UNTAMED

27. Rosie

I’ve lost track of the days I’ve been here. After seeing that my body is so weak that I can barely stand, my captor finally brought me a sandwich. It was bologna, cheese, and stale white bread. I ate it in slow bites before washing it down with the last of my cup of water. I only get one cup a day.

The purple bruise on my face has faded to an ugly greenish yellow. I tried to escape once, but he threw me up against the wall so hard that I think it cracked one of my ribs. He said if I tried it again, that was only the beginning. My side continually aches, and if I turn in the wrong direction, a sharp pain shoots through me. The cabin is cold, and all I have is one thin blanket. My teeth chatter as I lie there.

I cried for what felt like an entire day, but with no sunlight and no clock, I have no real sense of time. The only link I have to the outside world is the sound of the birds chirping outside. I’ve been listening to them and humming softly to myself.

Is this what happened to my mother?

Why didn’t my father just pay up to get my mother back? He has plenty of money.

Will he let me die in here?

The reality that maybe he just never told me my mother was taken because he didn’t want to lose twenty million dollars grips me with paralyzing fear.

What if Holden never comes for me?

In the delusional recesses of my mind, I’ve battled with the idea that Holden is madly in love with me. That explains why he can’t sleep without me, and during his time in prison, he somehow became obsessed with me. I’ve always had a vivid imagination.

On the other side of my delusions, I’ve debated if he actually viciously hates me. He hates my father, and he hated my uncle enough to kill him.

I’m filled with silly girlish dreams for even imagining him coming to my rescue and saving me from this level of Hades.

I’m going to die in here. I’m going to die a virgin.

I whimper in pain and hopelessness, shifting my weight on the springy mattress to the side as I hear a commotion outside my door.

Male voices sound like they’re arguing, but I can’t make out either of them. I climb out of the bed, finding that my strength is depleted after having not eaten in days aside from the sandwich. I press my ear to the door, but as I do, the voices fade away. I keep my ear close up against the hollow wood for another few minutes without hearing anything. In a moment of desperation, I fear that someone came to rescue me or offer the ransom, but it went awry. Maybe a stray hunter stopped by, not knowing a girl was being held captive in the back room. I start banging my fist on the door, hoping whoever is out there isn’t just another member of the group of kidnappers.

“Hey! I’m in here! Hello?” I smack my fists against the door, praying I don’t pass out.

The door is jerked open, nearly causing me to fall forward. I catch myself on the doorframe, looking up into the beady eyes of the bald man.

“What the fuck are you yapping about?”

I peer around the cabin, seeing a bag of fast food from the burger place in town. My heart sinks, fresh tears forming.

“Can I use the bathroom?”

He takes a step back, opening up the door and indicating for me to enter. He knows I won’t try running again. I’m too weak, and with cracked ribs, I wouldn’t get far.

I stare into the mirror, my blue-green eyes bright with the fresh moisture, red-rimmed from crying. My face has bruises, a scabbed cut down the side of my eye, and I already look like I’ve lost some weight from lack of eating. My cheeks and eyes have sunk in.

A choked sob erupts from me as I collapse over the sink. I splash water on my face, drinking a few handfuls of it because he doesn’t offer me more than a small cup a day. It tastes fresh, like spring water. It makes me think we’re pretty far outside of the city limits, on someone’s land. We’re probably miles deep in the woods. I haven’t heard any cars go by.

If I do find another opportunity to escape, I’ll probably have to run through the woods for miles before finding a public road.

And I’m too weak. I’ll collapse in less than a minute.

I could hide. Maybe a hunter would find me.

I’m drying my face on the hand towel, newly resolved to take another shot at escape when I hear the sound of a loud engine, similar to the ATVs they use around the ranch. My head pops up, swiveling to the door. He usually stands behind it, but with the smell of the greasy burgers flooding the cabin, he might have decided to eat instead.

My fingers reach for the cold metal of the doorknob, twisting it slowly. It opens soundlessly. I push it back just enough so that I can see the kitchen table. He’s sitting there, shoving the burger into his mouth and watching a football game on his phone, propped up against a bottle of beer.

Maybe he didn’t hear the ATV.

I wait, seconds ticking by slowly. My pulse sputters as I hold my breath, growing weaker with every passing moment I remain standing. Heavy footsteps on the front porch alert the big man. His head whips up just as someone tries to open the front door. It’s locked from the inside, dead-bolted with an extra metal latch that I could hear when they brought me in. Now that I see it, I’m afraid there’s no way anyone can get through from the outside.

He inches over to the door, pulling a handgun out of the back of the waistband of his cargo pants.

Whoever’s outside starts trying to kick the door in. I jump with the first blow to the thick wood. The kidnapper reaches for his phone on the countertop, tapping on the screen before he lifts it up to his ear.

“Someone’s here. He’s trying to break down the door.”

Another blow rocks the frame of the door, and I squeeze my eyes shut, wondering who could possibly be out there, so dead set on getting inside.

“No, I can’t see who it is through the fucking door. You want me to shoot him?”

Another kick splinters a portion of the bottom part. I frantically look around the kitchen area for any type of weapon. There’s nothing in plain sight, but if I could search the drawers, maybe I’d find something. I slowly inch out of the bathroom. My bare feet don’t make a sound since they took my shoes.

“Then, fucking hurry up!” the bald man roars, slamming his phone down on the countertop.

“You’re not getting through this shit,” he calls to whoever’s outside. “And if you do, I’ve got a bullet with your name on it.”

The kicking stops for a moment. I freeze in the hallway.

No. Come back!

I have to let them know I’m in here.

“Help me!” I scream. “Please help me!”

The bald man whips around, beady black eyes lasering in on me. I run toward the kitchen area, grabbing for the first drawer I see to search for a knife. The man snatches me before it’s even half open, hauling me up to the front door like I’m weightless to him.

“She’s got my pistol in her mouth, fucker! You want me to shoot or?—”

Before he can finish, another kick to the door brings it crashing down. The wood splinters into the cabin, sending shards of cedar at us with force. I scream as I’m pincushioned with tiny fragments in my forearms. The man holding me down shielded himself with my body so that I took the brunt of the wood slivers.

I feel the cold barrel of the gun on my temple as I look up to see who it was that burst into the cabin after literally breaking in the door.

Holden.

Before I even have time to react to seeing his handsome, blindly enraged face, a blast sounds right next to my ear, sending ringing noises through my head as the body of the man goes limp. His arms were tightly wrapped around me, so I fall down with him.

Holden descends on us, peeling the beefy arms back from around me. His hand cups the back of my neck, the other sliding underneath the back of my knees. My heart is pounding. I can’t hear anything besides the blood rushing in my ears. My gaze slowly rises to meet his as I reach to grip the collar of his shirt.

His ebony eyes are darkened with wrath, but they soften into concern as he peers down at me, inspecting my entire body from head to toe. The scar on his jawline flexes as he steps over the dead body, holding me tightly to his chest. He leans in close to my head, pressing his forehead to mine.

“Who did this to you, angel?” His voice is barely above a whisper.

I melt into him with shaking limbs, whimpering in pain and sheer relief.

I’m safe now. I’m safe with him.