AllFreeNovel
Share Us
THIRTY-FOUR
ESCAPE
A jay shrieked loudly somewhere near the cabin, startling Kendra awake. She was lying naked on the cold, musty floor, the smell of dirt and rotting leaves pungent and sticky, filling her nostrils with the threat of death.
Sunrise was drawing near, but there wasn’t enough light yet to dissipate the shadows in the small cabin. Still, she knew she wasn’t alone. As memories of what had happened filled her awakened mind, she started crying silently, covering her mouth with her hand, desperate to keep perfectly quiet. Her body ached, bruised and bloodied and too weak to put up too much of a fight.
Shivering, she sat up and stared into the darkness, slowly starting to perceive her surroundings. A couple of feet away, a man slept on the floor, his breathing heavy, sometimes interrupted by bouts of snoring. His breath touched her leg at times, and she withdrew, moving slowly, quietly, putting as much distance between them as possible. Folding her knees at her chest and wrapping her arms around them she waited, holding her breath whenever his snores stopped abruptly, or another bird’s morning cry risked awakening him.
As soon as blackness turned into dim shades of gray, she stood, unsure on her legs, holding on to the walls for balance. She had to get away, now, while the man was still asleep. That was her only chance; there wasn’t going to be another. She couldn’t survive another night like the one that was just ending.
She was backed into a corner, the man sleeping on the floor barring her path toward the door. She waited another minute or two for more light to pierce the darkness, anticipating her moves one at a time, knowing she’d have to be fast.
Holding her breath, she stood and stepped close to his torso, then over it, terrified that the rotting floor might squeak. It didn’t, and he slept on, undisturbed. Three more steps and she reached the door, held closed with a chain on a nail.
Staring at the rusted hinges and recalling the grating creak they put out when the door opened, she built the courage and released the chain. The door opened a couple of inches, groaning, and a gust of wind brought fresh, damp chillness inside. The man shifted and moaned, but continued his sleep. Quickly, she tiptoed outside and closed the door behind her, locking it with a gate latch that barely hung from two rusty screws.
Then she started running downhill, her bare feet aching and bleeding against sharp rocks and fallen tree branches. She had no idea where she was, but knew she had to get off the mountain as quickly as possible.
Out of breath, she turned her head for a moment just as she was entering the woods, to catch a glimpse of the cabin. The sight froze the blood in her veins. The door swung open, battered by the wind against the frame with rhythmic thuds. He had to be awake by now. No one could sleep through that.
Whimpering, she rushed downhill, hiding at times behind a thicket or large tree trunks to peek behind her, then darting away, rushing downhill as fast as she could. She’d just stopped behind a large fir when she heard a twig snap somewhere close, and she froze in place, holding her breath. Birds were singing in the distance, but the near ones had fallen silent, fearing the approach of a predator. Just like her.
Pressing her hand against her chest as if to steady her thumping heart, she listened but couldn’t hear anything, any other sound beyond the panicked whooshing in her ears. She was ready to bolt again when he reached her.
Without warning, he grabbed a fistful of her hair and started pulling, dragging her with him uphill. Shrieking and crying, she scratched at his hand, but he didn’t seem to care. He just looked at her with a strange smile.
“Please, let me go,” she cried, when she realized they were almost back at the cabin. “My parents have money, they’ll pay you whatever you want, I swear.”
“Shut the hell up,” he muttered, grabbing her arm and shoving her ahead. His gait was strong and steady, not stopping nor slowing down.
“No cops, I promise you,” she continued, realizing she wasn’t reaching him. “A million dollars, I know my parents have it. You can take that and go wherever you want, be free of—”
He squeezed and twisted her arm until she screamed, his hand merciless and cold when it touched her flesh. Glaring, he drew close to her face until she felt his breath on her skin.
“Shut the fuck up already!”
He shoved her inside the cabin, then slammed the door shut and latched it with the chain. She faltered backward until she reached the wall and stood, frozen, shivering, wrapping her arms around her trembling body and losing her mind with fear.
“No, no,” she whimpered, seeing him approach. She held her hands out in front of her as if to stop him. He grinned and grabbed her wrists tightly, then bound them with a piece of rope he recovered from the floor. Then he hung the knot against the hook above her head, pinning her in place.
She was going to die there, like Jenna. There was no escape.
A sob swelled her chest, releasing a stream of tears that smarted where her face and lips were swollen and bruised by his blows. There was no end to the nightmare. No one was going to find her there, in the middle of the woods. Tugging against the hook with the last ounce of strength she had, she raised her tear-blurred gaze to him and saw him standing inches away, staring at her, smiling.
The look in his eyes froze her blood. Breathless, she watched him inch closer, looking at her body with hateful eyes. He touched her swollen lip and she whimpered, pulling away as far as the restraints allowed. Chuckling, he tasted her blood off his finger, a sparkle darkening his eyes as he did.
“Anything else you want to say now?” he whispered. His voice, loaded with the unspoken threat of pain to come, trailed off into silence.
Then she screamed, the jays outside falling silent.
THIRTY-FIVE
CAPERS
Out of all the things Elliot had thought possible on a Saturday morning before sunrise, finding Kay Sharp standing by his bed wasn’t one of them. He didn’t dare to imagine what might’ve fueled her intention to show up on his doorstep like that, but he minded it less than an old dog would a juicy cow bone.
“What do you mean, we’ve been looking at this wrong?” he asked, sprinting to catch up with her on the way to her SUV, after falling behind to slip on a pair of boots. He put his hat on right before climbing into the passenger seat, proud to uphold the rather uncomfortable and uniquely Texan tradition of wearing wide-brimmed Stetsons while inside vehicles.
