Page 138 of His to Own

He drags me towards the van. Maxim is distracted with the fight. So is Nikolai. Lana and Adriana run inside the building. They don’t even see me.

Where is my mother? My father?

It’s then I see that Mother is pressed against a car, keeping herself out of the fight.

As for my father…

He gets punched in the head by one of the men. The same side I hit just days earlier. He flops right to the ground. The man drags my father towards the van.

I’m thrown into the back of the van right as Maxim realizes what’s happening. “Elena!” He runs for me but the van door gets closed.

The other back door opens up and one of the men throws my father into the back seat with me. He groans. His temple is bleeding all over again.

Some men remain behind as they continue to shoot at Maxim and Nikolai while one of the men gets into the front seat and drives the van away. All I can do is watch Maxim fight.

Will he die? Will he survive? I know for a fact that I don’t want him to die now.

“Let me go!” I scream. I lunge at the driver and wrap my hands around his throat, digging my nails in. He only punches me in the side of the head. I collapse onto the back seat.

Father seems out of it as he groans. His head is ducked to his chin.

The van gets farther and farther away from the chaos of the fight. Farther and farther away from Maxim.

“Father?” I whisper. “Father?” I reach out for him but he jerks away from me. I can’t help but flinch. The back windows are all tinted. When the van rolls to a stop at a light, I try to motion out the window for anyone’s help but it’s a late night and there’s barely anyone on the street. I try opening the door but it’s locked. No way out.

“Where are you taking us?” I demand, even though my voice sounds tiny. I have to be strong. My father is practically unconscious.

“You’ll see,” the driver says in a gruff voice.

I try to look out the windows to see where we’re going but it’s too dark so I count instead. I don’t stop counting until the van fully stops. The driver gets out. The sound of his door slamming shut makes me flinch. It settles like a heavy weight in my stomach.

He opens the back door and motions his gun at me. “Get out.”

With trembling legs, I do as he says. I fall to the ground and he picks me back up with a rough snarl.

I look around. We’re in the middle of the woods. A large house is before me. Not a fancy mansion but still a nice house. Like a fairy, woodland cottage. Except, this is no fairytale.

The driver grabs my father from the van and throws him to the ground. “Here.” He throws rope at me. “Tie him up.”

I hesitate.

He points his gun at me. “Tie his hands behind his back.”

Slowly, I do as he says. I kneel beside my father and wrap the rope around his wrists. He only groans again.

The driver pulls out more rope and motions me to turn around. He grabs my wrists and ties them behind my back as well. “There. Now walk.”

I start moving but my father doesn’t get off the ground.

“Walk,” the kidnapper snaps, kicking my father in the stomach. With another groan, my father gets to his feet. He trudges forward, barely able to walk.

We’re led around the side of the house to a large red barn out back. The inside of it stinks like cow manure.

“Sit,” the driver instructs.

I sit on the ground and after a moment, my father does the same. The driver takes out more rope and attaches it to the rope on our wrists and to a beam in the middle of the barn. I try to tug on my wrists but I’m not going anywhere. I’m stuck here. Trapped.

The driver grunts when he’s done. He starts to leave when he comes back and frisks my father down. He finds a knife in my father’s boot and takes it before walking away. He shuts the barn door behind him and then all is silence. There aren’t any cows around. No pigs or sheep or horses. It’s just me and my father.