Chapter Twenty
Camila
Camila blinked her eyes open. She didn’t know how many times she nearly fell asleep, but every time, something woke her up. This time, when her eyes opened, she realized she was alone in the room, and wondered where in the house Adrien was.
Not that she was thinking of running away, now. With Adrien having her collared, the second she was out of the house, even if she could hide, he still had the remote with him. All he had to do was press a button, and if he was sadistic enough, she would suffer a lot before she died.
No thanks,she thought with a shudder. If she was going to do anything, she’d have to get that controller away from him first.
She was lying on the couch trying to recover her lost strength. Her body still felt weak after the last time he used that collar on her. If she let him do that to her again, she didn’t think she could take it. Heck, even if she did run, she was sure she couldn’t run far in the condition she was in.
With nothing else to do, Camila looked around the room.
It’s a nice house,she thought. Sort of large, too, at least compared to my apartment. There was probably a whole family living in here at one point.
The inside of the farmhouse was decorated simply. The living room had several seats arranged around the room, with pillows and throws on them. There was a coffee table and some scattered stools, some of which held vases of dying flowers. It was daylight and the curtains were pulled open, with the sunlight washing in and the cream walls and brown tones of the room made it all look so pretty and cozy. But, even though she wasn’t looking at it, Camila knew there was a corpse on the floor. Besides, it wasn’t like she could be happy, ending up in such a beautiful place with a psychopath intent on hurting her. She had to wonder why Tansy’s corpse now rested in the house. She certainly hadn’t died there. And her body was starting to smell.
However, that wasn’t what really worried her, though. No, what really worried her was that she still didn’t know exactly what Adrien’s plan was. He had put an electronic collar on her to control her, but she had to wonder if he would deliberately try to hurt her with it even when she did whatever he said just to mess with her? He obviously didn’t mean to kill her in the meantime, but would he later?
What am I going to do?
The question had been running through her mind since she woke up bound in a trunk, and she still didn’t have an answer. Now, especially, since she had no way to run away from him.
Even though her fear of him had gone up even higher, her resolve hadn't changed. Whatever she had to do for him… as long as it was something she could stomach, she would do it. If it kept her alive a little longer and gave the police more time to find them…
Camila heard some sounds that made her jump slightly. It was coming from further in the house, though she hadn't moved from the couch after Adrien dumped her there.
What was he doing? It took Camila a moment to realize her body had stiffened, and her chest ached with uneasiness. As much as she didn’t want to be in his presence, him not being in her sights made her worried. He probably wouldn’t tell her what his plans were even if she asked, not that she was going to, and she might not be able to see it in his actions, but if it meant she could get some read on him, she would interact with him.
It’s not like I have much of a choice,she thought with a sigh, letting her eyes slip closed. We’re stuck here with each other for who knows how long. Maybe I could try to distract him, or convince him to let me go and stop this… I wouldn’t care if he decided to run off somewhere to escape the law, I’d wash my hands of him the moment I got free.
There was a long moment of tranquil silence, before it was ruined by more sounds in the house that made her flinch. Only, they didn’t just die down this time. She could hear footsteps moving around, and she felt like they were coming closer. Her whole body struggled not to tense up, because she didn’t want him to think she was awake yet. Maybe she could overhear something useful like in the movies when he thought she was out of it…
She knew it when Adrien was in the same room as her, because his steps became louder. And then, with every step he took, she could feel her heart start to clench. She started imagining each step becoming even louder, echoing around the room, as if someone a lot bigger than Adrien was coming after her. Her heart started beating fast, but she thought she did a good job of pretending to be asleep. She was curled in on herself with her chin tucked to her chest so he might not notice, anyway.
When she felt him touch her, her insides froze cold. She wanted to jump and scream, try to get away from him as fast as she could. She thought she’d lost her hold on herself and her body was trembling, giving her away.
He didn’t hurt her, though. His fingers touched her elbow, then slid down her arm to her bound hands. She felt some tugging, and something cold in between her wrists, then the tape was cut.
She couldn’t help it. Her eyes snapped open, and when she looked up, it was to see Adrien already staring at her face. He’d definitely caught her act.
“So you are awake,” he quipped, releasing her and pulling away.
He pulled back, a pen knife in his hand, likely what he’d used to cut her loose. He put it in his back pocket as he backed away to take the love seat a few steps away.
Slowly, her eyes intent on him, she moved to sit up, pulling her arms from behind her to rub her wrists, then her aching shoulders. Adrien didn’t seem to be as interested in her, though, as soon as he sat down, picking up a bag from beside him that she only just noticed. He must have carried it into the room and she didn’t hear it when he put it down.
What’s in there?she thought with fear.
Right then, just about anything he did would make her feel very afraid. She couldn’t trust him, so any movement could be something he said casually, or carrying his intent to hurt her, and there was no way to tell the difference. She might as well go by the assumption that he was a crazy psychopath as she dealt with him, so everything would make her suspicious.
Crap.
They hadn't been like this for long, and her head already ached from all the furious thinking. Before, she could have at least made assumptions of what he would do based on what she thought she knew of him. Like how she hadn't thought he would actually go around carrying a gun, or try to go against the police, and he’d done both of those things. Camila wasn’t stupid, but she’d never been in a situation that put her mental capabilities to the test already, and with her life on the line, to boot.
Samuel,she pleaded internally. Please find me before I go crazy, too, staying with this bastard.
“It’s good that you’re awake,” Adrien said, glancing up at her. “I would have woken you up if you weren’t.”