We were leaving the city and panic was mounting in my chest. I fought the urge to lash out, knowing it would just make him mad. It would be better to stay calm and wait for an opportunity to get away.
My blood went cold when Stan turned off the highway. I suddenly saw another car and sucked in a breath as it slowly went by, I mouthed, “Help me,” silently at the driver. I didn’t even know if the man behind the wheel saw it, but I had to try.
Stan drove down the sandy rutted road. I gripped the dashboard of the car and fought down a primal scream rising up my throat. When I saw the desolate area we were in, courage failed me. "Please let me go?" I begged.
"Shut up, Ella!" he said harshly.
The tires of the sedan screeched as Stan brought it to a stop in front of a dilapidated looking house. Weeds had overgrown and climbed onto the porch.
He killed the engine and grinned at me. "Welcome home!"
I looked around and shivered. No one would ever find me here. There were no neighbors and no one to hear me if I screamed.
His grin disappeared. “Get out and don’t think of doing anything stupid. I’m not averse to putting a bullet through your head.”
I didn’t doubt it. Besides, where would I run to? There seemed to be nothing for miles and Stan had a gun. I grew frantic.
“Walk,” he ordered.
I trudged up the wooden steps, afraid they would give way. I didn’t know what would be worse—to be stabbed by a piece of wood or to be shot by Stan.
Stan pushed the door open and I stepped into a dark interior. As my eyes got used to the dim light, as I made out two straight backed chairs and ropes on one of them. I took a step back at the realization that the rope was for me.
Stan placed a hand on the small of my back like a lover would and then shoved me across the room so hard, I lost my footing and fell. I inhaled dust and coughed hard.
“Get up!” Stan yelled.
I hurriedly scrambled to my feet, knowing he would kick me if I didn’t.
“Sit there.” Any pretense at friendliness was now gone.
When I sat down, he came behind me and proceeded to tie my hands behind the chair.
“Please don’t do this Stan,” I said to him.
“This is just the beginning,” Stan sneered. “I’m going to do things to you that are going to make you wish you were dead.”
The sound of my heartbeat thrashed in my ears. Fear coursed through my veins. I didn’t want to die. I thought about Luke. We had something special and I wanted to see what we could be together. I had never told him that I loved him. I would die and he wouldn’t know how much I had loved him.
“I’m going to cut away every stitch of clothing on you and then fuck you all night. In every fucking hole.” He emphasized the last part.
I shuddered.
He came around the chair and stared at me before striding off.
I had to free myself. He could shoot me in the back as I was running away. I didn’t care. I wished I’d tried to run when I got out of the car. I fought with the rope, twisting my hands this way and that way.
I must have moved too much because in the next moment, I toppled over.
The noise brought Stan hurrying back. “Were you trying to get away?” he said, and made a clicking noise with his mouth. “Now, I’m going to untie you, but you had better behave yourself. I’m going to fuck you just like I used to and I expect you to make appreciative noises. Tell me what a great lover I am. Can you do that?”
I bit my lower lip. I had to wait for the right moment when he was vulnerable. Then I would make my move. Meanwhile, I would play dumb.
I nodded.
He glared at me with that evil grin. “That’s the Ella, I know. Whore to her dying breath.”
Luke
My hands were shaking as I drove home. Paul had called me and said in a barely controlled panic that he’d found Molly alone with Bean and no sign of Ella. He had tried to ask Molly what had happened but she wouldn’t respond. She had just stared at him mutely. She had gone back into her shell, but the immediate problem was Ella.
In my gut, I knew something had happened to Ella. And that something—was Stan.
I called the police as I drove and when I got home, a police car was already parked outside. I brought the car to a screeching halt and jumped out. I sprinted up to the house and found Molly in the living room with Paul and two policemen. “I’m the one who called you,” I said by way of explanation, and went straight to Molly.
I knelt down in front of her and she threw her arms around my neck. I held her tight and listened to the rapid beat of her heart. “It’s okay sweetheart,” I crooned. “You’re safe now.”
We stayed that way for a while and then I gently pulled back. "Tell me what happened. Where's Ella?"
Tears filled her eyes and her lips trembled.
"Please tell us so that these good policemen can go and find her and bring her back to us," I said to her, keeping my voice low and soothing.
She glanced at the two policemen and then back at me. In halting sentences, my Molly told me everything from when they had been playing in the garden to the man with the gun, taking Ella with him.
Even before she finished speaking, one of the policemen was on his phone giving instructions about CCTV footage.
"You've done well sweetheart," I said to Molly when she
