My footsteps were soft through the silent house. The darkness crowded each window, making the once bright interiors shifting with shadows. Every time I turned, another silhouette, tall and wiry, seemed to grow, casting its presence in longer stretches, making the hair on the back of my neck stand. I might have been alone, but there was someone always there, always watching me.
He’s always watching, the voice said.You need to be careful, Ellie.
Maybe it was the voice that was watching me. But was it watching out for me, or sending me into a trap too?
Just then, a sharp pang shot through my skull, making me grab my head. But then it dissipated into nothing, like it had never happened. I straightened, returning to my thoughts. I would be careful until Wil was asleep. This was his home; the man had to sleep at some point.
As I turned down the hallway, passing one of the bedrooms, a shadow appeared in my peripherals. I shook my head. I was seeing things now. But as I walked faster, footsteps joined mine. And when I turned, I saw him.
A hood slammed over my head, and the scent of smoke and leather filled my nostrils. Putting me in a headlock, the canvas threads of the hood seemed too tight, rubbing against my face, taking away my air. I stepped back as hard as I could, shoving my foot into his, but he kept his grip on me tight. Dragging me back. I pulled at his arms, but he had too much power over me.
Don’t give in, the voice said.Fight back! Fight him!
He turned a corner and I used that half of a second to wedge my mouth over his arm and bit down as hard as I could. He groaned, but tightened his grasp until the world darkened, blood filling my head in red bursts, ringing filled my ears until nothingness swallowed me whole.
When I woke, he had me pinned on the bed, his warm body weight resting on my chest. My wrists were behind my back, and I pulled at them, but the sharp edges of a metal restraint dug into me. I pulled anyway, trying hard to let my wrists pull through the cuffs, but nothing moved.
He pulled off the hood. I blinked rapidly, trying to get the world to focus. Wil looked down at me, his cock hard and bulging in his pants. He sneered, his teeth gleaming.
“Time to play,” he whispered. “Play the victim, princess.”
He leaned down, pressing his mouth to my neck, his breath hot and heavy, giving me chills. His lips dragged down my skin, as if barely there, then his teeth sunk into my shoulder, as if he could bite straight to the bone, giving me his sweet revenge. I whimpered, trying hard not to let it get to me. To not enjoy the way it made me helpless.
He might think that you’re weak. That you’re helpless. But the less they know about your capabilities, the better your chances are. Besides, this is what he wants, the voice said,You have to fight it.
But how could I fight when I couldn’t control my hands?
My ankles were spread apart, each one restrained in a similar manner. I couldn’t have been out for that long, and still, he had managed to restrain me completely. What the hell was I going to do? I shook my head, not daring to look into his dark eyes, to search for the hint of light shining in them, and fail.
This was what Wil wanted. To use me however he saw fit.
I had to be cautious, to be smart. Like Maddie had said. If only to find my sister.
The swift click of a pocket knife snapping into place made every hair on my body stand straight. A knife? No—it couldn’t be. Maybe it was a ruse to get me to stay still so that he could fuck me and kill me because that’s what he got him off. The sick fuck. To get me to comply when all he wanted to do, was to destroy me.
The sharp end of a knife dug into my throat, and his dark eyes bore into me. I closed my eyes, a flash of an image settling inside of me. A body cut up. Blood pooled underneath, soaking into the grass, mixing with the dirt. Caked against her body.
He breathed on my neck.
“You’re going to do exactly as I say, aren’t you?” he asked.
No. Not a knife.
He pressed the blade underneath my chin, making me lift my face. He was so close that the air from his nostrils crashed into me. I couldn’t bear to look at him, but this was too much.Hewas too much.
Her frayed neck. Her glassy yellow eyes. The purple bruising. The chopped remains of her body, thrown into a pile, to decay in the shade of a tree. Blood dripping from her mouth, from her neck. From every exposed part of her.
But she couldn’t be dead. It was a nightmare. Only a nightmare. A way to process the fact that I couldn’t remember anything about her, and it was my fault, wasn’t it? Because I needed to do something to change this. To find her.
Wil’s cock pressed into my leg, and a tear slipped down my cheek. I couldn’t close my eyes without seeing my sister’s body like that. Hacked to pieces.
Wil’s eyes met mine, and he stopped, giving me a moment to breathe. I let it all out, exploding into hyperventilation. He scrutinized me, his eyes narrowed.
CHAPTER 5
Wil
Twigs crunched under my brothers’ and my feet. The farther you got into the woods, the thicker the trees and brush were, making it darker. The moisture was heavy in the air. My throat was tight. Derek whistled at the humidity, and Axe grunted in response. It wasn’t often that Axe dragged us into the woods, but whenever he asked, Derek and I knew it was important.
