Time passed, and Adrien didn’t look like he would move. His body had relaxed on the couch, his breathing had slowed.
Is he… actually asleep?
Right in front of her?
Should I try?
Camila was resolved to wait. She could wait. It was the safest thing she could do to get herself out of this, but with such a chance in front of her, could she really just let it go? He had been slowly declining over the past few days, maybe it was time?
Waiting was safe. Waiting was fine… However, if she could get out of this faster, shouldn’t she try?
She didn’t let herself be hasty. She moved around, barely cleaning as she kept throwing glances at him, but he never showed any reaction.
Camila got closer.
Whether or not he had the remote on him, she had no idea. But she could deal with that when it became a problem. In his pocket, she could see the outline of a smartphone. If she could just get her hands on it to call someone…
An hour passed. Then another. Adrien didn’t move.
Camila took the chance.
She got even closer, sneaking until she was right in front of him, practically crouched down. Sneaking glances at his face, she reached for his pocket.
So close. So very close.
She was cautious with every inch she got closer to getting to his phone, but not cautious enough. His hand snapped on her, surprising her. She yelped and tried to jump back, but it was already too late. He’d caught her wrist, his grip hard. But then it loosened, and she quickly backed away, looking up to his face.
“Nice try,” he huffed, half-lidded eyes slipping back closed.
Camila moved away. Adrien didn’t move for a long while, but she was too scared to try again.
Chapter Six
The day ended without much suspense, or well, without more suspense. Camila went back to cleaning up around the place, not going too far so she could keep a casual eye on Adrien.
He’s…really not going to do anything to me?
Camila knew that the only reason she had gotten off so easily was because Adrien wasn’t a hundred percent. He was clearly feeling sick, even with the painkillers, and he didn’t look like he planned on drinking alcohol anymore. She hadn’t seen him drinking any the past couple days, either, and she wondered if it was because the alcohol was all gone.
She didn’t know, because she wasn’t allowed down in the basement, not that she wanted to go down there, not with Tansy’s body being down there. Even with his declining health, she didn’t dare act too rashly, going around the place to investigate without his knowledge. If he ever found out, she would be in trouble. The way he grabbed her hand when she thought he was passed out was enough to let her know that his mind was still sharp.
I need to wait some more. He won’t be getting better without going to a hospital and there’s no way he’s going to do that.
She was ready to be patient. As long as it got her out of this. She should have been from the start. She was all ready to start cursing for herself for her blunder earlier.
Because she got impatient, Adrien might not let down his guard when she needed him to. He’ll try to be even more alert now.
Camila sighed. Were the police getting any closer, at least…?
In the end, when he woke up hours later, he didn’t ask her to cook dinner, he just sent her to her room. She was pretty sure he didn’t eat anything either, though, so she couldn’t even bring herself to complain in case it annoyed him. She heard the door click shut, and moved to the bed, laying down with a sigh.
She only had a thin sheet and blanket that she kept spread on the bed and wrapped around herself, because there weren’t any other covers available, and she didn’t dare ask Adrien, since she still didn’t understand his triggers. She curled in on herself, then buried her face in her hands.
Can I… really survive like this?
She had been resolved to wait, but this was taking a lot longer than she thought it would. At the very least, she’d hoped that the police would have found them already, but nothing had happened yet. Adrien was sick, but it was moving too slowly.
Camila thought she could survive this and come out of it okay, but while lying on the bed, unable to fall asleep immediately, she realized her mind had frayed a lot more than she thought. She could wait, but she didn’t think she was going to be fine anymore once all this was over.
I miss Samuel… and Mom...
Keeping her eyes closed, she waited for sleep to claim her.
At least one good thing happened.
That night, Camila dreamed of Samuel.
It wasn’t the first time she had dreamed of him, but before, it had been while frightened and hoping he would be there to save her. She was definitely afraid that night, because she knew if Adrien had been in the best of shape, he would not have let her go. He would have hurt her. When she lay down in bed in her room, she was shivering.
The dream was nice, though. She blinked her eyes open and found herself in Samuel’s arms again.
“Hey there, sweetheart,” he murmured, smiling down at her, his expression soft.
Camila was surprised, but she knew it had to be a dream and she knew it was him and not Adrien because there was just something about Samuel that Adrien would never have that spoke directly to her heart. A tenderness, but strength of character too. Camila didn’t care that it was only a dream, it was good to see him, to hear him. Even if it would only last for a short while, she would take it.
“Samuel,” she breathed out, her hand trembling as she reached up to cup his cheek. “You’re here…”
He chuckled, his eyes sparking down at her with humor. “Where else would I be, sweetheart?”
Samuel rolled them over, and she realized they were lying on his bed. He pressed her back into it, and she let out a sigh as her eyes slipped closed, just enjoying the moment. The bed was soft and warm, and Samuel’s body felt hot against hers. She felt soft lips pressed against her neck, and she shivered.
“I feel like I should apologize about what happened,” he murmured. “You are scared, aren’t you, baby?” he whispered as she stroked her cheek. “I’m so sorry.”
His arms tightened around her, and she gasped, feeling the lines of his body pressed against hers. It felt so real she felt her eyes sting with tears. She knew it couldn’t be real, but she wished.
“You don’t need to be sorry,” she whispered. “None of it is your fault.”
She wrapped her arms around him, her eyes snapping open when she realized she was touching his skin. She looked down at the two of them, and realized they were both naked and she smiled.
Samuel’s body moved against hers, his knee parting hers. She spread her legs and he fit his hips in the space between. She felt him rubbing intimately against her, and she rocked her body against his as her breathing and heartbeat started picking up. Then Samuel slid inside, and her head tilted back, her breath hitching in her throat.
Their bodies moved together, Samuel sliding in and out of her, tenderly making love to her. She wrapped her arms around him, clutching to him.
“Samuel,” she whimpered.
She realized her eyes were wet with tears. She squeezed her eyes, and warm liquid slid down the sides of her face.
This…feels so real. Please let this be real.
She didn’t know who she was pleading with, but she hoped for it. That she was away from all the problems, and it was just the two of them loving each other without the world getting in the way.
If only life could be so simple.
“Camila,” he said softly. His gentle touch on her cheek felt as if he was touching her soul.
Her eyes blinked open, and she looked up at him. He was braced above her on his forearms. He wasn’t moving anymore, and she squirmed beneath him, but didn’t try to tell him to continue. The look in his eyes was sad as he ducked down to press a kiss to her forehead.
“Camila, sweetheart,” he murmured. “I promise, I’m coming for y
ou, okay? So don’t cry, sweetheart, please. I will find you.”
Her breath hitched in her throat, and she slid her eyes closed. She didn’t want to see that look on his face, because it broke apart the fantasy she wanted to believe in at that moment. When she opened her eyed again, it was to see that he’d vanished.
Camila woke up with a gasp.
It was dark, but she knew immediately where she was. She was back at the farmhouse, in the room Adrien had locked her in. She wasn’t somewhere soft and warm with Samuel.
She shivered as she curled further in on herself, pulling the blanket around her tighter as she squeezed her eyes shut and cried. Her body shook with the sobs she tried to hold inside. She didn’t want to make too much noise and grab Adrien’s attention, but she was sure now that she couldn’t keep going like this. A few more days, maybe even a couple weeks might be okay, but if she was here for too long, her mind might not recover.
Will I ever see them again?
Samuel, her mother, Brianna. She wanted to know how they were doing, that they were all okay and worrying about her, looking for her. She even missed the people at work and her job.
Crap, she thought, giving a wet laugh. I didn’t even finish my last job, right? They’re probably worried they can't reach me, too. Did Samuel tell them anything?
It took a long while for her to calm down, then she wiped the tears from her face. She pulled the sheet and blanket down, and looked around. It was still late at night, though, and with no light around, it was too dark for her to see anything. She couldn’t even see the moon through the tiny window in the room, and she wondered if it was a new moon. She hadn't been paying attention.
With a sigh, she slipped out of the bed. The room was empty so she didn’t have to worry about knocking into anything. If the door was open, she would have gone out to get herself a drink of water or something, but she couldn’t do that. She could get one from the bathroom if she were really thirsty. He’d taken the glass, but she could use her hands if need be.
Her hand on the wall, she stood in the middle of empty space. She looked at the window. She could just barely tell where it was. She took in deep breaths to calm down her heart and her mind.
I can't let myself fall apart like this, she said, determination swirling through her.
Camila wasn’t going to give up. Not on getting out of this situation, and not on herself. No matter what happened, she knew she had people on her side. If she lost herself, then they could help her. But she had to see them again first.
I am getting out of here. Definitely.
She had to see her family again. She had to see Samuel again. There were words that weren’t said between them, that she wished she had said now. But, there was still time for them, and she planned to tell him everything when she got out.
Camila would tell him just how much he meant to her, how much she regretted starting all of this by letting herself get taken in by Adrien.
She was going to tell him that she loved him completely, whether or not he felt the same way yet. At the very least, she knew he had to care for her.
“I will not let Adrien break me,” she murmured out loud. “I will escape from here, and I will be fine. Adrien… will be gone.”
She didn’t care how that happened. If he died, she wasn’t exactly going to waste a tear on him.
Even more filled with determination, she took a last, deep breath, then let it out. She turned back and made her way carefully to the bed, then lay down and brought the sheet and blanket back around her.
Camila was done with the waiting game. Any chance she got, no matter what Adrien would try to do to her, she was going to try to escape, the sooner the better. Even if what she did earlier would cause him to put his guard up, he couldn’t have it up all the time, not in the state he was in.
As long as she saw the chance, she was going to incapacitate him, if she couldn’t find the remote to the collar. Then, she was going to run.
Chapter Seven
Camila woke up early in the morning, and got out of bed. It was light enough for her to see, but it still looked damn early, and she wondered how long it would be before Adrien woke up. Somehow, she had to get him to stop locking her in the room, or she might get in trouble. If he passed out because he was too sick while she was locked up, it would be inconvenient for her.
It was a long time before she heard the steps outside her door, and she froze. She didn’t try to hide this time, staying standing in the middle of the room as Adrien unlocked the door. It did surprise her when he didn’t open it before walking away.
She hesitated. What was this? Every time, he would open the door after unlocking it to check up on her, even when he thought she still had a highly contagious flu.
Is he planning something?
There was no more noise from outside. After a while, she cautiously moved forward and opened the door for herself, then stepped out. She didn’t see Adrien.
Camila hesitated. She was through with the passive behavior from before, but that didn’t mean she should act stupid all of a sudden. If she did something risky, it might ruin everything. Sneaking around while Adrien was awake was a bad idea, so after a while, she headed toward the living room.
“Adrien?” she called tentatively.
She heard a grunt coming from the couch. She found Adrien sitting down with a couple bottles of alcohol. So, they weren’t all gone after all. She was surprised how much stock of the stuff Tansy had in her place, or if Adrien had come with some of his own. Surely no one just kept all this alcohol lying around collecting dust, right?
“You should have fucking dug the hole, Camila,” Adrien grumbled.
He was glaring at her, but she didn’t have it in her to be frightened. Instead, she was confused. She didn’t get was he was talking about immediately.
Then, out of nowhere, a rank smell hit her nose that made her double over, an arm curling around her stomach as her other hand slapped over her mouth. She gagged for a little bit, but the urge to vomit pulled back. She was eating a lot less because Adrien had given up on being the ‘dutiful husband’ and hadn’t brought up any more of the canned goods to replace what they’d eaten. Now she knew why. The body in the basement was rank and made her gag, but she didn’t have much to throw up, anyway. She hadn’t eaten in more than a day, and even though she’d been hungry earlier, she wasn’t now.
“What,” Adrien muttered. “Are you still sick?”
She nodded her head quickly, not looking up. “I’m sorry.”
He clicked his tongue. “I don’t need you to be fucking sorry. Get me food from the kitchen, I don’t wanna move.”
Camila shot him a look of surprise. He could actually eat something? With that smell? She would take whatever solitude she could get her hands on, but the idea of food actually made her feel a little bit sick.
She understood his statement, now, though, about digging the hole. Tansy’s dead body in the basement was decaying and odiferous. She kind of regretted not digging the hole herself, but the ground had been too hard and frozen for her to get the shovel in it deep enough to bury the body.
Tansy’s body must have been decomposing the entire time in the warmer basement, but while Camila had hoped to forget about her being down there, she hadn’t actually forgotten about it. She was surprised it took this long before she noticed the smell though. Or maybe it was just stronger now that Adrien had gone back down in the basement to retrieve more alcohol. The smell was hitting her really hard today and she almost couldn’t stand it.
Adrien took a swig of alcohol, and then shot her a look of impatience. “Now, Camila.”
That had her moving, and she walked as far from the door to the basement as she could crossing the living room to get to the kitchen.
She noticed the food stocks had been replenished too. She knew there was a storage room somewhere in the basement where Adrien got the food. There must be a freezer down there too, because there was now more meat in the kitchen freezer too. S
ince she’d had no chances to explore with him watching her movements like a hawk most of the time, and she wouldn’t have gone down in the basement anyway, she had no idea what was in the storage room down there. She was glad to have the food though.
Since the produce in the house had been eaten up quickly within the first few days, she was happy to have the canned goods and the meat. For now, Camila picked a can off the pantry shelf, and she didn’t bother to check what was in it as she picked up a clean spoon, and the can opener, which she’d found in one of the drawers. She opened the can and scooped the contents into a bowl. It looked like baked beans. There hadn’t been a label on the can, so she was guessing. She popped the bowl in the microwave and when it was done heating, she took the bowl to where Adrien was seated on the couch in the living room.
The smell from the basement was heavier in the living room, and it didn’t help her nausea. Neither did Adrien’s constant indulging in alcohol. She wondered if he’d woken up and started drinking before he even opened her door for her, because when she got too close to him, she could smell the alcohol on him like he’d doused himself in the stuff.
Quickly, she backed away, once again holding a hand to her mouth and holding back the vomit. She was a little frustrated with herself, because she’d thought this had passed. Though with the nasty smells in the room, it wasn’t much of a surprise.
“Cut that the fuck out,” Adrien said with a wrinkle of his nose as he shooed her off with a hand. “Didn’t you say you were feeling fine before?”
“That was before,” she muttered.
She walked over to the windows and pushed them open, breathing in the fresh air as she leaned her head out the window. It was cold, but she didn’t care. The clean air was definitely an improvement.
“If you don’t get well and stop being sickly, I’ll stop feeding you altogether,” he threatened. “You’ll starve either way, but if you’re just going to puke up the food you eat, there’s no reason I have to starve with you.”
Shattered Obsession: Book 3 of the Obsession Trilogy Page 4