Page 53 of Abandoned

The pressure on her neck prevented her from getting all the oxygen she needed.

“I can cut off your windpipe long enough for you to pass out, then you can’t scream during the part that happens next. Or you could keep your mouth shut and bear it like a good girl. Do you understand?”

She nodded.

“Which way would you prefer? Would you prefer to wake up not knowing exactly what happened?”

How was that a choice? If he was going to assault her, maybe unconscious would be the way to go.

“Wanna stay awake?”

She nodded.

“Good.” He loosened the grip on her neck. “But understand if you start screaming before I’m done, I’ll take care of you and then find that pretty little cop boyfriend of yours and make him pay for your mistakes.”

Will.

He produced a roll of duct tape and bound her hands.

She struggled to hold the sobs inside, but she didn’t want this jerk to see her fear.

Once her ankles were bound too, he raised her hands above her head again. The muscles under her arms screamed at the hyperextension.

He grabbed her dress at the bodice. “You humiliate me, you get humiliated.” He yanked down on the fabric and ripped her dress off.

Her skin tore along with the seams of her dress.

A yelp escaped her lips.

He slapped her cheek. “I told you—not a peep.”

Dropping her hands from above her head, he wrapped his arm around her, lifted her, and hauled her toward the back of the room.

A small pile of wood, along with an electric screwdriver, sat beside the door as if staged for whatever he was going to do next. This was completely premeditated.

He yanked her toward his face. “Remember. No screaming. At least not as long as I’m here. But I’m pretty sure your upstairs neighbor is gone, so it’s going to take a while for anyone to hear you. But I don’t wanna hear it. You scream while I can still hear you, your boyfriend pays.”

She nodded a frantic, fear-driven nod.

What was he going to do with the wood? Trap her against the wall?

He shoved her toward the bathroom.

“No, not the bathroom.”

“What? You’re afraid of a small little space?” The laughter in his tone raised the level of sinister. “This is perfect. In you go.” He chucked her across the little room so hard, she slammed into the wall. “Have fun!”

He slammed the door.

Without hesitating, she pushed off the wall, raised her bound hands above her head. With a quick downward motion, she ripped the duct tape from her hands. She stripped it off her ankles and dove for the door handle. It wouldn’t budge. He’d reversed the doorknob. The lock was now on the opposite side.

She’d find a bobby pin and unlock it. Maybe she could get out before the panic set in. She could feel it closing in.

The screwdriver revved on the other side.

Wait, was that what he was doing with the wood? Trapping her in the bathroom? If he was screwing the boards into the door and frame, there would be no way she could get out on her own. She’d starve in here. And that was only if she didn’t have such a severe panic attack that she died. Could someone die from a panic attack?

The world closed in on her.