Stirring awake, a soft thumping against my window catches my attention. Propping up against my elbows, I briefly glance at my alarm clock on my way to the window. I groan at the early hour and stare at the stormy sky that darkens my room. Rain pats against my window, the dull thumping from earlier.
Getting up, I close the blinds to shut out the depressing weather. I don't need another reason to cry and wake up multiple times throughout the night. I didn't want to wake up but between my splitting migraine and worried thoughts about where Damon is and if he ever made it back home okay, I was useless against my working mind.
I decide to quit sleeping for the day, it's no use anyways, I will only continue to restlessly toss and turn.
A dangerous thought pops up into my head as I step out of my bathroom. I hesitantly reach for my keys and walk across the hallway, tiptoeing to not alert anyone of my crazy idea.
I just need to know that he is okay.
Putting the spare key into the lock, I am reminded of when Damon gave me the key as a present. It was after our romantic getaway and we were laying in bed one early morning. He said that he wanted to sleep next to me forever so he always wanted me to have access to him and our bed.
My thoughts halt when the door creaks open and my ears perk to see if anyone woke up from the noise. Doesn't the door know that I'm on a covert mission that no one must know about?
Forgetting to close the door behind me, I carefully walk around the apartment, taking care to maneuver around the creaky parts of the floor. A big part of me feels like a stalker and I want to turn around, but for my own selfish reason, I open Damon's door and look for his muscular body in our- his- bed.
Taking a step closer, I see as his blankets rise and fall in rhythm to his deep breathing. I let out the breath that I had been holding in.
He's okay.
Deciding that I have been creepy enough, I turn my body around, ready to walk out of his room and apartment when the blanket rustles as he turns over. In a flash, I am leaning against the bottom part of his bed frame, my heart breathing out of my chest, my breath coming out in shallow pants.
Did I wake him up? What will he do if he knows I'm here? Will he yell at me again? Will he kick me out again?
Listening to hear anymore movement, my body starts to calm down as his soft breaths fill the silence in the room. He's asleep and now I need to go before he does wake up and find me here.
Slowly standing up, I walk out of Damon's room only to stop ten feet away from his door. A man stands there, the light hitting his back illuminates his face and I recognize him as the man who attempted to kidnap me that one day. My heart drops to my stomach as my mind fills with dizzying thoughts and my palms get sweaty.
I need to get back to Damon. Now.
Watching his movements, I take one step backward then whip my body around and start to run back to the man who I know will protect me. I don't make it two steps when he captures my body in his big arms and his hand is over my mouth. My screams are muffles underneath his big sweaty hand and I panic as I thrash in his arms and fail to escape.
I need to get away. I have to find a way to make enough noise to wake Damon and Brandon up so they can help me.
I frantically look around the room for anything that will make a lot of noise if it falls to the ground. Spotting abandoned plates and cups on the table, I push and pull my body towards them. If I can get to the table, I can kick my feet across it and knock something over.
Slowly I feel us move closer and closer to the table, I can almost reach it when a voice echoes down the hallway. The man hitches me closer to his body and in an instant, I am draped over his shoulder, screaming Damon's name with my freed lips.
The man runs down the hallway with the man whose voice we heard. I wonder if it is his partner. Getting closer to the stairway, my desperation to escape grows and I scream Damon's name over and over hoping for someone to come out of their room and tell me to be quiet. Hoping for Damon to hear me and come save me from this nightmare.
"Please, let me go. I swear I won't tell anyone who you are or what you tried to do. I don't know you and I haven't seen your face. If you let me go now, it will be like this never happened and we can both get on without our lives," my voice wavers in fear.
They say nothing and I go back to screaming. My voice leaves me when I hear the handle of the stairway being pushed in. I know that this is it, the pounding of my hands and feet against his body, my moving around in his arms is no use. I escaped him once, but I can't do it again.
Their boots echo in the stairway and I lose all hope. There is no way anyone will be able to save me now. No one will hear me. I watch helplessly as Damon runs out of his apartment, his hair frazzled from sleep and chest rising rapidly as if he woke up in a panic. I watch as he looks around for me, pounding on my door. I wave my hands in the air to try and catch his attention. It works, but it's too late by the time he takes off in a sprint towards me, we are already moving onto the first floor, their pace increasing to minimize any exposure to the cameras.
I hear Damon open the door and rush down the steps as the door to the parking lot closes behind me.
A glimmer of hope flickers inside me. Will he reach me in time?
I hear a car alarm go off and I know that I am close to never being the same. I mentally scream for Damon to get to me, to save and forgive me.
We approach the car and I can feel the small window of freedom rapidly close.
Damon, where are you?
I hear my captor's partner open a door. Setting me down on the floor, I move my feet as fast as I can to run away from them and give Damon a few seconds. What is taking him so long?
They quickly grab me and tie my hands up with rope and a blindfold over my eyes. No, no, no. Please no. Tears flow rapidly down my cheeks and my body violently shakes. This is actually happening.
Lifting me up, I squirm as much as I can my fight or flight instincts in overdrive. I need to get away. I cannot wait for anyone. I have to save myself.
Continuing to struggle, I scream out for help. Someone has to hear me. Someone has to be getting in or out of their car to go to and come home from work. Someone must be here.
Then I land on leather seats. I'm in the car. Without my arms, I try to crawl back to the open door. What if I fall out and get hurt? They don't want to bring a hurt girl, a liability to their boss.
I hear the garage stairway door open and my captors curse. Damon is here. Damon is coming to save me. Screaming his name as loud as I can, my already scratchy throat burns from the overuse. Just a little bit more and this may all be over.
I hear Damon shouting at them to let me go as they slam my door shut and get in the front of the car to drive away.
Knowing that they are distracted, I feel my way around the car to find the door handle. The cool metal touches my hands and I almost scream for joy. I would have if I knew it wouldn't alert them to my escape. Slowly and as quiet as I can manage, I pull the handle towards my body while leaning my weight against the door itself so it opens.
My heart drops to the floor when I realize that the door is child-locked. Now what?
The engine starting cuts through my train of thought and takes away all my hope. This time, I am really done for. No one can save me now, not even Damon who is probably two feet away from the car, pulling at his hair in frustration and stress.
With the tires squealing, we pull out of the parking lot and onto the main road. I hear one of them dial the phone and say "Boss, we have her" with pride and victory in his voice. Angry that they think kidnapping me is something to be happy and prideful about, I sit up in my seat and lunge my body into the front of the car. I'm immediately stopped with a hard punch to the face and I feel as my body gets limp before everything turns to black and I am utterly helpless to save myself.