Total pages in book: 56
Estimated words: 50561 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 253(@200wpm)___ 202(@250wpm)___ 169(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 50561 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 253(@200wpm)___ 202(@250wpm)___ 169(@300wpm)
The morning’s drama suddenly seemed so pointless. Had I not convinced myself that Simon would see me differently, I never would’ve got the bright idea to buy him something first before I spent a dime of his money on myself, and I wouldn’t have gone to the stupid mall. They probably didn’t have anything in there he’d want anyway.
Of course now that I thought of it-it was too late. I was already starting to mourn the life I could’ve had. All the beautiful things I would’ve shared with my Simon and it hurt like a knife slicing through my soul. I made a sound of anguish and he turned angry eyes on me. I wasn’t about to tell him what I was thinking though so I thought of something fast.
“My hands really hurt, could you maybe loosen this a little?” He just glared, but said nothing. My legs were beginning to tremble as he paced the room. What was he going to do? It would help if I knew what this was about, but nothing he said so far shed any light.
I knew that I didn’t know him-had never seen him until that day on campus. So when or how had I crossed him? He stopped suddenly in front of me and my fear factor went up a notch. I swallowed around the lump in my throat and fought not to pee myself.
“Okay, I want you to say these words. I’m okay for now, but if you don’t do as he says he’s going to kill me.” He held a phone out to me and waited. For some reason that pissed me off. I knew what I was supposed to do. I was supposed to do as he said. But if this asshole was going to kill me anyway, why should I make it easy for him? Maybe the longer I held off the longer I’d get to live and somebody just might find me before it’s too late. That was a lot to think about in a short space of time, but I was going on instinct.
“No.” His face registered shock ten seconds before he hauled off and slapped me across the face. I cried out before I could stop myself and that’s when all hell broke loose.
There was a crash at the door and a shot, followed by a yell of outraged pain. Through a flurry of movement, I saw Simon’s pale face as he tore the rope from my arms and legs before lifting me from the chair. I barely had time to notice another man holding my captor at gunpoint as he laid on the floor clutching his arm.
“Let me see you are you okay baby? Did her hurt you?” His palm covered the heat in my cheek from where I’d been slapped and his eyes smoldered. I was too overcome with relief to form words and just went limp in his arms as he hurried me to the car. I had to pee so bad I was afraid I would go on myself but the relief mixed with fear held it locked inside.
“Stay here baby, I’ll be right back.”
“No don’t leave me.” I looked around the isolated place in fear as I clutched at him. Now that I was free, all I wanted was to go home. I didn’t even care what happened to the crazy man who could even now be heard raving like a lunatic.
“You’ll be fine, I promise. Just let me take care of something.” He extricated himself from my arms, which barely had any feeling left and headed back inside. The other man came out and stood guard next to the car as Simon walked in.
Now, I was worried for a different reason. I’d seen the gun in his hand. What if he shot that guy? He’d go to jail for sure and it would be my fault. I started to get out of the car but the door was held shut against me. The towering man who stood there just shook his head at me and went back to keeping watch.
I was a nervous wreck as I strained for any sound coming from the cabin. There was yelling but I couldn’t decipher the words, but I knew it wasn’t Simon’s voice. The shakes started somewhere around the time I heard the first scream. Shit! I flung open the door and made a mad dash for the bushes. The guy started to follow until I stopped just at the edge and threw up. Once I was sure he wasn’t going to follow I hid behind some trees and relieved my bladder. Somehow that was the best damn feeling in the world.
***
Simon
***
We’d been making our way around the cabin as quietly as possible so as not to alert whoever was inside. There was no other vehicle here, but who was to say Jen wasn’t in there as well? I was barely keeping myself in check when we got into position at the backdoor and could see into one of the dusty windows off to the side. The door was flimsy at best with weathered and grey wood that had been weakened by the elements, which was good for us.