She Belongs to Me (Rewritten Version)

Chapter Sixteen

"Calm down. You're becoming hysterical."

"I don't care!" She threw her hands over her face, weeping like she had just lost a loved one. "I can't do this, Vincent. You can't hold me captive here. I'll die if I have to stay here another minute!"

"You won't die," I whispered, pulling her into my chest. "You're going to live a great life. I promise."

Her body became less tense, but I knew it was from exhaustion.  We had a long way to go before she was comfortable here.  She was still in shock.  Once the reality hit her that no one would find her, she would have no choice but to rely on me for love. 

I was the one who would take care of her from now on, not her parents, and certainly not her friends.

I helped her stand to her feet, keeping a tight grasp on her arm as I lead her to the restroom.  She didn't like having me in there with her, but I had no other choice.  There were still pieces of broken glass on the floor that I hadn't cleaned up yet.  I couldn't have her repeating her dramatic episode from last night. She had to be supervised.

"I don't want breakfast," She said, clutching on to her stomach as she flushed the toilet.  "I don't think I would be able to keep it down."

"Oh, umm....okay. I guess you can watch a little TV while I make a few arrangements."

"Let me sit outside for a while. I really need to feel the warmth of the sun on my skin. Please."

"Alright," I took hold of her arm again, leading her back into the hallway, "I'll let you sit outside for a little while, but let me show you something first."

"What is it?"

"You'll see."

She tensed underneath my grasp as I took her down into the basement. I'll admit, I didn't enjoy going down there either. There was a lot of junk there that belonged to my family, and looking at it brought back a lot of unpleasant memories. I turned on the dim light and pushed past a few of the larger boxes that were stationed in the back of the room, then I opened the door to the freshly emptied closet and pushed Emily inside, locking the door behind her.

I pressed my ear to the door to see if I could hear any screams of protest, but there was only silence.

My lips curled into a triumphant smile.

The soundproof room was a success!

I knew there was no way Emily was standing there without at least beating the door.  My plan was all coming together, and it felt pretty damn great.

I opened the door after a couple more minutes of testing, only to have Emily lunge at me.  She dug her nails into my neck in an attempt to strangle me. I grabbed her arms and managed to pry her off of me, but not before she choked a significant amount of breath from my lungs. I heaved in short, frantic breaths of air as I held her there.

"What the hell's the matter with you!?"  She yelled, trying to pull away.  "You didn't tell me you were going to shove me in a fucking closet!  You know I'm extremely claustrophobic, you stupid prick!"

"It was only for a few minutes," I choked, wiping the blood that dripped from my scratched neck.

That was going to be a problem.

Her parents would see the scratch marks.

They would become suspicious.

Damn it!

How could she be so thoughtless?

"I don't care!"  She leaned over and put her hand to her chest, trying to catch her breath as well.  I knew she was claustrophobic, but she would just have to suck it up for a little while.  I've already gone to extremes to make this relationship work. 

The least she could do was do her part.

She sucked in another deep breath. "Is that where you're going to stick me when the cops come looking over here for me?" She still had that loathsome sarcasm in her voice. "It won't help."

"Once I conceal it with some of this junk, it will."

"You're crazy! You can't do this!"

"How many times are you going to give me that speech, love? You may as well save your breath and accept the truth. You're here to stay."

"My phone!"  She screamed suddenly, pointing her finger at me with a maniacal grin.  "My dad has a tracking device on all of our phones!  He's probably tracking my phone as we speak!"

"Let him track it," I said with a shrug, "I threw it in the river on my way into town last night."

"No!" She collapsed to her knees and screamed at the top of her lungs. "No! No! No!"

I sighed and scooped her up, making sure to keep a safe grip on her arm. "Calm down. I'm not going to tell you that again. Do you understand me?"

Her head tilted, and she stared at me with an expression I couldn't quite read. I thought she was in shock from my strict words, until she hocked a huge wad of spit in my face. My mouth flew open in horror as the sticky substance dripped down my face.  I could not believe she had done that!

My face grew red hot. I tightened my grip on her arm and twisted it behind her back, ignoring her screams of pain. "That was disgusting! You're a lady, Emily! You don't do gross things like that!"

"Let me go!  You're hurting me!"

"I don't care!  You have to learn not to treat me like this anymore!"  I shoved her back into the closet and slammed the door shut, twisting the outer lock so it was closed nice and tight.  She was probably beating against the door and screaming her head off,  but I couldn't think of that right now. 

I had to make a call.

I walked back upstairs and found my cellphone in the kitchen, dialing Kenneth's number with a smile on my face. I had to take a deep breath before I hit the send button. This was it. It had to sound real.

"Vincent," His voice sounded relieved as soon as it sounded into my ear. "Thank God you called."

"Is everything okay?"

"Is Emily with you?"

I paused for a moment, trying to make it seem like I needed to soak in his question. "No, sir. I've been trying to get ahold of her all morning. I had to drop her off early last night because of a family emergency. I wanted to apologize, but her phone keeps going straight to voicemail."

"What time did you drop her off!?"

"Around nine thirty. I let her out in the driveway and sped off. My grandmother was ill and-"

"Are you telling me you left before she even got into the house!?"

The smile faded from my lips.  I should have seen this one coming.  Of course he would be pissed at the idea of me dropping off his beautiful daughter and not keeping an eye on her.

But that was better than the truth.

"I'm sorry, sir.  I thought she would be fine."

A long sigh came from the other end.  "I'm sorry.  I don't mean to take it out on you, son.  I just don't know what to think right now.  My sweet baby is missing, and the police have been no help."

Oh God.  He's already called the police. 

That's okay.  He said they're not helping, probably because she's only been missing for a couple of hours.  I still have a little while before they become a problem.  I just have to play it cool for now.

"Let me come over there, and we can figure out what happened last night."  I said, "We'll keep calling her, and if she doesn't answer, I'll make sure the police get off their asses and help us."

Damn. I almost convinced myself there. I didn't think I had it in me to be this deceptive.

There was a brief pause before he said, "Alright, I'll see you soon. Take care, and let me know if you hear from her before you make it over."

"Yes, sir. Goodbye." I ended the call with a smile on my face. Who knew it would be that easy?

Everything was going to be fine.