They were going to war.
PART 2
15
CHRIS
Trevor slammed the brakes from time to time, sending Chris’s body crashing against the trunk’s sides. It became even worse once they began to drive on bumpy dirt roads. Chris fought his growing nausea so he wouldn’t puke while his mouth was gagged.
He didn’t know where they were taking him. They could have killed him earlier if they had instant death in mind, but he wasn’t willing to bet on that.
The car finally stopped with screeching tires, slamming him against the trunk one last time. Footsteps approached before the trunk door lifted, letting a gush of chilly wind inside. Dusk had almost settled by the look of the darkening sky.
“Hi there, Danny. Sorry I’m not a better driver. Must be all the excitement.” Trevor pulled him out, and Chris’s tied legs made him crash to the ground, hurting his shoulder and raising a cloud of dust.
He shook his head and looked around. A wide-open space of untamed grass lay in front of him. Farther away stood a wall of clustered trees. The scenery seemedsomewhat familiar, tugging eerily at old memories. Still on the ground, he turned his head to look the other way, and the pieces finally clicked. This was worse than he’d feared. He yelled through his sealed lips and tried to crawl away, but he was only hurting himself further.
Don’t exhaust yourself.
He stopped, heaving deeply, then forced himself to look at the small, ramshackle house in front of him. Behind the house, the tips of a Ferris wheel and a roller coaster peaked above the treetops. He had briefly mentioned this place to Ethan while they were at the cabin last month, but there was no way that Ethan would know where to look or even remember that part of the conversation.
“I haven’t been here in years,” Trevor said and stretched his back. “Last time was when you were in college, remember? I snatched you right from campus and brought you here. Man, we had a fun couple of days, didn’t we?”
Chris remembered those days in pieces because he had been mostly drugged. One thing he did remember vividly was not believing he would get out of there alive.
The house was an old Mitchells’ property. Robert had bought it when a new amusement park was supposed to open, but the construction on the park had stopped when the entrepreneur went bankrupt. People who bought property around the area quickly canceled, but Robert had been too far into building this house, so heended up finishing it, hoping that someday it would be worth something. Evidently, that hadn’t been the case.
“Maybe someone else lives here now,” Andy said quietly.
“Please, in this shithole? How much would you pay for this dump?”
Andy squinted at the house before yelling, “Ten million dollars!”
Trevor shook his head. “You’re even worse at money than me.” He crouched down next to Chris and pulled out a knife. “I’m going to take off the duct tape around your legs. Get a good look around you; see anywhere to run? That’s right—nowhere. You’ll get up and walk straight inside. No funny business, you hear?”
Chris gave a single nod. His escape wouldn’t be here and now. He would need time to think and to plan. Until then, he’d play along.
Trevor cut the duct tape from around Chris’s legs, then pulled him up and steered him toward the house. The walls had been peeling for years, partly covered in untamed ivy. The three stairs leading to the narrow porch creaked loudly under his weight. Trevor used a key to open the front door, which creaked louder than the stairs.
Chris gingerly stepped inside and immediately felt the drop in temperature. The old walls did a poor job of retaining heat. It was almost completely dark, with shadows playing hide-and-seek between doors andcorners.
“Hold on.” Trevor flicked a switch, casting light into the narrow hallway.
“How can there be electricity?” Andy asked.
“I sorted it out a couple of days ago. Another bill we can’t afford to pay.” He tapped Chris’s shoulder. “Yet.”
They walked deeper into the cold house. The light was dimmer in the living room because half the light bulbs didn’t work. There were only a few pieces of tattered furniture around.
Trevor hurried to the fireplace. “I’ll get this working before our balls get frostbite. Danny, get your ass on the couch.”
When Chris sat, dust rose, clogging his nostrils and stinging his eyes.
“Can I take off the duct tape from his mouth?” Andy asked and sneezed.
Trevor put old logs with spiderwebs into the fireplace. “Yeah, but leave his hands tied.”
Andy peeled the duct tape from Chris’s mouth, leaving his lips irritated and raw, but at least he could breathe easier.
