Mommy will be home soon.
I'll be safe.
She will save me.
Someone will find me.
My mind roams around these thoughts as I hear Panther humming while he walks about. He thinks I am still unconscious and I am keeping the act up so that I don't have to face what is to come next.
My hands and legs are tied and I have no idea where we are. I tried to open my eyes a crack but am afraid he will notice that. The pain in my ribs has lessened surprisingly and I fear that he has given me something for it. It still hurts but I can sit without screaming in agony.
"I know you're up," his chilly voice suddenly speaks to me and I shiver at the deep, scary tone.
It is unusually sweet and it makes my feet cold.
I open my eyes slowly and find myself in the basement of the house. It is our basement; he hasn't taken me anywhere else. He brought me to the place I hate. The basement has always been nothing but Panther's man cave and it is filled with cartons and cardboard boxes.
The only piece of furniture here is the large round table at the center with four wooden chairs surrounding it; the place where Panther and his friends play cards. I don't like this place; it is filled with insects and rats who run around it. It smells like rotten vegetables.
"I know what you're thinking, darling," he says as he stalks towards me with a glass of water in his hand.
His 'darling' makes my blood boil but I try to keep a straight face. He scoots in front of me and touches the glass of water to my lips and I eagerly drink it. When I swallow, my chest hurts and I wince in pain.
"It isn't broken, just bruised," Panther informs me as he stands up, puts the glass to a side, and pulls a chair from the table.
He turns it around and swings his legs over it, straddling it as he looks at me.
"Wh..." My throat hurts when I attempt to speak. "Wh...why did you..."
I sigh defeatedly, failing to speak it all.
"Why did I do it?" He smirks. "Poor Amaya, you're so innocent. Take a look at me. Don't I look like the man of your dreams?"
I narrow my eyes at him, observing the changes in his looks since the last time I saw him. His hair is trimmed short, his beard is a light stubble and he is wearing a black leather jacket along with a pair of ripped jeans and combat boots. His get-up looks familiar yet my head is too heavy to figure out who he is reminding me of.
"Go on," he urges. "Tell me...don't I look familiar? This is what you like, right? Your dream boy."
I blink, instantly realizing who he is talking about.
Carter
He is dressed like Carter. The thought makes me let out a gasp and I feel tears forming in my eyes.
"Panther..." I cough, finding my voice back. I need to speak if I have to keep this monster from doing other things. "Why...are you doing this?"
"Because I want you," he utters shamelessly.
His eyes are dark and he looks extremely dangerous as he gets up from the chair, making it fall on the floor with a loud bang. He walks toward me and holds my chin to make me look at him.
"Don't you see it?" he coos, faking a look of being hurt. "You shouldn't have run away. It was all going well but you had to go and ruin everything!"
He drops my chin with a jerk which makes my jaw hurt. He turns around, pacing over the floor as he runs his hands through his hair.
"I...don't understand," I mumble.
I understand everything but he doesn't have to know that. As long as I can, I will keep stalling my doom.
"I have wanted you for so long now," he begins without turning around while I start looking around for something which can help me break free. The effort is useless because even if I find something, I can't reach it as my hands are tied to a pillar behind me. "I loved a girl when I was twelve. Her name was Jenny and she was the best thing that ever happened to me...we're friends, lovers even if you count the one kiss which I stole. She was the light of my life..."
He stops and I pretend to be listening very interestedly. He turns around and walks back to me.
"My parents never loved me...but Jenny did. She was the light of my life." He kneels beside me and takes a strand of my hair, rolling it between his fingers. I close my eyes, my skin crawling at the thought that I am being touched by him. "But...she died after drowning in the lake near our house and took the light with her. I...I didn't know she couldn't swim when I pushed her. I...I thought she was making fun of me. I don't like being made fun of."
God! This man is a psychopath.
"What happened then?" I ask when I see him bringing the strand near his nose to inhale it.
"I couldn't love again," he sighs, looking at me with his lips pouted. "Then I saw you and you were just like her. I thought my Jenny was back but you were so young, sweetheart."
He touches my cheek and I shudder. He notices that and gives a look of fake innocence.
"Tell me, Jenny? What could I have done?" he asks and my breathing starts to get faster.
He is calling me Jenny. Who does he think I am?
"Tell you what?" I ask back, playing his game to keep him talking.
"Why couldn't you wait?"
Tears roll down his eyes and I shake my hands which are tied behind my back. I try to squeeze my wrists out but the rope is too tight, biting my skin at every attempt.
"Panther...I'm not Jenny," I let out with my voice breaking into a sob of fear.
"I just wanted you to turn legal and then we could have been together."
He leans in and presses his nose to my cheek, trailing his tongue over a tear that was on its way to my lips. I want to scream but the pain in my chest is too much to allow me that.
"Panther—"
There is a sound and it makes us both look behind him. His muscles tense when a large carton, the one that our refrigerator came in and which Mom kept for later use, moves. But he relaxes when we spot a rat coming out of it.
He turns back and I see a vein in his neck tick.
"You had to go and fall in love with that boy."
He pulls back, his eyes red with rage and I swallow a gulp.
"Panther, I'm not Jenny."
"WHY THE FUCK DID YOU NOT WAIT?" he bellows, grabbing my chin harshly and making me cry out in a feeble voice.
"Let me go...please."
He leaves my chin and tilts his head to meet my eyes which are downcast. I am inhaling deeply, trying to gather as much oxygen in my lungs as possible to keep talking.
"What did you see in him, Jenny?" he questions. "Was it because he is a good fighter? You thought he could protect you? I have seen him fight, Jenny. He is good, fucking gorgeous to watch at the matches! But he is nothing compared to me. I'm Black Panther, Jenny. He fights for me because I'm much older and stronger than him."
Shit! Shit! Shit!
I am fucking stupid!
I knew they were the same but I didn't do anything about it.
"Please don't touch me."
I shake my head trying to get myself far from him, pulling my body further back.
"I won't, darling," Panther moans into my ear, pulling me back to the same spot by my waist. "Not like I want to...not yet."
He lets me go and looks me in the eyes.
"Here's what's going to happen." He points a finger at me. "You're going to be locked here till your birthday. When your mother comes back, I'll knock her up here with you so you can be together and I'll lock the house from the outside. Then..." He gives his malicious grin and it fills me with fear.
"Th...en...what?" I stammer out.
"Then, on your birthday." He leans closer, brushing the tips of our noses together. "On your birthday, I'll show your Mom how much I love my Jenny."
"Panther, please don't do this," I cry. "I'll do anything you ask of me but please don't keep me here."
"Shhh..." He puts a dirty finger to my lips, silencing me. "I don't believe you. You're just as cunning as Vic. Something I have to teach you a lesson for once you're mine."
"Panther...please...I'm not like my Mom and...and...I broke up with Carter," I blurt. My mind is a mess of words and I don't even know what I am speaking but I can't let him do this. I will tolerate anything but being locked up in a place I hate; I cannot do that. Mom will be here tomorrow and he will do the same to her. "I want nothing to do with him. I'll be yours if you want...me."
My stomach churns with a gag reflex and even though my chest hurts, I keep speaking when I see him listening attentively.
"Go on," he says. "Say my name."
"Panther..."
He closes his eyes, sighing and I look at him confusedly.
"I love that name when you say it," he murmurs before opening his eyes to meet my panicked look.
"Panther, please...let me...go."
"I can't, Jenny," he says. "I tried but your voice stopped me. You called me, Jenny. I was about to take my life but you saved me and now we will be together."
He kisses his fingers and presses them on my lips, my sobs of pain falling on deaf ears.
"I'll be back." He gets up and starts walking towards the staircase which leads to the house. "Don't worry, you'll be safe here. I'll bring back food later."
"Don't leave me here!" I shout but it comes out as a whisper.
Every part of my body is hurting, making it difficult to keep going.
"I'll be back, Jenny," I hear him mutter to himself as he climbs up the stairs and leaves, shutting the lights off and leaving me in darkness.
"Come back..." I weep. "Please don't...leave me. I don't like this place...please."
There is a scratching sound and I am instantly altered with a shiver of fear. I don't like it here. I am scared of this place. I stop crying and look around, searching for the source of the sound.
As my eyes adjust to the dark, I see the large box again. It is lying on its side on the floor just as it was before but it moves again, making me draw a deep breath. I am not sure if it is fear or anticipation but my eyes stay fixed on it. It is flipped open and I hiss a breath, the sound of my beating heart reaching my ears.
Carter's head pops out of it and his body is followed next as he drags himself out of the large carton box. I gasp when he stands up and brushes the dust off his clothes, coughing lightly. He is still dressed in the clothes he was in the afternoon except for the fact that they look dirty now.
"Gotta say, snippy," he says, looking at me with a small smirk playing on his lips. "I knew you would be the death of me."