Page 201 of I Never Stopped Loving You

The last pull of the ropes is followed by the pain from the immediate rush of blood to my hands. I didn’t even realize how tightly bound the ropes were. No wonder Jeremy was hesitant to use his knife in the dark. I can feel his hand on my shoulder ready to assist if I need him to.

“Go. I’ll be right behind you,” Jeremy whispers before gently pushing me forward.

I can’t see a damn thing in front of me. I can hear the thudding footsteps of James off somewhere in the darkness. I need to remember what Jeremy said. Turn right, then left. Turn left again, then right instead of straight. The handle will be on the left. I just keep repeating the directions in my head. Right, left, left, right, handle on left. My damaged hand is clutched to my chest while the other skims along the wall.

“You motherfucker! I’m going to kill you both. When I get my hands on you, I’m going to drag you in front of that little bitch and make her watch while I gut you,” James screams from somewhere off to my left.

Jeremy’s hand tightens on my shirt holding me in place. The sound of heavy steps echoes off the brick walls. I’m frozen in fear, holding my breath as the steps get closer. I press my back against the wall and close my eyes praying he doesn’t come down this path.

“I can hear you. I don’t know how the fuck you’re still alive, but I will find you. You can’t save the little bitch. You couldn’t save her fifteen years ago, and you sure as fuck aren’t going to save her now. You’re going to die down here in your personal hellhole that you’ve kept me trapped in.”

I can hear the rage in his voice. He’s not going to stop until he finds Noah. He probably still thinks I’m restrained to the chair, and when he finds out I’m no longer there…I don’t even want to think about that.

“Noah!” he screams, and from the sound of his voice, I can tell he’s moved further away.

“Go,” Jeremy whispers.

We take a left, then another left. My footsteps are silent. The only sound I can hear is my heart pounding in my chest. My undamaged hand is still trailing along the right wall feeling for where the edge is so I know when to turn right. I can feel Jeremy still behind me, his hand barely touching my shoulder blade just to keep some sort of contact. The bricks suddenly disappear as the path opens to the right. I feel the left wall and can tell this is the divide where we need to turn. We’re almost out.

“Shit,” I squeak as I trip over something in the dark, and my sound travels through the darkness.

Jeremy grabs me by the shirt just in time and pulls me against him to prevent me from falling. I quickly freeze, listening in the dark for any sound of movement. I know he heard that. There’s no way he didn’t.

“Go. You’re almost there,” Jeremy whispers even quieter against my ear. He’s barely breathing as he slowly releases his hold on me.

My hand runs along the wall on the left searching for the handle that Jeremy talked about. I keep walking slowly until my fingers brush against a brick that’s turned weird. I follow the edge and realize that it’s multiple bricks, only slightly angled. This has to be the door.

“I found it,” I whisper, and I can feel Jeremy tap his finger against me twice, letting me know he heard me.

We haven’t heard a footstep from James in a while and that terrifies me. If we can just get up the steps, we can lock him down here. How long can a person survive without food and water? A week? We could just keep him down here until he starves to death. Let him suffer.

*Click*

My hand hits a brick that shifts. I feel it, finding a hole big enough for a few fingers to slide behind the brick. I pull and it pops away from the wall. It’s a handle. Another click and a sliver of light appears along the door's edge before the light fills the tunnel. We’re going to make it.

My eyes squint from the bright light streaming in from the staircase. When my eyes adjust, all I can see is the man I love lying back against the staircase. The knife is still sticking out of his stomach, and blood is everywhere.

“Noah,” I scream, not able to control the pain in my voice.

“Found you.”

My stomach drops at the sound of James’s sick, twisted voice.

He was waiting in the darkness for us.

Jeremy quickly pushes me into the doorway closer to Noah before his body is slammed from the side and he goes flying into the darkness. I can hear the crashing ‘umph’ as their bodies hit the ground, then the sickening sound of punches as they fight each other.

“Willow. Get the gun!” Jeremy screams.

The gun?

“Hurry!”

I quickly flip on the switch filling the maze with light. Blood can be seen smeared on the ground from where he must have dragged Noah’s body. Jeremy and James are on the ground only ten feet away. James is on top for only a moment before Jeremy punches him hard in the face sending him flying into the wall.

“Willow, get it. Shoot him!”

My heart is pounding as I scan the floor for the gun finding it against the wall caught on a small pile of busted bricks. I quickly rush to grab it, glancing at the thing and realizing I haven’t shot a gun in over five years.