The only thing I remember fully after that is his boot raising over my head, a sting of searing white pain, and then – blackness.
When I came to, both my ears were ringing, and I had a nasty headache. I brought my hand to where the bastard had kicked me, but as I did so, I felt hands grab my arms away from me and stand me up. One of them pinned me up against the wall. I could make out the leader’s voice, seething, “If this bitch ain’t gonna talk, we’re gonna have to figure out a way to force her.”
I fluttered my eyes open, and I saw him lift his hand above his head. I cowered down, trying to get as far from him as possible, though I knew it was fruitless. As he came towards me, though, I heard Maddie’s small voice cry out, “Wait! Don’t hurt her! I’m here – I’m right here!”
“Maddie, no!” I screamed at the top of my lungs, my voice going hoarse.
The men laughed as they let me down to turn their attention to her. The leader circled her like a wolf, tousling her hair. “So,” he said slowly, “you’re the Maddie Ross, the Vice’s daughter? You don’t look like anything worth protecting. But I’ve got my orders.”
He snapped his fingers, and one of the men grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder. She screamed, reaching out her arms towards me as I tried to fight back against the man holding me. I watched as he took her out of my sight. That was the last time I saw her, the last time I heard her voice.
After that, the men threw me down my stairs and put me in my living room. The leader made phone calls to determine our fate, ultimately deciding it was better to keep us both alive – at least for now. Apparently they might need us if Cal came looking. We were that extra bit of leverage they could have against his enemy.
Then, they put us in the back of a van with bags over our head. When Erin tried to speak to me, they slammed the wooden handle of a hammer against her head till she stopped talking and her body slumped up against mine. When we got to wherever we were going, they put us into this trunk, where we’ve been ever since, only let out a few times to go to the bathroom, get a drink, and for a woman to place snack cakes in our tied hands.
I count the seconds down in my head. I do them slowly – trying to make sure I don’t underestimate how much time has passed in our moving prison. I’m well over five thousand before the car pulls to a stop again and I hear someone approach the trunk. As light streams in the back, I look up to see a man holding an old Polaroid camera up to his head. A light beam flashes, making me blink. He hands the developing photo to another man dressed in black.
Another man holds out a cup of clear liquid that I drink quickly, eagerly. My dry tongue tries to ask for more, but they just laugh and then push the trunk closed again. I count the seconds again, this time to the tune of my favorite songs. Erin’s body turns over once more, and I cuddle close, praying my warmth will keep her alive.
“We’re going to get out of here,” I whisper hoarsely. But as it becomes harder to focus on the amount of seconds passing by and the bumps feel more like waves washing over me, I lose hope that my end isn’t anywhere but here in this trunk with Cal a million miles away.
Chapter 26: Remembering You
MICHELLE
10,345.
10,346.
10,347.
…
Each second that passes is another I spend in complete and utter agony. Each second that passes is another in which I am kept in the dark. I’ve reset my clock a few times now – each after someone has opened the door to the trunk I’m currently being kept in. But now we’re getting to the three-hour mark, and I’m starting to grow anxious.
Unlike before, the car hasn’t moved at all. At least, I haven’t felt it move or noticed the engine turn on. My nostrils and throat haven’t felt the sting of the noxious gas fill my lungs as I try to gasp into the bandana wrapped around my gagged mouth. But I also haven’t heard any sounds either. No muffled voices, no footsteps just outside. Nothing. It’s as if Erin and I have been forgotten.
So all I can do is wait and count. Wait and count. And think, too. I’m not going be able to sleep; that’s far from happening. So, instead, my mind races with forbidden, horrible thoughts about what led me here and how I am partially responsible for all this. It’s my fault that my roommate Erin’s cold, motionless body is laying next to me and it’s my fault Maddie disappeared. I have to take some credit for my own life hanging by a thread.