Chapter 45
EvanAnn
The house is small with the bare minimum of furniture. The electricity works, so there’s light, which hurts my eyes a little and my head a lot after the darkness of outside.
A small galley kitchen. A table with a couple of chairs that look like they might or might not hold an actual person sitting in them.
A couple of soft covered chairs in what must be the living room space.
An open door leading to a three-piece bathroom barely big enough for a person to fit in.
And a closed door I assume leads to a bedroom that I have no desire to explore.
Jackson sets me down on one of the chairs at the table. I put my hands on the table to brace myself for the spinning. He walks away from me and water runs.
When he returns, he kneels in front of me and tips my chin to the side so he can look at the wound. As much as I want to pull away, I don’t flinch from his touch. Even though it creeps across my skin like spiders.
“It’s not so bad.” He dabs at my scalp with a warm washcloth.
I hiss at the sting, but keep my hands on the table buried in my sweatshirt. I don’t want to remind him I’m not tethered here. And there’s no way I want him to focus on my ring. It’s my only hope. My link to the Devil’s trio. My link to home.
“That school is bad for you, Evan. You have to know that. It’s so fucking toxic with those rich kids who think they can do anything to you and get away with it.
” His voice is low and soothing. He shakes his head and leaves me.
He’s in the bathroom rummaging under the sink.
“I didn’t plan for you to get hurt, but there’s a small med kit in here. ”
I glance at the windows. There are a couple in here and in the living room. Not in the bathroom or the kitchen though. The pitch black of the night presses against the windows, making them reflective of what’s happening inside. I don’t know how long I’ve been gone or what time it is.
My head still aches, and my hands shake in my sleeves. I curl my fist around the ring. Damon and Cam have to be back by now. Hawk will have told them someone took me.
They’ll find me. I just have to hold on.
Jackson returns and pulls out the chair next to mine. He lays the med kit on the table. My gaze snags on the small scissors in the pack. They wouldn’t do much good. The ends are blunt to cut against skin.
He focuses on my head, smearing antibacterial cream on the lump and cut before applying a bandage. “No one was supposed to hurt you. He promised, and then that fucker left that rose for you.” He shakes his head as he puts away the supplies. “Blaming it on me like I would ever hurt you.”
My heart stops. He didn’t leave the rose, but someone else did? We always knew it was impossible for him to have been there and leave unnoticed. But it wasn’t even his plan?
“I didn’t think you’d hurt me,” I say softly. But I did, and I still do.
He’ll hurt me if I’m not who he wants me to be. If I make him angry. If I don’t live up to whatever fantasy he has for us.
I don’t know if I’ll make it out of this.
He lifts his gaze to mine suspiciously, but whatever he sees in my eyes reassures him. “They’re toxic, Evan. Everyone at that school. We’re just a game to them. You’re just a game to them.”
He takes the med kit and puts it under the sink again. He stops in the kitchen and grabs a couple bottles of water from the package on the floor. My lips are dry. But can I really drink anything he gives me?
He twists the top off and takes a quick drink in front of me, not touching the rim to his lips. “It’s safe.”
He puts it in front of me, and then opens the other one and drinks it down. I lift the water bottle to my lips and drink. It’s room temperature, which is a little cool, but it’s water and it should help.
He pushes a packet of ibuprofen from the med kit toward me. “For your head.”
I take it and tear it open, dropping the pills into my hand. I swallow them with some water and set the bottle on the table, carefully screwing the lid back on so he can’t put anything in it easily.
Maybe the pills will help clear my thoughts some. Take away some of the pulsing pain.
“They couldn’t protect you, pretty girl.” He reaches out and brushes my hair behind my ear.
I force myself not to flinch away. This is just a part I have to play to survive. I have to believe he’s my hero. That he’s rescuing me from the Devil’s trio and from my school.
“They’re as toxic as the rest of them. They don’t care about you.” Jackson leans back in the chair and looks me over.
I’m glad I’m wearing one of Hawk’s sweatshirts and a pair of jeans. We rode to rehearsal, and afterward we might have gone to our spot to talk. I even have sneakers on, so if I can get away, I have a chance.
“You know he watches you.” Jackson says it low, and he watches my face. “I saw him when we were working out. He has cameras in your room.”
I let myself feel the horror of this moment, being held captive by the same boy who forced my first kiss. Letting that horror show on my face, knowing he’ll assume I’m thinking of Damon watching me in my private time.
If he wants Damon to be the villain, I can play act that. I need to do whatever it takes to remain pliant, to appear grateful to him if not a little confused. It’s the only way to remain free.
I have no doubt he will tie me up to hold me if I resist. The head wound probably helped me out because I might have struggled when he tried to take me.
I would have fought him in the van and on the way here. Which would have forced him to restrain me so I didn’t hurt him or try to escape.
I bring my hand up to my mouth to cover it, as if the more I think about it, the more terrifying it is to me. Because the thought of Jackson seeing those private moments would be terrifying.
He shakes his head and puts his hand on my shoulder. I want to pull away, but I stay where I am. “I knew I had to get you away from them. They’re toxic, Evan. He thinks he owns you.”
I lift my gaze to his and let tears fill my eyes. He wants me helpless. He wants to be my hero. I can let him be that.
“I didn’t know what to do.” My lips tremble, and he squeezes my shoulder. “My mom moved us in. I didn’t have anywhere else to go.”
“You’re safe now. I’ve got you. We don’t have to see them ever again.” He stands and goes into the kitchen. “Did you eat?”
“Yes.” I wouldn’t eat anything he gave me unless I absolutely needed to for survival. “Won’t you see Damon in hockey?”
“Hockey’s just a way to get out of this town.
” He comes back and puts a bag of chips on the table between us.
It’s the kind he used to bring me at the apartment building.
“I’m good at it, but without a scholarship, I won’t be going anywhere.
Crowne Mawr wants me, but if Damon tells them he doesn’t want me there, they’ll rescind the offer. ”
“Why would they do that?” I hold my bottle of water like a lifeline. I can get away without eating, Hawk made sure I had dinner, but without water...
“I’m surprised you don’t see it.” He shakes his head and eats a few chips. “These rich boys always get their way. Rich girls are just as bad. They think we’re usable. Disposable. They laugh at us behind our backs.”
He’s working himself up, and I need him to calm down.
“Damon said you went out with Mia?” I want to know if she lied to me or Jackson lied about it to Damon.
He pauses and takes a breath before meeting my eyes.
“She’s not good for you. She’s as bad as all the others.
But I didn’t do anything with her. I used her phone to get your number, but I never texted her.
I didn’t even see her except those times with you.
She’s a user. You were better off without her. ”
Relief sweeps through at the same time as disappointment in myself for not believing in my friend. It can’t be helped right now. Right now, I have to do what it takes to get through this. I lift my gaze to the closed door to the bedroom.
I don’t know how far I can go with this. If it comes down to it, I might have to fight. Because there are some things I don’t want to pretend I’m okay with.
Cam
The directions Hawk sends us aren’t far. He’s on his way to meet us. It wasn’t some place we were already planning on looking, because no roads lead to the house. I text my dad the information. I don’t know how long it will take the authorities to get out here, but we have no intentions of waiting.
Every minute is a minute Evan is with that asshole. Under his control. He could do anything to her.
We park and use GPS until we lose the signal.
Damon takes a few steps backward into the woods, and the signal comes back on.
“He’s jamming it. That’s why we can’t find her,” I say, and something releases inside me. The part that worried the reason the signal vanished is because she’s gone.
“It also means we have to be close.” Damon studies the map and puts his phone into his pocket. Blockers don’t usually have large radiuses. “How far is Hawk?”
“About five minutes to where we left the bikes.” I look at the satellite image of the area. “The house is in the middle of fields. If he looks out the window, he’ll see us coming.”
Damon rubs the back of his neck. “I’ll go in. When the coast is clear, I’ll give you a sign.”
I nod. When we were kids and playing capture the flag, we always used an owl cry as a signal to each other.
“Wait here for Hawk. That way if Jackson catches me snooping around. We still have you guys.” Damon grabs my arm and meets my eyes. “No matter what, get her out.”
I nod and clasp his arm.
“Be safe. We’ve probably got a half hour before the calvary arrives.
They’ll have to trek in or rough it through the fields.
” The house is clearly abandoned, with not even a driveway up to it.
The fields surrounding it normally would keep it secluded, but with the crops all harvested, it’s just barren land.
I’m sure my parents will rally the police, and with someone being kidnapped, they’ll do what it takes to get her back safely. But safely can take time Evan doesn’t have. There’s no telling what Jackson plans to do with her.
Has already done with her. My stomach twists.
Damon sneaks off into the night. I watch his tracker disappear, and Hawk’s grow closer. It’s torture waiting here, knowing she’s trapped in that house alone with someone who’s obsessed with her.
But it makes sense to give Damon a head start to make sure he isn’t seen. If he gets captured too, then he can distract Jackson while Hawk and I arrive.
The minutes crawl by like hours as I wait, imagining what could be happening to my girl right now while I stand around with my phone in my hand. I look toward the dot heading my way.
“Hey,” Hawk whispers.
When he draws near, I tell him our plan. He grabs my arm.
“Let’s save our girl.”