A awful, breaking, nearly crushing sensation crashed upon her.
The deep evil chuckle that quickly vibrated through the line numbed every muscle in her body. The scream ready to break free from Camelia's lips died down had it not been for her hand automatically clamping over her mouth.
Trying to get her brain to work again, she struggled to grasp the severity of the complex situation that appeared quite unexpectedly. She was right to feel the warning in her gut. It never let her down.
"What do you want?" Her throat went dry as she tried to swallow forcefully.
"You know what I want." The male voice hissed. "You, little one, will pay for the wrongs of the past."
Uncontrollable tremors of terror run through her bones as she listened and finally noticed the raspy sounds coming from a voice changing device he used allowing him to alter and hide his true voice.
The hand holding the phone close to her ear began trembling. She tried sitting upright, but her body shook like a leaf. After several attempts she barely managed to stand, stepping away from her bed and looking around frantically.
Ripping her phone away from her ear, her gaze rests on the screen and notices no known number present. It takes her several attempts to push the speaker button. With quivering legs she rushes to her bedroom door to confirm it's locked.
"I know you're in your room little one, there's no escape." He taunts.
The heavy pressure of watching eyes electrified her skin and the trembling reached her teeth as they rattled in fear. She could hear the amusement in his tone and how much he was enjoying tormenting her.
Camelia slid away from the door, leaning against the wall for support. She was almost certain all the blood drained from her face earlier but this time, she actually felt herself pale as a white sheet of paper. She stared at the door half expecting someone try to break it down in the next instant.
"You're not going to get away with this!" She cried.
"You poor helpless child. It's all I have ever lived for in the past two decades. I've had many years to plan my revenge. No matter who you have protecting you, rest assured I will be one hundred steps ahead." His sick evil chuckle fills every corner of the walls surrounding her.
"Go to hell you bastard!" She screams into the phone, tossing it to the ground with all her might, watching it tumble countless times until it lay flat and face down. Due to her quivering legs, Camelia slides into a heap on the floor, her fingers curling into the carpet in despair.
The world around her began crumbling.
The only sounds in the room was her heavy breathing and the deep, vibrating, cold laughter of the monster on speaker finding joy in terrorizing her. He was torturing her emotionally. Grasping her head firmly she tried desperately to control the silent tears streaming down her face and worked on regulating the rhythm of her heart rate by inhaling heaping gulps of air.
The horrific images of what could happen to her flashed before her eyes–kidnapped, tortured, killed.
She should have mentally prepared herself more for what was to come. But it was too late. He would kill her if he got a hold of her, and there was no one around to help her. The dread building and piling up in her head was quickly crushing any hope of rescue.
In the next moment, a dawning comprehension came crashing down as a cold chill crept down her spine. Her mind finally registers on one single, very important detail she quickly overlooked in her panic.
He knows your location....
Camelia snaps her head up and looks across her room. She sprints towards the windows and closes the thick pale pink drapes and leaps to the floor, scrambling and running to the opposite end again, close to the door. Bending her legs, she wraps both arms around them and rocks back and forth.
...No matter who you have protecting you...he had said.
Kent's face flashes before her eyes. Where was Kent when she needed him the most? What would he do?
Fight back.
He'd want her to be brave, courageous...strong. Everything he represented.
A real woman would never give up, she chided herself. A brave woman looks danger in the eye and gives it a wink. A powerful woman surrounded by a pack of wolves, controls the wolves and returns leading the pack.
Be that woman.
For a brief moment the cloudy haze blocking her vision evaporated, drowning the hopelessness. Her protective urges rose and took control of her brain. He may have broken her resolve temporarily but she wasn't going to sit there and cry until he captured her.
It wasn't the courage that gave her strength, it was the sheer will power to live. The doubt was damaging but if she did not try, failure would be the death of her. No matter what happens, no matter how this turned out, she wasn't going down without a fight.
She refused to let the monster win. It was survival of the fittest.
Wiping the tears from her eyes, Camelia places her hands on the floor, shoves herself upright and strides towards her phone.
Snatching it from it's deserted position on the floor, and in the most bravest voice she could muster she spoke. "Come and get me you sick son of a bîtch!" She hangs up, clasping her phone against her thigh. It was fake bravado but she had a survival instinct that kicked into hyper drive.
He wanted to corner and control her. He wanted her traumatized. He wanted her to feel helpless. There was more in life she wanted to experience and she'd be damned now that she'd had a moment to reflect.
She wasn't going to give up.
Almost calling one of her parents sprang into her mind, but the urge was quickly squashed. To jeopardize their safety was not an option. It could very well be a trap. She would rather die a thousand deaths than lose one of them.
Call the police, her conscious interjects.
With the police involved it would make the countless privately hired team of investigators working on Nathan's location limited. She was almost sure Diam wasn't doing the job alone. People like him never dirtied their hands. They hired low life's do the work.
Camelia bit her lip trying to run ideas through her head. She had no weapons, nothing to fight back with. She needed to protect herself glancing at her hands. She needed a gun.
Her father owned several guns. The thought was quickly squashed for those were locked up in a safe to which she didn't know the access code to. The only things she could think of that would serve as a weapon were knives and they were downstairs in the kitchen.
Should she risk going down there quietly? What were the possibilities that the enemy was within the walls of her home? Who else rang the door bell?
The stakes were high. She was confused. What should she do? Once again Kent's image pops before her.
Call Kent. Call Kent. Her mind encourages. He should have arrived already. Where was he? Had something horrific happened to him?
Disentangling her arms and standing upright, with hands still shaking, Camelia enters the passcode on her phone and skims through the contacts to find Kent's number. "Come on, come on...." She says hurriedly, finally finding him and pressing call.
Their was a long pause before the line connected. It rings and rings, as Camelia paces back and forth impatiently. When the last ring drops, his voicemail picks up the line. She screams in frustration and bangs a fist against the adjacent wall.
She was angry now. Furious even. Everything was turning from bad to worse.
The walls of her room narrowed, feeling herself go stir crazy. She was trapped with no means of escape much like a caged animal. Swiping a lone layer of hair out of her eyes, she looks around frantically trying to think about her next move.
The only option was hide, and staying in her bedroom was not the safest place.
Forgetful she was still not wearing a top, Camelia slips her phone into the pocket of her sweats and slowly unlocks the door to her room. She hesitated at the handle, her hand hovering momentarily before she clasps it and twists the knob. Opening the door slowly and releasing a slow exhale she allows it to swing open. She peeks her head out and checks the hallway, first right then left. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, she tiptoes and stays close to the wall as she takes one step after the other.
The house was just as eerily quiet as she expected. Holding her breath, her ears perk and focus for any, heightened, unusual sounds. She stops midway down the hall and moves to the opposite wall creeping slowly until the staircase comes into view.
The impulse to run towards the stairs falters when a second later the lights in the entire house loses power.
The scream that wanted to escape her mouth was muffled by her hands, sealing any sounds wanting to burst free from her lips. Camelia quickly sinks back and molds her body against the wall, frozen in shock and horror. If she was quivering in fear before, she was close to fainting from the overwhelming stress threatening to overtake her.
Her body slid down the wall unable to move. It was pitch black, even darker than the night sky. The only source of light was coming from the full moon streaming through the narrow horizontal window illuminating the foyer. Camelia's eyes adjusted, feeling her pupils dilate. In the stillness of the night, she forced herself to listen, despite the sounds of her heart pounding in her ears.
Focused and alert, she found no sounds indicating anyone was in the house. Since the electricity was shut off, nothing was running in the background, no hum was obvious in the stillness.
The night was silent.
Trying to slow down the rate of her heart which was nearly pounding like a wrecking ball against her chest, Camelia crawled on hands and knees feeling more helpless then ever. Where she had hope before, there was absolutely none now.
She was being terrorized by a lunatic who was playing a game of chess and she was his pawn. He might as well thrown a net over her like a helpless fish caught by a fisherman's bait.
She was beyond afraid of what waited for her outside. Imagining a large unmarked van with no windows. Men dressed in black standing with machine guns stationed around all parameters of the mansion.
Her life was flashing before her eyes. The same eyes that could not see a thing in the darkness. She was trembling so hard, she had to keep one hand along the wall to steady her movements.
Disregarding the dangers lurking in the shadows, Camelia stops, stands and taps her pockets trying to feel for her phone with shaking hands needing some source of light hating how blind she felt.
Damn the consequences, she told herself. Camelia would rather see how her life ended then not being able to see at all.
Since she heard nothing in the distance, could not identify a disturbance she swipes the bottom bezel to bring up the control center on the screen and taps the flashlight button. The LED flash blazes to life making the entire hallway light up. Camelia's eyes squint as she adjusts to the glare.
She kept a firm hand on the wall, the only object she could control and grasp. It was a anchor. A base of sorts that would keep her labored and semi-balanced.
In the next moment, the phone alerts her with a ping sound, a default tone to indicate incoming messages. A loud gasp leaves her open lips and she freezes.
Camelia could have sworn she heard the sound waves vibrating against the walls and the ceiling, passing long into the silent distance of the house. The disturbance was equivalent to the sound of fingernails being racked down a black chalk board forcing her to internally clam up as her stomach clenches tightly. Camelia muffles her mouth, restricting the low moan of agony.
The sound of the message and her own rising fear would alert the intruder of her whereabouts.
Quickly, without a second thought she switches her phone to vibrate. She rushes backwards searching for someplace to hide and loses her balance while her phone, which becomes tossed, skids across the tile loudly. Her arms pin wheeled fighting desperately to keep her balance.
But it was too late.
She fell backwards and crashed to the floor with enough force to knock the breath from her. For a brief moment she lay as still as a dead corpse waiting any minute for a group of armed men to find her.
But the dark house stayed silent.
Camelia shook the daze from her head as she tried to clear it while the waves of pain to her battered spine began saturating her. Her tail bone screamed in agony as she lay sprawled across the middle of the hallway trying to roll to her side. She had to keep moving because she ultimately revealed for whoever was waiting a one way ticket to her whereabouts.
Lifting herself to her feet, she crouched through the pain and annoyance of her clumsiness and crawled toward her iPhone which lay lifeless about a foot away from where she fell. The flashlight still as bright as ever navigates her towards a closed door.
It was her brother Zayn's bedroom.
Opening it slowly, she slips in and closes the door softly. Not until she locks it does she lean her back against it as if barricading the door would offer more shelter.
Bile rose in Camelia's throat, her stomach turned causing a bout of nausea.
Her arms encircled her stomach as she worked to inhale gasps of air into her lungs. She had a sinking feeling everything was turning from bad to worse. Her entire body was trembling in fear. Every muscle in her body ached.
It's only a matter of time, she thinks. A prisoner in her own home. Nathan Diam was probably laughing like the devil he was, enjoying playing with her like a cat to a mouse.
Struggling to stay composed, her panicked fingers turn her phone to view the screen which appeared to have cracked due to her fall. However, it was still in working order as she pressed the home button, the screen blazing to life. The unchecked message was visible through the web like cracks.
Message:
Kent
I hit some traffic on the way. I'll see you in a couple minutes.
Suddenly, a floodgate opened inside her. It was Kent! The hope began bubbling inside her desensitized body. He would save her.
But he would be walking into a trap. The realization doused the hope, replacing it with dread. Camelia did the first thing that came to mind and called him again, wishing desperately he'd answer her this time. She needed to warn him of the danger. He always had a gun strapped to his body. It was best he was prepared.
The call went through instantly and a couple rings later the line opens. Camelia's heart raced like the wings of a hummingbirds when she hears his deep masculine voice.
"Hello?"
"Kent! It's me! I-I received a threatening call from N-Nathan Diam. I think he's in the house!" She whispers not bothering to hide the hysteria from her voice.
"Camelia? Hold on you're breaking up. I barely heard what you said." He replies calmly.
Camelia wanted to pull her hair in frustration, squeezing her phone tightly against her ear. "I said: Nathan Diam called me and threatened me! I'm in the house with the electricity shut off!" Saying in a louder voice. She didn't care if she could be heard from her hiding place. She was desperate.
"What?" He shouts.
Camelia had to hold her phone away from her ear, his voice ringing loudly into her ear drum.
"It's exactly what you heard. I'm inside my brother's room hiding. He may be inside the house o-or outside waiting. I-I don't know what to do!" She pleads, sinking down in a heap to the floor.
"Don't move. Stay exactly where you are. Do you know what happened to the guards stationed outside?" He asks, trying to stay calm and collected.
Camelia could hear the undercurrent of anger laced with his words. She also heard when he slammed on the accelerator, the engine roaring loudly in the background.
"N-no I have no idea. I think the electricity was turned off purposely. I was in my room when I received his call." She explained. "Kent, he knew I was in my room!"
"Stay calm. I'm about a minute away. Whatever you do, do not leave that room. Do you understand me?" His tone was hard and commanding.
It's what she needed as she nods her head. Just hearing his voice made a part of her relieved. However her relief was short-lived when she heard something crashing downstairs.
The hair on her head stood on end.
A intruder was in the house.
"Kent I heard a noise downstairs!" She whispers frantically.
"What kind of noise?" He rushes out.
"It sounded like something heavy falling and breaking. P-please...I don't know what to do." She moans desperately. The tears started to flood her eyes as they fell relentlessly down her face.
"Don't move!" He warns harshly. "I'm outside. Don't hang up, stay with me."
Camelia could hear him closing the door to his car and his heavy breathing through the line. She closes her eyes and nods again. The sound of him cocking his gun, ready to fire made a rush of dread run up her spine.
"Camelia are you still there? I need you to stay strong for me, alright?"
"Yes." She answers while sniffling. "Be careful. Please." Afraid for him. If something were to happen to Kent she didn't know what she would do to herself.
"Don't worry about me, just stay on the line. I'm going to put you on speaker and place my phone in my pocket. I need to use both my hands but I'll still be able to hear you."
"Okay." She was breathing hard now, trying to think positively. Her ears focused for any other sounds. God only knew how many were out there searching for her.
Zayn's room was the closest to the wide grand staircase. The mansion was long with a east side and west side. The east held her parent's quarters, nearly overtaking the entire side. The east held a set of four bedrooms that she and her siblings occupied.
Which ever side the intruder uses to search for her, it would buy her some time before being found. Camelia scurried away from the door but stopped.
The lock would be a dead giveaway.
Crawling on hands and knees with her phone clasped in a death grip, she pulls up to unlock the door making sure it stayed closed. She backed away as she stood, flashing the bright light around the room.
Where to hide.
Eyes wide open, she scans the interior of the room.
Under the bed. It's the first place one looked when seeking someone who's hiding.
Her eyes snapped towards the bathroom. It was pointless and too open.
Behind the door was too obvious, she might as well raised her hand and declared she was present.
Camelia bit her bottom lip. If she kept taking her time to think, the light that could probably be seen through the space between the door and floor would be a dead giveaway.
The closet.
She ran towards her brother's walk-in closet and closes the door and turns. Camelia was surprised to find rows and rows of untouched clothing hanging along two rows of rods lining three walls.
Camelia opted to hide behind a row of dark shirts. She spreads the hanged clothing and squeezes her battered and aching body behind them. Once she sat, she rearranged the hangers to make it look like they weren't disturbed. After she felt like they provided the proper camouflage she bent her knees, turned the flashlight of the phone off and rested her head against her legs and waited.
"Camelia? Camelia, are you still there?" Kent's faint voice asks through the line. Her phone was resting on the floor beside her.
"Yes, I'm still here." She whispers in a low voice.
"The guards have been knocked out." Camelia sucked in a breath and held it. "I don't see anyone on the grounds. Do not come out no matter what I say, do you hear me? If I'm captured they may use me to lure you out. Tell me you understand."
A lump formed in her throat as tears stung her eyes once again.
"How will I know it's really you wanting me to come out of hiding?" She asks in a small quivering voice.
He paused. A short moment later he answers her. "Do you remember what you called me that first day I took you to school before we left the parking garage...when I opened the passenger door?" He asks.
Camelia remembers all to well. Recalling how flustered she felt. The title had slipped passed her lips by accident. She called him her knight.
She also remembers seeing Stefan on the cover of the magazine. It was ironic now that she thought about how the reference and seeing him again collided together on the same day.
Another knight stepped to the plate now. A real knight coming to her rescue to save her from the evils of this world. A person she could call her friend. Her hero.
She would forever be in his debt.
"Do you remember?" Kent repeats again in a deadpanned voice.
"Yes." She replies.
"Good girl. Whatever commotion you hear, Do. Not. Move. Stay in place. Do I make myself clear?"
"Crystal clear." Feeling the dread fill her insides. She was just as numb as her voice sounded. "Kent?" The deep breaths he was taking revealed he was walking and talking at he same time.
"Yes?"
"Stay alive for me will you?" Closing her eyes and saying a prayer silently.
"I will." Kent's tone held a promise Camelia was sure he meant.
______________________________________________________________________
Readers, voters, and commenters you have my sincerest thanks ahead of time!
I would love to hear as many thoughts on what you think will happen next! Next chapter will be intense so expect that!
Please, vote, share, and comment!
Thanks!
Shaz