Stay

A Callie Rose Novel

by

C.C. Jackson

SMASHWORDS EDITION

*****

Published by C.C. Jackson on Smashwords

Stay

A Callie Rose Novel

Copyright ©

2011 by C.C. Jackson

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*****

A Callie Rose Novel

Chapter 1

Lying in my room in the dark, I fought hard
to get a grasp on what it was that had suddenly ripped me from my
sleep. I was completely disoriented and worse, I was still
trembling from the nightmare that I had just been having. It just
felt so real.

In my dream, I was running down a dark road
fleeing from a city that was engulfed in flames. I tripped and
stumbled along the way, scraping my knee and palms. I vividly
remember the pain that ripped through my hands as I fought to keep
my balance and to keep running.

The smoke was filled with a strong bitter
odor that scorched my throat and eyes. It was like a combination of
burning rubber and chemicals. I struggled with each breath. I was
nearly choking.

I repeatedly looked back over my shoulder as
I ran, trying to get a glimpse of whatever it was that I was so
convinced was chasing me. My lungs burned and my muscles were
screaming in pain, but the terror that I felt compelled me to keep
moving.

I turned again to see how close my pursuer
was getting, only this time I completely lost my balance and fell
hard onto the asphalt, scraping my shoulder and forehead as I slid
to a stop. Tears began to stream down my face and tremors ripped
through my body as I came to the realization that I would not
escape.

Frantically, I searched the darkness and
shadows. I caught a movement out of the corner of my eye. Before I
knew what was happening, he was on me and I was screaming.

I woke up to find that I was still in my bed.
The sheets and blanket were a twisted mess and I struggled to free
my legs from them. I could still feel my tears hot on my face, and
I had to work hard to steady my breathing.

I heard it again. I jerked my head up. It was
the same sound that woke me from my dream. A loud thud, that seemed
to have come from the other side of the room. I froze as I tried to
force my eyes to focus in the darkness. I searched the contours of
my room with wide eyes. I did not move a muscle and I held my
breath.

Nothing looked out of place from what I could
tell in the dimly lit room. The only light was what little
moonlight made it in through my heavy curtains. I waited and held
my breath but nothing else happened. After a few minutes, I finally
felt my muscles begin to relax. I let out a long ragged breath, and
shook my head in frustration. “It was only a dream.” I said out
loud to myself, and I began to settle back into the comforts of my
bed.

I was about to close my eyes, hoping not to
have any more nightmares, when something happened. It is kind of
hard to explain, but the darkness just sort of shifted. There was
no light really, just that the darkness seamed to grow darker in
the far corner of the room.

I stopped breathing and again, I strained to
see in the murky blackness. What was wrong with me? This dream has
made me so paranoid.

That is when I heard him. Footsteps came
across my floor and in a hurry. I barely had time to sit up. The
next thing that I knew, I was being dragged from my bed by my arm
and just as I was about to start to screaming for my parents a cold
hand clamped down hard across my mouth.

I could not see anything in the blinding
darkness, but I could tell that this guy was tall. He was at least
half a foot or more taller than I was, and obviously very strong
because he propelled me across my room with ease. I clawed and
scraped at his arms in an attempt to free myself, but his grip
never loosened. He kept one hand wrapped tightly around my waist
and the other continued to stifle my scream as he raced toward my
open window. I had not even noticed that it was open a few minutes
ago. He climbed out, still clutching me to him and carried me out
into the cool spring night.

I felt as if I were soaring through the air
as he leapt from my second story bedroom window and landed on the
ground in a graceful thud. He immediately started running towards
the woods behind my house. It did not take long until I found that
we were under the cover of the trees. I could smell the sweet scent
of the Magnolia trees that my mother was so fond of, and the soft
needles of the pine trees tugged at my skin as we sped by them.

My mind started racing. I could not imagine
how we were even able to survive a fall like that, let alone for
him to be running through the woods with me in his arms. More
important, who was this and what did he want with me?

I tried to fight harder. I kicked and clawed
at him, but he never slowed. I tried to bite the hand that was
covering most of the lower part of my face, but his grip was too
tight and I could barely move my jaw. I was struggling just to
breathe. No matter how hard I fought against him he just kept
running. I could feel the wind blowing my hair around my face as we
moved. I had to shut my eyes to keep them from burning from the
cold air. We darted through the trees in a way that left me
baffled. I could not understand how he could move so quickly
through them and not run into a branch or trip over a log.

I tried to remember if I had done anything in
the last few days that would have angered somebody enough to do
something like this to me. I lived in a small town in southern
Louisiana. Nothing ever really happens there.

I went to school, and while I was not really
the most popular girl, I did not think that anyone hated me. I have
never had a boyfriend, and I just had a few girls that I talked to
in school. For the most part, I kept to myself.

After school, I came straight home. I did
what little homework that I needed to do and then I hung out on our
front porch swing reading the latest vampire novel and listening to
30 Seconds to Mars on my iPod.

My parents came home and did their nightly
ritual of cooking, bathing, and TV watching. I did not remember
seeing any strange people hanging around like you always hear about
on the news.

Believe me, I would have noticed. I lived in
a pretty rural area of the south, my nearest neighbor is over a
half a mile away. Our yard is pretty much surrounded by woods and
swamp. The only thing that should be out there is deer and an
occasional raccoon.

What if this was some sadistic serial killer?
What in the hell was I going to do? I could not fight him. I could
barely breathe, let alone scream. I just needed to try to calm
down. I needed to be able to think. He would have to stop
eventually. When he did, I would have to be ready to do everything
that I could to escape before he hurt me.

He carried me for what felt like an eternity,
but he never loosened his grip on my mouth or my waist. All that I
can remember seeing are trees. The moon was shining brightly
overhead, and occasionally I noticed an opossum or some other
animal skitter away from us.

He kept me with my back pressed firmly
against his chest. His arm snaked out from under my left armpit and
curled across me along my chest. I could feel the rigid contours of
his pecs and his abs through my flimsy t-shirt. He definitely
worked out, a lot. He never seemed to tire, or even so much as
breathed heavily.

He finally slowed and I was completely lost.
I had no idea how far he had carried me, nothing looked familiar.
The trees were taller and thicker, nothing like the grand moss
covered Live Oak trees that surrounded my home in Louisiana. There
were no palmettos, and the terrain was no longer flat and marshy. I
thought that I could see tree covered mountains off in the
distance.

He carried me through a patch of thick brush
using his shoulder and legs to push back the branches and vines
that blocked our path. I felt cobwebs string across my face and I
wanted to shudder because I was not able to wipe them off me. I was
definitely going to end up with poison ivy or worse.

The brush began to thin and eventually we
emerged into in a small clearing. I could hear water flowing in a
stream somewhere close by. We headed in the direction of the water
and followed it downstream. It curved lazily through the woods and
brought us close to an opening in the side of a rocky cliff.

I am not sure what time of the night that I
was taken, but the sun was starting to come up over the top of the
mountains. I knew that we must have traveled for hours.

Standing in front of the entrance to a cave
in the side of the cliff, my captor finally set me down on my feet.
My muscles screamed in a sigh of relief. My ribs ached and I knew
that I would probably have a massive bruise from the way that he
had carried me. I clutched my arms tightly around my rib cage in an
attempt to ease the pain.

Slowly he released his grip from my mouth,
testing me to see if I was going to scream. I was way too scared
and wore out to scream or to try to run. I doubt that it would have
done any good out there anyway, so I just stood there. I tried to
keep as still as possible while I waited to see what he was going
to do next.

Once he was convinced that I was not going to
try to take off, he grabbed me by my wrist and started to lead me
to the entrance of the cave. This was the first time that I was
actually able to get a good look at him. I studied him hard just in
case I ever got the chance to go to a police station. I wanted to
be able to give them a good description.

He was tall, at least six feet. He was
slender but with strong tight muscles that rippled with his
movements. His cropped black hair stood out at odd angles on top of
his head, and he wore dark blue jeans and a tight fitting black
t-shirt. Only when he briefly glanced back at me did I actually get
a look at his face. He had the deepest blue eyes that I had ever
seen, they were like sparkling sapphires. He had a firm jaw, a
straight nose and a small dimple in his chin. He appeared to be
clean shaven, but his brows and slight sideburns were black just
like his hair.

My goodness those eyes. There was something
about his eyes that just seemed to captivate me. Trust me, I knew
that they should not appeal to me by any means. Nevertheless, when
those eyes locked with mine, it was almost as if I was looking into
his soul. What I saw there was a sadness that was maybe mixed with
a little remorse. It was almost as if he was pleading with me.

Why would he look sad? That was crazy, he
just kidnapped me and was about to do god knows what with me in a
cave in the woods. But his eyes were definitely trying to tell me
something. In any other circumstance, I might have thought he was
pretty attractive, but right now, I was way too scared and a little
to weary to think about him like that.

He had to duck his head as he led me through
the narrow opening of the cave. Once we were inside, I could barely
see anything. It smelled of damp stale air as I drew in a breath
trying to calm myself down. The dankness of the cave began to
settle over me and I started to shiver. I was dressed for bed, so I
was barefoot and only wearing a pair of comfy pajama bottoms and a
thread bare t-shirt. I struggled in the overwhelming darkness to
keep my footing as he pulled me forward. He must have sensed my
struggle because I felt him slow and then stop. He released my hand
and said the first and only word that I had heard him say
throughout this entire ordeal. “Stay.”

His voice was deep and smooth like velvet. It
came across me in a way that made me feel all warm and tingly. I
had to shake myself back to reality. What was my problem? This guy
was about to torture me to death and I was swooning. Good
grief.

I felt him move away from me and I just stood
there very still in the dark, shivering. I could not run away if I
wanted to because in the pitch black of the cave, I could no longer
make out the entrance that we had just walked through only moments
before. I heard a rustling noise in the distance and then a moment
or two later a soft golden glow began to emit from somewhere out in
front of me.