83. Noah
NOAH
“You’re fucking weak, just like your mother.”
Before I can even open my mouth to scream at him, I hear the sound of his wrist bindings snapping apart.
His sickening glare is locked on Willow as he stands and goes to swing.
I quickly shove her back out of the way and try to dive for him, but he’s faster than I believed he could be after being here all this time.
The chair swings, and when it connects with the side of my head, the world around me tilts and flickers.
Black fog seems to cover my vision as sparks ignite along the edges.
Fuck.
I can feel my knees going weak as I fall to the ground.
My head is spinning and there’s a high-pitched ringing in my ears.
Jesus Christ, this hurts. I blink rapidly trying to clear the fog and look for Willow.
She’s cowering trying to scoot backwards away from him, but he’s closing in fast. I need to save her.
I stumble twice before I’m able to catch my footing and stand.
When I turn, James is there. I can feel the painful sting as the blade pierces into my stomach.
It’s the knife she was going to kill him with.
My favorite knife in the entire world is now sticking out of my stomach.
Warmth spills over my hands as I grip the knife's hilt. It’s deep… very deep.
Shit.
James leans forward, close enough to where only I can hear him. The vile stench coming out of his mouth is making me sick. I can almost taste the vomit in the back of my throat.
“I told you, no matter what, I’d haunt you until your last fucking breath. Too bad it’s going to be over so soon.”
He releases the knife with a slight shove pushing it deeper into my gut.
“No,” Willow’s broken whimper is all I can focus on now.
“Run, Little Rabbit.” My words come out with a sickening gargle sound, and I can see the fear in her eyes as she looks at me.
I can feel warmth pooling in my stomach as I slowly sink to the ground with my hands holding the knife as steady as possible.
I slowly lie on my back to hopefully not let the blade tear up anything else inside.
I need help. No, we need help. There’s only one person who can help us now, and that’s Jeremy.
I watch out of the corner of my eye as I try to slowly move to grab my phone out of my pocket. James steps away over to the table with all my tools on it. He picks up a longer knife and slices his thumb on the blade before turning his demented gaze toward Willow.
“Yes, Little Rabbit. Run,” he says as he looks at her with his sickening grin.
She takes one last look at me as I mouth the words run then pushes to her feet and takes off to the left going the opposite way of the stairs.
She’s probably going to get lost in the maze.
God. What the fuck was I thinking? I should’ve had a knife trained on him, too.
I was stupid. Fucking careless. I thought that because he’s been down here all this time, he was weak. I was so fucking wrong.
“Hey, Killer,” he says, pulling my attention from her.
He walks back over and squats down next to me pointing the knife at my chest. I slowly push my phone back under my hip and try to hide it from view, but his focus is only on my face, which is twisting in agonizing pain.
“What? No words now? A little pain shuts you right up?” he scoffs. “I bet you’re wondering how the fuck my broken and beaten ass is able to move, right?”
He laughs before standing and stretching.
“You should have kept up on the torture, Killer. Should have kept me broken down and bloody. Shouldn’t have taken those leg restraints off all that time ago.”
The leg restraints? What the fuck does that have to do with anything?
“You see, while I was down here wasting away, I’ve been planning.
Oh, the thoughts I’ve had of the different ways I could kill you.
Fuck, it’s almost arousing how many different ways I thought of how to torture you.
I’ve had thousands of hours, Noah. Thousands.
Just to sit around here and think of what I would do to you if I got free. ”
He squats back down showing me exactly how blind I was to his actual condition.
He wasn’t dying, he never was. No, mere torture won’t kill a monster like him.
He’s proved that now. I can hear her running somewhere off to my left.
That’s the back side of the maze and only goes further from the stairs, but there’s not a single fucking thing I can do to help her.
“So, while I was down here thinking I realized I needed to keep my strength up. I stopped fighting you and stopped ignoring your questions. You eased up on the torture and began to grow complacent with me just being down here. As if I was just another trinket in your fucked-up collection. When you took the leg restraints off, I found that I could bend forward and stand. I was able to walk around, stretch, and keep my strength up.”
The fucker was using his time down here to work out?
“I knew you didn’t have cameras down here after the first few weeks, so I got bolder. Whenever you left the lights on, I started venturing into your little maze. I’ve studied it, and I have to say, I’m quite impressed. It’s twisted as fuck, just like you.”
He pokes me in the side, and my body jolts. I can feel the knife shift, and my body shudders. My lungs clench causing me to cough. Blood splatters with the spit making my heart race and my body panic. I’m going to die down here.
“By the way, thanks for that hydrating drink earlier. Really got my blood pumping. Well, time to go finish the little bitch.” He glances down at the knife before flicking the handle. It causes another wave of pain and nausea to slam into me. “Don’t move, Killer. I’ll be right back.”
He stands, listening for a moment before smiling to himself and taking off down the back path.
“No,” I scream, but the pain is too much causing me to twist my head and throw up.
More blood flows from my mouth as I try to steady my breathing. I grab my phone and type out a message one-handed to Jeremy.
Noah
He’s loose. Stabbed me. Save Willow.
Sending…
I watch the phone, waiting for it to say delivered, but it stays on sending for far too long.
Noah
He’s loose. Stabbed me. Save Willow.
Failed.
No, please. Fuck! I need this to send.
“Fuck,” I curse as I glance toward the other path leading to the stairs.
If I can just get closer, maybe I’ll be able to get enough signal to send the message.
Gritting my teeth, I slowly roll to my side.
Keeping one hand on the knife handle, I tuck the phone in my pocket and brace my other hand on the ground to gently push to my feet.
My head is still spinning. Between the concussion and then getting smacked in the side of the head by a fucking chair, it’s not going well.
I stumble and the knife shifts causing another wave of nausea to roll through me. If I throw up again, I’m going to bleed out. I need to get to the steps to send this message. I need Jeremy to save her.
“Run, Little Rabbit.”
I can hear him calling for her deeper in the maze.
His taunting is only pushing me to go faster, but I can feel my legs growing weaker by the second.
I’m so close. Just a little…Fuck! My knees shake, and I barely catch myself on the wall before I fall to my knees on the damp concrete floor.
I pull back out my phone and pray there’s someone up there looking down on me.
I may have my demons, but she doesn’t. She’s good.
She’s so fucking good. Even when given the chance to kill the man who destroyed her world, she still couldn’t. She doesn’t deserve to die.
“Run…Run…Run…”
I click send again and watch.
Noah
He’s loose. Stabbed me. Save Willow.
Sending…
I hold my breath until the message says delivered, but then I hear her scream from somewhere deep in the labyrinth. My heart clenches at the sound. I can’t save her. I can’t fucking save her. I’ve failed her again.
Noah
He’s loose. Stabbed me. Save Willow.
Read
Jeremy
…
The three dots start to appear on the screen as darkness drifts in along the edges of my vision. My hands tremble dropping the phone as I sink to the floor.
My body feels cold. I know I’ve lost too much blood. Even if he didn’t hit any major veins, I think he punctured an organ or two. He had to have with how deep the knife is in me. I can’t pull it out, or I’ll for sure die instantly.
I lie on my back as close to the wall as possible. If Jeremy does make it in time, or if Willow ends up coming down this path, I don’t want them to trip over my body. The dimmer white lights are on, but if he’s chasing her, she might not be watching where she’s going.
“Willow?” his voice sings in the distance.
*Ding*
I can’t even find the strength to lift my hand and look at the phone. I just hope it’s Jeremy saying he’s coming and bringing something to kill this fucker.
Tears fill my eyes. It’s over. It’s fucking over. Fifteen years I’ve searched for her, only to have her back in my arms for a moment. I think back over the days I’ve spent with her, and more tears spill down the side of my face.
Every fucking second was worth it, just being able to be with her. Holding her in my arms, being able to kiss her, and to make love to her. She knows how much I love her. I just hope she makes it out of here so she can live her life without fear. Without having to keep looking over her shoulder.
I told Jeremy when I was in the hospital that if something were to ever happen to me, he needs to be there for Willow. He needs to protect her. He knows where all my money is. I want her set up for life. I have it set that no matter what happens to me, my little rabbit will always be taken care of.
“I love you, Willow. Please…live.”