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“She didn’t believe me the first time, why would I waste my time trying to convince her again. She’s so enthralled with you; she’d probably make up some excuse in her head,” I say, closing the door behind me.
I should feel like I’m on top of the world, but something about the way his eyes gleamed when he said I showed my weakness has me feeling sick. I don’t know why. It’s ridiculous, he couldn’t possibly know. When I get to the car, I decide to put my mind at ease and pick up my phone. The call rings longer than it should, and I begin to panic, but then her soft voice hits my ears. “Hello?” My chest instantly releases the tight coil it is wrapped in.
“Hey, beautiful, what are you doing?”
She yawns. “Oh, nothing.”
I smile, turning out of the driveway. “Were you sleeping?”
She hums. “I was just keeping your bed warm.”
I laugh. “Oh, yeah? How about you—”
“Lincoln,” she whispers, cutting me off. “Is that you?”
My foot presses down on the accelerator. “Is what me?” I demand.
“That just came in the house?”
Fuck.“Callum, I want you to listen to me.”
“Okay.” Her whispered voice trembles as I drive faster, breaking laws as I cut in and out of traffic.
“That’s not me.” She whimpers. “Shhh…” I try soothing her. “You need to get up quietly and find somewhere to hide. Can you do that?”
She doesn’t respond, but I hear her breathing pick up, hear the almost silent shut of my closet door. “Okay.”
“I’m almost there. Just stay hidden until I find you, okay?”
“Lincoln, I’m—” Her voice is cut off by a gut-wrenching scream, and the line goes dead.
Fuck. I try calling her back, but it goes straight to voice mail. I pull into my driveway, slamming my hands on the steering wheel when I see the front door open. I throw my car door open, not bothering to shut it as I run up to my home. “Callum,” I scream, the walls echoing my voice back at me. As if it’s mocking me. I run up the stairs, turning down my hallways.
Lamps are turned over; the mirror is broken as if someone’s head has been slammed into it. If I had time to panic, I would. But I don’t have time because I have to find her.
Clicking on the last person I ever expected to call for help, I put the phone to my ear. “Hello?” Richard answers, confused.
“We have a problem.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Journal entry: You never know how truly blessed you are until it’s ripped away from you.
I am truly blessedin this life. The examples are endless. I can’t help but think of them as I lay with my knees pushed to my chest inside a cage. A dog cage, to be exact. Inside a moving vehicle, must be big because there are also other girls in cages, stacked on top of one another. I couldn’t run from this situation, so I made jokes in my head to keep myself from freaking out. From crying and begging to be freed. If this blessed life has taught me anything, it’s that being weak isn’t going to cut it.
My cheek burns from the open wound of being slammed into the mirror, my throbbing head going hand in hand with that. I can’t help but wonder if he did this. My dad. If he allowed me the taste of a family, only to rip it away. Made some crazy story to tell my mom. Have they held a press conference, spent money to find me even though he knows exactly where I am? Or haven’t they even noticed I’m gone yet? How long have I been gone? An hour? Days? My sense of time is messed up from falling unconscious after the attack. And being in this dark, moving vehicle, I have no clue if it’s night or day.
I shift my head to look at the woman next to me. She looks older than me but not by much. Her body is in the same position as mine. Her white dress is dingy, as if she’s been in it for a while. Her hair greasy, sticking to her body as if it’s doused in glue. “Hey,” I whisper.
She turns her head slightly. Eyes so dead and cold they make my body chill. My heart breaking a thousand times over. “Hi,” she croaks.
“I’m Callum, what’s your name?”
“Elizabeth.” She licks her dry, cracked lips.
“Hi, Elizabeth,” I say softly. “Can you tell me what this is? Where are we going?”
She peers into my soul with her lifeless eyes. “Hell.”
