16. Savanna #2
Taking it even slower, I use the bed for support and very carefully stand.
I’m relieved to at least still be dressed, and it doesn’t look or feel like they were taken off and put back on.
Aside from my head and the wrist that still throbs from where he’d grabbed it, I don’t feel like I’ve been hurt.
With incredibly slow steps, I walk over to the doorway, stopping when I see that it’s just a toilet and small sink, both tucked right out of the line of sight, but no door to offer any real privacy.
There’s also nothing in here that could be used as a weapon.
Even the lid to the tank has been removed.
Panic starts to creep in when I turn and make my way to the door.
I’d been right about it being impenetrable.
There’s not even a doorknob for me to grab onto, just a security system, waiting for a code that could literally be any millions of combinations of numbers.
I bang on the door anyway, screaming for help because even though I know it’s useless, I still have to try.
If there’s even the smallest of possibilities it might help, I have to try.
By the time I stop, my voice is hoarse, my hands are bruised, and I’m seriously worried about the piercing sort of pain that relentlessly pounds inside my head.
I’m not sure what kind of damage happened when I hit my head.
The dizziness makes me think I have a concussion, but I’m not sure what happens if you don’t see a doctor.
I can’t remember if you’re not supposed to sleep, and what if I’m bleeding internally?
Tremors rack my body by the time I make it back to the filthy mattress.
I sit on it, scooting back so I’m leaning against the hard wall and then pull the rough blanket on top of myself before wrapping my arms around my legs.
Crying is pointless and it won’t help me, but I can’t stop the tears.
I’ve never been more scared in my life, and I’d give anything to be able to go back to this morning.
I want Niki. I want him so badly it hurts, and when I start to sob even harder, I’m scared I won’t ever be able to stop.
My heart breaks for him because as terrified as I am, I can’t help but worry about him too.
This is going to kill him. He thought I was safe, and I know he’ll never forgive himself for this.
I rest my chin on my knee, trying to calm my breathing while I tell myself over and over again that Niki will find me.
If anyone can, it’s him, and I know with absolute certainty that he will never stop.
No matter how long it takes, he will find me. I know he will.
An icy sense of dread rolls down my spine at what that means.
He’ll never stop, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be fast. He has no idea where I’m at, and I’m stuck here, alone and with nothing to protect myself.
That means I’m going to have to survive whatever the hell my professor has planned for me.
Cupid, the man who’s been quietly waiting a very long time for this, whatever the hell this is, has to know people will be looking for me.
He knows what Niki is capable of with a computer, and my parents will contact the police as soon as they know I'm missing. Niki will be able to lead them straight to Dr. Ellison. How does he think he’s going to get away with this?
Questions, one right after the other, circle my mind, guaranteeing my headache will never go away.
I have no sense of time. I don’t even know how long I was knocked out, and it’s starting to mess with my head.
Eventually, I have no choice but to use the bathroom.
I finish as quickly as I can and then wash my hands with the bar of soap that’s sitting on the counter.
I don’t let myself think too much about the fact that it’s a small sliver and not a full bar.
Cupping my hands, I fill them with water, making sure it looks clear and smells okay before taking a small sip.
It tastes fine, so I use my hands and drink my fill, knowing I can’t let myself get dehydrated.
My head still hurts too much to pace the room, so I sit back down on the bed, using the blanket as a kind of shield as I pull it up to my chin.
It’s stupid. I know it can’t protect me, but I still do it.
With nothing but my overactive imagination, I sit and wait, conjuring up one horrible scenario after another.
When I hear the door click, my first thought is that it’s almost a relief to be pulled from the endless cycle of nightmares running through my head, but as soon as I see my professor’s face, I know I’m wrong.
The hell of my mind is a thousand times better than what he has planned for me.
The man who’s been my mentor for over a year steps into my dank room, but I no longer see him as Dr. Ellison, the kind man who took me under his wing and told me I’d make a great teacher one day.
All I see now is Cupid, the monster who preys on women and hides who he really is behind a carefully planned facade.
“Do they know who you really are?” I ask when he shuts the door and walks closer, stopping at the foot of my bed.
“Who?”
“Your family. Your wife and sons, do they know who you are and what you do?” Disgust colors my words, but he doesn’t seem bothered at all by the mention of his family.
“They know what I want them to know,” he says, and the arrogance pouring off him makes me want to scream.
At first I’m so mad at myself for missing the signs, for not seeing who he really is, but in my heart I know that’s not true.
The truth is he’s a master at hiding who he really is.
He played the part for me, the one I needed him to be, just like he does for his family and for everyone at the college.
“Does anyone know who you really are?” I ask.
He lowers down so he can grip the iron railing at the foot of the bed as he watches me.
“Some do.” His lips curl into another devious smile.
“There’s always at least one girl in class who’s willing to suck my dick for an A.
I suppose you could say they know who I am, at least a little better than most. They don’t know everything.
And then there’s you, of course. I’d say you’re starting to get to know me very well, aren’t you, Savanna? ”
“I wish I didn’t,” I say, making one corner of his mouth curl up even higher.
“Now you’re just trying to hurt my feelings. Are you still angry because I had to hit you? That was entirely your fault for fighting back. I did warn you.”
I look around my dungeon room. “I guess I was trying really hard to avoid ending up in a place like this, trapped with a monster like you.”
“Wasn’t worth it, though, was it?” he taunts. “You still ended up here. You were always going to end up here.”
I clutch the blanket tighter and ask, “Why?”
His face turns hard as he says, “Because you were always meant to be mine.” I watch the way his fingers tighten around the iron bar he’s still gripping. “Not his.”
I resist the urge to think about Niki, knowing it’ll break me if I do. Instead, I keep trying to get him to talk. If he’s talking, then at least he’s not hurting me. “Why did you try to have me drugged that night at the club? That was you, right? You were behind that?”
He studies me for several seconds before finally saying, “I knew Ben had a thing for you, and I used that to my advantage. I underestimated how obsessed he was, though. I supplied the pills he needed. I knew he was going to use them on you, and I gave him the location of one of the houses I use for various purposes.”
My fingers grip the blanket even tighter. I can take a guess at what those various purposes are.
“The plan was to let him drug you and transport you to the house. Once you got there, I was going to grab you for myself and get rid of Ben. When I realized he’d taken your friend by mistake, well,” he stops and shrugs one of his shoulders.
“I knew Sasha would kill every single person in that house as soon as Ben stepped foot inside of it with her.”
“Why are you even supplying all these drugs? Why are you even involved in any of this?” I ask.
“I could lie and say it’s because of the money, but the truth is I enjoy it.
I like getting away with things, and I like doing it right under the noses of everyone around me.
” His sadistic smile comes back when he says, “And I really like going home and fucking my wife right after I’ve had some young college student suck me off in my office during my lunch break. ”
“God, you’re sick,” I tell him, making him laugh.
“Oh don’t worry, Savanna. I always give them A’s if they get on their knees for me. I’m fair in that at least.”
“You’re a sick bastard,” I tell him, but it only makes his smile grow.
When he stands back up and starts to walk around the bed, I freeze, clutching my blanket tighter and wishing I’d kept my mouth shut.
He doesn’t miss anything, noticing the fear in my eyes and the rigidness of my body, and I can tell he’s enjoying every second of it.
After taking another step closer, he sits on the bed near my feet, and I scrunch up into an even tighter ball, clutching the pitiful blanket that I’m using as a barrier between us.
“So what deal would you like to make?” he asks, and my skin crawls at the tone of his voice, at what he’s insinuating.
“I don’t want to make a deal,” I tell him.
He ignores me. “How about one kiss for a meal? You must be hungry by now.”
I don’t say anything, the idea so crazy that I’m still having a hard time believing all this is real.
“It’s fair, Savanna,” he says. “I’m not asking you to get on your knees.” He laughs at the horrified look I give him and adds, “Yet.”
“That’s never going to happen,” I tell him.