Abducted (Amber Alert Series Book 2) (13 page)

Chapter 24

The house was one story and was falling to pieces. Even as Steve forcibly pushed me into the house I could see the damage age had done. Siding was falling off the house, while shingles were barely hanging on. I couldn't imagine having to live here and didn't want to. What was going to happen to us here? I had a strong feeling that I was going to live through a nightmare of my own.

"I have such fond memories here, Audrey," he said, as he pushed the door open and shoved me inside. My head hit the hardwood floor hard and I let out a high-pitched squeal. The sounds reverberated off the walls and all through the house as Steve continued to talk. "And now with you and Anna back in my possession, I'll have even better memories."

"Why are you doing this to us?" I cried as his hands grabbed onto a huge chunk of my hair. 

“Because you’re mine now, and your mother always was mine,” he growled as he yanked my up by my hair. He pulled me through the house, past empty rooms with nothing in them except a chair until he found a room he liked. This room had one bed, and one seat, but nothing else. I felt a chill creep up my spine as he looked a little bit too pleased with the room he had chosen.

“This was my room whenever we came up for the summer, and now it’s our family’s room,” he said with a smile spread across his face.

“We’re not your family,” I said, but just as the words left my mouth a hand landed on my cheek with a loud smack.

“Never talk to me like that! You are mine! I thought your mother would teach you better. Looks like I have to retrain her as well,” Steve responded.

“You can’t train people!”

“I did it before and I can do it again. You’d be amazed at what people will do if they believe they will get out alive afterward. You’ll both just have to accept it for life!”

“Why can’t you just take me? You said it yourself that Garrett stole Anna away from you and she was now tainted. You said I look exactly like her when you first met her. Take me and let my mother go!”

“That’s quite a remarkable offer, but I need both of you. Anna is my wife, the perfect wife for me, and you are our daughter. With you here she has no reason to leave because if she does than you will be punished, and she knows exactly what it’s like to be punished by me," he growled, letting the last bit of his sentence become a dark promise that he would keep if I caused trouble. 

“I’m a reason to fight.”

“One she won’t take. You’re stuck here. You will not be leaving, and no one will come here to find you. We move in a few days, and after that, you’ll lose all hope of someone coming to save you.” Steve stated as he produced a pair of handcuffs.

“I have a reason to fight. I have my life to live.”

“Which you will live out here now.”

“Not if I have anything to say about it,” I stated as I feigned bravery and reluctance to stand down.

Steve glared daggers into my eyes. I could see the anger building rapidly and knew that if I kept pushing, I would find out exactly the punishment I’d be receiving every time I misbehaved. He pulled me over to the heating vent, taking control of me by pulling my hair again. I was thrown onto the ground roughly as I heard the click of the handcuffs latch onto the heating vent—then my wrist was roughly pinched as Steve slapped on the other cuff.

“Damien will find me,” I asserted, as Steve turned to walk away.

“Don’t get your hopes up. He ran off without taking you with him. If he had taken you, you and my precious Anna wouldn’t be here right now. I really owe it all to him, I would tell him where his sister was if I remembered. Truth is, she was one of the girls that refused to follow my rules. She was thrown out before a month was up and I didn’t care about her.”

“You told him that you knew where she was buried!”

“I did? Guess he didn’t think I’d lie! I don’t care about his sister, him, or Garrett. I only want Anna. She is meant to be with me forever! Damien was a pawn. I used him, just like I used you to get Anna. I don’t care about either of you,” Steve spat as he walked out of the room.

I slouched to the floor as I thought of the horrors that were about to befall my mother and me. We needed to get out, that’s what I knew, but I also knew that my dad would at least be looking for us. He wouldn’t stop until he found Mom and me again.

I could hear Steve’s footsteps echo through the house as he re-entered the home. I tried not to look up as he came back into the room, but my mother’s whimper forced me to. Steve had his hands all over her already and she was in tears. Her life was ruined if he ever laid hands on her again, and now we had to live with him again. She looked so destroyed. She thought she had been done with this man. She thought that she finally had a life. This is why she left the name Anna Cowles behind her. Now, the name would haunt her forever.

It was then that I knew how to make it out of this, dead or alive.

Chapter 25

I had to watch for days as Steve tried to reconnect with my mother. It was disgusting to watch and to hear. He constantly stroked her hair or face, kissed her, and tried to get her to talk to him. He wasn't going to give up, and I was just a pawn to keep her here, but I wasn't going to let that be true if I could help it. 

"Come now, Anna. You know the rules, even your daughter knows them," Steve cooed to my mother when she turned her head away from him.

"How dare you-" Steve started to yell, but I interrupted.

"I don't know the rules. Damien changed them," I said defiantly. 

Steve slowly turned to glare at me. He was clearly angry that his apprentice had changed the rules for me. I could see the veins in his head about to pop with frustration.

“I knew he wasn’t good enough to follow through with my plans, but he got me what I wanted and that’s all that matters.” Steve said, his voice and demeanor drastically changing as he looked at my mother with lust in his eyes. “You know what, Anna, our daughter is right. She does look so much like you did when we first met,” Steve said as he licked his lips. I squirmed under his gaze, but he enjoyed it the more I struggled.

“No, stop!” my mother called, as Steve went to un-cuff me.

“I bet, even though she had intercourse with Damien, she’s as tight as you were. You were so much better than Kelly,” he said, his voice dripping with lust as he looked at me and pushed his growing erection into my leg.

“Steve!” My mother called again, but Steve didn’t hear her. He was too busy fantasizing about having sex with a young version of her again, and judging from the growing size of his hard-on, he liked what he was thinking about. “Steve, we are married. If you have intercourse with anyone it should be me,” my mother said, shocking both Steve and me.

“Mom, no!” I screamed until Steve slapped his hand over my mouth.

“I’m glad you came to your senses, sweetheart,” Steve said, getting off of me and going toward her.

“But I won’t have it with you until she is out of the room,” my mother said forcefully through tears, determined to find the strength to do this.

“I’ll take our daughter out of the room, just for you,” he growled lustfully, before he un-cuffed me from the heating vent and led me to another room in the house as quickly as he could.

“You can’t do this!”

“I can and I will. Don’t worry, your time will come soon. You and your mother will be mine forever.” He cuffed my hands together in the front and pressed my back into him for a few moments. “You look so much like your mother did.” His erection pushed against my butt and his hands squeezed my breasts. When he got so hard I thought he would explode right then, he tossed me in the room without a word before he slammed the door.

I forced myself off the ground in anger and frustration. My mom was just going to let him get his way, and now he knew how to get her to cooperate. I wasn’t going to let her do this; I couldn’t let her do it. I tried to turn the knob on the door, but it stopped short; Steve had locked me in. I let out an angry scream as I tried to force the door open by slamming into it. I could hear my mother’s screams as I tried to force the door open. I slammed into it with all I had, but then fell backward at the force. I collided with the hardwood flooring so hard that a piece popped up and I fell through the floorboards into a small concrete hole.

As I regained my bearings I realized just what this hole meant to my mother and me. We could get out during move out day tomorrow—one of us, and I knew who it would be. I could hear the bedpost suddenly stop banging on the walls and footsteps fast approaching as I forced myself out of the hole and sealed it shut. Steve opened the door with a triumphant smile on his face. He simply tossed my mother back into the room in a heap and shut the door behind him. My mom doesn’t move for a while, but I can see that the handcuffs were off of her and this was what we needed.

“Mom, are you okay?”

“I’ve been better, but that’s not the worst I’ve been through,” she said in a weak voice.

I couldn’t tell if she was breathing, but I could hear the tears and pain in her voice. I swallowed my fears, and my only hope for getting out of this alive and unscathed, but she had done this before and now it was my time.

“Mom, I need you to listen to me,” I said without any emotion.

“What?” she grunted.

“I need you to get into this hole and not say a word until Steve and I leave tomorrow,” I stated, opening the floorboards.

“No, you get in. He doesn’t want you; he wants me. You get in that hole and hide,” she stated, as she gained a second wind and got up to tell me what to do.

“No, I won’t. You’ve been through this before, now it’s my turn. You’re the only one that can do something about it. He has to leave tomorrow because we’re bringing too much attention to him. Just hide, then get out so we can get Dad and the cops that actually can help us and are willing to help us.”

I could see the indecision on her face, so I didn’t give her an option. She had just been taken advantage of, and now I was stronger than her. I took her by her hands, dragged her slowly over to the hole, and then moved her feet into the hole.

I gently slid her in, knowing she was in pain and this was the only way to save her. I was about to live through what she lived through, and I could only hope that I was strong like her and would be able to make it through it like she did.

"It's the only way we can both survive. We have to split up," I said, repeating her words back to her as I sealed her into the hiding spot.

Chapter 26

"Where is she?" I heard Steve scream as he barged into the room and saw that my mother was gone. He had come in this morning to see that she was gone and was completely flabbergasted as he ran out to look for her. He had torn apart the house from the sounds of crashing and movement that I could hear.

He clearly hadn’t found her because he asked again, “Where is she?”

I didn't answer. I only looked at the open window that led down to a ledge where someone could jump down to the ground and escape. Steve followed my gaze and stormed to the window. I had made the jump previously, and left a shoe print on that ledge before pulling myself back in. I had to come back, because if we were both gone he would have torn the house apart and he would have found my mother. I wasn’t going to let her live through this again. I had to keep her from living it again, even if it meant that I now had to live through the horrors of Steve Bennett. I would do it for her.

“I’m going to bring her back. Don’t move,” he ordered, as he cuffed me to the arm of a nailed down chair.

He stormed out of the house with a slam of the door before I heard the rev of the truck's engine. He took off at full speed to find her and then soon I could no longer hear then engine.

“Audrey?” I heard my mom ask in a muffled voice through the floorboards.

“I’m still here. He won’t be gone long because we have to leave soon. Stay quiet until we leave, then escape and find a way to a town to get help. I don’t know where we will be going, but I will do everything I can to let you know.”

“He’s smarter than Damien was and actually doesn’t want to let you go. You have to be on your toes and vigilant,” she warned.

“I understand. Just please be quiet.” I said, as I tried to stop the tears from falling down my face. Even if she couldn’t see them, I knew she would be able to hear me crying.

“Audrey, you know what’s going to happen once he comes back right?”

“I do. I’ve seen it before,” I stated, as I remembered him once again taking advantage of my mother after Damien told me those stories. I finally understood what my mom went through and now I knew exactly what I was facing. Only it didn’t prepare me for what I had to suffer through.

“What did you say?” my mother asked, as the rumble of the truck came back about twenty minutes later.

“Mom, stay quiet. No matter what,” I said, as I held my head up high and tried to prepare myself for what was about to happen.

“I love you, Audrey.”

“I love you too, Mom,” I said as the door slammed open and closed.

Steve’s footsteps thundered up the stairs and made his way toward the room he held us in. I just looked up to his face without a word. There were creases etched into his face in pure anger as he looked at me, but I didn’t flinch. His green eyes burned into mine as he huffed out an angry breath and let out a loud frustrated scream.

“You let her go! She escaped because of you!”

“I’ve been chained this whole time,” I stated matter-of-factly. His anger visibly increased, so I decided it was best not to talk anymore.

“We have to go. We can christen the new house before you know it,” he said as he lifted me over his shoulder and carried me out of the house.

I couldn’t and wouldn’t want to move because it hurt so much. Maybe he knew that, or he wanted to get out quickly. Someone must have heard all that screaming I did, and I could only hope it was true. He tossed me into the truck and slammed the door shut. I could hear his footsteps on the gravel outside as I contorted myself to lean on the door. He got in and his hands were instantly on my back. I heard him sigh in pleasure as tears slipped down my cheeks, and he started the ignition.

“You’ll love it with me. Your mom did,” he assured me as we drove off.

I moved just enough so I could look up into the room I had been locked in as we drove off. I caught a glimpse of a person in the room and knew that my mother would be safe, for now. But, the real question was what was going to happen to me. I watched as Steve drove so that I could see where we were going, but we took highways and back routes for days in a row. He was careful to avoid the highways in the daytime because of the amount of police activity on them during the day. Back roads weren’t watched as much and he sped as fast as he could.

He continually looked back in the rear-view mirror and stopped briefly to let other cars pass to make sure we weren’t being followed. I hated when he stopped the most though. He took advantage of that time to punish me for letting my mother escape. Whether by touching me, or kissing me, Steve used the stop to his advantage, and I was wishing that he would never stop driving again. There was no option for me, I was trapped with him and had no way out.

My fear spiked as Steve came to yet another stop; this was the fifth one in two hours. It wasn’t just any stop either. He had found an old motel in the area and decided to stop for the night. When we pulled in we were one of three cars in the motel’s parking lot, with a lot of space between us all. I suddenly had a very bad feeling about this place, but I couldn’t place it.

“Get out and don’t say anything to anyone or I kill you,” Steve threatened, as he motioned for me to follow him.

He roughly grabbed my hands and led me inside. I noticed that before he did, he peered through the window to make sure there were no posters of us, or anything out of the ordinary. We walked up to the counter to see a middle-aged man with balding hair. He looked shocked to see us, either because he knew who we were or because he was surprised to have people. He looked at me with the same shock, and I just shook my head lightly to try to tell him to stop. He could get injured if he wasn’t careful. He needed to pretend that he didn’t recognize Steve or myself, even though our faces must be plastered everywhere.

“How can I help you?” The man asked, seeming to take my hint that he didn’t want to know who we were.

“We need a room to stay in for the night,” Steve answered, handing the man cash without another word.

“Two rooms?” he said gesturing to me.

“Oh, no. This is my daughter. We are on our way to see her mother, right, sweetheart?” Steve lied, clearly noticing he was too old to fake being my husband.

“Right,” I stated, taking an extra-long time to blink so the man would hopefully see something was wrong.

“Okay, well, here’s the key,” the man said, hesitantly taking another look at me. “I just need you to sign some papers. This will take some time, why don’t you wait for your daddy over there,” the man added, as he pointed me towards the books.

I just nodded and sat down in a chair. At first glance I couldn’t see why the man had sent me over here, but then I saw it. Hidden behind the books were coloring pages and crayons. I picked up a book and turned my back to them so I could write out a message. I listed my name and my home number, along with my father’s cell phone number. Then I carefully and slowly folded the paper and slipped it into the book. I didn’t move right away, though; I pretended to keep reading so that Steve would buy it, except I flipped to the front again so that it didn’t look strange.

“It’s done now, honey. Let’s rest up for the trip tomorrow,” Steve said, calling me over to him.

I brought the book back with me and gave it back to the man, nodding a thank you as we walked out. He stopped me and called me back. “Excuse me, miss!” he said, once Steve was outside of the door.

“If you need help, call this number. It will come directly to me,” the manager said, as he slipped me a piece of paper and the same book back to me.

I took the book he gave me and slipped him the one I had written on. Without saying another word, he took the paper and I went to follow Steve who was waiting for me.

“What did he ask you?”

“He gave me this book to read until we leave tomorrow,” I lied, as he handed me a suitcase from the trunk.

“Why?”

“Just in case I got bored, I guess,” I stated bluntly, forcing myself to wink at him and then beating myself on the inside for doing this to myself.

“You wouldn’t get bored if you weren’t a screamer,” he said with a smile as we walked to our assigned room.

I didn’t say anything, but I was thinking. I was trying to find a way to end this. I just hoped one came soon. I waited until midnight, reading the same page of the book without really seeing the words. Steve finally got up to shower and I took my chance. I waited for the water to start running before I flipped through the book and called the number the manager had given me. It rang a few times until he picked up.

"Hello, it's the girl that came in this morning," I said in a hushed whisper.

“I understand, Miss Thomas. The police are already on their way.”

"Thank you so much. I have to go before he gets out," was all I said before I hung up.

I breathed a sigh of relief, until I heard Steve speak, "Now, we can't have that can we?” he said hanging up the phone and pulling me out of the room back into the car. “We’ll get to your punishment later. Once we get to the house,” Steve promised as we quickly pulled out of the parking lot, leaving the manager standing there with no way to help me and the sirens closing in.