84. Willow
WILLOW
With one last glance at Noah, I force my body up and sprint out the path to the left. My heart breaks as I take off running deeper into the darkness. I can hear James talking to Noah, but his voice gets quieter the further into the maze I go. What the fuck is this place?
“No!”
Noah’s scream shatters the silence around me, then falls quiet again. There’s a tight grip around my chest causing me to feel like I’m choking. I’m going to die down here if I can’t find the door.
“Run, Little Rabbit.”
James’s voice seems to follow me deeper into the maze no matter which way I turn. The sounds of his steps are echoing through the damp tunnels. The smell of disease, blood, and rotting flesh surround me. Each inhale causes it to seep deeper into my lungs making me gag.
“Run…Run…Run…”
His sinister singing follows me with each turn. Left, right, left, left, right.
“Come here, Little Rabbit. Where are you?”
I stop and lean against the brick wall in the darkness. My fingertips are raw from running along the walls trying to map out this hellhole. I can feel the blood crusting around my cracked nails as they bend with each drag against the brick wall.
*Crack*
Another footstep.
I hold my breath and shrink to the floor. I can’t narrow down which way he is. The sounds are echoing off the walls making it feel like he’s everywhere at once. Like a fucking house of mirrors at the carnival.
“Willow?” he sings my name calling for me from the darkness.
His voice is closer now.
“Come out, Willow. It’ll all be over soon.”
Lies. All lies. It’ll never be over.
Even if I do make it out of here, what can I do? Where would I even go? If I don’t kill him now, I’ll always be looking over my shoulder even worse than before. The paranoia will destroy me.
I feel like I’ve been running through this maze forever. It can’t have been more than ten minutes, but each second ticks by slower and slower when you’re running for your life.
*Tink*
*Tink*
*Tink*
The sound of steel against brick can be heard somewhere off to my left. He still has the knife, that much I know. I can hear the scraping as he runs it along the brick walls trying to terrify me. Well, it’s fucking working.
I’ve feared this man for as long as I can remember. Even before my adopted grandparents told me the truth, he was always the monster in my nightmares. And now I’m trapped down here with him unless I can find my way out. Why the hell did I have to come down here?
“Come on, Willow. Stop running. You should remember…Running only makes it worse.”
My heart drops into my stomach when I hear a footstep off to my left. No. How the hell did he get over there? I thought the path to my right was where I came from. How many tunnels are there in this hellhole?
“There you are,” he shouts as his hand grips onto my hair pulling me towards him.
I scream and thrash, but he only wraps my hair tighter around his fist. The strands pull and strain along my scalp, feeling like chunks are being ripped from the top of my head.
“Stop fighting me, you little shit.”
*Crack*
Stars explode behind my eyes as I fall to the ground. My knees never connect with concrete as he grips my arm and forces me to stay on my feet. The back of my skull is throbbing, and there’s a bitter metallic taste building in my mouth. I think I bit my tongue when he hit me on the back of my head.
Did he hit me with the handle of the knife, or was that his fist? Either way, I feel like I’m going to be sick from the pressure in my head.
“Stupid fucking girl. You were never good at listening,” he growls as he begins to drag me down the dimly lit tunnel.
“St…Stop. Please,” I whimper as I reach up trying to release his grip on my hair.
“Stop? Do you think your boyfriend stopped when he was torturing me? When he punched me over and over, knocking out teeth and breaking my ribs? No. He tortured me for fucking years, Willow. All because of you.”
“I didn’t know,” I shout as I claw at his arm.
“Of course you didn’t. Where the fuck have you been all of these years?” he snaps as he glances left and right down two different paths before turning right.
“I was in Texas. I was adopted after…after…”
My words cut off as he drags me back into the center of the maze where this all began. A large puddle of blood is the only thing remaining where Noah once was. The puddle is smeared as if he struggled to drag his body away.
“Where the fuck is he?” James shouts as he tosses me roughly to the ground.
My body hits the ground, and my wrist bends back causing a sharp shooting pain up the outside of my arm as I try to catch myself. My scream gets caught in my throat as the pain ripples up my arm. I let my body fall to my side as I clutch my arm to my chest.
“Get the fuck up,” he screams as he grabs me by the arm and drags me over to the other chair that was next to his.
When he sits me in the chair and turns his back, I try to run. He quickly lunges for me, gripping me around the throat and shoving me back into the chair. I can feel his fingertips pressing against my carotid artery, and my vision begins to slowly fade.
“Don’t you dare run away from me, girl, or I’ll make it so you can’t run ever again.”
He shoves me making my head snap backward over the back of the chair as blood begins to flow correctly through my body. Spots still linger at the edges of my sight, but I can see him. He keeps an eye on me as he moves toward the table along the side wall and grabs some rope.
“I need to go find your boyfriend. He couldn’t have gotten that far while losing that much blood.”
I can’t stop the pathetic cry that escapes me as I see amount of blood pooled and smeared on the ground again.
“Aww, don’t cry, baby. If he’s still breathing, I’ll bring him in here so you can say goodbye. I’ll even let you watch him take his last breath before I kill you too.”
He grabs my wrists, yanking them behind my back with force. The pain causes an ear-piercing scream to rip from my throat as the hot pain from my wrist spreads up to my elbow.
“Shut the fuck up!”
*Smack*
My head snaps to the side then dangles forward until my chin rests against my chest and tears begin to fall.
How the fuck did everything go so wrong so fast?
If he had just told me he had my father down here from the beginning…
Damnit. I know he only wanted to protect me.
After the last forty-eight hours, he probably thought I was close to breaking.
“You stay put. I’ll be right back, baby girl.”
He presses a kiss to the top of my head before walking away following the blood trail.
The only amount of affection he’s ever showed me in my entire life, even back when he believed he was my father.
A sour, vile liquid fills the back of my throat before I turn my head and throw up on the ground.
The bile burns as I continue to throw up.
“Stop…Please. Leave him alone,” I gasp through the waves of nausea. My head feels like it’s going to explode.
“Where the fuck are you, Killer?” James screams.
My heart races. I need to figure out how to get out of here. I need to run. I need to…
“Willow.”
A soft whisper comes from behind me, and I nearly scream, but a hand quickly covers my mouth.
“Shh. It’s me. I gotta get you out of here.”
“Jeremy?” I whisper when he removes his hand. “No. You need to kill him. You need to save Noah.”
“He’s going to be okay. I found him, and he’s hidden right now, but I need to get you to safety first or else Noah will fucking kill me.”
“But my father…”
“It doesn’t matter. Just let me get you free. Can you run?”
“Yes,” I whimper.
"Good. When I get you free, I need you to run.
Go out the path ahead of you and turn right, then at the divide go left, then another left.
When you get to a spot, you can go straight or right, go right.
Feel along the wall on the left side at your hip level until you find the handle. I'll take care of your dad."
“Killer! I’ll fucking find you!” his scream is crazed as he continues to look for Noah.
The lights suddenly go out, plunging us into darkness. I can’t see a single thing, not even as I look down at my body.
“Stay quiet. I think Noah turned off the lights,” Jeremy whispers as he continues to fumble with the ropes around my wrists. “You’re going to be okay. Do you hear me? I’ll get you out of here first then I’ll take care of your dad.”
He says it so confidently I almost believe him, but I know without a doubt, until my father is dead, we aren’t getting out of here alive.