Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 55271 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 221(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55271 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 221(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
A knock at the door stirred her from her thoughts and she lay her book on the table, slipping on a pair of house shoes and going to answer it. She was surprised to find a man wearing a dark suit and dark glasses standing outside.
“May I help you?” she asked.
“Yes, you can,” he told her, suddenly reaching out and shoving the door the rest of the way open.
He stepped inside and slammed it closed behind him, shoving her backward in the process. Deidre stumbled but caught herself on a nearby table.
“What are you doing? Why are you here?” she shrieked, her heart racing as her eyes darted around for something to grab onto and hit him with.
She could shift, but she could smell that he was human, so it needed to be her last resort to show herself like that. She froze as he pulled out a heavy black pistol from his pocket and aimed it at her.
“Listen, I don’t know what this is about, but there’s no need for violence. Tell me what you came for and I’ll get it for you,” she said.
“I came here for you,” he replied.
The words were barely out of his mouth when he pulled the trigger on the gun. There was a burning sensation, the smell of hot flesh and a horrible pain in her chest. Then the entire world went black.
Hours later, she came to, strapped to a chair with rope and razor wire. She attempted to pull at it, to loosen it, and felt the warmth of blood running down her arm. She relaxed, knowing it would do far more damage if she tried to pull at it any harder. She tried to mentally assess whether she could withstand the pain of letting it do its worst and then shift to heal the wounds.
She looked down toward her chest, expecting an open wound. Instead, there were only a couple of dark marks. She realized that the gun the man had been holding was a stun gun. He had knocked her out rather than shooting her and brought her to what looked like an old factory.
She had no idea how she had gotten there or how long she’d been out, but she did know that her captor was well aware that she could shift or they wouldn’t have her strapped into a chair like this.
“What do you want? Why have you taken me?” she yelled at the man across the room, but he ignored her, continuing to sit quietly and just watch her.
“Are you deaf? I’m talking to you!” she screeched, but he didn’t even flinch.
She continued to taunt him without a response until she was hoarse and shaking with anxiety. She finally tried a different tactic.
“Can I please have some water?” she pleaded.
Finally, he moved from where he was, standing up and walking over to a cooler that sat on the floor nearby. He fished out a bottle of water and brought it over, holding it up to her lips so that she could take a drink. He let her drink until she shook her head to indicate she was done.
“Thank you,” she managed, but there was still no reply.
His features were impossible to make out in the dimly lit room where she was being held. It was only as he walked away that she focused more on his suit and realized it was the same man who had come to her door. Why it would be anyone else, she wasn’t sure.
She didn’t waste any more energy trying to yell at him. Instead, she resigned herself to her fate and waited to see what happened next. It felt like an eternity, but she was guessing that they’d have put her in a room somewhere other than just a chair in an old building if they intended to keep her for any length of time.
Still, time seemed to crawl past as she sat looking back at the man looking at her. It was like a slow-motion standoff of some sort, with only one of them knowing what was at stake. She assumed she would find out soon enough what this was about, though she wasn’t entirely certain she would like it.
Finally, she heard a door nearby creak open. Sunlight filtered in, low in the sky, but still bright enough to cast a long shadow past the man who entered the door. As he grew closer, Deidre could see him much more clearly. He was tall, thin, with dark hair and eyes. She could even make out the scar that ran down his cheek.
She didn’t know what he was there for, but there was no doubt that he was the man who had come into the cafe looking for her when she wasn’t there. It looked like she was about to find out what he wanted.