“You’re not going anywhere!” She grabbed me and flipped me onto my back.
Her fist connected with my face, and the black dots became larger. I could barely see past them. I reached out blindly and tried to push her away.
She laughed as she slapped me across the face. “Come on, you can do better than that.”
“Please let me go, Ally. Please,” I begged.
“Why? So you can go running to Jesse to tell him what a mean, horrible person I am? I don’t think so.”
I felt like the world was spinning off its axis. My stomach lurched, and I fought to keep myself from throwing up. Ally’s fist connected with my face again, and I raised my hands to try to protect myself. She laughed at my feeble attempts as she delivered another blow. My eyes closed, and darkness took over.
I welcomed it. I’d do anything to escape the pain.
Chapter Twenty: Emma
My head felt as if it was going to explode. I refused to open my eyes as pain shot through my forehead to the base of my skull. Everything was fuzzy. I took a deep breath as I tried not to cry out. I’d never felt such pain in my life.
I cracked one eye open to look around me. There was very little light in the room, but it still hurt to open my eye. I was in a room with no windows. Nothing was in the room, except for the floor lamp across from me.
Where am I?
I tried to remember how I’d ended up here, but I had no idea.
I was eating cereal, and then my mom called. What happened after that? Someone knocked on the door. Neighborhood kids were playing a prank. No, that wasn’t it.
Pain shot through my head, and I clenched my jaw as I waited for it to pass.
Danger…I tried to reach for my phone.
Ally’s face slammed into my mind like a hammer. I gasped as I finally remembered.
She came to the house and attacked me. I tried to escape, but she tackled me. I hit the floor, and then Ally hit me. Black dots. After that? Nothing. I must have blacked out.
I tried to stand, but something stopped me. I forced my eyes open to see that my legs were tied to a chair. My arms were tied up behind me. I am so fucking screwed. Ally was crazy, and I was alone and defenseless.
“It’s about time you woke up, princess.” Ally’s voice came from behind me.
I turned my neck to look for her, but I didn’t see her anywhere. Suddenly, she was beside me. She slapped me across the face, and I cried out in pain. The pain in my head increased until I couldn’t bear it anymore. I wanted to black out again. I’d do anything to escape that pain.
“How are you feeling?” she asked sweetly as she pulled a chair in front of me.
She must have grabbed it from somewhere behind me because there was definitely nothing in front of me.
“Like someone cracked my skull,” I spit out as I looked away from her.
She laughed as she raised her hand. “Guilty.”
“Let me go, Ally. Just walk away, and no one has to know what you did. You got your anger out. It’s over.”
“Oh, it’s far from over, dear Emma. I’m just getting started.”
There was a coldness to her voice that made me wonder if she would actually kill me. I looked up at her. As soon as I looked into her eyes, I knew she would kill me without a second thought. Her eyes were cold, and there was no kind of emotion behind them at all.
“Please let me go,” I quietly begged.
“But we’re just starting to have fun. Don’t you want to see everything else I have planned for you?”
I ignored her question and looked away. She could hurt me all she wanted, but I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of me begging a second time. I already knew that she was planning to kill me. That was all I needed to know. The less I knew, the better. Maybe if I didn’t fight, she’d get bored and make it quick.
Jesse would lose it when he found out what she’d done. I had no idea how long I’d been out, but I knew it had to be a while from the pain shooting through my skull. He had to know by now that I was gone. Maybe he was searching for me. Hope swelled in my chest as I pictured him rushing in to save me.
My hope was crushed when I realized that even I didn’t know where I was. I might not even be in Morgantown anymore. Hell, I might not be in West Virginia.
“Where did you bring me to?” I asked.
“My house.”
“And where exactly is your house?”
She studied me for a minute. “I guess it won’t hurt to tell you. It’s not like you can call someone for help.” She laughed as if she’d said something funny. “You’re still in Morgantown. Actually, you’re only about twenty minutes away from Jesse’s house.”
If I was still in Morgantown, Jesse stood a chance at finding me. It was a slim chance, but I needed to hold on to something.
“You’ve been staying this close to us the entire time since you left, haven’t you?”
She nodded. “Yep, and you guys had no idea. It’s kind of funny when you think about it. I’ve spent a lot of time watching you at Jesse’s house since he kicked me out. I’d give you some advice about closing your curtains, but I don’t think you’ll need to worry about that anymore. There are no curtains where you’re going.”
I turned away from her. I couldn’t even stand to look at her right now. I felt sick. She’d been stalking us for weeks, and we had been clueless.
“Get away from me.”
“Why? Did I say something wrong?” she asked innocently.
“You’re a fucking psycho,” I told her.
I tried to break free of my restraints. The rope dug into my skin, but I ignored the pain as I struggled.
“You might want to stop before you hurt yourself,” she said happily.
I stopped struggling once I realized that the ropes weren’t going anywhere. “Just do what you’re going to do, and get it over with.”
“Oh no, I want to draw this out,” she said quietly. She placed her finger under my chin and lifted my face to look at her. “And I can’t wait to watch you cry out in pain.”
“You won’t get away with this, Ally. The police will catch you. Jesse will know that you had something to do with this. He hates you now. You know how I told you that he’d meant he loved you like a sister? You don’t even have that from him now. Even if I die, he will never be yours.”
“Shut up!” she shrieked as she slapped me again.
I clenched my teeth to keep from crying out. One thing was for sure—the bitch was strong. Even her slaps were enough to make my head spin.
“You know nothing about how Jesse feels about me. You have some kind of power over him. Once you’re gone, he’ll realize that he loves me. We’ll be happy together, and he’ll forget all about you.”
It was my turn to laugh. “Think whatever you want. You’ll see.”
“You know what the worst part is?” she asked suddenly.
“That I’m tied to a chair?” I asked sarcastically.
“When I watched you guys, I saw you…together. It made me sick to see him touch you.”
My stomach rolled at the thought of her watching while Jesse and I’d had sex. “You’re sick.”
“I didn’t want to watch, trust me.”
“Then, why did you?”
She shook her head. “You wouldn’t understand.”
She stood and walked behind me. I could hear her moving things around, but I couldn’t turn around far enough to see what she was doing. I glanced around in front of me, hoping to see something that would help me. There was nothing. The room was as empty as before.