Read Always with You (WIth You Trilogy) Online
Authors: R. J. Sable
Always with You (WIth You Trilogy)
Text copyright © 2013
R. J. Sable All Rights Reserved
To Bôb and Sausage. Thank you for always being there for me and for being the best family I could ask for. Even when I stole your chocolate mousse.
To Dad, for being proud of me even though you’re not allowed to read these.
Saturday, June 22nd 2013
On. Off. On. Off. I lay there li
stening to the buzzing sound, vaguely aware of the throbbing at the base of my skull. I tried to open my eyes and see its source but my lids felt heavy. My whole body felt heavy.
The
buzzing sounds faded a little and I became aware of several voices and a low whispering.
There are people here
. They sounded far away and that suited me just fine.
As long as they’re not close to me
. I focused on the buzzing again, trying to tap my fingers in time to it but I only managed a couple of taps before I realised how tired I was. The sheer effort of lifting my fingers wore me out so I stopped and let myself fall back to sleep.
When I heard the buzzing again
, it felt louder and the throbbing had intensified ten fold. Before, it had been bearable but now it felt like my head was about to split in two. I tried my hardest to keep quiet despite my pain. I didn’t want to draw attention to myself. I couldn’t stop it though; a pained groan escaped my lips and my body writhed up away from the soft surface in protest.
I immediately clamped my mouth shut, terrified that they’d heard me. I felt a hand on my arm and tre
mbled slightly but the touch was gentle.
“It’s okay
, dear,” a kind, feminine voice said. “You’re safe.”
Safe
. I wasn’t safe, they’d taken me… where was I? I was realising for the first time that it smelt different. Before, the air had been damp and dusty, like mouldy leaves and cement. Here, the air was sterile and faintly soapy.
I forced my eyes open and was assaulted by the overhead strip lighting. I raised my hands to my sore head and realised that they were no longer bound. I tried to push myself up on my elbows so that I could see where I was more clearly.
“Stay still, duck. You’re safe,” she repeated.
I nodded my understanding the best I could and blinked a few times, trying to get used to the light.
I’m in a hospital
. The realisation allowed my body to relax, releasing a tension I didn’t know I’d been carrying.
I’m safe
. I let out a breath of air and silent tears surged down my cheeks. I’d refused to let them out before, refused to give them that, but there was no stopping them now.
I heard the woman, who I now realised wa
s a nurse, trying to soothe me and felt her squeezing my hand gently. I listened to her but the words weren’t sinking in. I tried to remember how I’d gotten there but my brain felt fuzzy and concentrating made the throbbing in my head worse.
I rubbed my head gingerly and felt the bandages that were wrapped around me from my forehead to the base of my skull. I heard the nurse asking me if my head was hurting and nodded again. She set about fetching me some pain medication and
asking me questions. I nodded, too tired and uncomfortable to form words.
Closing
my eyes again, I tried to ignore the painful throbbing. My efforts were rendered completely useless when shouting and thundering footsteps drew closer.
My brothers
. I’d have recognised those voices and heavy footfalls anywhere. I suspected they were trampling over anything and anyone in their path to get to me.
“You can’t be in here right now!” The
formerly cheerful nurse protested. “She needs to rest.”
As I expected
, my brothers ignored her and I opened my eyes to see them all huddling round my hospital bed.
I smiled weakly
but it would have been a full on grin if I’d had the energy. I’d never seen so many emotions on Ian’s face before. He was showing everything from relief, to horror, to fury. I wanted to hug him and let him know I was okay but I didn’t think I had the energy to make that much movement.
“Hi,” I croaked groggily.
“Hi?” Rick choked.
“That’s the best you’ve got after pulling that shit?” Danny grinned, relief washing over his face.
“Sorry,” I smiled sleepily.
“That’s enough. You need to get out of here now,” the nurse bustled. “I’ll call security if I have to.”
I started to giggle but immediately regretted it because it hurt my head. It was too funny though. I doubted there was enough security in the whole building to force my brothers to leave if they didn’t want to.
“She’s our sister,” Karl answered, his voice thick with unspoken emotio
n.
“I understand that,” the nurse said more gently. “But there’s just too many of you and she needs to rest.”
“We’re not going anywhere,” Ian shook his head adamantly.
I closed my eyes and tried to shut them out. I loved them all dearly and no amount of words could express how elated I was to see them, especially because I’d thought I was
never going to see them again, but I just wanted to sleep.
“One of you can stay,” the nurse offered.
“Three,” Ian glowered.
“This isn’t a negotiation
, young man,” the nurse frowned but I could tell she was warming to him and suspected he was trying to win her over with his winning smile.
“Alright, two it is,” Ian said firmly.
“Then I’m staying,” a voice chimed in. A voice that had my heart pumping faster and my skin warming with just a few words.
My eyes shot open once more.
Jason
. I hadn’t seen him before because my brothers were boxing me in but he was here.
“Not a fucking chance!” Ian growled.
“Language!” The nurse chastised but they ignored her.
“There’s not a chance in hell I’m leaving her, Ian,” Jason said. I
recognised his no-nonsense tone but I wasn’t sure how well Ian would take it.
“Ian,” I croaked, still tired but not too tired to try and prevent a conflict. “I want Jason here, please.”
I saw Ian narrow his eyes but his expression softened as he turned to look at me and he conceded to Jason. I closed my eyes again because I wasn’t about to try and pick favourites amongst my brothers. They could decide amongst themselves, I was all out of energy. Jason took my hand in his and, despite the fact I felt like I was coming apart at the seams, his tingles surged through me and awakened every nerve ending.
My brothers bickered for a few minutes, despite protests from the nurses. Eventually
, Ian let Craig stay because he was practically a doctor. I opened my eyes, watching them leave, and saw Ian and Karl standing guard at the far end of the corridor. It made me anxious that they felt the need to do so.
“Relax, little squirrel,” Jason whispered, stroking my hand. “I’m right here.”
I could hear the pain in his voice. I couldn’t imagine how worried he must have been when I’d disappeared. Well, that wasn’t true. I had a pretty damn good idea but I didn’t want to think about it.
“I’m scared,” I admitted on a whisper.
“I know, Jamie, but it’s okay. You’re safe now. We won’t let anyone near you,” he reassured me.
I felt him climbing into bed behind me and instantly relaxed when his body heat met with my own. I hadn’t realised how cold I’d felt.
“That bed is meant for one person.” The nurse was back and tried to usher Jason out but he refused to budge.
“Please, I need him here,” I said sleepily.
I heard her tutting but she made no further move to force Jason away from me. Instead she set about preparing some pain medication.
“I can do that,” Craig intervened, stepping in front of the nurse and her syringe.
“It’s not like putting a plaster on, young man,” the nurse laughed.
“I’m a foundation doctor,” Craig grinned.
The nurse looked him over and it was pretty obvious she didn’t believe him. He fished out his hospital ID and she quizzed him a little further. I couldn’t have kept up with the medical talk even if my head hadn’t been throbbing.
The nurse relented and handed the syringe over to Craig once he’d put on some latex gloves.
“My head hurts,” I mumbled when Craig started cleaning my arm.
“I know, Jellybean,” Craig nodded. “You’ve got a nasty concussion. This will help.”
I felt something cold against my skin but barely registered what he was doing. I didn’t even feel the needle go in and was surprised when he pulled away and told me he was all done.
“Concussion?” I asked, closing my eyes again because keeping them open was just too much effort.
“Yep,” Craig confirmed. “Your CT scans look fine though. You’ll be okay, sis. You should try and sleep but we’ll have to wake you up every now and then.” He looked at the nurse with a cheeky smirk that told me it wasn’t his place to make that call but she just nodded in agreement
Sleep
wasn’t going to be a problem. I was already drifting off. I still didn’t really understand what was happening, I doubted Jason or my brothers had a better idea than I had. They must have had thousands of questions, I know I did. I was grateful that they hadn’t asked though because I doubted I’d have been able to answer any of them in the state I was in.
Friday, June 21st 2013
I couldn’t see or hear anything. I felt the van stopping after what felt like an hour but I couldn’t be sure how much time had passed. I shook uncontrollably when they lifted my weight and moved me somewhere else. I could hear car doors opening and closing and it didn’t take
a genius to figure out that the three of them were moving me to another vehicle.
T
he knowledge that any hopes of being found through CCTV footage of the van were disappearing rapidly was sickening. I found myself at the feet of my captors once more, lying between the boots of what I assumed were the same two men in what must have been another van.
They didn’t talk much and
what little they did say was never aimed at me so I kept quiet too. Not that I could have said much with the gag still in my mouth and the bag over my head.
I just kept trying to reassure myself that I was still alive for a reason.
If they were going to kill me then I’d be dead already.
They’d barely touched me so I wasn’t as concerned about being raped as I might have been but the fear still hovered. I couldn’t figure out why they’d taken me. They could have easily grabbed Alex instead but they took me. They didn’t even bother chasing him.
Why though?
I asked myself over and over again. I couldn’t imagine I’d be much use for ransoming. I mean, sure, between them my brothers probably had a decent amount of money. They all had good jobs and low living costs but they weren’t millionaires by any means. Jason had money, I didn’t know how much but I suspected nobody would get rich by forcing money out of him, at least not enough for the risk to be worth it.
I tried to stop thinking about it. I’d know soon enough and I was in no rush to find out what horrible fate awaited me.
As the drive progressed, the feeling in my hands and feet alternated between numbness and biting pain from my restraints. I tried not to move too much because I knew what had happened to Jake’s wrists when he’d fought against similar cable ties.
When the van stopped again
, I was terrified, completely paralysed by fear. Whilst they’d been driving, I’d been scared but the drive served a purpose and as long as we were driving, we were postponing what was to come. I swallowed thickly as best I could with the gag in place and waited anxiously for something to happen.
I was terrified but the long drive had given me nothing to do but think. I was in a situation where I had no control. There was nothing I could do to change anything. I needed to keep my head clear and focus. Even if they hadn’t had guns, they still outnumbered me three to one and I knew there was no point fighting it. If there was a way out of this, it would be using my head.
I felt somebody touching my legs as they cut the bindings away from my ankles before dragging me out of the van and setting me down on the floor. I followed blindly as they dragged me though the darkness by the arm.
It was an impossible task to let myself be led by somebody I held no trust for. My body resisted by pushing back into the wall of heat behind me, but every time I came into contact with him, he gave me a rough shove forwards.
I felt the air change against my skin and heard a door shutting behind me. I whimpered slightly when I was given a hard shove and fell forwards. I was surprised to feel that I landed on something vaguely soft. It felt like a mattress but smelt like a family of rodents had crawled inside it to die.
I could hear the men talking amongst themselves but not what they were saying. I lay still and quiet,
forcing back my sobs, because I didn’t want to draw any attention to myself. I was contented to remain forgotten.
I couldn’t be forgotten forever though. I wasn’t lucky enough for that. I’d heard them eating, at least it smelt like they were eating. One of them approached me and I recoiled when his hands grasped mine, still bound behind my back. He released the cable tie and I immediately drew my arms round to my front. They’d been bound for hours and the new surge of blood was agonizing.
He pulled the bag away from my head and I blinked uncomfortably in the dim light. He was still wearing a balaclava so I couldn’t make out his face, not that I tried. I kept my eyes down because I didn’t want him to see me as a threat, as someone who might try something. I wanted the element of surprise if the opportunity presented itself
“Eat,” he spat, tossing a packet of cheese and onion crisps into my lap.
“Thank you,” I mumbled, pulling the gag away from my mouth. How stupid was that? I was thanking the guy who had helped kidnap me for a measly packet of crisps. I inwardly cursed my ingrained manners.
The guy obviously agreed with me because he hit me hard across my
jaw, knocking me down onto the mattress. “No talking,” he grunted.
I didn’t need telling twice. I clamped my mouth shut and bit back the tears, waiting for the pain in my cheek t
o fade. I could handle the pain but the uncertainty about what was going to happen? That was worse.
I wasn’t hungry; I was too scared to be hungry
but I didn’t know how long it would be until I’d get food again and I suspected I’d need my strength so I forced down the whole packet. I hadn’t eaten since the cupcake I’d had at the coffee shop with Alex and, by the lack of light shining through the broken windows, it appeared to be pretty late at night.
We seemed to be in some sort of abandoned warehouse. There were old pieces of machinery that lay unused and covered in dust. I was in the far corner, as far away from the door as I possibly could be.
I curled back up into the foetal position and tried not to think about the disgusting mattress I was lying on or how much longer I’d be alive. Instead, I closed my eyes and pictured each of my brothers in turn, remembering the details of their faces. I drew most comfort from picturing Jason though. I traced his tattoo in my mind, remembering every intricate detail. If I lived through this, I was going to make sure I found out the history behind that tattoo.
I stopped my mental distraction techniques as one of the men approached me again. This time it was the one with slightly darker skin. When he spoke it was with the odd accent that I was inclined to think was in fact Arabic.
“On your front,” he demanded coldly.
I trembled but did as I was told. I didn’t want to give them any reason to hurt me or threaten me. He pulled my arms back behind my back and bound them again, this time with handcuffs. He pulled me up and dragged me through the building to what appeared to be a bathroom.
He uncuffed one hand and cuffed the other to a metal railing running alongside the toilet. It appeared I was being allowed a bathroom break. I was relieved to have been left alone, but I wasn’t sure how long I’d be given so I tried to be quick. I was only just quick enough. I’d just done up the buttons on my jeans when the guy came back in.
I wanted to wash my hands and moved towards the sink as soon as he removed the cuff from the bar but he yanked me back roughly, the metal cuff dig
ging into my already sore wrist. I cried out as I fell back into him and trembled whilst he cuffed my wrists behind my back once more.
“What do you want with me?” I asked shakily. I couldn’t hold back anymore, the uncertainty was unbearable. I needed to know
my fate.
“Silence,” he growled, grabbing me round my neck with his spare hand and squeezing so that I
could barely breathe.
I whimpered and made muffled noises as he held me, squirming as much as I could but very aware that I couldn’t get far with his hand around my neck and my hands cuffed together.
He pushed me down onto the mattress again and I lay there, as still as I could be whilst he linked a length of chain round my cuffs and into the metal piping on the wall behind me. He replaced the itchy fabric hood over my head and left me there.
I’d seen the other men sat around the table with a deck of cards and I could hear them, still playing. I hated that they could do something so normal whilst they had me kidnapped and bound just meters away. I couldn’t understand how anybody could do that. I bit my tears back once more
, for good this time. I needed to be strong. I needed to be prepared for what was to come, whatever that may be.
I don’t know how I managed it but I must have fallen asleep at some point. It wasn’t a peaceful sleep, quite the opposite. I woke up at every sound, and since one of the men seemed to be pacing around quite a bit, I woke up often.
I had no way of knowing how many hours had passed. My shoulders, back and neck ached something rotten. I’d have given anything for them to let me loose. I rolled onto my front and tried to flex and stretch my fingers and arms to alleviate some of the pain but that somehow made it worse.
I felt the mattress dip beside me, and my whole body went tense with fear. The guy barely touched me though. He unhooked my wrists from the piping and refastened them at my front. He roughly removed my hood and beams of sunlight assaulted my vision.
They were wearing balaclavas again but it seemed there were only two of them at the moment. I scanned the room quickly but I couldn’t see anyone else. I lowered my eyes again because I could feel the broader of the two men, the one who’d uncuffed me, glaring down at me.
The other man, with the accent, approached me and
dropped a bottle of water at my feet. I was parched and snapped it up eagerly. I wasn’t sure if I should have been drinking water that they gave me but I figured they’d had plenty of opportunities to hurt me and the bottle was still sealed so I gulped it down whilst they watched.
The second I finished the bottle, the broad man pulled me up by the arm and began dragging me across the room.
After just a few meters, the man holding me suddenly stilled, coming to an abrupt halt by my side. He raised his hand and signalled something to his accomplice. I sensed a shift in the atmosphere and I could see the tension in their body language.
They must have heard or seen something
that I missed. Both of them were looking at the door intensely. I instinctively knew that something was happening. Something they weren’t prepared for or happy about.
This is my chance
, I thought to myself. If I was going to get away it had to happen now.
I yanked my body away from the man and bolted towards the door. With every step
, my chest became tighter because I was one step closer to freedom. My legs moved faster than they ever had before, adrenaline pumping through my veins. Then everything turned black.