by Blythe, Jane
Maegan, for she still thought of herself by her real name and not as Alice—the name Malachi had given her—had not been outside that house in all those years. Occasionally, Malachi would allow them a few minutes to play in the gardens, but only ever closely supervised, and always while he had his gun with him.
They hadn’t gone to school. Malachi had taught them himself, and Maegan had been surprised to find that she actually missed school. She had missed her friends and her teachers. She had missed being a normal little girl.
She missed her parents, too—more than anything. And even her little brother.
She had thought that it was over. That she would never ever see them again. But now she had a chance. If she got this right, she’d be able to go home.
Home.
The word held a special meaning to her now that it never had before she’d been kidnapped. Back then, she’d taken it for granted. She would never do that again.
Glancing carefully up the corridor, she spotted Malachi deep in conversation with a doctor. She tiptoed cautiously toward Eliza’s room. She only ever called her Ariyel when Malachi was around. When he wasn't, the girls always called each other by their real names.
Inside the room, Eliza was asleep in the bed. A tube looped across her pale face, delivering oxygen to her lungs. An IV hung beside her bed, the liquid inside dripping into Eliza through a tube in the back of her hand. A clip on her finger was attached to a machine that beeped and showed a range of numbers, but Maegan wasn't sure what all of that meant.
Crossing to the bed, Maegan gently took her sister’s hand. For even though they weren’t blood related, Maegan considered Eliza, Bethany, Hayley, and Arianna her sisters.
If Eliza hadn’t gotten so sick, they wouldn’t have had this opportunity. Her sister had been sick for days, but Malachi had done his best to treat her at home. Only when they’d checked on her this evening, they’d been unable to wake her. So Malachi had reluctantly bundled them all into the car and rushed Eliza to the hospital.
As thrilled as Maegan was to have this chance to escape and go home, she was extremely worried about Eliza. She loved her big sister so much. If it wasn't for Eliza, none of them would have survived the last five years.
“Eliza?” Maegan leaned close and whispered in her sister’s ear.
Eliza didn’t respond.
“Can you hear me?”
Again, there was no response.
Giving her shoulder a gentle shake, Maegan wasn't sure what was wrong with her, but she didn’t want to do anything to make Eliza worse.
“Come on, Eliza, wake up, please,” she half begged. This would be so much easier if her sister were there to help her. After all, this was really Eliza’s plan. She’d come up with it years ago, only they’d never been able to make it work. “Eliza,” she repeated desperately.
Just how sick was her sister?
Was she going to die?
What if this worked? What if Laura was able to help her, and she and her sisters were rescued, but Eliza didn’t make it?
Would it all be worth it?
Would she trade freedom for her sister’s life?
She was starting to panic. Her sister’s pale face and limp hand, being around so many strangers after spending so long trapped in that house. It was a lot to deal with.
Doubts were starting to fill her mind.
She was crazy to think she could make this work.
Who was going to believe her?
She and her sisters all looked just like Malachi, and they all looked like each other. And Malachi was charming and a great talker. Even if Maegan was able to convince Laura that they were all kidnap victims, listening to Malachi spin things would likely convince her that Maegan was the crazy one.
Even though she and Eliza knew who they really were, Bethany had only been four when Malachi had kidnapped them. She only had a few hazy memories of her real identity and home and life before Malachi. And Hayley had only been a baby then. None of them even knew her full name, nor did they know Bethany's.
What if that meant that the police couldn’t send them home?
What if they couldn’t figure out the girls’ real identities before Eliza was released and Malachi took them back home?
Then the little girls would go back to life with Malachi and without her and Eliza there to protect them.
That, she couldn’t risk.
Maybe she should just give up.
Accept that she was never going to escape from Malachi’s clutches. That she was destined to spend her life with her sisters in that house.
Even if it worked; even if the police were able to find out who Hayley and Bethany really were through DNA tests or something, and they all went home—to their real homes—that didn’t help Arianna. The two-month-old baby really was Malachi’s daughter.
But Malachi would be in jail, right?
Her and Eliza’s statements and the DNA tests on the little girls would surely be enough to convict him and send him to jail. And once he was in jail, he could never hurt them again.
But what if it didn’t work out that way?
What if Malachi was able to convince everyone that she was crazy? That the girls were all his and that she was just sick and delusional. Eliza was unconscious, so she couldn’t back Maegan up. And Bethany and Hayley didn’t remember their abductions. Malachi could easily whisk the children back to the house before the police could prove that he had kidnapped them all.
It was too big a risk.
She should just go and get the others and wait for Malachi to take them home.
Only that wasn't what Eliza would do.
Eliza would go for it.
She was a risk taker.
Maegan could feel tears pricking her eyes. She wanted to do the right thing, but she wasn't sure what it was.
Then she felt Eliza squeeze her hand. Startled, she glanced at her sister’s face, but her eyes were still closed. Maybe she had imagined it. But then she felt it again.
She took a deep breath to calm her jangled nerves.
She could do this.
Eliza and the others were counting on her.
It was Malachi’s fault that Eliza was here. He had made her sick with all those drugs he was always feeding her. Even if she survived this time, next time she might not. And how long before he started having to drug the rest of them to control them?
She was doing this.
She just had to trust that Bethany would do as she said and keep herself and the little girls hidden until they got help.
And she had to trust that her instincts were correct and that Laura really would help them.
“I'm going to end this, Eliza,” she whispered. “I promise."
FIVE YEARS AGO
3:21 P.M.
They had been driving for hours.
Glancing down at her wrist to see the time, Eliza remembered that she never wore a watch. How could she have forgotten that? Right, because her head still felt like it was stuck on a carousel, spinning around and around and around with no end in sight.
Sighing to herself, she started to look for her phone, before remembering that she had dropped it and her bag on the ground when Malachi had drugged her. Sighing to herself again, she felt like her brain had turned to mush. It was useless.
Still, it had to be a good thing that her bag had been left behind. It meant she couldn’t call for help, but Malachi wasn't likely to allow her to do that anyway. So the bag left by itself at the side of the road was probably the better option. Someone would find it. They had to. And once her family realized she was missing, and her things were found abandoned, surely the police would start looking for her.
They’d look for her, and they'd find her.
Something was wrong with her. She hadn’t cried in hours; she wasn't scared anymore. Now she just felt numb. Maybe she’d moved to a place beyond fear. A place where nothing existed but making sure she continued to exist. Eliza knew she had to be ready to do whatever it took to escape.<
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A part of her brain recognized that she was probably in shock. And that was the reason why she felt completely empty. Another part of her brain knew that she didn’t have time for shock. She had to focus. Had to keep a clear head. She was tough and strong, and she could do this. She had to do this.
Glancing out the window, Eliza had no idea where she was. And no way of getting out of the car. Even if she could get herself out of the car, she couldn’t leave those children behind. Eliza was almost positive that Malachi had kidnapped Bethany and Hayley, too, and as much as she wanted to get home to her family, she wouldn’t leave without the little girls.
Suddenly, Malachi turned the car off the road into a gas station. She shook herself to try and wake up her brain; this could be her only chance at escape.
She got herself ready to scramble into the front seat and out of the car the second Malachi had his back turned. Once she was out of the car, she could scream for help. The gas station was busy, not very busy but she counted four other cars. People would come. They would call the police. And she and the children would be safe.
Eliza struggled to keep her face neutral. She could feel her heart thumping as Malachi turned off the engine and opened the door, climbing slowly out of the car.
Pausing before he closed the door, he turned to her with a creepy smile on his face. “Don’t even think about going anywhere. You do anything, and I shoot every single person in this gas station.” He carefully revealed his gun tucked inside his waistband.
Deflated, Eliza slumped back against the seat. There was no way she could risk the lives of every innocent person that was unfortunate enough to be buying gas when Malachi pulled in.
But she couldn’t give up.
There had to be a way to take advantage of this opportunity. Because who knew when another one would present itself? However, try as she might, Eliza couldn’t think of a way to get herself and the children help without alerting Malachi. And if he thought she was making a play for freedom, he would start shooting. She didn't doubt that one iota.
Staring aimlessly out of the window, she watched the people happily going about their lives with no idea that a monster was standing in their midst.
She watched as a dad staggered back to a car full of boys, his arms full of snacks. She saw an elderly couple standing together as they filled their car. She watched as a young girl of about ten stood beside the car next to Malachi’s, tapping her foot impatiently as she watched her mother join the long line of people waiting to pay.
Malachi finished filling the car, and she watched him as he started toward the line. She wondered absently whether she had time to get both children out of the car and all of them hidden before Malachi noticed. But she saw him turn and wave to her, his hand tapping his waist where she knew the gun was hidden. Even if she did manage to get the three of them out and someplace safe, he would only kill everyone here.
Feeling helpless, Eliza clenched her hands together so tightly her knuckles turned white. She needed options. Something. Anything. She needed to feel like there was a way out. And right now, she didn’t. Helplessness was slowly inching its way to fear. She couldn’t let that happen. If she allowed herself to feel the terror that swam inside her, she wouldn’t be able to function.
Just as Malachi was about to join the line, he turned and started walking quickly back toward the car. Surprised, Eliza wondered what had happened.
It soon became glaringly apparent.
On the way back to the car, Malachi snapped an arm around the little girl who had been impatiently waiting for her mother. Lifting the child off the ground, he spirited her toward his car.
Startled, the little girl didn’t offer a protest.
Eliza looked around for the girl’s mother, but the woman had gone to join the line and hadn’t noticed that Malachi had snatched her child.
Just as Malachi was about to shove the stunned girl into his car, she let out a petrified shriek.
Everyone in the gas station turned to look at them.
Unflinchingly, Malachi threw the child through the driver’s side door and across to the passenger seat. Then he jumped in and sped off, tires screeching.
As they hurtled out of the gas station, Eliza could see the girl’s mother running after them. Even from inside the car, she could hear the woman’s desperate screams.
The little girl began to cry.
Bethany began to cry.
Baby Hayley began to cry.
Malachi began to laugh.
Eliza rested her head against the window and let the tears she had desperately been holding back flood down her cheeks.
* * * * *
6:11 P.M.
She was scared.
She wanted her mother.
She wanted to go home.
Why had that man grabbed her?
Maegan knew she’d messed up by not screaming right away. Only she had been so surprised. She’d just been standing there waiting for her mom to finish filling up the car so they could go to Tiffany’s sleepover. She’d been frustrated that it was taking so long. She was annoyed with her mother for not going to the gas station before she picked her up from school.
That could be the last time she’d ever see her mom.
And Maegan had been sulking and pouting like a spoiled little brat.
When that man had grabbed her, she’d been so shocked that she hadn’t done anything. She’d just let him take her.
Her common sense had returned when she’d realized he intended to throw her into a car. So, she had screamed—as loud as she could. Maegan had hoped that someone would come running to rescue her. But they hadn’t. The man had thrown her into his car and sped out of the parking lot before anyone could do anything to help her.
And now she was stuck in his car.
She wasn't alone.
There were two little kids in the back seat and a teenager, maybe five or six years older than herself.
What was creepy was that everyone in the car looked like her.
The man who had grabbed her and the girls in the back seat all had black hair and blue eyes. She wasn't sure about the baby’s eye color, but the rest of them could have been her sisters and the man her father.
An uneasy feeling started in Maegan's stomach.
What was the main reason people kidnapped kids?
It was custody cases. She was sure it was, because she remembered her parents talking about it when her mother’s sister split with her husband. Her uncle had been an alcoholic and had lost custody of his three kids, and Maegan remembered her parents discussing the possibility of him doing something stupid and grabbing her cousins and leaving the country.
But that wasn't the case here. Her parents were still married. So, what was the next most common reason? She wasn't sure. She didn’t like to watch the news; it scared her, and she stayed away from any websites that mentioned anything scary. Whatever the reason was, it couldn’t be good.
Before Maegan had time to ponder this more, the man suddenly pulled the car into a driveway. They had been driving for hours. The clock in the car now read six thirty. That meant it had been three hours since she’d been taken.
An electric gate opened, and the man drove through it. Before them was a huge, three-story, brown brick house. There were bars on all the windows, and the property looked to be fully enclosed with a tall, wire-topped, brick fence. It was an imposing building, and Maegan couldn’t help but shiver when she looked at it.
Pulling the car into a garage, the man turned to all of them with a creepy smile. “We didn’t get introduced earlier. I'm Malachi.” He held out his hand for her to shake.
Maegan stared at his hand and made no move to touch it. She didn’t want to touch this man. She didn’t want to be anywhere near him. She wanted to be safe and sound in her own home.
He chuckled. “That’s okay, Alice, we have plenty of time to get to know each other.”
“My … my name’s not Alice.” Maegan frowned in confusion. Maybe this
man thought she was someone else and that was why he had grabbed her. Maybe once he realized she wasn't Alice, he would just let her go home.
“Of course, it is.” Malachi gave her a reproachful frown. “Do you think I don’t know my own daughter’s name?”
“I'm not your daughter,” Maegan protested. “My name is Maegan Masters. My parents are John and Susan Masters. I don’t even know you.”
“Any more talk like that, young lady, and I’ll send you straight to your room without dinner,” Malachi rebuked her.
Maegan wanted to protest again. To insist that she wasn't this man’s daughter, but the look in his eyes stopped her. Was this man crazy? He must be if he thought she was his child.
“Come along, girls.” Malachi opened his car door. Pausing before he climbed out, he pulled a gun from his waistband and held it up so they could see it. “Don’t even think of trying anything stupid. Ariyel, would you please bring Abigail in with you?”
“My name’s Eliza,” the teenager in the back seat spoke. “And you said the baby’s name was Hayley.”
“I said no such thing.” Malachi glared at her. “Now get the baby. Abigail,” he added pointedly. “Hurry up, Angela.” He opened the door and unbuckled the little girl’s seat belt.
Reluctantly, all of them climbed from the car. The teenager, Eliza, hesitated, her gaze darting to the garage door like she was figuring out if she could make it there before Malachi fired his gun.
Before she knew what was happening, Malachi had wrapped an arm around her neck and was pressing something cold to her forehead.
It was the gun.
He was holding a gun to her head.
“I’d think very carefully before you try anything stupid, Ariyel,” he cautioned the teenager.
“My name is Eliza,” she repeated, tears in her eyes.
Maegan could feel tears welling up in her own eyes. She was so scared. But she didn’t want to cry. Not again. She’d been crying practically since Malachi threw her into his car. And she didn’t usually cry. She wasn't a baby anymore; she was ten years old.
Defeated, Eliza hung her head and headed for the door that presumably led into the house. Malachi nodded approvingly and then took her hand and the hand of the child he’d called Angela, although Maegan knew that wasn't her real name, and herded them inside.