Chapter 2
~Elle~
Six Months Earlier.
After finishing my second twelve-hour shift at midnight, I’m dead on my feet. Too tired to bother changing into street clothes, I grab my bag from the on-call lounge and head out of the hospital. My lavender scrubs, and worn sneakers carry me into the night, bag slung over my shoulder, every step heavy with exhaustion.
At times like this, I remind myself why it was necessary to spend most of my meager salary on an apartment nearby. It's only three blocks away from Mercy Hospital where I work. Luckily, I have no student loan to repay unlike most of my colleagues, as I completed medical school on a scholarship. Now I’ve almost completed my surgical residency.
Crossing the dark parking lot towards home, the night’s chill bites at my skin. I’ve made this walk countless times, yet tonight—unease coils in my gut. My eyes dart across the rows of scattered vehicles, searching for the danger I feel but cannot see.
In my rush to get home, I’d forgotten my jacket. I stop beside a black van near the street, pulling a zippered sweater from my tote.
Just as I’m about to sling the bag back over my shoulder, the van door bursts open. A hand clamps over my mouth. My arms are pinned tight against my body as I’m dragged backward, struggling in silence. The world tilts, and before I can fight back, I’m pulled into the van’s dark interior. The door slams shut, and the vehicle lurches forward, speeding into the night.
My heart races, panic clawing at my chest as I twist and kick, desperate to break free. “Stop fighting, little one, and I’llmove my hand from your mouth,” a smooth, accented voice whispers against my ear.
“Promise not to scream, and I’ll let go.” His hand slips away—and I scream, swinging my tote hard into his abdomen. He gasps, but the blow barely slows him. His grip tightens again. “I thought you promised not to scream.”
“I promised nothing… you monster! Let me go! Stop! Let me out!”
“We need your help,” he says as his grip on me loosens. I turned around to see him for the first time. He’s one of the most handsome men I’ve ever seen. Huge and towering over me. Wearing a black T-shirt and cargo pants with boots. T-shirt fitting like a second skin over his broad chest. Blonde hair styled to fall over the side of his face and the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen.
He has anintricate tattoo peaking above the collar of his T-shirt and running down the entirety of his arms. The dimness of the light coming through the small window on the doors at the back of the van makes it difficult to make out the design.
He speaks again, snapping me out of my perusal. “Do you hear me? Once you help us, we’ll let you go.”
“Why do you need my help and who the hell are you? Do you make a habit of grabbing unsuspecting people off the street in the middle of the night…for all I know you could be some kind of serial murderer or...or rapist?”
Panic takes over again as my active imagination starts to run away with me. Swinging my tote at him as he tries to dodge. I’m grabbed from behind again and he shackles my arms at my sides. Restraining me with his muscular arms. My tote falls to the floor of the van with a thud. I don’t make it easy for him though. I try to trash about in an attempt to break free.
“Will you stop fighting and listen?” He sounds irritated with me. What did he have to be irritated about? I’m the one being kidnapped and manhandled by this bully.
“My brother was hurt, and I need you to help him. We’ll let you go after.”
“There are hospitals for that…take him to one!” I shouted.
“Listen to me, we can’t take him to a hospital.”
“Why the hell not, are you criminals? Are you hiding from the police? What the hell am I saying? Of course you are criminals. Normal people don’t go around snatching others off the street.”
“If you don't stop fighting, I will have to tie you up.” I stopped struggling after hearing this. Being tied up would make it difficult to escape. I’ll have to pretend. Let him think I’m cooperating. At the first opportunity, I’ll try to get away from this asshole.
“Okay, I’ll help.”
Chapter 3
~Elle~
Despite my fear, exhaustion dragged me into sleep. I wake as the van door jerks open, the handsome idiot who abducted me tugging me out. Darkness still clings to the world. Ahead, a wooden cabin rises among the trees, its beauty unsettling in the silence. The air is cold, the quiet suffocating—eerie in its perfection.
“Don’t even think about running. You’ll only get lost, and I won’t waste my time chasing you,” he warns with a sneer. Then, turning to the driver at his side, he orders, “Jimmy, put the van in the garage.” Jimmy gives a curt nod before slipping back into the vehicle to carry out the command.
The night air bites at my skin as he tightens his grip on my arm, steering me toward the cabin. His words echo in my head—Don’t try to run. You’ll only get lost.The sneer in his voice lingers, a cruel reminder that I’m not free.
Jimmy slips the van into gear, the rumble of the engine fading as he drives it toward the garage tucked beside the cabin. The crunch of gravel under the tires is the only sound in the silence, and it makes the place feel even more remote.
The cabin looms ahead, its wooden frame catching faint moonlight through the trees. It should look inviting, like a retreat, but instead it radiates menace. The windows are dark, the porch shadowed, and the forest presses in close, swallowing any sense of escape.
