Chapter 15
VANESSA
There are plenty of vehicles to choose from, but not a single fucking one has a key anywhere in sight. For people who live out in the middle of nowhere, the Thornes are ridiculously security-conscious.
Then again, I probably would be too if I was part of a former mob family on the run from my homicidal uncle.
All right. Plan B. Head back toward the road and start walking. Hitchhiking. Whatever the fuck it takes to get me to the next town so I can let someone know what’s going on in this house of depravity.
God, I wish I’d had time to grab the keys to my rental. Assuming it hasn’t been fucking towed already.
I’m halfway there by my guesstimation when the crack of a branch freezes me in my tracks. Terror sends my pulse skyrocketing as I strain to listen.
“Run, run, as fast as you can, little fox.” The sing-song voice echoes through the forest, followed by a loud laugh. “Maybe if you make it worth the chase, I’ll let you come when I fuck you up against a tree.”
Fuck, fuck, fuck!
I let the fear fuel me as I take a hard right, crashing through the woods as I run for… I don’t fucking know what. But all I can do is run.
And pray.
My heartbeat is so loud, I can hear it pounding in my ears as I run as hard and fast as I can toward my unknown destination. Behind me, I can hear him coming, as steady and inevitable as time itself, and my vision blurs as tears fill my eyes.
No. This is not how I die.
Clinging to that desperate belief, I dig deep and run. Harder, faster, keeping my eyes glued to the terrain in front of me so I don’t trip.
But even with all the running I do on a regular basis, my energy soon flags. And no amount of pep talks or fear can give me the energy to keep going.
Just when I’m about to give up and let him take me, I spot it. The glint of the sun off water.
The creek from before. He caught me there yesterday, but today I’m ready for him, and I have a much better head start.
Gasping for air, I change course, splashing loudly in the water as my shoes sink into the muck below. As I wade out into the oncoming current, I look around, searching for any sign of my pursuer, doing my best to ignore the icy cold of the water seeping into my bones.
Finding no signs of Dane, I nearly weep with relief. But I know it’s far too soon to celebrate just yet, so I sink down into the water, letting only my head bob above the gentle rapids.
Maybe if I follow the water it will lead me… somewhere. Aren’t most towns and stuff built as close to a water source as possible?
Either way, it’s what people in the movies always seem to do when they’re trying to escape someone. Not that it always works but running for the rest of my life wasn’t an option either. This feels like I might actually have a chance.
I let myself grab hold of that rationalization with everything I have as I float down the river. If nothing else, this little break is giving me the time I need to recover so that if I do need to run again, I’ll have restored some of my reserves.
But I can’t let my guard down. That’s how people get got in horror movies. So even while I float, I remain vigilant, my head on a swivel as I scan the woods around me, looking and listening for any hint of danger.
Maybe he gave up. Maybe he decided to leave me out here to die. Maybe he—
A scream claws at my throat as something wraps around my ankle, dragging me beneath the water. I manage to close my mouth and take a breath half a second before I’m pulled under. Panic and instinct work together, turning me into a flailing mass of limbs.
My foot connects with something, and the thing around my ankle releases. Pushing up toward the surface, I break free with a gasp, arms and legs splashing as I make my frantic escape toward the shore.
I glance back just long enough to see a familiar head pop up above the water. But unlike my own kicking and flailing escape, Dane is all lethal elegance as he rises up, water cascading off him with every step toward me.
Looking exactly like the bad guy in a slasher film, he stalks toward me, and I scramble up the too-steep embankment, desperation driving the exhaustion from my limbs.
“You can do better than that, little fox.” Again his voice is taunting, almost playful as he follows me back into the depths of the woods.
Too slow. I’m moving as fast as I can, but I already know it’s not enough to save me. Not with him so close.
A sob bursts out of me a moment before an arm encircles my waist, hoisting me into the air. Still, I kick and I punch and I fight with everything I have in me as he carries me to my fate.
If this is how I die, I refuse to go quietly.
“Let me go, you bastard! I’ll fucking kill you!” Okay, I really need to think of some more creative phrases.
“That’s two minutes with the soap when we get home, little girl.”
The growled warning somehow fills me with both relief and dread. Relief, because if he’s talking about taking me back to his home, then surely he doesn’t mean to kill me.
Dread, because I cannot go back to living as his Little girl. I can’t.
We pause beside a tree, and to my shock he sets me on my feet. Drawing on every ounce of courage I have, I force myself to look up, to meet his gaze. And despite the stern set of his mouth, I find the deep brown of his eyes dancing with excitement.
“You gave me a run for my money, little fox.”
I could almost swear there’s a note of pride in his voice, and I hate that my body instantly responds to it. “Not enough of one, clearly.”
“Ah, well.” Grinning now, he lifts one shoulder in a careless shrug. “There will be other chases.”
“Damn straight. And next time, you won’t catch me.”
Placing his hand between my shoulder blades, he forces me forward, pressing my torso against the tree in front of me. “We’ll see about that. For now, you’ve earned yourself a hell of a switching, little girl. Plus another minute with the soap when we get home.”
Fuck. I’ve never been switched, but I’ve read enough books to know it’s an experience I won’t enjoy in the least.
But I refuse to beg. Refuse to give him the satisfaction of hearing me whine and cry for mercy.
Instead, I remain still and silent as he moves me into position.
My arms are pulled around the trunk of the tree, which is the perfect size for my hands to touch on the opposite side.
Once I’m in position, the thick leather of what I assume is his belt wraps around my wrists, anchoring me in place.
“Stay right there while Daddy finds some switches.”
“Gee, what a hard job considering we’re in the fucking woods.”
His chuckle is like a physical touch, dancing slimy fingers up my spine. “Someday soon, I’ll teach you to cut your own and you’ll realize how difficult it is. Oh, and that’s four minutes with the soap when we get back.”
Dammit. I really need to learn to watch my language around him.
The sound of his footsteps echoes around me, and I realize after a few minutes of him stomping around that he’s deliberately making too much noise.
Far more than he made while hunting me, that’s for sure.
I find the racket oddly comforting. At least I know he’s nearby and hasn’t left me tied to this tree with no hope of escape.
Too soon, however, he returns. My head is turned, with my left cheek pressed against the bark of the tree, and he positions himself on the side where I can’t see him.
I can hear him, feel him, even smell him, but being unable to physically lay eyes on him has my heart pounding too hard and too fast all over again.
He reaches for me, and I squeeze my eyes shut against whatever is about to happen.
But all I feel is the slight give of the pressure on my shoulders as he releases the straps of my borrowed overalls, allowing them to droop down to my hips. There’s a tug, and then he pulls them down to my ankles, exposing my diapered ass to every woodland creature nearby.
I’ve only just allowed myself to relax when something cold presses against the back of my neck and I stop breathing. A knife. He has a goddamn knife.
Maybe he means to kill me after all.
“You are being punished for two things right now, little fox.” His tone is light, conversational, as if we’re discussing the latest stock market figures rather than the very painful punishment he’s about to deliver. “Do you know what those two things are?”
“I, um.” My brain goes blank as he trails the tip of the knife up the side of my neck to my face.
From the corner of my eye, I can see the glint of silver when he presses the flat of the blade against my cheek and it’s a good thing I’m wearing a diaper because I’m not convinced I won’t piss myself right here and now.
“Let me help you out.” The knife disappears, and a moment later there’s a gentle tearing sound and my diaper falls to the ground, leaving me naked but for my t-shirt and the overalls pooled around my ankles. “Where should you have been when I took Josie and Tabby into the house?”
There’s really no point in pretending I don’t know the right answer. But I’ve always had a sarcastic mouth, and even my impending doom doesn’t seem to change that. “Curled up on my couch back home in New York, reading the book Josie just finished and drinking my grandma’s sweet tea.”
More lies, since I never knew either of my grandmothers. But maybe the lie will add to the case I’m trying to build for why they should let me go.
Again, his chuckle is too close, too intimate somehow. His breath brushes over the back of my neck, making all the little hairs stand on end, and I have to press my lips together against the urge to whimper.
“It’s lucky for you I enjoy smart-mouthed Little girls.
But your Uncle Eli doesn’t tolerate backtalk, so you might want to keep that in mind around him.
Even if I think he’s got a stick the size of a redwood up his ass, if he spanks you for sassing him, you’ll still get another spanking from me. Understood?”
That seems wildly unfair, but I also realize I’m not really in a position to argue at the moment. “Sure.”
“It’s ‘Yes, Daddy’, little fox. That’s another minute with the soap for disrespect. So five total. If I were you, I’d at least try and quit while I was ahead.”
Self-preservation finally kicks in. There’s no way I’m not going back home with him, so there’s no point in making whatever awaits me there any worse. “Sorry, Daddy.”
“Oh, my sweet little fox. You certainly will be.”