by Sara Schoen
“You ready, Audrey?” Damien called, as I swallowed the last bite of waffle.
“Yeah, coming!”
“I was wondering what was taking you so long,” Damien said, as he pulled me closer to him.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.”
“You're worth the wait. Let’s go.” He ushered me to the door and slammed shut behind me.
The car ride was filled with chatter and laughter. I was getting to know Damien as a person, and he sounded remarkable. He had just finished school, was easy to talk to, and he captivated me with every word. We shared similar interests and thoughts; it was almost as if we had grown up together. He was so charming, in fact, that I hadn’t noticed the car ride was longer than he had said it would be. I realized something was wrong when the car finally came to a stop on the gravel road. At first I was upset because I would have to get out and Damien would be busy, but as I glanced up at the house, fear took over my body. The windows were boarded up; there was no way any light could enter the house. The paint was chipping away, and it looked run down. The front door was shut, but I could see marks all over as if someone had forced their way in. Damien opened my door and took my hand.
“Damien, what are we doing here?”
“This is my friend’s house. I’m here to house sit for him while he is gone. We already covered this, Audrey.”
“This house looks like it was deserted, whose house is this?” I asked nervously.
"Steve Bennett's. We will be staying here for a while."
His words sent fear through my veins. Steve Bennett, the man who kidnapped twelve girls, including my mom, was due for death by lethal injection in a few days. The feed from the old trial had been replaying on the television for months; Anna Cowles' interview was replayed along with Steve’s. There were new analyses of Steve's interviews and speech patterns every time the television was turned on.
Without thinking, I turned around and started running toward the road to go home, but Damien grabbed my waist and pulled me back before I could get far.
“You’re not going anywhere, Audrey. If you ever make it out of this alive, you and your mother will finally have something in common: a fear of this house.” He lifted me over his shoulder and carried me inside.
I squirmed and tried to fight against him, but once the door slammed shut, I knew I wasn’t going to escape anytime soon.
Chapter 4
The front door was solidly in its place; it didn't want to open at all. In fact, Damien had to slam his body against the wooden blockade and force it open. There was only hardwood flooring, and it seemed I could hear every step we took echo through the house. It was bare to the bones; the walls held no photos or phones, and rooms remained empty of furniture unless it was bolted to the ground.
“Damien, what are you doing?” I cried, as he forced me into a hard wooden chair. I felt rope secured to my arms and legs as Damien turned away from me. He left the room, leaving the fear to take over my body as I struggled to free myself. I could hear his footsteps as they traveled upstairs and moved over my head. The steady footfalls brought a new sense of fear as he re-entered the room.
“I’m doing what I was told to do,” he said with a shrug, as he produced a camera that I hadn’t seen since I was a child. “Say cheese.” The Polaroid clicked and slid out a photo, which Damien shook to help develop it.
“I meant why, you jerk!”
“Now, now, Audrey. No need to become rude.”
“Why are you doing this to me?”
“I didn’t originally plan it like this, if that helps you in any way.”
“It doesn’t,” I spat.
“I didn’t know you were Anna Cowles’ daughter. Honestly, you were just a pretty girl that I wanted to get to know. You were so beautiful that I had to try, and maybe you could tell me something about Anna. You see, I didn’t know where she was. It was my mission to take her daughter so that I could bring her out, but I couldn’t do that because she changed her name and moved.”
“Why do you need me?” I asked. My mother had been kidnapped and dragged here; it was almost poetic justice that I’m now stuck in the same house she was.
“Let me finish. Steve Bennett doesn’t want to die, and what better way to keep him alive than to take someone that follows his profile—copycat parse. They’ll have to let him out so he can help them find you.”
“Why would you help him?”
“I have no choice...” Damien mumbled, as he walked out of the room and left me tied to the chair.
“Why not?”
“That’s none of your business,” Damien snapped.
“You have me here against my will! I think it’s my business.”
“See, that’s where you’re wrong. Here, you don’t think. You follow thirteen simple rules and do nothing outside of them.”
“What rules?”
“The same ones your mother followed so expertly, until her betrayal was exposed. There were twelve at the time, except when she was thrown out of the house, Steve made another one.” Damien slipped the piece of paper from the table and held it to my face.
1. Do as you're told.
2. Have all meals ready for me when I get home.
3. Make sure the house stays clean.
4. Never speak out of turn or back talk.
5. Do not argue. I'm right, you're wrong.
6. You belong to me and only me.
7. You take care of the house, I provide for the family.
8. You do not leave the house unless told so.
9. You treat me like a loving husband; I will be one.
10. Take care of the kid; he follows similar rules.
11. Never tell me no! See rule 1.
12. Do not try to hurt me. I over power you.
13. Don’t lie or fake. I don’t care if you don’t like it here, because you’re mine now.
If any of these rules are broken, punishment will ensue.
“Obviously, Garrett is no longer with us, so rule ten is no longer in effect. I will think of a different one to take its spot later,” Damien said with a suggestive smile.
“Garrett?” I questioned skeptically.
“Yes, your father. Let me guess, they never told you how they met. What a pity. I hear it was a fantastic love story,” Damien sneered.
“They met in college, he spilled coffee on her dress accidentally,” I asserted, remembering what my parent’s had told me when I asked. Damien just laughed, and had to lean against the wall for support when he couldn’t stop.
“You actually believe that?” he questioned with a chuckle. “Well, I give them credit, they worked hard to cover up the past.”
“What do you mean?”
“You honestly think that they met under normal circumstances, as if it was fate? If you do, you’re stupid—everyone knows that they met in this house.”
“I am not stupid!” I yelled back, as his hand landed on my shoulder. I didn’t feel afraid, but I pulled my shoulder from his touch as he undid the bounds around my wrists.
“You were senseless with the information you gave me, a total stranger. So that makes you reckless, irresponsible, and stupid. You could have saved yourself from this,” Damien spat, as he grabbed my wrist and dragged me through the bare halls of the house. I could hear the echoing clap of my footsteps as I was forced to follow Damien up the stairs. The second floor had a main room, with a large window, and then three smaller rooms connected to it. The large window was boarded up; I would never see daylight again.
“It’s a pity you had to be Anna Cowles’ daughter,” Damien sighed, as he forced open one of the doors.
“Why?”
“Because I honestly liked you. I enjoyed the intelligent conversation and the lively company, but now I have to keep you trapped against your will. That will put quite the damper on our relationship.”
“There is no relationship!” I spat, as he leaned closer to me.
“Don’t say that, Audrey. I was thinking of changing
rule number nine to treating me as the perfect boyfriend, and then rule ten would be to act as if you loved me.”
“Wouldn’t that cancel out rule thirteen then? I’d be faking!”
“I saw how you were last night. You won’t be faking,” Damien said with a laugh as he shut the door, leaving me alone and isolated.
The room was stripped to the bare necessities. There were no windows or wallpaper, just concrete walls, hard wooden floors, and a bed. The only wall decorations were thirteen pictures that hung on the wall. The girls didn’t look familiar to me until I got to the one right before mine, my mother. I had seen photos of her from my grandmother’s photo album, but none of them looked like this. I shivered as I stared at my mother’s picture. It must have been horrifying living here, and now I was trapped like she had been.
My parents had warned me of the dangers of the world, the laws had tried to protect me, and the kidnappings were a typical conversation, but I still didn’t listen. Now I was going to understand exactly what the laws had been trying to protect me from. I was going to have to live through what my mother did, and hopefully survive like she did.
Chapter 5
I tried to think of everything I knew about Steve Bennett to help me find a way out. His life had become a topic of study across the nation after he successfully captured thirteen girls. But since the laws had prevented us from learning details, and tried to save us from having another mass kidnapping, I didn’t know as much as I should. My mom would know more, and my father would know even better. I needed to know about Steve so that I could find out how Damien was going to act. How was he going to treat me, and how was life in this house going to be?
I glanced at the photos again; my mother was the reason I was here, Damien had said so, and he had brought me here to drag my mother out of hiding.
Steve captured the girls to be a replacement wife for the one he lost, Kelly, which was common knowledge due to his ravings in jail. Damien didn’t seem to want that since he didn’t call me Kelly or try to make a move on me. I made all the moves on him, and look where that got me—trapped in a concrete room. I wish I had known sooner that my mom was Anna Cowles; I would appreciate it right now. I would know how she escaped and maybe what to expect; but if she had told me, I either wouldn’t have believed her, or I would have run out on her as I just did.
I sighed in frustration. I wish that her photo could talk to me, tell me what she experienced and tell me how to get out. I just wanted to know what to expect, but Steve would be different than Damien.
I glanced at the photos again, and wondered how Damien was connected in all of this. What did Damien have to gain from taking me? He should know that people would start looking for me when I didn’t go back home right away. The laws made it mandatory to report someone that hadn’t been seen for a week. So what was worth the risk?
“Audrey, are you in there?” Damien’s voice asked through the door.
“Well, it’s not like I could go anywhere else,” I retorted with a drawn out sigh.
“It was only out of courtesy; don’t be rude,” he said, as he walked in and handed me a black sweatshirt.
“What’s this for?”
“It’s going to get cold in the next few weeks. I don’t want you to get sick,” he said nonchalantly, as he turned and walked out of the room.
“I won’t be here then.” He stopped in his tracks as soon as the words left my mouth. I could see the anger in his eyes as he turned to glare at me.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I’ll get out of here. My family will be looking for me.”
“I don’t think they’ll start looking for you for a while. You ran off, remember? Who’s going to look for a runaway?”
"They will!"
"No, they won't. You screamed at them, told them you hated them, and said you wouldn't come back. You're not going anywhere."
He was right; no one was going to look for a runaway. I had run off a few times before, but I always came back. They would just wait for me to cool off and come back home, but I wasn’t going to. I was going to be stuck here with no help, only myself. It wasn’t a terrible thought; I have relied on myself since those laws took away my freedom, and I had to make my own.
“That’s what I thought,” Damien said as he turned to leave.
“I’ll escape,” I said, loud enough for him to hear me.
“I wouldn’t try that, Audrey. This house holds a lot of secrets, and even more traps. You won’t be getting out anytime soon, just accept it. You’re going to live in this room for a long time,” he said as he slammed the door behind him, not caring about what I said after he left.
“Fine, if I can’t escape, I’m going to figure out what you want from me and why you’re helping Steve. There’s got to be something in this house,” I said to myself.
I waited until I was sure Damien had gone down the stairs. I knew there were a few other rooms, one of which my father had stayed in while he and my mother had been trapped here together. My footsteps echoed off the hardwood floor as I traveled to the first room. It was an empty closet with nothing except a single hanger in it. I sighed heavily, then shut the door before moving on. I tried hard to keep my movements quiet, but the closet door squeaked, and I thought Damien would come sprinting up the stairs.
I took a relaxing breath as I made it to the next door, but it squeaked loudly—I froze. When I didn’t hear Damien coming up the stairs, I slid into the room and turned on the light; I had found a bathroom. I glanced around and noted the necessities were there—toilet paper and towels—but my eyes fell on a brown paper bag. The bag crumpled as my hand wrapped around to pull it out. I cringed at how loud the paper bag was. I quickly dumped out the contents and threw away the bag; I figured the less time I held it the less noise I would make. In my hand, I held a leather-bound book that was smooth to the touch. I felt a smile turning up at the corners of my lips as I opened the book.
Inside there was a signature on the first page. It was signed by Garrett Thomas and titled The Chronicle of a Survivor. I laughed slightly as the door behind me creaked open.
“What do you think you are doing?” I heard Damien ask from behind me.
“Going to the bathroom,” I said, hiding the journal behind my back—slowly placing it up my shirt to hide it from view.
“Let me see your hands,” he ordered. I showed him my hands, but when he tried to turn me around I had to think of a way to stop him. Without thinking, I stood up on my toes and kissed him lightly on the lips before turning and running away from him like a shy schoolgirl.
“Right,” Damien said in drawn out disbelief, as I ran back to my room.
I knew kissing him was a cheap trick because it would distract him, but I needed to get out with the book. I had a strong feeling that my father had left me everything I needed to survive in this house. I could only hope I would finally listen to his advice so I could find my way back home.
Chapter 6
"So where are the other girls?" I asked Damien when I came out of my room for breakfast a few days later. He had left me alone for a while so that I could adjust, as he put it. I spent all that time reading my father's journal. I was thankful; even though his life was hell in this house, he took detailed notes so he could one day escape.
"What other girls?" he asked.
"You said you were a copycat, so there has to be other girls."
"I'm not an actual copycat. My job is just to make them think that they caught the wrong man. I need to get him out of jail somehow. Either they caught the wrong man, or they need his help to track me down."
"How does taking me help with that?"
"If Steve Bennett is in jail, how could he take you? If they couldn’t find him the first time, then they will need help to prevent another mass kidnapping."
"So you only have to take one person to make the plan work?"
"Yeah, and why would I want another girl? I wouldn't want you to get jealous of other girls," Dam
ien said with a wink as brought breakfast to me.
"How can I be jealous if you held us against our will?"
"It's common knowledge that Steve Bennett made love to his wives."
"You mean he raped them,” I spat sourly. "Is that a threat Damien?"
"I would never threaten you. When we make love you'll want it, too. You'll just have to accept our relationship."
"There is no relationship."
"That's not what you were hoping for last night."
"I'm in a relationship with someone already. You were a one night thing," I said with a smirk, knowing that would irritate him.
"Must be a very open relationship for you to have sex with me while you were with them,” he stated through gritted teeth.
"Well, it has to be open. It's illegal for individuals under eighteen to date, remember?"
"Nice way to avoid saying ‘kids,’ but you’re old enough to date."
"But Mark isn't yet," I stated. Damien's face grew tense and irritated. He looked as if he was ready to punch something or someone; I just hoped I wasn’t the target.
"Well, I guess now I don't have competition," Damien said with a smirk as his expression changed. He let out a soft chuckle before taking a seat next to me.
"What do you mean?"
"In a few days he'll forget about you. You were a hook-up; he'll find someone else."
"No he won't! He wants to date me," I asserted.
"Did he tell you that? In those words exactly?"
"No, but—"
"There are no buts in this case, Audrey. If he wanted to date you, he would have told you. Hell, if I was under eighteen, I'd tell you I wanted to date you."
"Too bad you're, what, thirty-five?" I said, letting the sarcasm drip from my words.
"I'm twenty-one, thank you very much. I'm actually allowed to drink and go to bars like where I picked you up. I can't believe the bartender even served you a drink. You are obviously underage," Damien spat in my face, as if it was an insult.