Speak Easy to Me

Chapter 16

My head was pounding. The top back of my head felt like I had been hit with a mallet. I went to raise my hand to my head but neither of my arms moved. I slowly started opening my eyes through the grogginess and was met with darkness. I tried again to raise my hand but was met with resistance. I knew the harsh stiffness and itchy material was rope. My hands were tied together behind my back.

I was searching for anything that would give me a clue as to where I was or how I got here. My eyes were still adjusting to the darkness. All I could make out was the outline of a door to my left. There was a mustiness in the air that suggested the room I was in was damp.

I moved my feet, but they were tied to the legs of my chair. I started breathing fast as the panic started to rise. My mind was racing, trying to recall what had transpired before I woke up in this damp, dark dungeon.

The memories started flooding in quicker than I wanted. The images of Cameron and Maggie on the desk in the study. Russel driving me to Le Mier. Then the memories I wished I could forget invaded my mind. My heart breaking all over again.

I walked into Le Mier immediately heading to the bar expecting to see Emmett there. Louis was behind the bar instead. Though I had never been formally introduced to him, I had seen him with his shirt off when I had inspected him for knife injuries. I felt like that was more than enough introduction to forgo formalities. “Where’s Emmett?” I asked.

Louis didn’t answer right away instead he looked at a spot behind me. “He’s not here right now.” He said sternly. Liar. I pushed away from the bar and went to where his eyes had been betraying his words. It was the hallway to Emmett’s office.

I made my way down the short hallway until I was standing in front of Emmett’s office door. I was going to knock, but then I heard a commotion in the room and flung the door open. There, to my absolute horror, was Emmett on top of Brooke on the floor. Her legs were wrapped around him. I felt like I was going to be sick. The bile in my throat threatened to erupt.

I was done. I was completely done. Everyone in this city was a vile person who didn’t care about anyone, but themselves. I was through dealing with any of them. I would take the blame for any consequences that befell the farm. I would rather spend the rest of my life paying off an impossible debt to Uncle Lon than deal with any of these people ever again.

I threw out some words to Emmett, which I couldn’t recall at the moment. Then I proceeded to run out of Le Mier before I could lose my lunch. I didn’t care who I ran into as I plowed through the dance floor, stepping on more than one person’s feet. I threw the door open and was met with snow hitting my face offering me instant relief.

I continued my hurried pace to an awaiting Russel who hadn’t left the front seat of the car. I went around the back of the car to get into the passenger seat. I was reaching for the door handle when a felt a hand go over my mouth and an arm wrap around both of my arms. I tried screaming, but the hand at my mouth muffled any noise that may have escaped.

I heard Russel’s car door open with Russel saying, “What the hell?” before I heard a pop. That sound was so distinct, I knew it was a gunshot. An all-consuming fear I had never felt before overtook my body. I started struggling more. I had a flashback to when I was attacked in the barn when I was 19. I leaned my head as far forward as I could before rearing it as forcefully back as I could. My head hit its target. My captor’s nose crunched under the velocity of my head. The spray of blood that accompanied his cries of pain were the last things I remembered before blacking out.

Now that I knew what happened to get me here, I was still unclear as to why. My thoughts then went to Russel. He was shot and I hadn’t heard anything from him after that. But if these men wanted him dead, why not kill me too? Why take me? A hostage is harder to handle than a dead person.

I had nothing. I didn’t have money for a ransom. I didn’t have any connections to anyone except loosely to Morelli and even then, I wasn’t part of his gang, I didn’t have any information on him.

I was told Cameron had enemies, but that turned out to be Emmett. I didn’t think Emmett had enough time to finish his business with Brooke and make it out to the alleyway to take me. Plus, there were at least two men, the one who accosted me and the trigger man who shot Russel.

I heard a door open beyond the door to the room I was in. There was a light turned on that now seeped through all the nooks and crannies in the door. Footsteps clunked down the stairs that must lay right outside the closed door, getting closer with each step.

I was in a basement. This really might be my dungeon. My panic was setting in again. I fought against my restraints hoping that by some miracle they would have magically loosened in the five minutes since I had last tested their strength.

The door creaked open revealing a silhouette in the doorway. He sauntered over to the light switch and the room was flooded with a dim light. I had to blink a few times to make sure what I was seeing was real and not from the hit to my head. There, standing on the other side of the room where I was tied to a chair, was Nathaniel.

“Hello, Lottie.” He said just as normal as ever like I wasn’t being held prisoner in a dank basement.

“Nathaniel?” Maybe I was reading this wrong. He had to be here to rescue me because nothing else made sense. “Untie me.” I gestured to my hands and legs, pulling at the ropes.

“Why would I do that when I’m the one who tied you up?” The smile that crept across his face was frightening. He sauntered over to me, grabbed a chair that I was out of my view then sat in the chair facing me. “Lottie, Lottie, Lottie. What have you gotten yourself into?”

“Nothing. I haven’t done anything. What the hell is going on, Nathaniel?” Nathaniel had been nothing but nice to me, despite the little hiccup with the whole Emmett/Holden situation. He had profusely apologized to me for that. He was the one person who had treated me halfway decently. This wasn’t adding up.

“You really have no clue why you’re here, do you?” I shook my head as even simple words escaped me at the moment. “My plan had been going so well until you had to screw it up.” I don’t know if he thought I would know what he was talking about from that little tidbit, but I was still clueless.

“You just had to play along a little while longer. Emmett was so close to ending Carmeron, he just needed a small nudge and the job would have been done. Emmett would have killed Cameron, taking both Cameron and Emmett out of the equation.” He kicked at my chair leg, making contact with my ankle and pushing my chair cockeyed. The squeak of the chair scraping the cement floor made my skin crawl. “But no! You had to go and cut Emmett completely off and for the first time in his miserable existence, he listened did what someone else told him.”

Nathaniel leaned forward violently grabbing my chair and pulling me closer to him while straightening the chair. I flinched at his harsh movements making him laugh with evil satisfaction. “Aww. Are you scared of me Lottie?” He moved his face just inches from mine. Our noses were just a hair’s breadth away from touching. “Good.”

He leaned back further in his chair, crossing his legs in front of him and linking his hands behind his head in a relaxed pose. “The question is what do I do with you now that you’re of no use to me?” Nathaniel was certifiably crazy. He kidnapped me because he thought I had sabotaged his cockamamie plan.

“You see, you had been crucial in getting rid of both of the pains in my ass in one fowl swoop. Now, I don’t know what you’d be good for besides squeezing a little money out of both of them.” This all had to be a joke. There was no way this man was this delusional.

I couldn’t hold back my laugh. “Wait a minute. You want to try to extort money from two men who want me out of their lives?” I couldn’t stop laughing now. Tears from the laugher, anger and sadness running down my face all at once. “You are an idiot.” Nathaniel’s face getting less amused the more I laughed which encouraged me to keep going. “I’m an idiot. We are all fucking idiots.” My laughter was finally dying down. I let out a big sigh.

“Cameron wouldn’t pay a cent to save my life. You’re actually doing him a favor and removing me from his life. And Emmett? He was about to be balls deep in Brooke when I busted into his office, so I would say he’s moved on.” I tried wiggling in my chair to sit up better, straighter, as I faced him head on. I had nothing to lose at this point.

“Do you know why your father wanted me to marry Cameron? Why your estranged country bumpkin cousin was chosen to marry a very eligible bachelor that could have his choice of any woman in this city? Did that ever cross your pea-sized brain?” He was staring at me like I was speaking a foreign language.

“Your father figured out we had been working with a bootlegger running from Canada down to Chicago. His gang would stay at our house between runs. I would occasionally drive for them as well. It was very easy to avoid cops by being a dumb woman who could barely drive.” I smiled as I thought about the time I almost hit a cop car to demonstrate how inept at driving I was.

I was making a run from Canada down to our farm, where Morelli’s men would take over getting the delivery down to Chicago. There were cops two towns over that had started following me too closely for my liking. I sped up and got some good distance between us. I spotted a cop car parked in town. I set eyes on my target and stepped on the gas. I was hurdling forward, full barrels of whiskey covered in the back of the car. I slammed on the breaks at the last minute, narrowly avoiding a collision with the parked police car.

My plan was either going to be genius or the dumbest thing I had ever done. The cop came barreling towards me. His face was so red with anger I swear I saw steam coming out of his ears. “Are you crazy lady?” He barked at me through my window. I opened my door and jumped out.

“I am so sorry. I thought I was pressing the break, but it must have been the gas.” I couldn’t think of another valid reason my car would be going that fast in town.

“Women do not belong behind the wheel of a car. It’s dangerous, as evident with you.” I just sheepishly nodded my agreement, head hanging down.

The two cop cars that had been chasing me were approaching. The set up to my plan had worked, now only if the execution followed as smoothly. I made sure my back was to the approaching officers praying they wouldn’t recognize me. I could hear the tires slowing on the gravel road as they crept toward us.

Before they could say anything, the cop that was berating me chirped up, “Women drivers.” He huffed out a huge breath. Thumbing my way he continued, “She doesn’t know the difference between the gas and the break.” The husky cop let out a bellow. “I swear, women should not be allowed to drive.” The cops that had been in pursuit of me grunted their agreements before driving on without giving me a second glance.

The cop watched as I got back into my car, a gloating expression dressing his weathered face. I just politely smiled and nodded at him. As I drove away, I dramatically gave him a swerve or two just to drive home how bad of a driver I was. After that, I was never chased again on my runs.

“Your father wanted a piece of the action. He knew we were doing something illegal to keep the farm afloat, but he couldn’t figure it out. He offered my father money, not only to rescue the farm, but to get me out of the bootlegging aspect of the business, in my father’s eyes. What easier way for me to be out than if I was married to a man who was against bootlegging in the first place? Now the farm is used just as a resting point between Canada and Chicago during runs.”

“You’re Charlie?” Nathaniel came to the realization that Charlie wasn’t a man like everyone had so naively assumed. His eyes and smile were filled with amusement as he put it together.

“That’s what I’m told.” I said, slightly raising my shoulders as much as I could to shrug. “You see, I am no use to anyone anymore. I’m not running anything for the gang. I’m not engaged to Cameron, I made sure of that by throwing my ring into the roaring fireplace in your father’s study. And I made it more than clear that I wanted nothing more to do with Emmett.” I was trying to reason with a madman. I knew he had already made his mind up, but I had to try. “Just let me go and I will go back to the farm and not say a thing to anyone.”

Nathaniel stood up, looked me up and down and gave me a small smile as he said, “I don’t think so. Nice try though, Lottie.” He moved his chair away from me by swinging it on its leg, facing it away from me.

He raised his hand to turn the light off. I did not want to be sitting in the cold room in the dark. I pleaded, “Could you leave the light on, please? I just want to be able to see.” He contemplated my request.

“I guess I could grant you one last wish. I’ll be back down later, Lottie. I have to go get some supplies.” He said ominously before shutting the door and turning a lock I hadn’t noticed he had turned to enter the room. Then he proceeded to whistle as he walked up the stairs.

I didn’t know how much time I had before he would returned. I started frantically looking around the room to assess it. There was an old wooden work bench in the back of the room that I could barely make out since my head didn’t turn far enough to get a good look.

I was able to glance down at my feet to inspect the rope. The rope was sturdy enough, but it looked old. There was fraying throughout the cords. I took my fingers and felt the rope around my wrists. It too seemed to be frayed. I worked at trying to pick at the frayed pieces to no avail. I let out an exasperated sigh.

I heard a squeak coming from my right. I looked over and saw a huge rat sitting in the corner of the room. It spotted me at the same time and started making its way over to me. I closed my eyes and willed it to stop, to just stay over on its side of the room. Its beady little eyes were shining in the dim light of the bulb hanging from the ceiling as it made its way closer.

“Don’t come any closer, please.” It wasn’t my first time trying to reason with a rat, at least this time it was of the animal variety. The relying squeaks its only answer. The rat continued its path to me. It was now at my right foot, sniffing at my dress. I tried kicking at it with my tied foot with no luck. I felt the tug on my dress as it started climbing.

“No! No! No!” I scream whispered as I started frantically moving all my limbs. With all the movement my stifled movements made, my chair tipped over. My whole body landed on my left arm. I let out a loud yelp as the pain started rippling down my arm from my shoulder.

The rat had jumped off my while I fell. It stared at me from a corner across the room. “This is all your fault,” I said to the rat who just sat there. I rested my head on the cold concrete as tried to figure out what to do.

I pulled at my ropes on my legs again. Then an idea hit me. My ankles were tied to the legs of the chair. I couldn’t pull them off, but maybe now I could slip them off. With a few wiggles I got my feet below the legs of the chair. I then used the heels of my fee to push my roped ankles down as I gripped the back of the chair as best as I could with my tied arms and pulled up. I could feel the rope leaving the chair and with one final push, my feet were free.

The chair had a bar that ran from left to right across the legs designed to make the chair sturdier. I placed my feet on it and pushed the chair down slowly, letting the back of the chair slide out from behind my back and tied hands. I placed my feet on the seat of the chair for the last few inches left behind my back.

Still on my side, I bent my knees as far as I could to my chest. I brought my arms down to my butt. I knew it was going to be a struggle so I took a deep breath and yanked my hands as hard as I could down and around my butt and legs. Once my hands passed my feet my whole body sprung out, uncoiling itself. I laid there with my back on the concrete for a moment trying to catch my breath.

I pushed myself up on my elbows as I fully took in my surroundings. Taking inventory of where things were placed, if there were any other viable exits beside the door I had been facing. It looked to be the door was the only way in or out of this space.

I carefully got up to a sitting position. I wasn’t sure how long I had been down here, tied to that chair, so I wanted to take standing up slowly, to make sure I had my bearings. I rose to my feet to gauge how weak my legs were. As soon as I stood up, I had to pee. I hadn’t seemed to soil myself while I was down here, so I couldn’t have been down here too long.

I went to the corner and lifted my dress to relieve myself. Once I was done with my business, I moved to the work bench. There wasn’t much there. A few nails laid loose on the table. Nothing that would be helpful.

I noticed a small shelf under the main work bench. I kneeled down to see, but the light didn’t reach all the cervices. I closed my eyes and stuck my hand in the darkness of the space. I felt a blade of some sort. I carefully grabbed it and pulled it out. It was knife. It wasn’t particularly big or sharp, but it would get the job done. I finished ransacking the room with no other finds.

I heard the upstairs door opening. I rushed to right the chair. I tried to be careful not to make any noise. I placed the knife on the seat of the chair and sat down. The footsteps were getting closer, closing in. I looked down and noticed the rope I had left lying on the floor. I scooped it up and tucked it under the skirt of my dress. The door to my room was opening as I placed my hands behind my back as if they were still tied.

When the door opened it revealed a man I had never seen before. He was larger, wearing a suite he hadn’t gotten tailored. There was a stench to him as he moved closer to me. “Nathaniel told me you weren’t pretty. But you’ll get the job done.” The tone in his voice told me he came down here for only one thing. He started to undo his pants. He was larger than me, but I would use that to my advantage.

In one motion I got up from my chair, grabbing the knife I had concealed. The man was too stunned to do anything. With his hands still on his pants I ran full speed the short distance at him knocking him backward. He fell to the ground with his head making a cracking sound as it hit the concrete.

I leapt on top of him and plunged the knife at his chest. I had hit my mark with blood spurting out once I removed the knife. I jumped up from the bleeding man and ran to the door. He was trying to roll over, but all movement stopped right before I shut the door and locked it. I wasn’t taking my chances of him coming after me even though, judging by the red pool of blood around him, he had just bled out.

My first instinct had been to rush up the stairs, but I didn’t know who else was in the building with me. The man I left on the floor had not been the man who had grabbed me in the alleyway, so there was potentially one other man, besides Nathaniel, that could be in this place. I crept quietly up the stairs, trying to avoid giving myself away to anyone waiting at the top. I wiped the blood off the knife on my dress. I secured the knife to me by way of the belt on my dress.

I had made my way to the top of the landing of the stairs. I listened closely with my ear pressed to the wood of the door. I couldn’t hear any noise on the other side of the door. I took a breath to steady myself as I turned the knob so slowly on the door you wouldn’t be able to tell it was moving on the other side.

Through the small crack I created, I looked around. I didn’t see any other men in my direct line of sight, so I pushed the door open a little more. I repeated this pattern until I had the door open enough, I could fit through the crack. I softly closed the door behind my back as I kept my body facing forward, watching for any signs of danger.

I took in the room I was standing in. I was in an old, abandoned farmhouse from the looks of it. The sun was brightly shining through the windows which revealed a thin layer of dust on the remaining furniture and cobwebs hanging everywhere. My eyes zeroed in on the door 30 feet in front of me. The key to my freedom was within my grasp.

I counted to 30 in my head, not moving a muscle until the silence continued. I lifted my foot ever so slightly before taking a step. The floorboards creaked under the weight of my foot. I cringed as the sound echoed off the barren walls. There were no other sounds I could hear. Complete silence once again filled the room. I took another hesitant step.

I was about to start taking normal steps when the front door burst open. I had just enough time to duck into the room I was standing next to. I partially shut the door, praying to God above that the hinges were oiled enough. I looked around the room I was now standing in. There was a window directly in front of me. I could make it in five steps. I stood behind the door listening to whoever just walked through the front door.

Nathaniel’s voice carried through the house, “Edgar went down there 15 minutes ago. I would think he would be done by now.” He laughed as if what he said was the funniest thing he’d ever heard.

“That bitch is getting what she deserves right now. I hope he takes longer. Really makes her suffer. My nose hurts worse now than it did when she smacked it.” It was the other guy that had been in the alleyway.

“Stop being such a baby about it.” Nathaniel chided him. Their muffled voices flittered away, moving to a different part of the house. I took this opportunity to move to the window. I flipped the lock on top of the bottom windowpane. With painstakingly slow movements, I pushed the window open.

I sat at the open window for a minute. I listened to make sure the two men’s voices were still faint. I had slipped out my window at my family farm enough to make a clean escape. The nearly foot deep snow helped cushion my landing. I was now on the outside. The farmhouse was surrounded by cornfields on three sides, with a tree line to my left.

As I was contemplating my next move, I heard Nathaniel’s voice float out of the open window. “Go check on Edgar down there, see if he needs a hand.” Both men cruelly laughed. I knew I needed to decide quickly. I chose to start running to my left. The snow may have helped soften my landing from the window, but it was extremely difficult to run through.

I made it to the tree line when I heard the farmhouse door crash open. “There is nowhere for you to hide, Lottie!” I kept running through the endless bare trees. I dared to look back at the farmhouse curious if the men had followed me.

I could see the two men in the driveway aggressively pointing in different directions. After some yelling back and forth between the two, Nathaniel got into a car that was in the driveway. The other man followed slamming his door shut. The engine roared to life before they went down the driveway and out of view.

The men thought I went down the driveway. I noticed the trail of footprints that marked my traveled path. They hadn’t taken the time to look around the house to find my tracks. I had some time.

There was no way I could cover the deep treads in the snow. I had to improvise. If I left tracks all over, they wouldn’t know which ones to follow first. I began frantically running around the area making sure to make my tracks as chaotic as possible. I ran in circles and zig zags. Some of the footprints intersected.

When my I was satisfied with my work, I ran a further into the woods and repeated what I had done. There is an eerie way the winter carries sound through leafless trees. I couldn’t see the farmhouse any longer, but I could hear the car tires as they crunched over the snow as it pulled back into the driveway. The two men opening and closing their doors was my signal to start running again.

“We are going to find you Lottie and we are going to enjoy killing you!” Nathaniel’s hollow voice reverberated throughout the quiet forest. I started running faster.

My legs were getting tired. The air couldn’t get in my lungs fast enough. I had to stop for a moment to catch my breath. I took the time to look around. The snap of a branch in the distance had my legs moving beneath me. I was running so fast I didn’t notice the change of height in the snow. My feet caught on the mini mountain of fluffy white coldness. I fell forward, throwing my hands in front of me, just in time to catch myself.

The trees had given way to an opening. There was a dilapidated red barn sitting alone in the vastness of the opening. I picked myself up with the last bit of strength I could muster. With my legs fighting against me, I ran to the sanctuary of the barn.

I hurled myself through the barn doors. The musty smell of moldy hay and rotting wood hit my nostrils with such verbosity I almost threw up. I shut the doors behind me once I stopped gagging. The flip lock on the door was barely hanging on by one lone nail. I locked the door anyway.

I moved deeper inside the barn, my steps muffled by the hay lined floor. I moved past two horse stalls in various states of repair. I spotted a ladder that lead up to a loft. Climbing the ladder seemed to be my best option.

Each rung I climbed seemed like an impossible task. My legs were wobbly beneath me, my feet frozen and sore from the cold snow that had made its way into my shoes. The old wood groaned beneath my feet as I climbed higher. I was two rungs from the top when I heard male voices bouncing off the silence of the clearing. That was the last bit of motivation I needed to reach the top.

I collapsed with an “oomph” as I threw myself on the floor of the loft. I was sprawled on the hay lined floor. My chest rose with every deep, shallow breath I took. As I was on the floor trying to catch my breath the whole barn seemed to reverberate. The sound of wood splintering as something made contact with it filled my ears. They were trying to kick the barn door in. It wouldn’t be long before they would be granted entry by the flimsy lock.

I got to my knees, my body full of exhaustion. The ladder was the only way to get up to the loft, to me. I used my hands to feel around to figure out if the ladder was attached to the opening in any way. It appeared to be free standing. With what little strength I had left I began pulling the ladder through the small opening.

I had stood up while my legs threatened to give out from under me. I bent down and grabbed the top rung of the ladder. The sound of bending and cracking wood sounded throughout the whole barn. Nathaniel and the other man were now in the barn with me. I began working as fast as my body could go could get the ladder up.

The men spotted me immediately. Both men charged in my direction, running to grab at the ladder I was desperately trying to drag up to me. I had the ladder about halfway up to the loft when the man with Nathaniel grabbed the bottom rung. The tug I felt almost ripped my shoulders out of their sockets. I stumbled forward on my wobbly legs, falling onto the ladder.

The pain that ripped through my body as my full weight fell onto the aging wood was excruciating. The momentum of my weight on the ladder jerked it up, causing the bottom rung to crumble in the man’s hand. Nathaniel grabbed the next rung, using all his strength to tug at it. No matter how hard he pulled, the ladder did not budge from underneath me. He gave one last tug and the moldy, old wood gave out, breaking in half.

“You’re trapped Lottie. No way down now.” Nathaniel’s cruel voice chilled me to the bone. I rolled off the ladder, pulling the half I had been laying on the rest of the way through the opening. I dropped it to my right with a clunk.

I heard the men’s voices but couldn’t make out what they were saying in their hushed tones. The muffled talking was accented by the man saying, “Got it!” Followed by one set of footsteps shuffling along the hay on the barn floor. There was no opening or closing of the barn door due to it laying in shambles, chunks of wood spewed about the floor, the remaining wood in the doorframe just tatters.

“I am not going anywhere Lottie.” Nathaniel matter of factly stated. I risked taking a look at him. He was striding over to a wall piled high with hay. He grabbed a handful of the dark yellow hay, looking it over. He then proceeded to gather a bunch in his arms and brought it over to where the ladder had been, below the opening to the loft.

“I’m getting up to you one way or another dear cousin. Prescott went to town to get another ladder.” That was going to take a long time. The roads might not even have had the snow removed yet. My feet were wet and cold from the melting snow on my shoes and dress. The barn was poorly constructed, the walls having gaps letting the winder wind seep through the cracks. I wasn’t sure how long I’d last before getting frostbite or hypothermia or both. I chill sent a shiver through my whole body.

“While Prescott is gone, I wonder how long it would take me to move all the straw.” I was now looking down at Nathaniel through the loft opening. He was taking another bunch of hay in his arms. “From here to over there.” He was going to pile the hay up to the opening.

“Or you could stop being such a bitch and just make this easier on all of us.” He was now going between the hay pile and the new pile he was constructing to reach me. Armful after armful, I watched him make the pile taller.

I had to weigh my options, but I didn’t have many choices. My only way down was through that opening. I couldn’t get down without Nathaniel seeing me. There were no windows or other means of escape from up here. I could have either sat there like a mouse waiting for the strike, or I could prepare to be ready to fight.

It would take Nathaniel hours to move enough hay to make it up to the opening by me. It would probably take even longer for Prescott to return. I started moving the hay around the loft. I was cold and tired; two things that would hinder any chance I had at fighting for my own survival. I stood up, my legs finally feeling stable enough to do so. I began to gather the hay in the loft to begin to make a nest. I would take advantage of the fact Nathaniel could not reach me for a while. My footfalls on the creaky, weathered wood drew Nathaniel’s attention to me. I worked quickly, but cautiously taking care to mind where I was stepping knowing the floor could give way with any misstep.

“You sound busy up there Lottie. Care to share your plans with me?” His words were coming out breathlessly. Moving hay was not an easy task, especially for someone who wasn’t used to manual labor. He was tiring himself out.

“Not particularly.” I quipped back as I burrowed into my own pile of hay. I had made plenty of beds out of hay on the farm to know the perfect construction needed for my comfort. I could sleep for an hour or so and be refreshed when I had to fight for my life with Nathaniel and Prescott. I took the knife, still streaked with some blood, from my dress and placed it next to me on the hay bed I’d made.

I’m not sure how long I had been sleeping. I woke up with an eerie feeling. It took me a moment to recall what I was doing in this barn loft. There was no sound except for the blood rushing in my ears. It was too quiet. I didn’t make a move for fear of causing unwanted attention. A rustling came from right below the opening, next to my head.

Everything happened quickly while at the same time registered in slow motion. A hand rose from the hole in the loft floor. My muscles froze up not allowing me to move. I watched as the hand grabbed a handful of my hair yanking it so violently my head jerked to the side. I cried out in pain. With arms flailing about, I started hitting at the gripped fist in my hair. He wasn’t relenting as his grip increased, causing a few hairs to pull out from the root.

He pulled me far enough to the opening that I could see Nathaniel’s face below with his arms outreached. He smiled once he saw my face peering through the opening. “Too bad Prescott is going to miss this part.” An evil smirk overtook his face.

While he gripped my hair with one hand his other one used to steady himself using the side of the opening. I balled my fists up, blindly swinging, smashing the hand he used to keep himself steady. Nathaniel lost his grip on the opening and fell, ripping the handful of hair he had a grip on, out of my head.

The pain was so immense I blacked out for a moment with starts dancing in front of my eyes once my vision returned. I cautiously approached the opening to take inventory of Nathaniel’s location.

He was sprawled on his back on the floor, legs and arms laid out in various directions. There was no movement from his chest, no audible breaths. Just then Nathaniel took in a huge gasp of air as he came back to life. Coughing and choking as he tried to fill his lungs with the air that had been knocked out of him.

I didn’t want him to see me looking at him, so I crawled slowly away from the hole. I wasn’t paying attention of where I was going. Before I knew it, I was freefalling to the floor below me. I barely had enough time to register what was happening as the rotten floor boards squelched underneath me before cracking, sending me plummeting to the ground. I landed on my side on the barn floor.

Instantaneous pain rang out from my side before reverberating throughout the rest of my body. I turned to lay on my back as the unbearable pain continued to hit me in waves. My side was damp and warm. I moved my hand to my side feeling a thick, slick wetness. I raised my hand and to my horror, it was covered in my blood. I put my hand back down by my side and felt the knife handle sticking out. With the all the blood on my hand I couldn’t get a grip on the knife, the handle slipping out of my grip each time I tried to pull it out. Rule number one when things are impaled into you’re body, you don’t remove them. In this case though, I needed the knife if I had any hope in fighting against Nathaniel.

I could still hear Nathaniel coughing on the floor adjacent to me. I had fallen into the horse stall, so I could only hear him, not see him. The unmistakable sound shoes scraping along the floor had me start to panic. He was getting up on his feet to head in by me and finish the job.

I didn’t know what to do. I started crawling out of the horse stall in survival mode. More open space meant more options to escape even if that meant crawling right to Nathaniel. There was a trail of bright red blood as I moved across the floor. Nathaniel was now standing as his full height even if he was a little unsteady. He lumbered towards me on clumsy feet.

I grabbed the side of my dress, putting it over my hand like a makeshift glove. I gripped the handle of the knife and pulled as hard as I could, dislodging the knife from my side. Nathaniel hadn’t notice as he straddled me, a look of killing in his eyes. He wrapped his hands around my throat and started squeezing. I dropped the knife as my hands flew up to my throat, clawing at Nathaniel’s hands.

Nothing can prepare you for the panic that sets in when someone is slowly squeezing the life out of you. My lungs started burning as they were gasping for air that wouldn’t come. I could feel my arms start to feel heavier, my movements less and less. I could feel my eyelids start to voluntarily close no matter how much I fought them.

The last person I was going to see in this lifetime was Nathaniel. The man I hadn’t known a few months ago, who had befriended me only to kill me in the end, was a special kind of cruelty. I had accepted my fate. I would be left dead in this barn where no one would ever find me.

“Lottie!” I could barely make out the voice in the background. Whoever it was distracted Nathaniel. He released his grip on my throat enough so I could get a gasp of air in my lungs. That breath was my last chance to fight. I grabbed the knife I had let fall out of my hand, gripping the handle that was still slippery, coated with my blood.

In one motion Nathaniel turned back to look at me as plunged the knife into his throat. His eyes got big as he registered what I had done. His hands lingered on my throat as I pulled the knife out and drove it in again. Blood gushed all over me.

“Lottie!” The distant voice shouted again in panic. Rushed footsteps approached me and the bleeding man on top of me. Nathaniel reached up to the sanguinary wounds on his neck, his efforts futile to stop the blood.

Two arms threw Nathaniel to the side. It was Emmett. He was the voice I couldn’t quite hear. “Shit. Lottie.” Emmett gathered my blood-soaked body in his arms. Nathaniel had crushed my windpipe while he was strangling me, making my words hard to say.

“You came for me?” I rasped as I took in Emmett’s beautiful face full of relief and worry. He brushed my now crimson hair out of my face.

“Of course. I’ll always find you, Carrots.” He finished his sentence as Cameron and Little Nicky came into the barn. “Shit!” and “Holy fuck!” was uttered, but I don’t know who said what.

I was suddenly surrounded by all three men looking me over. With my adrenaline leaving my body the pain shot through me. I had a tiny bit of strength left in me, so I informed them, “My side. The knife.” Every word was a struggle. Along with my windpipe being injured, I had at least one or two broken ribs from the fall. Every breath was excruciating.

I could feel Emmett’s large hands gently ripping my dress at the side. He took off his coat and held it to my gaping wound trying to stop the blood. “Can you stand up?” He asked.

I nodded my head yes, not knowing whether or not I could stand, but not knowing how else I would get out of here if I didn’t walk. All three men helped me stand. As soon as I was on my feet the world went black.