Kidnapped

By Renée Palmer

Cassy could feel her vision narrowing. Blackness crept into the peripherals of her sight. She clutched the blade, bare and glinting in her clenched fingers. The blood cascaded down her forearm and pooled beside her shoe. It was her own, but she wasn’t aware.

The man stood in front of her, his sliver eyes flashed as a grin spilt his face. He was an attractive man with thick black hair and sharp features, but he could not be alive.

She looked down and began to grow dizzy. She was desperate to stay conscious, but the odds weren’t in her favor as the blood continued to flow. He began to swim in front of her, but she knew he was standing still. She felt the needle then, not the needle where you feel your limbs go numb, but the needle where you feel someone injecting something into you.

There was a small tube sticking out of her arm. It had the drops of purple liquid, still hugging the walls. It had drained into her without the assistance of the plunger. The man began to make his way towards her. The blade slipped from her palm, further slicing her hand. Her knees buckled. She wanted to run, knowing too late that she could never take him. Just as she felt herself collapse, his hands grabbed her arms. She slumped forward, her brain going fuzzy and spots filling her view. He laid her on the ground and she was out.

She woke up in the dark, her eyes refusing to adjust. She was bouncing softly and could hear the roar of tires on pavement. She could faintly feel the tug of tape against her bare skin. It ripped her hair and cut off circulation; her feet and hands were cold and numb. She moved her head, her nose burying into her hair. She assumed she was in a car and in the backseat, for that matter.

The sky was still dark, but she was still paralyzed. Suddenly, audio began to return to her. She could hear other cars whizzing by, and then, a voice. It was his voice: William Philips. He had been in her life for as long as she could remember, but she always had a queasy feeling about him whenever he was near. She heard another voice too, one that was unfamiliar to her. He also had a name, as William soon stated it.

“Henry, I’m telling you, if we need to sell it, we need to sell it now,” William urged whoever the man named Henry was.

“I know that, but how can we manage it. It’s such a big company, we would need someone to buy the whole thing.” Henry appeared to be either frantic or whiney.

“Unless we chunk it,” William offered and I could hear him hum softly.

The phone went silent as Henry hung up, abandoning the conversation. William took a hand off the wheel and set it gently on the seat beside him, his humming continuing. It sounded a lot like a children’s song, or something one would sing along to at a campfire.

“We’re almost home, precious,” he purred. It didn’t take a lot of insight to know he was talking to her. She felt her stomach flip and she leaned over the seat, knowing her hair was hanging in her face. She threw up, feeling vomit race up her throat.

Cassy felt the car pull over fast onto the side of the road; the lurching of the vehicle sent her stomach churning again. The driver door opened and in a split second, the door her head was next to swung open as well. Cold air rushed around her and she took a deep breath, tasting bile in her mouth.

“Look what you did!” William exclaimed and his hands cupped her face. She felt her heart quicken again, and she found the sense in her body to start squirming. She did; she wiggled and moved her hips and torso, desperate to scrunch away from the man touching her. She screamed, finding her voice again. He jumped; Cassy knew from the way his hands jolted. He moved one and covered her mouth. She let him, falling completely still. She was about to throw up again. Feeling it in her throat, she let it rise, knowing how horribly disgusting it was. She tasted it in her mouth and she spit upwards. It covered the man’s hand and leaked around the edges of her lips. She turned and spit it out as soon as the man removed his horribly placed hand.

“That is disgusting, Cassidy!” He shouted at her, rage turning his cheeks pink. She didn’t like him using her name like that. It scared her. It made her feel small and insignificant. She tilted her head back to look at him. He was staring in dismay at his carpets; they were ruined. Good.

“We are going home and you will be punished for this. It was inappropriate behavior,” he scolded. She looked up in surprise. He was acting like her…

“As your father, I will not take this kind of childish act.” He shook his head and slammed the door. Cassy felt the tears. They weren’t from sadness. They were from fear. She could feel it welling inside of her; she needed to get out of this car. Out of this car and into the world to run. The air conditioning blasted her face and she felt uncomfortable. It was cold, like the man’s hands, like the world around her.

She patted her pockets, making sure to move her arms as little as possible. Her phone wasn’t there. No, that’s not right, it had to be, it was always there. She frantically checked again, and then she felt under her, and then looked over the side of the bench seat again. It wasn’t there.

She tugged the door handle, but it didn’t move. The sound she made was too loud. He paused his humming. He turned his head. His silver eyes landed on her. She froze, a tear slipping down her cheek.

“Cassy, don’t try anything dangerous, “ William warned, looking at her scornfully. “We’re almost home, I wouldn’t want you getting hurt.”

Cassy felt the car tilt and she assumed they were going up a drive way, however, she couldn’t find the strength or mobility to sit up and look out of the window. She was sure that’s how he planned it to be.

The door opened again and she was picked up into the air. When she was brought out, she didn’t recognize her surroundings. It must have been somewhere nearby, if she see saw William every day. Still, she had no idea where she was. In front of her was a tall two story building with a well-manicured lawn and an oak tree spreading it limbs. She was carried inside. It smelled like mothballs and formaldehyde. She gagged and he quickened his pace.

“Do not throw up on my floors, Cassidy.” The bouncing of his walk, made the pain in her head unbearable until her eyes shut and she could no longer see.  

Cassy opened her eyes, squinting against the flashing lights. Blinking rapidly, she went to press her palms into her eyes, but realized that she couldn’t. Her limbs were still bound and hurting. William had allowed her a moment of relief after she had thrown up the first time, but she feared her hands and feet would fall off. She took in her surroundings. It was a small room with a fan spinning below a light, which caused the flashing. There was an old queen sized bed with a rickety wooden frame, but she was not on it. There was a plain wooden dresser and a matching set of nightstands with bare lamps on them, left on without their shades. It was cold and strange. She was overwhelmed with fear.

It was only after her survey that she noticed William, standing mere inches outside of the doorway, watching her. She screamed, a simple human reaction. She carried on the screech until William stepped into the room and she shut her mouth. She squirmed, twisting and tugging at the harsh ropes.

“I apologize, Cassidy. But I am afraid that until you acclimate to your surroundings, this will become a common state for you.” His tone was sickeningly calm and proper for such a situation. For Cassy was bound and thrown on the beige carpeting before him. “I am sure that you will find it rather comfortable here eventually. It will just take some getting used to.”

His phone rang loudly, causing Cassy to jump from her position in a crumpled ball on the floor. He pulled it slowly from his pocket and pressed pickup, holding a finger to his lips.

“Yes, Henry?”

Henry was the name of the man on the other end of the reciever. The clicking of the fan prevented Cassy from hearing the man’s voice. William sounded chipper enough and his silver eyes brightened with passion in the conversation. Cassy shouted; it was a single note that she managed to squeeze through her closed esophagus.

She watched as William produced a knife from his pocket. It was small, about the size of her palm, but it was sharp, and the yellow lights glinted on the tip of its blade. He walked towards her and she rolled to the back wall. He held the blade to her jugular and hummed in agreement into the phone, and then turned and left the room again, leaving the door cracked open ever so slightly. If it wasn’t for the soft tap of it hitting the frame instead of the click of it closing, she would have thought that the door had sealed.

Cassy released the breath she had been holding and looked around the room in dismay. The shutters were closed over the windows and she became aware again of the ripping of the tape around her. She felt completely helpless to the will of this man. She needed to get up, to get out of this stupid room and eventually, out of this house. Pushing herself onto all fours, she began to inch across the carpet. Her knuckles began to hurt as the rough texture wore away at her fragile skin. She could feel her bare knees being rubbed raw. Cassy made it through the doorway, thankful that the door wasn’t shut all the way or she might have made too much noise. The hallway seemed vast. Doors stretched out down the darkened hall. She noticed a single, bright light on at the very end of the hallway. All of the windows were shuttered leaving only precious rays of sun to dance in the suffocating shadows.

With her hands and feet bound, it was difficult to crawl. Still dizzy from passing out the moment before, she nearly fell over. She passed one door. No sound. Two doors. No sound. A third door. No sound. Then she froze, air failing to reach her lungs. One of the doors was cracked ever so slightly allowing a small amount of light to filter around the cracks. How had she missed it? The hallway was deadly silent. Her breathing stopped and she could feel a shudder rising in her muscles. Seconds felt like hours. William’s voice was muffled, but still loud enough to stifle any small sound she would make. She moved her arms in front of her and then her knees followed. His voice stopped. She could hear his chair scoot back across the tile, and she stopped trying to move. She contemplated turning back, scooting at top speed, but found she was too afraid to move. Her hazel eyes darted back and forth, skittishly. There were no footsteps and then, after heart stopping moments, she heard the chair scoot back in. Seconds passed and she heard William’s voice again. Rapidly, Cassy made her way to the end of the hallway. She realized that it was a staircase and without wasting a single precious moment, turned over on her butt, carefully in slow movements so as not to mess up. Cassy put her feet on the second step and then lowered herself onto the first step. She kept at that slow and mesmeric motion until she reached the last step. Getting back on all fours, she took in her surroundings. She was horrified to realize that she had no idea where she was. She had no memory of being brought in here.

To the left, though, was a kitchen. One with knives in a large wooden block. She quickly crawled over to it, revigorated with a new purpose, her heart still slamming as she hoped that William wouldn’t hear her. She braced herself on the counter as she raised herself onto her two crossed feat. With her bound hands, she picked up a knife. Then paused, how would she do this?

Sitting back on the floor, she sawed at her feet, then, placing the knife’s handle carefully between her freed appendages, she sawed at her wrists’ bindings. The knife slipped and clattered to the floor. In one heart pounding moment, it bounced across the tile. The voices from the air vents above her stopped. She too, stopped, and then, without a moment longer of hesitation, flexed her joints and leapt up. Before she could take the first step, however, William was at the bottom the stairs.

“Get. Over. Here. Cassidy!” he yelled.

She screamed, her voice reaching into every corner of the building. She dashed around the island in the middle of the stainless-steel kitchen. She ran, her heart in her throat. Tears of adrenaline pressed at her eyes and she hiccupped in fear. Fingertips brushed the back of her shirt, pulling, tugging. She could feel each painful footstep in her pounding skull as she ran. She didn’t know where she was but she quickly realized that the kitchen connected with the living room from behind the staircase. She ran through the hallway.

Images of William grabbing her there in that small space rushed through her mind. She could see the front door as she rounded the corner. William was almost on top of her. He was yelling insistently, curses flying from his mouth as if his own life depended on it.

She had yet to figure out how she would open the door, she didn’t know how far she would get. Her hopes of getting past the first steps had obscured her vision of future ones. The door reared up at her like a wild bronco and then she stopped, it was an abrupt movement, one William was unprepared for. He slammed into her, arms grabbing her small chest and she flew at the door. Unfortunately, the hinges couldn’t handle the sudden force that was thrown at them and the whole appliance fell outwards with Cassy and William on top of it.

The cold air rushed around her, greeting her with soft kisses, but she wasn’t out of the way yet. William’s arms were still gripping her. Her face hurt and she knew that blood was dripping down her nose; she tasted it on her lips when her tongue darted out to lick them.

William didn’t waste another moment. He scrambled upwards, finding it hard to gain purchase on the slippery door, slippery with Cassy’s blood, and began to drag her inside. She didn’t want to go, she wouldn’t go. Not like this. Not when she was so close to her freedom—to ending this nightmare until it greeted her again in her dreams.

She struggled against his hold, her freed legs were thrashing and she landed a harsh kick straight into his shin. He foolishly removed a hand from her chest and that was all the time she needed. Shoving off from his body with a foot placed against his thigh, she fell forwards onto her knees. In her eagerness to escape, she stumbled over her own feet. William tried to seize upon this mistake but she wouldn’t allow it. Scrambling upwards, she ran.

The driveway was lengthy and lined with tall trees and thick bushes. Cassy knew she had a head start on William , but hiding in the bushes seemed like a risk she wasn’t willing to take. She could hear cars rushing past the road as she ran closer. She could hail one to pick her up. Anything was better than going back and submitting herself to William Philips again.

There, that’s the one. That’s the car she would take. It was old and black and the paint was scratched and there was a light up sign on the roof for some pizza delivery. Cassy screamed and waved her arms, racing to keep up with the car until it pulled over. Inside was a man dressed a black, shortsleeved button down. Cassy was flushed from the cold and her run. She was covered in blood and her clothes were ratty. She climbed into the passenger seat, shoving pizza boxes to the side and shouted at the poor man to drive. He seemed thoroughly confused, and Cassy couldn’t find the words to explain. She was safe. She was okay. She was safe.

The car smelled like garlic bread and whatever cologne the man was wearing. She sighed and flopped in the seat. She didn’t know where to start, but thankfully, she wouldn’t have to as the man began.

“I would like to know what’s going on, but I assume you don’t have the words yet so I’ll start. Hello, my name is Henry.” She felt her blood freeze.

“Oh. That’s nice, my name is Caroline.” It slipped out. She hadn’t planned on saying a different name, in fact she had fully intended on telling this man everything he needed to know, but it seemed her subconscious had different plans.

“Well, Caroline, I am assuming that we are meeting on horrible times,” Henry said, his eyes staying on the road. The air around them felt charged with static and she was on the edge of her seat covered in the blood from her nose.

“No, sir. Could you take me to the nearest gas station, please?” she asked. Cassy wanted out of this car; it felt no safer in here than it did in the bedroom she had woken up in at William’s house. She prayed that William wouldn’t decide to call Henry. That this wasn’t that Henry. Of everything that could happen right now, that would be the worst. Or so she thought.

“I’m sorry Caroline, but that wouldn’t get me anywhere, especially when it was complete luck that I ran into you in the first place,” he said with a grim smile on his face.  

To be continued…