YESTERDAY, THE JOY of finding out Cale hadn’t abducted me was overshadowed by the discovery that it had instead been Sam, who was now on the loose. We said our goodbyes earlier that morning to my mom and Rich. After getting the bomb dropped on us by Steve, we went on to try to enjoy the rest of the day and last night together.
The plane ride back to Texas was long. Both of us were lost in our thoughts, but we were still inseparable. It was like we were now invisibly tethered to each other—not that I minded one bit. I never wanted him to leave my side ever again.
When we left the airport and headed back towards Jonestown, it was dark. I was completely exhausted from the events in the past week.
“I want us to go to the police tomorrow morning and tell them the whole story,” Cale stated, his mind obviously in the same place mine was.
“Yeah, but there isn’t much they are going to be able to do. He was so hard to pin down the first time. It took him nearly…” I trailed off, not wanting to finish the thought.
He growled, obviously completing the thought in his mind. “They’ll catch him eventually.” He didn’t sound very convinced though.
I really hoped that, after nearly getting in a lot of trouble, he’d move far away to avoid the police. A girl could dream.
After finally arriving at Cale’s, we sleepily got out of the truck and retrieved our bags. He stopped me and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “Everything will be okay, Lia,” he promised.
But when we got to the front porch, my heart started beating wildly out of control. A box with “Lia” scrawled across the top was waiting for me.
“Hell no!” Cale snarled, dropping his bags to rip open the box.
I peered over his shoulder. There was broken glass and a pair—my pair—of Louboutins from the night of the abduction inside. I could feel my knees shaking as he pulled out the note.
My eyes felt weighted as I struggled to wake up. I must have been really tired after the flight because I felt drugged.
Wait. Why can’t I wake up?
Slowly, I forced my heavy lids open, taking in my surroundings. My head was throbbing. I was in a car, riding with someone. A strange feeling of déjà vu washed over me as clarity was fighting to surface.
Oh no. No, no, no!
My nightmare had finally come true.
This time, not only were my hands bound behind me, but my feet were also tied together at the ankles and knees. This could not be happening.
I looked over to see Sam driving like it was normal to have a victim tied up in his car. Tears rolled down my face as I whimpered. He turned to glare at me for a second before turning back to watch road.
“Well, well, well. Look who decided to wake up. I missed you, Lia.”
I started to cry harder but quickly realized that it was a bad idea with my mouth taped shut because I could barely breathe. When he noticed that I was struggling, he reached over and ripped the tape from my mouth. As freeing as it felt, it also hurt like hell.
“Sam, why are you doing this to me? Please just take me back or let me out right here. Nobody has to know. You can go somewhere and the police will never find you. Please let me go,” I pleaded with him.
He laughed—actually laughed at me, which made me understand I would never get away from this psycho. “You know, Lia, I gave you many chances to remember, but you STILL can’t after all this time. Was I that invisible to you?” he snapped.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Sam,” I told him tearfully.
“God, you were always such a BITCH!” he yelled at me, causing me to recoil in fear.
What the hell is he talking about?
He acted like we went back further than just three years.
“What were you getting your degree in before you decided to fucking quit college?” he demanded angrily.
“Finance,” I squeaked out, unsure where this was going.
“And was there anyone in practically ALL of your classes that you ignored and treated like a piece of shit?” he spat.
God, I am so confused!
As I tried to quickly recall a Sam from my classes, I drew up blank. Then it hit me. Vick was a guy in several of my classes. He was a total weirdo with his long hair always in his face. His glasses weren’t the cute kind, and he almost always wore a hoodie over his head. Vick had completely creeped me out back then.
Once, he’d actually asked me out. When I was about to tell him, “No, thanks,” Jessie chimed in, laughing at him, “Get lost, loser. She doesn’t date people like you.” I was embarrassed at her statement but thankful he left me alone after that.
Sam Vickerson was Vick. Ugh. Everything made sense. Well, except for why he was so obsessed with me.
“Vick?” I asked.
He smiled at me, no longer angry looking.
Okay, my only chances of survival would be to try and keep that smile on his face. “Uh, Sam—er, Vick—why did you take me?” I asked, genuinely needing to know the answer.
“Because you belong to me,” he said simply.
My heart was racing. If only Cale were here…
Where is Cale?
Last I remembered, we were looking in that box.
“Vick, where is Cale?” I feared for the answer.
His brows furrowed nastily. “I hit that fucker over the head with a two-by-four. He won’t be getting up anytime soon. The asshole should have never touched what was mine in the first place,” he growled.
My stomach turned at the thought of him hurt. “Did you drug me?” I questioned, my chin quivering.
He just wickedly chuckled at me. “No, I gave you a little swat upside the head too.”
That would explain the headache.
“Where are you taking me?”
“I’m taking you where we should have gone the first time. I was so nervous that night when I saw you at the party. I had just cut my hair off and got contacts in an effort to be more like the guys you dated. When I went to talk to you…you fucking walked right past me like I wasn’t even there!” he yelled, slamming his fist into the steering wheel.
I leaned as far away from him as I could, fresh tears falling from my eyes.
“So I waited after the party for you. It suddenly hit me that you’d never choose me. We were from two different worlds. You came from money and pranced around in your fancy-ass shoes. I came from a trailer park on an academic scholarship and had a dad that liked to beat the shit out of me for fun. There came a moment when I realized that, if I really wanted something, I needed to just take it. I was tired of waiting to be given the opportunity. Once I had you in my car, I had great plans of taking you home and making love to you. Eventually you’d come to realize how much we were meant to be together. But you FUCKING RUINED IT!” he screamed at me, reaching over to grab my hair.
When he pulled me to him, I yelped in pain and he chastely kissed me on my cheek. I was horrified at how long he kept his eyes off the road. After what seemed like eternity, he let go and continued paying attention to where he was going. Then he started to speak again.
“Once I realized you’d left me in the car to die, I had to rethink my strategy. It didn’t take long to find you. I watched you for weeks, learning that you had a thing for online shoes. It occurred to me that I could deliver those to you and maybe develop a more natural relationship with you. When I applied online for the delivery company, they denied me because of the DUI that night of the accident. I had to come up with other means and got fake identification so I could get the job.
“Getting to see you each week was what I looked forward to. We finally were developing a relationship without the distraction of school or bitchy friends. It seemed you were finally into me and I asked you out for the second time. You fucking denied me AGAIN!” he yelled, getting pissed at the memory.
“That stupid asshole had gotten ahold of you, and suddenly, you were in love. Our special date that you agreed to go on with me was RUINED when I found you kissing him in the hallway of the restaurant. That was a bitch move, Lia. After that, I realized you were never going to pick me, no matter what I looked like. You can imagine my horror when I followed you into the woods with that dickhead. You had one date with him and were whoring around in the woods.
“After many attempts to reach out to you, I thought we’d finally made progress at the Halloween party. You were enjoying my caresses that night. Remember, Lia, how you moaned when I touched your pussy? It was because secretly, deep down, you love me too. When we were about to make love, that jealous fucker had to come in and tear me off of you.”
I started crying as I listened to his warped version of things.
“But it’s all over now, Lia. We can finally be together. I’m taking you to my special place and we can finally make love. It will be our home where I will take care of you. I love you, Lia.” His smile was sickening.
Suddenly, I felt ill. “Sa—uh, Vick—please stop the car. I think I might throw up.”
“Honey, are you okay?” The sympathy in his voice was confusing.
Absolute psychopath. “No, I’m not. Can you please pull over for a minute?” I begged, feeling really nauseated.
He momentarily debated internally but ultimately decided to pull over on the dark highway. Then he got out and came around to my side of the car, opening the door for me. I leaned out of the car and started dry-heaving. When he pulled my hair back, I actually did vomit. Once I had emptied the contents of my stomach, he closed the car door and got back in on his side.
We drove for another fifteen minutes in silence before he turned down a dark street, eventually stopping at a run-down farm house. My heart started to beat wildly against my chest. After opening my car door, he jerked me out and heaved me over his shoulder. I was helpless to escape his grasp since I was completely bound by the tape. The tears wouldn’t stop flowing once I realized that he was taking me to the dilapidated barn.