Black Rose

by Kris Thompson

  “Well, we have to figure this out. We’re running out of time,” I said firmly, taking a drink of my beer.

  Luke let out a long breath and leaned back in his chair. “Maybe if we just asked Noah—”

  “No.” I cut him off quietly, not wanting to upset the women in the other room. “Noah and Agent Chase are no longer an option. They are hiding something from us, and I’m not going to listen to another speech about being called when something is found.”

  “So does this mean we’re no longer stalking Tom?” Adam asked.

  “For now,” I nodded. “Now we’re following Noah.”

  “Have you lost your fucking mind?” Luke yelled.

  “Shh,” Adam and I whispered, pointing toward the other room.

  Luke motioned his head toward the front door, and we all got up and shuffled out. I lit a cigarette the second the door shut.

  “Dude, are you seriously asking us to stake out Lee’s brother?” Luke groaned in annoyance.

  “I’m not asking you to do shit,” I fired back. “You wanted to help, and I really appreciate that, but I’m focusing my attention on Noah for a while. If you want to join, then the more the merrier, but I know Noah is hiding something about all of this and I’m not going to be satisfied until I find out what the hell it is.”

  “And you think it has something to do with a guy named David?” Adam mumbled to himself, lifting the piece of paper that had the imprint of Noah’s message on it. He held it up toward the sun, trying to make it out better. “Can I take this? I know a guy in the science department who might be able to help.”

  “Sure. Do whatever you can.” I nodded.

  Luke and I stood there as we watched Adam drive away.

  “I’m not saying I won’t help, Richard. I’m just saying I don’t like it.” My brother sighed, crossing his arms.

  “Neither do I, bro, but I don’t see any other choice.”

  We both stopped talking when the front door opened and Sadie stepped out. “Hey, did Emma leave with Adam?”

  “No. I thought she was in there with you guys?” I asked, confused.

  “Well, she went to lie down, but when I checked on her she wasn’t in her room,” Sadie said hesitantly.

  Luke and I ran inside and went straight to Emma’s room. The cold October wind swept through her open window, but what stood out was the fact that her screen had been taken off. Emma would never have done that. I ran over to the window and hopped out, grateful they lived on the first floor. I looked down at the ground and saw two large footprints facing the window, and right off to the side was Emma’s cell phone. I picked it up and looked at Luke through the window.

  Sadie came in and looked around at our faces. Not needing to be told, she collapsed on Emma’s bed crying, holding herself as she rocked back and forth.

  “Don’t say it, Richard,” Luke warned. “Don’t you fucking say it.”

  “He got her,” I gasped, holding onto the windowsill so I wouldn’t fall over.

  Luke came over, lifted me through the window, and threw me on the floor. He grabbed me and pulled me up, shaking me roughly. “Don’t you fucking say it! Not Emma! Not my little Emma.” He fell to his knees and wept as I just stood there. I couldn’t feel anything. My whole body felt numb.

  Not realizing Emma’s phone was in my hand, I almost ignored the fact that it was vibrating. I looked at the phone and saw that it was Adam calling. When I opened the phone, I heard his voice, but couldn’t find the words to answer.

  “Hello? Hello, Emma?” Adam’s voice rang out, but I couldn’t answer. All I could do was hold my crying brother and pray.

  Chapter 12

  Day Twenty-Six

  —Lillian

  I was sitting in silence, trying to force down yet another dry bologna sandwich, when the sound of doors slamming and loud footsteps echoed overhead. I quickly checked to make sure the bolts were back in the wall and my hole covered with the carpet in the corner. I sat back on my mattress and waited to see if it was either going to be him or Number Two. I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate on the sounds I heard.

  There was more than one set of footsteps coming down the stairs, which meant both of them were here.

  They were arguing with each other. He was saying things like, “This wasn’t part of the plan” and “This better be worth it.”

  When they made it to the bottom of the stairs, I heard what I believed to be Ruth’s old room being opened and the sound of chains being moved around. If they had gone to one of the other rooms, I would have heard the girls whimper or cry, but they were silent. They must have been listening as intently as I was.

  My eyes snapped open when Ruth’s door was slammed shut and the lock turned.

  “Let’s go. We’ll come check on her in an hour.” Our captor’s voice sounded gritty and annoyed, letting Number Two know he didn’t have the option to disagree.

  We all waited for them to leave, and the music to turn back on, before any of us spoke.

  Sara’s voice echoed out first. “I guess we have a new roommate.”

  “Poor thing,” Anna whispered. “I wonder who she is?”

  I didn’t answer, nor did anyone else. It didn’t matter who she was, because somehow she’d ended up here with us. Anger boiled in me as I imagined that poor girl waking up in there, chained and confused, not knowing what happened or what would happen. What pissed me off even more was how quick he worked to add new girls to torture.

  Needing to keep my mind off our newest arrival, I went back to chipping away at the bolt in the wall. I could hear Anna digging in the dirt next to me, and that was fine. It kept her from wanting to chat with me, and for some reason I just wasn’t in the mood for it. I needed to focus on the task at hand.

  After a while, a groggy voice rang out. “Hello?”

  I was shocked by how familiar it sounded. And when she called out again, a feather could have knocked me over.

  “Emma?” I said, my voice just barely over a whisper.

  No, it couldn’t be.

  “Lee? Lillian . . . is that you?” she asked.

  Oh my God.

  I felt as if my heart had been ripped out of my chest. Fear and rage pumped through my body even as my brain spiraled in confusion.

  Emma didn’t play sports. She didn’t have an athletic bone in her body. Why would he take Emma?

  I stood and moved closer to the door, almost falling when the chain pulled at my ankle. “Emma, what are you doing here? How did you get here?” I asked, trying to keep my voice calm but failing.

  “I don’t . . . I don’t know. All I remember is lying down to take a nap.”

  A nap? Holy shit. He had been inside our apartment, in her room. That thought alone made my body vibrate with outrage.

  “Lee, I’m chained in here.”

  “Welcome to the club, sister,” Kandace said, laughing bitterly. “We all are.”

  “Who said that?” Emma asked.

  “My name is Kandace.”

  There was a pause before Emma said anything.

  “Kandace Veccio, right?”

  “Yeah, how did you know that?” Kandace asked.

  “Are Anna Lin, Linda Baker and Sara Turner down here, too?”

  When Emma said Linda’s name, my eyes welled with tears.

  “Not Linda. Linda was—” I had to stop and take a deep breath before I could keep going. “Linda didn’t make it.”

  There was a moment of silence between all of us, but I couldn’t stand it. I needed to know what was going on.

  “Emma, are you okay?” I asked.

  “Yeah, I’m okay.”

  Her voice sounded calm, which shocked me, but Emma was always better at hiding her emotions than I was. Where I lashed out, she calmed down. I yelled and she got quiet.

  “I think I know this song,” she said, humming along with the chorus.

  “Yeah, well, get used to it,” Kandace replied. “He plays it on repeat all day.”

  I started pac
ing inside my room, the cuff around my ankle cutting into my skin every time I reached my limit from one side to the other. To say I was confused was an understatement. So many questions were swirling around my head, I had to say them out loud in hopes that maybe one of the others could figure it out.

  “I don’t get it. Why did he take you?” I asked. “You don’t play any sports.”

  “What do sports have to do with it?”

  “The one thing we all have in common is that we all play sports,” Kandace answered.

  “Oh, well, yeah. Lee’s right, I don’t play sports,” Emma said. “I just watch.”

  Maybe that’s where he saw Emma? She did go to a few of my track meets during the season.

  “Emma?” Anna called out. “What day is it?”

  “October twenty-sixth, well, if it’s not the twenty-seventh already.”

  “It’s been twenty-six days?” I asked. “I thought it had been longer.”

  “Lee, I’m just so happy you’re alive. You have no idea how hard your brother and Richard have been looking for you.” Emma’s voice trembled as I heard her sniffle to keep her tears away.

  A smile swept over my face as tears spilled over with no shame. They were looking for me, they hadn’t given up, and that alone gave me more incentive to keep fighting.

  “What about the rest of us?” Sara asked.

  “Yes, they are looking for all of you. It’s been all over the news. Everyone is trying real hard.”

  “Not hard enough,” Kandace whispered loud enough for all of us to hear.

  Annoyed by her ungratefulness, I was about to yell at Kandace to shut up when the music was cut off and the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs stopped me. Rage and fear settled over me at the idea that he might be coming down here to hurt Emma. I needed to prepare myself to be ready to piss him off. To get him to want to come into my room instead of hers.

  “Emma, listen to me, whatever happens, whatever you hear, don’t scream,” I said. “Promise me, Emma. Promise me that no matter what happens down here, or whatever happens to me, don’t react. Swear it.”

  I never got Emma’s answer, but I hoped in her heart she promised me. As the heavy door that led down to us opened, I stood up and planned in my head what I was going to say to get him in my room.

  “You have ten minutes, and then you’re done,” he said. “Understand?”

  “Yes,” Number Two responded.

  So he wasn’t going in, but Number Two was? Number Two had only ever come to give us supplies and clean out our buckets. He unlocked Emma’s door, and she gasped and let out a soft whimper.

  “Very nice, very nice indeed,” he said smugly. “You sure you don’t want to share?”

  I was ready to yell out right then and there, but Number Two’s response beat me to the chase.

  “She is mine.”

  “Fine,” he said an annoyed tone. “Twenty minutes, and that’s all.”

  I heard Emma’s door shut and only one set of footsteps go back upstairs. Number Two must have been in there with her, and the thought made me sick to my stomach. I fell to my knees, my chain held tight within my grasp, as I strained to hear what was going on in the other room.

  “Hello,” I heard Number Two say.

  Chains rattled and then they stopped.

  “Does that hurt?” he asked.

  Surprised by how genuine his voice sounded, I took a deep breath, trying to steady my rapid heart.

  “Will you please sit with me? I swear I’ll stay right here. Look . . .” I heard some rustling, and what must have been him sitting on the floor. “I won’t move, I promise.”

  There was a small pause before he spoke again. “I know you’re not dumb, Emma,” he whispered. “I know you know who I am. I could tell by the look on your face when I walked in.”

  My heart started beating loudly once again. I could feel a slight sheen of perspiration coat my body, and even a little bit of bile rose in my throat. She knew him? I was unsure if I should respond, but I decided that maybe it was for the best that I didn’t.

  “Thank you,” Emma said.

  “For what?” he asked.

  “For not thinking I’m dumb.”

  I was still confused about why they took her. She didn’t play sports, and hardly went to any of the games. The only time she did was when I ran. I had been so convinced that it was sports that connected all of us. Granted, I didn’t know if Ruth or Nina played sports, but Emma was proof that my theory was null and void.

  “Are you going to hurt me—like the others?” I heard Emma ask, her voice cracking a little at the end.

  “No, that’s . . . that’s him. Not me.”

  “So you don’t . . .”

  “No!” I heard him shout, cutting off Emma. “No, I don’t force . . . I mean . . . I wouldn’t do that.”

  I’d give the prick that much, he hadn’t laid one finger on any of us. Yet.

  “Thomas—”

  “Tom.”

  Thomas. His name was Thomas.

  I mulled over that new bit of information, trying to see if I could remember anyone named Thomas, but I couldn’t. How could Emma know this person when I didn’t?

  Emma and Thomas’ voices became quiet after that. I would catch a word here and there, but I wasn’t able to make out the conversation.

  The minutes felt like hours while I sat there waiting for anything. Either their voices to pick up so I could hear them, or for him to come back down, or for Emma to cry out because Thomas was attacking her. But even if that happened, I was stuck and unable to do anything but sit and wait.

  “You mean that, Emma?” Thomas said with excitement in his voice. “You’ll stay with me forever?”

  My eyes widened and I turned my ear toward the door.

  Stay forever? What the hell?

  “As long as you live up to your end, I’ll stay,” Emma answered.

  “I swear, Emma. I swear on my life I won’t let anything happen to them.”

  I heard Emma let out a squeak, like she had been startled, and that led me to stand up and stalk toward the door until the chain pulled against my ankle.

  “You’ve made me so happy, Emma. I swear I’ll earn your love.”

  “What the fuck is he talking about?” I whispered.

  All talking stopped when the sound of footsteps came down the stairs. I took a few steps back out of instinct.

  “Time’s up,” he yelled. “Are you decent?” He chuckled as he tapped on Emma’s door.

  “Yes,” Tom answered.

  I heard Emma’s door open and bang against the wall. “How’s the new girl?”

  “It’s not like that,” Tom answered angrily.

  “Still a fucking pussy, I see,” he said in a very matter-of-fact way. “That’s why you can’t hold on to a woman. You need to learn to take charge. Maybe I should go in there and at least soften her up a little.”

  I heard Emma whimper and that caused me to finally take action. I’d be damned if that piece of shit was going to touch my best friend.

  “Ha!” I called out.

  I heard a growl and then he came over and banged on my door. “You shut the fuck up bitch or . . . you know what?” I heard him pull out his keys. “It’s been a while since I beat that smug face of yours.”

  I stood there knowing that he was going to hurt me, possibly rape me again, but it was going to be worth it. When my door swung open, I started to tear up. Not because he had that murderous rage in his eyes that normally scared me, but because I could see Emma right behind him. She looked scared, tired, and had tears streaming down her face when she met my eyes.

  I gave her a small nod, hoping she remembered to keep quiet no matter what. Emma was too gentle and soft for this shit. She’d never be able to handle what I was about to go through.

  Right before he slammed the door, I saw Emma mouth I love you, and that alone let me know that I had done the right thing. I flew across the room, but was stopped by my chain as it caught my ankle.
I fell to the ground, face first, and felt blood pool in my mouth. He took the chain and dragged me back to him, laughing.

  “You just never learn when to shut up, do you?” He reached down, lifted me by my hair, and threw me against the wall. “I’m starting to think you love our time together.”

  I spat the blood out of my mouth and onto his face. “Oh yeah, it’s not a fucking party without you.” I sneered, taking advantage of his moment of shock as he wiped his face, and slammed my fist into his gut. He stumbled back and clutched his stomach, looking at me with pure rage.

  “You have no sense of self-preservation, do you?” he asked, stalking toward me.

  “Better to die on my feet than beg on my knees,” I growled, right before he hit me again.

  He lifted me by my throat and slammed me to the ground. “It’s a great theory to test,” he spat, lowering his head and licking the side of my face. Soft stars clouded my vision as I felt his hand lower down my body and between my legs.

  “I know what you want, and it’s not going to happen,” I said, pushing through my fogged mind.

  “Oh, really?” he chuckled, pulling the zipper down on my tattered jeans, forcing them down along with my underwear. “And what is that?”

  I looked at him square in the eyes, and grinned. “You can’t fucking break me. No matter how hard you beat me, or how many times you rape me, you fail to realize one thing—I don’t have a breaking point.”

  He stopped gripping my throat and just glared at me, his chest rising and falling in anger. I decided to push my luck and kept going, looking down at his semihard member, and laughed.

  “You can’t even get it up, can you? You can’t even fuck a woman unless she’s crying or—”

  “You shut the fuck up!”

  “—damn near unconscious,” I continued, ignoring his outburst. “That’s why you were able to have me that one time, but you can’t now, huh?”