I open my mouth to scream, but he puts his hand over my mouth. I struggle in his arms. I kick and dig my nails into his forearm as hard as I can and feel several of them bend backward. This only makes him hold me tighter. He bends me over the counter, then reaches in his pocket. Oh God, please, no.
I flail my arms on the countertop, knocking dishes and knick-knacks onto the floor. The vase of flowers Kyle gave me falls in slow motion, then shatters on the tile floor. I try desperately to find something, anything I can hit him with. I try to pull his hand away from my mouth with my hands so I can scream, but he has such a tight hold on my face. I taste blood as my teeth dig into the side of my cheek. He’s just so strong, I try to plead with him to please stop, but everything comes out muffled. Tears stream down my face as I panic. Oh God, what’s he going to do? Please don’t let this happen to me.
He pulls a syringe out of his pocket and I scream into his hand shaking my head no. He stabs me with the needle in my upper thigh and the last thing I remember is feeling the room closing in on me. I feel lifeless, as I slide down the front of his body onto the kitchen floor. I vaguely hear him saying that they aren’t allowed to be happy, that they destroyed everything. Who are they and what have they destroyed? Then it’s nothing, but darkness.
Kyle
I slept through my alarm and now I’m running late. I want to see Amelia this morning, but now I might not have time. I rush around the house getting ready and get in my car, hoping I still have enough time to see her.
Now you’ve got to be kidding me. Why is there traffic this early in the morning? I thought I could still make it to her apartment if I didn’t stop for coffee, but now I don’t think I can stop by at all.
I’ll have to text her when I get to the hospital and apologize. I’ll tell her I’ll stop by her office for lunch. I finally make it to the hospital and I send her a quick text. I’m nonstop with patients and paperwork until lunch. I tell the nurse I’m taking an hour lunch and if anyone needs me to page me.
I park in the parking garage at her office and make my way to her floor. I get to her office and her door is locked. That’s strange. I ask around and no one’s seen her today at all. I ask if Asher is in, I know he’s still on paternity leave, but I ask anyway. I’m told he’s not in yet, but he and Willow will be in soon to show the baby around. I rush to my car and drive to Amelia’s.
I thought it was strange that she didn’t answer my text this morning too. An older lady is just opening the door to the building and I squeeze in behind her. There are a bunch of people waiting for the elevator and it’ll take too long to stop on that many floors, so I take the stairs two at a time to her floor. I’m extremely winded and breathing heavy by the time I make it to her floor. I can see her door is cracked open from down the hall. I rush in and take a look around.
“Amelia. Are you here?” I shout.
I rush from room to room shouting her name, she’s not here, I don’t understand. Where could she be? I get to the kitchen and stop dead in my tracks. There are broken dishes on the floor and a mess all over the counters. Canisters are broken and their contents scattered all over the counter tops and floor. There’s blood smeared on the counter and droplets on the floor. Panic sets in instantly. What in the hell is going on here? Think, Kyle, think.
I rush back out of her apartment and speed back to Wellington. I get off the elevator on the top floor and run through reception. An older woman shouts behind me.
“Sir, can I help you? Sir, you can’t go back there. Sir, excuse me. What do you think you’re doing?” she yells at me.
I rush in the door to see Willow holding Abbey and Asher sitting at his desk. They turn toward me and look shocked at me barging in. The woman is behind me shortly after I open the door.
“Sir, I’m sorry, I tried to stop him, he just barged in here,” the woman tells Asher.
“It’s alright Charlotte, this is Amelia’s friend, Kyle,” he tells her.
She gives me a dirty look, then closes the door behind her.
“Kyle, what’s going on?” Willow asks concerned.
“Have you seen Amelia today?” I ask.
“No, we were just about to go down to her office though and surprise her with Abbey. Why? What’s going on?” Asher stands and asks.
“I was supposed to meet her at her apartment this morning, but I got stuck in traffic. I texted her and told her I’d stop by here for lunch. Her office door is locked. No one’s seen her this morning. I went to her apartment, her front door was open and there are signs of a struggle in her kitchen.”
Willow gasps and looks to Asher.
“There has to be a reasonable explanation for all this,” Asher says.
“Have you tried calling her?” Willow asks.
“No. I was so worried, I came straight here,” I say, fumbling in my pants pocket for my cell phone.
Asher picks up the phone on his desk and dials Amelia’s number. There must be no answer because he puts the phone back down.
“When was the last time you saw her?” Asher asks me.
“Last night, she dropped me off at my house after dinner with your parents.”
I can hear Willow take in a sharp breath and her hand flies to her mouth.
“What?” We both look at her and ask in unison.
“Amelia. She was acting strange the other day when we went out to dinner, she told me she felt like someone was watching her,” Willow says.
“Now that I think about it, when she came to our house she was looking over her shoulder. She said she thought a silver car had followed her to our house,” Asher says.
“She said the same thing to me. She said she thought a silver car had been following her, but she said she was just being paranoid,” I tell them. “And the note,” I say.
“What note?” Willow asks.
“When you dropped Lucy off the other night you left a note on the table, she thought that it was strange.”
“I didn’t leave a note. What did it say?” Willow replies.
“I don’t remember exactly, something about mistakes and leading to misfortune or something like that. She thought it was a strange thing for you to say, she thought it was some lame attempt at a riddle about Roger.”
“Roger. You don’t think he has anything to do with this do you?” Asher asks.
“Oh God, the flowers. This is all making sense,” I say.
“What flowers? Someone better start explaining to me what the hell is going on here,” Asher yells.
Abbey starts to cry and Willow hugs her close.
“I received some flowers last week at work, they were destroyed. I thought it was a sick joke or something. Oh my God, the note, now I remember exactly what it said. It said, ‘Mistakes are often stepping stones to others misfortune.’ I don’t know why I didn’t think about this before. But, now it all makes sense. The flowers, they were orange roses. Those are Amelia’s favorite flower. I don’t think Roger has anything to do with this at all. I think this has to do with my sister. I think they were a warning to stay away from Amelia.”
“Your sister? I’m not following,” Asher says.
“My sister has been missing for the past two years. We lost a patient and her baby shortly after we graduated from medical school. My sister disappeared shortly after that. The police said it was her own doing. I never believed that. She and I are twins, and I have always felt that she was kidnapped. I remember now, the man who lost his wife and baby, he said that we would pay for our mistake. It wasn’t a mistake, of course, and I never took it as a serious threat. I chalked it up to the man grieving the loss of his wife and baby. The flowers, the note, and Amelia being followed all make perfect sense now. I think who ever took Chloe has now taken Amelia, to punish me. I can’t believe I never thought about that when Chloe first went missing. I’m so stupid, this has to all be connected to him,” I say and start to pace the office, as panic sets in.
“This can’t be happening again,” I say and sink into a chair.<
br />
I put my head in my hands on my knees.
Asher picks up the phone again and barks at the person on the other end.
“Get in my office now. We have a problem,” he shouts.
In less than five minutes, Aiden barges into Asher’s office.
“What’s with the attitude? What’s going on?” Aiden demands.
Asher tells Aiden everything that he knows, and I can tell by the look on his face that he’s just as worried as the rest of us.
“We need to get Slick to look into all this, now,” Asher tells Aiden.
“Who’s Slick?” Willow asks.
“Someone you don’t want to know, sweetheart. It’s someone I’d trust with all of our lives, though. He’s an old friend and someone I know can help us. I don’t want to get the police involved just yet. We need to get moving quickly. No one else is to know just yet what we think,” Asher tells everyone in the room.
Aiden leaves the office, then Willow sits down next to me and places her hand on my shoulder.
“Asher, is it such a good idea to handle this on our own? I’m not so sure not getting the police involved is a good idea,” Willow says.
“Sweetheart, you need to trust me on this. I can get moving on this faster than the police can,” Asher tells her.
“I trust you, Asher. Kyle, we’ll find her. I know we will. You need to stay strong right now,” she says.
“I’ll spare no expense and do whatever it takes to get her back,” Asher says.
The door opens again, as Aiden rushes back into the room and closes the door.
“Slick will be here in ten. He’s going to want to talk to you, Kyle, and he’s going to want to go back to Amelia’s apartment. Any information you have on your sister that you’ve collected over the past two years, you need to go get, then meet us at Amelia’s,” Aiden tells me.
I stand on shaking knees and rush home to get everything I have. It isn’t much since the police don’t think anything actually happened to Chloe.
I speed back to Amelia’s and rush in the front door, a man that looks like he should be in a dark, back alley reaches around his back to his waistline. I freeze.
“Slick, it’s OK. This is Kyle, Amelia’s boyfriend,” Asher tells him, placing his hand on his arm.
“Man, never rush into a fucking room like that, I almost shot you,” he says.
I don’t know how my brain is even functioning, but it didn’t escape me that Asher just said I was Amelia’s boyfriend. Willow is sitting on the couch silently crying while rocking Abbey. Aiden, Asher, and Slick are in the kitchen talking in hushed whispers. I join them and hand Asher the file I have on Chloe. He looks at it briefly, then hands it over to Slick.
“There’s not much here to go on,” Slick says in a stern voice.
“I know. I’m sorry. The police believe she left because she was upset and wanted a change in her life. They said it was not all that uncommon for that sort of thing to happen. There’s no way she’d ever do that to me.”
Asher looks around the kitchen and wipes his hand across his forehead. He looks out into the family room and sees how distraught Willow is.
“Sweetheart, why don’t you take Abbey home . . . ?”
“I’m not going anywhere until Amelia is back safe in this apartment. Do you hear me? I’m not leaving,” she says adamantly.
Asher sighs and I can tell he’ll do anything Willow ever asks of him. He doesn’t like it, but he’s not going to argue with her either.
“There’s a lot of blood here on the counter, she put up a fight that’s for sure,” Slick says.
“I’m going to put a few feelers out and see if anyone’s heard anything about this. You guys stay close, I’ll be in touch,” he says again.
With that, he starts to leave. How am I supposed to just sit back again and do nothing? There’s no way in hell I’m going to just sit around.
“I’m not just going to take a back seat here, again. I’m coming with you. If this is the same sick son of a bitch who took my sister, I want to help,” I tell him adamantly.
“Look, Slick, none of us are just going to sit here and twiddle our thumbs. We’re all coming with you,” Asher tells him.
“Alright, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. The people I hang with are not good people. I love you like a brother, Asher, but I’m not responsible for anyone’s safety. Do you get me?”
Willow stands and I can tell she’s torn between fear for Asher going out there, and fear of not knowing what’s happened to Amelia. Asher walks up to Willow and Abbey and wraps them both in a tight hug. He whispers in Willow’s ear and kisses Abbey on the head. She breaks down and starts to sob. She shakes her head and sits back down on the couch.
“Sweetheart, I promise we’ll get Amelia back. I’ll call you as soon as I know anything. I promise you,” he says and kisses her on the head, then motions for the rest of us to leave.
Chapter 11
Amelia
I’m cold and it’s dark. My head is pounding and I feel like I need to throw up. I don’t even realize that I’m moaning. A soothing voice is whispering in my head and I can’t make out what they’re saying. I feel like my body is miles off the ground, floating in an abyss.
“Shh, it’s OK. You’re safe now,” the voice says to me.
Then, my last memories flood my brain, and I remember a man attacking me in my kitchen and sticking me with a needle. I start to panic, but my body doesn’t respond. I can’t move.
“Shh, you need to be quiet. You’re safe for now,” the soothing voice says again.
Who’s talking to me? Why can’t I move? Oh God, someone help me please.
Slowly my body starts to feel tingly all over and I can now open my eyes. I see a woman sitting next to me and I’m laying on a bed. I don’t know where I am. I’ve never seen this place before, or this woman. She looks vaguely familiar though, but I just can’t place her. She has long, dark brown hair and brown eyes. She looks very thin, but I can’t tell all that well. It’s just so dark in here.
“You’re alright now. You need to be quiet though. We don’t want him to come back down here. The less he comes down here, the better for us,” she says.
God, I’m so confused. What’s happening?
“Where am I?” I manage to ask.
“I don’t know where we are; I’m sorry. I do know that there’s no way out,” she says.
“There’s no way out? What are you talking about, what’s going on?” I whisper.
Then those eyes hit me. I’ve seen those eyes before. I could pick those milk chocolate eyes out of the biggest crowd. Around her neck, she has a chain with the exact same charm that Kyle has. Oh my God. It can’t be.
“You’re Chloe,” I tell her.
She looks startled and her eyes go large and instantly fill with tears.
“How did you know that?” she asks.
“I’ve seen your picture in Kyle’s house.”
“Kyle?” she says in a hoarse voice, then a single tear spills down her cheek.
I start to feel less tingly and I try to sit up. She helps me sit up and hands me a glass of water. I greedily take it and drink the whole glass.
“How do you know Kyle? Is he OK? What about my parents?” she asks in a shaky voice, then grabs my arms.
“So, you are Chloe?” I ask this time.
“Yes, but I don’t understand. How do you know Kyle?”
“I’m Kyle’s girlfriend, Amelia. He told me all about you. I almost didn’t recognize you, but you two have the exact same eyes. I don’t understand what’s going on here,” I tell Chloe.
“The man that attacked you and brought you down here, he’s the father of a patient Kyle and I had. It was just after medical school, he lost his wife and baby during a delivery Kyle and I did.
“He attacked me a few nights later in my apartment and I’ve been in this basement ever since. He told me he kidnapped me and left Kyle out there to suffer with not knowing where or what happened t
o me, as our punishment for killing his wife and baby.
“I knew something had changed in the last few weeks though. He started to grow more agitated. He kept mumbling to himself that he couldn’t let him be happy again. I guess he was talking about Kyle. I guess that’s why you’re here. He’s kidnapped you to continue to punish Kyle.”
“Have you been in this basement for two years?” I ask her.
“Has it been only that long? It feels like it’s been an eternity.”
“Chloe, has he ever, you know been violent with you?” I ask her cautiously.
“No, nothing like that. He injected me with something when he took me. I suspect he did the same to you? He’s hit me a few times, when I tried to escape. It’s no use though, I’ve tried everything. He pushes a tray of food through the slit in the bottom of the basement door. Every once in a while he opens the door and throws supplies down the stairs. Other than that, I usually don’t see him. I’ve tried screaming at the top of my lungs, it’s no use, no one can hear us. There are no windows down here. I have no idea where we are.”
“How have you managed to stay sane down here all this time?”
“In the supplies he throws down the stairs, sometimes he puts books in there. Mostly I think about my childhood and Kyle. I imagine stories in my head and play out different scenarios of escape.”
I feel like the weight of the world is bearing down on me. I’m just so tired. How can this be happening to me? I look at Chloe and I can’t believe she’s here. She’s alive. Kyle was right. He never gave up hope and here she is. But, now I’m with her and now he has to deal with the both of us gone. I start to cry just thinking about what this will do to Kyle.
“Shh, don’t cry. I think you need to rest a little more. You’re safe here. I won’t let anything happen to you. You just sleep. OK?”
I lay back down and Chloe strokes my hair to comfort me, just like Kyle does.
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