by Kelli Walker
Until his voice called out.
“Alicia!”
Then, heavy footfalls coming up the steps.
“Alicia! Answer me!”
Ryder.
Oh my gosh, Ryder was okay.
I smiled and crawled on my knees to look through the slats on the closet door. Tears of horror turned to tears of joy as I watched Ryder stumble up the steps. He looked disoriented. Like he was going to be sick.
“Alicia? Where are you!?”
I was seconds away from ripping the closet door open. From running down the hallway and into his arms where I knew I would feel safe and protected. I stood to my feet and watched him dart his head around, on the lookout for a trap as he made his way back into the room.
But my smile sank when a looming shadow appeared at his side.
“Ryder! Look out!”
Ryder
My head was spinning as I rolled over onto my side. The world was a blur and my neck still stung from the needle that sank into my skin. I felt lopsided. Loopy. Like I couldn’t get the world to stop tilting long enough to focus.
“Ryder?” Alicia asked. “Are you here?”
I could hear her voice. I could hear the panic in it. My blood was boiling underneath my numb skin. How that asshole had found me was beyond my comprehension. We had been careful. I had been careful. I’d had Alicia cooped up in this house and watched every second I could find. I got my knees underneath me as I heard his voice.
That voice I was going to strangle from his pathetic little throat.
“Come out, come out. Wherever you are.”
I got my knees underneath my body and braced myself against the refrigerator. The situation started flooding back to me as I shook my head vigorously. The reflection of his face in the window. The feeling of the needle sinking into my skin. The way my entire body went numb and hit the fucking floor.
But I was a big boy, and he didn’t have enough paralytic in that needle to take me out.
I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket as footsteps sounded out above my head. I could hear someone slowly making their way up the steps. I stumbled through the kitchen and pulled my phone out of my pocket, taking in the sheer number of phone calls I’d missed. All from Alicia. All back to back.
She was calling for me.
Relying on me to help her.
My phone was swimming in my hands as I opened up a text message to the guys. I pressed the microphone and held it up to my lips to speak. They had to know what was going on. They had to get their asses over here.
Because if they didn’t, I was going to kill this man.
“Guys. Langley’s at my house. Get here now. Figure out how the hell this son of a bitch found me.”
I sent the text message off and dialed 9-1-1 before I shoved it back into my pants. I could feel my phone vibrating again, only this time I ignored the call. I could hear the slow footsteps of Langley’s swift body walking down the hallway, and my thoughts were swirling towards one goal.
I had to get to Alicia before he did.
I heard a door splintering open and crashing against the wall. The entire upper floor of my house shook. Alicia started shrieking and my heart thundered in my chest. It forced blood through my veins and began circulating whatever the fuck Langley shot me up with throughout my entire body. I could feel my head clearing as I walked through the house, my legs carrying me as fast as I could go.
“I’m coming,” I said breathlessly. “I’m coming, Alicia.”
I stumbled through the foyer and collapsed against the banister. Step by step, I pulled myself up the staircase. Listening for any signs as to where that fucker went. The world around me was spinning at a rapid pace and it was hard to keep my eyes open. My limbs felt as if they were jello. Like my bones had been evaporated from my body. I trudged up the steps and looked down both sides of the hallway, trying to deduce where Alicia might’ve gone.
But all the damn doors had been thrown open.
“Alicia!” I roared.
I stumbled down the main hallway as my body leaned against the wall.
“Alicia! Answer me!”
I tried to walk silently down the hallway, but even I could hear my heavy-footed stepping pattern. I cursed myself. I cursed the fact that I could let Langley get the best of me. Get the fucking jump on me like he had. I could hear a small voice talking out in my pocket as it continued to vibrate against my hip, and all I hoped was that someone sent people to my fucking house.
Because Langley was going to need it.
My head darted around as fast as it could as I kept my eyes peeled. I saw the splintered door at the end of the hallway. Alicia. She had gone all the way into the back room. My eyes landed on the closet and I could see movement underneath the bottom of the door. A shadowy figure slowly moving to peek out and see what was going on.
She was there.
She was safe.
“Ryder! Look out!”
I watched a shadow permeate the corner of my vision before something cracked against my head. I felt the pain shooting through my forehead and racing down my neck. My skull cracked. I could hear the bones crunching underneath the weight of the cool metal bearing down into my skin.
I hit my knees, my hands planted into the carpet of my hallway.
“Why is it that rich men find their counterparts so ignorant?”
I could feel his breath pulsing against my neck as I tried to get up off the floor. I could hear his footsteps in front of me. Traveling down the hallway as Alicia scrambled across the floor. I could hear her clawing at the carpet. I could feel her fear as blood trickled down the back of my neck. I was heaving. My body was trembling. A searing hot pain ripped down my face and caused me to vomit on the floor.
My vision was tunneling as I heard the closet door open in the distance.
“No! Please! Stop!”
“Alicia,” I said breathlessly.
“Langley! Cut it out!”
“Get your hands off her,” I said with a whisper.
The bile was thick in my throat. Images of high school started flashing to the forefront of my aching mind. Football games and passing notes in the hallway. Impromptu after school meet ups in the stairwell where she let me press her beautiful budding body against the wall with my own. But one image stuck out in my mind. One particular memory that stood at the forefront of the rest.
My senior prom.
Alicia was a sophomore and I was a senior. About to graduate with C-average grades with no prospects regarding school. She had begged me to take her to prom. Begged me. For my own fucking prom. And it wasn’t until we had gotten into a huge argument about it that I’d finally caved. Agreed to take her under the condition that I got to do whatever I wanted with her after it was all said and done.
It was the night I took her virginity.
But it was also the night I danced until there was no other music to listen to.
I was entranced by her. Captivated by this sixteen-year old girl with glasses and a pale pink dress. I wore jeans and a suit jacket I borrowed from a friend of mine and picked her up in my beat-up pickup truck. I thought I was hot shit and she was the most beautiful woman I laid eyes on that night.
Or ever.
Her pink cheeks matched her dress as I spoke of all the things I would do to her. The places I would kiss and lick until she was breathlessly begging for more. Her eyes darkened with lust when my hands traveled along her waist, gripping her ass until the teachers chastised me for getting to handsy with her on the floor. She pressed her sweet body into mine and I felt her tits rising and falling against my chest all night.
Mesmerizing me.
Pulling me into the beauty of her raging storm.
We clouded the windows of my pickup truck that night. With promises fulfilled and her skin flushed with ecstasy as we rocked the rust bucket on its chassis. I could still hear her whispered pleas and her wanton moans for more. I could still feel how tight her warm pussy was around my cock as I lost myself in
the oceanic curves of her body.
I wasn’t good enough for her then.
But that didn’t stop me from falling in love with her that night.
The world went black and I collapsed onto the carpet. The pounding pain at the top of my head made it hard to breathe. Hard to speak. Hard to discern what was going on. I could hear the struggle. I could hear Alicia fighting against him. I could hear his voice rumbling the floorboards beneath my cheek as Alicia’s stumbling footsteps grew nearer to me.
Tripped over me.
Stumbled upon me.
Moved past me towards the stairs.
She was screaming. Crying. Whispering for me. I could feel her fear. Smell her anxiety. Hear the desperation in her voice. I had to get up. All I had to go was get up off the fucking floor.
Then, I heard it. That blistering sound. The sound that would snap me out of my trance and drip my vision with red as I stood to my feet.
I heard that resounding crack.
The crack of a hand against a cheek.
Alicia
I saw Ryder hit the floor as Langley’s eyes panned up towards mine. He was looking straight at me. His eyes connected with mine. My entire body shivered as tears welled in my eyes. How had he found us? I thought we were being so careful. Was it because I went back into town that day? Was it because I demanded my own things?
Was Ryder immobile on the floor because of me?
The crowbar fell from his hand and he started down the hallway. I scooted towards the back of the closet, tucking myself into the corner. I pulled my knees to my chest as my eyes connected with my phone at the other side of my closet. The call was still counting up. Charting the minutes that had passed.
Was someone coming?
Did they know I was in trouble?
Tears were streaming down my cheeks. I could hear Ryder groaning and heaving as soft footsteps padded into the room. I kept chanting to myself. Praying silently in my head out to any god that could hear me. I had no idea of Ryder was dead, but I prayed for his safety. I prayed he was still breathing and that the police or someone would show up before Langley carried me out of here. I prayed to a God I didn’t believe in and bargained with the only thing I had.
My life.
If taking me spared Ryder, then I would gladly do it.
I was out of options. I didn’t know what to do. Ryder wasn’t coming after him and no one knew we were out here struggling to keep ourselves alive. I buried my face in my knees and began to sob, unable to control my emotions any longer. Keeping myself quiet was useless anyway. He knew where I was. Where I was hiding. And the worst part was the only thing I could think about was Ryder.
I was about to be taken by my ex, and all I could think about was him.
I thought back to the last moment I saw him. His graduation day. How strong and confident he looked in his green and yellow gown. He wore the school colors proudly that day and showcased a pride I’d never witnessed before. His cap was donning his head and his eyes kept searching for me. Scanning the stadium to find me sitting there. Wondering if I had come to see him.
I could remember him walking across that stage. How happy he seemed. His smile was broad-- and one of the few times I’d ever seen him smile that big. His eyes sparkled and his shoulders were rolled back, and when he took his diploma from the principal of the school and shook his hand I stood to my feet and yelled out his name.
And that was the last time I saw him.
That was the last time our eyes connected.
He whipped his head in the direction of my voice and held his diploma in the air. I wanted to rush him. To throw my arms around him and tell him how absolutely proud I was of him. Studying with me after school and retaking tests to bring his GPA up high enough to get into most community colleges. His eyes held mind as he walked off stage, and he stopped at the side of the aisle and looked up towards the crowd.
Right at me with his beautiful brown eyes.
I sat anxiously through the entire ceremony, waiting for my chance to run down the aisle. Take the damn steps two-by-two until I could hop over the small fence and run into his arms. I pushed through the crowd to try and get to him, my head on a swivel. Looking around for him. Searching for him. Calling out his name.
But he never showed up, and I never saw him after that.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are.”
Langley’s voice pierced my thoughts as my stomach rolled with nausea. The closet door ripped open and an ear-splitting scream filled the cavernous depths. I saw Langley’s blue eyes. I saw his mangled blonde hair. I saw the deviousness in his stare and the way his body hovered over mine. His hand reached down for my hair and fisted it as I tried to get away. My hands grabbed his wrist in a feeble attempt to steady my neck as he pulled me from the confines of the closet.
“I found you,” he said with a grin.
“Stop it, Langley. Cut it out!”
“I know you hate me now, but once you realize how much you’ve missed me you’ll be glad I found you. It took me forever, Alicia. I never thought I was going to track you down.”
“Let me go, Langley. I’m not an animal.”
“No, you’re not. You’re graceful, and elegant. I’ve missed having you at my side.”
His arm swung around, tossing me in front of him as I fell to the floor. I scrambled away, getting up on my feet as fast as I could. But I didn’t even get upright before Langley’s hand twisted in my hair again.
And then? He began to pull.
“Stop it. Please,” I said, crying. “Just let me go.”
“I let you go once and I couldn't stand it. I came home and saw you were gone and fought every urge I had to find you and bring you home, Alicia. And when you hit me with those divorce papers?”
He shoved me into the wall and I felt my nose crack underneath the weight. More tears sprang to my eyes as I heard a groan emanate from the hallway. I looked over as blood poured down my face and I saw Ryder moving.
Oh my gosh, he was still alive.
“Ryder,” I said breathlessly. “Help me.”
“You didn’t even give us a chance,” Langley said, growling. “You left me without a choice and you thought you could get away with it. You thought you could rob me of my hard-earned money without giving me something in return.”
“I gave you thirteen years of my life! My obedience!”
I stood to my feet before Langley’s hand wrapped around the back of my neck.
“You gave me combattance! Disorder! Mayhem and chaos! It took me years, Alicia. Years of investing in you to pull from you the woman I knew you could become. But I was willing to stick it out. I was willing to stick out those tough years to watch you grow into the woman I knew you were meant to be. By my side, supporting me. Loving me and cherishing me. Just like I did you!”
“You did nothing but manipulate and abuse me for years,” I said. “And you’re pissed that I got out.”
His fingertips clamped down around my neck and I felt my vision fading. Blood was rushing through my ears as he shoved me down the hallway. His grip on me was tight and my legs felt like jello. I could hear Langley’s voice fading away as I leaned against the wall, desperate to get away from him. I dug my fingernails in, feeling them tear as I clung to the wall. Clung to the hope that Ryder would get up and end this madness.
“Stop it,” I said, sobbing. “Langley, please. I’m begging you.”
“Begging me? Begging me!? How about when I begged for you to come back?” he asked. “In the dead of night when I turned over and you weren’t there. Huh? You think you’re the only one that was hurt in our marriage? You think you were the only one that was used? I know what you did, Alicia. You supported me until I had my money, then you divorced me so you could take half of everything. Everything I worked so damn hard for! You’re the worst of gold-diggers. And the least I could get is something from my thirteen-year investment in you.”
Langley pushed me towards the stairs and I stumbled into the
railing.
His words were throbbing against my skull. In the worst possible way, they made sense. But I knew they were wrong. I knew he was wrong. I knew all of this was fucking wrong. My eyes lobbed over to him and I saw him panting. His hands clasped at his sides in tight fists, ready to strike the first person to come at him in anger.
“You won’t have me,” I said with a growl.
“I already have,” Langley said, grinning. “And now I’ve come to take you home.”
“I’m not yours to take!”
I charged him, shrieking as I held my hands in the air. I didn’t know what I was going to do once I got to him, but I knew it couldn't go down like this. I couldn't be weak any longer. If I wanted my life to be mine, then I had to fight for it. I had to fight tooth and nail, until my last breath was taken if that was what it took. I couldn’t wait for someone to save me. Like Ryder. Or the guys. Or the police.
If my life was worth living, then I had to save myself.
I slammed my fists down into his chest and he gasped for air. He bent over and I brought my knee up, connecting it straight with his nose. One broken fucker for another, I always said. I twisted my hand in his long hair like he had mine and ripped back, pulling threads of hair from the top of his head.
But he reared up too quickly and it caught me off-guard, and soon his hand was swinging through the air and aimed at my face.
I felt his skin connect with mine as he cracked me against my face, and it forced my body to turn in the direction it fell.
I hit my knees as a searing pain ricocheted behind my eyes, and my mouth opened and let out a blood-curdling scream.
“Ryder! Help me!”
Ryder
I couldn't move. Couldn't see. But none of that mattered. I had to get to Alicia. I wasn’t sure what Langley had bashed me over the head with, but it had been solid. I rose my hand to the back of my head and felt the indentation in the back. My skull was at least fractured, and with the blurry vision and the nausea already setting in, my brain was swelling.