps echoed and creaked through the walls. Distant voices mingled together, getting louder as they grew near. Just outside the room Leah was trapped in, a light switched on, emitting a bright glow under the crack in the door. With her ear pressed against the thin wall, she listened.
First, she heard a male voice. She assumed it was the same man who had been injecting her with a needle, but as she listened closer, his voice was different. He sounded many years younger.
“What’s going on?” the man asked, his voice muffled through the wall. “You sounded panicked over the phone.”
“We have to kill them,” a young woman replied. “Both of them.” Leah recognized the woman’s voice: raspy, demanding, and seductive as silk.
“Rosie, what are you talking about?” the man asked.
Leah’s stomach lurched. She swallowed hard in order to silence the viable threat of a panic attack. “That fucking bitch,” she muttered to herself.
“I told you not to bring Leah here,” Rosie said. “Dani knows that this place exists, and she knows that Leah’s family used to own it. Dani just spoke with Leah’s mother, and Leah’s mom told her to come here in search for money. Apparently, there’s a safe hidden here somewhere, most likely in the basement. Leah used to hide savings money from her mom.”
“Where’s Dani now?” the young man asked.
“Probably on her way here,” Rosie explained. “I tried to stop her, but she went frantic. She jumped out of my fucking car so she could get away from me. She knows that I’m involved.”
“And this means we have to kill both of them?”
“Obviously!” Rosie barked in an authoritative voice, as if she were speaking to a subordinate. “This has gone way too far, Rob. Now that Dani suspects my involvement, she won’t stop until she figures out the truth. We have to silence her before she goes to the police.”
“Why are you blaming this on me?” Rob asked.
“Because you’re the one who insisted that we keep Leah alive,” Rosie spat. “Did you think injecting her with anesthetic would work forever?”
“I’m not a murderer,” Rob argued. “I told you that I’d only help you as long as no one got killed. The agreement was that I kept Leah alive and heavily sedated so that she won’t remember anything, and then I’d drop her off in the middle of a parking lot after both of us got paid. She wouldn’t have a goddamn clue what happened.”
“This was clearly not well thought out on your part,” Rosie said. “Your job was to hire someone to kill her. It should’ve been that easy and simple. Then, we would collect the money that Dani’s parents offered us, and we’d be able to move on.”
Leah’s skin crawled with disgust and white-hot rage. She always knew that Dani’s parents despised her, but she didn’t think they were capable of something this vile. Leah’s heart began to race in sudden panic. Were Dani’s parents really willing to take it this far? Not only did they want Leah and Dani to break up, but they had stooped low enough to have Leah killed. Was this all because they didn’t want their daughter to be swept away by a partner who was not only a woman, but financially limited? It was hard to believe, but the more Leah thought about it, the more it made sense. Dani’s parents were terrified that their daughter had gotten romantically involved with someone from the west side of town, which had a reputation for high crime, drug addiction, homelessness, and poverty. Their fear was amplified by the death of Dani’s older sister, who had passed away in a fatal car crash over a decade ago. This was after she had become acquainted with a group of kids who resided on the west side. Leah could remember Dani telling the story. She was shaken with anger and resentment as she described her parents’ constant need for control.
Control. Leah repeated the word in her mind over and over again, considering its magnitude and meaning. With Dani’s parents, it was always about control. They had sent Dani away to college, making Dani believe that she would finally
attain some freedom, but they were watching her like predators the whole time. They paid her rent, obtained access to her bank accounts, and tracked her GPS history.
“I want out of this!” Rob shouted, snapping Leah out of her thoughts.
“Too late,” Rosie said. “Your fingerprints are already covering every inch of the police investigation. Do you even watch the news? If there’s any chance of saving your own ass from going to jail, you need to do as I say.”
Rob stomped his foot like a disobedient toddler. “You wouldn’t have been able to kidnap Leah if it weren’t for me. The guys I have working for me are the reason we were able to snatch Leah from that party.”
“I didn’t offer to pay you half of the reward for nothing,” Rosie said. “You’re pathetic, Rob. Rich, entitled, and spoiled. You lack the spine to achieve anything on your own. And this time, your daddy won’t be able to save you.”
“But—”
“Shut up,” Rosie blared, cutting him off. “Just tell me where Leah is.”
After a pause, Rob said, “She’s sedated behind the door.”
“Good,” Rosie said. “We don’t have much time. Dani ran into the woods after she jumped out of my car, and I didn’t want to waste time trying to find her. If she hasn’t called the police yet, she will soon. We need to get Leah out of here before the police come after us.”
“But what about Dani?” Rob said. “We can’t let her speak to the police.”
“She’s probably on her way here now. Maybe we should just wait for her to get here, and then…”
Rob whined. “I’m not capable of killing another human being, Rosie.”
“You have to be,” Rosie said. “Now move away from the door. We have to take care of Leah.”
Leah’s body stiffened. She forced her eyes shut, pretending to be unconscious. After some muffling and creaking footsteps, she sensed a bright light pouring into the room as the door swung open.
Chapter Twenty-Two
With no phone, one shoe, and blood dripping from the corner of my mouth, I felt lost, helpless, and desperate. Reality as I knew it had changed, flipped off its axis, and disrupted my sense of meaning to life. I couldn’t trust anyone. I wasn’t even sure if I could trust my own instincts, but I had to try.
I stood on the side of the road and waited for a vehicle to pass. Overgrown wilderness, darkness, and silence enveloped my surroundings so heavily that I felt astray, lost in a black hole. If I screamed, no one would hear me. If I died, no one would find me. I’d be left adrift in a forgotten abyss.
A glimmer of hope ignited inside me when distant headlights flashed down the road. Limping painfully and covered in scrapes, I stood in the middle of the road and lifted up both hands. The pick-up truck slowed to a stop, its brakes screeching.
The driver was an elderly man. He lowered his passenger-side window and smiled politely, but when he swept his gaze over my cuts and swollen lip, his smile vanished.
“Christ. You need to be taken to the hospital?” he asked.
“No,” I said. “Please, sir. I need a ride to Motel 6. Please. It’s urgent.” My voice was thin, breathless, and empty. But deep down inside, adrenaline coursed through me, charging into my veins like an electric current.
The man regarded me with fear in his gaze, but he agreed to help me. As I hopped into the passenger seat, I had a deep, sickening feeling that I wouldn’t live through tonight. The look in Rosie’s eyes was red hot and alive with rage, her face twisted into a vicious snarl. Her mask had been ripped off to reveal the monster inside. The friend that I knew and trusted never existed. The real Rosie would kill me if she had to. I had no doubt about that.
The drive took ten minutes. When the truck came to a stop, I observed the motel parking lot. The pavement was covered in cracks and overgrown weeds. The motel was completely dark, minus a red CLOSED sign that flickered and ticked dimly. The building was desolate as it stood within a heavy silence hanging in the air. Every window was either boarded up or shattered. Thick forest surrounded the motel, once again amplifying the dreadful loneliness that swallowed me up. I envisioned dark soil and tree roots coiling underground the motel like wires, prepared to swallow up the entire building as it disintegrated. With a weathered and saggy roof, I wondered if the building would soon collapse.
My stomach churned at the thought of entering the building alone. I turned toward the man, who sat behind the steering wheel with a pale face and frightened eyes.
“You sure you’re not in danger?” he asked.
“I’d be better if I had a flashlight.”
The man reached into his glove compartment and pulled out a flashlight that was small enough to function as a key chain. It didn’t emanate much light, but it was better than nothing.
I thanked him, and as I opened the door to leave, my eyes caught a glimpse of Rosie’s car, which was parked in front of the building. A spark of adrenaline ignited in me. Determined, I charged toward the front door of the building.
“I’m calling the police!” the truck driver called after me before driving away.
I was too focused to answer him. I kept my eyes forward and tightly gripped the knife that I had stolen from Rosie’s car. Scaling the side of the building, I searched for a light or any signs of movement inside. I tiptoed slowly and stealthily, holding the blade outward.
When I reached the front door, I quietly pushed it open. Rosie was probably inside the building somewhere. She could be waiting for me, standing hidden in a corner with a gun pointed outward. There was obviously something in this building that she didn’t want me to find. My first destination would have to be the basement, because that was where Leah’s mother said the hidden safe would be. I wasn’t certain if there even was a hidden safe, and I also didn’t know if anything useful could be found inside. All I knew was that there was something in this building that I needed to find.
After clicking on the flashlight, I crossed the pitch-black hotel lobby and found a narrow door behind the check in desk. After pushing it open, the flashlight beam revealed a long, wooden staircase. My heart pulsated wildly. Once again, loneliness came over me. There came a loud ringing in my ears, a deep shrill that sounded like violin strings screeching and sliding against each other. At the bottom of the staircase was a cement floor. Through the beam of light, dust particles floated in the air. I took a downward step into the cellar, but froze when I heard muffled voices coming from somewhere above me. My breath hitched, but I continued on. I descended the stairs, slowly, step by step, the beam of my flashlight shaking along on the cinder block walls. When I reached the bottom of the stairs, I heard voices again.
As I strained to listen, I was startled by the sharp click of a gun lever.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“How long has she been sedated?” Rosie asked as Leah kept her eyes closed. While the racing beat of her heart pulsated in her neck, chest, and fingertips, she forced herself to control her own breathing. Every muscle in her body tightened as she lay wide awake and alert. But Rosie and Rob were standing several feet away, so they couldn’t hear the trembling of her breath. Beads of sweat gathered at her temples.
“She’s been sedated for weeks,” Rob replied. “She hasn’t been awake for more than a few minutes at a time. That’s when she would drink water. But she was too sedated to be fully aware of what was happening. I’m telling you, Rosie. She won’t remember any of this. We don’t need to kill her.”
“That would be a huge risk,” Rosie said. “How can you be sure she won’t remember any of this? How can you even be sure that she can’t hear us right now.” Rosie paused, and Leah could sense her eyes on her. “We have to kill her now.”
Leah’s breath hitched. She squeezed her thighs together, struggling to appear unconscious.
“No, we don’t,” Rob said. Leah noticed a nervous tremor in his voice, as if he was afraid of speaking too confidently in front of Rosie. It was very clear who was in charge. “If Dani is on her way here, we might as well wa
it until we have both of them together. We can capture Dani and relocate the two of them before the police arrive. It would be risky, but it would be better than having murder on our hands.”
Before Rosie had a chance to respond, distant footsteps resounded from the floor below. The footsteps were light, measured, and deliberate.
“Damn it,” Rosie murmured. “That was fast. Wait here. I’ll go downstairs and find Dani.”
Leah winced as the door slammed behind Rosie. Her footsteps gradually faded away. Leah’s racing heart wasn’t loud enough to muffle the sudden heaviness of Rob’s breaths. He paced frantically around the room, breathing deeply in and out.
“Fuck,” Rob muttered to himself in a quivering voice. “Shit.” He emitted a high-pitched whimper. “Oh, God.”
Leah heard some rustling and a light clicking noise, followed by the smell of burning tobacco. The scent of Rob’s freshly lit cigarettes irritated Leah’s lungs. She wished she could muster the self control to resist coughing, but the acrid odor nearly made her choke.
She coughed twice.
“You’re awake, aren’t you?” Rob asked.
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