ChapterFifteen
SCAR
Jagger has been poundingon the trap door for a good ten minutes, fuming and cursing, while I sit on the step below him. We’re both beyond exhausted at this point and my inner thoughts have become a transcription of a goodbye letter…
To whoever finds this,
We tried our damnedest to get out. We almost made it. But Jagger Cole’s continuous shouting and swearing drove me batshit crazy. So I killed him and ran away.
Don’t look for me,
Scarlett Sunder
“Got it!” he says, and I jump to my feet.
“You did it!” I hug his legs, grinning from ear to ear. “I never doubted you for a second.”
The note thing will be our little secret.
I need to get off this ladder. I’m officially losing my mind.
As he goes up, I follow his lead. Any hope I had for light quickly diminishes when I don’t see any, but getting out of that tunnel is progress, so we’ll take what we can get.
Once Jagger’s feet are on the ground, he reaches down and takes my hand. As soon as I’m out and off that ladder, I breathe a heavy sigh of relief. “Where are we?” I ask, looking around.
There’s a glint of moonlight shining through some windows, offering a small glimpse of the area. “We’re in a house.”
“Yeah. Looks like someone’s cabin.” Jagger pulls on the rope, raising the ladder, and once it settles in place, he closes the trapdoor. “But we’re out of that dungeon, so that’s a victory all on its own.”
My thoughts exactly.
I walk over to one of the windows. “Jagger,” I say, peering out at the yard in front of me. “Wearein someone’s house.” It looks like there’s a porch out front and a yard with a short lamppost that isn’t on. “Oh my god,” I gasp. “There are footprints. Fresh ones.”
Jagger comes up behind where I stand in front of the window. His hands press to the wall on either side of me, caging me in. “I figured. Told ya I heard someone slam a door shut. If I had to guess, that fuckwad was getting ready to come down and heard our voices so he slammed the trapdoor closed. He must’ve gone around to a different entrance and came down to lock us in. Probably didn’t think we’d find his house.”
Panic sets in. I spin around, facing him. “We need to go. Like, right now.”
Jagger reaches out, cradling my face in his hands. “We’re safe now. I won’t let anything happen to you.” His lips press to mine and my nerves slightly settle. When he pulls back, he says, “We need to look around. This could be our only chance at finding a clue to who’s doing this.”
I nod against his hands.
“All right. Start searching for a light switch.”
We both run our hands along the wall. Bypassing the outside door, I find a switch. I flip it up, then down, then up and down again. “Either the bulb is burned out or there’s no electricity.”
“Dammit,” he huffs when he finds and flips another switch and nothing happens.
“Maybe it’s an abandoned cabin and it’s just some homeless person who likes to torment people.”
“Doubtful. He’s got some sort of connection to the Beckett family and that room below. You’re not just a random target.”
The thought leaves an unsettling feeling in the pit of my stomach. I look out the window again and whisper to myself, “What does he want from me?”
I’m snapped out of my thoughts when a beam of light hits the side of my face. I look up to see Jagger with a wide grin and a flashlight in his hand. “Yes! Yes! Yes!” I chant. “Okay. Let's do this.”
I lock my arm around Jagger’s, our hip bones crashing together from my tight grip on him. My eyes follow the beam of the flashlight, as he moves it around the room. “It’s furnished.”
“Yeah. Everything is old and dusty as fuck, though.”