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Right, I’m in a car boot. I’ve seen in movies when people are in a car boot they push out the car rear light and wave their hand through. Let’s see if I can do that. My hands are behind my back so I feel with my feet. My feet are bare which helps in feeling my way around. I squeeze my toes through the carpet of boot around the end of what I think is the rear of the car. It is filthy. I’m getting bits of dirt and I dread to think what else, stuck in between my toes. I work my feet through the gaps in the carpet and I feel wires. I follow these with my feet and think I feel what is the rear light. I feel around for a bit longer until I’m sure this is what I’m going to do. I push on the light with my feet. It won’t budge. I keep trying, pushing and kicking it as much as I can but I’m too weak and it’s well and truly stuck in. I begin to panic again. Just breathe Bella.
I need to do something. I cannot give up. I decide to have one more go. I’m going to use all my strength, bringing it from all of my body. I am going to kick, bang, push the light out with my feet. After 3 – 1...2…3…CRACK!...
The pain is excruciating. Something snapped in my heel and ankle. I throw up with the pain. I’ve not much in my stomach since I was so nervous, I hardly ate all day. But everything that was in there is now next to my face in the boot. I can’t cope. I drift back off into the darkness.
Damien
“Damien why haven’t you been answering my calls?! Have you found Bella? Do you know where she is?!” I ignore her questions.
“Chloe have you any idea who would want to kidnap Bella or where she might be?”
“Yes!” she says. Wait? What? That’s not what I expected her answer to be.
“What do you mean yes?!” I ask.
“Well, I have an idea. I’ve been thinking Damien and I think it might be John. He’s completely gone off the rails since Bella left him. He’s been disappearing for days and weeks at a time. He doesn’t speak to his friends or his parents. I’ve done some ringing around and it turns out his grandma died a couple of months ago and left him her house. No one seems to know where the house is other than it’s in the Lake District somewhere. I’ve tried to get hold of John’s parents but they’re on a plane to Australia and don’t land for another 17 hours.”
I am surprised by what I am hearing but I feel like she is on to something. “Find out what flight they are on, and get in contact with the airport they’ll be able to contact the pilot. Speak to the police about this they’ll be able to help you. Let me know as soon as you find out anything else, even the slightest little detail. And thank you Chloe.”
I end the call and shout for Josh, “We’re going to the Lake District!” With a quick stop on the way, I think. Mr. Graves has sent me a location. We will collect the gun on the way. I direct Josh to where the pin on the map is. I put my gloves on and get out of the car and it tells me I have arrived. I’m next to a yellow grit box. I lift the lid and inside there is a brown paper bag. I grab it and head back to the car.
Once I’m in the car, I get it out. I clean it, check it’s loaded and put it into my holster. Josh has been watching me. “I think I know the answer to this mate but why aren’t you using your own gun?”
“Because today, Josh, I won’t be using my gun to wound and disarm, I shall be using it to kill.” Josh just nods. It’s going to take us 5 hours and 10 minutes to get to the lakes from London. The Lake District is also 912 square miles in size and we don’t yet know where this house is. I hope to God my gut instinct is right and this is where she is. We are about 2 hours behind them now after all the messing about I’ve done. I should have rung Chloe sooner.
What has happened to my Bella? Bile threatens to release from my stomach. I mustn’t let my feelings take over. I need to channel it into adrenaline and get the job done. Find Bella, kill the abductor and bring Bella home. Those first 2 hours have quickly passed but now the time is passing disturbingly slowly. I can’t help my mind wandering to Bella and what she is going through. If he touches her Argh!! BANG! SHIT! I punch the dash board in front of me and the air bag shoots out slamming me back into my seat.
My anger rises. I fight with the air bag. I stab it with my pocket knife and push it back in the dash. “Come on Damien channel it!” shouts Josh. I’ve worked in many rescue situations like this and I’ve never once lost my head. Then again, I have also never had to rescue my love before. My love. It pains me to think that I still have yet to tell her this. I knew I loved Bella from the start but I wouldn’t let myself admit it. My love for her is huge. My heart is pulled to hers and when I’m not near her or when she is in danger my heart physically hurts. I had heard people speak of agape love but I thought it was fictional. I now know otherwise. I will kill whoever has her, even if I die trying.
Bella
The next time I wake up I’m being carried. I am being carried by what feels like a strong male, I’m not sure if I’m dreaming as it feels very familiar. I keep still and quiet. My foot is pulsating. I try and relax. I keep drifting in and out of consciousness. We are outside and it’s dark and cold. I’m not aware of the time but it feels like the very early hours of the morning. I can hear the footsteps of the person carrying me. Their steps are heavy and make crunching noises in the crisp autumn leaves on the ground. We then enter a building of some sort.
I’m starting to wake up a lot more now but my body is frozen in fear. I dare not move my body or open my eyes. It’s taking all my strength just to breathe normally. The air smells damp and musty. We go through the building- it’s very quiet. It slightly warmer than outside but not much. I’m feeling very cold. I feel as though I still have my dress on from the show and some kind of blanket is over me but I’m still extremely cold. My body begins to shiver uncontrollably. I try my best to keep still but I can’t. I keep my eyes closed and make a silent prayer.
Please can I go home, please don’t let him hurt me. I’m then lying on what feels like a bed. I only just realise the zip ties which were around my wrists and ankles have been removed. Another blanket is placed over me and he strokes my head. I’m frozen in fear and I couldn’t open my eyes if I wanted to. He hovers over me for what feels like minutes then he leaves the room. I hear the door being locked and a bolt slide across it. I lie there unable to move. I just try to get control of my breathing. I’m shaking so much the bed is rattling. I don’t want him to come back in so I concentrate on slowing my breathing and stopping shaking. I decide to think of all the things that make me happy to try and take my mind off what is going on.
My mind first goes to Damien. God, Damien is going to be frantic when he realises I am missing. He must know I’m gone now. I wonder what he is doing at this moment in time. If I know Damien, he will have all his men out looking for me. I begin to worry about Damien. I hope he doesn’t get hurt in trying to find me. Who knows who this man is and what he is capable of? That’s if Damien can find me. My heart sinks- let’s not go there just yet.
I lie there for a while, finding strength in thinking of my loved ones. I start to open my eyes. It is dark but there’s moon light shining in between the curtains of a window. I push up on to my elbows and look around. I’m in a bedroom. There’s a window to the right of me with tartan wool curtains, which obviously aren’t lined with the amount of light they’re letting in. I’m on a wooden four poster double bed. It has no drapes just wooden posts. I push myself up a bit more. There is a wooden dressing table, with a mirror against the wall at opposite the end of the bed. To the left of that is a wooden door and on the right a large wooden wardrobe. The furniture looks old but expensive and in good condition, from what I can make out in this light.
The room seems clean and tidy, although the air is stale and damp. I decide to get up and look through the window to see if I can escape. I bring my legs over the side of bed and put my feet on the floor. I stand- CRUNCH- “AARRR!” I forgot about my ankle. An agonising pain shoots up from my ankle into my brain. My ankle gives way and my knees buckle with pain. I fall to the floor. I flip myself over to assess the damage. My right ankle is three times its usual size. The swelling goes all the way down to my toes and up to my knee. My ankle is bright red and bruising is starting to appear up my leg. My skin is tight and shiny. This doesn’t look good but it’s the least of my worries right now I suppose.
I pull myself up on one leg using the bed for support. I hop over to the window. I pull back the curtains and peer out. I’m on the ground floor. There’s a wooden decking area outside the window, then a stone driveway which is empty. All I see surrounding that are trees blowing in the wind. From here, I don’t know where I’d go, other than to run into the trees. And with this leg, I wouldn’t get very far. I stand at the window for a minute and I get the strangest déjà vu. I just have this weird feeling I have been here before. But I don’t recognise anything.
I hop over to the bed and grab the blanket. I wrap it around myself. I shuffle over to the dressing table and open the top drawer. It’s full of underwear. MY UNDERWEAR. Wait why? How is my underwear here? There’s a set here I’ve not seen for weeks I thought I had left it at Damien’s or that it had got lost in the laundry at the hotel. I flop down on the bed. What the hell is going on. I stare at myself in the mirror on the dressing table. My make-up has practically all gone, apart from the dark shadows around my eyes from my mascara and eyeliner. I spot something in the mirror behind me. On the wall above the bed is a painting of a house. It is a painting of this house. Oh God, I know where I am.
Chapter 17
Bella
Shocked, I stay sat on the edge of the bed staring at the painting through the mirror. I cannot believe my eyes. I then hear a bolt sliding across the door. The key in the lock turns and the door opens. Light floods the room from behind him. There he stands. It’s John.
I knew I recognised this place. It’s John’s grandma’s house. I haven’t actually been in this room before; this is John’s grandma’s room or it was. She’s obviously not staying in here now with my underwear in her dressing table drawer. I didn’t realise straight away but the painting on the wall I recognised straight away. It’s a beautiful stone cottage with a thatched roof. I’ve always loved this house.
We used to visit John’s grandma every couple of months. His grandma is- was- always so welcoming and we really got along. We never slept over though. John’s grandma was very old fashioned and set in her ways. She didn’t believe in sleeping together before marriage and we respected that. So, we just used to come early in the morning and spend the day with her. We had some really lovely times here. Summers in the garden walking through the forest. Autumn and winter walks. Christmas in the snow. It’s beautiful here but it is also in the middle of nowhere. No one would hear me shouting for help and to walk to the nearest house or pub, you’re talking a 30-minute brisk walk at best. And that’s if I knew which direction to go in.
“Bella you’re up. How do you feel?” he asks. Is he serious? I just look at him in absolute disgust. He looks like he’s lost a lot of weight. He’s always been a well-built man that looked after himself but he looks really gaunt. His skin is pale. His eyes look sunken in and he’s obviously not shaved in weeks.
