Grace

Fingers tingling and legs numb, I jerked awake when someone let loose an ear-deafening scream. The back of my head throbbed from where I’d been hit. I tried to move, but my hands were tied behind my back, and my legs at the ankles. I initially thought I’d dreamt the scream, but then the blindfold over my eyes brought me back to reality.

It smelled like I was in a barn; the scent of horse shit and urine hung in the air. Judging by the hay under my body, my inclination was right. Mouth dry, and stomach growling, I had no clue how much time had gone by.

The man screamed again and I gasped, my voice raspy and low. I barely had the energy to speak, much less scream.

“Let me out of here!” the man shouted, his voice reverberating around the room.

He sounded close. Taking a deep breath, I tried my best to crawl across the floor. I couldn’t see anything, so I had no clue where I was going. “Hello?” I called out.

Breathing hard, the man shifted in what could only be surprise. He then cried out, “Who’s there?”

I swallowed hard. “Grace Myers. Who are you?”

“Chuck McEntire. I have to get out of here. They’re going to kill me.” He was so frantic, I thought he’d have a heart attack.

Chills ran through my body. I’d never felt true fear before, but this situation had me terrified. “Who’s going to kill you?” I asked, feeling my eyes burn behind the blindfold.

“I don’t know. I recognized one of their voices, but I can’t think straight right now. They said they’re going to let me go and hunt me down, just like all the others.” He started crying.

I jerked my hands back and forth, hoping to break free of the rope that bound me together. All it did was rub my skin raw. “What about me?” I asked, terrified.

“They’re going to kill you too. It’s what they do. Someone clearly wants us dead.”

Frozen in shock, I couldn’t comprehend the thought. Someone wanted me dead? Why? I hadn’t done anything to anyone to make them want to kill me. Terror ripped through my core, but I held back any further cries, my tears silently soaking into the blindfold. This kind of thing happened in the movies, not in real life. How the hell did I end up in this mess?

“Someone’s coming,” Chuck whispered.

The only thing I could hear was my pulse pounding in my ears; it was deafening. Holding my breath, I laid perfectly still on the dirt floor and small piles of hay. I’d always been a strong woman, but in that moment, I felt weak and vulnerable.

The hinges on the barn door creaked open. Footsteps sounded on the wood as they approached. Then, I heard his voice. “Ready to play, Chucky boy?” I’d never heard the voice before, all dark, deep and sinister. It sent chills down my spine.

“Who are you?” Chuck shouted, the sound of him scrambling around on the floor reached my ears.

The laugh that escaped the captor’s lips made me tremble in fear. “I’m not the one who wants you dead, but you’re about to find out.” Another scuffle, and Chuck screamed. Squeezing my eyes shut, I blocked out his cries until they were muted from something being put over his mouth.

“Ready to meet your maker?” the captor asked.

More muffled screams. Then, everything went silent. I held my breath, not wanting to miss a thing. I had to know what was going to happen to me. The sound of footsteps drew closer and Chuck’s screams turned into outright anger. I could hear the rage even though he couldn’t voice his words.

“All right, gentlemen, this is how the game works. Chuck, I’m going to untie your ankles. Then all you have to do is run.”

Run? What the hell was going on? Chuck had said they were going to hunt him down like all the others. Was this some Game of Thrones type of shit?

“Run, Chuck!” the captor shouted with a laugh.

A few minutes passed and an engine roared to life, almost like a four-wheeler or dirt bike. Dread settled in my gut because I knew the hunting had begun. It was a game that obviously no one won, except for the hunter. Each second that passed, I felt sicker and sicker. I swallowed down the bile, feeling as if I was going to puke, but I knew there was nothing in my stomach.

It wasn’t long before I heard the gunshot, and then another, along with yips of joy.

Chuck was dead . . . and I wasn’t about to be next. One way or another, I had to find a way to escape.

“Gra-ace,” the captor sang out tauntingly.

It felt like I was in a haunted house, where the monsters had learned my name and kept calling it out. I sucked in a silent breath and laid still. The doors to the barn creaked open and I heard him draw near. It was like I could feel his body next to mine as he stood over me. His expensive cologne wafted through the air, muting the stench of the barn.

“I know you’re awake. No use in pretending otherwise.” He hauled me up by the arms, causing me to gasp. Because of the blindfold, I couldn’t see his face. “I’m glad to see you’re okay. At first, I worried I might’ve hit you too hard last night.”

Last night? That meant I’d been gone for a while. Surely, my father would have the whole PD out looking for me by now. “What do you want with me?” I spat, working hard on turning my fear into anger. It was what my father had taught me to do.

“Feisty,” he teased. His fingers grazed down my neck and over my breasts.

“Don’t fucking touch me.” I tried to jerk out of his hold, but he was too strong.

“I’m going to enjoy having you around for a while,” he said, bursting with laughter. “You’re very entertaining.”

“And you’re going to die once my father finds you.”

He grabbed my chin hard and I cried out in pain. “No one’s going to find me, or you, for that matter. Enjoy your last night.”

I hissed when I felt a pinch on my arm, followed by an overwhelming sense of warmth through my veins. The sensation had me needing to vomit. Then a sense of peace washed over me, but I knew that wouldn’t last for long.