Amber Alert (Amber Alert Series Book 1)

by Sara Schoen

  I coughed, "I'm sorry. I just don't feel well."

  "Are you okay honey?" Steve asked, suddenly concerned for my health. My stomach clenched as he walked in and sat on the edge of my bed. He lightly laid his hand on my forehead to check for a temperature. "You're hot, Kelly, and not in the way I like."

  "I'm sorry?"

  "It's not your fault. We can't control when we get sick. How about I make you some chicken noodle soup and get you a warm blanket?" He asked politely, as if he genuinely cared about how I was feeling.

  "That would be great," I said in shock as he got up from my bed without making any advances toward me and walked to the door. He was going to leave and allow me to be alone.

  "I want you to get well as soon as possible."

  "Why?" I asked, unable to help myself from asking the question.

  "So I can welcome you home the proper way," he said with a tingle of laughter as he gave me a smile and walked out of the room.

  What the hell did he mean? As he walked away, I had a feeling that I didn't want to be welcomed home. Something told me that it wouldn't be in my favor. It was ghost quiet in the house other than for Steve's movements. He didn't have to worry about making sound; it was Garrett and I that had to worry. We couldn't get caught or we’d be punished.

  There was a squeak as Garrett stepped into the threshold of the room. His presence brought me a sense of relief for a moment before I caught a look at his expression. His face was ashen, pale and seemed as if he was on the verge of tears. He couldn't find the words to speak and it was obvious that he was pleading with me to understand what he was trying to say.

  "What's wrong?" I whispered, trying not to attract any attention to us while Steve was downstairs. Garrett didn't answer for a while, he just stood stunned in the spot with fear and sorrow in his eyes. I could see that he was trying to shake away the emotion but he couldn't.

  "Garrett, what's wrong?"

  "You don't get it do you?" he asked, breaking the silence with a low sorrowful voice.

  "What do you mean?" I asked, confused by his question.

  "It will be really bad at first, I won't lie to you. Every girl has agreed that it's really difficult at first, but it will get easier," Garrett suddenly blurted out as he took two big steps to be by the side of my bed. He was biting his lip as he took a moment to think, and his hands were trembling.

  "What are you talking about?" His fear was making me hyperventilate with anxiety. What was going to happen to me? What was going to be bad? How was it going to get easier?

  "You're going to be welcomed home," he stated, repeating the phrase that his father had just used, but I still didn't understand what he meant.

  "What does that even mean, Garrett?"

  "It means you'll be made his. I'm sorry Anna, but I can't stop him and sadly, I can't protect you. I can only give you advice, and that's just to pretend he's someone else. It got a lot of girls through it, constantly, and depending on how often it happened they learned to just accept it."

  "Accept what, Garrett? You're not answering the question," I almost yelled by accident as anger built up in me.

  "I can't. It's too bad to describe. It's hard for me, but definitely harder for you. I won't even try to say it's not."

  "Garrett, answer the question! You’re not making any sense!"

  "He's going to rape you. He'll make you a nice dinner, like a date he had with my mom when they were younger, and then he'll take you to the back room. He's going to do it to you a lot while you're here, and if you fight it will just happen more. He will try to relive his life with my mom with you, and I'm sorry I won't be able to help you," he said sadly, letting a single tears slide down his cheek.

  My stomach retched again, at the grotesque mental image Garrett had just painted into my mind. I hadn't even thought of that as a possibility of what would happen to me here. Why didn’t my parents tell me this could happen if I wasn’t careful? It wouldn’t have been a comfortable conversation, but I wish I could have known and maybe been more prepared.

  "Why not, why can't you help me?" I asked through tears.

  "I will be locked in my room, or a different room, but I will be out of reach and I won't be able to help you. I'm sorry."

  "When will this happen?"

  "When you're at your weakest," he said sadly as he took my hand in his. I threw him a confused look, and then he elaborated on his previous sentence. "Tonight, after you've been physically sick."

  "Why did you tell me to pretend to be sick then?" I asked, ripping my hand from his and pulling away from him.

  "Because he takes pity on you when you’re sick, trust me this will be a lot easier. He'll let you go to bed alone, in here, leave you alone the next morning. It will be a better experience, just trust me, most of the girls agreed it was better," Garrett explained, but I couldn't understand. He just set me up to be taken advantage of by a psychopath and he knew it. I couldn't decide whether or not to be angry, because from what he had told me, I knew it would have happened eventually.

  "Most?"

  "Some didn't make it long enough to find out," Garrett said as he took my face in his hands and tried to get me to look in his eyes.

  I felt tears start streaming down my face, my breath got short and wheezy, and it was difficult to control. Garrett wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tight, and for a moment I even forgot the horror I was in. I forgot the pain and suffering I was about to endure, that is until Steve called me down for dinner.

  "Kelly, I have dinner ready. Come on down and we can make this a special night."

  Chapter 6

  Garrett helped me out of bed as he tried to help me get through tonight. He told me everything he found out from the other girls, but right now my head was spinning so fast I couldn't retain the information. It all seemed like I was watching someone else’s life. It felt as if I was disconnected from myself.

  He led me toward the stairs and nodded his head to tell me to go. I couldn't hide upstairs or that would just make Steve angrier, and Garrett said that was something I didn't want to happen. I slowly made my way downstairs, each step caused a stair to creak under my weight and gave me a new sense of the word fear. I was constantly looking back at Garrett, hoping he would somehow be able to stop this.

  Of course, I knew he couldn't, no matter how badly he wanted to. All he could do was offer me a timid smile and hope that it gave me a sense of comfort, but I knew it was fake, a sham to fill me with false hope. Tonight will easily be the worst night of my life, I thought, with tears in my eyes.

  "It will be fine..." he whispered softly to avoid alarming Steve to his prohibited actions. It wasn't going to be fine, so why was lying to me? He knew this was going to be horrible, but he just stood there and forced me to follow the directions, but what other choice did we have?

  My heart was beating so fast as I descended down the stairs that it felt like it would burst out of my chest any second. The sensation gave me a curious thought, though; which would be worse, dying or living through this insanity? I'm not exactly sure how to feel about the choices, neither is particularly great, but those were the only two I had. I didn't see escape as an option, unless Steve died suddenly.

  That thought brought a smile to my face, but when I turned the corner to go into the kitchen, I caught glimpse of a candle lit dinner with rose petals all over the ground and the smell of a pasta dinner. That certainly wasn’t chicken soup for my sick stomach.

  "Kelly, come here. It's time for our dinner." He pulled out a chair for me to sit at the table. There was an odd smile on his face. It didn't seem menacing, but something about it sent chills up my spine.

  I took a tentative step forward. Steve's demeanor had changed, and it was nerve-wracking. How was I supposed to act when he was like this? What was the safest route for me to take? If I did something wrong, he would go hysterical and beat me like he had done with Garrett, or I would be let off easy since he seemed happy. I felt my stomach clench, I was in uncharted ter
ritory and I was going to have the worst night because of it.

  "That's it Kelly, come on, I'm not going to hurt you. It's time for dinner."

  "Shouldn't I take Garrett his dinner?" I asked in a meek voice, jabbing my thumb behind me to indicate where I was hoping to go. I just wanted an excuse to run back upstairs and lock myself in the cement room away from him. I didn't even think about the fact he would eventually come looking for me and I wouldn’t be safe from him in this house.

  "No, I'll take care of him," Steve said as he leaned over the table to put the plates down before walking over to me. I held my ground, afraid to make him angry again, but it only encouraged him. He planted a few light kisses on my cheek and then a few down my neck, making my skin crawl with distaste.

  I stood in fear as his footsteps walked up the stairs toward Garrett. He was going to lock Garrett away so he couldn't come help me. I needed to hide, but there was nowhere to hide except Garrett's hiding spot. The only problem was that I couldn't remember where it was. I heard a loud thud from upstairs, as if something fell to the ground and then footsteps. How did I get into this mess? Out of all the girls, out of all the playgrounds! Why me? Why did he have to pick me?

  "Kelly?" Steve called as he walked back down the stairs to meet me again.

  "Yes?" I answered to the pseudo name as I acted, as if I had been waiting for him at the table the entire time. I plastered a fake smile onto my lips as he put his hand on my shoulder and started to kiss my neck again.

  "Eat now," he said as he pushed himself away from me and sat down across the table. His eyes focused on me with a smile, but that soon disappeared as I saw a glint of anger come into his eyes. I instantly looked down at the food in front of me and picked at it with the fork he had given me.

  "Kelly, you have to eat," he said as he slurped up the pasta from his fork.

  I just kept aimlessly playing with the food. I almost didn't even hear him until he growled at me to get my attention. "I'm not hungry. I don't feel well," I said quickly, remembering what Garrett had told me about him taking it easy on girls when they were sick. I could only hope that he was right and he wasn't just tricking me. I swear Garrett, I better not be some sick game to you too or I'll find a way to get even.

  "You're not hungry?"

  "No." I shook my head as I pushed the plate away. It smelled delicious, just how my mom used to make it, but I had been so sick today that I couldn't bear the thought of having to taste it twice. I knew it wouldn't taste as good the second time around, or look as good.

  "Then I'll save it for you tomorrow and we can move on with the night." he said as he finished his plate and took mine away from me.

  He swept his fingers over my cheek as he took my plate away and went to wrap it up so I could eat it later. I swallowed so hard I thought he could hear me from how he glanced back at me afterward. There was a steady stream of anger surging through his eyes that sent my stomach into a frenzy of fear.

  "You don't seem pleased about this," he said quietly as he put my food in the refrigerator and glanced back at me.

  I didn't answer him. I wasn't sure how or what he meant by the statement. What was I supposed to be pleased by? I certainly wasn't pleased with the fact that he had taken me. Why did he want me? What did I do wrong?

  "Kelly! Answer me!" He yelled so loudly I jumped out of my skin slightly and pushed the chair back in fear.

  I was too scared to answer. I knew if I said nothing it was wrong, but saying the wrong thing would be worse. What would be the right thing to say? My parents always taught me, honesty is the best policy, but in this situation I wasn’t sure they were right anymore.

  "I just don't feel well, so I don't want to eat and get sick again later," I explained, hoping that would please him and his anger would subside slightly.

  "I understand, sweetheart. We can skip the rest of dinner and dessert then. I don't want you to get sick again, come on,” he said sweetly as he gripped my arm and forcibly yanked me from my chair. I lost my balance when I saw we were heading for the downstairs bedroom.

  "Wait I'm hungry now!" I said so loudly I almost yelled it. I was terrified of what would happen in that room and would do anything to stay out of the room for as long as possible. Forever was my goal, but I knew in the back of my mind that eventually I would end up in there once.

  "Too late for that," he growled as he dragged me into the master bedroom. This had to be the most filled room in the house.

  There was a king size bed with white sheets and a rose petal heart in the center of the bed. A sheer white canopy cascaded over the bed and provided minimal light with the string lights that were wrapped around the bedposts. The rest of the rose petals were scattered over the room and accompanied by more candles that were meant to set the scene for a romantic night.

  "Just like our honeymoon, right Kelly?" he asked as he sealed the door behind us.

  I heard a loud click as the lock slid into place and trapped me alone with him in this room. I felt dread wash over me and it only got worse when he stepped behind me and placed his hands on my hips. He pulled me into his body and held me tightly against him, so tightly I could feel something hard pushing against my butt.

  "Yeah, it is exactly like our honeymoon," I guessed, unsure of what he was referring to. Didn't he realize I wasn't Kelly? Didn't he understand that Garrett's mom was dead and that I wasn't her? Why was he so focused on recreating his life with others if Kelly was who he wanted? Why did he do this to those girls and me?

  "I knew you'd love it, Kelly. You always loved that little resort where we had our honeymoon," he said with a pleased sigh as his hands started to roam over my body.

  He continued to press himself into me as he explored my body with his hands. When I started to struggle under his touch he got more forceful with me. I heard him chuckle slightly the more I tried to resist. It was like he enjoyed it when I fought against him or found encouragement from it. He simply held me tighter to him and started to pick up the pace.

  He started planting kisses along my jaw line.

  "Please. Don't. Stop!" I cried.

  "Don't worry, my love. I will wait as long as I can handle it."

  His attempts to pleasure me were failing, but they were working wonders for him. He was as stiff as a board against my butt. After a while, I felt his hands travel up to my stomach and stop on the button of my shorts.

  "I can't wait any longer, Kelly," he said in a husky voice filled to the brim with lust.

  ***

  It felt like it went on forever before he was finally done with me. The pain stayed behind in full force after he left. It was permanently scarring me with the reminder of what just happened. Tears slid down my cheeks and I curled into a ball, trying to comfort myself, even though I knew it was useless.

  "Thank you, Kelly. I hope you enjoyed it like I did,” he beamed in pleasure as he pulled his boxers back on.

  I didn't love it. I hated it. I felt weak, used up like a piece of trash. I even felt the heated rush as my blood escaped and leaked out on to the white sheets; the sheets would be ruined like I was. I didn't want to move. Even if I could work through the pain, I had nowhere to go since the door was still locked.

  "Once you get comfortable in the home again, we can continue. That will mean staying with me down here," he said with a lustful smile and a deliberately slow lick of his lips, excited for that to happen.

  When I didn't answer, he ran his hands over my body again. Both hands were wandering in different directions. I was so tired and disgusted with myself that I couldn't even move and try to keep his hands away, but I also knew it wouldn't make a difference.

  He pulled his hand away from my legs with a grimace on his face. There was blood dripping from his hands. I hoped that would stop him. I hoped he would send me to my concrete room with no windows, let me live in seclusion and humiliation. I'm not sure why he was disgusted; it was his fault I was bleeding anyway. At least the bleeding wasn't as bad as I felt it was, but it was
bleeding profusely by the look of it.

  His expression changed and he gave me a soft smile. It was as if the blood emotionally touched him. He again started to trace my body with his hands again. I felt sick as I saw a twisted smile curl onto his lips as a thought came to him. I knew instantly I wouldn't like the idea he had thought of, I didn't even want to hear it. I knew there was no way to stop him when I wasn't weak, I had no hope of fighting him off now.

  "You'll get used to it. Then it will feel good," he promised as he lightly ran his fingers down my cheek. I swallowed the puke I was about to hurl up as I heard him whisper, "Welcome home, Kelly."

  I screamed until my throat burned and didn't stop until he was finished with me.

  Chapter 7

  I woke up and felt slightly better now that the pain had subsided. Of course, every time I moved my body cried out and writhed in pain. What made it worse was that I really had to go to the bathroom and it hurt to move. I had spent so much time in the bathroom during the beginning of my capture that I liked it better than the bedroom.

  I had been locked in the room for a few days now. Steve had left me alone, he was trying to be the 'understanding and caring husband' that he claimed to be. He had Garrett bring my meals and then he'd leave right away. In fact, Garrett was the only person I interacted with after my "welcome home.” But I didn’t want to face Garrett. I was ashamed and in pain. Steve had gotten angry with me because I couldn't force myself to say that I enjoyed it. He pulled me up the stairs as I left a trail of blood and tossed me on the bed to let me cry myself to sleep.

  Garrett had taken excellent care of me during the past few days. Each time I made sure to look like I was asleep so he wouldn't ask me how I felt or try to talk to me. He brought me some of his clothes to dress in and placed food and water for me by the side of my bed each day.