Chase groans next to me as he begins to wake up.
I wrack my brain trying to remember how to get out of restraints. They’re made of rope so I can’t just bust out of them like I could a zip tie. Think, Melody, you’ve watched a shit ton of murder documentaries, surely one of them said something about escaping restraints.
Pulling does nothing but scrape the rough material against my skin, rubbing them raw with the effort.
“What—” Chase says fully awake now.
“Oh, good. He’s up. You’ll just scream when you find out what I have planned for you two love birds. A romantic trip, turned deadly. You’d think Chase would have known better than to go out on the water during a storm, but he’s stupid like that. Just like his mother.”
“What the fuck did you just say, you fucking bitch?” Chase yells, standing up. The boat bobs and the sky grows even darker, threatening to unleash a deluge at any moment. Chase surprising hold his balance as the wind whips against us. A spray of ocean water assaults the side of the boat as we dip again. It hits us tasting of salt and danger.
Then, Chase moves so quickly, he’s hurling his body at my mom, managing to head butt her before the bald bodyguard pulls him off. Blood drips from my mom’s nose, staining her cream-colored raincoat.
“Take him below,” she commands, wiping her face and regaining her position at the helm. “And knock them both back out.” Her eyes finally cut to me, and a shiver runs down my spine at how devoid of any emotion they hold. I always knew she hated me on some level, but I didn’t think it would lead to this. I realize that trying to beg for her to stop will get me nowhere because any semblance of humanity has been scrubbed from her completely.
The man with a scar comes over and plunges a syringe into my bicep. Whatever concoction it is works quick, dragging me into a pit of darkness once again.
26
MELODY
The boat rocks violently back and forth in the ocean waves jolting me back into consciousness. Lightning cracks across the sky and I can barely keep my balance with my hands tied behind my back. I don’t know how long I’ve been out, or even what direction we’re sailing in. The heavy downpour distorts my vision and soaks my clothes to my chilled skin.
The main sail whips hard in the wind. So hard I fear it’ll tear and take us down into the inky black waters that spray over the bow of the vessel. The only sounds I can hear are the roar of the ocean, the gusts of the wind, and the percussion of the rain hitting all around us.
My mom stands at the helm, steering us deeper into the storm. Her hands are gripped tightly around the wheel as she turns us to the right. The motion makes the boom come flying across the boat. It narrowly misses me.
I can’t tell if Chase is still on board, or if my mom had one of her goons toss him over by now. Speaking of which, I can’t see where either of the hired bodyguards are.
The boat feels like we’re taking on water and I’m trying hard not to panic so I can think clearly, but all I can feel is pure terror.
My mother looks deranged as the wind and rain whip around her, and I think I’m seeing her in her true form for the first time. The desperation to cling to a life she thinks she deserves and is willing to do anything in order to keep it. Desperate people are capable of great evil, and the woman steering us into this tropical storm is no exception. She killed my dad. She killed Chase’s mom. What’s to stop her from doing the same to me and Chase?
The wind is picking up even harder now, pelting my body like a million miniature knives. I don’t know how I’m going to make it out of here alive and that thought fills me with dread. I yank hard at the rope tied around my wrists to no avail. They’re tied tight, digging into my skin painfully. If I fall out of the boat, I won’t be able to swim. I wonder if that’s my mom’s plan.
No body.
No crime.
My stomach roils as the boat dips on another large wave. I think I’m going to be sick.
Ropes above me dangle as the sail pulls us to the right so far that we almost tip. It takes all my strength to push my legs against the cramped seating area. My back digs into the seat behind me and the wet soles of my shoes slip against the slick white half wall in front of me.
I’m not much of a sailor, but it feels like we’re not going to be able to hold on for much longer. We could be anywhere in The Gulf of Mexico by now. Miles away from shore without anyone knowing that we’ve been taken. No one is coming to save us, I realize. And Chase might already be gone.
A part of me wonders if this is what my nightmares have been warning me about. The drowning a premonition of things to come.
Tears coat my cheeks as I realize the only way out of here is to overpower my mom. Without a second thought, I launch myself up and stumble to where she’s clutching the wheel. I slam my body into her as hard as I can, managing to catch her by surprise.
“Look who finally grew a spine.” She laughs and it only fuels my rage.
All the years of picking at me, belittling me, and making me feel less than bubble to the surface.
“How fucking could you?” I scream, throwing myself at her again and knock her body against the metal pole. Her head slams back hard with a loud clang and it mixes with her laughter.
“Because I could, you ungrateful little shit. I set you up in the place of your dreams, and this is how you repay me?”
“You had me tied up and kidnapped you psychopath!”
