Hidden Appearances

Chapter Eight: What Lies Beneath the Surface

I nearly started to cry, but stopped myself. This wasn’t real; none of this was real. This is my over active imagination taking over my destroyed, confused brain. My clammy hands came in contact with my face, slapping hard against my now throbbing forehead.

“Gingerale? Why are you crying?”

My face was beat red as I noticed a grown man kneeling before me. I stuttered backwards until I hit a tree. I don’t remember seeing this tree or-- Wait! I’m now in a forest. How did I get here?

The man sat right in front of me and took a long look at my face. His face was pale and round-ish like mine and even had my overly blue eyes. At first I thought he was my father, Erin, but he just stared completely confused as I mentioned the name.

“How did you get those bruises on your precious body, my dearest Gingerale?”

His voice sounded distant and had an unusual echo to it. I kept my mouth shut and watched helplessly as he cupped my ghost like face and kissed my forehead, saying, “They will never touch you again, my dearest Gingerale. I promise. I’m always going to be there for you, but right now you are needed in my old world.”

His voice disappeared as I watched him blow away in the wind turning back into the Black-capped Chickadee. They were my favorite birds of all.

What did he mean by his old world? I didn’t have enough time to blink because I suddenly saw myself blank out and land back in the bed next to Sam. So, I was sleeping.

My head ached and I instinctively planted my hand on my head, complaining. The bed I was on suddenly swayed making me open my tired eyes. Sam was so close that I could only focus on his green eyes. They were beautiful.

I blanked out for a second and felt myself being moved onto something warm and hard. When I opened my eyes again, I saw Sam staring at me laying down. I was basically on top of him. I slide off of him and try to get away, but saw that I was handcuffed to the bed or should I saw, Sam. This was so wrong. What does he think he’s doing? I mean, what is he going to do to me now?

Sam sat up and grasped the chain connecting my wrist to his with the cuff and yanked it towards him. He fought, but it was a lost cause, he was to strong. I landed in his opened chest and held there till I calmed down, or stopped fighting him.

He was so occupied that he didn’t notice my cuffed hand behind my back. I pressed my fingers together as close as they could and started to slip the handcuff off. It didn’t take very long before I was just holding on to the cuff, hiding the fact that I outsmarted him. People didn’t make cuffs small enough to restrain my thin wrists.

When Sam pulled away, I bolted for the first door I saw, dropping the cuff. Surprisingly, it wasn’t locked, but Sam was right there to stop me. I slipped out and slammed the door shut as he was calling my name. He sounded sad and worried, making me think twice about leaving him. Why was I thinking like this? Sam kidnapped me. Took advantage of me and did everything Kevin did and more. He was a bad guy.

I dash down the thin hallway and pass several other doors and noticed that I was in an apartment duplex. I must be in Sam’s apartment. I recognized the apartment and tried not to think about how close these apartments were to my home. Sam wasn’t just watching me at school, but also when I was at home. He wasn’t even two blocks away.

I saw what looked like the entrance to the apartments and grabbed the handle, but release at it became searing hot. Behind me I heard a familiar voice, “Ginger, stop! You’re not allowed to leave!” My eyes widened as I glanced up at my best-friend, Anna.

A sudden cold flash hit my body and made me shiver. Anna started to walk towards me and I instantly tried to step backwards, but I wasn’t able to move. Sam came into view and I started to get worried. I couldn’t allow Sam to get a hold of me again. Anna gently touched my forehead and whispered some unknown foreign words. My body fell, but Anna lowered me to the ground and held me close.

“I’m doing this to help you. Remember that when I return you to Sam.”

I let out a small whimper as Sam stood before us. Anna said some things to Sam, but left without a second glance at me. Sam didn’t seem mad, only worried and sympathetic. He lifted me bridal style and brought me back to his apartment. He set me down on the bed and cuffed my left wrist again, but tighter this time. It hurt and I let out another small cry of pain.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t risk you escaping me again.” As he spoke I was forced to lay on top of him. He was cold at first, but eventually warmed to the desirable path for me.

My limbs helped me push against Sam, but Sam just brought his strong arms around my backside and pressed hard enough for me to collapsed on top of him. His arms secured me in place and didn’t release. I’m not able to keep up the fight for long and just go limp on top of Sam. Trying to keep the little sanity I had left.

Sam’s lips come in contact with my neck where he started to suck softly. It sent shivers of unwanted pleasure through my body and made me feel tired. The pleasure turned into searing pain as he bit down on my lower neck and shoulder. I struggled with him for a couple of moments, but eventually the pain became to much and I started fading into blackness.

I let go of my fight and let Sam take over. He continued to suck my blood and bite down hard. I struggled to keep myself from screaming. Blackness surrounded me like before and swallowed me almost hole. A small whimper ventured towards my mouth, but swooped down my throat into no mans land.

I closed my red eyes and heard Sam say three words that made me want to die.

“I love you.”