I COULDN’T BELIEVE Jessie left me at this party so she could go get a booty call from her on-again, off-again boyfriend. One minute, she hated him, and next, she could barely keep her clothes on long enough to get to her car. We had a pact and she’d broken it for the third time this semester, which was really starting to piss me off. Jessie was getting an earful when she came back to our room in the morning.
Now, I was stuck walking in the cold the several blocks to our dorm at two in the morning by myself.
Again.
My buzz was quickly fading as my attentiveness to the sounds around me took over. The wind lashed out, biting through my sweater, causing shivers to rake through me. Walking home at this time of night in the dark was extremely creepy. The only sound I could hear was the clicking of my Louboutins echoing off the houses on the gloomy street.
Click, click, click.
Every shadow seemed to be reaching its black talons toward me. My imagination would ultimately be the death of me.
Click, click, click.
Up ahead, I could finally see the white fence to the Alpha Delta Pi house, where Jessie and I dormed. Being that I was the president of our sorority, I was most definitely going to impose a new rule about leaving fellow sisters at parties alone. There would be stiff penalties for not complying. Jessie was getting the full wrath of Lia at tomorrow morning’s meeting. What a bitch.
Click, click, click.
Just as I nearly reached the edge of the yard, the hairs on the back of my neck really began to prickle. I could sense someone watching me from the shadows. This time, I didn’t think it was my imagination. It felt as if they were touching me with their stares. Shit, I needed to hurry.
Click, click, click.
The clicking of my shoes intensified as I quickened my pace.
Click, click, click, click, click.
Just a few more feet until—agh! Pain thundered in my skull and darkness tore across my vision as confusion set in. Did I faint or was I hit in the head by someone? That was my last thought before fading into complete blackness.
Regaining consciousness, I suddenly snapped awake, confused at my situation. Someone was breathing heavily from exertion beside me. The scent of alcohol was nauseating. A blindfold of sorts was concealing my vision.
Shit, I can’t see anything!
Attempting to snatch off the covering from my eyes, I realized that my hands were bound tight behind my back. The scream that was building in my throat was instantly snuffed out due to the tape covering my mouth. My breaths were coming fast and ragged through my nose, moistening the tape over my lips. Terrified at my situation, I immediately started to whimper and squirm.
When a cold, strong hand settled on my upper thigh and gave it a tight squeeze, I recoiled in fear. His grip on my thigh became more forceful, pulling me back toward him, making me realize that at least my legs weren’t bound. Had I worn a skirt instead of jeans, his fingernails would have drawn blood instead of just bruising me. Tears rolled down my face as my muffled, terrified moans pleaded with my abductor.
Where am I?
Did someone seriously kidnap me?
What is he going to do to me?
His death grip on my thigh was alleviated when he pulled it away, sending a wave of relief over me. We were moving, so we must be in the captor’s car. My body was pressed into the seat as we accelerated—probably to merge onto the highway near the college. My heart started racing quickly as I considered my immediate future.
Where the fuck is he taking me?
As I tried to take stock of my surroundings, I determined that I must have been sitting up front with the creep who took me since he was able to grab my thigh so easily while driving. His silence was deafening and frightening as hell. The hum of the motor was background to my sniffling and whimpering.
Why isn’t he saying anything?
Overwhelmed with the stress of my circumstances, I thought about my mother in an effort to escape this mental mindfuck, even if momentarily. My mom always said that I was made of the tough stuff—though I felt far from tough at the moment. She’s a gentle, free spirit. When she met my stepdad, Rich, a couple of years ago at a convention in Vegas, their connection had been instant. She’d dropped her life in Texas to travel with him as his assistant. When she fell madly in love with him, I was a little hurt at how easily she could love someone other than my dad. It had rocked my world when my dad died of cancer when I was just ten. But even though I was ready to hate Rich, I couldn’t help but love him too. He had that charming way about him. Rich was a good guy who took care of my mom and me. Mom always said that I had my dad’s personality—that I was fearless and born to lead those around me. I didn’t feel fearless at the moment.
The clearing of a throat dragged me away from thoughts of my mom and back into the present. I moaned in terror once again at the realization of my situation. This time, my captor reached over and roughly grabbed my breast through my sweater. It instantly throbbed at his grasp, and I became hysterical as I tried to jerk away from his grip.
Shit! He fucking grabbed my boob! That is going to leave a bruise.
The tears began unabashedly streaming down my face. As I breathed raggedly through my nose, greedily sucking in air, my thoughts began to race as reality set in. This man was probably going to rape and kill me. Fresh tears spilled over my cheeks.
Will I ever see my mom again?
In a moment of bravery—a trait of mine that my mother so proudly boasted of—I savagely hiked my foot up and pushed where I imagined the steering wheel to be. When my foot connected with it, I pushed hard to the left, locking my leg. He roughly tore at my leg, trying to remove it from the steering wheel, but my cheerleader legs were solid muscle and the sudden rush of adrenaline was fueling my strength. The grunts he made were of pure frustration as he tried to unlock me from my position. But his obvious inebriated state was no match for my strength in that moment.
Bounce, bounce, bounce.
My body sprang up and down as we sailed over the center median, nearly making me lose my grip on the steering wheel. Maybe the highway patrol would see the car driving erratically and save me from this evil man. A sudden, forceful impact had me slamming against the dashboard like a rag doll, banging my head with a sharp pop that had me seeing stars and wanting to vomit. The screeching and crunching of metal was all that could be heard for what seemed like an eternity.
When the car finally slid to a stop, I clumsily slid my bound hands under my bottom and tucked my legs through, feeling dazed from hitting my head. I brought them both up and ripped away the covering from my head. My vision was finally restored. Trembling, I removed the tape from my mouth and sucked in cool breaths. My lungs heaved in delight. Desperate to see my abductor’s face, I tried to get a glimpse, but in the dark car, all I could see was his slumped-over body with blood running down the side of his face. The asshole was dead, and I’d killed him—I think.
I hovered my bound hands over the broken glass on the passenger’s side window and began to saw frantically, consequently cutting myself in the process. When my shaking hands finally broke free, I yelped with joy. The joyous sound was quickly hushed when it elicited a groan from my attacker. I fumbled with the door handle with trembling hands and fell out of the car onto the pavement, skinning my knees through my jeans.
I have to get the hell out of here before he wakes up!
When I stood up, I realized that we had crashed into another car head on. The hissing of the engines rang out over the howling of the wind. I was momentarily caught up in watching the other car for signs of life as the wind whipped around me. Finally, I saw movement in the other car, which sparked a quick, whispered prayer for that person’s safety.
The sounds of more moaning from my captor tore me from my frozen stance and had me sprinting off toward the woods on the other side of the highway in record speed. Rushing through the woods, I blindly ran in what I thought was the direction of my town.
Crack!
Is that him catching up to me?!
Running faster, I darted through the woods, branches slapping at my face and pulling at my hair. Ten minutes later, I realized that I was barefoot and my feet were covered in cuts from running through the brush, forcing me to remember that I left my shoes in the car.
Damn, I loved those Louboutins.
Having been required to stay fit, I ran without slowing until I reached the edge of town. Once my feet made purchase on the familiar streets, I bolted from shadow to shadow in case the man had somehow caught up to me. I didn’t stop running until I burst into my dorm room, my chest heaving from exertion. Snatching up my duffel bag, I threw in some pictures of my mom and Rich, a bunch of my clothes, and as many pairs of my shoes as I could fit.
After grabbing my pink Alpha Delta Pi baseball cap on the way out, I tucked my hair into it and slipped my bare, bloody feet into my tennis shoes. This brave girl was getting the hell out of here and never coming back.