Kidnapped

Kidnapped- short story

"My name is Delilah Beth Montgomery, currently I am twenty-two years of age. My age is irrelevant as this story took place four years ago. I was a cheerleader at East High, had a 4.0 GPA, and a full scholarship to the college of my dreams. My life was seemingly perfect, and I thought it was. That is until my last night of freedom with my two best friends and my boyfriend. We were at Sara's house when it all started."

                Four Years Ago
"Earth to Delilah! Hello??" I focused in on Ethan waving his hand in my face, "Where's your head beautiful girl?" I blushed and looked away, awkwardly. Ethan pulls my face back, "Quit looking away when I compliment you Delilah, you're going to have to get used to it because I am not going anywhere." I roll my eyes, "I will never not be awkward with compliments Ethan. You get used to it." Sara coughs behind us, "When you two are done being nasty let me know, I have some plans for tonight and I want to get the ball rolling." Ethan, Zoé, and I all stared at her wondering what she had planned. Sara's plans have never turned out how she wants them too. Like when we were going to take the train into the city and shop at the big mall, she forgot our tickets and we missed the train so we ended up not going at all. "Sara, I love you and all, but what exactly do you have planned for us?" Sara gives me a dirty look, "Well, Delilah, if you must know I am trying to redeem our failed shopping trips. I got the three of us tickets into the city to get our prom dresses!" "Wait, what do you mean three of us? There are four of us." "Delilah you dummy, Ethan isn't going with!" I look at Ethan out of the corner of my eye and he is smirking at me, "Did you know about this?!" "I did, you go have fun without me and when you get back I will be here waiting for you." Ethan gets up to give me a hug and kisses me on the forehead, "I'll see you in a couple hours. Sara, Zoé, keep her safe and out of trouble." With that he leaves, and we head to the train station, after Sara made sure she still had all the tickets in hand.
We made it to the mall and headed straight for the prom dress boutiques.We all tried on probably 10 dresses a piece before deciding on the dress we thought was perfect. Sara decided on a strapless emerald green a line ball gown, with gold sequins across the top, this color perfectly matched her eye color. Zoé grabbed a royal blue with silver sparkles strapless mermaid style dress, which contrasted perfectly against her platinum blond hair . "Delilah, come out! We want to see the dress you decided on!" I pulled back the curtain to the dressing room, and revealed my dress to them. A blush colored halter top princess style gown. Sara and  Zoé were silently staring at me, "Does it look that bad?" "No!" They both said in unison. "You're going to be the best dressed at prom." This came from Zoé, and Sara piped up with, "Better watch out, looking that good someone might try something." I could have hit her for saying that, she knows that's my biggest fear. After we changed out of the dresses and back into our regular clothing we picked out shoes that matched. We made our way to the register, dresses and shoes in hand and checked out. $600 later I had the perfect prom dress to wear to my senior prom, and was completely broke. "Let's go home guys, it's starting to get late and I am beat after all that shopping." Zoé and Sara nodded in agreement and all three of us yawned and headed back to the station to get home.
I pulled up into my driveway and see someone sitting on my front porch. I dig around in my glove box and pull out a small canister of pepper spray. I slowly get out of my car gripping my keys tightly in one hand, and pepper spray in the other. "Who's up there?" I ask, wanting to sound tough but my voice cracks. The figure comes out of the shadows revealing who they are, "Ethan! You know not to sit on my front porch like a creeper while my dad is out of town!" I release my tight grip on both items in my hands with a sigh of relief. I put the pepper spray back in my glove box and grab my dress and the bag with my shoes. I turn back around and Ethan is standing right behind me causing me to jump. "Yeesh Delilah, why are you so jumpy right now?" "Just something Sara said to me earlier, it freaked me out." "What did she say?" "It's nothing, just Sara being her typical self. Lets just go inside okay?" Ethan grabbed my keys from my hand and walked ahead of me to unlock the door and held it open for me. "So, do I get to see your dress yet?" "You can wait until prom night." I say with a smile. I head up the stairs to my room and hang my dress up in my closet. I can't believe I waited this long to get a dress with prom being a couple days away.
I walk back downstairs to see Ethan putting a pizza into the oven. I sneak up behind him and wrap my arms around his waist, "you're the best you know that right?" "I do now, and I love when you are able to open up with me." I stepped back away from him, feeling closed in all of a sudden. "I'm sorry Delilah, I know you are uncomfortable opening up after what your mom's ex did to you." I give him a weak smile, trying to get the feeling of that mans hands off of me. "Let's just watch something on Netflix while we eat, something to take my mind off of it." Ethan nods and pulls the pizza out of the oven, he made pepperoni and bacon. My favorite. We walk into the living room, pizza in hand, and sit on the couch. I turn on the tv and switch it to Netflix, I put on A Cinderella Story because it is my favorite movie and the only chick flick I can get Ethan to watch. About half way through the movie Ethan gets up to use the restroom, so I get up and clean up our plates. As I am putting the rest of the pizza away I hear a knock at the door. I open the door and see a man standing there, "Hi, I'm afraid I am lost. Is there anyway I could use a phone to call a cab to take me back to my hotel?" "Of course!" I say, letting him in. "Phone is right there on the counter, and the telephone book is next to it. I finish cleaning up and turn around to see this guy staring at me with dead brown eyes. "Delilah, where did you go?" I hear Ethan ask from the living room. "In the kitchen cleaning up!" I answer back. "Hey, I think I am going to go home, I am getting pretty... who is this?" "This is.. uh, I never got your name." "Derrick." The guy answers hanging up the phone, "My cab will be here in about 5 minutes. Thank you so much for letting me use your phone." He got up and walked towards the front door, but not before turning around and saying, "I hope your boyfriend is staying with you tonight. A pretty girl like you shouldn't be home alone." With that he walked out the front door. I shut the door behind him and quickly locked it, and watched him walk away and down the street. "Ethan, will you stay with me tonight? Something is off about that guy and I don't want to be alone." "Of course I'll stay, whatever you need I am always going to be by your side." He came up and put his arms around me, I leaned into his warmth feeling completely safe. The next couple days went by in a flash, and before I knew it prom was here.
Sara and Zoé met up with Ethan and I at Applebee's to eat dinner before going to the actual dance. I looked up from my plate and out of the corner of my eye saw someone staring at me. I looked directly at them and saw those same dead eyes, it was Derrick again. I was grateful we were done eating so we could pay the bill and leave. It is supposed to be one of the happiest nights of my life and I do not want to feel unnerved. We head out of the restaurant and to our vehicles. Ethan held the passenger side door open for me and as I got in I glanced in the side mirror, Derrick was still watching me. I start to feel sick to my stomach. Ethan gets in, starts his car up, and we are on our way to the senior prom.
Walking into the prom with Ethan is the greatest feeling ever. We take a couple pictures and head to the dance floor right as a slow song comes on. "You are the most beautiful girl here tonight Delilah, and I am so lucky to call you mine. I have something I have been wanting to say but I wanted to wait for the right time." My eyes widen at him and my mouth falls open, "I love you." he says, and a tear runs down my cheek. "I love you too," I respond with a huge smile plastered to my face. We dance for about fifteen more minutes before heading to a table to sit down. Ethan gets up to go get us drinks. No sooner than he got up someone sat down next to me. "Hello Delilah, you look lovely tonight. It's a shame Ethan walked away to get you a drink." I looked over and to my horror Derrick was sitting by me. "I have been watching you for a long time but you have never noticed me, and that's a shame." Ethan came back with our drinks, and sat mine down in front of me. "Hey, Derrick isnt it? I didn't know you went to school with us!" I sat staring at Ethan, hoping he would notice something was off. But he didn't, he just grabbed my hand and dragged me back onto the dance floor. I couldn't shake the feeling that even as I walked away I was being stared at. About an hour later I had to use the restroom. I grabbed Sara and Zoé and had them walk with me. I came out of the stall and realized they had already left the bathroom. I went to the sink to wash my hands. I heard a creak behind me and looked up my eyes widened in horror and I opened my mouth to scream. Derrick was in the girls room and he covered my mouth with a rag. Everything started spinning and then I blacked out.
I woke up tied to a chair, legs bound and hands zip tied behind my back. There was a rag in my mouth forcing me to stay silent. I looked around me, taking in my surroundings trying to figure out where I am. There was only one door leaving this room, and I was on the opposite side of it. I tried getting my hands loose, only to feel the warmth of blood drip down them from the zip tie being so tight. I heard the door open and saw Derrick walk in. He headed straight towards me, holding something in his hands. As he got closer I realized it was food, and it smelled delicious. He set the food down in front of me, then walked behind me and cut my hands loose. He took the rag away from my mouth, "Eat." I spat in his face and looked away. No matter how hungry I was, I will not give into anything he wants me to do. He crouched down in front of me, "You will eat or face punishment." I took my free hand and started to punch him, except he caught my hand and twisted it. I heard a loud CRACK and felt the fire of pain soar up my arm. He had broken my wrist. I felt the hot tears pour down my face as he lifts the fork to my mouth. He brought raviolis from the expensive Italian restaurant from uptown. Good, atleast now I know I am still in town. I reluctantly open my mouth and take the bite he gives me. I chew it up some, and as much as I want to swallow it I decided to spit it back into his face. Derrick raised his hand and slapped me across the face. Hard. "Delilah, you are a bitch. Never noticing me at school, ignoring all my messages and flowers I sent you, I could have made you happy." He shoved the rag back into my mouth and tied my hands back up, "And instead of making you happy, you made me hurt you. This is all your fault." He left the room and I realized he made the mistake of tying my hands back up in my lap, instead of behind me. Biting down on the rag I lift my arms up high over my head, and slam them down tucking my elbows in. I hear the snap of the zip tie breaking. Ignoring the pain from my broken wrist I untie my legs. It is only now I realize I am no longer wearing my prom dress, and am wearing jeans and a tshirt from my own close. I feel disgusted and violated knowing Derrick had been in my bedroom to get clothing, and even more so knowing he undressed and redressed me. I almost vomit wondering if he did anything else.
I make a run for the door and push on it. The pain rushes back up my arm, I take in my new surroundings. I see a first aid kit sitting on a table and rush to it, I open it and am relieved to see tylenol and ace wrap. I take two tylenol and wrap my wrist as best I can, using tongue depressors to make a stent, I also grab the syringe for self defense. I heard someone coming down the hall and ran the opposite way. I turned a corner and ran into someone. "Well well, look who escape. My little brothers play toy, I don't think he would be too happy you escaped now would he?" I tense up and tighten my hand around the syringe, "Why is he doing this? What happened in your life to make you kidnap an innocent person?" "Innocent?" he laughs, "Now that's not what I heard. From what he tells me is you ignored everything he did, he bought you presents, bought you flowers, left you notes in your locker. And you never even tried to figure out who they were from. In our family that is just rude." I took a step backwards from his brother, who followed with a step towards me. I look towards his hands and realizes he is holding a rusty crowbar. Derrick's older brother raises the crowbar and swings it down towards my head, out of complete reaction I stuck my hands in the air. Luckily, I had the needle end of the syringe in the air. The syringe shoved into Derrick's older brothers wrist, causing him to drop the crowbar in pain. I quickly scoop up the crowbar and shove past him. I run straight down the hallway, rounding the last corner I see a door. I run straight through them and have a weight lifted off my shoulder once I realize I am outside. I hear the clutter of stuff being knocked over from behind me and remember that just because I got out, I am not home free. I quickly take in my surroundings and realize that I am at the old abandoned amusement park about 20 miles out of town. To the left of me in farther back into the park, and to the right of me is the entrance to the park. I look up to see what that name of the park is, but all the letters are gone. The only letter that remains is one large, rusty 'A'. I beeline for the front, holding on to the crowbar as if my life depends on it. "Jake she's escaping!" Derrick's voice is like nails on a chalkboard to my ears, and apparently his creepy older brother is named Jake. I have adrenaline pumping through my veins pushing me to go faster, masking the pain in my arm that should be blinding. As I am just hitting a parking lot I hear a creak behind me, I turn around and see the 'A' wobbling and just as Jake passes under it,he stops and looks up at it as it falls and crushes him instantly. Derrick stops chasing me and goes back to his brothers side, while I keep running towards the highway.
I look to either side of me once I make it to the highway, there is no sign of which way is back to civilization. There is one sign though, '3 MILES TO NEXT GAS STATION', and breathe a sigh of relief. I start running towards the gas station, dropping the crow bar so I can pump both arms and get there faster. I slow down once I reach the gas station, nearing freedom I can finally breathe easy again. That is until I get hit buy a car just hard enough to break both legs. I scream out in agony and roll over to see who it was that hit me. I don't know why I expected anyone other than Derrick but thats who it was. "You murdered my brother you selfish bitch!" Derrick slapped me across the face and left my cheek burning and then put a knife to my throat. Through painful and angry tears I responded, "No Derrick, you murdered your brother. You kidnapped me and dragged him into this because you are psychotic and need help." Out of the corner of my eye I saw the gas station attendant slowly walking towards us, putting his finger to his lips to keep me silent. For once in my life I was grateful Derrick couldn't take his eyes off me, as it saved my life in the end. The gas station attendant hit Derrick in the back of the head with a baseball bat knocking him out. "What day is it?" I asked the attendant. "Wednesday, and I've already called the cops," he added before I had a chance to ask. I started bawling, I was in pain, but I was alive. I heard the roar of police sirens and knew that everything was finally okay.
A couple days later I was laying in a hospital bed, two broken legs, a concussion, and a broken arm, and lucky to be alive. My dad never left my side, and my mom never showed up. Finally Ethan came to visit me, he came with a giant teddy bear and a bouquet of tulips, my favorite flower. He walked to my bedside, wet eyes from crying, "I was so worried, I didn't know what happened to you, but I just KNEW Derrick had something to do with it. You were so suspicious whenever he was around. But it's okay now, he is in prison and will be for a long long time." He reached down to hug me but thought better of it and lightly kissed my forehead. "Where are Sara and Zoé? I haven't seen them and I've been here for a few days now." Ethan and my dad glanced at each other, "What? What happened?" It was my dad who answered, slowly, "Well, honey, when you went missing all eyes were on them because they were the last ones who saw you before you were taken. They started saying that it was too much drama and that you set the entire thing up. They couldn't handle all eyes on them and just stopped caring sweetie, I am so sorry." My dad carefully took in my reaction, and since I couldn't move my whole body, I just turned my head to the side and let the hot tears fall.
About a week later I was released from the hospital and was to be wheelchair bound until June, and right around graduation I started physical therapy. Just 2 months ago I was your typical teenager, I had the two best friends in the world, and a boyfriend I was crazy in love with. Now I just have my dad and my boyfriend, and I couldn't ask for better. I started out not trusting guys, and now I can only trust two of them and nobody else. I just need to muddle through graduation and I am out of this town. Twice in my life a man has taken everything from me, now I am going to take back my life.
                Present
I sit back from my laptop and crack my knuckles, and stop momentarily to stare at my engagement ring. Four years ago I almost lost everything, and now I have everything. I turn in my chair and stare at the most wonderful man I have known besides my dad, and smile. "I'll go get you some hot cocoa, with extra marshmallows I know." I roll my eyes, he knows me too well. Ethan leaves the room and I turn back towards my desk. I hit save on my laptop and slowly shut it, feeling the last bit of weight leave my shoulders from those events. I close my eyes and smile, completely relaxed. Until I hear a crash come from the kitchen. I get up and grab the baseball bat we keep in our room, rounding the corner to the kitchen I see him again. Derrick is standing over Ethan's lifeless body. He lunges towards me, and for the second time in my life I feel warm blood dripping down my body starting at my neck. The last thing I see is those dead brown eyes before everything goes black one last time.