And before I could recover from it, his hands were on me, grabbing me from behind, dragging.
I tried to drop my weight, to force him to try to carry a limp body.
His rage or wounded pride must have bolstered his strength, though, because he just wrapped me up tighter and pulled.
The pavement scratched at my calves, but there was nothing I could do but endure it.
Then the pavement gave way to smooth cement floors that felt cool and soothing on my cuts even as my blood dragged along it and god-knew what kind of dirt might be getting into my wounds.
By the time my body was dropped down on the ground like a sack of garbage, I felt something mean and ugly rising up in me.
All I could think as I looked at Cameron was how he was going to pay for what he’d done to me, what he’d yet to do to me.
I could have imagined any one of my cousins, my uncles, and my aunts grabbing him, trotting him, making him pay for it.
But it was Perish’s face I saw in my mind as I stared up at Cameron.
There was a small bit of satisfaction at the blood on his face, the way his nose was no longer just crooked but pushed all the way to one side.
“Stupid bitch,” he snarled, cocking back and swinging.
The force was enough to send me flying to the side, but I managed to put my hands to the side of my face so I didn’t smash it again.
Every bit of me wanted to instigate, to fight, but I knew that it was like poking a hornet’s nest.
I needed to bide my time. I needed to get my wrists and ankles free. Get the gag off.
Then, then I could fight.
So I went as still as possible, letting him think I was knocked out or that I’d given up.
It took a moment before he finally turned and walked away.
I heard water splashing. Not running, splashing. Like maybe this place didn’thaverunning water.
I glanced toward where he’d retreated.
Seeing no one, I went ahead and pulled myself up.
I was behind a counter. Like at a store or deli or something. Long stainless steel countertops, a display case, even a really old-looking cash register.
What kind of organization was he running that they were operating in an abandoned building?
I turned my head side to side over and over, ignoring the way the gag bit into the sides of my mouth because little by little, the movements forced it to loosen until I could use my shoulder to inch it down.
I exhaled hard.
One problem solved.
I glanced down at my ankles, the damn thick black zip ties biting into my skin. I could try to do the same movement to loosen them. But they were going to rip into my skin if I did.
And I just wasn’t ready to endure that yet. If I had to, I would. But I wanted to see if there were other options first.
I shuffled on my butt across the space, opening each lower cabinet to try to find something useful. An old scissor, knife, even something strong that I could use to wedge between my legs and the tie to loosen it. But aside from ancient sacks of flour, I found nothing left behind.
Until something caught my eye under the bottom of the sink. It was dusty, but I could see the metal under the grime.
When I pulled it out, I felt hope swell.
