Never Talk to Strangers

by T. L. Hanigan

  Nick climbed into the bed, putting his arm around me, bringing me in close to him. Putting the blanket up around us, he asked, “Is there anything I can get you? Are you hungry?”

  I shook my head. I didn’t want to risk anything.

  “You have your phone?” He asked surprised.

  “Yeah, I don’t know how…” My voice trailed off. He took my phone, plugging it into the charger, when I remembered something… “Were you not home when the police showed up?”

  “What?” He asked handing me his phone.

  “I’m pretty sure that Amber called the police.”

  He looked confused. “What are you talking about?”

  Before I could explain, Nick’s phone had gone off – it was Tyler. I froze up, sobbing when I saw his name. Nick took the phone and held onto my hand. “It’s okay,” he told me, then answered the phone. “Hey, I was just going to call you.”

  “Nick –,”

  He interrupted, “Tyler, she’s here. She’s safe.”

  There was a pause. “Summer?!”

  “Y-yeah,” I choked out. “Yeah, I’m here.”

  “Oh, my, God!” He sobbed on the phone, “Summer, I’m so glad you’re okay! We’re coming to get –”

  “Wait! Please don’t; not yet. Eli might still be here.” My voice shook. “Please, I’ll come home in the morning.”

  Tyler sighed and sniffled a little bit. “Okay…”

  “Eli said that the police showed up here…” My voice trailed off, unsure of where I was going with it.

  “Eli was here?” Nick asked, confused. “Today?”

  I nodded. “And for however long I was in that room…”

  Nick sighed, looking in disbelief. “I just…I can’t believe this.” When no one said anything, he went on, “We haven’t seen him in days. He must have been coming in and out of the house while we were gone.”

  I felt sick to my stomach. “What am I going to do?” I sobbed.

  “It’s going to be okay, Summer,” Tyler said on the phone. “Try to get some sleep, okay?”

  “I love you, Tyler. Give Mom and Dad a hug for me, okay?” Tears running down my face.

  “I love you, too, Summer,” my brother said.

  After Nick put the phone down, I cuddled up close to him, wanting to forget everything that had happened the last few days.

  “I’m so sorry, Summer,” Nick whispered to me, sobbing slightly.

  “It’s not your fault,” I looked up at him, wiping away a tear from his face. I bit my lip, wanting to ask, but scared of the answer. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Yeah?”

  “There's a room under the basement,” I started, “Why is it set up so...” I trailed off looking for the right words. “Like someone lived down there?”

  He didn't say anything for a long time. “We used to keep Eli there.”

  “What?” I asked sitting up. “Why?”

  “The doctors told us he wasn't safe.” He whispered. “He was fine after taking medication, but he's been off of it.”

  I chewed the inside of my cheek, trying not to cry anymore, whispering, “I want to go home.”

  “I know, Summer. I'll get you home,” he promised, kissing my forehead.

  ***

  The next time I opened my eyes, the sun was coming through the window. Nick was holding me in his arms.

  “Good morning, beautiful,” he whispered.

  “Good morning, babe,” I smiled.

  He kissed my forehead and got up, getting dressed.

  “Where are you going?” I asked.

  “Taking you home.”

  Panic rushed through me. “What about Eli?”

  “Don't worry about him, he's not home. I’ll be right back.” He went to the door. “Lock the door and wait for me to knock softly, three times. Okay?”

  “Okay...” I said.

  He left the room and I quickly locked the door.

  I had some time to look around his room. It was pretty clean, and I smiled at that. There was a mirror by his closet, and I stared at my face. My cheek was a little bruised and my eyes were bloodshot. My hair was greasy, and I suddenly felt the need to shower.

  Three soft knocks made me jump and I slowly started towards the door. For a moment, I was scared it was Eli, but Nick said he wasn't home.

  Thankfully, when I opened the door, Nick was standing there.

  I let out a sigh of relief and I let him pull me through the house.

  “I don't have shoes.” I said, stopping him at the door.

  “Summer, there's no time for that. Eli's car is here,” he whispered, and I felt the blood drain from my face. I couldn't move.

  There was a crash coming from the basement, and I froze, staring at the door in the living room. Nick opened the front door and picked me up, carrying me outside. I saw the basement door open and Eli standing there, just as Nick was shutting the door.

  The cold winter air hit me and I shook, hanging on to Nick. He carried me to his car and locked the doors. He placed me on the cold snowy ground and my feet froze up.

  He opened the door for me.

  “What the hell are you doing?” I turned back to find Eli yelling, coming after us.

  “Get in!” Nick shouted.

  I jumped in his car as he ran over to the driver's side door. I locked my door with my frozen fingers as Nick started up the car; or tried to.

  “Is it not working?” I asked panicked.

  The car was trying to start, but it would fail each time. Nick cursed, hitting the steering wheel, obviously pissed off.

  I looked back to find Eli hitting the car window with a hammer, I screamed as the glass fell on me. I tried backing away from him, but he opened my door and grabbed my arm, pulling me out of the car, into the snow and ice. Nick got out of the car and knocked him on the ground, causing me to stumble on to the ground myself, falling on my butt.

  Getting up, I wrapped my arms around me, shaking violently and watching Nick punch Eli's face.

  “I told you to leave her alone! Why didn't you listen to me?! You hurt her!” Nick kicked Eli in the stomach.

  As much as Eli was messed up, he didn't deserve this. “Nick...” I shook.

  Nick continued to beat him.

  “Nick!” I yelled. “Nick!”

  He stopped finally and looked at me.

  “It's not worth it.” I said shakily.

  Nick moved towards me. “Summer, he took you away from everyone. He hurt you,” he said out of hate.

  I didn't say anything else; I didn't know what to say. I looked behind Nick and watched as Eli tried to get up. He wiped blood from his mouth then reached behind him, pulling up a gun.

  My eyes widened in fear and shock. I shook even more, and couldn't feel my toes anymore.

  “Don't move or I'll shoot!” Eli yelled.

  Nick slowly put his hands up, his back towards Eli. Was he really going to shoot his own brother? I didn't want to find out.

  “Eli,” I said as sternly as possible.

  My voice must of stopped him, because he lowered the gun. “Yes, beautiful?”

  My stomach twisted again. “Put the gun down.”

  “He was trying to take you away from me.” Eli said sadly. “I love you.”

  I wanted to scream at him that I hated him. I hated him for hitting me, for knocking me out in the school bathroom; for taking me away from everyone.

  But I hated myself for even talking to him.

  “Eli, you hurt me.” I was still shaking from the cold. I was probably going to get sick.

  “I didn't mean too,” he started getting angry, holding up the gun again.

  “Do not shoot anyone,” I said getting angry as well. “You said you didn't mean to hurt anyone, right?”

  He didn't say anything; he just stared at me dumbfounded.

  “Right?” I repeated.

  He lowered the gun again. “Right.”

  “And when you love someone,” my eyes found Nick's. I was alm
ost sure he was starting to somewhat love me. I knew he really liked me, and I really liked him. “You don't want them hurt.” I looked back to Eli then.

  He had dropped the gun in the snow. He took a step towards us. “I'm sorry,” he sobbed.

  Nick turned around, standing in front of me; protecting me.

  Eli kept walking towards us, and I wasn't sure what to do. My heart began to race, and I felt frozen on the ground. My feet and hands had become numb; but I was still shaking. He stood there with tears in his eyes. “You can go.” His voice sounded broken.

  I was shocked but didn't question it. “Thank you,” I told him.

  Eli handed Nick the keys to his car, then walked back in the house.

  Nick and I stared at the shut door for a long time. I saw Nick move towards the house and bend down, picking up the gun Eli dropped. Nick slowly moved backwards to me. “Let's go.” He picked me up and hurried to Eli's car.

  Inside, he blasted the heat and found a blanket to wrap me up in.

  He started up the car and took off down the road.

  “I'm so sorry, Summer,” I heard Nick whisper.

  “No,” I shook. “This isn't your fault.” I couldn't stop shaking, and the heat was hurting.

  He pulled out his phone.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “Something I should've done last night.” I watched him dial a number, putting the phone to his ear and waited. “Dad? Eli’s been in and out of the house.” He glanced over at me. “He hurt my girlfriend,” he paused, “He kidnapped her and had her under the house.” He let out a long, pissed off sigh after a few minutes. “Well, when can you?” He paused, letting his dad talk again. “No, we're – Dad, I got to go!” He threw his phone down and slammed on the gas.

  “What's wrong?” I asked, finally feeling a little warm again. I looked behind us to find a car going just as fast as us, if not faster. “Is that Eli?” I asked Nick, turning around.

  “Yeah.” He whispered, slamming his breaks, drifting the corner, then stomping on the gas again.

  Eli drove up alongside of us, hitting us on Nick's side. I screamed, fearing the end, as the car fell in the ditch. The air bags didn't go off, and there was a crack in the windshield. My neck was hurting from the seat belt, but I was thankful that's all that was hurting, for the time being. I looked over to Nick, who was holding the side of his head.

  “Are you okay?” I asked, clearing my throat.

  He nodded, breathing heavy.

  Eli was walking towards us.

  “Nick!” I screamed.

  Nick tried to start the car, but of course, it wouldn't start. Nick cursed under his breath.

  Eli tried to open Nick's door, but thankfully, it was locked. “Open this door!” Eli hit the door with his fist. He paused, then hit the window with his fist as hard as he could.

  “Leave us alone!” I yelled. I wasn't going to let him take me back there. “Nick, please don't let him take me, please.” I sobbed.

  “I won't,” Nick said, finally getting the car to start again. Nick stomped his foot to the floor and we tore out of there, leaving Eli behind.

  After an hour or so, we pulled into a store parking lot. Nick turned off the car and turned to me. “Lock the doors, and don't let anyone in.” He flipped down the sun vizier. “If anything happens, get out of here. Don't wait for me.” He said, handing me an extra key. He gave me a tight hug and kissed me hard. “I'll be back as soon as I can. I'm going to get you clothes and food.” He kissed me again and left, locking the doors.

  I sat there in the car, watching people come and go. I got a few odd looks from people, but I ignored them.

  One man knocked on my window, and I rolled it down a little. “Yes?”

  “Ma'am, are you okay?” He looked to be in his young twenty’s, with black hair and blue eyes.

  “I'm fine,” I said awkwardly.

  “Are you sure?” He asked.

  “Yeah, I'm okay. I'm waiting for my boyfriend.”

  The guy handed me a card. “That's my dad's repair shop.”

  I took it. “Thank you.”

  “No problem. Have a Merry Christmas.” He walked off and I rolled up the window.

  After a few minutes, Nick was in the car. I handed him the card.

  “What's this?” He asked.

  “It's a repair shop. Someone gave it to me.”

  After a little while, being back on the road again, I stared out my window watching the snow fall down on the already snowy roads.

  “Where are we going?” I asked him.

  “A motel; just so you're safe,” he explained. “I didn’t want to take you straight home in case he followed us there. He doesn’t know where you live.”

  Soon enough, we pulled into a motel parking lot. Nick went inside to get a room and helped me to our room, with my new clothes and some food.

  The room had a tiny kitchen and living room, there was a bedroom off the living room with a good size bed. I took the clothes and went in the bathroom to change. When I turned on the light, I didn’t recognize the girl in the mirror. I looked horrible. Make up smeared, hair a rat’s nest, and still a bruise on my face.

  Turning around, I turned on the shower and washed up. Afterwards, I shut off the water, and dried off. I put on fresh clothes that Nick picked out. A cute pink tee shirt and yoga pants.

  Walking out of the bathroom, I smelt some yummy cooking. I rushed into the kitchen to find Nick making mashed potatoes. My mouth watered.

  “Are you hungry?” He asked and I nodded. “It'll be done soon, go pick a movie to watch.”

  After I picked out a movie, we sat on the sofa and ate dinner.

  “Hey, did you grab my phone from your room?” I asked him after eating my dinner in two bites.

  Nick nodded, pulling it out of his pocket. “Yeah, sorry.”

  “It’s okay.” I gave him a small smile. “Thanks, Nick.” Dialing Tyler’s number, I requested a video call, gripping the phone tight.

  When his face popped up on Nick’s phone, I quickly covered my bruise with my hand. “Summer!” Seeing my brother’s face sent relief through me.

  “Hey, Tyler.” My voice broke, slightly.

  “Summer! Oh, my God, are you okay? Where are you guys?”

  I chuckled, unable to believe that I was actually talking to my brother, again. “Yeah, I’m okay. Nick and I are at a motel. We didn’t want Eli following us to the house.” I paused, “He already tried driving us off the road.”

  Tyler turned the phone to Mom. Her back was towards the phone. “Mom, it’s Summer!”

  When she turned around, she dropped a glass of water, causing it to shatter. “Oh, my God,” She brought tears to my eyes. “Are you okay? Where are you at? We’ve been waiting for a call or something!”

  “I’m okay,” I sniffled. “Nick brought me to a motel. We didn’t want the risk of Eli knowing where I live.”

  She came closer to the phone, ignoring the shattered glass on the kitchen floor. “Oh, sweetie, I missed you so much. We all have,” she cried, “I’m so glad you’re okay!”

  “I missed you guys, too.” I turned the phone so they could see Nick as well. “Nick made me some dinner.”

  “Thank you, Nick,” Mom cried. “Thank you for saving our little girl.”

  “You don’t have to thank me,” he told her, “And Mrs. Key, I’ll bring her home first thing in the morning.”

  I yawned, tired and worn out. “I'm kind of tired,” I said sleepily.

  “Get some sleep, okay, sweetheart? Come home first thing in the morning.” Mom wiped her eyes. “I love you, honey.”

  “I love you, too, Mom; and Dad and Tyler.”

  After the call ended, I put the phone down on the coffee table, snuggling into Nick’s arms. “Thank you,” I told him, softly.

  “You don’t have to thank me.” He kissed the top of my head. “Go to sleep, honey. You're safe.”

  “Promise?” I asked.

  “Promise.” He s
aid, and then I was out.

  Ten

  The Motel Room

  All through the night, I kept waking up, terrified that I’d find myself back in that horrible room again. When I finally did wake up the next morning, I had been sweating and shaking. My heart pounding, I turned over to fine the bed empty. For a moment, I quickly checked my wrists and ankles for chains; there were none. I let out a long sigh of relief and laid back down. I was in the motel room, not Eli's creepy little room.

  Relaxing a little bit in the bed, I heard something hard hit the floor either in the living room or kitchen. My eyes flew open and I sat upright. Staring at the door, I waited for something else, but there was nothing.

  Maybe Nick dropped something, I thought laying down again – but my gut told me different.

  With my heart pounding in my ears, I slowly got up and went to the bedroom door, listening; but I didn’t hear anything. I took a deep breath and opened it.

  Nothing.

  The kitchen light was on, and there was a smell of mouthwatering food. Slowly making my way into the kitchen, I started to turn the corner when Nick almost ran into me. I let out a yelp when Nick started apologizing.

  “I’m so sorry, are you okay?” He asked concerned, “I didn’t wake you, did I?”

  I shook my head, “No, no, it’s okay.”

  He relaxed a little, giving me a small smile. “Are you hungry?” When I nodded, he kissed my forehead and led me over on the couch to sit down. “I’ll bring it right out for you, okay?”

  Brining my knees up, I sat there, staring at the sliding back door, which the curtains had not been open yet. My phone rang, showing Mom video calling me.

  “Hi, Mom,” I answered, doing my best to keep my voice even.

  She smiled, tears forming in her eyes. “Summer, I’m so glad you’re okay,” she sniffled. “How are you doing?”

  I wiped away a few tears of my own. “I’m okay, Nick has been taking care of me.”

  She sighed in relief, “I’m glad to hear that.” She seemed to want to say something more, but was holding back.

  “Mom?” I asked, nervously. “What is it?”

  She sighed, shaking her head and wiping tears away. “Nothing, um, do you know when you’re coming home?”