by Barb Shuler
Weeks later, after countless times of seeing him in and out of her house, my anger grew. The voices got louder and told me to take what was mine. The next time she went out of town, I watched as she left her home and I helped myself inside once the coast was clear. I had gotten a couple of cameras from the back of the music store I worked in. They weren’t gonna miss them as it was. No one ever looked at the damn monitors anyhow. Now, I could watch her when she was home. I could find the right time to make a move and show her she was made to be mine.
CHAPTER SIX
Run Rabbit, Run
Dani Lynn
I DIDN'T KNOW how much time passed before my eyes fluttered open. The sun was up now. Last time it had still been dark, I think. I had been in and out of consciousness since Nicole put me in this car. Whatever she had in that needle seemed to be wearing off. My body ached from being thrashed around, tackled, and now from being curled into a ball for who knows how long. My mouth was dry. God, had I swallowed cotton and no one told me?
Blinking my eyes, I tried to get my vision clear of the damn spots. I was not passing out again. I’d been trying to lift myself up to peek out of the windows, but it seemed to take all of my energy to be able to pull myself up. The jarring sound of gravel under the tires gave me the push I needed and I sat up. Oh, sitting up was not what my head wanted to do. I cursed internally as I wobbled, blinked a few more times and after a deep breath, I laid against the window.
Finally, I blinked out of my daze and was able to focus. I couldn't see anything for the trees that surrounded us. There were corn and...wheat fields that were off a little ways. Trees completely covered my vision the further she went up the road. Great. This was a fucking horror movie in the making. Girl gets kidnapped, taken to the middle of nowhere and eaten by crazy cannibals... News at eleven. Fuck. Something told me we were no longer in Oz… that ship had sailed. This did not look like Texas. Where in the fuck were we? Sighing, I tried to concentrate on the surroundings, memorizing every landmark I could distinguish. I was not becoming a late night news story. Fuck that shit.
Where would she take me... Arkansas? Oklahoma? Kansas? What was close to where we were? God, my mind was a blur as I fought to think. I knew geography, but this time of year things were weird. Every state was a little different lately with the way Mother Nature kept throwing shit at us all. Wait… didn’t the Landry’s have a vacation home in Oklahoma? Or was it Kansas? Work, brain, work. I was still trying to remember as the car came to a stop. My mind told me she wouldn’t be that stupid to go somewhere familiar. Right? With my luck, we were in some out of the way place no one knew about. Then again, no one knew she had taken me. Did they think I had just run off? I stifled a sob that started to build in my chest as tears burned my eyes. Images of all the horror movies I loved flashed through my mind. I had to swallow hard to keep the bile down. Fuck, how was I going to get out of this? Was there even a chance to get away?
I was so lost in my own head that I hadn’t realized the damn car had stopped. When the car door opened I shifted and did my best to kick the hell out of her, trying to knock her down. She grabbed my legs and pulled me out of the car. I fell onto my ass and let out a shriek of pain. Nicole laughed and stalked her way back around the car. I managed to get up on my knees, wincing as the sharp edges of the gravel dug into my skin once again. I narrowed my eyes as she came back around the car. She was carrying two large bags in her hands. I looked up at her and then the bags. I knew those bags. They were mine. The ones from the top of the guest room closet. Seeing those bags… those bags meant she wasn’t going to let me go. Fuck. No, I had to get away from this crazy ass chick.
My mind reeled as the words in the cards, emails and crazy letters I got replayed themselves. Oh, God. I looked harder, and to my surprise she had my laptop bag. Mine, the one that Katie and the boys had gotten for me when my first book was published. My stomach knotted as I fought back the burning ache in my throat. Don’t puke; breathe, Dani Lynn. The tears I’d been fighting slipped free without my permission. She had my bags, my laptop, that meant the bitch had been in my damn house. My house, but when? It was left lying on my bed along with the next chapters of my book. The third book in the series I was planning out as I worked on it. It was all there when Katie and I had left for the book signing at the school. It was all a lie... the wallet, bringing it to my house. She was staking it out. I swallowed hard as she moved over to me and cupped my cheek. I jerked back, pulling away from her and digging my knees into the gravel more. I winced.
“You can scream. No one can hear you. You can run, no one will save you…” Nicole laughed manically and stalked up the small path to the house. She left me there kneeling on the ground. Once she made it to the door, Nicole moved inside. I quickly got to my feet, and turned to run. But run where? I was in the middle of nowhere, tired, in pain and my fucking hands were tied behind me. I bent backwards after kicking one leg at a time up on the car and unzipped my boots as much as I could. Pushing on them with my feet I managed to get them off. The moment my sock covered feet hit the gravel I groaned.
“Suck it up, princess. Just fucking run.” I said in a small whisper to myself. I went to run but… where would I go? What in the name of heaven could I do? I have no hands to knock on doors even if I did get away. It didn’t matter. I just had to run, escape this psycho. As I ran, the red dirt road got hotter despite the cool air all around me. The scorching sun was heating it up as I ran. The act of running was pushing my hair in my face as I looked around and the sun, damn that fucker was bright. My heart lurched as I heard Nicole shriek out for me.
“Dani Lynn, get your ass back here!” I heard the screen door slam as I ran harder. I had to move faster than she did. It was my only hope. “There’s nowhere for you to go.” Fear was driving me now. If I could find a house, a road, something, I could be saved. I ran down a path that was made of grass along the driveway we came up to get to the house. I saw a hatch sticking up out of the ground. We were not that far from the house, so it had to be a cellar of some kind. A storm cellar? Had to be. Nothing else would be this far away from the main house. Damn, if we were in tornado alley…that could explain the white hatch.
I yelped as I stepped on something sharp but I couldn’t let the pain get to me. My feet pushed me faster and further from Nicole as I sprinted. My lungs were burning as I ducked around and made it to the tree line. I hid behind a tree to take a breather. When I heard the sounds of leaves crunching I knew that she was close. I squeezed my lips together, making myself breathe slowly, quietly out of my nose. When the sounds of her footfalls stopped I carefully leaned around the tree that was blocking me and looked around. I didn’t see Nicole. Where is she? I laid my head back against the tree, taking one last breath before I went to turn and run again. That’s was when I felt the tug at my hair and her vile, shrill voice.
“Gotcha, you little bitch.” I felt her breath on my neck. Something inside of me twisted; my face heated up and I grit my teeth before I turned quickly. I pulled my foot up as I turned and kicked her in the stomach, sending her falling backwards and me stumbling. Falling into the tree, I was able to steady myself and regained my footing. My feet started moving me from the covering of the trees to the grass covered side of the road. I didn’t know where it would take me or even if I was going in the right direction. All I could do was run.
My legs, God, they were on fire. My muscles were starting to feel like jelly. I really should have taken Drew up on those workouts of his. Without my arms to help balance me and to push me forward my muscles were straining. I wasn’t going to be able to run much longer. I needed to rest, but how could I do that when I had a nut job following me? The thought of being stuck with her, the things she may do... I was tempted to start to pray to the Lord above to just kill me now and save me the trouble. As I slowed, my heart raced harder; it’s thumping felt as if it was about to push itself out of my chest. I came to a stop, dry heaving as I fell to my knees. Tears started to fall
from the corners of my eyes. Slowly, the tears turned into an uncontrollable sob, because when I closed my eyes, I saw Drew. That look he had on his face when he first came into the dance tonight, last night... whenever it was. He would have that horrible ‘someone’s died’ look on his face when he started looking for me. And my dad, oh God, he’d be frantic about now.
My head popped up when I heard a noise. A truck. I could see it across the wide open field. Thank you, God. I stumbled as I got to my feet and took off running again. My heart once again pounding in my chest as I tried to get to the road. The truck was moving closer to me. I would be saved. I could see dark hair, but that was all from this far. As the truck got closer I started to get a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. The truck pulled to a stop only feet from where I was running. Nicole was in the driver’s seat.
Shit! You’ve got to be kidding me? I tried to turn and go the other direction, but with my hands bound and my legs unsteady all I managed to do was trip and fall onto the road, groaning as the pains shot through my body. Then I heard her voice. That creepy calm voice that was laced with hate did nothing to hide her true self. You could feel the malice in it as she stalked over and snatched me up by my arm.
“I told you there was nowhere to go.”
She dragged me back to the truck - my legs aching, as was most of me. She pulled me up, gave me a hard shove and I landed face first into the truck. Not even in a seat, but in the back like I was the garbage she was taking out. I screamed and tried to get free, but there was no use. I let my head fall back onto the bed of the truck as she got in and started it back up. Wiggling to the side I groaned as something jabbed into my hands. I rolled a little to see what it was. A small piece of something, something shiny. I could use it to cut myself free. I moved closer to it but every time she hit a bump I went falling face first back into the truck bed. I needed my damn hands free.
CHAPTER SEVEN
The Farmhouse
Dani Lynn
WHEN THE TRUCK came to a stop I waited. The tailgate opened, and Nicole grabbed my ankles and tugged me to her. After a minute of her pressing herself against me, my feet hit the ground hard. I bit the inside of my lip to keep from crying out. Her eyes were on mine and then she was tugging me to the house, shoving and muttering about me making everything so hard on her. Hard on her? Was she really going there? She kidnapped me, for fuck sake. Her causing me pain was hard on her? As if, bitch.
I pulled my arm from her grip as we got inside the house. She slammed the door, locking the deadbolt with a key that hung around her neck. I turned from her as she said “move” and moved down the hall, stopping by the door as she told me to. When she opened it I had to blink at how bright it was. A library? I raised a brow as she stepped in and pulled me along with her.
“Well, do you like it? I decorated it just for you.” She smiled, that sinister look that said, ‘I will dig your eyes out with a spoon.’” Why did that make the pit of my stomach fall? I looked around the library for a few minutes. There were all sorts of books, note pads laid on a desk, a typewriter, pens, pencils and a small board to the side with the dry erase markers already laid out on it. The fact that it looked exactly like the library in my house, down to where the pens were laid out on my desk did nothing to comfort me.
I was overwhelmed and dizzy, my knees went weak. I shifted and fell into the wall, gasping for air. She had been in my house, no doubt about it. Okay, I knew that when I saw my bags and stuff… but when? How did she get in? My library was on the second floor, there was no way to see it unless you were inside it. And no one ever set foot in there except for me and Drew. The fucking door stayed locked, for Christ sake.
Nicole jerked me back up and I stood there for what seemed like days and gawked at the library. I looked over at her. “How did…” The look she gave me changed, that smile turning into a menacing, dark look. I knew I had to do something. I stood up straighter and looked her in the eyes. “How did you do this?” At those words she seemed to study me as she met my gaze.
“That doesn’t matter.” I cringed as she walked around and pointed out all the things around the room, like I wouldn’t already know them. God only knew what this meant. So I stood there quiet and trying to scope out a way to get the hell out of here.
When she pulled my laptop bag out from under the desk and sat it on top she gave me a sultry smile. When I didn’t return it, she scowled. I swallowed hard and gave a tentative smile. My insides were twisting and I felt faint. If she thought I would be happy about this she had lost her mind. Hope soared as I saw my laptop. I could use it to send out a message. Maybe someone could come and save me from this nut job. But that dream deflated slowly as she looked up at me. “I will monitor you while you are on the laptop; I hope you can understand, Dani Lynn. I just can’t let you tell anyone where we are.”
Was she serious? I had no clue where we were, anyway.
“There will only be a few hours a day for you to be on the laptop, the rest you can do your work by hand, or of course, use the typewriter.”
“What?” My tone was clipped.
“You will need to work. I know you can’t not work. I’ve watched you long enough… I made sure everything was just as you would need it to be.”
“No!” I glared as she came over to where I stood and slapped my face. Hard. I saw fucking stars as I stumbled back into the wall and slid down to my ass. My breathing was labored as I looked back up at her. The way her brows were pinched made my heart stop.
“You will do it, Dani Lynn.” As she moved to lean down I saw the knife attached to her belt loop and swallowed as she helped me stand. Okay, I could play this off. I'd have to. What would Maggie do? Maggie was the heroine in my novel. I could pretend to play this part as long as it would keep me out of harm's way. Until I figured out how to get away from her.
“Fine. You watch, stalk, whatever it is you need to do.” I nodded firmly and moved closer to the desk. I was snatched back, and she cut the rope on my hands. The ache and relief I felt as I rubbed my wrists was enough to bring tears to my eyes. “Did you get all of the cords, chargers and the backups I had? I can’t work without them.” My voice cracked as I fought to regain control of my emotions. “If not, can you take me to town to get one?” I was hoping she had forgotten anything, something minor even. If she had I could get word to Drew and she’d never know it.
“I got it all, no need to go to town. Not that you would go, anyway.” She looked through my bag and pulled everything out of it. I saw a power cord, but the charging box was gone. Thank you, baby Jesus.
“Where’s my charger?” I saw it after I said the words but she must not have seen it. She looked up at me and her lips became a thin line. “We can order one; if you'll let me get online now I can have one in a day.” Please.
My silent words were ignored for now. Nicole moved around the room and started setting up my laptop on the desk. She shoved me out of the way and I moved to sit in the chair by one of the bookcases, sighing as I laid my head back, closing my eyes. Let this all be a bad dream, a nightmare. I will take that. Please, don’t let this be real. I jerked to, being shaken rather harshly, my eyes opening to see Nicole standing over me. She had an apple in her mouth as she pulled me up and shoved me back towards the desk. I stumbled and my aching body jarred with the quick movements. “It’s all there. Now, come, it’s bed time.”
I had apparently fallen asleep. I was again shoved towards a door that I hadn’t noticed before. When it was opened up there was a bedroom… my bedroom. That sickening feeling sank back into my stomach. I walked to the bathroom and turned around to her, my voice hoarse and weak. “No….”
She stepped into the room behind me and moved to undress me, like I hadn't spoken to her at all. My heart raced and I pulled back from her. My hands pulled my dress back down as she watched me. “I can do this on my own, if you don’t mind.” I looked around and glared. “I supposed that dresser is full of my things, too?” My voice le
t my anger show, but she ignored it.
At her nod, I walked over, pulled the top drawer open and froze, taking in the garments. I had to fight back tears. The items inside were mine. They smelled like vanilla. My God.. They must have been what was in that big bag she pulled from the car’s trunk. What would Drew think when he found all of my things gone? I grabbed a clean pair of pj’s and walked back into the bathroom, shutting the door in Nicole’s face.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Holding My Own
Dani Lynn
A FEW DAYS have passed since I came to this place. I’ve been sitting, lying, and crying myself to sleep in this bed since I was locked in. The library, bedroom, and bathroom are obviously locked up tight. If there was a fire I’d die. I’ve thought of setting one.. Anything to try and get her to let me go. I’ve made peace with the fact that I will never get out of here. Nicole was not kidding when she said she wanted me. I was hers now, her prisoner. Why? I had no idea. She didn’t speak when she came in, only sat down trays of food and drinks and went back out.
Today had started no differently. I was brought a tray for breakfast. Bacon, eggs, toast, fruit and yogurt. Hot tea and orange juice. I stared at it for a while before I finally gave in. Days without eating was slowly making my body hate me. It was that fact that made my heart lurch. I never got to tell Drew, he’d never know that I was having his baby... That thought made me cry more. I had to try to get out. I had to save me and my baby and get back to Drew. I had to be Maggie. I had to.