There's an awful stench that lingers in the air. Like a mix of sewer water and dead rats.
I slowly open my eyes, groaning when pain shoots up my spine and up to my head. It feels as though someone rammed a car into the left side of my head. I try to move my arms and legs, only to realise I'm tied to a wooden chair. I try to free myself, but it's tied so tight every time I move, my skin burns.
I wail, tears streaming down my face. I feel furious, but all I can do right now is cry and hope that whoever is behind all this won't kill me.
I look around with blurry eyes, scoping the place out for any clues as to where I am. The room is dim except for the light hanging right above my head. There is one door but no windows. I squint my eyes to look at the door. There's something engraved on it, but it's too dark to see. I hear water dripping in the corner off the room, but I can't see anything.
I keep moving my feet, trying to escape free from the restraint of the rope, but all I am doing right now is cutting off my blood circulation. "Someone help me," I mutter to myself through sobs. I feel completely helpless and at the mercy of whoever it is that put me here.
That bitch, Eleanor. I knew there was something fishy about her as soon as I met her at the gym the first time.
I shut my mouth, trying my best to cry as silently as possible when I hear heavy footsteps nearing the door. The person unlocks the door and opens it. A burly man steps inside. I can't see his face properly until he steps closer.
He is holding a tray off what I am assuming is food. He grunts when he comes into view. Now that he's close enough I can see him properly. His eyebrows are pierced, and the tattoo of a woman peeks out of his black shirt.
"Hey, where am I?" I ask softly at first so that he doesn't get mad. He doesn't respond as he sets the tray on the table beside me. "Why am I here?" I ask but gain no response from him yet again.
I look at the tray of food. There are boiled broccoli and carrots, mashed potatoes, and burnt slices of meat. There's no steam coming out of it so it must be cold. They also gave me a full glass of water on the side.
He picks the spoon up, scooping some mashed potatoes and then putting a slice of meat on top. I turn my head away when he holds the spoon in front of my mouth. He grabs my chin in his hand, pressing the tip of the spoon to my lips. I press my lips together forcefully. I currently have no appetite to stomach anything.
I'm shocked when he pries my mouth open with his hand and force the food into my mouth. I gag, spitting the food out. "I don't want to eat!" I yell, but quickly regret it when pain struck my head. Eleanor punched me so hard I'm surprised I didn't get memory loss.
The spoon clatters on the tray, and the man exits the room, leaving me behind with the tray of food. He leaves the door open behind him. This might just be my chance to escape.
"Well, this is lovely." A voice echoes from the doorway.
"Who's there?" I mumble, the tears on my cheeks starting to dry up.
Someone steps into the light, laughing all the way. I shiver with fear. "I'm Eric Reese, pleasure meeting you." The man smiles. His hair is charcoal black, but I can see the roots are starting to grey. If I didn't know any better, I would think he was a good man behind that warm smile, but kidnapping someone and then tying them to a chair hardly seems nice to me.
"What do you want?"
He dips a finger into the mashed potatoes on my food tray and licks his finger clean. "I hope my brother didn't hurt you too badly."
"Claude?" I ask, confused.
"Yes, that's his name. I told him and little Eleanor to leave the torturing to me, but they just never listen to me."
"You're Hunter's father?"
"Bingo. How is he, by the way?"
"You disgusting fuck! Leave me out of this." I'm fully crying by now. My hands are shaking uncontrollably. I've never been so angry and scared of something in my life. The fact that this man got away with raping Isabella and is now getting away with blackmailing his own son and threatening people is beyond me.
"What a dirty mouth. I don't know what my son sees in you."
"Go to hell." I hiss.
He laughs at this, sitting down on the table beside me and pulling on a strand of my hair that has come loose. I try to pull my head away, but being tied to a chair doesn't exactly give you space to move very far. "I'm here to make a deal with you, little one."
I reply with silence, lips slightly trembling in fear. "I will let you free now but only if you play along with my game."
"What game?" I ask between sobs.
"I need you to make sure that Hunter doesn't know Eleanor works for me." He turns, pushing the tray off the table. The food splatters onto the floor. "I also need you to convince my son that you're not interested in him. Do everything you can to avoid him at all costs. Make him think that you hate him." He snickers. "I don't need another wretch like you to fuck up my plan."
"What plan? What do you want from Hunter?"
He slaps me. It's hard enough to hurt me, but not so hard that it will leave a mark. "Learn to keep your mouth shut. Now, if you play along with my game, I'll leave you and your family alone." My eyebrows raise in anticipation of getting out of this mess. "For now," he adds.
"What if I don't do it?" I mumble.
"Listen, I am going to be straightforward with you. I know people who can kill your family and make it look like a horrific accident. Don't test me."
I nod, feeling too weak to even protest. I am too afraid to say anything. This man is clearly capable of doing terrible things to people, and that is exactly the reason why I won't risk saying anything that might anger him. I can't possibly say no or he might just kill me on the spot.
He grins with satisfaction at my reply and marches right out of the door. I slump. Every muscle in my body is tense from being tied to the hard chair so tight.
How can I ever stay away from Hunter? I can't possibly try to convince him I hate him. No matter how much of a piece of shit he is for getting me into this situation, I can never hate him. That scares me. The fact that he has me wrapped around his finger scares me a lot. He has so much control over me that if he asked me to jump off a cliff for him, I would probably do it.
I feel lost. I don't know what to do anymore. What's right? What's wrong? What can I do to get out of this mess?
Just as I'm in the middle of my thoughts, the light above me turns off. I gasp, trying to see anything in the dark room. "Hey, let me out!" I shout into the void, eyes starting to brim with tears again. My voice echoes throughout the empty room. This is looking more like the ending of a horror movie.
I keep waiting until I hear movement to the back of me. The steps get closer and closer before a cloth is pressed to my mouth from behind. I try to wiggle free, but as soon as I do my head starts spinning. My eyes waters as they start to flutter close. My limbs that were once tense now fully relax as I fall into a deep sleep.
+
I dream of Hunter and his dreamy, green eyes staring at me, uncovering all my deepest secrets. They roam my body like there's nothing they desire more other than me. His smile is sweet when he grabs my hand, pressing a kiss to my open palm.
"Honey, wake up. You have school."
I groan, clutching the side of my head in pain as I open my eyes. I'm surprised to see that I'm in my bed, tucked comfortably under the blanket. Had I been dreaming this whole time? No, that wouldn't explain the throbbing pain in my head.
My mother knocks on the door again. "Leah, wake up, come on. You're going to be late if you don't wake up now."
"I'm awake," I mumble tiredly. If I could stay home today, I would, but then my mother would never let me go out of the house on a Sunday night ever again. "I'm awake," I say more loudly this time so my mother can hear through the door. I hear her walk down the stairs. She's probably making breakfast.
I fall back into bed, groaning at how tired I feel. Not just physically, but mentally. Why couldn't all this just wait until after graduation? At least I wouldn't have to worry about two things at once.
I reluctantly get myself ready before going down to the kitchen to grab my school lunch. "Here you go," my mother says as she hands me the brown lunch bag. "Want me to drive you to school?"
"No, it's fine. I'll take the bus." I hug her, but don't let go until she pulls away from me.
She cups my cheeks in both of her hands to look at my face up close. I complain, trying to pry her hands away.
"Are you alright? You came back pretty late last night."
"Yeah, I am fine."
"What library did you go to?" I watch her scoop some honey into her warm tea, completely oblivious that I am standing there with my palms coated in sweat from fear that I might break down in front of her and be forced to tell her that I was kidnapped last night by a lunatic trying to kill his own son.
"Bradbury."
"Oh, I used to love going there with my friends. We didn't even read or borrowed any books. It was like our hangout spot. I might go there now, actually."
"Cool. I gotta go. Bye, Mum. Stay safe. Love you." I jog outside of the house, my heart beating so fast it might as well break my ribcage.
I pull my jacket tighter against me, trying to keep myself warm even though some sun is peeking out of the thick clouds. My mind feels so numb from overthinking. I am tired of constantly being told to stay away from the one person I can't imagine avoiding. Kaylin always tells me, 'Everything happens for a reason', but I can't possibly think of a reason why the universe is trying extremely hard to keep me away from Hunter. First, my family, now, his crazy father.
I scan my bus card on the scanner and take a seat right at the back, hoping no one notices me. I don't even want to think of anything. I just want to sit down with some ice cream and a bucket of soda. I don't want to worry about anything. It might be better if I just lock myself in. I think, for now, I should keep away from socialising with anyone until I get this sorted out. There is always a way to get out of a mess.
My phone vibrates from inside my pocket. I grab it, looking at the text from the unknown number.
Unknown: Your boy lost. Sad face.
I know immediately who it is. Nobody calls him 'my boy' except for that bitch, Eleanor.
Me: Leave me alone you psycho.
I don't think I have ever typed a reply so fast in my life before. I would love to use her face as a punching bag.
Unknown sent an image.
I hesitantly click on it, first making sure no one can see what I am about to see. As I wait for the image to load I chew on the inside of my mouth nervously. When the picture finally loads my heart sinks. It's a picture of my mother from right outside the window of our living room.
"Stop the bus!" I yell.
-
Okay, Ik I've been updating super slow but I have exams for three weeks and I am kinda struggling to fit in studying and writing at the same time. I'll try to update every like, 3 or 4 days sorry peaceeee c: xx
And this is also a super boring chapter cause my head is literally going to explode I suck at exams ha