Finish Line (Crash and Burn #3)

Chapter 1

SHELBY

CHAPTER ONE

“Hmm.” I moan.

“Wake up!” A scream penetrates my throbbing head.

“Hannah, give her a second to wake up.”

Where the hell am I, and why does it smell like mold? Before I can think about the answer, my stomach rolls. I’m going to be sick. I barely move to my side before everything comes up.

“Eww, that is gross. Well, at least, you’re awake,” a voice says again, as they shuffle away from me.

I recognize that voice. Cracking my eyes open, I sit up, a groan escaping my parched lips.

In front of me, Hannah stands in the outfit she wore to the Black and White ball. But it isn’t white any more, dirt smudges make the color more of a dingy brown. Her hair, that was up in a perfect updo, falls loose in several places. Black streaks, a combination of dirt and old makeup, run down her face.

To clear the fog, I shake my head, placing my hands on my temples to help relieve the pressure building there. I scan the unfamiliar room. “Where are we?”

“In hell, with us?” she snorts.

“Hannah, stop it.” the male voice chastises.

With my head thumping to the beat of my ever-increasing blood pressure, I massage my temples harder, squeezing my eyes shut. Why am I having a hard time remembering? The last thing I remember is I was out searching for Hannah.

My eyes fly open. “Where have you been? We’ve been trying to find you,” I say weakly, still trying to get my bearings.

“Your psycho ex kidnaped me,” Hannah snaps.

Everything comes flying back to me, the boys, the dance. “Roger.”

A bit too quickly, I scramble to stand up, then stumble back. My hand connects with a damp cement wall. Gross. As I quickly take in my surroundings, I rub my hand down my jeans.

We’re stuck in some dank, moldy-smelling basement. The only light comes from a small window. It’s daylight, so right now, I can see reasonably well. The basement is bare short of some boxes and an old metal rack. And Hannah’s not the only one in the room.

“Cam! Oh god, how are you?” I run three steps, and my right leg jerks back. Looking down at my foot, I find myself chained to the floor.

“He has us both chained up.” Hannah rattles her leg chain.

“Where is he?” I search the room for the bastard.

“We don’t know.” Hannah throws her hands up and shrugs.

My heart sinks. I can’t reach Cam, where he lies on an old cot, smiling at me.

From where I stand and what little light we have, the color has leached from his skin, black circles frame his blue eyes, and I can’t tell if it’s because of lack of sleep or if he got punched. His button-down shirt is being held closed by one button, and a dark blob mars the blue fabric. Roger did say he was hurt.

I move as far as I can before the band cuts into my ankle. “Why didn’t you answer me?”

Cam smiles.

“Hannah why isn’t he answering me?” I turn around and pull as hard as I can on the chain. “Augh” I scream.

“Princess, please.” Cams voice comes out soft, almost inaudible.

Tears running down my face, I stop pulling the chain, turn around, and go to the end.

“Cam, were you with your dad? What did Roger do to you?” I wipe my tears away so I can see him.

His brow scrunches up as he weakly shakes his head. “No, I’ve been here.”

“Roger must have taken your phone. We got a text saying you went down to visit your dad.” I pace my side of the room. He never said what happened to him. I narrow my gaze on him. “Cam, what did he do?”

“This is all your fault.” Hannah gestures around the room. “If Cam dies, it will be on you!”

“Hannah… Shelby doesn’t have any control over what Roger does.” Cam eyes narrow on my step-sister, then sighs. “I’m okay. He nicked me with a knife. I’ll be fine.”

Wrapping my arms around my waist, I turn away from them. She’s right. Everything happening with Luke, Mav, and Dom is my fault. If something happens to Cam, it will be on me, and I don’t think I can survive it.

From the moment we met--or I should say crash into each other—he’s made my heart go wild. He didn’t care if I was screwed up or not. Between Mav and he, they always make me smile.

“If she never came to Greyhedge, then this wouldn’t be happening. Carrie would be with Dom, you would be with Liv, and I would be with Luke!” she shrieks, throwing up her hands.

The cot creaks, and I turn around.

Cam groans as he pushes up on his elbow. “I hate to shatter your delusions, but none of that would have happened. Over the summer, we decided we were done with all of your girls’ pettiness. How you treat people is wrong, and we don’t want anything to do with it.”

“You’re just saying that to make her feel better.” She points to me, turns away, then heads to a dark corner.

“No, Hannah, I’m not. It’s the truth.” He sighs, falling back down on the cot, panting and holding his side.

“That doesn’t matter right now.” I shake my head. “We need to escape. Cam, you say it’s only a nick, but I think you are downgrading the damage. How bad is it really? You been trying to hide the blood on your side by keeping your shirt buttoned, but I still noticed it.”

He raises his head off the cot, eyes flashing with determination. “If you need me to move, I’ll move.”

Hannah spins back around crossing her arms. “The last time he tried to stand, he passed out.”

Cam gives Hannah the evil eye. “If I need to move to escape, I will.”

I run my hand through my hair. If what Hannah says it true, Cam won’t be able to run if we have to.

In the distance, a door slams. My eyes shoot to the window as my breath whooshes out of me, and I stumble back until I’m in the corner.

“Oh god, he’s back.” Hannah huddles against the wall, shaking.

The locks click as they’re being undone. The door at the top of the stairs creaks opens, and boots clump down the steps. My body is rigid, and I’m right back where I said I would never be again. Trapped.

My throat closes up, and gasping for a breath, I bend over. The walls close in on me, my vision darkening at the edges.

No! No, I can’t panic, I need to be strong. I have to get Cam and Hannah out of here.

I straighten, taking in a deep lungful of musty air, and ready myself to face my monster.

“Ah, good, you’re awake,” Roger says as he rounds the corner, the old wooden stairs groaning under his weight.

“What do you want, Roger?” I say with confidence.

“I thought that would be obvious. You.” He walks forward to grab my jaw and squeeze it between his index finger and his thumb. He tilts my head up and forces me to look into his soulless eyes. “And it’s Randell. How are our other guests today?”

He releases me. Could there have been two of them this whole time? No, I don’t believe him for a minute; this is another one of his tricks. But for now, in case there’s a possibility of helping Hannah and Cam escape, I’ll play along.

Curious, Randell cocks his head to the side. “The others were so easy to control. Did you really think they loved you, Monkey? They went back to those other girls so easily. If they cared about you, they would have resisted even a little bit.” He uses his thumb and pointer finger to illustrate.

“I don’t know what you did to my friends, but they love her.” Cam points to me.

Roger strides over to the other side of the basement. He stops and peers down at Cam, while Cam glares back at him.

Roger bares his teeth and pokes Cam in the chest. “My hypnotism didn’t work on him. He had no fears about your relationship I could exploit.”

“Because I love her,” Cam spits out.

Roger growls, reaching for Cam’s neck.

“Let him go, Randell. Please, let them both go.” I reach out, trying to grab the back of Roger’s shirt.

“You want me to free this bitch?” He stalks over to where Hannah is whimpering and picks her up by her hair as she screams. “After everything she did to you. I took her because I thought we could kill her, just like we killed--”

“No,” I interrupt him. “I won’t. You can’t control me anymore.” From our previous interactions, he hates when someone interrupts him, but I refuse to allow him to finish that sentence.

He releases Hannah, and she crumbles down to the floor in a heap. “Oh, but I can. You have been burglarizing peoples’ homes for us again.” He turns, looks at the wall, and giggles. “She doesn’t remember.”

Disbelief rolled through me. All those nights, I went to sleep and woke up tired. He’s been doing it again. I thought I would never have to experience that again.

Okay, stay strong, Shelby. “Release Cam, and I won’t fight you on anything. I promise.”

He throws back his head and laughs. “Right, that would be a no. Well, I wanted to check if you were awake. I’ll be back soon.”

“At least, give me something to clean out his wound with,” I plead.

“I’ll think about it.” He shrugs and leaves, locking the multiple locks.

“He’s never going to let us out of here,” Hannah cries.

“What did he mean by ‘hypnotism didn’t work on me?’” His head tips to the side. “What fear would I have about our relationship?”

“You know how I met him at Ashland and how I thought he was giving me drugs.” Cam nods, and I draw in a deep breath. “I found out it wasn’t drugs. He was hypnotizing me. I don’t have any of the details though. At the ball, something happened to the guys. Dom and Mav told me I was a bet between them.”

I glance at Hannah, and she’s looking at the floor. “Then, I found Luke in the bathroom with Hannah.”

“What? No way! Luke wouldn’t do that. They wouldn’t do that. We love you!” He strains to sit up.

I reach out my arm toward him. “Stay down, Cam. Nick and I couldn’t figure out what was happening with the guys. Now, I realize he hypnotized them.”

“How? And why not me?” Cam brows raise and points to his chest.

“I guess you didn’t have any fears about our relationship. No doubts. The others must have, and Roger manipulated it.” My hand rubs my chest over my heavy heart.

“I thank Luke every day for overthrowing that football on the beach that made me crash into you. When your blue eyes met mine, I knew we were meant to be together. I’m sorry the others have fears or worries about their relationship with you, but I can tell you they love you, Shelby.” Sadness fills his voice.

“Enough, you two are making me sick. And I’m hungry,” Hannah whines as she climbs off the floor.

“Not again, Hannah.” Cam rolls his eyes.

“I can’t help it. I haven’t had food in days.” She stomps her foot like a toddler, having a tantrum.

I reach into the pocket of Nick’s jacket, hoping he might have something to eat in them. My hands wrap around something rectangular, and I pull out an energy bar.

As I hold out the energy bar, I smile. “Hannah, here I found this in your brother’s jacket. Share half of it with Cam.” I toss the bar to Hannah.

“You should eat it, Shelby,” Cam moans, shifting on the cot.

“No, you both need your strength. Plus, I ate last night.” I stare at the floor where everything I ate sits.

“Why do you have my brother’s jacket on?” she demands, taking a bite of the bar.

I shrug. “He was with me when Roger took me. He told me to keep it on me.”

“That’s right. Nick hid a tracking device in it. I forgot about that.” Cam pitches his voice low so we’re not overheard.

“So, we’re going to be saved? How long until they come and rescue us?” She claps her hand together and jump up and down excitedly.

I turn to Hannah. “Shh, not so loud. Roger can’t know about this. And I have no idea. But soon, hopefully.”

The room falls quiet as Cam and Hannah eat the energy bar.

Both Hannah and I sit down on the floor, Hannah wrapping her long cape around herself to stay warm. The day wears on, the room growing steadily darker as it turns into night.

Roger never shows back up that day or the next. Neither does the rescue team.