Amnesia

Chapter Three – Mallory

CHAPTER THREE

Mallory

I couldn’t run anymore. I was exhausted and had been running for two days. Cold, tired, and hungry, I climbed over a fence and stared at the vast land before me.

“Where…am…I?” I whispered, seeing nothing but an endless pastureland for miles.

After I’d hit that monster on the head with the brick I’d wrangled free, I ran as fast as I could out the open door, his moans of pain growing more distant with each step.

I’d been in a barn, I realized after I climbed the steps.

I needed to get as far away from my kidnapper as possible, so I did the only thing I could do—I ran fast and hard.

Ignoring the pain in my feet and in my entire body as I ran over rocks, sticks, water, and through two storms. Two violent storms. But I couldn’t stop.

For all I knew, he was right behind me, only minutes away.

I climbed over fences when I couldn’t get under them.

I jumped over holes when I couldn’t see how deep they were. Nothing was going to stop me.

I ran for my life, until I could no longer run at all. Collapsing, I found myself on the hard ground, praying this wasn’t how I was going to die.

Until warm arms engulfed me. My heart thundered in my chest, and I wanted to call out in protest, but I had no energy to even utter a single word. I prayed it was a savior, and not my captor.

I tried to say something but was so exhausted, I couldn’t speak.

“Shh, I’ve got you. It’s okay.” He said these things as he carried me over to a horse.

Thank you, God. It’s not him.

His words were soothing, and seconds later, I buried my face against his chest as he had his horse ride a bit faster. His deep voice woke me as I started to doze back to sleep.

“We’re almost there. Hang on.”

The horse came to a stop.

“What in the hell, Liam?” I heard another man say.

“Bubba, get Moonshine into the barn and take care of him, will you?”

“Who is that?”

“I don’t know. I found her in the west pasture. Can you take her for a minute so I can get off?”

In my mind, I was screaming. I didn’t want someone else to take me. I wanted to stay wrapped in the warmth of the man who’d found me. But I wasn’t in the other man’s arms for long.

I managed to open my eyes when I felt him—Liam—taking me back again, and I looked at him briefly. All I could see was a black cowboy hat that was dripping water from the rain. He walked up some steps, and a door opened and then slammed shut.

“Get back, girl; I know we have a guest you want to say hi to, but we’ve got to warm her up.”

I tried to look around but could barely keep my eyes open. It felt like he was going up more steps with me in his arms.

“Ma’am? Ma’am, are you awake?”

Forcing myself to open my eyes, I saw the bluest gaze staring down at me.

“What’s your name?”

Frowning, I tried to remember my name. The monster had called me Mallory. Was that my name? I couldn’t remember anything the first time I woke up in the basement underneath that barn, a prison that was more like a dungeon.

“I think…” I whispered weakly. “I think…Mallory.”

Those five little words wore me out, and I felt the darkness coming again. The last thing I heard was the cowboy saying, “I’m going to take care of you, Mallory. I promise.”

##

The sun’s warmth on my face caused me to open my eyes. A large picture window with the most beautiful scenery I’d ever seen met my gaze.

The mountains had snow-covered tops and the sun was shining. The sun…God, I never thought I’d be so happy to see it. I wasn’t sure if I was dreaming or if it was real.

I rolled over and realized I was in a soft, warm bed.

Instantly, the pain in my side nearly had me gasping.

My ribs hurt so bad, but thankfully, I didn’t think they were broken.

The ceiling also wasn’t old boards, but beautiful wood logs.

The sound of a fire crackling had me attempting to sit up slowly.

The room began to spin, so I halted until my head calmed down.

Managing to sit up fully, I leaned back against the pillows as I stared at a roaring fire in a massive fireplace. It was all rock, stretching from floor to ceiling, with a giant wood mantel.

My eyes slowly scanned the large room. A desk sat in front of the large picture window, and a chair with a black-and-white blanket was in the corner.

When I turned my head to look at the other side of the room, my breath caught in my throat.

This room was a far cry from the hellhole I had been kept hostage in.

I closed my eyes and tried to count how many days it had been since I had run but everything was so cloudy.

There was a small sofa against the wall to the other side of the bed, and lying on it was a man. Was this the man who’d found me?

I frowned and then winced. Reaching up, I touched under my eye.

It was still sore from where I had been hit in the face.

I wondered if my eye was black and blue.

My head had also been pounding since the first day I’d woken up in that basement.

I reached back and felt the familiar bump, which was slowly going away.

Staring back at the man, I noticed a chocolate lab on the floor beside him. Realizing I was awake, the dog hopped up and jumped onto the bed. Making her way over to me, she lay down and put her head on my thigh.

I reached for her and started to pet her, instantly feeling my anxiety slowly melt away.

For the first time, I looked down at what I was wearing.

Gone was the torn Disney World shirt and the filthy sweatpants.

I was in a Montana State long-sleeve shirt and dark blue sweatpants that were much too big for me.

Confused, I looked back at the sleeping man. He started to stir, and I quickly slid back down, ignoring the pain in my side, and turned my body away from his, the way I’d been lying when I first woke up.

“Piper, get off the bed. Come, girl.” He attempted to whisper to the dog, but it came out a tad louder than that.

The dog quickly moved. I smiled and repeated her name in my head. Piper.

“She needs her sleep, girl.”

My stomach growled, and I slowly turned and stretched. God, it felt so good to stretch, but my muscles ached—every single one of them. Muscles I didn’t even know existed were screaming at the abuse that I made them endure in my escape.

“Hey, are you awake? I’m sorry, did Piper wake you?”

That voice. It was deep and broody-sounding, but at the same time, soothing. I opened my eyes to see the cowboy standing there. Piper jumped back up onto the bed and promptly started to lick me.

“Piper! Off.”

Chuckling, I started to pet her. “It’s okay, Piper didn’t wake me up. And I love dogs. At least, I think.”

“You think?” he asked.

I frowned as I met his gaze. “I don’t remember anything.”

His brows shot up. “What? Like, you have amnesia?”

Tears pricked at the back of my eyes, and I started to blink rapidly, but I couldn’t stop the tears from falling.

The stranger took a step closer. “No, please don’t cry! It’s all going to be okay. I promise you. You did tell me your name was Mallory.”

I wiped at the tears and sniffled. “I’m sorry. It’s just…I don’t remember anything about myself, and I think that’s my name.”

He smiled softly. “Okay, first—are you hungry?” he asked.

Nodding, I softly replied, “I’m starving. That much I do know about myself.”

“There’s a bathroom right through that door there,” he said, pointing to a door I hadn’t noticed.

“I put a fresh toothbrush, a hairbrush, and some clean towels in there. You were soaking wet, so I had to remove all your clothes. I’m sorry for invading your privacy like that, but I didn’t want you to get sick.

It’s just me here, so…” His voice trailed off, and he looked away.

“Th-thank you.” I felt my cheeks heat, knowing this man had seen me in my underwear and bra.

That’s when I realized I wasn’t wearing underwear or a bra. He must have seen the realization on my face.

Clearing his throat, he said, “I had to take off your bra and panties. I washed them, though, and they’re in the bathroom. I threw the rest of your clothes away; they smelled terrible and were all ripped.”

All I could do was nod. He’d seen me naked. I should have felt utterly violated.

But strangely…I trusted him.

“I’ll let you get cleaned up. If you want to take a hot shower, you can. I didn’t have any female clothes, but I put a T-shirt and sweats next to your underthings. They’re entirely too big, just like the ones you have on, but they’re clean.”

I looked at him then for what felt like the first time.

He was handsome—tall, dark hair, and blue eyes.

His body was muscular, but like he did manual labor for a living, not like the type of guys you see at gyms. His shoulders were broad, and his face was dusted lightly with hair, like he hadn’t shaved in a day or two.

“What’s your name?” I asked, thinking I had heard it but wasn’t sure if it was a dream or not.

“Sorry,” he said with a nervous chuckle. “Liam Sanders. I own the ranch you were on—or where I found you. I mean, you’re still on the ranch.”

I chewed nervously on my lip.

“Take your time. I’ll get us some breakfast going. Piper, come.”

Piper stayed where she was, looking at me and then at her daddy. “Do you mind if she stays with me?” I asked.

Liam looked surprised but said, “Of course not. When you’re ready to come downstairs, turn left out of the bathroom, follow the stairs down, and you’ll see the kitchen. It’s one big open area, the living room and the kitchen.”

“Thank you.”

He turned to leave, and I asked, “Liam, how long have I been here? With you, I mean?”

“I found you two days ago. You’ve been sleeping since I took you in from the storm.”

My eyes went wide. “I’ve been sleeping for two days?”

He nodded.

With a swallow, I said, “Thank you for helping me.”

A small crease appeared between his brows, but then his face softened. “Of course.”

Turning again, he walked out of the bedroom, softly shutting the door.

Pushing the covers off of me, I swung my legs around and hung them off the bed. Piper jumped into the bed and sat beside me. She was so sweet as she gave me a little nudge of encouragement.

“I’m trying, girl, but my body hurts from running for days.”

She let out a soft bark, which made me laugh.

“Okay, I’m getting up.” I stood—and instantly felt the pain in my feet shoot up through my entire body.

After a minute or two, I forced myself to walk toward the bathroom—and the second I stepped inside, I gasped.

It was beautiful. I’d never seen a bathroom so lovely.

The walls were finished, unlike the exposed wooden beams in the bedroom.

A giant copper tub sat under another beautiful window with views that looked too stunning to be real.

To the left was a walk-in shower. My gaze went from the tub to the shower.

I wanted to soak in the tub, but Liam had mentioned making breakfast, so I didn’t want him to wait on me.

“Shower, it is.”

I stripped out of the oversized clothes and grabbed one of the folded towels on the counter.

I turned the water on in the shower and stepped inside.

The hot water on my hurting body felt heavenly, even with my feet stinging from the heat.

There was a fresh bar of soap and shampoo.

Well, it was one of those shampoo-and-conditioner-in-one shampoos, but I didn’t care.

I washed my hair twice and soaped up three times.

I needed to get the feeling of that place, of him, off of me.

He’d toyed with me, describing in detail everything he was going to do to me…but, thankfully, he hadn’t done any of it yet. I was pretty sure that was his MO. Scare his victims before he raped them.

I knew other women had been in that room before me. What had happened to them? Had he killed them? I prayed daily that he would just do what he wanted and then let me go. But I had a feeling the stains on the mattress were blood…

No. I knew they were blood.

Burying my face in my hands, I cried. I needed to get out of here.

What if he found me and took me again? I couldn’t be that far from where he’d kept me.

Two days of running wouldn’t have let me cover much distance.

Not when I was running without shoes, through hills that were like mountains at times.

Sinking to the floor of the shower, I sobbed until I had no more tears left to give. Piper pawed at the glass door and pulled me back to the present.

“Right, girl. I need to get it together.”

I shut off the now-cold water and wrapped the towel around me. I thought once more that I should have been mortified or embarrassed that Liam had seen me naked, but I honestly didn’t care. I was just so thankful he’d found me. He might have even saved my life.

I slipped into my clean panties, then my bra, thankful for always following Granny’s advice of wearing decent-looking underwear. There was another Montana State shirt—this one a T-shirt—and another pair of sweats. They hung off me but, thankfully, had a drawstring so I could tie them tightly.

Looking in the mirror, I studied myself. I wasn’t bad looking, but I wasn’t a beauty either. I looked pale and thin. My plain brown hair was down to my shoulders, and I had hazel eyes that were a combination of brown, green, and gold. Frowning, I sighed.

“Who are you? Why can’t you remember anything?” I asked as I touched the mirror in front of me.

Piper gently nudged me again.

“Right. Breakfast.”

I quickly picked up the brush to remove the few knots and tangles. I could tell I had wavy, maybe curly hair. Once it dried, I’d find out for sure. It was strange to look at myself in the mirror and have no idea who I was.

A pair of fluffy socks—the only clothing likely belonging to a woman—was sitting on the counter. I slipped them on and sighed in relief at how comfy they were.

Looking down at Piper, I said, “Lead the way, girl.”