I finally found the handle and tried futilely to open the door, even though I knew, deep down, those beeps had been a code to lock the door from the outside. The tears were now falling freely as I alternated slapping my hands against the wall and screaming for help, and trying to open the door. I’d continued my useless attempt to get someone to help me even after I’d fallen to the ground, and after what seemed like half an hour later, the beeps came back and I shot to my feet in preparation.
As soon as the door cracked open, I pushed through it only to be caught by a pair of large arms and walked back into my room as I screamed for anyone to save me.
“Get off me! Someone help!”
He shut the door behind him with a foot and continued walking us both until my feet touched the mattress and he started pushing me down.
Oh God, no! “No, stop! Help me, please!” My body hit the mattress, and he kept his arms on my shoulders as he knelt to the ground beside me and I struggled against him.
“I need you to stay here, and stop fighting against me. If you get out of this room, I promise you there is no one who is going to help you. I can only keep you safe if you stay in here, do you understand me?”
My head was shaking back and forth as I sobbed and fought against him. I’d dealt with Blake and his psychotic claims; I wasn’t about to believe this man.
“Stay here so I can bring you your food.”
His body wasn’t coming closer, but I continued to push against him and struggled to get out from under his strong hold. Without warning, his hands were gone and he was stalking back over to the door. I shot upright, and my mind screamed to make another attempt at getting away from here, but I knew he would bring me right back in. Besides, he only had the door open long enough to bend down and grab something on the other side of the wall before it was shut and he was making his way back to me.
He set something down on the bed next to me and walked quickly away again. “Close your eyes,” he said in warning.
I kept them open.
The light flipped on and I blinked rapidly against it, refusing to cover my eyes for fear of what he would do if I stopped paying attention. When my eyes had finally adjusted, I looked to my left and saw a plate full of chips and a gourmet-looking turkey sandwich. The guy came back to me briefly to set a bottle of water down next to the plate, before retreating to the place and exact position he’d been in when I’d woken up. We stayed just like that for hours.
Him, sitting on the floor in front of the door, watching me.
Me, sitting on the bed with my knees up to my chin, staring directly past his head to the handle of the metal door.
The food untouched.
“GET UP, LET’S GO,” the man ordered the next time I woke up.
Afraid of where he was about to make me go, I stayed on the mattress, staring at my knees, which I had pulled up to my chest.
“You haven’t left this room since I brought you in. I know you need to use a bathroom, so either we go now, or you can wait until tonight.”
I didn’t even know how far away tonight was. I’d just woken up, but I’d been sleeping almost the entire time I’d been here. I desperately wanted to take him up on his offer, but a part of me didn’t want to acknowledge that I needed him for a task as simple as going to the bathroom.
Wait. “Go.” He’s about to take me out of the room! My body began pumping adrenaline at a fast pace as I thought about what this could mean. Forcing my face to not give anything away, I kept my eyes off him as I stood and met him near the door.
“Don’t try anything, and don’t leave my side.” When I didn’t respond, he grabbed my elbow. “Understood?”
I looked up at him, making deliberate eye contact for the first time since I’d woken up here.
With a curt nod, he opened up the door, keeping his hand on my arm the entire time. Looking to the side, I saw a long hallway in one direction, and a much shorter one in the other with a door where it ended.
I didn’t know if that was a closet, or a door to the outside, but when the man began walking me in the other direction, all I wanted to do was go to it.
We passed multiple rooms on each side and a kitchen before he stopped in front of a shut door. Opening it slowly, he flipped on a light inside and started to look around. His hand still hadn’t left my arm, but he was facing me. I knew I wouldn’t get another chance like this, so before he could look back at me, I quickly lifted my leg before shoving it into his groin as hard as I could. He bent and his hand loosened, but it was all I needed.
Wrenching my arm from his hand, I turned and started sprinting down the hall in the direction we’d come. Not long after, I heard heavy and quick footsteps behind me, but I didn’t look back. Another few rooms had gone by when one of the doors ahead opened, and a guy stepped out. He wasn’t facing me, but with the sound of our approach, he’d stopped walking and started to turn.
A muscled arm wrapped around my waist, yanking me back and into the kitchen. My scream was cut short when a hand slammed down over my mouth, and I opened my eyes to see my captor directly in front of me, his eyes dark and a finger in front of his own mouth, telling me to stay silent.
My back was against the wall, the man caging me in so I couldn’t move. Every heavy breath from him had his large body brushing against mine.
“Oh, little girl,” a sinister voice rang out in the hall behind me, and every hair on my body rose. “Have you finally come out to play with the rest of us?”
A low growl built up in my captor’s chest, and my body started shaking uncontrollably.
“I won’t bite . . . hard.”
My captor pressed his body closer to mine, and after slowly moving his hand away from my mouth, moved close to whisper in my ear. I cringed back but couldn’t go far. “Don’t say anything.”
“Where’d you go, you little bitch?” the voice said again, but this time the sinister tone was laced with hatred.
When my captor pulled back, his face was murderous. Tears sprang to my eyes, but I somehow knew that I needed to listen to him. Suddenly his head turned to the side, and I froze . . . not wanting to see the man that voice belonged to.
“Damn, bro, already claiming her?”
“Leave,” my captor growled. “Now.”
“No need to get touchy. I’ll wait for my go at her.”
“I said get. The fuck. Out.”
“I’m going . . . I’m going. You better keep an eye on your bitch. Because next time she’s alone, Marco might be the one to find her . . . and you know how bad Marco wants her.”
“No one touches her.” His body was vibrating, and I looked up at his face to see the barely concealed rage.
“For now,” the voice said in a mocking tone. “Possessive doesn’t suit you. You might want to be careful with that, you know how we all like a challenge.” With a deep laugh, I heard footsteps retreating from us. “I’ll be seeing you soon, sweetheart.”
A few seconds passed before my captor looked back at me. His face was dark when he whispered, “Do not run from me again, understood?” Not waiting for me to respond, he pushed off me, grabbed my arm, and started walking out of the kitchen.
I shrank into him when he suddenly stopped, and we came face-to-face with three men.
“Look what we have here,” one of them said.
“Told you I’d be seeing you soon, sweetheart,” another said, and I would have recognized that disturbing voice anywhere.
“We need her.” The third spoke directly to my captor, his eyes never once looking at me.