Crunch.
As she watched the man inhale the air around him, he looked crazed, his appearance disheveled. Then he slicked his overgrown hair back in place, and you could see the slight smile come to his lips …
Taking the small step back she had taken forward, she realized the true danger she was in.
“A-Are you going to h-hurt m-me?”
She saw something flash in his eyes, his smile disappearing.
As he got up from the chair, Chloe held her breath once more. Then, as he stalked toward her, she backed up as far as she could with each step he took toward her until her back met the wall.
Lucca stopped when his body was mere inches from hers, leaning down ever so slightly to bring his tall stature closer to hers. “Have I ever hurt you, Chloe?” His voice was an octave deeper, coming out darker than she had ever heard him speak before.
She slowly shook her head, afraid not to answer the demon who had her in his grasp.
His gaze trailed down the scar that ran from her eyebrow to her cheek, making her swear she could almost feel his light caress.
“P-Please, can I-I go?” she pleaded, fearing what her future might hold from this moment forward.
Lucca stared down at her, bringing his hand up close to her face. “I don’t think you understand.”
Chloe’s breath caught in her throat. She desperately wanted to close her eyes, but his wouldn’t let her, forcing her to remain looking up at him.
“There is no leaving,” he continued, careful not to touch her, though he twirled a strand of her silky black hair around his finger. “You’re mine now, Chloe.” He dropped the strand, and it fell upon her chest that was now rising and falling heavily.
Watching the demon back up toward the nightstand, she started to realize that the devil was never her worst nightmare.
Lucca opened the music box once more, letting her lullaby fill the room, before disappearing and closing her inside her new prison.
He is. The Boogieman.
Her legs gave out, and she slowly sunk to the floor. She grasped her legs close to her chest as the beautiful melody started to trail off, almost coming to an end.
You’re mine now, Chloe.
Four
If I Catch You, I Won’t Be Able to Stop Myself
The devil had been the one to always haunt her, but he never came. In his place was the boogieman, promising her his kidnapping was going to be so much worse than her first by the devil.
Chloe stayed unmoving on the floor for what seemed like hours, now completely numb as she stared at the wall in front of her. It wasn’t until the sun rose, shining through the room and warming her skin, that her eyes moved to her luggage that Lucca must have brought in with her.
My cell phone! Quickly going to her bags, she desperately began looking for her phone. It’s gone … It was then that Lucca’s words hit her. “There is no leaving.”
With her bag open, she caught a glimpse of her gold music box. Reaching in, she pulled out the fragile broken piece, taking it to the nightstand and setting it beside the polished unbroken one.
Seeing them side by side, she realized how much damage the one she’d had since childhood had taken. It had been severely cracked, leaving it unable to play the lullaby she had once heard every night before falling asleep.
Turning the key on the polished one, she began listening to the tune.
How did he get this? How did he know?
As the song played, realization hit, taking her back to seven months ago when she went into a little shop that had the old music box for sale.
Every now and then, she would check the Internet for the piece, seeing if she could somehow find it again, allowing her to hear the tune once more. Finally, her dream had come true when a shop close to where she lived posted it for sale on their website. She had gone the next day, able to hear the tune for just a moment before the owner had told her the price for the piece was three thousand dollars. It was just a little later when she …
Chloe opened the door to the shop, heading straight to the spot where she had seen the beautiful box just a week before. However, looking at the display table, she saw it was gone.
Figuring it might have been moved, she scanned the shop.
“Hello,” the familiar older woman’s voice greeted her. She could tell by the woman’s features that she seemed worried.
“H-Hi.”
“I’m so sorry to tell you, but if you’re looking for the music box, I sold it just yesterday.”
Wringing her hands, Chloe looked down at the floor, covering her face in a veil of hair. “Oh.”
“I tried waiting for you, but a man came in right after you left, wanting it. I refused to sell it to him, but then he came back yesterday, offering me more money and explaining why he had to have it. I’m really sorry.”
“I-It’s okay. I wasn’t able to afford it, anyway … I just wanted to hear it one more time.”
Closing the music box Lucca had left open, she silenced the room once more as she tried to grasp the fact that Lucca had this in his possession for seven months now. Why? Never did she see this coming from Lucca of all people. He was the brother to her best friend’s boyfriend, Nero.
He couldn’t just kidnap me without anyone knowing, right?
Glancing around the room, she suddenly realized what she hadn’t before. She was in their family home, so someone would have to come by … Maria! Lucca and Nero’s sister lived here. She will help me.
Going to the door, she put her hand on the doorknob, taking a deep breath before she slowly turned it, easily pulling the door open. Peeking out into the hall to see if the coast was clear, she tried her best to navigate to Maria’s room, which she had only been in once before when she had come over with Elle.
Believing she found the correct room, she quietly knocked on the door. When there was no response, she carefully opened it to find that she had indeed found the correct room, but there was no Maria.
“Come with me,” a deep, unfamiliar voice came from behind her, scaring her in place. “Now!” he boomed when she didn’t move to turn around.
Slowly turning, she saw a huge man in a suit before he turned himself around and walked down the hall and toward the stairs.
Her feet reluctantly began to move, afraid that the big man would find other means to get her to come with him if she didn’t do it herself.
Following him down the steps, through the foyer, and then to the big, open floorplan of the main living room with kitchen, that was when she saw him.
“I caught her going into your sister’s room,” the big, suited man told him before he stood against the wall, crossing his arms.
She watched Lucca give a slight smile as he poured himself a cup of coffee.
“Come sit down, darlin’,” Lucca said, motioning to the stool at the big kitchen island.