Chapter 4
SHELBY
CHAPTER FOUR
My body is numb.
I lie flat on my back and stare at the ceiling, wondering how many days I’ve been down here. My strength is gone. After the day he left me the food, I rationed my bread and water.
I only made it through half the loaf, though, before mold grew on the rest because of how damp it is down here. My water ran out what feels like two days earlier.
Every time I move, I fight a wave of dizziness.
Around the same time I ran out of water, my visitor showed up.
The next time I wake up, I find Evan Ryan leering at my body.
“Damn, I knew you had a body under those clothes.” He bites his lip as his eyes roam my body.
Not wanting his eyes on me, I try to cover myself, but he’s already seen me.
How could I not have thought of him? He’s Roger’s cousin. He was the reason I told the guys about Ashland. Carrie said something when we were playing chicken in Tate’s pool, and she heard it from him.
To cover myself more, I sit up, pulling my legs up and wrapping my arms around them. “What do you want, Evan?”
He rocks back on his heels. “My cousin asked me to come and check up on you.”
My stomach lurches from his malicious smile.
“As you can see, I’m still here, so you can go away now.” I shush him away.
He turns and walks around the corner. I think for a split second that he’s leaving, but he comes back with a chair.
“I’m not sitting down on the filthy floor.” He sits down and pouts at me. “I got some bad news I need to share with you. I heard through the grapevine that faggot boy didn’t make it.”
Why does he think I care about this? Then, I remember him calling Cam that.
“Cam.” My jaw quivers, my breaths growing short. I drop my arms from around my leg.
“Yeah, him.” He snaps his fingers. “I always forget his name. I guess whatever my cousin did fucked up his insides enough that the doctors weren’t able to save him.”
Evan loves every minute of telling me.
He has to be lying. There is no way Cam’s dead. My lungs constrict. I can’t breathe. He’s lying. He has to be. I would feel it if Cam died.
“You’re lying.” I spit out my, anger growing, but I don’t know if it’s directed at him or myself.
“No, I’m not.” He reaches around him and pulls out his phone.
He shows me a text. I move closer to look.
Hey Evan, did you hear that Cam Wright died? They found him lying on some back country road. Can you believe it?
Under that one, a few more texts state the same. Tears burn my eyes, but I refuse to cry in front of this asshole.
“I brought some pictures of the others with their girlfriends for you.” He brings the phone closer to me, but I turn my head, refusing to look.
“Well, that’s not nice.” He backhands me. “Since you don’t have your little harem anymore, I thought you might be looking for a new one, and I want to try out for it.”
“Go fuck yourself,” I reply through gritted teeth.
“Naw, I’d rather fuck you, but my cousin said I’m not allowed to do that…yet.” He stands up, putting his foot on my chain so I can’t move.
He pulls down his pants, bringing out his dick.
He strokes it in front of me. “Look at me, whore.”
I turn my head away from him. With his other foot, he pushes me down. The second I’m on my back, he’s straddling me. With lightning speed, he captures both of my hands and put them under his knees.
Fuck I’m trapped.
I wiggle back and forth and try to pull my hands out from under his knees, but I’m so weak.
He laughs. “Now, where was I.”
He strokes his dick a few times, then he kneels up and smacks it against my cheek, laughing.
“Come on, slut, you want to choke on this.” He goes to smack me again or try to put it in my mouth.
Whatever it might be, I’m ready. When he gets close enough, I try to grab it between my teeth.
“Ohh, you’re feisty, and I love it,” he moans out.
All I can do is wiggle from side to side, which turns him on more. He ruts against my thrashing body.
I raise my head to glance at where I put the stick under a box with junk in it. I can’t move to reach it with my hands still pinned.
His breathing picks up. It doesn’t take him very long before he ends up coming all over my face.
After cleaning himself on my chest, Evan stands and tucks himself back into his jeans. “I had a good time. I’ll see you later.”
He takes the chair with him.
I search for the top half of the duster. By the time I find it, tears are running down my face. I grab the duster part I took off, clean myself off the best I can, then curl up in a ball.
My heart breaks. Cam’s dead, and it’s all my fault. I can’t do this anymore. I thought I could be stronger this time and handle anything Roger threw at me. I’m wrong, so wrong.
For hours, I sharpened that stick until my fingers bleed so I’d have a weapon, and I didn’t use it. Even if I can use it, I don’t have the strength to run.
I collapse back to the cold floor. He won. I won’t be able to fight him if he tries again to hypnotize me. It scares me to think about what he could make me do.
In my weakened state, I lie still for hours, when the floor creaks upstairs, either Evan or Roger. Strangely, I hope for Roger. Evan makes me sick, and it’s only a matter of time before he rapes me.
Boots come down the steps and stop in front of me.
I let my eyes tip up. Roger stands over me. At least, I think it’s him.
“God, you’re a mess. Why are you bleeding?”
My mouth is too dry to answer him.
He bends down and picks me up by my neck. “Answer me.”
I lick my cracked lips. “Period.”
Releasing my neck, he grabs my hair and says, “Dimitte, tuum meum.”
Worn down, I can’t fight him.
He bends, takes a key out of his pocket, and unlocks the chain around my ankle.
I’m following him upstairs when I realize this is different than all the other times.
Unlike before, I can see what’s going on around me, but when I try to move my arms, they don’t work. Part of my mind is in a steel cage with bars. I can see out but can’t escape from.
The other times he hypnotized me, it was like my mind was in a locked windowless room, then I would go to sleep and wake up the next day extremely tired. I had no knowledge of what happened in between. Days later, bits and pieces popped up in my memory, almost like a dream.
“Come on.” He drags me through the sparse living room and down a hall into a bathroom.
“Get in,” he commands, shoving me into the shower.
I can’t do anything but obey him.
He turns on the water, blasting me with freezing cold water. It takes a while before it warms up, but in my hypnotized state, I can’t enjoy it.
He takes soap and rubs his hands together to build up the lather. Inside, I scream at him to get his hands off me as he rubs them all over my body. Every time his hand touches me, my stomach rolls.
A grunt escapes me.
Roger stops cleaning me and tilts his head as his eyes bore into mine.
“Are you fighting in there, Monkey? It won’t work.” He laughs as he turns off the water.
“I have a fun time planned for us tonight. You won’t let me down,” Roger whispers into my ear and dries me off.
He dresses me in all black. Shit, he’s got a job for me.
He bends down and puts ballet slippers on my feet.
Everything in me wants to smack that smile off his face. Not being able to talk or move is harder than having blank spots in my memory.
He sits me down in the kitchen and warms up a huge plate of spaghetti and puts it in front of me.
“Eat.”
I dig in. Other than bread, this is the first nutritional food I’ve had even if it’s the worst spaghetti I’ve ever eaten. I think it’s even worse than the first time I made spaghetti and overcooked it.
At this point, I don’t care. It’s food.
He puts a can of Dr. Pepper in front of me, and I guzzle it down.
Oh, that tastes good.
“Slow down,” he orders. “I don’t want you puking it all up.”
When I finish my bowl and another Dr. Pepper, he takes me out to the car. “Climb in.”
As I do, he walks around and gets into the driver’s seat.
He leans over the middle armrest and grabs my chin, yanking me so I look at him. “You will sit in this car and not do anything until I tell you otherwise.”
He takes off in the car and drives on back roads.
When Roger pulls over on what appears to be an access road, he asks, “Do you know where we are?”
I glance around. It looks familiar, but no landmarks or buildings give me a clue, and I shake my head.
He chuckles. “Oh, you will.”
He gets out of the car and opens my door.
We trudge through the woods not too far--thank God because even though he gave me food, I’m still weak as hell.
He stops and types something on his phone, then we wait for a reply.
“Do you recognize where we are now?” Roger chuckles.
From where we stand, a large house, no wait Mansion, sits on the other side of the tree line. Fenced basketball and tennis courts line one side.
No, please no, I want to say, but all that comes out of my lips is an emotionless voice saying, “Knights’ mansion.”
He’s having me break into Dom and Mav’s place.
To make sure my eyes are on him, he grabs my face. “I have people inside, so don’t try anything. The parents are out, but Dom and Mav are in their bedrooms. Everyone else should be asleep. You know what to do. Don’t go finding them, Monkey, or I’ll kill them.”
His phone beeps. “Good, my guy turned off the camera for now. Let’s go.”
He drags me to the back of the mansion. He gasps, covering his mouth. “Oh look, the window washer left a ladder he should be fired.”
He points to an open window on the second floor of the east side. “You’ll go in there.” He then points at the side door down below. “And you’ll let me in that door.”
Around the corner from the window, he wants me to climb in through a balcony on the same level.
If he has someone on the inside and he got someone to turn off the cameras, why does he need me?
“Ah-ha I can hear your brain working from here, Monkey. If he has someone on the inside, why does he need me?” He mimics my voice. “I thought about not using you, but it amuses me to have you robbing these rich assholes. That will teach them not to touch what is mine. Now, go.”
When I go to put my foot on the step of the ladder, I miss, and my body slams against it, making a clanging noise. I freeze, waiting for someone to come out to investigate the noise.
Roger comes over and grabs my hair. “Would you watch what the hell you’re doing? Now, move your ass.”
After he lets go of my hair, he slaps my ass before going back to his lookout spot.
My legs shake like wet noodles as I climb, but I make it up and over the balcony in a few minutes. The hard part will be getting into that window without falling.
The window he wants me to climb into is off to the left of the balcony. I swing my left arm over the balcony railing, then push myself up, gripping the side of the wall as tight as I can. I reach around the corner, punch in the screen, quickly climb through, then tumble in, crashing to the floor with a thud.
On high alert, I freeze and listen for any sounds, other than my breathing.
Nothing, this house is massive, but surely someone heard something. Maybe that is just wishful thinking.
I slowly open the door and scan the area. With no one around, I take a step out. My body moves without having to think about it even though everything inside me wants to make as much noise as I can.
If I remember correctly, I just climbed into the guest bathroom on their parent’s side of the house.
I make my way to the main staircase to the main floor. Roger is in the back of the house, so when I reach the main floor, I go right down a hallway and open the door to the outside.
“Good work, Monkey. Now listen to me, you do as I say, or I will activate my sleeper here. He will kill your boys. Do you understand?”
I nod, unable to speak still.
“Good. Go find all the jewelry you can find.” He rubs his hands together. “I have other things I need to look for.”
He reaches into his pocket and pulls out gloves. I’m waiting for him to give me a pair, but he never does.
He wants them to catch me. When they figure out something’s missing, they’re going to find my fingerprints everywhere.
I walk back up the main stare case and turn left, heading to the master bedroom. All those times Roger made me steal, I found out that in most homes, jewelry is kept in the walk-in closet.
I open Mr. and Mrs. Knights’ bedroom.
Holy shit, it’s as big as an apartment. I thought my room at the Tate’s was big. This has a whole living room inside the bedroom. A white couch with two white reclining chairs on either side of it sits in one corner with a coffee table in front. They face a TV that hangs on the wall. Off to the right is a king size bed.
I move that way and open the first door I find.
It’s a massive walk-in closet. The back wall is nothing but shoes; both sides are filled with women’s clothes. On the left side, nestled in between formal dresses and suits, is what I’m looking for, a large armoire.
The first couple of drawers hold accessories, like gloves and belts. When I find the jewelry, I open the bag Roger gave me and shove in everything I can find.
Once I’m done with that, I locate a safe. I try Mav’s birthday, but nothing. Then I try Dom’s, and the lock clicks.
Inside are more jewelry and documents. I shove the papers in the bag but run out of space, so I scoop up the jewelry in my hands, making sure not to leave anything behind.
I head back to where Roger told me to meet, but this place is like a maze. I get lost. I end up in a room with expensive-looking furniture. I trip on something and fall with a loud thud.
Sprawled out on the floor, the jewelry I carried skids across the wood floor.
Exhausted, I want to curl up in a ball and sleep, but my body won’t let me do that.
I’m in the middle of gathering everything when the door opens. My head whips around, and Mav stands in the middle of the doorway with no shirt on and his sweatpants riding low enough for his Adonis belt to show.
His head jerks back, then his gaze shifts to the floor. “Shelby?”
My head throbs from the desire to run over to him, but my body remains frozen.
Dom comes up behind him, takes one look at the jewelry, and yells, “Frank!”
Mav takes a step closer to me. “Why are you doing this?”
On shaky legs, I climb to my feet. I try to fight the hypnosis, but my head pulses harder.
The sound of pounding feet grows louder until Frank comes running through the door I came through.
“Shelby, we’ve been looking for you. What are you doing here?” His eyes drop to the floor, and he sees everything I stole.
“What the hell do you think she’s here for?” Dom points to the jewelry. “For a dance? She’s robbing us!” Dom yells throwing his hands up in air.
I try like hell to say something. I picture that cage in my mind, and I see myself putting a hand outside of it.
Frank eyes narrow. “He’s here, isn’t he?”
“Yes,” I say through gritted teeth.
Maybe I’m stronger than I think. It all makes sense now. Why I’m not a blank slate and why I can see everything. It’s because Roger doesn’t have full control of me.
“Is it you, Shelby?’ Frank eyebrow shoots up.
“Who else would it be?” Dom comes to stand by Frank.
I give him a thumbs up. It’s throbbing right now, and every time I answer, it gets worse.
“Go.” I point to Dom and Mav and barely get out the word, “Danger,” before I crumble to the ground, grabbing my head.
“Shelby, I can’t let you go. You look like shit. You’ve lost so much weight.” Frank kneels down next to me. He runs his hand over my hair.
“Cam?” I force it out.
“Frank, what the hell are you doing?” Dom says angrily.
Frank doesn’t take his eyes off me. “Dom, go back to your room.”
I frown, then I close my eyes. “Rat…”
He shakes his head, not understanding me.
I use the chair to get up. “Rat.”
I make a circle all around with my hand. He has to understand!
“Yeah, you’re a rat,” Dom growls, glaring at me with hatred.
His words shouldn’t hurt, but they do, and a single tear leaks out to trail down my cheek.
“Dom, shut up and leave her alone,” Mav says from the doorway. “Don’t tell—” He cuts off and grabs his head.
I open my eyes and glance at Mav. God, I miss him.
He wraps his arms around himself. He doesn’t seem to hate me as much as Dom does.
“I can’t let you go.” Frank grabs my wrist and helps me stand.
I stare at him. “Kill.” I move my eyes to Dom, then Mav. This is the only way I can think of getting through to him. At least, I hope I can.
Frank doesn’t say anything. He just releases my wrist.
I stumble my way down the hallway, leaving everything behind.
“Why the fuck would you let her go?” Dom yells.
“You’ll understand soon enough” Frank replies.
Roger taps his foot, waiting for me. He has a long tube with him.
His eyes look for the bag he gave me. “You got caught? Damn you!”
He grabs my wrist and drags me back through the woods.
When we reach the car, he throws me in it, then the tube into the backseat. He stomps his way around to the driver’s side, then he sits down. He opens the arm rest, pulls out a syringe, and stabs me in my neck.
Everything goes black.