Chapter 20
Nicole
I could feel a car moving but my face was covered with something dark and thick. I tried to move my hands, but they were bound behind my back as I tried to remember what happened.
I was going to the store to get stuff for dinner. We were going to invite the guys over tonight and I had a special recipe that I wanted to make, but needed a few things.
I never made it inside.
A van pulled up next to my car as I got out and the door opened, revealing two of the men that had held me down at the club. I barely had time to gasp when I was pulled into the vehicle, along with my purse, and we were pulling out of the lot.
I screamed but someone covered my face with a cloth and I was forced onto my stomach as my hands were tied behind my back. I had managed to catch sight of Ricky, his face twisted into an angry sneer, as I was pulled into the van.
“You ratted me out, bitch,” he said. .
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I tried to say through the cloth as I shivered and started to feel dizzy.
“You are the reason I was put in jail, Nicole. Everyone else was taken care of but I let you go. I have a reputation to hold onto and I am going to handle you. I want everyone to know not to fuck with me.”
My face hit a hard surface as I gasped, lying still with the hopes that nobody would hurt me.
“I was making a lot of money at the auctions, Nicole. I was living the life until I sold you to that fucking guy. I made a lot of money but you just had to tell someone all about it. Didn’t you?”
We hit a bump and I grimaced. My arms ached.
“I didn’t say anything. I just went home,” I told.
He laughed. “I doubt that. That guy paid a lot for you, and I’m certain that he got his money’s worth. There might not be an auction for your purity now but there will be some more money coming in. I think that someone might want you back enough to pay me well before I kill you and throw you back onto the street. How do you like Vegas, Nicole? Enough to die here?”
“No, I can’t leave Noelle,” I cried out. Another bump and more pain. I groaned as Ricky laughed at me.
“I had a good thing going before you ratted me out. I was making good money, especially for you. I was going to take the business in a different direction but you fucked everything up for me. Maybe I should get your sweet baby sister and sell you together. That will get me enough to run away from this shit hole.”
“No!” I screamed inside the hood as terror filled me. “Take me. Leave her alone.” I couldn’t stand the idea of Noelle being involved in the auction, much less what he seemed to have planned now. I’d rather die than anything happen to her, and I cried as we hit another bump.
I didn’t know where we were going. How was I going to get help?
“I never told anybody about you. I didn’t go to the police. I swear on my life.” I begged him to spare my life as we took a corner hard, my side rolling into the unforgiving metal of the old van.
“Someone did and I let you walk away. I thought that you’d end up a nice little wifey for that guy, even though I thought he was crazy to take you on for more than a night. Now I just need to find out if he’ll pay to get you back.” Ricky laughed again as I hit the side of the van again.
It seemed like hours later that the van finally stopped. I’d drifted off a few times in the process and jumped when I realized that we arrived somewhere. I heard the door slam and then another one open as I was yanked out by two rough hands. My legs were weak as I sagged down to the ground, and I cried out as they started to drag me somewhere. I was aware of steps and then entering a building before I was dragged down more steps.
My body ached as someone dropped me to what felt like a mattress. I felt my arms stretched and tied to something with little room to move as I whimpered. I felt terrified of what might happen to me and started fighting the binds before someone slapped my arm.
The black bag was pulled from my head and I blinked at the sudden light, no matter how dim the room was. It took several minutes for me to be able to see again but I gathered that I was in a basement of a house as I took slow breaths to calm my racing heart. It was a filthy room and one look at the mattress that I was on told me that I didn’t want to think too hard about being trapped here for an undetermined amount of time. I knew that I had no clue where this house even was or how long we drove here and I felt so helpless as I sagged against the wall.
“What are you going to do with me?” I asked in a soft voice, feeling little hope for my future.
“I have a plan to get some money and get the hell away from here. I want to start over somewhere else and you’re my ticket to freedom. When that works out, I’ll make sure that they find you dead. I’ll be gone so it won’t matter. You won’t be ratting me out this time.”
I started to cry as he walked closer to me. I didn’t want him to touch me and I shrank back as far as I could. Ricky reached for me before slamming his fist into my face, making me scream out in pain. Blackness took over until I woke up some time later in a darker room, must be nighttime.
My face hurt badly and I took a slow breath. I moved my jaw around enough to think that it wasn’t broken but it ached along with the rest of my body. I was alone in the room now, still bound but thankfully clothed. Rickey hadn’t touched me anymore than to hit me. I couldn’t stand the idea of any of those men forcing themselves on me, and I closed my eyes again.
I thought that his plan involved Allen somehow, but I wasn’t sure how much. Was he going to ask for a ransom for me? Allen already admitted to playing illegal poker to get me before and if Ricky wanted to disappear, he would probably need more money than the last time.
Where would Allen get that? Would he even bother or just go on with his life?
Tears slid down my cheeks at the thought of never seeing him again, or my sister. I thought back to the double date where we’d hardly been able to keep our hands off each other and tried to find joy in the fact that Brandon seemed to like Noelle. Between him and Allen, she’d be safe. She could take care of herself. She’d be great once she got over losing her only family member and I started to cry harder.
This room reminded me of some of the places that we’d lived over the years. Our parents were into hard drugs and brought us along sometimes when there was nowhere to leave us if their dealer called. I shuddered as I recalled some of the houses that these people lived in and I did everything I could to protect Noelle from seeing it. She was young at the time and I’d listened closely when she spoke about our family, relieved that she didn’t seem to remember too much.
My mom didn’t seem to care about us too much and I became the one to tell people not to touch us. I learned how to be strong in the worst way and all the memories hit me as I sat bound to this bed and this disgusting room.
I felt the growling of my stomach as I tried to shift into a more comfortable position, wondering if they were ever going to feed me. I thought about the dinner that we wanted to cook tonight and let out a low cry as I considered never seeing them again. I couldn’t hear anything in the house and I wondered if I was left alone here to be attacked by anybody that might find the house. I didn’t know if I was in the suburbs or out in the middle of nowhere and looking up at the window told me that I couldn’t look out.
I struggled against my binds and considered screaming for help before I dropped back against the mattress to cry. I had no idea if they were here or not and I didn’t want to anger Ricky any further.
I slumped back against the mattress as my stomach growled again, realizing that I’d barely eaten today. I regretted that as I closed my eyes, I was thirsty as well and I let out a soft moan as I tried not to think about this room or this situation.
I was left alone for hours as I dreamed about Allen and Nicole, stirring as I felt him inside of me in his bed. We were making love as he told me that he wanted me to marry him and he loved me.
I’d wake up to noises in the house in between dreams and worry that it was someone here to hurt me. I could hear voices upstairs and footsteps but they remained up there as I dozed off again, unable to stay awake. The stress and fear was draining me of all energy and the fact that I wasn’t eating didn’t help.
I dreamed about Noelle as a little girl when we moved to our paternal grandparents and how we slept in the same dirty room together. I’d held her as she slept, trying to stay awake so I knew that she was safe after the things we’d been through. Both sets of grandparents weren’t much better than my parents, and I got away from them as soon as I could.
I dreamed about Allen searching for me as I slept fitfully, finding the house, and saving me before he told me he loved me.
On the flip side, I dreamed about him not wanting to find me and moving on with another woman. In the dream, they married and had a family while Noelle and Brandon ended up doing the same. It was heartbreaking to see that they stopped thinking about me after a while and seemed so happy.
I woke up crying after that dream and realized that my stomach was in pain from being so hungry. I could feel my blood sugar dropping and I knew that I was too weak to fight anyone if the situation arose. I felt all hope fading away as I accepted that I was going to die here, either from being murdered or simply starving to death. I would be left in this dirty room while Ricky fled the state or even the country. They might not ever find me.
There was loud shouting coming from upstairs and I decided that I was out in the middle of nowhere, giving me less of a chance of survival. I willed my sister to know how much I loved her and for Allen to understand that he meant a lot to me in the little time that we had together. I asked God to take care of both despite not having a lot of faith since childhood.
In this moment, I was desperate for anything that would make me feel better.