Finding Maisie
Chapter 21
Maisie's POV:
It was strange how much of Colin I had seen in the last couple of months. Normally, I was lucky to see him once a week at most. It was usually Harry who dealt with feeding me and moving me when we changed location. So how come Colin always seemed to be around now? In a way, I was kind of grateful. I wasn't scared of Colin. In the rare times that I saw him he always showed some sort of kindness. Like giving me another sketch pad or asking me for my food preferences. Don't get me wrong, I hated the man. Even though I was young I still knew that he was the reason I never got to see my mum. I knew that he kidnapped me for some reason or another. But he seemed to become more fond of me over the years. I might not have been correct or maybe his face looked kind next to Harry's, but that was what my eyes were telling me.
All that Colin's frequent appearances told me was that something strange was going on. And that was why I had my ear pressed against a door, listening to what Colin, Harry and someone I had seen on occasion were speaking about. I didn't know where I was. I had been knocked out, not knowing who by, and when I woke up here I was. In a wooden room. A minute after I heard voices.
As I listened through the door I stayed lying on the ground. If anyone came in here I would have to pretend I was still unconscious. I didn't want to be found eavesdropping. The memory of when I got caught eavesdropping last time by Harry made my body shiver. That was something I didn't want repeated.
The voices were only muffled but I needed to know what was going on. I had never felt safe or secure in these countless years but when something strange happened, it terrified the life out of me. The only thoughts that ran through my mind were "This is it." or "They've had enough of me." I knew this wasn't much of a life to wish for but it was the hope that I clung to. The hope that maybe one day I would get saved, that my family or the police would find me. I didn't want to die not for myself but for my family. I did not want them to find out that after all this time their hopes of finding me were wasted.
I sat upright, not caring for that second if Harry saw me eavesdropping. I hadn't been able to hear their conversation but two words just rang out as clear as bells.
'Poppy' and 'Callum'.
Poppy and Callum, names I had thought of so many times in the years and written down in their birthday cards I made them. Names that brought back the heart-warming memories of home and my parents. But also names that scared me, terrified me even. Because those names in a conversation with Colin meant only one thing; that he was finally going after them. I knew when Poppy escaped that it wouldn't be the end, and when I saw boy's clothes in the apartment I was made to stay at when I was first abducted, I knew Callum was his target as well. I had prayed that the abductor wouldn't bother, that he would decide kidnapping me would be enough and leave them. The tears slid down my face as I came to realise that that was a wish that wouldn't come true.
I then remembered that I might have actually heard Poppy earlier when I was in a different building. I had heard someone heavily breathing and they sounded like a girl. In my hope I had said Poppy's name out loud. But a second later the abductor was pulling me into a different room so I didn't get to find out. Now I knew, it must have been Poppy. I had heard her earlier.
The talking suddenly stopped. Footsteps sounded that were coming closer to me. I scuttled back into the far corner of the room and quickly I wiped the tears off my cheeks with my tied up hands. If there was one thing I had learnt about Colin through this kidnapping it was that he didn't like tears. The only time he resembled Harry's hostile behaviour was when I cried. I didn't know why but it was a fact. I had picked up the rule to never cry, a rule that I had broken tonight.
The metal door swung open and Colin came into the dim light. I knew there was something wrong with him. There was some kind of coldness in his eyes. He seemed detached and empty. I quickly checked my cheeks. They seemed dry so what was it bothering Colin?
He silently walked to me, avoiding my eyes and grabbed the collar of the plain, grey t-shirt I was wearing. I started to choke as it rubbed against my neck and Colin dragged me out the room. I knew that I shouldn't struggle. That would only irritate Colin and potentially persuade him to hurt me. There was no point in fighting anyway. He was a much faster runner than me, the doors would all be locked anyway and I didn't know the way out. The building that I was in seemed unfamiliar. This had happened a lot in the past couple of months. Usually I would just alternate from different buildings or apartments, but recently I have been moved from unknown place to unknown place. It was all part of the strange happenings.
As Colin dragged me along the floor I tugged at the collar of my t-shirt, trying to allow myself chance to breathe. I looked around at my surroundings. The walls were made out of logs, it looked like, and the floor underneath me was smooth. I could tell as I slid easily along it. There were some wooden doors leading to other rooms but, other than that, the room was empty. We must have been in some kind of cabin.
Colin stopped dragging me outside of a room. He pulled me in and violently threw me to the ground. My face made contact with the wooden floor and the pain rushed through me. My eyes welled up but I blinked away the tears. As I slowly sat up I raised a hand to my nose. I could tell that it was swollen, maybe even broken from the intense pain I was feeling, and blood was trickling from it. The coppery smell of blood filled my nostrils as I felt dizzy. I had grown to hate the smell of blood, seeing as I smelt it so often when I was around Harry. It reminded me of sorrow, pain and emptiness.
I heard the door click behind me as Colin shut it. I turned around to face him. He wasn't looking at me but looked in deep thought. I noticed Colin's fist clenching and unclenching when his thoughts angered him. Whatever he was thinking about couldn't be good.
Colin eyes moved into looking at mine. Fear seeped through me, not from looking at the eyes but knowing his full attention was on me.
'Why did you move me here, Colin?' I asked weakly. I had noticed the room was basically the same as the one I was in before, a different size though maybe. What was the point of changing my position?
'This rooms at the back of the building. I can't trust you not to keep your big mouth shut and there are going to be people at the front of the building,' Colin explained.
'Callum and Poppy, you mean?' I said. I knew that that was a risky move, showing the abductor I had been eavesdropping, but I needed to know why their names were mentioned in the abductors conversation. I needed to know they were safe.
'No, not them actually. And it may do you well in the very short future you have-' Colin said as he raised the volume and anger of his voice, '- to not listen into other peoples conversations. It's not very good manners, Maisie.'
I flinched back in habit expecting Colin to hit me. He didn't though, he hardly ever laid a hand on me. But he didn't need to, the venom in his voice was enough to give the force physical abuse would.
'Sorry,' I murmured, bringing my knees to my chin so I could rest my head on them. Questions about Callum and Poppy were still whirring around my mind but I didn't want to ask. I had no control over the situation. If Colin wanted me to know something then he would tell me.
'What are you thinking about, Maisie?' Colin asked.
I looked up at Colin to see him watching me. I didn't want him to focus anymore on the fact that I eavesdropped so I couldn't tell him what I was really thinking about.
'Nothing,' I lied.
'I know that's a lie,' Colin said. 'Whenever you think, Maisie, you get a small crease on your forehead and that's what you have right now.'
I subconsciously touched my forehead. I knew I wouldn't be able to lie to him now.
'Fine,' I muttered, 'I was thinking about why you were talking about Callum and Poppy.'
Colin half smirked and that scared me. He was smug for some reason and that couldn't be good.
'I want to let you in on a little secret, Maisie. By the end of tonight you, Poppy and Callum will be dead.'
My heart sank in my chest, 'Dead? How?'
'I will have killed you of course,' Colin said blatantly, 'My dear Maisie, did you really not believe that this day was coming?'
'I never doubted it for one second, but for me. I was hoping you had decided to leave Poppy and Callum alone,' I said truthfully.
'Oh you couldn't be more wrong,' Colin said as he walked around the room like he owned the place, 'I have never stopped watching Poppy and Callum. In fact, in the last few months I have had quite a lot of contact with them. You've had a bit too.'
'What? How could I? I haven't seen them in ten years!'
'They saw you. Tonight. They touched you, Maisie. Your head was resting on your dear brother Callum's lap. And all the time you were sleeping.'
My skin started tingling from thinking that Poppy and Callum could have touched it. I knew that Colin would have made sure there was no way I could have woken up, but I still couldn't help being annoyed at myself. I was so close to seeing two of the people I loved the most.
'And they'll be coming back for you tonight. And that is where you will be in a trap so dangerous that not only one but both of them will die. How does that sound?' Colin said.
'You're sick. Why do you want to kill us? We have done nothing to you!'
'I'll tell you why Maisie, but not yet. Let's wait for the other two before we begin our storytelling.'
Colin walked to the window and stared out. I was on the floor so couldn't see what was outside.
'Dawns already arriving, Maisie,' Colin said, 'You'd better hope that Poppy and Callum are living their last day to the full.'
No, I couldn't let this happen. I couldn't let Callum and Poppy die for me when they were trying to save me. I had to warn them. I knew it was near impossible but I couldn't sit here doing nothing. I had only tried to escape once before and the consequences terrified me after enough to prevent me trying again.
Colin was still looking out the window talking about what was going in the coming hours. He trusted me not to run away, a trust that I was about to break.
I silently crept over to the door and slowly opened it. With a quick glance back to Colin, I stepped out the door. I looked down the hallway and saw no one. There were two doors that looked like front and back doors and one was right next to me as I was in the back room. I ran to it and swung the door open. Colin hadn't bothered locking the doors as he wanted Callum and Poppy to come and didn't expect me run away.
When I walked out into the open a chill went through me. It was cold and wet, the end of summer was coming. I was only wearing leggings, a thin grey top and plimsolls, they were not enough to keep away the cold. The smell of fresh air wrapped around me and it was welcoming. It was something that I had been short of for a while but craved so much.
I was in a woods of some kind. All that surrounded me were trees and shrubbery. I was standing in thick mud and could hear the chirping of the birds.
I didn't waste any time. I started running in any direction. The wind blew my long hair behind my back and it wailed wildly. The sharp coldness of the air made my sore nose throb, but for some reason I didn't care. Perhaps it was because of how incredibly free I felt. I had never, in all the time of my kidnapping, been allowed to run like this. I felt like a bird spreading its wings for the first time and it felt great. This was how freedom felt.
I heard a noise behind me and I quickly turned my head as I ran. Colin was speeding towards me, a look of anger and frustration on his face.
I only realised now how hard it was to run. The mud was too thick. My flimsy shoes were no match for it. And my pains like my nose that I didn't mind before were a distraction to the running. I couldn't focus on anything but the pain. And now my legs were hurting from running so fiercely when they had not had a chance to do that in forever. This futile escape attempt seemed pointless now.
I felt a force on my shoulder and my whole body was pulled to the floor, backwards. I felt myself crash into the floor and my clothes soak in mud. Colin came into view, looking down at me. He had pushed me to the ground.
'You stupid girl, Maisie,' Colin shouted. 'What are you playing at?!'
Colin roughly pulled me up by my hair and I screamed out in pain. I stood up as quickly as I could to stop the yanking of my hair but it wasn't fast enough to stop the tears forming in my eyes. Colin saw these tears and, before I could read his expression, a sharp pain shot in my cheek from him slapping me.
'Stop crying!' He yelled. 'You're weak!'
'No, I'm sorry. I'm not weak, I didn't mean to cry.'
Colin put his face close to mine to emphasise what he was going to say next, 'I was going to be kind in killing you, Maisie. But now, after you defy my trust, I'm going to make sure you beg me for death.'
I closed my eyes in my complete and utter foolishness. What had I been thinking? Impulses weren't something to be acted on around Colin. You had to think with intelligence and precision. And what had I done? Ran, with no plan and no direction on the off chance that I might just by chance bump into Callum and Poppy. And now I was going to be punished for it with a painful, torturous death. Don't get me wrong, I did have faith in Callum and Poppy to rescue me but Colin was clever. Too clever. I had been with him long enough to know that the abduction was extremely well thought out. Callum and Poppy were no match for his calculated brain. It just killed me that I knew all this and couldn't shout out to my loved ones to stay away and let me die but save themselves.
Colin started pulling me back to the cabin at a quick pace. He allowed me no time to recover over rocks or sticks and so was basically dragging me back, through the mud. He threw me in the room I was in previously and locked the door behind him.
I banged against the wall in frustration. I had never felt more trapped than I did now, not being able to help the people I love. This was torture.
The door swung open but, instead of Colin, Harry stood before me. I whimpered quietly in fear. He walked towards me with arrogance pouring out of every inch of him. I despised this man deeply. When he reached my position Harry grabbed hold of my neck, choking me. Colin always moved me around by holding my clothing but Harry preferred the more violent approach.
He dragged me out the room and back towards the front of the cabin. I had had enough of being pulled, dragged and pushed around for one day.
We stopped outside the room and Harry looked at me.
'I don't know why Colin's letting you see him, he says that he needs you to. If it was me, I definitely wouldn't,' Harry said.
What was he talking about? See who? I didn't ask Harry though. I was sure that I was about to find out anyway.
Harry opened the door and pushed me in, walking in behind me though.
I knelt on the ground due to the force but then lifted my head to see what this was all about. There were two men in front of me. They were tied up to chairs and both looked worse for wear. One was a man I didn't recognise. The other was.. The other was my dad. He looked exactly as I remembered him, only older. It felt unreal.
I crawled over to him as I was too full of emotion to walk. I put my hands over his bound ones and we clung to each other's tightly.
'Maisie, is that really you?' He asked. His voice was so raspy and broken but just the same voice that he used to have. If I ignored everyone else in the room then I could pretend, just pretend, that I was at home.
I nodded my head not trusting my voice to speak. My dad looked so happy but then his face turned to one of pain and guilt.
'I am so sorry, Maisie,' he said, 'I never wanted this to happen. The reason I left was to stop this from happening. I should have protected you.'
I put one finger to his lips, 'Stop, dad. This is not your fault. You didn't kidnap me. And if you say that you left us to stop this happening then you were protecting us. Please, don't blame yourself.'
'But you've been with him for so long. You're eighteen now, Maisie, you're an adult. And I missed all of that to only find out now that it was worthless.'
'I don't care about that. Everyone missed me growing up, not just you. But you have no idea how happy it makes me seeing you,' I said. I looked to the person beside me, 'Who's this?'
'Maisie, this is Mr. Leads. Poppy's dad?'
I looked at the man again completely unbelieving.
'No way, you look completely different,' I exclaimed. 'But it's so good to see you again.'
'Didn't you see her when you worked for Colin?' My dad asked.
'No,' Mr Leads replied. 'He always kept anything to do with seeing Maisie between him and Harry. And it's good to see you too Maisie.'
'Eugh, enough of the pleasantries. I think I'm going to vomit,' Harry groaned by the door.
'Where's Colin?' Mr Leads asked.
'Right here,' came Colin's voice from somewhere on the other side of the doorway. He came into view and a look of disgust hit his face immediately when he saw mine and Poppy's fathers.
'Oh, brother of mine,' Colin said walking over to Mr Leads. 'You may be much older but age, it seems, doesn't give wisdom.'
It was strange thinking that Colin and Mr Leads were brothers. They were so different personality wise and, as he said, Colin was a lot younger than him.
'And my fake brother,' Colin said gesturing to my dad. 'You were never part of the family in my eyes.'
He walked behind the chairs they were tied to and placed a hand on each of their heads.
'Now I may finally get to do to you what I have been wishing to do for years.'
'Don't hurt them!' I demanded.
Colin's attention was now fully on me, 'Now, Maisie, what have I taught you about butting into conversations that don't concern you? It's very bad manners, isn't it?'
'You're going to kill me anyway so what does it matter? I'd rather die with pride than your little lap dog.'
Colin now shared the disgusted expression with me, 'Someone's feisty after seeing her father.'
'Why did you let me see my dad anyway?'
'Because, little Maisie, I was faced with a dilemma. I had promised you a horrible, heart breaking death. But after spending a decade with you I wasn't sure if I was capable of that. So I decided to put you next to the two people I hate to remind me that you came from one of them. I needed to hate you as much as I hate them to give you the death you deserve.'
'And did it work?' I asked nervously.
Colin smiled at me first before responding, 'Yes. It worked extremely well, thank you.'
My heart sank a little. There was nothing holding him back now. Colin was going to give me the most painful death now and there was nothing I could do about that. This was going to be the end. The only think I could pray was that Poppy and Callum would get here and somehow they would save me.
It didn't seem likely.