by Sara Schoen
“What are you doing down here?” An officer asked from behind me. He glanced between the empty cell and me before grabbing me by the arm. “Damien Clark has escaped!” He called up to the other officers.
He pushed me up the stairs and into the crowd of police officers that were dusting off after their close call with a gunman. Some were searching the building, while others were leaving to look for Damien. I couldn’t believe that Damien had left without me. I had given up my chance to escape for him, but he had left without even looking for me.
As I was forced back into the main room, the first sentence that Damien had said to me when we arrived here repeated in my mind, “We’ll work this out just like your mom said.” What had my mom said, and how did he know what my mom had said? I had had a private phone call with her. There were no other phones in that house, so how did he know what my mom said? He couldn’t know, unless he recorded it.
I felt my eyes grow wide in realization. Damien had recorded the conversation with my mom and then tried to tell me what we had to do to escape by commenting on it. We had to part ways and escape on our own, but how was I supposed to know where to meet up with him? Where was I supposed to go?
“Where did Steve Bennett go?” An officer yelled out.
“I told you this would happen. Now you’ve put me and my family in danger,” I growled as I glared at each of the officers that had ridiculed me for my warning.
“You have worse things to worry about. Your boyfriend has been accused of some very serious crimes and ran out without you. I’m sure Steve will find him and dispose of him before coming back for you and your mother. He has to make sure that she comes first,” Officer Rivers whispered to me, but another officer overheard him and slammed him against the wall.
"You're working with Steve, just like your dad!" the officer yelled as he pulled his arm back and hit Officer Rivers in the face.
It started another police fight and gave me the chance I needed to get out of the police station. Although, the second I stepped out of the building a pair of hands grabbed me.
“Well, Audrey, it’s time you came with me,” Steve said, as he held his hand over my mouth and dragged me away.
Chapter 23
"Now it's time for some fun. Don’t you think so, Audrey?" I tried to push off, but he wasn’t letting go. I struggled against his hold as he continued to carry me off. There was just no way that he would make it out of here with all these cops around us. They would see and save me, unless they all worked with Steve. “Audrey, don’t struggle,” Steve growled, as we got further and further toward the back of the police station and into the woods.
I opened my mouth to scream, but couldn’t with his hold on it. So I opened it as wide as I could and bit down. I heard him slam his teeth together as he tried not to let out a scream, so I bit down harder, causing him to let go of me. My right foot dug into the dirt, sending me forward in a mad sprint and trying to escape from him, but I didn’t make it away fast enough. I felt hands grab my waist and pull me backwards until I slammed into his body. His hand covered my face and I got a cloth with a strong scent thrown in my face. I tried to hold my breath, but he shoved the cloth in my face and soon I felt myself start to fade.
“Enjoy your sleep, Audrey,” he said deeply, as I fought to stay awake.
Fear was pulsing through my veins as he dragged my limp body toward a dark truck. There was no energy left within me to fight as the outermost parts of my vision slowly faded to black and collapsed until I blacked out completely. The last thing I remember was the slam of a car door and then I felt and heard nothing.
It took a few tries to wake up, each time I was thrown back into the darkness. I could hear the car screeching to a halt, the next time a slam, and then I wasn’t even sure when I opened my eyes that I still wasn’t passed out because of how dark it was. I was suddenly blinded by light before being shoved into the darkness again. The lights came repeatedly until I figured out it was streetlights and rolled over so they weren’t in my eyes. I could make a faint outline of another person and saw flashes as we raced past the streetlights. I caught sight of long blonde hair and the gleam of a familiar wedding ring before I finally realized who it was.
“Mom?” I asked as I looked as the body.
I forced myself to move, but every time I moved my body screamed out in pain. I took in a sharp breath and tried to make my way over to her. Her hands were bound and she had a gag in her mouth, while I was free to move around the second I woke up. I could only imagine the fight she had put up in order to be bound and gagged in the back of the truck.
“Mom, can you hear me?” I asked, shaking her as vigorously as I could. She didn’t move for a while, and it terrified me.
“Mom, get up!” I called a little louder and shook harder until she started to stretch and wake up.
“Audrey?” she asked through a cracking voice.
“Mom, you’re okay.”
“No, we aren’t. We’re in real danger, Audrey. This is exactly why we moved from here. I knew if he ever got out this would happen,” she said sadly.
“I’m sorry for everything, Mom. For what I said when I left and how I reacted when I found out.”
“It’s understandable, but now we have to focus on how to escape before we get to that old run down house of his.”
“We can’t be going to the house,” I said, as I started to help Mom untie the rope from her hands.
“What do you mean?”
“It caught fire when Damien and I left. That house is gone. Steve meant to destroy it and kill me inside, but Damien saved me. The house is gone and I don’t know where else he would be going,” I stated.
“I don’t either. He had lived in that house his whole life,” My mother sighed once her hands were released and her hands instantly went to her head.
“What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”
“Yeah, I was injured in the struggle.”
“What struggle? How were you captured?”
“Well, captured is a strong word. We had arrived at the police station to see a young man being thrown in jail for conspiracy. I wasn’t surprised to find the son of Chief Rivers there, but while we were shuffling through the area to look for you because you ran off, your father and I got split up, and I was hit on the back of the head, quite swiftly and hard I might add,” she said as she rubbed the back of her head.
“Is Dad okay?”
“I think so, we have to get out of here before we get wherever he plans on taking us.”
“I know, but what do we do?”
“We seem to be in the bed of a pickup truck, so we can kick out the taillight and that should get rid of the holder in order to drop the tailgate. We can slide out undetected and hopefully have him continue driving for a long time,” my mother said as if she had thought of the plan before.
“Wow, Mom, that’s impressive.”
“I tried telling you that you had to be prepared for anything,” she said knowingly as she moved and let out a loud grunt as she hit out the taillight.
“Now what?” I asked curiously.
“Now you kick out the other taillight and we escape,” my mom said with a smile, as if this brought her back to her childhood. I couldn’t figure out why that would bring a smile to her face. Unless she was thinking about outsmarting Steve, and that made her happy.
“I can try,” I stuttered, as the vehicle came to a sudden and quick stop sending us crashing into the back of the cab of the truck.
The engine shut off and a door slammed before my mother and I could recover. There was the distinguishable sound of footsteps crunching on gravel then a forceful slam of the tailgate opening.
“One of you owes me a new taillight,” he said as he reached in and grabbed me by the ankles. He pulled me out and had me fall to the ground in a heap before lifting me up by my hair and directing me toward a dilapidated house. It was falling apart from years of neglect.
“Welcome home, Audrey. I think your mother and I will
like it here after I fix it up a little bit.”
Chapter 24
The house was one story and was falling to pieces. Even as Steve forcibly pushed me into the house I could see the damage age had done. Siding was falling off the house, while shingles were barely hanging on. I couldn't imagine having to live here and didn't want to. What was going to happen to us here? I had a strong feeling that I was going to live through a nightmare of my own.
"I have such fond memories here, Audrey," he said, as he pushed the door open and shoved me inside. My head hit the hardwood floor hard and I let out a high-pitched squeal. The sounds reverberated off the walls and all through the house as Steve continued to talk. "And now with you and Anna back in my possession, I'll have even better memories."
"Why are you doing this to us?" I cried as his hands grabbed onto a huge chunk of my hair.
“Because you’re mine now, and your mother always was mine,” he growled as he yanked my up by my hair. He pulled me through the house, past empty rooms with nothing in them except a chair until he found a room he liked. This room had one bed, and one seat, but nothing else. I felt a chill creep up my spine as he looked a little bit too pleased with the room he had chosen.
“This was my room whenever we came up for the summer, and now it’s our family’s room,” he said with a smile spread across his face.
“We’re not your family,” I said, but just as the words left my mouth a hand landed on my cheek with a loud smack.
“Never talk to me like that! You are mine! I thought your mother would teach you better. Looks like I have to retrain her as well,” Steve responded.
“You can’t train people!”
“I did it before and I can do it again. You’d be amazed at what people will do if they believe they will get out alive afterward. You’ll both just have to accept it for life!”
“Why can’t you just take me? You said it yourself that Garrett stole Anna away from you and she was now tainted. You said I look exactly like her when you first met her. Take me and let my mother go!”
“That’s quite a remarkable offer, but I need both of you. Anna is my wife, the perfect wife for me, and you are our daughter. With you here she has no reason to leave because if she does than you will be punished, and she knows exactly what it’s like to be punished by me," he growled, letting the last bit of his sentence become a dark promise that he would keep if I caused trouble.
“I’m a reason to fight.”
“One she won’t take. You’re stuck here. You will not be leaving, and no one will come here to find you. We move in a few days, and after that, you’ll lose all hope of someone coming to save you.” Steve stated as he produced a pair of handcuffs.
“I have a reason to fight. I have my life to live.”
“Which you will live out here now.”
“Not if I have anything to say about it,” I stated as I feigned bravery and reluctance to stand down.
Steve glared daggers into my eyes. I could see the anger building rapidly and knew that if I kept pushing, I would find out exactly the punishment I’d be receiving every time I misbehaved. He pulled me over to the heating vent, taking control of me by pulling my hair again. I was thrown onto the ground roughly as I heard the click of the handcuffs latch onto the heating vent—then my wrist was roughly pinched as Steve slapped on the other cuff.
“Damien will find me,” I asserted, as Steve turned to walk away.
“Don’t get your hopes up. He ran off without taking you with him. If he had taken you, you and my precious Anna wouldn’t be here right now. I really owe it all to him, I would tell him where his sister was if I remembered. Truth is, she was one of the girls that refused to follow my rules. She was thrown out before a month was up and I didn’t care about her.”
“You told him that you knew where she was buried!”
“I did? Guess he didn’t think I’d lie! I don’t care about his sister, him, or Garrett. I only want Anna. She is meant to be with me forever! Damien was a pawn. I used him, just like I used you to get Anna. I don’t care about either of you,” Steve spat as he walked out of the room.
I slouched to the floor as I thought of the horrors that were about to befall my mother and me. We needed to get out, that’s what I knew, but I also knew that my dad would at least be looking for us. He wouldn’t stop until he found Mom and me again.
I could hear Steve’s footsteps echo through the house as he re-entered the home. I tried not to look up as he came back into the room, but my mother’s whimper forced me to. Steve had his hands all over her already and she was in tears. Her life was ruined if he ever laid hands on her again, and now we had to live with him again. She looked so destroyed. She thought she had been done with this man. She thought that she finally had a life. This is why she left the name Anna Cowles behind her. Now, the name would haunt her forever.
It was then that I knew how to make it out of this, dead or alive.
Chapter 25
I had to watch for days as Steve tried to reconnect with my mother. It was disgusting to watch and to hear. He constantly stroked her hair or face, kissed her, and tried to get her to talk to him. He wasn't going to give up, and I was just a pawn to keep her here, but I wasn't going to let that be true if I could help it.
"Come now, Anna. You know the rules, even your daughter knows them," Steve cooed to my mother when she turned her head away from him.
"How dare you-" Steve started to yell, but I interrupted.
"I don't know the rules. Damien changed them," I said defiantly.
Steve slowly turned to glare at me. He was clearly angry that his apprentice had changed the rules for me. I could see the veins in his head about to pop with frustration.
“I knew he wasn’t good enough to follow through with my plans, but he got me what I wanted and that’s all that matters.” Steve said, his voice and demeanor drastically changing as he looked at my mother with lust in his eyes. “You know what, Anna, our daughter is right. She does look so much like you did when we first met,” Steve said as he licked his lips. I squirmed under his gaze, but he enjoyed it the more I struggled.
“No, stop!” my mother called, as Steve went to un-cuff me.
“I bet, even though she had intercourse with Damien, she’s as tight as you were. You were so much better than Kelly,” he said, his voice dripping with lust as he looked at me and pushed his growing erection into my leg.
“Steve!” My mother called again, but Steve didn’t hear her. He was too busy fantasizing about having sex with a young version of her again, and judging from the growing size of his hard-on, he liked what he was thinking about. “Steve, we are married. If you have intercourse with anyone it should be me,” my mother said, shocking both Steve and me.
“Mom, no!” I screamed until Steve slapped his hand over my mouth.
“I’m glad you came to your senses, sweetheart,” Steve said, getting off of me and going toward her.
“But I won’t have it with you until she is out of the room,” my mother said forcefully through tears, determined to find the strength to do this.
“I’ll take our daughter out of the room, just for you,” he growled lustfully, before he un-cuffed me from the heating vent and led me to another room in the house as quickly as he could.
“You can’t do this!”
“I can and I will. Don’t worry, your time will come soon. You and your mother will be mine forever.” He cuffed my hands together in the front and pressed my back into him for a few moments. “You look so much like your mother did.” His erection pushed against my butt and his hands squeezed my breasts. When he got so hard I thought he would explode right then, he tossed me in the room without a word before he slammed the door.
I forced myself off the ground in anger and frustration. My mom was just going to let him get his way, and now he knew how to get her to cooperate. I wasn’t going to let her do this; I couldn’t let her do it. I tried to turn the knob on the door, but it stopped short; Steve had lo
cked me in. I let out an angry scream as I tried to force the door open by slamming into it. I could hear my mother’s screams as I tried to force the door open. I slammed into it with all I had, but then fell backward at the force. I collided with the hardwood flooring so hard that a piece popped up and I fell through the floorboards into a small concrete hole.
As I regained my bearings I realized just what this hole meant to my mother and me. We could get out during move out day tomorrow—one of us, and I knew who it would be. I could hear the bedpost suddenly stop banging on the walls and footsteps fast approaching as I forced myself out of the hole and sealed it shut. Steve opened the door with a triumphant smile on his face. He simply tossed my mother back into the room in a heap and shut the door behind him. My mom doesn’t move for a while, but I can see that the handcuffs were off of her and this was what we needed.
“Mom, are you okay?”
“I’ve been better, but that’s not the worst I’ve been through,” she said in a weak voice.
I couldn’t tell if she was breathing, but I could hear the tears and pain in her voice. I swallowed my fears, and my only hope for getting out of this alive and unscathed, but she had done this before and now it was my time.
“Mom, I need you to listen to me,” I said without any emotion.
“What?” she grunted.
“I need you to get into this hole and not say a word until Steve and I leave tomorrow,” I stated, opening the floorboards.
“No, you get in. He doesn’t want you; he wants me. You get in that hole and hide,” she stated, as she gained a second wind and got up to tell me what to do.