My Little Doe

Chapter 6

A commotion woke me. The room was dark. My eyes darted around the room, but nothing was different. A loud bang from somewhere else made me twist my head, trying to listen. Then there was a loud howl, and another, and another.

I immediately sat up and pulled my knees close to my chest. It sounded like the howls were nearby and all around. Bumps formed all over my arms and legs. My heart beat faster, and black spots crowded my vision—something I'd learned meant my blood pressure was rising. Shit. I took a deep breath in.

“What is that?” I asked.

I knew whoever was outside my door wouldn’t answer; they never did. The howls sounded close, surrounding the building. A few hours passed before the noises stopped. I finally curled up into a ball and fell back to sleep.

I gasped awake. It was light outside. My dreams had been full of werewolves—people splitting open into wolves, hunting humans through dark trees. Lord. I needed to stop reading that book. It was terrifying.

Before I fully opened my eyes, the door creaked open. I rolled on my side and tilted my head back to look at the door. Quinnlyn walked in, a foam plate filled with food in his hand. Bags sat under his bloodshot eyes, his mouth pulled into a frown. I rubbed my eyes and sat up on the bed.

“Did I sleep in, or are you early today?”

“Slept in,” he said, in his usual flat and cold tone.

“I heard noises down here this morning, and there was a bunch of howling. Do you know what was happening?”

He lifted his head, his eyes widened slightly, and he looked at me, but said nothing.

“Well?” I asked again.

He leaned down closer to me. “Nocturnal animals make noises at night, especially when they are hunting,” he whispered.

“What does that even mean?”

“You’ll probably never know, because you aren’t leaving this room,” he said, then turned around on his heels and headed back out of the door.

I stared at the plate of food that he’d set on the floor next to the bed.

What part of me was hungry was no longer hungry after he left.

It sounded like some of those howls came from down here, close to this room.

I knew there were wolves in the Tennessee mountains, just as there were bears, and plenty of other wildlife.

It was part of living where we did. I’d never seen a wolf close up.

Here they often hunted deer—oh God. Wolves hunted deer.

I flashed back to that day in the dark hall, his voice taunting me.

Run, little doe, run. He was hunting me like he was the wolf and I was the doe. What the hell did all of this mean?

I laid back down on the bed, without touching the food.

I pulled the blanket up to my face, running through everything I heard.

I was confused and lonely—really lonely.

Normally, I’d call Josie, Maggie, or Brenden.

All three were always there for me when I needed someone to listen to me.

I wondered where they thought I’d gone. Were they looking for me?

Brenden probably hadn’t been to the house.

He came and went—our relationship had ups and downs.

We often were excited to see each other, and then quickly got frustrated with one another.

None of them even knew I was pregnant. I hadn't even gotten the chance to tell them—

Footsteps came down the hall, catching my attention. I turned my head slightly, so my ear wasn’t pressed against the pillow, straining to listen. Given that he’d just brought me breakfast, usually no one else would be coming down here until later.

“What are you doing here?” Quinnlyn said, low, but just enough that I heard him.

A voice that I hadn’t heard before said something, but it was too low for me to really make out what he was saying.

Quinnlyn had said something back, but he was speaking even lower.

I slowly rolled to my side, trying not to make any noise.

Once I was on all fours, I crawled toward the door.

It wasn’t a long crawl to the door. I was moving as slow as I could manage, trying to make sure they couldn’t hear me.

Once I got closer to the door, I pressed my ear against it.

“Why can’t you tell him?” the other voice said.

“I’m down here with the fucking girl,” Quinnlyn said.

“We’re sorry, we didn’t know this cellar was being used,” he said.

“Yeah, and you can explain that to him,” Quinnlyn said.

“What do you think he will do?” he said.

“Not my fucking problem,” Quinnlyn said, “now carry on out of here, and get them out of here… quietly.”

Footsteps carried down the hall. Then Quinnlyn coughed. Not a throat-clearing cough, but the kind meant to get someone's attention. Mine. I started to crawl backward, a little quicker than earlier.

“I know you’re at the door, little doe,” he said.

I didn’t say anything. Instead, I crawled faster onto the mattress.

Little doe.

A name he used like a weapon. The phrase that made my stomach turn.

“Can you not call me that?”

“Why not?” he asked.

“You used it as a reference when you were chasing me. It creeps me out.”

“Yet, you are like a little doe. Naive, timid, trusting—eyes wide with wonder. Curiously watching everyone, ready to bolt as soon as the opportunity presents,” he said.

“One time… and I learned that I couldn’t actually escape,” I said.

“You would do it again, if you knew you could get away,” he said.

“Wouldn’t you, if you had a child you needed to protect?” I said.

“Maybe, then again, I wouldn’t have gotten myself in your position,” he said.

“Of course not,” I said, rolling my eyes, not that he could see me. “You can’t get pregnant—”

“And if someone I’d gotten pregnant was in this… never mind. Playing hypotheticals doesn’t serve either of us. Eat your breakfast before it goes bad,” he said.

“How’d you know I hadn’t?” I asked.

“I know.”

“I’m not hungry this morning,” I told him.

“Suit yourself.”

I crawled to the VHS player and put in Jurassic Park. I'd been avoiding it—it was Aspen's favorite. She'd squeal when the dinosaurs came on. She didn’t understand what was happening in the movie, but she loved talking about all the different creatures she’d seen.

“Thank God for a new choice,” Quinnlyn said.

That alone almost made me want to press the eject button and put in Forrest Gump, because I was sure that movie drove him the craziest. I was surprised he hadn’t taken it and gotten rid of it, but this wasn’t about him.

I ignored him and continued watching it.

Tears streamed down my face, thinking of her big blue eyes, smiling at me with the perfect little smile.

Her light brown hair moved around as she danced.

Every time I’d put it in and the opening credits would start playing, she would run around the living room dancing and screaming “dinosaurs” in pure delight.

“What the fuck?” Quinnlyn said, startling me from the movie.

Before I said anything, I could hear someone walking down the hall. No, more than one person was coming. I stood and walked to the door slowly, and pressed my back against the wall next to the door. No matter how quiet I'd been last time, he'd still known. No point in trying to be sneaky again.

“We’ve come for her,” a deep voice said.

“On whose orders?” Quinnlyn said.

“Ravik,” a different voice answered.

“Why isn’t he down here to get her himself?” Quinnlyn said.

“He’s tied up with some mishaps last night during some new transitions,” the first voice said.

“How do I know this isn’t some bullshit trick?” Quinnlyn said, his voice had gone deeper with each word.

“Why would this be a trick? Do you think I want to cross my father?” a voice said.

A voice I hadn’t heard in months—Benji. I actually knew Benji before Daxyn.

He'd shown interest in me more than once, but I'd always turned him down. I hadn’t liked him like that. He was a good friend to me, but I didn’t know where we stood now.

I was pregnant with his brother’s child, his father kept me captive, and I didn’t trust anyone anymore.

“Where are you supposed to take her?” Quinnlyn asked.

“Apparently, to the Lupo House. A room has been set up for her to stay in without being able to… leave,” Benji said.

“My orders are?”

“Oh, you are to accompany her and remain on watch,” the deep voice said.

“Four of us to take her?” Quinnlyn questioned.

“I could take her by myself,” Benji said.

“Absolutely fucking not. You don’t think I don’t know that she’s Paxton’s little sister, the same little sister you’ve been hung up on? I pay attention more than you think,” Quinnlyn said.

My throat went tight. He'd known exactly who I was the whole time. He always knew.

“We were only friends, and I wouldn’t defy my father, especially if I want to lead one day,” Benji said.

“Yeah… right,” Quinnlyn said.

“You always act like you’re smarter than me, like you’re an elder. You're only a year older than I, but I still trump you every day,” Benji said.

“Technicalities… Anyway, you want to drive, sure, but I’ll be sitting in the back with her,” Quinnlyn said.

“And what about us?” the second voice said.

“How did y’all get over here?”

“In my Supra,” Benji said.

“Good, then, Daniel can drive my truck, Joseph can ride with either one of us,” Quinnlyn said.

“I’ll ride with Daniel,” the deep voice—Joseph—said.

“Good, let’s move, my father is expecting to meet us at the house,” Benji said.

My stomach instantly turned, and nausea came over me. Heat rushed to my head, suddenly feeling like I was in a hot shower for too long. I slowly slid down the wall—

The door opened, and I gasped for air before turning my head to look at the four of them.

“Oh my god!” Benji said.

“How’d you expect her to look? She’s been in a cell for weeks,” Quinnlyn said barely above a mumble.

I sucked in a deep breath, trying to settle my beating chest. I knew I was having a panic attack, and having the four of them staring at me wasn’t helping.

“What about all the stuff in here?” Joseph asked.

“You can come back and get it after we get her to the house,” Benji said.

“All except Forrest Gump,” Quinnlyn said, before locking his eyes with mine.

I inhaled deeply again. “No, that comes too,” I said.

Benji narrowed his eyes at me, then he twisted his head to the side and gave Quinnlyn furrowed eyes. After a few seconds, he turned back and looked at me.

“Let’s go,” Quinnlyn said.

Benji reached his hand toward me, and I reached up and grabbed it. He pulled me to my feet and then immediately dropped my hands. I was confused. Part of him seemed concerned, but his eyes held something close to disgust. He turned back toward the door.

“Don’t try anything,” Quinnlyn murmured to me.

“I won’t,” I said.

He watched me intently before shifting his eyes and tilting his head slightly toward the door. I followed Benji out, and Quinnlyn was right behind me. He was so close, I could almost feel his breathing.

The other two followed behind as we walked down the hall. Before we reached the end, Benji turned right at the last door and pushed it open. Bright light hit me immediately, and I stopped cold, blinded. Quinnlyn ran into me hard from behind.

Everything burned. It felt like soap had been poured directly into them, tears streaming down my face without permission.

A pulsing pain radiated behind my brows.

But the warmth that washed over the rest of me felt like bliss.

With each passing second, the burning eased, and I was able to hold them open a microsecond longer than the time before.

“Let’s go,” Quinnlyn said, before pushing his hand into my back.

“I’m sorry, but you haven’t been kept in near darkness for months.”

“Not even two… you’ll be fine, little doe,” he said, before he pressed his hand into my back again.

My eyes finally adjusted, and everything outside became clear again.

I looked around, trying to figure out where we were, to take in every detail I could.

We were sort of underground, having to climb five stairs before we were on level ground.

Once up there, it was an empty field with nothing around us.

There was a small area of gravel, where two vehicles were parked.

Benji’s red Supra was parked next to a black single-cab Dodge—Quinnlyn’s.

There was a road that led up to the gravel that moved into the woods, which I couldn’t see beyond. Once I was on the ground, beyond the stairs, the building I was in was only six inches above ground. The roof had moss all over it, keeping it quite camouflaged.

I thought back to how he’d opened that door and walked right outside.

I wondered whether that door had been unlocked when I tried to escape.

Part of me wished I had tried more doors that day, but I’d been sure it was the door at the very end.

Would it have been that easy? I looked around and knew that even if I’d gotten out of that door, where the hell would I have gone?

There were no houses—there wasn't anything I could see.

Beyond the clearing, there was nothing but trees.

Quinnlyn kept his hand on the middle of my back, guiding me to the car.

Benji had been walking faster than I and was already at his car, with the passenger door open.

I was barefoot, and everything about me felt weak.

He had the passenger seat folded up for me to climb in the back.

Thankfully, I was still barely pregnant.

“You don't need to sit in the back with her,” Benji said, staring at Quinnlyn.

“Hmm. I don’t need to, but I am,” he said.

I slid to the other side, behind the driver’s seat. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a set of keys, and threw them over the car to Daniel, who stood by the black Dodge.

“Don’t wreck my shit,” he told him, and then climbed into the back, next to me.

I didn’t understand why he wanted to be back there. It wasn’t like there was a car door that I could get out of from the back. He settled into the seat, shifting side to side a couple of times. Benji closed the door, walked around to the driver’s side, and climbed in.

“Seatbelt,” Benji said. I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes at him in the rearview mirror.

Quinnlyn growled next to me, and my head twisted to stare at him. As soon as my eyes met his, he reached past me, pulled the seatbelt across me, and clicked it in the buckle.

“Why do you have to make everything so complicated?” Quinnlyn said.

“I could make everyone’s life easier if you dropped me off somewhere far from here and pretended that I escaped,” I said.

“That’s a great idea,” he said.

“Quinn!” Benji exclaimed.

“Yeah… yeah,” Quinnlyn said.