I take a step back. Spotting the bathroom to my right, I look back at Jared. Before he can say anything, I dash toward the bathroom, opening the door. I hear his footsteps, but by the time he gets closer, the bathroom door is shut and locked.
I hide in the bathroom as Jared hammers on the door. Shakily, I pull my phone out of my pocket and call Bear. I have never called him before, and I really hope he picks up.
“Brooke?” Bear asks.
With all the courage I have, I say my first word in over a year.
“Help.”
16
BROOKE
“What’s wrong, Brooke?” Bear asks, panicked.
In the background, I hear him yelling for someone to call Ink. Before I can even answer, the door bursts open, and Jared is standing there. I scream and rush back. My back hits the wall. I look around for an exit, but I can’t find one. There is a window, but it’s closed, and by the time I make it to the window, Jared will have already caught me. I don’t know what to do. Jared is twice my size. I have tried fighting back, but that never ended well.
I feel my breathing start to pick up as anxiety rises in my chest at Jared’s wicked smile. I shudder. That is the smile he always gave me before he hurt me. It’s his signature smile.
“Brooke? Answer me!” I hear Bear on the phone.
Fear-stricken, I can’t reply. Jared grabs my legs, and I drop the phone, screaming. I move closer to the wall, trying to put more distance between us. Jared pulls something from behind his back and taps it. The long needle squirts some liquid out.
“Oh, you aren’t getting away from me this time.” Jared walks toward me.
I look to my left and try to crawl, but Jared grabs my legs. I swing my arms, trying to hit him, but fail. He quickly grabs my arms, pushes me in between his body and the wall. I struggle to get out of his hold. Before I can get free, I feel a prick in my neck, and I am out like a light.
“Wakey, wakey, sleepy head,”someone whispers in my ear.
I groan and roll my head to my right side, hitting my arm. I realize that my arms are bound above my head by metal cuffs. My feet barely touch the hard, cold concrete below me. I have been changed into shorts and a tank top.
Pain erupts in my stomach as a fist hits me twice. I groan as the agony spreads across my torso and lingers. Whoever punches me knows how to hit and make the pain last for a while.
“I said, wake up! So, open your eyes!” the person yells.
I move my head upright, opening my eyes. Jared is sitting in the chair with an evil smile on his face.
“Oh, how I have missed you.” He stands and walks toward a table with lots of tools on it.
I take a breath in, keeping my eyes on him. He picks up a knife and turns toward me. He slides his fingers over the blade as he walks, looking up and down my body. I shiver when he puts the blade against my skin and continues to walk around me.
“Did you really think you could lock me away forever?” He puts more pressure against the blade, but not enough to break the skin.
I keep as still as possible and don’t make a sound. My chest tightens with the lack of oxygen, but I can’t bring myself to take a breath in.
“Answer me!” Jared yells, slicing the knife across my arm.
Blood trickles down my arm, and I shake my head. I wanted to believe that I could keep him away from me, but I always had this feeling, deep down, that he would find me. That he would break out of prison and take me back. Torture me until I die.
“I will always find my way back to you. You are my property,” he says.
Tears well in my eyes at his statement. I don’t want to be here with him. I want him to be back in prison.
“You have been my property since I laid eyes on you. Oh, the things I imagined I would do to you. I am allowed to do anything to my property, and you are going to love every bit of it.” He caresses my face.
I jerk away from his hands. He slaps my face and grabs it again, yanking it toward him.
“If I want to touch you, I will touch you. Don’t you dare move away from me. I didn’t give you permission to,” he yells in my face.
