53. Mina
Chapter fifty-three
I ’ve been here for over two days, and I’ve come to realize three things. The chain around my ankle is long enough for me to move around most of the cabin, except for the bedroom Paul sleeps in. I try not to think of him as my dad anymore, even if he is my biological father. Having to call him daddy to his face was bad enough.
The second thing I’ve realized is that my dad is completely insane. His anger flares when I don’t do or say something he likes. I’m doing my best to play along and that seems to keep him calm most of the time, but it’s hard to know what will set him off.
The third thing is that there is no way for my guys to find me here. We really do seem to be in the middle of the woods, from what I can see out the windows, and I know I’m not carrying anything they can track me with anymore. There is no doubt they are doing everything they can to find me. I promised Atlas I would always fight as hard as I can to survive, and in this case, I believe that means finding my own way to escape. And I have a plan.
I lay in bed, staring through my open door into the cabin. When the light under Paul’s door goes out, I start to count. It takes forever, but when I reach five thousand, I slowly sit up, trying to avoid the clanking of the chains. I count to a hundred and when I hear no movement coming from Paul’s room, I slowly make my way off the bed and out my door, manipulating the chain as I go to make as little noise as possible.
It takes me FOREVER, but finally I make it out to the living room, in front of the fireplace.
I’ve thought about this part of the plan the most. I had considered setting something on fire and throwing it in front of his door, hoping to kill him, but I’d be stuck here, too. What I needed to do was start a fire somewhere where he had a chance to wake up and unhook me. But if I didn’t do it right, he might just put the fire out and leave me chained.
I needed to plan it just right to give us myself the best chance of being released. The trouble was, if I spread the fire to the right of the fireplace, it might block the front door. If I spread it to the left, that was where the shared wall to my bedroom was, and I could end up trapped and I’m not convinced Paul will jump through flames to save me.
I take a couple deep breaths, grab a pillow from the couch and hold the corner in the fire. It catches fire in seconds and I try not to panic. I toss it back on the couch then slowly move back towards my room.
I can’t call him too soon, or else he’ll be able to put it out too easily.
It takes longer than I expect for the couch to catch, but soon after that, the whole thing is on fire. I just need to make sure it starts to spread beyond the couch before I set the next part of my plan into action. I finally make it to my bedroom door just as a few pieces of flaming fabric drop to the rug below. It instantly catches a flame and the fire blazes.
“DAD!” I scream at the top of my lungs at the same time I drop my chains so he doesn’t see me holding them. “DAD!” I yell again.
His bedroom door flies open and his wide eyes take in the scene. He seems frozen, so I yell again, “Help me!” I point to my shackled ankle as his head turns my way.
I’m not sure if it’s the fear in my eyes that sets him into motion, or the fire itself, but he runs towards me. “I got you, honey. Everything’s going to be okay.”
He drops down to a knee at my feet and pulls a key from his pocket, quickly unlocking the ankle cuff. He grabs my hand as we run for the front door, barely making it past the roaring fire that is quickly eating up the living room.
I start to cough as the smoke grows heavy.
He throws the door open and we step out into the crisp November night, taking in several deep lungfuls of fresh air. I try to pull my hand from his, but he holds it tight, leading me away from the cabin towards the tree line.
When we reach it, he stops and we turn around, watching in silence as the flames grow bigger and bigger, slowly devouring the entire cabin.
I don’t know what he’s thinking right now, but I feel a deep rush of adrenaline. The first part of my plan actually worked. Now I’m no longer chained up, I need to figure out how to get away from him.
I notice his car parked on the gravel road that leads to the cabin, but I wonder if he has the keys or if they are still in the cabin. I should have grabbed them.
If he has the keys, my best chance might be to let him take me from here and try escaping when we stop in a town.
I realize he hasn’t said anything since we got outside, so I tentatively ask, “daddy?”
“Hmm?” he asks, not taking his eyes from the fire.
Hoping he will take me to a town, I ask, “I’m cold, and hungry. Can we go get some food? ”
He turns his head to look down at me. His eyes are blank, I see no emotion there and that scares me more than anything. “Daddy?” I ask, licking my parched lips and swallowing the lump in my throat.
“Oh, honey. You shouldn’t have done that,” he says calmly. Outwardly I try not to show any emotion, but inside, I’m freaking out.
“D-do what?” I stutter.
“I’m not an idiot, Mina. I know you started that fire. I thought you were supposed to be my good little angel?” He turns his body towards me and I manage to pull my hand from his, stepping backwards as I look at him in fear.
“It’s those boys, they’ve corrupted you, haven’t they?” His tone grows angry as he follows me, step for step.
“I—”
“They’ve taken my perfect, sweet baby and turned her into an arsenic whore!” He yells the last two words just as I step back against a tree. “I’ll teach them to touch what doesn’t belong to them!”
“Daddy, you’re scaring me,” I say, hoping to calm him down.
“Don’t worry, daddy will take care of those bad men, then we can finally be free of their influence. I’ll teach you how to be my perfect little girl again. It’s not your fault they tainted you.”
“What do you mean, you’ll take care of them?” I ask, a knot of worry growing in my chest.
“Come on,” he grabs my arm and drags me towards the car, when he starts heading towards the trunk, I start to resist.
“No! I don’t want to go in there again!” I yell, trying to pry his fingers from my arm.
“You’re just going to take a little nap, and when you wake up, they’ll be gone, and this will all be over. ”
“You’re—You’re gonna kill them?!” I ask, my wide eyes meeting his.
“I’ll make it quick, for you.”
A rage I have never felt before boils up inside me, giving me the strength to rip my arm free from his grasp and I shove him hard enough to make him move back a few steps. He stares at me with surprised eyes, and even though I know I should run, I don’t.
Instead, I point a finger at him as I seethe. “How dare you threaten the men I love!”
“Love?” he scoffs. “They don’t love you.”
“No! You’re the one who doesn’t love me! This….” I throw my hand out to indicate the burning cabin beside us, “and this…” I point to the open trunk of the car. “Is NOT love. It’s psychotic. You are a MURDERER. And those men love me unconditionally. Whether I listen to them or not. They don’t transport me in the trunk of a car or chain me to the floor. They let me make my own choices and decisions. They offer me support and guidance. They might be a little obsessive and possessive, but they would not stifle me or keep me locked up. Because that’s what love is, Paul. ”
I drag his name out slowly and watch the anger take over his face. Whether it was my whole speech or me using his first name that did it, all I know is that I’ve never seen him look this angry before.
At the same time he reaches for me, I run… straight into the trees.
“Get back here! MINA! Do you hear me?!” he yells behind me. His feet pound the ground behind me and I wonder when he had a chance to put shoes on, I definitely didn’t. An oversight I’m only just now realizing. The metal cuff digs into my skin with each step, but I don’t stop. I have no idea how far we are from anyone else, but I’d rather take my chance in the forest .
A loud bang sounds at the same time the tree I’m passing explodes from the impact of a bullet.
“STOP or I’ll shoot you!” he yells and I freeze. Did he sleep with a gun in his pocket or something? I raise my hands and slowly turn around. He’s only a few steps behind me, panting heavily as he glares at me.
He speaks in an eerily calm tone. “I see we have a lot of work to do. Little girls shouldn’t yell at their daddy, and they definitely shouldn’t run away from them. Who knows what sort of dangers there are out here?”
He’s deranged. He can’t possibly think I’ll ever be the meek little six year old he’s desperately clinging to.
He motions with his head back towards the cabin. “Let’s go.”
I pass him and he follows behind, pressing the gun between my shoulder blades as we slowly walk back to the car and the still burning cabin.
As we step out of the trees, the distinct sound of tires on gravel catches my attention and I look past Paul’s car where a large vehicle is pulling up, with its headlights off. My eyes widen, recognizing the guy’s SUV. My heart leaps in my chest at the sight. They found me!
“Who the hell—” Paul says as he steps up beside me. I feel the gun drop, and realizing he will probably try to shoot them on sight, I turn and throw my entire body at him, trying to wrestle the gun free.
Our legs get tangled and we fall in a heap as the gun goes off.
“MINA!” Max yells as I continue to wrestle for a hold on the gun.
Paul pushes me onto my back, holding me down with a hand on my forehead as he raises the gun towards where several silhouettes are running towards us.
“NO!” I shriek, scratching my nails across his face .
“Ah!” he yells in pain, lifting his hand off my face. “You little whore!” He hits me across the head with the gun and pain explodes in my skull and nausea rolls through me.
He tries to lift the gun towards my guys again, but he’s tackled by two large bodies who push him clean off me.
I watch with wide eyes as my sweet Ben punches Paul in the face three times before Atlas pulls him back, only to deliver two blows himself.
“Mina!” Several voices exclaim and suddenly I’m surrounded by Gideon, Jasper and Max.
“You found me,” I say, panting heavily as I try to smile at them, but end up wincing when it makes my head hurt.
“I’m sorry it took so long, Sweetheart.”
“I’m just glad you’re here.”
“Love, where are you hurt?” Gideon asks, pushing my hair behind my ears. “There’s a lot of blood here.”
“He hit me with the gun.” I try to touch the wound, but several hands stop me from reaching it.
“Don’t touch it, your hands are dirty,” Jasper says, showing me my filthy hands. Even in the dark of the night, I can see what he means.
“Paul—He’s the one that killed all those girls. He was working with Simon the whole time!” I tell them, needing them to know he’s dangerous. “He said he was going to kill you guys, too.” My voice cracks on the last word as tears start to pool in my eyes.
“Is she okay?” Tucker asks, jogging over and leaning down to get a better look at me. When I look at him, he gives me a pained smile. “Hi Sugar, are you okay?”
“We’ve got you now, Angel,” Jasper says, moving himself behind me so I can lean against him.
I nod, emotion filling me. They found me and came for me. This, right here, this is what love looks like. It’s caring for someone, being tender with them and taking care of them. It’s letting them be who they are and loving them for it.
“I’ve called the chief, and he has the local police headed here now, and an ambulance in case we need it,” Dom says as he comes over and kneels beside me. He tilts my chin up, trying to look at my head wound, despite the surrounding darkness. A couple of tears roll down my cheek and I don’t try to stop them. I know none of them will care if I cry. They’ll only care that I’m upset. And right now my emotions are running so rampant, I don’t even know what I’m feeling the most. Relief, happiness, exhaustion.
“Where’s Paul?” Max asks.
“Knocked out, handcuffed, and shoved in the trunk of his own car until the cops arrive.”
“Malishka.” Atlas and Ben move in close and I reach my hand up to grip theirs one at a time, before exhaustion has me settling back against Jasper.
“Sweetheart, you don’t look so good, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere besides your head?”
I shake my head, wincing at the moment, as I answer through my sniffling, “I think I’m okay.” Jasper hugs me to him, and I cry out in pain. He quickly pulls back and looks me over with panic.
“Where did that hurt?”
“My side,” I tell him, suddenly noticing the throbbing pain in my side now the adrenaline is starting to wear off .
They all look down at my side, someone turns on the flashlight on their phone and aims it at my side as Jasper pulls my dress up. They swear, and I frown, trying to figure out what I’m looking at.
Blood covers my entire side, and I notice it leaking from a small hole.
“He shot me?”
“You’re shot?” Atlas roars.
It’s then I remember his gun firing when I tackled him. My whole body hurt when I hit the ground and it all happened so fast, I hadn’t even noticed I’d been shot.
Something is pressed to my side as everyone starts yelling. The pain intensifies and I hiss as I’m lowered backwards, my head in Jasper’s lap. The loss of blood starts to make me light-headed as Jasper strokes my hair. “Stay with us, Angel.”
“I love you guys.” I cough and taste blood in my mouth.
“Kitten, hang in there. This isn’t over yet, you’re not going anywhere,” Dom tells me firmly.
“Malishka, look at me.” It takes me a few slow blinks to turn my head towards Atlas, but I can’t keep my eyes open and they drift shut.
“Malishka, you are going to fight as hard as you can to stay with me. To stay with us. You promised. And you can’t break that promise. You hear me? Baby??” That’s the last thing I hear before the darkness consumes me.