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MADDIE ALBAH
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HOME
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NINE DAYS LATER
LAYING DOWN, she stared up at the ceiling as her salty tears streamed down the sides of her face, so cold against her caramel skin. She had her small fingers by her neck, fidgeting with the pearl teardrop necklace her father had given her. Her birthday was just over a week ago. It was also known as the day she walked straight into a kidnapper's hideout.
How unbelievably stupid and naïve of her to trust him the second she had laid eyes on him. Maybe it was because he had saved her from being raped by three men, who were probably — at least — ten years older than she was. The instant attraction to the person who saved her, clouding her eyes from seeing the red flags. However, he turned out to be just as horrible as the group of three.
As her cognac eyes stared upwards, feeling each single tear slip from her puffy red eyes. She could only imagine what Reece had in store for her.
Raping her.
Using her as a pathetic little pet as he stares down at her, a sinister grin on his thin lips.
Or — as she had thought of before — murdering her just for the complete thrill of it.
Her mind went wild with the theories, creating scenarios of how each one would start and how they'll end. All of them with her dead in the conclusion, to be completely honest. Why else would he have a pocket knife that he played with like it was normal?
She felt like passing out, her head was dizzy and everytime she went to sit up, she felt sick and faint, the locality swirling around in front of her eyes. She must admit she was stubborn, and not eating anything for the past eleven days was her way of getting what she wanted — to go home.
Maddie was determined to make Reece feel bad for kidnapping her. To the point he'd just unlock her handcuffs and leave the door wide open for her to leave.
But as the days went by, the more she started to see that wasn't going to happen as her stomach punched her, causing her to groan out in agony. It wasn't the most pleasant pain, as it made her intestines feel like they were twisting and turning. She rolled onto her side, using her free hand to hold her screaming stomach and hope to settle it down. Unfortunately, it only seemed to make it worse as it growled out, the pain intensifying with each second that passed by.
Her eyes stung from continuously crying, squeezing them tightly. She assumed there were permanent tear marks on her cheeks, a visual representation of their journey. She just really wanted to go home and eat a salad, at this point she'd eat a salad of brussels sprouts. She didn't care if she hated them, she was just so hungry.
Slowly, she peeled her eyes open, staring at the glass of water on the bedside table. Reece seemed to always fill it up when she was asleep. It was half full, she hadn't drank much today as her brain was too focused on the utter pain in her abdomen.
She wanted nothing more but to sleep the pain away, except, she just woke up from a nap about thirty minutes ago, and started crying when she realised she was still here — trapped.
The light beaming in through the window behind her was still bright, letting her know it wasn't anywhere near nighttime yet, so she'd just have to deal with the excruciating pain. She could feel each cramp hit her like a bus, getting even more to the point of wanting to throw up. She didn't know how much longer she could take this and not eat. She was basically killing herself.
The sound of the door being knocked on grabbed Maddie's attention. She snapped her eyes over to watch as Reece stepped inside, closing the door gently behind him. The very first thing she smelt was the Maccas bag in his hand, as it crumpled each time he moved. The sound of it reverberated against the four walls. He turned around and looked at her, his chocolate brows pulling down at the sight of her puffy red eyes. "Flower, are you okay?"
His voice was filled with genuine concern, it almost made her want to burst into a shoulder shaking sob right in front of him. She didn't care if she looked pathetic, she was just so upset and scared being kept prisoner here.
When she didn't give him an answer, he took a step forward and held out the Maccas bag toward her. His thin lips formed into a small, optimistic smile. Probably a futile attempt to cheer her up.
"I got you McDonalds," he said as he gingerly placed the brown paper bag on the bed next to her. She could feel the warmth of the food radiating onto her body. Maddie watched his action before looking back into his hazel eyes, the cerulean specks in his irises deeper in colour than usual. "Please eat this time."
His gravel voice cracked as the last syllable slipped from his tongue.
She slowly sat up, resting her back against the wooden headboard, she wiped her wet eyes before she grabbed the bag and admitted defeat. Reece won.
A heavy sigh sounded in the thick silence of the room and sliced through it like butter. Maddie trailed her eyes up at him, noticing how much more full in colour his face was. The blue specks in the bottom of his hazel eyes seemed to lighten in colour.
"May I sit?" he asked, gesturing with his hand to the bottom of the bed.
She only stared for several, torturous moments as she thought it over. What could she do? Tell him to get out and leave? Absolutely not, she was his hostage and he was the one calling the shots, he wouldn't listen to her. She had no say, so she just nodded her head. She reached into the bag and grabbed everything out, setting the chips next to her as she then munched on some. When she had grabbed the burger next, she didn't care which burger he had bought, she just unwrapped it with one hand in her lap and took the biggest bite imaginable. The flavours instantly washed over her taste buds.
It tasted heavenly.
The bed moved as Reece sat down and she glanced up to meet his gaze. He stared at her with a soft smile hugging his thin lips. She raised a soft brow at him. "What?" she mumbled softly, her mouth still full as the word sort of came out muffled.
He smirked, looking away. "Nothing."
"Mhm," she hummed questioningly, continuing to chew down on the burger. She stared away from him, beginning to feel the heat flame up on her neck and travel to her cheeks. The apples of her cheeks were probably a rosy brown tone right now.
As she ate the takeout food he had given her, she could feel a certain pair of eyes watching her intensely. And when she looked in his direction, making concrete eye contact, her throat tightened as her heart skipped a solid beat, causing her to stiffen under his profound gaze. It was like he was trying to unravel her with his eyes.
After she swallowed, she said with a crack in her voice from crying just moments ago: "You're making me nervous."
He raised his brows at her, shocked by her words. "Am I?"
His voice was so soft and yet gravel.
She gave him a small nod, staring away from him when it overwhelmed her a bit too much. Right now she couldn't bear to look at him — her kidnapper. And as she looked down at the burger she was eating, she couldn't help but be disgusted with herself for even accepting it. It made her sick to her stomach.
She started to eat slower, knowing she was too hungry to set the glorious patty, lettuce, cheese, special sauce and two buns down.
When she was finished, Reece and her had been in complete silence for the past five minutes. Reece had gotten up from off the corner of the queen sized bed, stepping closer to her. He asked for her rubbish as she then gave it to him. Without saying anything else he left, shutting the door behind him, and leaving no evidence he was even in the room with her.
Reaching over to the bedside table, she grabbed the cup of water, taking long gulps to wash away the saltiness and greasiness left in her mouth from the chips. Placing the cup back, she licked her lips.
After the McDonalds burger and large fries, her stomach still felt empty but she wasn't as hungry as before. Her stomach had felt like it was having a boxing match with her, it had her on her back as it slammed punch after punch into her exposed tummy. Each hit was more painful than the last.
She reached up to her chest, delicately placing the pearl teardrop in between her thumb and forefinger, fiddling with it as her anxiety started to creep back up on her. Her shoulders returned to how tense they were before. Slowly it dawned on her she might be here forever.
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It didn't feel like a lot of time had passed by since Reece had left. But when he had returned, he had a tray with a cup of OJ on it, however, she couldn't really see what else he had from her angle. He walked closer and sat the tray on the bed in front of her crossed legs. Eyeing the plate of scrambled eggs and bacon, with two pieces of strawberry jam toast.
"You must still be hungry from not eating the past week," Reece said as he walked to the bottom of the bed and sat down.
She didn't bother looking at him as she kept her eyes on the tray of food. "I just really want to go h—home to my family," she quivered, her voice getting softer with each word that fell from her chapped pink lips. Tears pricking the backs of her eyes the second she said home.
Reece remained silent, leaving room for a thick, almost suffocating atmosphere to build up around them. She glanced up through her dark, long eyelashes at him, noticing his eyes were hooded over with deep thought. She waited patiently for him to answer, the nerves in her stomach seemed to only gnaw at her lower belly making her feel sick.
He brushed his chocolate locks back, only for them to fall in front of his eyes when removing his calloused fingers from his hair. He didn't seem to notice as the bolts in his head continued to move.
Without warning, he scooted closer, close enough that he was sitting right in front of her, the tray of food keeping distance between them. He then grabbed the fork from off the tray, scooping some of the fluffy, light yellow eggs onto it.
Curiosity got the better of her as she lifted her head up to see him more, watching how the fork moved around on the plate before looking into his eyes. He was already staring at her, his expression so hard to read, it was impossible to know what he was thinking as his lips remained in a straight line. The stubble on his cheeks, chin, upper lip and neck looked to have grown over the last eleven days, giving Reece an older man look. She wondered how old he was.
"Open," he said, voice firm and gruff. She complied, opening her mouth as he fed her the fork of scrambled egg. When she closed her lips around it, he then slipped the fork away. She didn't understand what he was doing. Why was he feeding her?
He never once broke eye contact with her, making her feel slightly uncomfortable. She wanted to look away but his hazel eyes just seemed to captivate her, trapping her in a complete trance she didn't know how to get out of. That was until she heard his next words slip from his mouth.
"We both have to leave in a few days."
What?
"What? W—Why?" It felt as though her heart had just fainted and fell head first into the dark abyss of her stomach. Her salty tears returned, blurring her vision as she stared at her kidnapper. He looked so serious, not a single micro movement on his face.
He went to feed her again but she moved her head away, putting her chapped pink lips into a tight, thin line as she refused it.
"Eat it."
Her eyes widened at how loud and forceful his tone was. It frightened her to her bones as a cold chill ran down the length of her spine. She hesitantly opened her mouth for him. Reece slipped the fork in and she closed her lips around the cold metal on her lips. He removed it as she began to chew the contents now in her mouth.
He proceeded to feed her the food, making sure she ate every single crumb on the plate, allowing her to refresh her palate with the glass of OJ. Slowly, as he continued to remain quiet, letting her know he wasn't going to answer her two previous questions, a warm tear fell from her eyelid, racing down her cheeks.
She had to get away from him before she couldn't see her family ever again. Especially leaving Honey in the care of her mother, God knows how Vickie would treat her sister, even though it was a struggle to look after the eleven-month-old as a grade twelve student trying to graduate.
"I want to go home," she repeated, rivers flowing down her warm cheeks as she stared into his eyes. She was almost begging him at this point.
He stared silently, eyes twitching as he looked dead into both her eyes welled up with tears. "You are home, flower. I'll take care of you. . . Have faith in me."
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Word Count: 2300+
I tried to edit this chapter, because to me it sounded like I had written it funny. Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed the update! Let me know your thoughts!
*Dylan hides away in her dark, cold writing corner as she starts giggling creepily, hands over her malicious grin, knowing information her readers won't find out until later. Screams.*
P.s: thank you for 1k reads, I appreciate every single one of you for reading my crap. 🥺
— DYLAN.