Chapter 23 #2
Steven. But he’d disguised himself as Timothy, the bastard playing a horrible game. Why? Why the fuck did he want to ruin my life?
“What do you want from me?” My voice even echoed in the darkness. I struggled with the rope shackling my wrists as I tried to understand what I was tied against. Wherever I was had a dirt floor. This had to be a shed of some kind, which meant he’d brought me to a house.
This time, he’d blindfolded me after dragging me from the building.
He’d disguised himself including wearing contacts, but after I’d accepted the award, pictures were taken. For some reason, I’d finally sensed there was something off about him. And why? Because of the way he’d been standing off to the side, watching me.
Minutes later, the expression on his face had given him away. He could alter his appearance all he wanted. Different hair color. A beard. Contacts. Additional body mass. But the leering smile and the wide eyes, the way his jaw clenched from desire couldn’t be faked.
I’d tried to get away, using the crowd as cover, almost managing to escape. Then he was there, dragging me down the stairs, music hiding the struggle. No one had been the wiser. He’d knocked me out, but I’d come to while still on the drive. Trying to pay attention to any sounds.
Only one.
A thumping in the trunk.
“Are you playing some game, Steven? Just like you did before? Just a little boy trying to be a big man.” My fingertips touched the rough edge of the slats of wood I was shackled against. Given I was in the spotlight, I had to be careful, but I refused to die here.
I shifted back and forth, trying my best to keep my actions undetectable.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Seconds later, the drips turned into a pelting of rain hitting the roof. Unless my eyes were deceiving me, there was a single window in the building, although all I could see was the casing. What struck me as fascinating was that he hadn’t bound my ankles. I was able to move my legs.
A slight sound indicated he was still inside the building.
“You always called me perfect. Why?” If I could only get him talking, then perhaps he wouldn’t pay any attention to what I was doing.
Finally, a deep breath. “Because you were pure innocence. You were a reminder of good things. Things I never had.”
“What do you mean you never had?”
“Did you know I was adopted? Me and my brother. Our mother never wanted us. She gave us away to horrible people. They were just… They didn’t love us.”
His voice was already cracking. I’d worked enough cases to know when a psychopath was nearing the end of his or her rope. It happened more than people realized. While most were considered cunning, highly intellectual, they had similar traits. They all craved being loved.
“I’m sorry they didn’t. They should have cared about you.” I shifted the rope across a rough area on the wall. Maybe I was hallucinating, or it was wishful thinking, but I was certain the binding was loosening. A slight flash indicated he had something in his hand.
When he shifted, I realized what he was holding.
A machete.
He was pacing, moving the weapon back and forth from hand to hand.
There was no doubt in my mind he was waiting for Maverick to arrive.
“They didn’t!” This time he snapped, which was very much unlike him.
“I know you’re tired, Steven. You don’t need to do this any longer.”
“I wanted to kill my real mother. For years I thought about it.”
“Is that why you took the girls?” The rope was loosening. Beads of sweat were slowly trickling down both sides of my face, the air thick with humidity.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
When he stopped pacing, throwing his hands back and screaming at the top of his lungs, I grabbed what might be the single opportunity to drag the rope back and forth across the board until my shoulders ached from the awkward angle. My wrists burned, pain rushing down both arms.
But the anguish couldn’t matter. If I couldn’t get away from him, I would die here. And that wasn’t going to happen.
I had so much to live for.
Including a handsome man that I adored.
“You don’t need to do this. You have a good life now,” I threw out, fighting to control my emotions even as fear swept through me. Flashes of what I’d endured years before ravaged various portions of my mind. It suddenly seemed as if the thirteen years were gone, replaced with an alternate reality.
His reality.
“You have no clue what you’re talking about. You had parents who loved you. I had monsters who beat me. They locked me and my brother in a shed just like this. Just like… this.”
Jesus. He was losing his grip on reality and once he did, there would be no way of reconnecting with the decent person inside. And there was a scared little boy begging for someone to love him.
Not that I gave a damn.
“Where is the other girl? The attorney? What did you do with her?”
He laughed as if it was all one big joke. “Not far away. She’s not as special as you are but I picked her out in honor of you. An attorney. Just like you. “
“Why did you kill the other girl? Why?”
His huff drove a stake into me. “To get your attention. You ignored me. You didn’t care. You changed your fucking number! How dare you do that.”
“I’d like to see the other girl.” I had to try to keep him calm.
My statement confused him. “Maybe if you’re a good girl I’ll go get her.”
“Is she far?”
The faraway look in his eyes returned. “No. Not far. She’s safe from the elements.”
She was either in another building or… Wait. His car. I’d heard something in the trunk. I was certain of it. I sucked in my breath, trying to control my breathing. I had to keep fighting to get away.
“What about your brother. Why would you hurt him?”
I was certain my question would infuriate him. Instead, he turned away, leaving only his silhouette that I could see clearly in the blinding light. Tears were slipping down his cheeks.
“It’s better this way. Samuel is special. So fragile. He wanted to be with me every day. He wanted to be me. Then he killed that girl and… He did it for me.”
“What girl?”
“She was blonde. Not like the others. Not like you. He brought her to me. A gift, he told me. Then he…” Even with the machete in his hands, he fisted his face, groaning from the memory.
“I tried to protect him. I did everything in my power. He was special. He didn’t deserve to suffer. Don’t you see? Don’t you?”
I continued scraping the rope, realizing that he was near the end of his. Things were about to spiral out of control. The rain had picked up in intensity, the sound masking some noise inside. I used it to my advantage while trying to keep him from knowing what I was doing.
“Don’t you?” With two long strides, he was in my face, his features contorted.
My God. All the girls who’d been held captive with me had dark hair. Except for one. Lily. That’s why he’d left that night so long ago. That’s why I’d survived. That’s why he was reliving the moment. Because his brother had interrupted him.
“I told him that I’d keep him safe and he fucked it up. They were going to find him. They were going to hurt him. Just like my parents. Just like…”
The moment he shoved the edge of the machete against my neck, a flash of my life rolled in front of my eyes.
Where before there’d been tears in his eyes, he now wore the same grin he’d used.
When he leaned in, the scent of bourbon mixed with the woodsy fragrance of his aftershave.
A far cry different than so many years before.
Yet everything was the same.
“Don’t do this. Please don’t do this.” My voice was small, but I tried to maintain eye contact. He was enjoying himself, carefully shifting the tip of the blade along the side of my neck, trailing his actions with his heated gaze.
“Do you know why I never touched you? Because you were so special. You were going to be all mine.” His features softened, his eyes indicating confusion once again.
He backed away but only after slitting the bottom of my dress. Then his features hardened and he lost control, swinging the machete back and forth.
“He doesn’t care about you like I do. But I underestimated him. And you. Why the hell did you look for him? Why? Why? Why?”
There was no time to waste, his rage overpowering all sense of rationality.
My arms ached from exhaustion and the awkward angle. I gritted my teeth, using the last of my strength while twisting my wrists.
The rope snapped and I didn’t hesitate, pitching myself toward him. Steven was shocked by the movement, and the moment I body slammed him, he dropped the machete, stumbling backwards and over something on the floor.
Down he went, hard enough I could tell the air was knocked from his chest. Gasping, I pressed my hand across my mouth, almost tripping on piece of lumber. Grabbing a board, the moment he moved I smashed it across his face, knocking the light askew as I did.
With it swinging back and forth, I could see blood on his face. It appeared I’d knocked him unconscious. Yet I dared not step over him to grab the weapon.
Panting, I half laughed as terror erupted from deep inside. Backing away, all I could think about was getting the fuck out of here. With my hands shaking, I fumbled with the latch. Mere seconds later, the horrible humid air hit me.
Just like it had in the wee hours of the morning all those years ago.
I was momentarily caught off guard, stunning by the ugly darkness as rain pelted against my face. A horrible, anguished roar came from inside the shed.
He was awake.
He was dangerous.
He was coming to kill me.
So I took off running.
Searching for my savior.
One. Last. Time.
Another wave of agony ripped at my lungs, but I pushed myself free of the mud, taking gasping breaths of the stale, putrid air. The stench in the swamp was still horrific, mold and moss, decay so overpowering I dry heaved.
But I was away from the monster.
He roared from behind me, the sound echoing through the trees. I stopped short, holding my hand across my mouth to keep him from hearing me.
Get up. Get moving.
The little voice had never left me. Not once in all these years. She guided me in the darkness, pushing me forward, keeping me moving.
Every muscle ached to the point the moment I tried to stand, I fell hard on my hands and knees. Despair clouded my mind as the tears forming in my eyes did with my vision.
A rumble of thunder vibrated against my feet as a branching cascade of lightning lit up the sky.
There was no reprieve from the terror, but I willed myself to push forward.
Inch by inch, I crawled before I was able to struggle to my feet, leaning against a gnarled tree.
There was a light coming from somewhere dense in the forest. Then another.
Wait. It looked like beams of light were being swung back and forth.
Suddenly, shadows were everywhere, fucking with my mind. As hard as I tried to block them out, the past had erupted from a locked box, punishing me for surviving.
No. I wanted to live. I deserved to live. Goddamn it. I had someone who cared about me. A life. I had…
More monsters.
One. Two. Three. Four.
He’s trudging through the swamp, hungry for more.
No. No!
One step led to three. Then four more. Toward the light. Hope crowded out everything else. I could do this. Another five steps and when I dared to look over my shoulder, the shed seemed far away, as if the nightmare had never occurred.
A sudden separate noise and I was down again, sobs racking my system. I fought with everything I had left to move. To stand. To breathe.
To live.
God, I wanted to live.
Someone was coming, the crackle of leaves and twigs floating through the thick foliage.
No. No. I hung my head, willing myself to move. To fight to the death. I wouldn’t allow him to take me willingly.
An exasperated rush of breath pushed up from my chest. I ran. Hard. Fast.
Stumbling.
Getting back up.
Clinging to a tree. Another hiss. A snap of jaws. I twisted my head from side to side, unable to see anything but ominous shadows. My heart was in my chest.
Run. Run. Run!
Another roar.
Maverick. Maverick…
The monster was coming and he wouldn’t take no for an answer.