I wake slowlyto the sound of my own stomach growling from hunger. I can’t tell how long it’s been since my captor left me. The white walls of this room steal time. It may have been hours or days at this point.
I move over to the cooler thatheleft for me. Popping off the top, I see there’s stuff to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches—squeezy packs like they give to kids—and bottles of water. Thank fuck because my tongue feels like sand paper in my mouth. I guzzle almost a whole bottle before feeling like I won’t die from dehydration.
Well, that’s not really a bad idea, maybe I should try that. My eyes widen at the thought as it steals into my mind like a thief in the night. Should I end it? Steal Rax’sPrecious Girlout from right under his nose? That would probably hurt him the most. I laugh at the idea of taking away the one thing he seems to truly want, me. The only sad part at this point would be not witnessing his face when he walks in to find his Lucy Girl lifeless on the fucking floor of this hellhole—sorry,room—he made for me.
Shaking my head, I clear my mind of those dark thoughts, at least for now.
Fuck, I hate leaving her there alone, but I have to do this. On the video feed, I watch her grab a bottle of water and am relieved she’s taking care of herself, in some small way, while I’m not there.
“Next!” the chick at the desk calls at me in a nasally, annoyed voice. This mousy bitch is lucky I don’t kill for fun ‘cause I’d cut out her fucking tongue for talking to me like that.
“One ticket to Minnesota,” I say, throwing some cash on the counter at her.
“That’s enough for first class…Youwant a first class ticket?” Mousy asks, looking me up and down. Her face screws up when she says the word you. This fucking cunt. I’m in all black, but my Puerto Rican skin is making her racism show.
“Listen, you little racist ratty bitch, I’m paying for the ticket so give it to me,” I growl at her, my eyes squinting in rage. The girl gasps at my words, a flush creeping up from her neck. She probably doesn’t get called out for her racist bullshit often.
“Yes… Yes, sir. Give me one second here.” She types something quickly into her computer screen, not making eye contact with me again. Good. Being away from my Lucy Girl is already making me want to slit someone’s throat. Luckily, I think Jer will want my help more than he is expecting to. She hands over the ticket, barely letting her fingers get close to mine, but I don’t give a shit anymore. She was shamed for her thoughts, and now I’ll move on. I head toward the lounge, waiting to board my flight. Luckily, I do the pre-screening security checks so I can just waltz right past the lines.
My phone buzzes in my pocket; Lucy must have gone to the bathroom. I have a system setup with motion detectors over the toilet. Since I’m not there to flush for her, I had to find another way to make it happen. No way am I risking leaving her water in the basin. I hit ‘accept’ just as the speaker above my head calls for my flight to board.I’ll be back soon, my Precious Girl.
CHAPTERFOUR
I wakefor what feels like the hundredth time since he left me, even though I’m sure it’s only been a couple of days. I still can’t believe it. He’s fucked with my mind and body for so long, and now, I’m upset he’s gone. Fucking gone. I’m trapped in this white room, with nothing—not even a sound but the toilet flushing, my bed, and the damn cooler he so lovingly left for me.
I’m staring at the toilet when a thought pops into my head. If I run at the toilet from the corner of the room, I could try and hit the side of the porcelain just right on my temple to cause enough damage.
I stand shakily. It’s now or never. He said he would be back quickly. I swing my arms up and down, my muscles aching… I really haven’t been moving around at all during my capture.
I step into the corner and take a deep breath. I refuse to keep living like this. If he wanted his Precious then he should have done the normal thing and fucking talked to me. I let the anger from everything he has done consume me and I yell.
“Ahhhh!” I scream a cathartic release as I sprint as hard as I can across the tiny room and then dive for the porcelain throne. I tuck my hands at my sides, fighting the natural response to catch myself. My head bangs against the side, causing an ache to shoot down my body, but that definitely wasn’t as hard as I needed it to be. I push off the floor shakily. I need to fucking do this thing.
Slowly, I head back to the corner.Come on, Lucy, just get this pathetic life over with.I criticize myself, thinking about all the times I was so pitiful. Believing Andrew actually loved me and wasn’t just using me. A tear slips from my eye as I take deep breaths.
“Fuck Andrew!” I scream as I dash out again, aiming closer to the bowl of the toilet this time. I trip on my own feet, my hands flying to my chest on instinct, as fear engulfs me. ‘I’m a fucking idiot. I let the depression win,’I think before my temple connects right where I wanted it to and everything goes black.
CHAPTERFIVE
As soon asI land back in California, I check the feed in Lucy’s room and am confused. It looks like it’s empty, but I don’t have a notification that the door opened.
Where the fuck is she? My eyes scramble over the screen, searching for her, and as I’m getting into my new Camaro, that’s when I see her little toes. She’s on the floor. She’s lying on the fucking floor. My jaw clenches at the annoyance of not being able to see her. Why the fucking fuck didn’t I put a second camera on that side of the room? I stare for a second without blinking, my eyes drying out as I wait for her to move. When she doesn’t, I push the button to ignite the engine, flick the car into reverse, and get the hell out of this airport parking lot.
Tears prick my eyes, but I blink them away rapidly. The fear overwhelms my very soul. Why isn’t she moving her damn toes? I flinch at a car horn that blares at me as I fly through an intersection. I have to get to her. To my Lucy Girl.
It’s three in the morning, so I’m not surprised there is little traffic as I press the gas pedal harder, going at least thirty over the speed limit.
There’s a man outside of the warehouse. A man that doesn’t look like the average homeless person from around this area. I slow slightly as I turn into my spot, which happens to be right in front of his suit-clad body, and ram right into him. His body crushes against the side of the building and falls as I reverse, putting the car in park and jumping out.
“Who the fuck are you?” I demand as I charge forward, grabbing his mint blue tie and hoisting him up. The smell of alcohol wafts from him, and I realize that this may just be a random drunken bastard and not someone looking for my Lucy.
“Whatttt… I’m no… no one,” he slurs at me, holding his ribs as he tries to talk. Yeah, I maybe should have investigated before ramming him. But I don’t have the time to overthink that.
“You…. you hit me…” he gasps at me, breathing his disgusting breath into my face. My eyes haze over at his words, and anger envelops the fear I have for how I’m going to find Lucy when I go into that building. I whip out the pocket knife that I always keep on me and press it to his jugular.
His blood spurts out at me, coating my face before I can drop him. I move to the car and hit the garage door button on the dash before going back and dragging him into the building. I will have to deal with his fucking remains later. For now, my Lucy Girl needs me.
My head is fucking throbbing.I must have drank too much while waiting for Andrew last night…the thought a moan in my head. I reach up to my temples to rub away the ache. Blinking my eyes open, I realize I’m in a sobbing person’s arms. Their body shakes around me.