Chapter 22 #2
For the first time in my life, the survival instinct is gone, replaced by something a lot stronger: the instinct to save the man I love.
And I realize that the only way to die right now is to provoke them.
Maybe it won’t work with Gabriel. But if I can get Aaron angry… he might just forget himself long enough to shoot the gun he’s currently got looped around his belt straight at my head.
I turn to him. “So you’re using me to get to Damien. Why? Too cowardly to face him directly?”
His eyes flash dangerously, but he doesn’t react. Meanwhile, Gabriel merely looks amused.
“Guess you knew you couldn’t kill him in a fair fight,” I continue. “Not that it would have been a fair fight. Two against one. But even if he’d gotten his arm blown off, he could still take you. You sad, pathetic fucks.”
Aaron takes a threatening step toward me, but Gabriel stills him with a hand on his shoulder.
“You’re cute,” he says, smirking. “But nothing you say can change the outcome of this. I must say, though, that it’s sweet, this little romance you’ve got going on with that bloodthirsty killer.” He dabs at his eyes in an exaggerated, grotesque fashion.
“I’m a killer too,” I spit out.
“Yeah, yeah. Know all about that. Stabbing Noel, and that FBI agent, and your own father on top of it all. Naughty girl. Anyway, Aaron, go on. Take the picture. Oh, wait. Forgot to do this.”
Before I even know what’s happening, he grabs the gun from his holster and slams it down across my face. It’s not hard enough to make me pass out, but I feel a trickle of blood wind its way down from my forehead.
I’m so surprised I don’t feel anything. Just numbness.
Then Gabriel takes Aaron’s phone and lifts it up, clicking a photo of me with blood running down my face.
“What’s a nice little message to accompany that?” he asks and the pain suddenly hits. I crumple to my knees, my hands clutching my head. “How about: Got your girl. What should I do with her before slitting her throat?”
He sighs, typing out the message. “It’s getting a little repetitive, but I’m not the most creative guy out there, I guess. Though the burying you alive was a nice touch. Still, it didn’t hold. Can’t say Noel and Elias didn’t have it coming.”
He presses send, then topples down on the one chair in the little cabin. “Well, everything’s in place. You’re sure that cell phone is the one Everest Grant put a tracker in?”
Aaron nods confirmation, still eyeing me with anger.
“Guess it won’t take Damien long to find us. And good idea about this little hike in the woods. It’ll make things hard enough for him that he won’t think we’re setting him up for a trap. Now, kids, we wait.”
Aaron grunts. “How long?”
“As long as it takes. Hopefully only a few hours. By tomorrow we can be far away. And you,” he points a dirty finger at me, “will be free. If you do as you’re told. Go on, man.” He gets up and gestures at Aaron.
“Sure thing, boss.”
Aaron takes a coil of rope from the top bunk, grabs my arm and pushes me up, toward the chair Gabriel has just left. He forces me down on it and ties me to it. The blood gushing from my head is nearly blinding me and for the moment, I can’t think of much else but the throbbing pain.
The ropes biting into my wrists and ankles force me to focus, but by then, it’s too late. I’m unable to move a muscle. I grit my teeth in frustration as he nudges the chair so that I’m angled straight at the door. Then he looks expectantly at Gabriel.
“Perfect,” says the latter. “Now, he knows you’re alive, and he’ll be expecting to find you here.
But he won’t expect me. The minute my alarm goes off…
” He lifts a device out of his pocket. “We’ll know he’s within a one-mile range.
I’ll hide behind the door and bash his skull in.
Not fully, of course. We’ll have our fun with him before he dies.
And if you behave,” he faces me with a threatening glint in his eye, “we’ll let you live.
Otherwise you’ll meet your end before he does, and we’ll make him watch. ”
I swallow, feeling sick to my stomach. I can’t think of a single thing to do to stop what’s about to happen. Damien, coming here to save me… and meeting his doom. I’ve never felt so helpless before. Not even when I was buried six feet underground.
Aaron begins to pace around the room, the metal soles of his leather boots clicking on the humid floor.
Now that my initial adrenaline has ebbed just a bit, I take the time to study the room.
It’s a tiny place, just one room with a bunkbed, the chair I’m currently tied on, and nothing else.
A small window carved into the wall has been lined with iron bars.
I can’t tell if the floor is made of dirt or if it’s just filthy.
I stay silent for the moment, my mind racing.
I quickly saw that it was pointless to try to get them riled up enough to kill me.
Gabriel is far too smart for that, and Aaron is completely under his thumb.
He may get angry at me, but he’d never actually disobey Gabriel and shoot me before Damien’s had a chance to fall into their trap.
There’s no way to leave, at least not yet.
They’ve tied me too tightly for me to hope to be able to wrest myself free.
Anyway, they’re not planning to leave me alone.
Even if I did manage to free myself of my restraints without them realizing it, the room is so small they’d stop me before I had time to get to the door.
The window is too small even for my slim frame, especially with those iron bars.
No matter how I turn matters over in my mind, there’s just no way to get out of here.
What else can I do? How can I save Damien?
I hunch myself over, feeling the ropes tug against me.
Outside, the trees stand like stark phantoms under the light of the moon, which casts a strange, disturbing glow on the forest. The wind howls, rattling the dusty window pane, making the orange-red leaves rustle in the distance, seeping through the dilapidated wooden boards of the house.
It brings with it the nauseating smell of fresh dirt.
I turn away, gagging. My helplessness overwhelms me again. I just can’t accept that this is how it ends.
I still hold onto one hope. That Damien will somehow sense the trap. That he’ll be able to escape it. But that would mean… leaving me behind. Letting me die. Somehow, I can’t imagine that he would.
Funny. It was not so long ago that you were convinced he wanted to kill you. And now you think he would sacrifice himself to save you?
I really am a masochist. My brain seems to latch onto whatever thought will bring me the most pain. Damien the assassin who will kill you. Damien the hero who will die.
I let my mind wander to memories of a different kind of pain, the kind that always made my body hum with need. Damien’s hands on me, all over me, the way he dominated me, the promise of punishment that I saw in his eyes right before I was taken.
I want that punishment. And I want him. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
This just can’t be how it ends.
There’s one consolation at least. If he walks into Gabriel’s trap, I’ll get to see him again.
I’m startled from my thoughts by Aaron’s impatient grumbling.
“How long do we have to wait? It’s been three hours already. Getting hungry.”
“Shut up,” snaps Gabriel. “It may be far longer.”
“It took us thirty minutes to drive out here, and one hour to walk. That’s one hour and a half—”
“Great, you know how to do basic math,” congratulates Gabriel snidely. “Now fuck off and wait.”
Hissing, Aaron crouches on the floor, about halfway between the window and me. His eyes remain glued on me while Gabriel lies down on the lower bunkbed, apparently without a care in the world.
A little while later, Aaron clicks his tongue. “It’s taking so long,” he whines.
“Oh my fucking God. If you talk again, I’ll shoot you.”
That quiets Aaron, but only for a minute. Then he says, “What if…”
“Clearly you think I’ve grown soft, spending the last few months in that motherfucking prison,” cuts in Gabriel, aiming his gun at him. “But if I hear one more complaint out of you, I will put a fucking bullet in your skull, so help me God.”
I look up, allowing myself to grow hopeful again as I see Gabriel begin to lose his cool. I guess the wait is getting to him too, and hearing Aaron complain must really grate on his nerves.
I wonder if I can take advantage of the situation to save Damien. For the moment, my mind draws a blank. But I keep my ears sharp, hanging onto their words, my eyes following every movement.
“Okay, okay,” mutters Aaron, holding his hands up in a placating gesture. “This isn’t a complaint, though. It’s a question.”
There’s a pause, and then Gabriel spits, “Shoot, or I will.”
“I’m just… I’m just wondering… I don’t think Damien should be taking so long. If he actually cares about the girl as much as you say he does, he would be on her track in a minute. He would find us. What if… what if he waited for backup? What if one of the other guys is with him? Logan, maybe?”
My heartbeat picks up. It’s strange to remember how I once dreaded Logan. Now, hearing his name gives me hope. If Damien and Logan come for me together, then maybe…
Maybe he won’t die after all.
But Gabriel snorts. “Impossible. Damien’s not the only one who likes tracking people. I’ve set out a few trackers of my own. Logan is safe and sound at Devil Tower, along with the others.”
My heart sinks in my stomach. So Damien will be alone. He’ll walk into the trap after all.
“He’s waiting for nightfall,” comments Gabriel, more to himself than Aaron. “The minute the moon is hidden in those trees, overhead, is the minute he’ll make his move. About time to get in position.”
He stands up slowly from the bed and walks over leisurely to the door. He stands behind it, gripping his gun in one hand, a smirk at his lips that says he has no doubt his plan will succeed.